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"I know, but it's a start." I glance up at the ceiling, where I can still hear the noises of the battle going on upstairs. "We will find a way to reverse everything you've done. Maybe the world won't be exactly what it was before, but it can be a good place again."
He glares at me for a moment, then his demeanor abruptly shifts. His body relaxes, and a bizarre calmness sweeps over him. "I'm afraid I can't let that happen. You and Dax are bound to me forever, and I will use you to restart the alchemical process. Now that I know you and the girl share the power of the Echo, I can amplify the process by draining that energy from every human who possesses those magics. Thank you for pointing that out to me."
How did he know? I thought he just got here a minute ago.
Sefton chuckles, but it's a dark sound. "You didn't notice when I opened a portal to get here? Took a significant amount of energy to do that while you were siphoning off my power. But I succeeded, and I saw the two of you sharing the energy of the vessels."
Oh shit. I must kill him before he tells anyone else what he knows. With a burst of power that makes my head throb, I conjure a weapon. Since I don't want to steal anything Dax and Grant might be using, the weapon I now hold in my hand is a fencing foil.
A foil is a dangerous weapon, Dax had told me.
Sefton laughs. "You mean to fight me with that flimsy blade?"
I rush forward and slash the foil toward his throat.
He scuffles backward and trips over…the corpse of a creature that lies in the corner, shrouded in darkness until Sefton moved and I could see that body at last. The creature's weapon—a carving knife—is still clutched in the dead beast's hand.
Sefton grabs the knife and lunges toward me.
I slice the foil across his throat. Blood trickles from the wound, but it's not a deadly blow. Dax told me a foil can kill if the blade breaks.
Just as Sefton staggers forward, stabbing his knife at me, I duck sideways and jam the tip of my foil into the earthen floor, then stomp my foot down on it. The blade snaps. I roll out of the way as he jabs at me again. Springing to my feet, I slash the jagged tip of my foil at his neck.
He pulls back, and the blade misses him.
Before I can strike out again, he thrusts his knife into my chest.
Willow screams.
I crumple to the floor and fumble with the hilt of the blade that's sunk deep into me—into my heart. Blood stains my shirt, spreading inexorably outward as the life pours out of me. I feel it happening. I know I'm dying.
My lids slide shut, and the world vanishes.
Chapter Thirty
Dax
Seven creatures lie dead on the floor in the exercise room, the foyer, and the hallway. Grant and I have battled our way through the house, with the former deputy wielding a cutlass while I commandeered the broadsword. Five more creatures continue the fight, but we keep making headway toward the cellar.
A scream reverberates through the house.
Not Allison. It sounds like Willow.
"We have to get to the cellar now," I shout to Grant. "Something's wrong."
Grant glances at me, nodding once. His expression of grim determination becomes more intense and deadlier as he swings his cutlass toward the nearest creature. His blade slices the beast's head off. While the head rolls across the floor, Grant rams his cutlass into another creature's belly and yanks it upward, gutting the monster.
I dispatch two more creatures, but Grant gets the last one.
And we run for the cellar.
The door hangs open, the darkness below broken only by the wan glow of a single bulb. Down there, someone sobs.
"I warned her," Sefton hisses. His face has taken on a grey pallor. "She should have obeyed me."
A rage like none I've ever experienced before descends on me, hot and feral and unstoppable, because I know what has happened. I feel it before I see it and pound down the stairs, leaping over a dead creature, roaring as I punch my brother in the chest hard enough to send him flying into the wall.
I fall to my knees beside Allison. The broadsword tumbles from my hand.
