“No!” I yelled.

I let loose another storm of bullets, but Aiden continued to be swept toward the beach, where the others were being kept prisoner. My gut clenched as five more vampires nearby lifted into the air.

They’re picking us off one by one.

There were still enough of us flailing in the waves to make the waters foam for almost as far as I could see along the stretch of beach, but if the black witches kept up their current pace, we didn’t have a lot of time.

I didn’t know where Mona or our other witches were by now. I could only assume they were doing their best to help us in this struggle in the ocean while maintaining their own invisibility.

I began to regret leading everyone into the water. But it was too late for regrets. Motioning again to move closer to land, I froze as I caught sight of the shiny hulls of three large submarines approaching. As soon as they entered The Shade’s boundary, the three hatches opened and vampires began to spill out onto the roof. My voice caught in my throat as I took in all the familiar faces before my eyes finally settled on a tall, ginger-haired vampire. Stellan.

As if the witches’ assault wasn’t enough, we now had a coven of vampires about to descend among us.

My heart pounded as there was a loud splash behind me. Strong hands shot down into the water and closed around my ankles. I kicked violently, but it was too late. I was already being lifted out of the water, my gun shooting out of my palms and disappearing beneath the dark ocean.

No.

“Caleb Achilles,” a deep voice hissed above me. “I vowed you’d be the first vampire I’d seek out.”

I didn’t need to see to put a face to that voice.

It was Rhys.

A burning sensation swelled around my ankles and spiked down suddenly, running down my legs, along my spine and reaching the back of my neck. It felt as though my nervous system had just been shattered. The agony was so consuming, I could barely breathe, much less yell. My attempts to break free only made me feel like a fish flailing on a hook.

The pain subsided slightly as we reached the beach. He dropped me against the sand, where I lay, crumpled in a heap. I felt too weak to even stand. The warlock bent down and gripped my hair, yanking my head back at such an angle, I was sure my neck was in danger of snapping.

He shoved one of his palms in front of my face. It had healed and now there was only the faintest scar where Rose had blown a hole through it.

“You never should have betrayed us, Achilles,” he whispered.

I couldn’t keep my eyes open as a blast of heat engulfed me. Sweat felt like it was breaking out from every pore of my skin and a heavy smoke invaded my nostrils. I was sure that Rhys was burning me alive.

Then an alarmed shout came from my left. The heat lessened—so much so that I dared open my eyes. When I squinted through the smoke, Rhys was no longer by my side. A ball of fire at least half his size had shot him backward against the trunk of a tree, thirty feet away from me. Fighting to steady my shaking legs, I eased myself into a standing position.

What in the world…

A tall figure emerged through the haze of smoke. Every part of his body was covered in armor except his hands, which were glowing red. The man tipped back his helmet.

It was the king of The Shade.

“Derek?” I breathed.

“That warlock—is he the one who stole my daughter?” Derek demanded, his blue eyes blazing. “Rhys?”

He pointed toward Rhys, who was slowly getting to his feet again, a cold fury taking hold of his expression.

“Yes,” I said, still trying to comprehend whether I was experiencing some kind of hallucination.

Derek’s gaze travelled back to the warlock and fixed on him.

“Wait,” I said, “You need to understand—”

But Derek Novak didn’t want to understand. His chest heaving, he didn’t even allow me to finish my sentence before he began sprinting toward the warlock.

He should have waited.

Because the truth was, whatever bizarre powers he seemed to have gained, he was still no match for Rhys Volkin.

Chapter 23: Derek

Having my powers back was both strange and exhilarating. It had been twelve long years since I’d last had them, and yet now that they had returned to me, it almost felt as though they had never left.

On seeing the warlock about to attack Caleb, I suspected right away that it might be Rhys. He fit the description my daughter had given.

Feeling the heat building up again in my shoulder blades, I ran straight for the warlock. His dark eyes flickered in the light of the blaze of fire I’d aimed at him, the remains of which still burned at his feet. His shirt was singed and his chest was covered with a round dark burn. His eyes fixed on mine, he stepped forward, away from the tree I’d hit him against, and walked around the fading ball of fire.

“Derek Novak,” he said softly. He brushed his hand against his chest, vanishing the burn mark instantly and replacing it with pale skin.

I raised my palms as the heat reached them. I managed to hold in the flames until I arrived within ten feet of the warlock, but then my rage was too much to contain. I let loose. Bursts of fire shot toward the warlock. As they were about to hit his skin, he spread his own palms. A powerful burst of water shot from his palms. It formed a whirlpool in the air, twirling round and round my fire until it had engulfed and extinguished it.

He let out a low chuckle. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

Reaching up for the branch hanging above me, I grabbed it and pulled myself up onto it. I aimed more flames down on him. Again, he shot out a tirade of water, rendering my fire useless.