“How—”
My question became a scream as he grabbed my amulet, scoring its surface with his monstrous nails. I bucked and went limp.
Laughing, Bandur seized the scissors dangling from my fingers. “The amulet is your heart, Sentur’na. You could have controlled me when you had mine, but you didn’t know, did you?”
He held me high in the air, and I screamed again, but no sound came out of my mouth. I was choking, couldn’t breathe.
“Now—you die.”
Below, the well’s dark waters swirled, gathering into a terrible tempest. Its stones were crumbling, piles of rocks and pebbles cascading into the water. Somehow, seeing the violence of the well, IknewI wasn’t the guardian. If I were, I would be stronger than Bandur. I would control the power of Lapzur’s ghosts, and I could have commanded them away from Edan and to my aid.
Bandur was bluffing. But why?
Seconds stretched to eternity. Frenzied, my dress attacked him, trying to snatch my amulet back before he dropped it into the well.
He launched the scissors against my dress, their metal humming and zinging with power. But the scissors wouldn’t cut; he was not their master.
With a snarl, he hurled me—and my amulet—into the well.
As I fell, suddenly I understood. Destroying Bandur’s amulet hadn’t destroyedhim,but now he was mortal. That’s why he was so desperate to be rid of me and to get off the island.
Because he knows you can kill him, Sentur’na,whispered that dark, seductive voice within me.You have the dresses of Amana. You are stronger than him. Give in, and kill him.
For once, I listened.
I dove for my amulet, catching it in my fist. My skirt glittered, illuminating the dark well around me. And, overriding the fear that clenched my heart, I let go and trusted the blood of stars to catch me and lift me.
Like a shooting star, I rocketed up and out of the well and leapt onto Bandur’s back.
Startled, the demon spun and tried to throw me off, but my sleeves countered the attack, whipping and wrapping themselves around his neck. I snatched my scissors from him—and stabbed him in the heart.
Bandur shrieked. Writhed. He tried to rip the scissors out of his chest. With the last of his strength, he flung me across the rooftop. I lost my grip on the scissors and fell hard on the cold stone floor.
He peeled away, smoke leaking from his lips as his body began to dissipate. He flailed, but his arms and fur had thinned into shadow, his red eyes melting into a stream of blood. Then a storm of fire devoured him.
Until he was no more.
Rocks flew up out of the well, hurtling fast toward me. I turned onto my stomach, covering my head to shield myself. Around me, the rooftop began to crumble, exposing the stairway and Edan, who was running toward me, his face shiny with sweat. Even though Bandur was no more, ghosts surroundedhim.
Alarmed, I sprang to my feet, but the earth beneath me quaked, knocking me to the ground again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my scissors tremble on the lip of the well, then fall inside.
I let out a choked cry. “My scissors!”
“Leave them.” Edan grabbed my wrist. “We need to go.”
A flash of light erupted from the well, so great it swallowed the entire island. It lasted no longer than a blink, but the ghosts vanished.
Bandur’s remains were a pile of ashes. The wind swept them up from the stone floor and scattered them over the raging waters below.
Gone was the well of the blood of stars, destroyed by the eruption of light. In its place was a mess of broken rocks and stones. Debris whirled across the rooftop, tiny pebbles prickling my skin. Edan shielded us with his cloak.
“We have to get off the tower!” he shouted as the winds picked up. Something roared in the near distance, like the rumble from the belly of a terrible beast. It took me a second to realize the island itself was crumbling.
Another quake. The world tilted so violently I couldn’t keep my balance.
I staggered back, and Edan caught my arm.
Below, Lake Paduan’s waters crashed and heaved. Edan was fumbling to unroll the carpet. With a glance, I took in the rips and tears, the holes and broken tassels, and claw and teeth marks….
