The creature howls. The noise is worse than any I’ve heard in my life. Worse than the cries of The Convicted, worse than the squeals of a tortured animal, worse than…
Worse than damn near anything.
More and more of the white fire pulsates into the creature. Eleira is flinging spell after spell at the Queen. She deflects them all. The creature continues to scream.
There’s a sudden explosion. The dark shape flies across the table, misshapen, burnt, and wounded.
But it’s still alive. Alive, and gasping.
Mother’s eyes line onto it. She begins the spell that will end it for good. Another beam of light shoots from her staff, aimed straight at the creature—
Eleira throws herself in the way.
The cry that is wrangled from my throat is unlike anything that’s been ripped from my vocal cords before.
Mother’s spell strikes Eleira straight in the chest. The girl’s body is flung backwards. She hits the far wall and drops to the floor, completely limp.
The moment that happens the blue light dies. Eleira’s wicked spell is gone. I can move again.
That horrible black creature jumps to its feet and dashes away.
I don’t have time for it or anything other than Eleira. I fly to her fallen form. My chest constricts in agony.
I drop to my knees beside her. She’s out cold. But at least—at least I can feel her pulse.
It’s frighteningly weak.
“Get out of my way!” Mother snarls, shoving me aside. She runs her hands over Eleira’s face, then rubs them together and brings them to her chest. She presses them into the spot her beam struck.
“What are you doing?” I scream. Anguish takes me.
“Saving her life,” she tells me. Under her breath Morgan utters the words of a new spell. Another glow surrounds her hands, tinged red this time.
Mother pushes that energy into Eleira’s body.
The girl’s eyes pop open, and she gasps. She coughs—dark blood spurts out.
Then her eyelids close and she drops back to the floor.
“Delightful,” Mother mutters, wiping her hands clean of the mix of blood and phlegm. She takes instant control of the situation. “Raul, you take her to the infirmary. No—take her to my rooms in the castle. They’re closer to the blood banks, and she will need a near-endless supply if she is to recover.”
“If?” I demand. “If?”
Phillip speaks. I was so focused on Eleira I didn’t even notice him approach. “What happened to her? Why did she throw herself in the way?”
“She was possessed,” Mother says calmly. She stands up, and glares at my brother. “You, my son, made a grave mistake when you brought out that book.”
Phillip has the grace to look crestfallen.
“I might expect such rash behavior from James, or even Raul,” she continues. “Not, however, out of you. I know it comes from your reawakened instincts. Learn to control them! Next time you do something like this, you will be properly punished.”
I cradle Eleira in my arms. Her breathing is so shallow it’s terrifying. “Forget about him!” I say. “Tell me, what’s going to happen to her? What do you mean, ‘possessed?’”
“And what was that thing from the book?” Phillip adds.
“I mean just what I said, Raul,” Mother says stiffly. “Somebody, or something, took control of Eleira’s mind and made her do what you witnessed.”
“How?” I gasp.
“Being a witch makes her vulnerable. I should have taught her to shield herself. But with The Haven sealed off, I did not think she’d be under threat. At least, not so soon…”
She turns to Phillip. “That thing, son dearest, is called a Narwhark. I’d have thought with all of your constant meddling, all of your computer systems, all of your furtive interest in my affairs, you would have come across its mention before.”
Phillip shakes his head. He looks shaken.
“Come now. You’ve only been looking at all things magic for twenty years!”
Again, Phillip shakes his head. He stares at his feet.
I think: Phillip has an interest in magic?
“A Narwhark is a type of demon,” Mother explains. “It comes from the underworld—not the literal underworld, but a parallel dimension existing on a plane beneath ours. Narwharks are nasty, nasty things. They crave only death and destruction. The world is porous, you see, and at certain places there is an overlap between the planes. That overlap allows portals to be made between dimensions. Some say that is the key to discovering the true origin of vampires and witches alike.”
Mother walks back to pick up her staff. “But now is not the time for a history lesson. All you need to know is that the first witches had a true purpose—they sought to eliminate all such demons from the world. The different clans banded together and succeeded in closing the portals that let such creatures into the world. When that was done, they turned their attention to other things.