Page 105 of Heart of Mischief

“Charlie,” he said, voice frantic. “We have to work together. Me, you, Henry. We can’t take him down if we don’t collaborate.”

She glanced over at Rattatosk. He was swiping frantically at Henry, but the vätte had successfully blinded him. He didn’t know where Henry was going to attack until he was already there.

Henry went for the neck, a wrist, a calf, tearing out huge chunks of flesh with nothing but his teeth. Rattatosk howled and swiped, but Henry was always one step ahead.

It was too dangerous. Sooner or later, one of Rattatosk’s claws was going to find Henry’s skin. Even one tiny, venomous slit was enough to kill.

She looked back at Elias and nodded. “You hit him with shadow. I’ll hit him with magic. After we pin him down, Henry can go for his throat.”

“Perfect,” Elias agreed. “Let’s do this.”

He gave her arm one reassuring squeeze. Then together, they turned and went to work.

Charlie summoned as many currents as she could at once. To her left, Elias held his hands at his sides and sent shadowy cords slithering from his fingertips, winding their way up his arms and around his neck. By the time Charlie opened her eyes, Elias’s entire torso was wreathed in shadow, and Charlie felt as if she were filled with enough magic to lift a small house.

They looked at each other. Locked eyes. After a beat, Elias nodded.

Charlie turned back to the fight and raised her voice as loud as it would go. “Henry!” she screamed. “Get out of the way!”

The whirling tornado did as she asked, hurtling away from Rattatosk and behind a tree. As soon as he was safe, Charlie and Elias thrust out their hands and let loose their power.

The impact was enormous. Rattatosk flew backward, crashing through trees, ripping them up by their roots and toppling them tothe ground. He hurtled twenty feet through the air, thirty, forty, a trail of destruction following in his wake…

At the fifty-foot mark, Rattatosk crash-landed in the dirt, scaly body skipping and bumping over rocks and logs before finally coming to rest in front of a huge boulder. Henry whirled after him, soaring over the trail of damage left in his wake. He paused in the air, enlarged, green-skinned body hovering over Rattatosk’s unmoving form, and waited.

And waited.

For several moments, there was only silence. Charlie and Elias stood side by side, chests heaving.

When Rattatosk didn’t move, Henry peered over his shoulder. His long fangs flashed in the moonlight, bulging black eyes widening in question.

I RIP OUT THROAT NOW?

Charlie nodded.

Henry descended.

Snarls and the sound of tearing flesh echoed through the forest. Charlie looked away, not wanting to watch Rattatosk’s final moments. She knew that he had to die, that it was the only way to ensure that no more innocent children died instead. But it didn’t change the fact that it wasn’t really Rattatosk who was behind these killings; it was whoever held his leash.

Now they might never know who that was.

As the grotesque sounds of Henry’s work came to a halt, Mason came sprinting into the clearing.

“Whoa,” he said, staring down the flattened forest at Rattatosk. “Is he…?”

Charlie held up a hand. “Wait.”

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Henry rose into the air, blood dripping from his white beard.He flew back toward them, body shrinking from green gremlin back to tiny, adorable gnome along the way. He landed on the forest floor in front of them, toddling over to Charlie’s leg. She ignored the wet feel of blood as he nuzzled her ankle.

“Thanks, buddy,” she whispered, bending over to scratch his head.

“Youbeathim,” said Mason.