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Morgan now lay in pieces, and still those pieces moved. Her mouth screamed, though soundlessly now that it was no longer attached to her lungs. I got to my feet, my shirt spattered with gore, and I looked at my sister, no longer knowing who or what she was.
I was afraid of her.
As quickly as it happened, Genie went limp, sagging to her knees. The moment the red light faded from her hands and eyes, Morgan’s body stopped moving, and death stole over her, much to my relief. I couldn’t undo the suffering she’d experienced before that final moment, but at least now it was all over.
Lucas, too, looked stunned and sickened by the scene laid out before him. This was not something we could explain to the others, because it defied understanding. We’d witnessed it, yet I still couldn’t rationalize it.
Genie had been pushed past her breaking point, and she had retaliated the only way she knew how.
When Aubrey had told me the magic he’d given me was too much for me and the best I could hope to do was not let it control me, I finally got what he meant. If Genie’s magic had been able to do this much damage, what would I be capable of if I let the magic use me instead of the other way around?
I wasn’t keen to find out.
“Your nose is bleeding,” she said to me.
I lifted my hand to my face, and my fingertips came away bloody. Further proof I was right about Aubrey’s gift being too massive. I’d stopped time, and it was taking its toll.
But there was still more work to be done.
The building creaked, and I looked up at the ceiling in fear. “We need to get out of here.” I hoped the others had already cleared the lobby and were waiting for us outside. I didn’t need to add any more lives to the list of those I had to worry about right now.
The floor beneath me trembled like I imagined an earthquake might feel, and I glanced at the others in time to see the carpet sag beneath them, right under Genie’s feet.
“Lucas.”
He saw it too, diving forward and pushing her towards me. I caught her and hugged her, then held my hand out for him. He’d stumbled to his knees pushing her out of the way, but now that the creaking had stopped, it seemed we had overreacted.
“It’s okay,” I said, stepping closer.
He got up and reached for me, shaking his head and laughing. “I know they say the captain is supposed to go down with the ship, but I sure hope that doesn’t apply to hotel owners.”
His fingers brushed mine, and I opened my mouth to say something quippy to him, when he vanished.
One moment he was within my grasp, and a moment later the floor gave way and he was gone. He didn’t scream, he didn’t fight. There was a split second for him to look surprised, and then I lost him forever.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Lucas.” I rushed to the edge but was knocked back by the wall of hot air that belched up from the newly created hole.
Pulling my shirt over my face, I moved closer again, but the fire licked up, making it impossible for me to see. So much fire. There was nothing I could do.
Nothing.
The floor beneath me groaned again, and I realized if we didn’t get out of here, Genie and I would be following right behind Lucas, totally negating his sacrifice. He’d saved Genie’s life. Twice. I wanted to go after him, because something inside me refused to believe he was dead.
Lucas was invincible. He was a werewolf king. He was too stubborn to die. Surely I’d get down to the lobby and find him there, chuckling about how he’d built some kind of a fail-safe into the hotel to transport him safely to the main floor.
He’d saved my sister’s life, and the last thing I’d wanted to say to him was, Come on, you idiot, stop showing off.
I hadn’t even gotten a chance to say that.
My breath caught in my throat as the darkness of the truth settled over me. The hole in the floor crackled like the mouth of hell, spewing forth fire and raining white-hot debris as it began to eat through the floor above us.
Bring him back, I demanded, staring at the hole.
Rewind. Undo. Go back.
I tried them all, command after command, both simple and complicated, all while I waited and prayed. He would come through the hole, a little dirty and bruised, but he would come back.
