Oscar flew off to talk to some of the Sinclair pixies, and I headed straight for the buffet tables and heaped a plate high with food, especially bacon. I grabbed a glass of apple juice, then turned around, looking for my friends in the crowd. Finally, I spotted Poppy Ito waving to me from a table in the corner and I headed in that direction.
Devon, Felix, and Mo were sitting together as usual. Angelo and Reginald were here too, talking to each other in low voices, and there was one other addition to the table that surprised me—Claudia.
She was sitting next to Mo, laughing and smiling at him. It was the friendliest that I’d ever seen her be to him, and Mo, well, he preferred teasing Claudia more often than not. I wondered what all had gone down between them while they’d been locked up in Victor’s office, if maybe they’d finally let the past be the past and had agreed to a fresh start. I didn’t know, but it eased some of the hurt and ache in my own heart.
“Lila!” Poppy said, getting to her feet. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”
I put my food down and hugged her. “And I’m glad you’re all right too. I was worried about you, after everything that happened at the restaurant.”
She gave me a somber look. She shook her head and turned away, but not before I saw the glimmer of tears in her dark eyes, and I realized that Poppy was missing her friends and all the members of her Family who hadn’t made it out of the restaurant alive. I looked around the room, grief, fear, and anger punching me in the chest one after another as I locked eyes with various people.
Victor—Victor had done this.
He had hurt every single person in this room in some way, and he wouldn’t be happy until we were all under his thumb with his gold cuffs shackled around our wrists. Well, that wasn’t going to happen, and he was finally going to pay for all the horrible things he’d done. I just had to figure out how I could actually steal his magic. But there was another question that troubled me almost as much.
Once I had his magic, what would I do with it?
But I didn’t have time to dwell on my worries because the rest of my friends got to their feet, came over, and hugged me as well. Angelo, Reginald, Mo, Felix, and Devon, who pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“I was so worried about you,” he whispered, holding me tight.
“I know,” I whispered back. “But you found me, and you saved me.”
He nodded. “With Seleste’s and Deah’s help.”
He tilted his head to the side and I realized that my aunt and cousin were sitting at the far end of the table. At first, I wondered why they were sitting down there all by themselves, but then I realized that not everyone was happy they were here. More than a few folks gave them suspicious, hostile glares, especially Deah. She stared down at her plate, pretending she didn’t notice people glaring at her, but I could see how tight and tense her shoulders were.
I looked at Devon and Felix, then jerked my head in Deah’s direction. They nodded and grabbed their plates. Together, the three of us, plus Poppy, sat down with Deah and Seleste in a silent show of support. That got some folks to turn away and focus on their food again, especially since I glared at them just as harshly as they had been staring at Deah and Seleste.
“Lila! Darling!” Seleste said, leaning over, putting her arm around my shoulder, and hugging me tight. “So nice to see you up and about this morning. Nasty things, those copper crushers.”
I thought of those ruby-red eyes creeping closer and closer to me. I couldn’t hold back a shudder. “You have no idea.”
Seleste arched her eyebrows.
“Well, I guess you do, since you probably had a vision of it. Thanks for telling my friends where to find me.”
She fluttered her hand at me. “Don’t be silly, darling. That’s what family is for.”
I nodded and looked across the table at Deah, who was staring back at me. When she realized that I was really all right, some of the tension in her face eased.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Deah said.
She hesitated, then leaned over, reached out, and squeezed my hand. I nodded at her and squeezed back.
Felix opened his mouth to start talking, the way he normally did, but my stomach let out a loud rumble, drowning him out before he could get started.
He looked at me, an amused grin on his face. “Hungry much?”
“You have no idea,” I said, reaching for the first strip of bacon on my plate.
While I shoveled food into my mouth, my friends told me about finding me outside the old apartment building last night.
“You should have seen yourself,” Felix said. “You were just leaning up against the side of the building and staring off into the distance, mumbling like you were talking to someone who was sitting right next to you. It was actually kind of funny.”
Devon, Poppy, and Deah all shot him warning looks.
Felix shrugged. “Well, it was, even if Lila was poisoned with copper crusher venom at the time. I kind of wish I had recorded it on my phone for blackmail purposes.”
He winked at me. I rolled my eyes and shoved another piece of bacon into my mouth.
The others kept talking while I ate and then made several trips back over to the buffet table to refill my plate, especially my bacon supply. I had just polished off the last of my pancakes and my final strip of bacon when Claudia rose to her feet and moved to the front of the dining hall, along with Roberto Salazar and Hiroshi Ito. Everyone slowly quieted down and turned to face the heads of their respective Families.
“Everyone knows the horrors of the past few days,” Hiroshi said. “You all know that Victor has attacked us, all of us, and that he will keep right on attacking until either he is defeated or we are.”
Uneasy murmurs rippled through the dining hall, and once again, several folks turned and gave Deah and Seleste harsh glares. Deah squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and glared right back at them, not scared of anyone, while Seleste smiled and waved her hand, as though she was reconnecting with old friends. At least that got some folks to look at her with puzzled expressions instead of angry ones.
“Victor has proposed a truce, of sorts, along with a meeting,” Hiroshi continued. “During the day, all the Families will stand down and go about their normal routines. All the guards and workers are to return to their regular stations on the Midway, and all businesses are to be open as usual, so as not to alarm or alert the tourists to the problems we’re having.”
I snorted. Victor might want all the other Families defeated and under his thumb, but he loved money almost as much as he did magic. Of course he would want all the businesses to be open during the day in order to get as much cash from the tourist rubes as he could.
“Victor might have called a truce, but I want everyone to be extra careful,” Roberto Salazar chimed in. “No one goes anywhere alone and I want at least one guard with every worker. Understood?”
Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement.
“As to the meeting,” Hiroshi said. “I’ll let Claudia address that.”
Claudia nodded at him, then stepped forward, her hands clasped in front of her, staring out over the sea of faces. “Victor has demanded that I fight him in a duel, or he will order his men to attack everyone associated with the other Families—guards, workers, even pixies.” Her mouth hardened and anger flared in her eyes. “I have chosen to accept his challenge. The duel will take place tonight, and the winner will take control of both of our Families.”
Shocked gasps rang out through the crowd, and worry and tension tightened more than one person’s face, including my own. In an instant, people started shouting, each one trying to be heard over the other.
“No way!”
“You can’t do that!”
“He’ll kill you!”
More and more shocked gasps and murmurs sounded, but Claudia held up a hand, asking for quiet.
“I’ve agreed to the duel because it is the best way to avoid more bloodshed,” she said. “We all know that Victor is the
main threat. Most of the Draconis are decent folks, like everyone in this room. It’s not their fault that they work for a man who wants to destroy us all.”
More looks were directed at Deah and Seleste, but this time there was some sympathy mixed in with the glares.
“Victor challenged me to a duel, but I have decided to choose a champion for myself, for the entire Sinclair Family.” Claudia paused. “And that champion is Lila Merriweather.”
My friends whipped around, staring at me, their eyes wide and their mouths gaping open in shock. But they weren’t the only ones looking at me now. Every single person and pixie in the dining hall regarded me with a mixture of shock, surprise, and wary hope. It was the hope that made my throat tighten, my spine straighten, and my chin lift—hope that I could finally end the threat that Victor posed to all of us.
Devon was the only one who wasn’t surprised by Claudia’s announcement. He stared at me and slowly nodded his head, blazing conviction and rock-hard certainty flashing in his eyes. He knew how important this was, not just to the Sinclairs and the other Families, but to me personally. He knew that this was my chance to finally make Victor pay for murdering my mom.
And he believed that I could win.
That meant so much to me, more than he would ever know. I reached my hand out across the table and Devon threaded his fingers through mine. I smiled at him and he winked back at me.
“The duel is to be held at midnight tonight at the lochness bridge, well away from the Midway and all the shopping squares,” Claudia said. “Victor will be there, and I’m betting that so will all of the other Draconis. If the duel doesn’t go his way, I have no doubt that Victor will order his men to attack us, to try to wipe us out so he can take control of the town anyway. I’m asking for volunteers to come to the lochness bridge to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
She had barely finished speaking before guards from all three Families started shooting to their feet, raising their hands, and declaring that they wanted to be there tonight. Mo got up and started going around the room, taking down the name of everyone who wanted to come to the duel, as well as pairing up folks to go work down on the Midway today.
But the most surprising thing was that people started coming over to me.
One by one, they approached me, saying how proud they were of me and wishing me good luck. And it wasn’t just the Sinclairs. Members of the Ito and Salazar Families came over and offered their thanks as well. Once again, the faint hope shining in all their eyes took root in my own heart. My throat closed up with emotion and all I could do was just nod at everyone, shake their hands, and accept their soft touches and pats on the shoulder.
I might have started working for the Sinclairs in order to get revenge on Victor, but now, I was truly a part of the Family. And I was going to protect my Family the best way I could.
Or die trying.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
One by one, all the guards, workers, and pixies left the dining hall to head down to town and their assigned stations, but my friends and I stayed behind in the Ito mansion.
Poppy led us to one of the game rooms, complete with a pool table and a large-screen TV, but none of us felt like relaxing or goofing off. Not when we knew what was coming tonight. But Poppy popped in an action movie and we all sat down on the couches and pretended to watch it. Eventually, the others started talking, but I got up and went out onto one of the balconies.
The Ito mansion was a little lower down on Cloudburst Mountain than the Sinclair compound, but the view was just as spectacular. It was a little after noon and the summer sun was shining in the clear blue sky, but the neon lights of the Midway still glowed, pulsed, and flashed down in the valley below, as though they were competing with the sun to see which could shine the biggest and brightest.
I put my elbows down on the warm stone ledge, thinking about everything that had happened over the past few days. A few minutes later, the door behind me whispered open and Devon stepped outside to join me. He leaned his elbows down on the ledge as well, and the two of us stood there together, our shoulders touching. We didn’t speak for a few minutes.
“I know why you feel like you have to do this,” he finally said, looking at me. “Why you have to face Victor. I understand. But I want you to know that you won’t be doing it alone. I’ll be right there with you, every single step of the way.”
He reached over and squeezed my hand, and I laced my fingers through his.
“I know,” I said. “And I love you for that.”
I hadn’t said the words to him before when we’d been together in the library, and I’d almost died last night. I could still die tonight. So I wasn’t going to let another second pass without telling him how I felt, potential jinxes be damned.
He blinked, as if shocked by my words, but then his whole face lit up, shining brighter than the sun and all the Midway lights combined. “You love me?”
For a moment, I felt unsure, since the words had just slipped out, but it was too late to take them back now, and I didn’t want to anyway. I nodded, staring into his eyes. “Of course I do. You’re kind, thoughtful, considerate, supportive, and you always think about others before yourself. Not to mention the fact that you’re handsome and charming and you live in a mansion.” I grinned. “You’re a hard guy not to love, Devon Sinclair.”
My voice was light and teasing, but the look in Devon’s eyes was anything but. That hot, hot spark in his green, green eyes erupted into the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. A wave of love washed over my heart and spread throughout my entire body, bringing a dizzying rush along with it. Without a word, Devon stepped forward, cupped my face in his hands, and pressed his lips to mine.
It was a soft kiss, just a brief touch of his lips against mine, but I felt more in this one kiss than I had in any of our others because I loved him, and I knew that he loved me too.
All too soon, we broke apart, but Devon opened his arms and I stepped forward and laid my head on his shoulder. And we stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, for a long, long time.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur, as Claudia, Mo, and the others planned who would be on the lochness bridge with me, where the rest of the guards would be positioned, and what everyone should do depending on who won the duel. All too soon, their plans became reality, and it was time for me to face Victor.
According to reports, the truce was holding down on the Midway and none of the Ito, Salazar, or Sinclair guards or workers had been attacked by the Draconis. The Volkovs were keeping to themselves and staying out of things completely, just the way Claudia had predicted.
Around nine o’clock that night, I was back in the guest bedroom, putting on my gear for the evening. For once, I wasn’t wearing my mom’s trench coat. Instead, tonight I’d opted to wear a black cloak in honor of the Sinclairs. In fact, I was wearing the same outfit that I had during the Tournament of Blades—black boots, black pants, and a white sleeveless silk shirt, topped by the black cloak. I hadn’t bothered with a black cavalier hat, though. I hated wearing those hats. The stupid feathers always fell down into my face.
“You look good,” Oscar said, fluttering around me the way he had been ever since I’d come back to the bedroom. “Just like a Sinclair.”
I nodded and finished pulling my black hair back into its regular ponytail. I thought about sticking my chopstick lock picks through my hair like usual, but I didn’t want to lose them during the fight, so I left them in one of the pockets of my mom’s coat, along with her ironmesh gloves.
I looped my black leather belt with its three bloodiron throwing stars around my waist and tucked several quarters into a hidden slot on the belt, just in case I needed to pay the lochness’s toll. I didn’t know how the monster would feel about a duel taking place on its bridge, but I wanted to be prepared.
For the final touches, I slipped my mom’s star-shaped sapphire ring onto my finger, then slid her black blade into the scabbard hanging off my belt.
/> I stared at myself in the mirror over the dresser. Oscar was right. I did look like a Sinclair, especially with my silver cuff flashing on my right wrist. But I also thought that I looked like a Sterling—like my mom. And that made me happier than anything else, because I knew that she would be proud of me, no matter what happened with Victor tonight.
Even if I still didn’t have any idea how to defeat him.
Still fluttering around my shoulder, Oscar looked at me in the mirror. I turned and held out my hand. He flew forward and landed on my palm, his cowboy boots tickling my skin.
“No matter what happens tonight, I want you to know how much I care about you,” I said. “And what an amazing friend you’ve been to me this summer.”
A soft, almost reproachful snort sounded, and I looked over at Tiny, who was on the same table as before.
“And you too, Tiny,” I added.
The tortoise nodded and went back to eating the fresh pile of lettuce that Oscar had brought for him earlier.
Oscar looked at me, tears shining in his violet eyes. “Don’t you dare do that,” he snarled in his twangy voice. “Don’t you dare say goodbye to me. It’s the same thing your mother did the day she left the Family. I never saw her again after that.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not saying goodbye, and you will see me again.”
I kept my voice strong and my eyes steady on his, as though I really did believe every word. But I didn’t. Not deep down inside where it really mattered. I thought of Victor’s lightning and I had to hold back a shudder. I still didn’t know how to stop him from electrocuting me with his magic, much less how to actually steal his power. But Oscar didn’t need to know that.
No one needed to know that.
“I’m going to find a way to stop Victor,” I said, still keeping my voice strong. “Do you trust me, Oscar?”