I nodded back at Deah, then focused on Victor, since he was the one in charge. Even I had to admit that he was a handsome man, with a lean, trim figure and thick, wavy, golden hair that was brushed back from his forehead. His eyes were golden too, but instead of being warm and welcoming, they reminded me of coins that had been left outside in a blizzard—completely, utterly cold.

I knew better than anyone else that the eyes were truly the windows to the soul and that despite his handsome exterior, Victor was as black and rotten as they came on the inside, with the darkest heart I’d ever seen.

Victor was the only Draconi who wasn’t carrying a weapon. Then again, he didn’t need to; a cold chill of magic continually blasted off his body. Victor’s own magic was greater than that of any of the black blades in the restaurant, and it made goosebumps rise on my skin in a way that the other stolen magic didn’t. Maybe that was because I knew how horribly he’d tortured other people to get so much magic and so many Talents.

White stars winked on and off in my field of vision, and for a moment, the image of my mom’s broken, bloody body filled my mind. Her arms and legs bent at awkward angles, the deep, vicious stab wounds in her chest, all the horrible cuts and gashes and slashes that marred her skin, her mouth frozen open in one last helpless scream....

I blinked and blinked, forcing away the white stars and the horrible memories they brought along with them. Now was not the time to let my soulsight magic throw me back into the past and make me relive my mom’s murder. Not if I wanted to survive this and help my friends do the same.

“Good,” Victor said in a deep, silky voice, clear menace rumbling through each and every one of his words. “I’m so glad that we aren’t late to the party.”

He waved his hand and all the Draconis snapped up their weapons to an attention stance, including Blake and Deah. Blake realized that I was staring at him and he sneered back at me. My hands curled into fists. When the fighting started, he’d come after me sooner or later. Good. Let him come. I’d show him that I didn’t need a weapon to take him down.

Hiroshi Ito stepped to the front of the crowd. “Victor!” he barked out. “What is the meaning of this?”

Victor gave him a cold look. “The meaning is that from this night on, there’s only going to be one Family in Cloudburst Falls—the Draconi Family.” He looked out over the crowd, his gaze flicking from one face to another. “I’m giving everyone in this room a choice. Join my Family, become a Draconi, and swear your allegiance to me right here and now.”

“Or what?” Hiroshi barked again.

Victor gave him another cold look, as if the answer was obvious. “Or die.”

Even though everyone knew he was going to say something like that, shocked gasps still rang out, and excited, worried chatter rippled through the crowd. I ignored it all and looked around, glancing at first one Draconi, then another, trying to sense exactly which guards had real black blades and which ones didn’t.

One, two, three . . . I counted a dozen guards with black blades, which was the same number of magic-filled weapons I’d left in Victor’s secret room. So he hadn’t discovered that the weapons were fakes after all. Deah had told me as much with her earlier nod, but it was still good to confirm it for myself. All we had to do was get out of the restaurant and make it back to the Sinclair mansion, and we’d be safe.

Easier said than done, though. But I started looking at all the doors and windows, planning the best and quickest way to get my friends to safety. We could smash through the windows, but that would take precious time and leave us exposed to the Draconi guards. The swinging double doors on the back wall of the restaurant that led into the kitchen were our best bet. Only a few guards were stationed in front of them, and there had to be a rear exit out of the kitchen.

But Hiroshi wasn’t about to be cowed so easily by Victor, especially not in one of his own restaurants. “You really think your guards can kill all of us?” he asked. “My Family will fight you to the death before ever we join you.”

All around the room, the other Itos muttered their agreement, including Poppy, who now stood next to her father, her eyes narrowed and her hands clenched into fists, ready to fight alongside the rest of her Family.

“I don’t think my guards can do anything,” Victor said, a mocking note creeping into his voice. “I know they can. You see, I’ve known that this day was coming for a long time now, and I’ve planned accordingly.”

He swept his hand out to the side, gesturing at all his guards. “That’s why I’ve outfitted every single one of my guards with a black blade that’s filled with magic. Strength, speed, enhanced senses . . . it’s all there, all taken from monsters, with each blade matched to a specific guard to best take advantage of my men’s natural Talents, to increase their strength and speed until no one can stand against them.”

More shocked gasps rang out as people realized that Victor wasn’t joking—and just how many monsters he had murdered in order to amass that much magic. But the gasps quickly died down into an eerie, charged silence, as everyone understood just how much trouble we were really in—and how easily the Draconis could use that stolen monster magic to kill every single person in the restaurant.

“So you see, it would be far better to swear your loyalty to me now,” Victor purred, satisfaction rippling through his words. “Or I will order my guards to cut you all to pieces.”

That eerie silence descended over the restaurant again, more tense than ever before, and everyone started looking back and forth between Victor, the Draconi guards, and their own Family members, debating what to do. No one wanted to bow down to Victor, but they didn’t want to get slaughtered either, especially when they knew that they didn’t have a fighting chance.

“How about a demonstration then?” Victor called out. “Just to assure you all how serious I really am.”

No one answered him, so he turned and gestured for one of his guards to step forward into the center of the restaurant where everyone could see him. I didn’t recognize the guard, but he wasn’t important right now. Getting my hands on a weapon was.

So I sidled forward, creeping up on the Draconi guard closest to me. But he noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned and glowered at me, brandishing his sword in a clear warning to stand still or else. So I stood still. Now wasn’t the time to make a move, but soon—very, very soon.