Panic shot through my body, and my head snapped from left to right and back again, wondering if the copper crushers were already creeping up on me. For a moment, I didn’t see anything, but slowly, glowing, ruby-red eyes began to appear, like lights winking on, one after another, in the darkest, blackest shadows of the warehouse. A second later, a faint rasp-rasp-rasp sounded, as though something large and heavy were sliding across the floor.
Victor laughed, the sound soft and sinister, chilling me to the bone. He was going to leave me tied up here in the middle of the warehouse. Once he and Blake were gone, the copper crushers would slither across the floor and make a meal out of me, just like he’d said. The oversize snakes would wrap their coils around me and slowly crush me to death—and that’s if they didn’t bite and poison me with their venom first.
Either way, I was dead. I’d thought that nothing could be worse than Victor cutting me up and ripping my magic out of me, but this . . . this was horrifying.
He smiled at me again, pleased by the fear filling my shocked face. Blake curled his hand around his sword and glanced around, as if he was afraid that the crushers would shoot out of the shadows and eat him too.
Victor held up my mom’s Sinclair cuff. “This didn’t do your mother any good. Despite all her friends, her precious Family, even her sight magic, she still died in the end, just like you’re going to.”
He threw the cuff down onto the floor, and it rolled end over end before spinning to a stop a few feet in front of me. Victor stared at me, his golden eyes as bright as any monster’s.
“Enjoy your life, Lila Sterling—what little is left of it.”
Then he turned and strode out of the warehouse, leaving me to the copper crushers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Instead of following his dad out of the warehouse, Blake stayed frozen in place, peering into the shadows, his eyes wide, his hand still on the sword belted to his hip. As cruel as he was, even Blake was shocked by what his dad was going to do to me.
“Blake!” I hissed. “Help me!”
He stared at me, and for the first time, a bit of fear flickered in his eyes. I didn’t know if it was because of the copper crushers lurking in the shadows or if Blake had finally realized that if his dad could do this to me, he wouldn’t hesitate to do it to Blake if he ever displeased Victor. He stared at me and opened his mouth to say something, maybe even that he was sorry, but he never got the chance.
“Blake!” Victor called out in a loud, commanding voice. “Let’s go! Now!”
Blake kept staring at me, and for a moment, I almost thought that he was wavering, that he was actually going to step forward and do something to help me.
“Blake!” I hissed again. “Please!”
“Son!” Victor called out again. “Move it! Right now!”
And just like that, the moment passed. Blake shook his head, then turned and ran out of the warehouse. The door banged shut behind him. A few seconds later, a car cranked to life on the street outside, then drove off.
As soon as the last rumbles had faded away, things began moving and stirring in the shadows in earnest. More and more ruby-red eyes winked open, all staring steadily at me. Dark shapes moved on the floor, and a series of low, ominous clack-clack-clacks sounded as the crushers swayed back and forth, making the rattles on the end of their tails chime together in a dark, deadly chorus.
And slowly, the monsters slithered out into the light.
I’d always thought of copper crushers as a cross between copperheads, rattlesnakes, and pythons—only much, much deadlier—and the first snake I saw only confirmed my opinion. Its eyes were that rich, jewel-toned, ruby red I’d noticed before and burned even brighter than the overhead light, as though two hot coals had been set into its eye sockets. Its skin featured a large diamond pattern and gleamed like polished copper, giving the monster its name.
But the creature’s size and strength were what made it truly dangerous. The first copper crusher I spotted was at least twenty feet long and three feet thick, which made it easily capable of squeezing me to death. Two others were sliding across the floor toward me as well, their long, black tongues flicking out. They could smell my fear and knew that I was going to be an easy dinner for them, unless I found some way to escape. And still more crushers were waiting in the shadows behind these three.
Once again, I strained and strained against the heavy ropes that tied me down to the chair. I’d managed to get a little slack in them when Victor had been talking to me, but not nearly enough. I was stuck, like a fly trapped in a sticky web, waiting for the spider to come and gobble me up—or snakes, in this case.
Sweat beaded on my forehead, trickling down my face and neck and spattering onto my long coat. If a pack of tree trolls, rockmunks, or some other monsters had been coming at me, I would have patted down my coat pockets, looking for dark chocolate, white pebbles, or some other small tribute to give them so they would leave me alone.
But copper crushers were one of the few monsters that you couldn’t reason or bargain with. It wasn’t because they were inherently vicious or evil or anything like that. They just didn’t care about anything other than sleeping, eating, and stalking their prey. I hadn’t realized it before now, but the creatures reminded me of Victor’s snarling dragon crest. Maybe that’s why he liked them so much—or at least let them do his dirty work for him.
I forced my gaze away from the slow, slithering snakes and glanced around the warehouse, searching for something, anything, that would help me get out of here. But there was nothing. Just the chair I was sitting in, the snakes creeping toward me, and my Sinclair Family cuff glinting on the floor—
My cuff.
My gaze locked on the silver cuff, zeroing in on the small sapphire glinting in the middle of the metal. I’d run my fingers over that cuff a hundred times since Claudia had given it to me earlier this summer, and each and every time, I’d felt the points of the star-shaped sapphire dig into my skin. I didn’t know if the points were sharp enough to saw through the ropes, but it was worth a shot. Without any magic around to steal, I just wasn’t strong enough to break through the ropes binding me to the chair. So this was my best—and only—option.
My wrists and ankles were both tied to the chair, so there was no way I could stretch out my feet and slide the cuff closer. Even if I had been able to do that, it would have still been down on the floor and utterly useless to me. So I’d just have to go down to it instead.
I started rocking back and forth in my chair, trying to build up enough momentum to tip myself over. From there, I could scoot over to the cuff and hopefully get my hand on it. But the chair was old, sturdy, and heavy, and it didn’t rock as easily as I wanted it to. I planted first one foot, then the other, on the floor, pushing off as hard as I could.
And slowly, the chair started to wobble, even as the copper crushers slithered closer and closer to me.
“C’mon,” I muttered. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon . . .”
Slowly, very, very slowly, the chair started to rock back and forth and I used the momentum to go faster and faster, but I couldn’t quite get it to tip over. With a loud, desperate scream, I pushed off with my left foot, harder than ever before, and finally managed to tip the chair over with me in it.
My head smacked against the concrete floor, reigniting the ache in my face and skull and causing white stars to flash in front of my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn’t afford to waste a second right now, not when the crushers were still creeping up on me.
My face was level with the cuff and the light from the bare bulb overhead made the star-shaped sapphire glimmer like a drop of blue blood against the silver. Now I just had to figure out a way to actually get my hand on it. So I dug my right foot into the concrete floor, pushing as hard as I could. The chair was heavy and it didn’t want to move at first, but I kept straining and straining, and it slowly started sliding across the floor, taking me with it one slow inch at a time.
But I wasn?
??t the only thing moving on the floor—so were the copper crushers, slithering closer and closer all the while, their ruby-red eyes narrowed in thought as they considered the best way to go about eating me. My gaze locked with one of the monsters and its gnawing hunger squeezed my chest, just the way the crusher wanted to squeeze the life out of me.
More sweat poured down my face, my heart pounded, and my entire body ached from straining so long and hard, but I finally scooted myself up far enough to get my right hand level with the cuff. I’d created just enough slack in the ropes to reach out and snag the cuff with my fingertips. I dragged it closer, feeling the star-shaped sapphire prick my skin the way it always did. I quickly bent my wrist back as far as it would go, pressed the points of the star against the rope, and began to saw through it.
The sapphire wasn’t nearly as sharp as I’d hoped, and it was slow going. But I kept sawing and sawing, even as the copper crushers slid closer and closer to me. The snakes were taking their time, enjoying my panic, fear, and desperation, but it wouldn’t be long now before one of them came close enough to wrap itself around my legs and sink its fangs into my body. The monster’s venom would paralyze me long enough for the snake to fully coil its body around my chest and crush my ribs. Death would come quickly after that.
More sweat slid down my face, my wrist ached, and my fingers started to twitch, shake, and cramp from being forced into the same awkward position for so long, but I kept on sawing. My world had shrunk to two things—digging the sapphire star into the ropes and watching the ruby-red eyes of the copper crushers grow bigger and bigger as they slowly slithered toward me.
I don’t know how long it took before I finally felt the slightest bit of give in the rope. I quickly tested it, wondering if I’d just imagined the sudden slack, but I could move my hand more than before. Not much more, just a fraction of an inch, but it was progress. All I had to do was get one hand free, then I could grab one of the throwing stars still attached to my belt and use it to cut through the rest of the ropes.
I kept sawing and sawing, and more and more of the rope slowly started fraying and loosening. I let go of my cuff, flattened my hand down as much as it would go on the chair arm, and then yanked it back as hard as I could.
I almost cried when my hand slipped under and free of the ropes.
Once my right hand was free, I reached down and snagged one of the throwing stars off my belt. The points of this star were razor-sharp, and it only took me a few seconds to slice through the ropes on my left wrist, then the ones on both my feet. I reached out, grabbed my cuff, and slapped it back onto my wrist.
The copper crushers realized that they were about to lose their midnight snack, and they surged forward, moving faster. I scrambled up and tried to run away from them, but one of my feet got tangled in the ropes and I fell back down onto my knees.
My head snapped up and the ruby-red glow of the nearest crusher’s eyes filled my vision. I instinctively raised my arm, trying to protect myself, and the crusher lashed out, sinking its fangs deep into my left hand. I screamed at the sharp sting of the bite, even as something cold spurted into my veins—the copper crusher’s venom.
I screamed again and tried to yank my hand free, but the crusher clamped down hard and held on, cracking the bones in my hand, even as another one slithered forward and started coiling around my ankles. And there was a third monster waiting just behind the other two, ready to join in and drag me all the way down to the ground. Once that happened, the crushers would make quick work of me.
I was still holding on to my throwing star with my right, uninjured hand, so I lashed out with it. The sharp points of the star sliced into the head of the crusher that was biting me, leaving a jagged, bloody wound behind and causing the creature to finally let go of my hand. It flopped down onto the floor, hissing and writhing with pain and anger.
But the second snake was still coiling itself around my ankles, so I sliced out with the star again, cutting it as well. That crusher loosened its grip, and I kicked it away from me.
I was screaming and crying and shrieking now, and I lashed out with the throwing star over and over again, digging it into every single part of the snakes that I could reach. The creatures hissed and shook their rattles at me, but they retreated. Not far, but enough for me to finally get back onto my feet and stagger away from them.
I whirled around and the copper crushers slowly started slithering in my direction again, still determined to make a meal out of me.
I brandished my throwing star at them, though it didn’t frighten the creatures. But I’d more than had enough, so I turned and sprinted for the warehouse door.
Blake had left the door open and I staggered out of the warehouse, salty sweat cascading down and mixing with the tears streaming over my face. My heart pounded, my breath came in short, ragged gasps, and my body felt strangely numb and heavy from the copper crusher’s venom coursing through my veins. So numb and heavy that I couldn’t even feel the stinging bite or the broken bones in my left hand anymore. Still, even beneath the numbness, I could sense the magic in the venom making me stronger, wanting to be used in some way.
“Hello?” I called out. “Is anyone out here?”
But my voice was nothing more than a hoarse croak, and no one answered me. Victor and Blake were long gone, and so were any guards they had stationed outside. I looked at the warehouse next door, the one that the Sinclairs had been held in, but it too was dark and I didn’t see any guards patrolling outside. Of course the Draconis were gone. There weren’t any prisoners inside to watch anymore.
I didn’t know what time it was, but it must have been after midnight because the moon hung so low it almost seemed as if I could reach up and pluck it out of the sky, like a blood persimmon dangling from a tree. The stars seemed to pulse all around the moon, each one a pinpoint of light stabbing into my brain. For some reason, the pain made me giggle.
I had to get away from the warehouse in case the copper crushers slithered outside after me. So I put my head down and focused on putting one foot in front of the other, even though my legs felt heavier and heavier with every single step.
I don’t know how far or what direction I walked, but somehow I found myself on the street outside the apartment building where my mom had been murdered. It, too, was dark and abandoned, like everything else in this part of town. At least, that’s where I thought I was. I couldn’t really tell since white stars kept exploding over and over again in front of my face. I dimly remembered something my mom had told me about how copper crusher venom could cause hallucinations and convulsions. Combine that with my soulsight magic and transference power, and my body was going haywire right now.
Still, I managed to stumble over to the side of the building where a rusty, rickety drainpipe clung to the brick wall, the same drainpipe I’d used to climb into and out of our apartment that summer, instead of trudging up and down the stairs. I put one hand on the drainpipe, intending to climb up it so I would at least be out of reach of the copper crushers down on the ground. But my strength gave out, my fingers slipped off the metal, and I landed on the dirty asphalt.
Those white stars kept exploding over and over again, faster and faster, and brighter and brighter, until they merged into a solid wall of white in my mind, showing me dreams, memories, and visions. So many that I didn’t even know if they were my own or not . . .
I was standing on the lochness bridge, eating ice cream, just as I had four years ago, when the first of my mom’s screams tore through the hot summer air. But I wasn’t that young girl anymore. I was all grown up now, wearing my mom’s coat and ring and carrying her sword.
I dropped the ice cream and ran, ran, ran, trying to get to her in time, just as I had back then. I moved faster than I ever had before, and an instant later, I was at our apartment building. I threw open the front door and charged up the steps, taking them two and three at a time, trying to save my mom from the horrible fate that I knew awaited her at Victor’s hands. Before I
knew it, I was in the hallway on our floor. I put my shoulder down and barreled through the door into our apartment.
“Mom!” I yelled. “Mom!”
But she wasn’t here.
I whirled around and around, but she wasn’t here. No blood, no body, no trace of my mom at all.
“Mom!” I yelled again. “Mom! Where are you?”
“Right here, Lila.”
Startled, I whirled around again. The motion made my head spin, and suddenly I wasn’t in our tiny apartment anymore. Now I was standing on the balcony outside my room at the Sinclair mansion. It was night and everything was calm and quiet, except for the lights of the Midway, which flared, flashed, and flickered in the valley far, far below.
My mom was standing on the balcony with me, her elbows on the stone ledge, staring down at the lights. The wind tangled her black hair and made it float like mist around her shoulders, but I focused on her eyes. They were as blue as I’d ever seen them, each one like a bright blaze of magic in her face.
In an instant, the Midway lights dimmed, the moon and stars disappeared, and storm clouds further blackened the sky. In the distance, white lightning crackled from cloud to cloud, making me think of Victor’s horrible magic. I shivered and focused on her.
“Mom?” I whispered. “Are you really here? Or is this just a dream?”
She turned to face me, a smile stretching across her face. “Probably a little bit of both. Mixed in with the copper crusher venom, of course. These things often are, you know.”