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“Ah yes.” Agatha faced him again. “Well, I think it’s time Mr. Vex understood who he’s dealing with, don’t you?”

“I’m sure he’s already aware.”

“No, I don’t think so.” She flitted about behind the workbench like a much larger version of a pixie, snip-snipping those jewelry pliers. “Or you wouldn’t have come here. It’s not me you should be afraid of, Victor.” Agatha stepped in close, eye to eye with Victor. “You must know Gideon Cain will turn you to dust like the aging fossil you are.”

I tiptoed toward the workbench, and spied a bunch of jug-shaped glass containers with cork stoppers in the top keeping some kind of glowing contents inside. Whatever those jugs housed, it was likely to be bad.

Sticking out a finger, I gave one of the jars a poke. It toppled over, rolled along the countertop, then dropped off the edge and smashed on the floor.

Agatha whirled. “What the—who is here?!”

Wispy blue smoke billowed in the air, expanding in rhythmic waves, like a heartbeat getting bigger and louder.

Agatha swore and strode over to the smoky mass.

I scooted around the workbench, behind Victor’s pillar and spotted the restraints—and his lack of anti-ward ring. A few splatters of blood stained his collar. Perhaps she’d used one of those smoky things to distract him? Either way, the ring would be nearby.

I tugged at the knotted ropes around his wrists, and kept an eye on Agatha. She’d reached for a clamshell case no larger than a compact mirror. But the blue smoke had grown even more, taking on a ghostly, humanoid form.

“We can’t have you escaping,” Agatha muttered. She turned, opened the clamshell case, and the blue smoke began to whoosh into it.

“The vampires are here,” I whispered into Victor’s ear. He tensed, and his fingers twitched, eager to be free, but the knots weren’t coming undone. They’d likely been warded. I’d never get them off.

I needed to find that ring.

“Agatha, you do realize Gideon Cain cannot let you live,” Victor told her. “You know too much about his illegal practices. After you’ve made the locket to harness Adam’s power, Cain will kill you with it and enslave the rest of us. You are no fool. You must see where this is going?”

“I have my insurance policies, just in case. If I die, everything I know gets sent to the media outlets. Gideon will never risk harming me. We’re partners. Like you and I could . . . should be.” She set the clamshell case down on the side and turned to face Victor once more. “This is your last chance, Victor. What do you say, for old times’ sake?”

I scooted around. Passing by the end of the workbench, I knocked another smoky jar over.

Agatha dashed to catch it.

With her distracted, I scanned the scattering of gems on the countertop—bits of metal and tools strewn all over. There among the bits of wire and tools, lay a simple gold signet ring with Gideon’s initials stamped into it.

Agatha caught the jar and whirled. “What is going on?! Who’s here?! Come out!”

I grabbed the ring, forgetting she’d be able to see it even if she couldn’t see me. Her stare shot straight to the anti-ward ring, floating in the air in my invisible hand.

She tensed, then spotted me. “Adam Vex!”

The anti-ward ring had interfered with my invisibility. I lunged for Victor. All I had to do was get the anti-ward ring on his finger and he’d be able to snap those ropes.

Glass smashed.

Agatha screamed, “How dare you!”

Something small and sharp punched my chest, jerking me mid-lunge. That was fine. Whatever it was, it probably wouldn’t kill me, and I was almost at Victor.

“Kill him!” Agatha ordered, and up rose the smoky figures.

Oh dear.

CHAPTER 6

Green smoke whooshed, spinning around me in a noisy, breath-taking whirlwind.

With the wind tearing at my clothes and hair, I grabbed Victor’s bound hands and slipped the anti-ward ring onto a finger. “I do,” I quipped, but probably shouldn’t have when the green smoke spun me up in its vortex, stealing the remaining air from my lungs and lashing my skin with invisible claws.