“No!” I try to get to my feet, but my legs won’t cooperate.
Both warlocks prepare to strike Vaughn with the same spell they used on me. Tish, now free, limps toward me and begins to chew the cord binding my wrists. The first warlock strikes, but Vaughn ducks and avoids getting hit. The cord around my wrists slackens, and I help Tish out, pulling my wrists apart. The cord finally snaps. With my hands free, I can use them to get back on my feet.
I don’t waste time, grabbing the crystal around my neck for a power boost. I don’t think I can use the same fire spell as before, but I can hit the second warlock with a power sphere. My magic surges within me, but before I release it, I’m yanked back by cold, clawed hands. Sharp fangs pierce my neck so deep, it draws a guttural sound from me. More bites and scratches follow. I feel like a piece of chum in shark-infested waters.
“No, leave her alone!” Tish shrieks.
“Sophie!” Vaughn screams in the dark.
My vision begins to dim, and the last thing I see is Vaughn’s face right before my father blocks his way.
VAUGHN
My stomach drops through the earth when Sophie gets snatched by Madeleine, and the evil ghost and the other specters start to chomp on her. I get tunnel vision and forget about the two nasty warlocks who are trying to fry me with their spells.
I run toward her with my sword at the ready, but Jacques blocks my way. “You’re the reason my daughter betrayed me. You’ll pay for that.”
He swings his sword, making an arc toward my neck, but I block his blade and shove him back. He trips over something and falls. A second later, Tish pounces on his face and goes feral, scratching the hell out of him. But she’s only a cat, and he can easily pick her up and toss her into the distance.
Not if he doesn’t have any hands.
I do what I vowed if he had harmed Sophie: I swing my sword and cut his hands off before he has a chance to reach Tish. His scream bounces off the walls, echoing down the tunnel. I don’t know where the warlocks went, but I keep running toward Sophie.
I reach her as her limp body tumbles forward. “No. Sophie! Wake up.”
“You’re too late.” Madeleine laughs right before her ethereal form zooms through the bars of her cell.
No. She can’t be free.
I pull Sophie into a hug, curling my body to protect her from the ghosts, but they pay us no attention. They already got what they needed to be able to leave their prison.
Sophie’s sacrifice.
I touch her pale face, already so cold. “Please, Soph. Wake up.”
Tish comes closer and rubs her face against Sophie’s arm. She’s been through the wringer too. Part of her body is burned, and she has blood all over her fur. I can’t imagine the pain she must be in.
I try to feed Sophie, but when I part her lips, my blood drips down the corner of her mouth. She’s not swallowing because she’s already hibernating.
After a while, the sound of battle ceases. I don’t know who won, and I don’t care. Footsteps approach, making me lift my face. It’s Vivi and Rikkon.
“She’s gone to sleep. I couldn’t bring her back,” I say through the lump in my throat.
“Can’t you give her your blood again, Vivi?” Tish asks.
“No, she can’t,” Lucca answers before Vivi can. “She lost too much blood tonight.”
I see it then, the pink line of the wound that just healed on Vivi’s collarbone and her blood-soaked shirt. One of the specters must have gotten to her.
“I can try to heal her,” Rikkon offers, dropping into a crouch in front of us.
He presses his palm over Sophie’s neck, and it glows with a soft blue light. I watch in awe as the wound heals and the color returns to her cheeks. A moment later, Sophie opens her eyes and stares into mine.
“Hey, babe,” I say.
“What happened?”
Rikkon pulls back and turns to Tish. “Now it’s your turn.”
