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“Maybe I can go in,” Max interrupts as he scans the room.
“It traps powers,” I tell him, then whisper, “Even mine.” He nods, and I can tell he’s trying to think of something. Anything. Then he turns his attention back to Grim.
“If I threw you this knife, could you use it?” Max asks him.
Grim glances at his hands and then nods. “If you got it close enough to my hand,” Grim replies. Max pulls out a smaller knife, bends down, and, in one swift motion, slides it straight into Grim’s hand.
“King Maxilliam.”
We both turn to the sound of that voice.
Standing behind us is Alan, the seer who helped me with my power when we opened the portal.
“Alan?” Max says, clearly confused.
He isn’t wearing his normal clothes, instead he is dressed as a king. He steps forward and, before we know what he’s doing, he kicks Max into the room. I’m so shocked by what is happening that I don’t try to stop him when he reaches for me. My head goes dizzy at the contact, and I can’t stand straight. I wobble, and Alan pushes me to the ground. Then he pulls my hands behind my back and ties them tightly. My head is hurting, and I don’t understand what is happening.
“I thought this would be harder.” Alan tsks and looks into the room. I turn my head on the floor, and when I do, I see that Grim and Max are both free. Alan places his hand on the side of the door, and when Max charges toward it, he hits an invisible barrier. I see it waver when he collides.
“Alan, think about what you are doing.”
“I did, sir. I am serving the rightful king.”
“And who is that?”
“My son, of course.” I can hear the smile in his voice as other footsteps come our way. I’m lifted from the floor, and when I look up, Viper approaches, wearing a green cape and a broad smile on his lips.
“I guess it wasn’t a bad thing, after all, sending you to that place. You did bring my father back. And for that, I won’t kill your sister. The wolf, on the other hand…” He taps his jaw. “… I’m still undecided.” I glance through the door at Grim and Max, who are both staring at me. “I didn’t plan to capture him, but I won’t lie and say I’ve never wondered what it was like to be Death.” Viper turns to face him. “Tell me. If I killed her right now, how would you collect her soul? Would it just float away and never be seen again?” Viper asks.
He turns back to me when his taunt gets no reply. “Everyone that saves you is here, child. Now it’s time we go and talk.” Two guards grab onto my arms, dragging me away, and I hear Max call out my name. I can’t move my hands and feet. They won’t cooperate, and I don’t know why.
We reach a large sitting area, and as my eyes take in the room, I see a cage set up in the middle. And behind that is another cage. In the first one is John, who seems to be knocked out, but in the second one is my sister and her baby.
“Talia,” Tatiana says in surprise. “You shouldn’t have come.” She shakes her head and holds her baby even tighter. “You shouldn’t have come,” she reiterates, her hands trembling against her newborn.
“I had to,” I whisper. My eyes locked on hers, she is looking at me with confusion as she holds her baby in her hands tightly.
“Yes, yes, of course, you had to. That’s what you girls are known for,” Viper says with an eye roll as I’m jerked to a stop and forced to the floor.
“Thanks to my father, I was able to come up with a potion to subdue your powers,” Viper tells me with a smile. “Probably not best to let strangers help you with your powers, Talia.”
“Thanks, I’ll take that into consideration in the future,” I snap.
Cinitta walks in, and her eyes find mine as I lie on the floor. She looks away quickly before Viper notices and heads over to him.
“You should have stayed in that other world. It would have been better for you than your fate here.” I try to move, but I can’t. I try to draw from my powers, and I feel them lurking just under the surface, but it’s like they’re stuck and unable to move forward. “Cinitta is going to watch you, so be on your best behavior and stay quiet while I go and speak to a certain Angel of Death.” Viper turns and strides out, his father going with him. When I see he is gone, I search for Cinitta and find she is standing off near the cages, her gaze firmly fixed on the floor.
“Why do you serve him?” I ask.
“You know why,” she answers.
“Sometimes people who we thought were heroes change. He has changed, Cinitta.” She doesn’t reply.
I check on John, who’s still knocked out. “What did they do to him?” I ask.
Cinitta looks at John’s cage.
“A wolf isn’t meant to be caged. They go insane and will tear it to shreds. This cage is strong enough to withhold most wolves, but Viper is not sure about this one. He is the alpha, after all, so he thought it safer to knock him out.”
