He held out his hand, and a ball of white lightning sparked to life in the center of his palm, crackling and spitting and hissing as though it were a living thing. I could feel the raw, electrical energy across the short distance that separated us, and my transference magic stirred again, wanting to reach out and tap into that power. My stomach roiled and bile rose up in my throat. The lightning was the most monstrous thing I’d ever seen because it was the direct result of people’s pain, suffering, misery, and death.

“You see,” Victor purred, a sly smile curving his lips. “There comes a point when you can amass so much magic, you go beyond mere Talents, mere speed or strength or enhanced senses. You can eventually take so much magic from so many people that you can physically manifest it—call the power up in any way, shape, or form you like.”

He stepped forward so that he was standing right in front of me, the lightning still crackling in his palm. “I’ve always been fond of electricity.”

I shuddered and leaned my face and body as far away from him as I could. All the while, I kept flexing my hands and arms, harder and faster than before, still trying to get some slack in the ropes that bound me to the chair. I had to get out of here—soon—before Victor electrocuted me to death where I sat.

This . . . this must have been what he’d done to my mom. He must have stormed into our apartment that day and stunned her with his lightning the way he had Claudia at the White Orchid restaurant. Then, when my mom couldn’t fight back, he had slowly moved in for the kill, cutting her up just because he wanted to, just because it amused him, just because he wanted to make her suffer.

Victor stepped back and the lighting vanished, although I could still feel the electrical echoes of it in the air all around me, pricking my skin like dozens of tiny pixie swords.

“Your mother coming back to town and keeping Devon Sinclair from me was the final straw, the last insult in a long string of them,” he said. “At every turn, all the years we were growing up together, Serena Sterling was always there, always standing in my way and taking the things I wanted.”

Another thought popped into my mind. “Like the Tournament of Blades? Mo told me she beat you in the tournament one year.”

His eyes glimmered with fresh anger. “Not just that one year, but every single year from the time we were kids. But she wasn’t the only one who stood against me. So did your father.”

“Luke Silver,” I whispered. “You killed him too.”

“Luke was the Draconi Family bruiser, my right-hand man,” Victor said. “At least until Serena came along. He got all moony-eyed over her, and nothing I said or did could break her hold over him.”

“He loved her and she loved him,” I snapped. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

He shrugged. “Love is a concept I’ve never understood. A sappy, foolish emotion at best, but it completely turned Luke against me, and he started seeing things from Serena’s point of view. Started wanting to protect the monsters instead of taking their magic.”

“Why did you kill him?” I asked.

He shrugged again. “Luke helped Serena get rid of my black blades. Told her exactly where I had hidden them. He betrayed me for love, for her, and that’s why he had to die. I killed him first, so that she would suffer even more. I was going to kill her too, but she managed to leave town before I got the chance.”

By this point, Blake’s eyes were bulging, his mouth was hanging wide open, and he was staring at his dad as if he didn’t even recognize him anymore. Blake might be a cruel bully, but Victor was completely, utterly ruthless. The only thing that Victor cared about was how much power he had and how he could use it to bend others to his will. I wondered if Blake was finally starting to realize that—and that he was just as expendable to his dad as everyone else.

“You’ll never get away with this,” I said. “The other Families know what you’re up to now. They’ll find a way to stop you. Claudia will find a way to stop you.”

Victor let out a low, amused chuckle. “Claudia won’t be a problem for much longer. I’ve challenged her to a duel, and she’s already accepted.” He paused. “Then again, she had to, since I told her that I would order my guards to start killing anyone associated with any of the Families—guards, workers, and pixies—if she didn’t.”

I gasped and my heart clenched tight with fear. Victor had easily knocked out Claudia with his lightning magic at the restaurant and I had no doubt that he could kill her with it. With Claudia dead, the other Families would bow down to Victor and there would be no one left to stand against him. I couldn’t let that happen, but I didn’t know how to stop it either. Especially since my own future was so uncertain at the moment.

“Anyway, I’ve dallied here with you long enough,” he said. “Tell me, Lila, do you know how your father died?”

“Of course I know,” I snapped. “My mom told me all about it. How you sent him out to some building owned by the Draconis to deal with a copper crusher, only there was a whole nest of them inside. They attacked and killed him before he even knew what was happening.”

Victor actually smiled at me, his face creasing with happiness. “Excellent. I was hoping Serena had told you that story. It will make this so much more satisfying.”

My heart dropped and fear spread through my body. “What do you mean?”

He gestured out at the empty warehouse. “Because this is the building where your father died. This warehouse has been in the Draconi Family for years. We’ve housed various businesses in here, shipping and storage companies and the like. Even a butcher at one point. But none of them ever lasted long. Do you know why?”

I shook my head. I had no idea what he was getting at.

“Because of the copper crushers,” Victor said. “This is one of their favorite spots in all of Cloudburst Falls. It’s why the town founders named this area Copper Street. I’m not sure exactly why the crushers like it so much. Maybe because it’s close to the river. Anyway, every couple of months, I would have to send guards down here to clean them out. You know how vicious crushers can be, especially when there’s a whole nest of them. We lost more guards than it was worth to keep the businesses open, so finally, I just let the crushers have the warehouse. Every once in a while, though, I come back here and leave a meal for them. And tonight, Lila, that meal is going to be you.”