Then, without waiting another moment, I rushed out of the room, down the stairs and out of the house.

Sofia racing alongside me, I ran full speed ahead.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“What do you think?” I breathed.

“I need to bring Mona back.” Sofia followed me to Corrine’s temple where all the witches were conducting their examinations.

I ran from chamber to chamber looking for them until I found them in one of the innermost rooms, all gathered around two tables pushed together.

My siblings, Erik and Helina, along with Matteo, Saira, Abby and Derek stood there too, deep in conversation.

They all looked up as soon as I entered.

“I need a witch to come with me to The Sanctuary to help me find Mona,” I said.

“Who volunteers?” There was a silence as the witches exchanged glances.

Then Patricia, the tall wiry witch at the end of the table, raised her hand.

“Out of all of us, I’m the most skilled.

I’ll come.

But I’ll need to consult Mona’s map to know which gate into the supernatural realm would be best to use.” “We have copies of it in our home,” Sofia said quickly.

“I’ll fetch one.” She hurried out of the room.

“I’ll come too.” Erik stepped forward.

I looked at him reluctantly.

“What use will you be? You’re a vampire.” “So are you,” he shot back.

“The fewer of us there are, the better,” I said.

“I need to draw as little attention as possible.” As if she hadn’t heard the words I’d just spoken, my sister stepped forward too.

“If Erik is going, I’m going too.” Before I could even respond, to my surprise, Matteo reached for her hand and pulled her back.

“No, Helina,” he said.

“Kiev’s right.

The fewer people who go, the better.” I would have pondered longer about the look of affection Matteo had on his face as he stared down at my sister, but I was too preoccupied with the matter at hand.

My eyes fell once again on Erik.

My brother could be as stubborn as an ox once he got an idea into his head, and something told me that it would be easier to just let him come with me.

Breathing out in frustration, I said, “Fine.

Erik and Patricia come with me.

Nobody else.” Gripping both Erik and Patricia by the arms, I pulled them out of the room before another word could be said.

As we ran down the corridor toward the exit, Derek called after me.

“Be careful, Novalic.” I shot a look back over my shoulder to see his silhouette at the other end of the shadowy corridor.

Grimacing, I gave him a curt nod before continuing toward the exit.

I didn’t know how we were going to actually pull this off—and I was sure neither Patricia nor my brother had any clue either.

But it didn’t matter.

The image of Mona burning through my brain clouded any uncertainty I might have otherwise held about what we were about to attempt.

As we left though the front door and entered the moonlit courtyard, I stopped.

“Wait here for Sofia to return and give you the map,” I said.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” I lurched back through the woods until I reached the beach.

I didn’t stop running until I reached Mona’s and my wrecked home again.

Whizzing through the front door and up the stairs, I passed through the bedroom and entered the ensuite bathroom.

I reached for the scorched drawer beneath the sink and pulled it open.

The contents near the front were mostly ruined, but as I reached further inside, my fingers brushed against a leather pouch.

I pulled it out and examined it, relieved to see that it was still intact.

My eyes remained fixed on the small bulge beneath the fabric for a few seconds longer before I slipped it into the back pocket of my pants.

Then I hurried out of the house, back toward the courtyard.

I’d expected to return to only Patricia and Erik, but there was also a third person: Abby.

I was relieved Patricia was holding the map already.

“Right.

Patricia, Erik, let’s go.” “I’m coming too,” Abby said.

I scowled at her.

“Did you not hear what I said back there?” Grabbing Patricia and Erik, I yanked them away from Abby and started moving away from the courtyard.

But Abby caught up and stood in front of me, blocking my way.

“I’m coming with you,” she repeated, hands on her waist.

“I’m fed up of sitting still on this island.

I want to help.” “We don’t need anyone else tagging along.

It will only be a hindrance—” “Come on, Kiev,” Erik said, gripping my shoulder.

“Let Abby come if she wants to.

One extra person won’t do any harm.

It will only make four of us.” I wasn’t sure my temper could stand being held up for another moment, so, rather than risk maiming someone, I agreed.

“Patricia,” I said.

“Take us to The Sanctuary.”

Chapter 13: Sofia

We’d been so tied up in the crisis of Mona leaving us completely defenseless against the black witches, it wasn’t until Kiev had left the island that Derek and I realized that Ben wasn’t in his room.

Panic gripped both of us.

We thought that perhaps he’d escaped to the human area and was wreaking havoc there.