I shook my head. “Now you’re talking in riddles like Seleste always does.”
My mom’s smile faltered. “Seleste,” she whispered. “I miss her so much. And you too, Lila.”
She stepped forward and cupped my cheek with her hand. I leaned in to her touch. So warm, so soft, so alive. Nothing at all like the cold, dead, bloody hands I remembered from that day in our apartment.
“Why are you here? Why now? Am I . . . dead?”
She laughed, her face creasing with amusement. “Of course not, silly. It would take more than a little copper crusher venom to do you in. It’s pure magic, you know. Most people can only handle so much magic, so much power in their body at one time. The venom stops their hearts, and then everything else inside them just shuts down. But you’re different, Lila. Your transference magic makes you different. You can handle the venom.”
“So I’ll live then,” I said, trying to crack a joke and make her laugh again. “Good to know.”
She did laugh again, the sound warming my heart, then dropped her hand from my face. “You always were one to look on the bright side of things.”
Mom turned and stared out at the view again. I scooted up so that I was standing right beside her. It reminded me of so many other times and places we’d done this. Whenever we would hike up to the scenic overlooks on Cloudburst Mountain, or go down to the beach that ringed Bloodiron Lake, or just stand on the lochness bridge, staring down at the rippling surface of the water, watching it rush by. My heart squeezed tight, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know if this was real or not, but either way, I didn’t want this moment to end. If I could have stayed here forever, I would have.
But finally, the quiet was too much for me to bear.
“So what happens now?” I asked. “How can I stop Victor?”
My mom looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “How do you think you can stop him?”
I bit my lip. “I don’t know. He has so much magic, so much power. That lightning of his . . . it’s like nothing else that I’ve ever seen before. I knew he had a lot of Talents, but to be able to wield raw magic that way . . . it scares me.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “He scares me.”
I’d never admitted that to anyone before, not even myself, but I looked at my mom, knowing she would understand.
“His magic always scared me too,” she said. “But what scares me even more is how close Victor is to getting everything he’s always wanted. Even if the other Families band together with the Sinclairs, he won’t rest now until he slaughters everyone who opposes him.”
“I know,” I whispered, my stomach twisting at the thought. “He’ll kill Devon, Claudia, Mo, Felix, Oscar, and all the rest of my friends. Deah and Seleste too. And he won’t stop there. He’ll go after the monsters too. As many of them as he can until he has every single scrap of magic he can possibly get.”
“Unless someone stands up to him,” my mom said. “Unless someone stops him.”
She stared at me, her blue eyes as dark and serious as I’d ever seen them.
“Me?” I asked. “You really think that I can beat Victor? How?”
“By doing what I trained you for all along, Lila.” She arched her eyebrows. “By doing what you do best.”
I snorted. “I don’t think Victor is just going to stand by and let me steal his magic the way I would break into someone’s house and snatch a diamond necklace.”
My mom kept staring at me, a small smile playing on her lips. She didn’t say anything else, but she gave me this wise, knowing look, like I’d just said the perfect thing to solve the riddle of how to defeat Victor.
My eyes narrowed. “Wait a second . . . you really think I can steal Victor’s magic? How do you expect me to do that?”
She nodded. “The same way he stole everyone else’s.”
I frowned, not understanding what she meant. My mom stepped forward and folded me into her arms. The scent of lilacs, her favorite perfume, filled my nose, and her arms felt warm and strong around me, as though she really were hugging me, even though I knew that was impossible.
But she drew back all too soon. She smiled at me again, then reached up and brushed my hair back off my face.
“I’m so proud of you, Lila,” she whispered. “Always remember that.”
Then she dropped her hand from my face and stepped back. I reached for her, but somehow I couldn’t move.
“Mom!” I yelled. “Mom! Come back!”
She smiled at me a final time, and then it was as if the stars started falling from the sky like flakes of snow. Each one pulsed with light as it hit the balcony. Together, their combined glow grew brighter and brighter until it formed a solid wall of white in my mind again, a wall that separated me from my mom—
“Lila?” a soft voice called out. “Lila? Wake up, honey.”
A hand touched my shoulder and I gasped, my eyes snapping open.
Claudia Sinclair was standing over me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Claudia put her hand on my shoulder, coaxing me to lie back down. “Easy,” she whispered. “Easy now, Lila. There might still be some copper crusher venom running through your veins. Just relax.”
I nodded and did as she said, propping myself up against the pillows. I looked around and realized that we were in a bedroom. It was just as finely furnished as my own room at the Sinclair mansion, with one main difference—bunches of purple wisteria perched in crystal vases throughout the room, along with beautiful white orchids. Several paintings of wisteria flowers hung on the walls and the symbol was also carved into every piece of furniture that I could see.
I frowned, not understanding what was going on. “Where are we?”
“The Ito Family mansion,” Claudia said. “Hiroshi has agreed to join forces with us. So have the Salazars.”
“And the Volkovs?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
She shook her head. “They’re staying out of things. At least until they see who wins—us or Victor.”
I nodded again. “What happened? How did you find me? How did I get here?”
“It was Seleste, actually. She kept insisting that she saw you outside an old apartment building close to the lochness bridge. Told everyone who would listen that that’s where you would be. That you were sitting there waiting for us to come find you. So Devon, Deah, and Felix went and looked for you. And they found you, right where she said you would be.”
I shook my head. “I don’t remember any of that.”
“I know. Devon said you were muttering as if you were talking to someone, but that you didn’t speak to or recognize any of them.” Claudia looked at me. “Was it Serena?”
I blinked. “How did you know that?”
She gestured at my hand. “Not only does copper crusher venom cause hallucinations, but it also has the unique magical property of letting us see the thing we want most to see. In your case, I guessed that would be Serena.”
I looked down at my hand, but the two deep, red puncture wounds from the crusher’s fangs were gone. So was the pain in my face and head. In fact, all my cuts, bumps, and bruises had been healed, including the broken bones in my hand, and I felt perfectly fine. Felix and Angelo must have used their healing magic on me, along with a whole lot of stitch-sting. But I was well and whole again, except for the old, familiar ache in my heart, one that seeing my mom had only intensified.
“We were standing on the balcony outside my room at the Sinclair mansion, looking down at the Midway,” I whispered. “She looked so beautiful, just like I remember. And the way she smiled at me, talked to me, it was like she was really there.”
“Maybe she was,” Claudia murmured.
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “Sight magic is a very powerful thing, especially in the Sterling Family. Seleste can see the future, Deah can see people well enough to copy their every movement with her mimic magic, and you can actually see into people’s hearts with your soulsight. Who’s to say that you
can’t see something else? Sometimes, the living and the dead aren’t that far apart, especially in a place like Cloudburst Falls.”
I didn’t know if I believed all that or not, but my mom had seemed so real to me in the dream or vision or whatever it had really been. If nothing else, seeing her again, even if it was only a figment of my imagination, had given me a little peace. I was comforted by the idea that she was in a better place, in some other version of Cloudburst Falls where she was alive and well and watching over me.
“So what happened after the fight at the warehouse?” I asked. “Where did you guys go? And how did you end up here at the Ito mansion?”
Claudia sat back in her chair, lacing her fingers together and making her silver Sinclair cuff flash on her wrist.
“I was pretty out of it myself, but the others took me to your library basement. Angelo and Felix used their magic and your supply of stitch-sting to heal me, Mo, and everyone else who had been injured,” she said. “The guards and pixies told us what had happened at the mansion, so we knew that we couldn’t go back there, but there wasn’t room for all of us in the library basement. So I reached out to Hiroshi, hoping that he had escaped the restaurant. He had and he suggested that we join forces. I agreed and, well, here we are.”
“And Devon and the others?”
She gestured to an empty chair that had been pulled up close to the other side of my bed. “He was sitting right there, watching over you, until I finally made him go get some sleep,” she said. “Everyone’s fine, thanks to you.”
I nodded, tears pricking my eyes. I’d hoped that Devon had escaped with the others, but it was such a relief to hear that he had. That he was all right. That everyone was okay.
For now.
“And this is fine too.”
She leaned down, picked up something from beside her chair, and raised it where I could see it.
My mom’s sword glinted in her hand.
My breath caught in my throat, and Claudia reached over and laid the sword down on the bed beside me. I eagerly traced my fingers over the stars engraved in the blade, then the single one carved into the hilt. I’d thought that my mom’s sword had been lost in the fight with the Draconi guards, that it was another piece of her that had been ripped away from me forever. But to see it here, now, to hold it in my hand again.... My heart lifted and tears scalded my eyes.
“How . . . who . . .” So many emotions were rushing through me that I couldn’t even get my questions out.
Claudia realized what I was asking. “Oscar,” she said. “He couldn’t save you from the Draconis, but he managed to dart in, scoop up your sword, and fly away with it before they could stop him.”
Despite their small size, pixies were quite strong and could lift and carry several times their own body weight, but this . . . this was amazing. A truly incredible feat on his part. I didn’t know how I would ever repay Oscar for saving this piece of my mom for me.
I ran my fingers over the sword a final time, then focused on Claudia again. “So what happens now?” I asked. “Victor told me that he challenged you to a duel. That you either had to face him, or he would order his guards to kill anyone who has anything to do with the other Families.”
She grimaced. “So he did. A one-on-one magic battle. Winner take all. You should like this. He wants it to take place on the lochness bridge.”
I frowned. “Why would he pick that spot?”
Claudia shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“You can’t face him. He’ll kill you with his lightning magic. You know he will.”
A wry smile curved her lips. “Concerned about me, are you, Lila?”
“Of course I am. I’ve grown rather used to living in a mansion, eating all the bacon I want, and sleeping in a nice, warm, soft bed every night. I’d hate to have to give that up just because you went and did something as silly as getting yourself killed.”
She laughed, but her face turned serious again all too quickly. “Well, Victor didn’t give me much choice, did he? I can’t just stand by and do nothing while he slaughters innocent people. I have to face him. I have to stand and fight, and I have to protect my Family and everyone else as best I can for as long as possible.”
I drew in a deep breath, staring at all the stars on my mom’s sword, knowing what I had to do now. Maybe I’d always known, ever since I’d started working for the Sinclairs. Or maybe I’d realized it even before then, the day my mom had been murdered.
“And what if you didn’t face Victor yourself? What if you chose someone else to do it for you?”
Claudia looked at me, her eyes sharpening with understanding. “You . . . you actually want to fight Victor.” She shook her head. “No, Lila, I can’t let you do that. Protecting the Sinclairs is my job, my responsibility. You saved Devon at the restaurant, and you kept him safe, just as I asked. In fact, you’ve done every single thing I’ve asked of you this summer. I’m not going to ask you to do this too. Facing Victor is my duty and my sacrifice to make, not yours.”
“And he’s the one who tortured and murdered my mom just because she got in his way, just because she dared to stand up to him, just because she tried to protect the monsters and everyone else from him,” I said. “He told me all about it—how she stole and destroyed the first stash of black blades he had all those years ago.”
Claudia nodded. “Serena never told me all the details, but I thought it must have been something like that. Even back then, when we were kids, Victor was always hungry for power. I just never thought he would go to such horrible lengths to attain it.”
“I can beat him,” I said. “That’s what my mom told me in my dream . . . or whatever that was. I can take away Victor’s magic, his Talents.”
She frowned. “And how can you do that?”
“I have no idea, but stealing is what I do best. Lila Merriweather, thief extraordinaire, remember?” I grinned and waggled my eyebrows at her. “I’m sure I can figure it out. I always have before.”
Claudia laughed, but the sound quickly faded away, and her face turned serious again. “But you never had to battle Victor before. He’s stronger and more cunning and ruthless than anyone else you’ve ever fought.”
Everything she said was true, but I shrugged, not letting her see how scared part of me was deep down inside. Scared that I would end up just like my mom—dead at Victor’s hand.
“You don’t have to do this for me,” she repeated. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“I know,” I said. “But I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for me—for me and my mom and every monster and every person that Victor has ever hurt.”
She stared at me, her green eyes locking with mine. She didn’t have my soulsight magic, so she couldn’t feel my emotions the way I could her worry and fear, but she could easily see the determination etched in my face.
Claudia stared at me for a long, long time. Then she finally nodded. “So be it then,” she said. “I’ll let Hiroshi and the others know.”
“So be it,” I echoed.
Claudia left my room. According to the clock on the nightstand, there were still a couple of hours to go until dawn, so I went back to sleep. After all the stress, worry, and tension of the past few days, it was nice to know what I had to do now—even if Victor would probably end up killing me, just like he had my mom.
I woke up the second time to find Oscar pacing back and forth on the nightstand, his cowboy boots clack-clack-clacking out a steady, soothing rhythm. Tiny was on top of another table, nestled in a bowl full of lettuce, happily and steadily chewing his way to freedom as though he was in a prison of delicious greenery.
I got out of bed and went over to where the tortoise was. “Looks like someone’s already had his breakfast.”
I scratched the top of Tiny’s head. He huffed his thanks, then went straight back to his lettuce. I liked a tortoise who had his priorities straight.
Oscar fluttered over, landed on the table, and gave me
a critical once-over. “How are you feeling?”
I put my arms up over my head and stretched from side to side. “Tired. Sore.”
“No more hallucinations?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nope, no more crazy dreams or visions or whatever.”
My stomach rumbled, reminding me that it had been a very long time since I’d eaten. “So . . . please tell me that they have some bacon in this joint.”
Oscar laughed. “Now I know you’re all right.” He flew up and hugged my neck before zipping over to the door. “This way.”
I scratched Tiny’s head one more time, then followed him.
Like the Sinclair and Draconi compounds, the Ito mansion was richly furnished, with bits of gold, silver, and copper flashing everywhere, along with precious jewels. Walking through the halls was also a bit like strolling through a beautiful, elegant greenlab; there were trees, plants, and flowers practically everywhere, from bonsai trees perched in large clay pots in the corners to white orchids in crystal vases on the tables to clusters of purple wisteria flowers nestled in alcoves in the walls. The Ito wisteria crest was also stamped, carved, embroidered, painted, and chiseled into many of the pots and vases, along with the rest of the furniture.
Oscar led me down a long hallway that opened up into a dining hall very similar to the one at the Sinclair mansion. Lots of tables, lots of floor-to-ceiling windows, and lots and lots of food set out, with pixies fluttering through the air, hurrying to replace empty trays with fresh, full ones. Among the breakfast staples, I spotted pancakes, eggs, and plenty of bacon, along with pitchers of orange, apple, and other juices.
It was a good thing there was so much food, given how many people were crammed in here. Silver and bronze cuffs flashed on everyone’s wrist, some stamped with the Ito wisteria flowers, some with the Salazar hacienda, and of course, many with the Sinclair hand-and-sword crest. It looked as though the survivors from all three Families had gathered here. It made sense. Nobody wanted to be by themselves with Victor and the Draconis out there. I wondered what the Volkovs were doing. Probably holed up in their own compound, waiting to see who won the war between us and Victor, just like Claudia had said.