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to the Pool of Lost Souls and there was nothing I could do to help her leave that horrid place. So we left without her. My throat constricted thinking about it. I pushed down the feelings before rage overtook me. I hated that she was trapped there.

"That's different. She remembers bits and pieces of you because it was put there to haunt her. It reminds her of the life she had - the joys of the life she lost when she was turned Valefar. I'm sorry Ivy, I know you don't like to talk about it, but they aren't the same anymore. They need their souls back to recover, but you already know that's not possible. Once a Valefar acts like a Valefar, there is no way for the soul to rejoin the body...there is no way for them to go back to who they were before it happened. I'm sorry." His words felt like rocks dropped on my chest, one at a time until I couldn't breathe.

Stepping away from him, I looked up at the sky. "So Eric didn't spare me because he remembered me?" I looked back at him. "That's what you're saying, right? That he knows I was there when he died and is going to kill me when he catches me?"

"Right," he replied, "he can't kill the Valefar who bound him - you already did. So he's coming after you, the only other person who was there. It's revenge. But, I don't understand why he didn't just kill you or why he used that kind of magic with you. It was risky."

Curiosity spurred within me. I realized that Eric used some weird kind of Valefar magic, but I was afraid to ask Collin about it since he didn't seem keen to talk about such things. I took the opportunity to ask him, "When Eric effonated, I had no choice but to go with him. How did he do that?"

Collin's gaze turned from mine, his eyes widened. "He didn't make you effonate next to him? It was his power that pulled you? Not his?" I shook my head. "Tell me everything he said and did when he found you." I told Collin about everything from Eric forcing me to swallow his blood, to his taunting words and how he used people to cause us to run out in different directions. When I was speaking, Collin pressed his fingers to his temples and closed his eyes. When I was done he asked, "Did you swallow? Did his blood go down your throat?" I nodded. Collin let out a rush of air like something heavy fell on his stomach. He turned away from me, pressing his fingers to his eyes.

"Collin, please tell me how he did that. I had no idea he could do any of those things. It caught me totally off guard." I walked up behind him, and gently touched his arm. He turned toward me. I looked up into his eyes and said, "I can't protect myself if I don't know what he can do."

Collin started to speak and stopped. His arms folded tightly to his chest as he tilted his head. His voice was cautious. "Valefar can intensify their magic if they use blood. There are things that can be done with their blood or their victim's blood." He paused, staring at me. "He was able to effonate with you because he made you swallow enough of his blood to take you with him. It only works once, but he could have forced you to do it again. The blood allows the same magic that the Valefar wields to be used on the victim. It's helpful when fighting immortals. Most of the Valefar have forgotten how to do what Eric did, which is making me wonder how he knew to do it." Collin looked to me for answers, but I didn't know. Eric didn't say much, besides that he managed to nab Shannon, too. He probably baited her out and caught her the same way. And I'd turned her into something that I wasn't certain of at this point. Shoving a Martis through an evil mirror would have some seriously weird side-effects.

Collin continued, "If he wanted to kill you, he could have done it before I got there. If he wanted to kidnap you, you wouldn't have escaped. He knows what he's doing, and you don't - which is why I've been trying to protect you." Collin shook his head, and laughed hollowly, "When I