“Come with me.” He waved her on, and she started following him.

“My Lady?” Jinn asked. He’d been standing next to the horses, but he stepped forward to go after her. “Shall I come with you?”

“There’s no need,” she said dismissively. “Wait here with the animals.”

“Yes, my Lady.” Jinn bowed his head and stoked one of the horses.

“It was really lucky that I caught you at the door,” the man said as he led her inside the castle. He took the downward winding stairs to the left, and she went after him.

“Yes, it does seem quite serendipitous,” Scelestus said. She lifted up her dress and stepped carefully down. It was dimly lit, and the stairs were steep. “I wasn’t sure that the ogre would let me in.”

“He’s had a rough day,” the man explained. “We all have. I’m normally not around here that often. There’s not that much for me to do. But Valefor has called us all back to his lair to help with the girl.”

“She’s quite valuable to him, then?” Scelestus asked.

“Extremely,” he nodded. “That was a rather nice carriage you had out there.”

“What?” Scelestus asked, confused by his change of topic. “Oh, yes. It’s nice.”

“I’d like to get myself a carriage like that,” he went on. “I don’t think I’ve had one that spacious before.”

“It is roomy,” Scelestus allowed.

They reached the landing, and the man directed her to go into the room at the bottom of the stairs. She smiled at him as she went inside, expecting to find Valefor. Instead, it was an empty room, with nothing but a table and few pots and pans around.

“What is this?” Scelestus turned back to face the man, and he closed the door behind him when he came in. He leaned up against it, locking it behind his back. “Where is Valefor?”

“He’s attending to some business,” he explained. “So I thought we could use the time to get to know each other.”

“I have no business with you.” Scelestus straightened and pressed her lips into a thin line. She’d come here unprepared for a fight, and all her potions and her wand were with Jinn.

“I think you do.” The man stepped away from the door, smiling wider at her. “I’m Invidia.” He reached into his belt loop and pulled out a long, jagged knife. “I heard you wanted to take my life, so I thought I would repay the favor.”

Scelestus opened her mouth and began to scream, but nobody could hear her inside Valefor’s lair.

21

Wick grabbed Lily’s hand, trying to pull her back away from Lux, and Lux stepped in front of her, between them and Ira. Ira had snuck up on them, coming from the opposite direction that Gula, Aeterna, Edgar, and Addonexus had left in.

“Ira, you don’t want to hurt her,” Lux reminded him and stepped closer to him.

“No, I think I do.” Ira smiled at him, the expression looking rather unpleasant on his stony face. “Valefor wants her to suffer, to see what life would be like against him. I can do whatever I want with her, as long as I keep her alive.

“As for you,” Ira continued, stepping closer to Lux. “I have direct orders to kill you.”

“Lux!” Lily yelled behind him, and she tried to run to his side, but Wick held her back.

“Wick, get her out of here!” Lux shouted.

Wick was already trying to do that, but Lily fought her. She grabbed onto Lux’s arm, but he wouldn’t look back at her. He had to keep his focus on Ira. Still hanging onto Lily, Wick came up behind Lux, so close to him she was nearly touching his back. She took her wand out of her satchel and slid it in the back of his pants, all without Ira seeing.

“Good luck,” she whispered, then she yanked Lily’s arm.

“Lux!” Lily yelled again, but Wick pulled her on.

“He’ll fight better without you distracting him!” Wick told her, and that was true enough, so Lily relented a little to being dragged away. She stared back over her shoulder, watching Lux face down Ira until Wick took her around a corner, and she couldn’t see them anymore.

Ira barely seemed to notice that Lily had run off, nor did he seem to care that she did. He knew that the lair was a maze, and it would be nearly impossible for her and Wick to find their way out. Lux knew that too, but at the moment, he didn’t care if they found their way out. He just wanted them away from Ira.

“I’m actually glad that I didn’t kill you earlier,” Ira said as he and Lux faced off, moving in a slow circle around each other. “I can really savor it this time, without that girl screaming in my ear. It was good of you to send her away.”

“You know me,” Lux smirked. “I’ve always been a thoughtful guy.”

After their fight earlier, Lux knew he couldn’t beat Ira hand-to-hand. Ira was made of granite, and Lux’s body was more like pulverized meat at this point. To win, he’d have to come up with something better, but he didn’t know what that would be.

Wick’s wand poked him in his back, but he didn’t know how much good that would do. Still, Wick had left it with him for a reason, and it would work better than nothing.

Ira threw a punch at Lux, and he dove out of the way, narrowly missing one of Ira’s rock-hard fists in his jaw. Ira laughed at that, a deep guffaw, and then he swung again. Lux darted away, just barely avoiding the hit again.

“So we’re going to dance, are we?” Ira asked.

Even though he was still smiling, Lux could see his patience was dwindling. One or two swings more, and Ira would go after him with all he had. Lux wouldn’t stand a chance against that. He had to make a move first.

In one smooth move, Lux reached behind his back and pulled out the wand. The unicorn horn felt strangely heavy in his hand. He pointed it right at Ira’s chest, and for a moment, Ira looked startled.

“What is that you have there?” Ira squinted at it, as if he really didn’t understand what he was seeing.

“A powerful wand.” Lux kept his arm straight even though it wanted to shake. “Leave now, and I won’t use it against you. But if you take another step, I’ll be forced to destroy you.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Ira said, but he didn’t move.

Not at first anyway. Then Ira moved quickly at Lux, stopping short. It was a fake-out charge meant to startle Lux, and it did just that.