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“We don’t have company. Ray won’t be back for hours and hours. He spends a lot of time in the woods.”

“Oh. Then who’s on the couch?”

He looked at the couch and then at me with a frown. “Nobody.”

“There’s someone sitting on the couch. She has long dark hair and looks like you and Ray.”

He got this pained look on his face. “You’re probably seeing ghosts. The heir of Hoar House can do that, right?”

I blinked at him then at the figure on the couch. Was she dead? I moved closer to the couch, but while death was close, it hadn’t taken her entirely. “I don’t think a ghost would be sleeping. I think⁠—”

Something hit me hard on the head, and the world went black.

sixteen

. . .

I woke up tied to a chair, head throbbing, mouth dry. Donny stood in front of me holding the square alligator book, his purple hair on end, all of him buzzing with nervous, anxious energy. It felt like I’d fallen into a ridiculous cartoon.

“What are you doing?” I asked. Also, the body was still sitting on the couch. Not dead but definitely not conscious. She looked like the brothers, much more than Scilla with her pasty face and dyed dark hair. I was starting to get a really bad feeling about all of this. No kidding, Sherlock. The fear was probably taking a long time to hit my system because of the concussion. Also the ridiculousness of the situation.

“I’m draining you of your life and magic. It’s not personal. You seem like a good person, but I need the power to defeat the Council’s Teeth.” He chewed on his bottom lip, clearly torn.

I scowled at him. “It’s not personal? I seriously doubt that Sage will look at it that way. She still cries about you, won’t talk to her father, and is basically a walking ball of guilt and misery. Do you really want her to feel guilty because of who she’s related to? And do you really want to kill someone who you say is a good person?”

He snarled at me, eyes full of so much rage it was eating him up, fueling his madness. He’d need to be ended if he went on like this. The book was officially not helping him. Scilla had said that it was evil. Now I saw it.

“He loves you! He deserves to lose everyone he loves.” His eyes were so dark, so hurt.

I shook my head. Ow. “So you’ll kill Sage, too? I don’t believe you. You didn’t want to practice dark arts. You saw the way it destroyed your parents before the Council sent their Teeth. You were the one who helped Sage see that she shouldn’t use her magic to manipulate and harm others. Also, you’re the caretaker of the house. How can you hurt the house’s heir?” Was I really claiming that? Apparently. I’d blame the concussion.

He shook his head. “I’m not the caretaker. That’s all Ray. And stop talking! I’ve made up my mind. It’s the only possible solution.” He looked officially uncertain.

“Killing innocent people is the only possible solution? Listen to yourself. You’re a good kid, Donny. You helped Sage see that she needed to use her abilities responsibly. She misses you. She’s going to flunk Geometry without you. She needs you.”

He started lowering the book when the door opened and in stepped Scilla of the pasty skin and dyed hair.

He looked at her and then quickly raised the book and put out his hand. “Your life was forfeit the second you married that monster!”

“But I didn’t know he was a monster, or I never would have married him. Scilla, tell him what you told me about needing to move forward through the pain instead of staying stuck inside of it.”

Her eyes flickered with lightning. “Did I ever say such a thing?” Her voice was saccharine, but there was no apology while she stared at me with sharp hatred. She put her hand on Donny’s shoulder, and his scowl returned full force. He took a deep breath and began an incantation.

“Florum upsit delorno firtsush!”

Seriously? I was supposed to be threatened by so many nonsense words?

“Barleum derscra utrahsdan mehlar!”

That’s when I started feeling like someone was sucking on all of my skin with a mini vacuum. For their size, mini vacs had a lot of suction. He was actually sucking my life and magic out of me, and Scilla wasn’t going to let me talk him out of it.

“You could at least clean up around here, if you’re going to take over someone’s life,” I said, focusing on her.

Her eyes flickered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The real Scilla is sitting on the couch, invisible, but not dead. What did you do to her?”

The suction lessened for a second while Donny looked at her, distracted.