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Her grip tightened and the world dipped into blackness. I fought to stay conscious, writhing beneath her, trying to get an arm or leg free.
"Why do you struggle?" she said. "You aren't going to die. You already did. You'll just return to where you were. It's the little witch who will suffer for your failure. Her and her husband, killed by their dear--"
The Nix jerked back, her grip loosening. She looked up over my head.
"Wait your turn, sorcerer," she snarled.
I tilted my head back to see Lucas pull a shovel from the wall.
"Get off her," he said.
The Nix's eyes went wide. "Lucas? What are you--?"
"I know you aren't Savannah," he said, voice level. "Now get off her."
As he pulled the shovel back, I wriggled out from under the Nix. She didn't even seem to notice, just smiled and got to her feet. Lucas swung back the shovel.
"Do you really think you can do that?" she asked. "What if you kill her? Hit just the right spot, and down she goes, never to get up again."
Lucas hesitated. I opened my mouth to tell him to do it, to hit her on the shoulder or the torso, just knock her down, but my bruised throat wouldn't let out anything more than a gasp. Lucas dropped the shovel and raised his hands to cast. The Nix charged.
I pushed to my feet, gasping for breath. The Nix grabbed Lucas by the arm and whipped him against the wall. His head struck a beam. She threw his limp body aside and turned on me.
I cast the anti-demon spell. Even as the words left my lips, panic shot through me. Did Paige know this spell? What else--
The Nix went rigid. Her limbs convulsed and she toppled back to the floor. I dove for her, but she kicked me away, stumbled to her feet, and staggered through the back door, into the house. Her footfalls stumbled down the stairs. Perfect. There was no escape route from the windowless basement. She'd have to come back this way. That anti-demon spell had almost drained Paige's reserve, and I was still gasping for air. I needed a moment. I looked down at Lucas. He needed me to take a moment.
I knelt beside Lucas and felt his pulse. Still strong. I cast a couple of healing spells in succession. It zapped the rest of Paige's spell-casting power, but I knew it was what she'd want me to do. After another quick check of his pulse and breathing, I leaned back on my heels and struggled to catch my breath.
The Nix was in Savannah. To stop her, I'd need to do what Lucas hadn't been able to do--attack my daughter.
I pushed to my feet and ran into the house.
I touched down on the last step and paused there, scanning the dark basement. To my left was the freezer and cold cellar. To my right, the laundry room. Behind me would be two more rooms--
A roar. I looked up to see Savannah running at me from the workshop. As she charged, she swung a hammer back over her head. And I did nothing. I couldn't. I knew this wasn't Savannah and yet that's who I saw--my child running at me, hammer raised, face contorted with hate.
At the last second, I sprang from the step. The hammer smashed into my shoulder blade. Bone cracked. Paige's bone, not mine. I tried not to think of that, that every blow I took, every injury I allowed, she would suffer afterward. Before the Nix said that, I hadn't considered the implications of borrowing this body, but now, as I danced out of the reach of that flying hammer, it was all I could think about.
I cast a fireball, but the Nix brushed it off. What did she care about burns and scars and broken bones? It wasn't her body. Only lethal spells could stop her, and that was one step I'd never take, no matter how bad things got. While she'd been in Jaime's body, there had always been that option, however much I would have regretted it. But now, as we faced off, I saw how powerless I really was in this struggle. So long as she was in my daughter's body, I wouldn't do anything that might seriously harm her. And so long as I was in Paige's body, I wouldn't take any risk that might seriously harm her.
The Nix lunged, hammer raised. I spun to the side but, still unaccustomed to this body, I stumbled as I came out of the spin. The hammer hit me again in the shoulder, in the same spot. I howled and crumpled. As I fell, I grabbed for the hammer with my other hand. I managed to snag the head. The Nix swung the hammer and my feet flew out from under me, but I hung on, and the handle slid from her grip.
As I hit the floor, I rolled, ignoring the lightning bolt of pain that shot through my shoulder. I leapt to my feet, still holding the hammer. The Nix rushed at me. I flipped the hammer around and swung. My first instinct was to aim at her upper torso, but at the last second, seeing my daughter's face, I couldn't do it. I swung low. With the sudden change in direction, and the one-handed swing, the blow only glanced off her hip. She grabbed the hammer, threw it aside, and slammed me down to the floor.
In that second, as I went down, I knew there was only one way to save Paige and Savannah.
"I'm sorry, Kris," I whispered as I hit the floor.
The Nix pinned me. Her hands went around my throat. I closed my eyes and sent up two silent words.
"I'm ready."
The room flashed, filling with a bolt of light so bright it blinded me. The light flared again. This time the bolt hit me, filling me with a white-hot heat.
I reached up with my good arm, grabbed the Nix's forearm, and wrenched it from my throat. Her eyes widened. She looked into mine, blinked in surprise, then curled back her lip.
"You think that will help you, angel?" she said.
