Page 121 of Fall into Place

A woman with a crisp British accent?! It couldn’t be—Tess whirled around and so did Felix—

And there they were, Callum and Octavia, standing at the edge of the deck, silhouetted against the Manhattan skyline.

“You came back.” Tess’s voice was hoarse.

“Tess, get behind us. Right now.” Callum was looking past her at Felix and Konstantin—Tess didn’t need telling twice. She leapt behind Callum, and he and Octavia charged forward to free Joni and Flora from the henchmen who were guarding them. Tess had seen Callum fight before, but it was nothing like seeing him and Octavia fight together, both at the height of their powers. Their movements were graceful but brutal, and in seconds the guards were so embroiled in the fight that Joni and Flora could slip away, and Tess immediately untied Flora’s hands.

“What do we do?!” Joni squeaked.

“Are you kidding?” Tess drew a stake out of her pouch and threw off her cape. “We help!”

She charged forward to where Octavia was taking on three vamps at once, she kicked one square in the gut and sent him reeling backward—when he fell on the ground, Tess hurled her body toward him and shoved a stake through his heart—his eyes glazed over and his veins turned black, just like the vampires downstairs. Another vampire saw and came running toward Tess, but Flora threw up a portal in front of him—he tried to stop himself but he couldn’t in time. He ran through the icy blue circle, which reappeared a hundred feet away and sent him straight off the side of the building.

“Nice!” Tess shouted to Flora, who beamed back at her—but then she grabbed her head and screamed in pain.

“What’s happening?” Tess rushed toward her. “Are you okay?!”

“Fern,” she said weakly. Tess whirled to see Fern in intense concentration, mumbling a stream of incantations under her breath. Tess started toward her, but Joni was already on it—

“You trapped me in a fucking attic!!!!” Joni shrieked as she tackled Fern like an offensive lineman—they both crashed to the ground with a violent thud, and the spell on Flora was broken.

Felix ran to help Fern fend off Joni—Flora threw a portal at him, but he dodged it, so it sent a deck chair soaring into the air and off the building instead. Felix pulled Joni off of Fern and threw her to the ground—hard. Fern started to perform another spell on Flora, but Flora threw up her hands to block it.

“Oh no, you don’t,” she gritted, and the two of them were locked in battle, whispering words and moving their hands at each other, streams of light and sparks occasionally shooting back and forth. Callum and Octavia had disposed of most of the henchmen, but the last one was giving them trouble: He was huge and strong—and even against both twin sires he was more than holding his own. Konstantin stood back and watched, enjoying the violence playing out before him.

Joni was trying to get up, but she’d hurt her leg when Felix threw her to the ground—she cried out in pain when she tried to put weight on it. Felix was grinning down at Joni—Tess knew she was no match for him, but there was no one else to help—she ran toward him with a stake in hand, hoping at least she could injure him again before he ripped Joni apart—

But before she got to him, Octavia flew in like a bat out of hell, screaming for all she was worth, kicking him square in the face before whirling around and punching him in the gut.

“YES!” Tess screamed, before the giant henchman turned and started stalking toward her. “Ohhhh no. No no no!”

Tess darted behind Octavia to help Joni to her feet. Octavia tried to fight off Felix and the giant henchman at the same time, but it was a lot for her to handle on her own—especially since Flora was still tied up with Fern. Callum sprinted toward them to help, but—

“Where do you think this is going, Callum?”

Konstantin stood in his way, blocking him with a punch that sent him staggering backward.

“You can’t kill me if you need me to make portals,” Callum snarled. “But I can kill you. And I will.”

“Do you think anyone else knows you the way I do?” Konstantin’s voice was quiet, calm. Callum drove toward him, trying to land a punch or a kick, but Konstantin simply stepped aside, avoiding every blow. “I’m your sire, Callum. Stop being weak. I’m the only one who really knows who you are—because you’re just like me.”

“You don’t know anything.” Callum clenched his jaw.

“I know you’ll do anything to protect your sister.” Konstantin narrowed his eyes. “Just think how badly I’ll torture her to punish you for this.”

Callum glanced toward Octavia. Tess was helping Joni to walk, both of them hiding behind Octavia, who was taking on Felix and the giant henchman at the same time. Octavia was holding her own, but the other two were driving her backward—same with Fern and Flora, who were still locked in their witchy standoff. Tess realized they were all being driven toward the cabana suite, which had its glass doors all the way open. Konstantin was moving backward to avoid Callum, but he was moving the same way too. They were only a few feet away from the suite now—if they got inside, they’d be trapped.

“It’s an easy choice, Callum,” Konstantin went on. “Return to my side, where you belong. Or you can watch your sister suffer the most brutal violence I can imagine.”

Tess looked toward Callum—she didn’t want to doubt him, but she knew he would do anything to protect Octavia. Callum looked back at Tess, and she caught a hard blaze in his eye, warm and golden—it reminded her of the way he’d looked at her right after he’d drunk her blood. He mouthed three words she couldn’t quite make out. But Tess was almost sure she knew what he’d said.

Callum turned back to Konstantin—Callum was the one with the dangerous look now.

“You’re never going to hurt my sister again.”

He darted forward so quickly Tess could barely make out his movements—she heard a sickening crack and a yowl of pain, and then Konstantin was clutching his arm.

“You’ll pay for that.” Konstantin stretched his arm, and with a series of pops, his bones began to heal themselves. But if Callum was afraid, he didn’t show it. They were almost at the suite now. Tess imagined another world where she was kissing him, where the light was soft and there wasn’t any danger.