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The door swings open, and Sefton hobbles across the threshold. "It's time."
A lump forms in my throat, but I will not let him see my anxiety.
He waves for me to exit the room. "The ceremony will take place downstairs, then we will consummate our union."
"What, in front of all your minions?"
"Yes. They are the witnesses." He waves his arm again, and an icy coldness colors his voice. "Come now, Allison."
I follow Sefton out of the bedroom, resisting the impulse to glance back, and let him lead me downstairs and into the sitting room where Dax, Willow, and I had shared hot cocoa last night. Half a dozen creatures have formed a semicircle around the room's periphery. My guards. If I try to run, they'll attack. Dax and Grant won't let that happen. All I need to do is hold the line until they get the weapons.
Then comes the hardest part—breaching the cellar and accessing the boxes so I can shut down the alchemy of worlds.
"Don't I get a wedding dress?" I ask, strictly as a delaying tactic. "I should at least have a veil. Don't you think?"
Sefton shoves me toward a large creature who has tiger-like eyes and whiskers too. The beast also holds a book that has a brown cover. I want to punch Sefton for shoving me, but I need to play along for now. So I take my position in front of the book-holding creature while Sefton comes up beside me.
"Is this guy our minister?" I ask.
"He is the officiant. And that book is not a bible, but an alchemical manuscript I nicked from the Getty Research Institute just before the transmutation began." He smirks, lifting his chin. "Being able to summon portals is quite handy for committing thievery."
"Yeah, you're so damn clever. I'm in awe."
He seizes my arm, forcing me to turn so we face each other. "Sarcasm will do you no good."
"Do you even care if I enjoy you screwing me? Or have you always been a sexual predator?"
"You will enjoy it because I will make certain of that with a spell."
I swallow hard, resisting the urge to lash out at the bastard.Not yet.
"When we make love," he says, "it will be more than sex. We shall replicate the moment of creation, when the world was born."
Sefton nods to the beastly officiant.
The creature begins to chant in what sounds like Latin. He wraps up his spiel, holding the book to his chest.
And Sefton grasps my upper arms. "Time to consummate."
Magics unfurl around me, their slippery tongues invisible yet palpable, coiling around me and unleashing electric shocks that sink deep inside me. My sex tingles, growing wet little by little.No, no, oh God no. This can't be happening. The tingling spreads throughout my body, forcing me to feel a desire that turns my stomach. I must act before the magics take control and I can't save myself.
I raise my arms, bend my knee, and swing my calf up between Sefton's legs.
The breath explodes out of him. His eyes widen, and he tips forward.
Before he can react, I thrust a palm out and up, ramming it into his nose.
The madman cries out, stumbling backward.
I can't wait any longer. Dax and Grant must have found the weapons by now, so I suck in a deep breath and summon the magics. A portal opens behind me.
"No!" Sefton bellows, his face crimson, his eyes wild.
I step backward through the portal and watch the opening telescope shut just as Sefton staggers toward me with his teeth bared. He thrusts out an arm as if to hold the portal open, or maybe grab my neck to wring it, but I hit him with another groin kick that sends him tumbling to the floor while cradling his privates.
The portal closes, and darkness envelops me.
I can feel the magics zinging in the air around me. How much power do I have left? One way to find out. I wish for the overhead bulb to come on, and it flickers to life. Wan light illuminates the cellar, showing me that I'm standing halfway across the space, facing the collection of spooky boxes. I hurry to the shelves and trail my fingers over the tops of the boxes in hopes I'll sense which one I need to accomplish my task. I shut my eyes, focusing on one thought.
