A blur of movement flashed before my eyes as Eli lunged in front of the spell, trying to block it, trying to absorb it into himself. For a moment, the pain eased, but then Gargrave struck Eli in the temple with the head of his staff. Eli fell and didn’t move again.

“Don’t hurt her. I’ll tell you. Don’t hurt her!” Paul’s voice barely registered in my ears. It seemed far away, nonexistent.

Titus made a flicking gesture with his wand and the pain increased. I screamed with my whole body, tears pouring from my eyes. Stop stop stop oh God make it stop. Stop please stop.

“Three-eight-seven-eight-nine-seven!” Paul shouted.

The spell broke, and I fell back against the chair, trembling. Cold sweat coated my body, but the agony was over. At least physically. I’d never been more relieved in my life, no matter that it lasted only a moment.

Forcing my eyes open, I watched as Titus entered the pass code. The smile that broke across his face a second later told me all I needed to know. He had gotten what he wanted. He held in his hands the power of the Red Warlock—the name of every magickind willing to start a revolution.

Titus put the phone to sleep a second later and slid it into his front pocket. Then he leaned over and patted his nephew on the head. “Thank you, Paul. I’m glad you served a purpose at last. And how ironic it is that love was your downfall. It was your mother’s, too.”

Paul didn’t struggle, but sagged against the floor, defeat like a paralytic drug spreading through his body.

I wanted to scream and jump up and strangle this horrible man with my bare hands, but I couldn’t move. I could barely breathe as the aftereffects of the spell lingered on.

“Shall we kill them now?” Gargrave asked as Titus straightened up.

“No, leave them. We shouldn’t risk their death being traced back to us. If their bodies are found in the wreckage, there will be questions.” Titus engaged the glamour on his wand, turning it back into a watch. He checked the time as he slid it on. “We’ll let the sea take care of them.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “That is, if the building doesn’t do it first.”

Gargrave looked like he might argue, but then he nodded.

“Let’s go.” Titus turned around and headed for the door. He paused just before it and swung back around. “Oh, one last thing.” He walked over to Eli, still lying unconscious on the floor. He stooped and pulled Eli’s wand ring off his thumb. “I wouldn’t want any of you to believe this was going to be your saving grace.”

By Selene’s quick intake of breath, I guessed she’d been thinking it, at least.

Titus smiled. “If he wakes before the end, be sure to tell him that it wouldn’t have worked anyway. This isn’t a true wand. I had the power source inside it bound with a spell designed to suppress his dreams. It was the perfect solution to keeping you two off my trail after that useless girl failed to deliver my curse. Well, almost perfect.

At once, I realized the spell on Eli’s wand must’ve been the source of the fog in Eli’s dreams. All except for that last one. In his frustration, he’d removed the wand before going to sleep. A lucky break. Not that it mattered now.

“Nevertheless,” Titus continued, “it kept him from doing magic, and that is good enough for me. No ordinary should ever be allowed to pretend to be what we are.”

With that, Titus shoved the ring into his pocket and turned for the door, Gargrave following after him. I watched them go, dread pounding in my ears. When the door slammed shut, I knew they had won.

And now all that remained was the long wait before dying.

32

The Sinking

No one spoke for several minutes after Titus and Gargrave left, all of us in varying states of shock. I kept my gaze fixed on the door, willing it to open. Willing for somebody to come and find us. I even tried closing my eyes and calling for my mom with my mind-magic, but it was pointless. The silver rope of the binding curse created a containment shield around the bound person, blocking in all magic, even mind-magic. The only reason why I’d been able to force Gargrave out of my mind was because he’d had to come inside the shield first.

“I don’t suppose anyone has a magical knife stowed in their pockets,” Selene said, her voice wry but with a desperate undertone that made tears threaten my eyes.

I shook off the hopelessness and stood, my legs trembling from the effort. Taking a deep breath, I summoned all my strength, and then I walked over to Eli. I bent close and examined the wound on his temple. It looked painful but not deep. His breathing seemed to be growing shallow, and I guessed he would wake up on his own soon. I wanted to touch him, to reassure myself that he was all right, but it was impossible with my hands bound behind me. Instead I leaned even closer to him, brushing my lips against his head in a gentle kiss.

Then I moved past him toward the door. I turned around when I reached it and tried to grab the handle. But after several attempts, I knew it wasn’t going to work. I was too short and the handle too large. My fingers kept sliding off it.

“I can’t … get … ahold of it.” I let go and straightened up, cursing.

Across from me, Paul struggled to his feet. He looked as weak and uncoordinated as a newborn foal. He staggered over to me. “Let me try.”

I stepped aside and held my breath as I watched him turn around and try to grab the handle. He was taller than me. It might work. His fingers grasped the door handle, and he twisted his body to the right, turning it. The distinctive sound of a lock rattling greeted us a moment later.