pacing the floor in front of at least fifty Death Walkers. He’s wearing his cloak with the hood drawn over his head, and he’s holding the knife he stabbed Alex with. “This is the day when we all reunite.”
The Death Walkers’ eyes flare brightly as they tip their rotting heads back and cry out in unison.
“Don’t get too excited,” Stephan growls, swinging the knife upward until the blade is aimed at the closest Death Walker. “You’ve done nothing but fail me. You haven’t given me the star, and now all I have left is a useless portal. I can’t free Malefiscus without the star.”
“But we’ll have an army of Death Walkers.” Someone else walks into the room, and I shudder, slowly turning around.
Demetrius strolls up to Stephan with a grin on his face. He has on the same black cloak, but the hood is off, so I get a better glimpse of the evil in his eyes.
“We don’t need Malefiscus,” Demetrius says to Stephan. “You can create marks. We’ll have countless Death Walkers. You and I can rule the world with that.”
Stephan traces his finger along his scar, his eyes darkening. “Are you forgetting where we came from?”
Demetrius winces but swiftly composes himself. “I’m not forgetting anything, but we don’t have the star, and we can’t free him without it. And we’re running out of time. Our chance at opening the portal is coming, and we can either focus on getting the Death Walkers out or waste more time trying to chase down a star we might never catch.” He glances at the Death Walkers then lowers his voice. “We can still do this. We can still control everything, just as long as you’ll let this one thing go.”
Stephan bashes his fist against the mantel, sending a candlestick toppling to the floor “He’s our flesh and blood, the one who started this all. Don’t tell me just to let this go.”
“I’m not telling you just to let it go. I’m telling you that we have to be the ones to end this,” Demetrius says. “For years and years, you’ve sacrificed your life to protect a world that does nothing but cause more problems. There needs to be order, structure, control. If we do this, we can control the faeries, the witches, the vampires—everyone—forever, along with the rest of the world.”
Stephan clenches his jaw, his hand balling into a fist. “We are supposed to free him. It’s what we were born to do,” he growls, sketching the scar on his face with his finger. “It’s why we have these.”
I back up against the wall as more Death Walkers file into the room, choking the oxygen from the air.
“It’s not time yet!” Stephan shouts at the Death Walkers, a vein in his neck bulging. “Stop asking me the same stupid question.” He picks up the Sword of Immortality that’s propped against the wall in the corner of the room and sets his knife down. “Breathe on this,” he instructs, sticking out the sword in front of a Death Walker.
The Death Walker puffs a faint grey mist onto the sword, and frost webs across the blade. With a glint in his eyes, Stephan smashes it against the fireplace, shattering it into pieces.
“No more threats,” he mutters to himself then looks up at Demetrius. “I’m not giving up yet.” He picks up the other sword and runs his finger along the blade. “I’m seeing this to the end.”
An orb suddenly appears in the center of the room, bright blue and the light nearly blinding. The orb begins to grow, stealing the space from the room.
“No,” Stephan whispers in shock as the orb chases him down. He trips back, bumping his arm against the bricks of the fireplace.
“What is that!” Demetrius roars, skittering out of the way from the orb.
“That would be me.” Aislin materializes in the center of the orb with Laylen beside her, holding her hand.
Stephan narrows his eyes at Aislin as he grips the banister and drags himself to his feet. “Has my daughter finally come to reunite with me? Or are you really just this stupid, showing up here so close to the ritual?”
She elevates her hands in front of her. “Oh, Father, I hate to break it to you, but you’re the one who’s stupid.” Grinning, she throws her hands forward, and the orb explodes, sweeping across the room and sealing Stephan inside the light with Laylen and herself.
The Death Walkers charge, but their bodies bounce against the orb. Some