“Are you okay?” I asked. I drew spirit into me, prepared to heal her.
“N-no, don’t do it,” she warned. Even drugged, the bond must have still been working. That, or she simply knew me well enough by now to guess what I’d do. It took her a few seconds to form the rest of her words. “I . . . I’m just weak. Hungry. They gave me animal blood.”
My stomach turned at that. Moroi could survive on animal blood, but “survive” was about the kindest way you could put it. We’d stay alive but lose a lot of strength and energy. There were always stories that popped up once in a while about some Moroi family that got trapped without a feeder for a week or so and had to feed off animals. They’d emerge weak and debilitated, making for sensational headlines in Moroi news. I couldn’t even imagine what shape Jill must be in after a month of that. It explained why she could barely stand.
Still, the instinct was there to help her anyway, to give her a boost with spirit. “No,” she said sharply, again anticipating me. “Just get me to a feeder. And get someone out to the back of this property. There’s a shed there with another basement prison.”
“I’ll take her to a feeder,” said Eddie, starting to move her up the stairs. Rose helped by supporting Jill’s other side.
“I’ll go find the other Moroi,” said Neil, starting to move ahead of them. He paused and glanced back at Sydney. “Unless you need me?”
I shook my head. “I’ll get her out of here. Go help the others.”
The dhampirs and Jill disappeared, leaving me alone to look after Sydney. That snake demon was down to one head, but I noticed now that there was smoke in the corridor. One of her fireballs must have hit a door and found something to ignite.
“We need to get out of here,” I yelled to her. “That fire might spread. Jill’s safe.”
“I’m not leaving this guy to run rampant!” Sydney shouted back. A well-placed fireball nearly took out the remaining head, but the creature dodged at the last second, missing the hit by barely an inch. It roared in fury, and one of its tentacles shot out more quickly than Sydney could anticipate. It caught her by her feet, knocking her to the ground, and with equal speed, the demon hurried over, its last head rearing up in triumph as it prepared to drench her in acid.
Do something! Do something! Aunt Tatiana screamed at me.
But there was nothing to telekinetically throw, no plants to summon like Sonya might do. This was the waking world, not a dream. Spirit was not a combat magic, but in the space of a heartbeat, I still knew I had to act. Sydney—my heart, my love, and my wife—was seconds away from death. I would have gladly thrown my body in front of hers, but there was no time for that either. I had only a millisecond to decide, so I pulled out my last spirit trick.
“Stop!” I ordered.
Spirit burned through me, and I sent a wave of compulsion into the demon, attempting to bend its will to mine. I’d never done anything like that. I didn’t even know if it could be done. The creature actually paused, however, making me think it had both sentience and the ability to be controlled. Emphasis on ability. Because even though the creature momentarily restrained itself, I could feel my hold slipping, and it snarled again, ready to strike Sydney. The more strong-willed a person was, the harder it was to compel them. Demons must be in an entirely different class, because I was already amped up on spirit and was just barely having an effect.
More, more! said Aunt Tatiana.
I drew on greater reserves of spirit, pulling everything out of me, all my energy and life, all my resolve. It was more than I’d used in the dream with Olive, nearly as much as I’d used to bring back Jill. Spirit filled every part of me, making me greater than I’d ever thought I could be, nearly godlike. I turned that power on the demon, exerting my control as I issued my commands: “Let her go! Back up!”
The demon obeyed.
Its tentacles released Sydney, who scrambled away and got to her feet. Fire filled her palms, and with the demon in my thrall, it made an easy target for her to finish the last head. Once that one was destroyed, the rest of the creature’s body disintegrated into a fine black dust. Spirit still burned brightly within me, though, making me feel exhilarated and unstoppable. Sydney hurried to my side and shook my arm.
“Adrian, let it go,” she said. “It’s done. You did it. Release the magic!”
No one has ever possessed power like this, Aunt Tatiana told me. Can you feel it? Don’t you feel alive? Why would you ever want to let this go?
She was right. With this kind of power, I could do great things. Strigoi, the Warriors, even demons: None of our enemies stood a chance. We didn’t need silver stakes or Sonya’s vaccine. I could do it all. I would save our people singlehandedly.
“Adrian, Adrian!”
For a moment, I didn’t know whom the voice belonged to. I was too lost in my power, power that was burning me up. A face moved into my smoky vision, a human with blond hair and brown eyes, but I didn’t know her either.
“Adrian,” she cried again. “Let it go. Please. Release the magic—for me.”
For me, she’d said.
But who was she? Then, at last, the intoxication of spirit faded enough for me to know. Sydney. Sydney, my wife. She was the one looking into my face, looking so completely terrified.
Ignore her, said Aunt Tatiana. This is the magic you were born to wield!
Sydney squeezed my hand. “Adrian, please. Release the magic.”
I could feel spirit starting to obscure my mind again, starting to blot Sydney out, starting to destroy all of my higher reasoning, just as it had Nina’s. I wanted to let go, but it was hard when that power gave me such a heady, glorious feeling.
You are a god, Aunt Tatiana told me. I’m so proud of you.
“Adrian,” said Sydney. “I love you.”
Those words, that voice, had more power over me than any phantom ever could. And then, just before spirit could blot her away again, I let go of the magic.
Chapter 19
Sydney
I KNEW WHEN IT HAPPENED. I saw it in his eyes, a sudden coming back to himself. At least I hoped he was coming back to himself. I had no idea what kind of power he’d used to command an otherworldly demon, but I knew what massive amounts of spirit did to those who wielded it.
“Sydney,” he gasped out, sagging into me.
I nearly wept in relief. “Yes. Come on, let’s go.”
The door I’d accidentally hit was burning merrily now, and I didn’t know how these lower rooms connected to the main floor. I didn’t want to risk everything collapsing down around us. Adrian seemed a little addled, and I had to guide him to the stairs. A panicked part of me kept thinking back to what he’d told me about Nina, how spirit had left her incoherent. He knew me, I told myself. He knew me. As long as we had that, I had to believe everything would be okay.
We made it upstairs, where a cluster of guardians anxiously waited at the stairwell’s entrance. They’d been under strict orders not to interfere, but it was clear that went against their natures.
“Get everyone out of here,” I said to the guardian closest to me. “There’s a fire down there, and I don’t know how far it’s spread. And make sure there are no weapons left up here.” These were the Warriors, after all. I didn’t want a new disaster brought on because of explosives accidentally igniting.