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Brooks’s eyes swim with pain. Somehow, I know my brother didn’t realize until that moment just what Lily means to me, and to him.
And we’re stuck in this room with a demon, and we can’t move to save her.
Inside the prison of my body, I thrash wildly, but all that happens is that my pinkie finger moves a fraction of an inch.
“No answer?” Freddie clucks as he moves gingerly around the bed toward me. “I must admit, I expected to meet more of a fight. Where is Bellua number three? The strange one? Never mind. I shall enjoy hunting him down like a dog.”
I almost laugh, but my vocal cords don’t work.
I remember that Becka is still hiding behind the TV cabinet. Has she been put under this spell, too? My gaze locks with Brooks, but neither of us can move. I frantically hunt around in my mind for a plan and—
Lily raises her hand. She blinks, and it takes everything she has to stay this side of wakefulness.
She reaches out to Freddie. “The Bellua brothers are nothing to the Vault anymore. They’re expendable. I’m the rogue monster hunter with the ax to grind with demons. I’ve been wanting a piece of demon ass for my trophy wall for some time. Come here and show me what you’ve got.”
“And disrupt that pretty little demon trap that you’ve set for me? I don’t think so, witch.” Freddie scuffs his foot at the edge of where Becka placed the circle. Then he grabs my shoulder. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to unlock this circle for me like a good girl, or I will eat your friend in front of you. Slowly. With lots of chewing.”
Lily, please, don’t break the circle. I don’t care what he does to me, but don’t let him have your life. You’re far too precious. To me. To Orion. To Brooks. To this world.
“If you want to play it that way…” Lily lies back on the pillows.
Her hands clench into fists at her sides. She’s terrified, but she’s trying not to let Freddie see it.
She closes her eyes.
Freddie smiles down at Lily as her chest rises and falls slowly.
She’s asleep.
“She is quite fetching. I’ll give you that. And I like the way she abandoned all of you to have a nap. That feels almost…demonic. I think I’ll enjoy eating her soul. But first, I’ll have the two of you for appetizers.”
He turns to me, a slow, evil grin spreading across his face. He leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead.
Painslamsinto me. I can’t move, can’t react, but every atom of my body burns with agony. I scream in silence as pieces of me are torn away—my soul, my being, my essence—and sucked out through my forehead into Freddie’s puckered lips.
He slurps and sucks with abandon, and I can feel him taking everything good and wonderful—memories of Lily, my love for my brothers, my dumb sense of humor. Freddie is taking it all—
“Hey, demon,” Becka yells. “Think fast.”
I can’t see what she does, but a moment later, Freddie yells and staggers back, clutching his cheek. Smoke curls through his fingers, and the scent of burning flesh scars the air.
CRASH.
Brooks drops to the floor. He rolls over, holding his throat and gasping for breath. Freddie howls as he lunges at Becka, but she dodges him and throws something else at him that makes him scream.
Freddie’s hold on me wavers, and I hurl myself toward Lily. But I only get two steps toward the bed before I’m frozen once more.
“You cannot fight me, hunters!” Freddie screams.
Fire rises from his fingers. The room’s smoke alarm starts buzzing as he springs for me, the flames aimed at my face. I brace myself for the pain that’s to come.
Daisy, I’m so sorry. I tried to save you. I love—
“Lily, now!” Becka screams.
Lily lets out a noise that’s half screech, half yawn. She throws herself forward, dragging an object from behind the bed. A crossbow.
She draws the crossbow to her shoulder. It must work on magic or something because it is already loaded.
