Maximus roared and dove at the Arcane, pressing ineffectually against thin air. Apparently realizing the futility of this, he did a one-eighty and ran for it.

"I'll get him, Bigdaddy," said a girlish voice. Maximus jerked like he was on a rubber band and popped backwards, sliding across the rough stone floor to stop at the feet of a blonde girl.

At the feet of my sister, Ivy.

Chapter 38

Maximus pulled out what looked like a phone and tried to speak. The device shattered in his hand. He lashed out at Ivy with his fist. I flinched. Felt myself jerk to my feet. A steel grip grabbed my belt and tugged me back down to the floor.

"Stay down!" Elyssa hissed.

When I looked back, I realized it was no contest. Maximus floated helplessly in the air before my sister. Foam flecked his mouth as he screamed in impotent rage.

"Very good, sweetheart," Conroy said, patting Ivy's shoulder and smiling.

"Can I do the spell?" she said. "Please Bigdaddy? Please?" She bounced on her toes and clasped her hands together.

He pulled the spectacles back from a pocket and put them on. "I do believe you're ready, young lady." Cane held out to his side, he tapped it twice on the ground. The ends popped out, extending it into a long ivory staff with the bust of a winged angel atop it.

Ivy took the staff, and pulled out what appeared to be an arcphone. Holding the staff before her, she rotated slowly before stopping. "There's a large ley line underneath us like you said, Bigdaddy. I should have all the power I need." She giggled. Calmed herself and took on an expression that seemed far too serious for a girl her age. She set the arcphone on the ground and touched a finger to it. The air around her flickered, tiny particulates of smoke or fog rising from the ground to form complex patterns and symbols circling in the air around her.

Maximus's eyes went saucer-shaped as the patterns took shape. He squirmed and thrashed, all to no effect.

Conroy motioned to the doughy man beside him. "Mr. Bigglesworth, why don't you run upstairs and make ready for our departure?" He retrieved a pocket watch from his vest and looked at it. "It shouldn't be long."

"I'm on it, guvnah." On his way out, he leaned down and picked up Barclay's brain-spattered bowler off the floor. Brushed it off, and perched it atop his head.

I peered closer, focusing on one of the large symbols floating around Ivy, and felt my chest contract. "Oh crap."

"What is it?" Elyssa asked, crouching.

"She's using the mass kill spell. The one that'll wipe out every vampire in range."

"How wide of a radius?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea." Panic rose as I thought of Ash and Nyte upstairs. "For all I know it could take out every vampire in Atlanta."

More of the misty substance swirled from the ground in a torrent, some of it forming a mosaic of symbols in the air, while Ivy seemed to absorb the rest into her body. It took me a moment to realize what the mist was. It was magical energy. I shifted into incubus mode, using the alternative eyesight it gave me. Motes of energy drifted around the room, just like I'd seen while Maximus's prisoner. The energy pouring into Ivy was almost too bright to look at.

Cutting off the sight, I turned to Elyssa. "Do you see the white mist?"

She nodded. "Why? What is it?"

"Magical energy." I let out a breath. "She's drawing in so much, even you can see it."

"What do you want to do?" Elyssa's troubled gaze bore into mine.

Uncertainty clouded my mind. My mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. I had absolutely no idea how to approach this. Conroy and Ivy had made Maximus their little bitch. Against the two of them, I had no chance. But if Ivy completed the spell, she might kill my friends, not to mention a lot of freshly minted vampires. My heart felt like lead. How could my little sister commit such an atrocity? This was mass murder! What kind of monster had my grandparents turned her into? For all I knew, she'd finish the spell within seconds and it would be too late to do anything.

Power and energy coalesced around her, white and humming and violent. The cavern buzzed like a million bees in my head. The vampling infection in my leg throbbed like an alien organism, pulsing in time with the massive energies racing toward destruction.

There was only one thing I could do. Only one thing.

I turned to Elyssa. Gripped her shoulders, and took in her face one last time. "You have to get everyone out. Tell them to run as far and as fast as possible." A shuddering breath worked through me. "I'm going to buy them time."

Her face blanched. "Buy them time? Justin, you can't—"

I shook my head. "I have to. Don't argue with me, Elyssa."

"But—"

"We don't have time." I kissed her, pulling her hard against me. Savoring the feel of her soft lips against mine. Wishing to god I didn't ever have to let her go. Before she could say another word of protest, I dashed down the right wall of the cave, keeping low and circling around behind dear old Granddad and my sister.

I grabbed a couple of rocks off the floor. Conroy stood behind Ivy and to the side. If, by some miracle, I could conk him on the head, I might be able to knock out Ivy as well. I hated the idea of hitting a little girl, but I was out of options. I caught a glimpse of Elyssa slipping away, hugging the wall, and heading upstairs. This was it. All or nothing.

I sneaked as close as I dared, about twenty feet behind my grandfather. Cocked back my arm. Aimed. Whispered a prayer, and threw. The rock blurred toward his head.

The man tensed, his back going straight. The projectile bounced off the air, leaving a gentle ripple. He turned, an amused look on his face.

"My, my, what a surprise." He regarded me for a moment. "You certainly have a way of turning up most unexpectedly, boy."

My body stiffened in anticipation of retaliation, but I still had the presence of mind to do what I could to stop this. "Ivy, don't do it! Don't murder all those people!"

Though her back was to me, I could heard her chanting something, almost under her breath as she guided the staff through an intricate series of patterns. The nimbus of energy brightened around her, swirling. One of the complex runes in the air flashed red and magical energy soaked into it, drawing off the waist-high vortex of energy around her until it was gone. The rune stayed bright, humming and vibrating the air like the deepest note on a string bass.

She paused, taking a deep breath, and wiping sweat from her forehead. Turned and faced me. A smiled lit her face. "Justin, you came to watch!"

I felt an incredulous look yank my eyebrows up. "Don't kill those people Ivy. This is wrong. It's not a game."

She snorted and waved off my statement like a pesky fly. "People? They're vampires, Justin. Bloodsucking demonic parasites. And if they start a vampling plague, that'd be a bummer."

"They're not all evil."

"Listen to him, kid!" Maximus said, flailing against the invisible forces holding in in the air. "Vampires are people, too!"

Ivy wrinkled her nose. "You want to protect him, Justin?" She grimaced, as if she'd just bitten into a lemon. "It's so sad." Her blue eyes softened. "You're evil, too, and you can't even admit it. Maybe that's why you want to protect them."

"Excellent line of reasoning, my little dumpling," Conroy said, smiling with what seemed genuine affection. "Now, why don't you get back to the task at hand?" He checked his pocket watch again. "Your grandmother is making some of her famous angel food cake for dessert tonight, and I am famished."

My sister's eye went wide with delight. "Oh, I love angel food cake, Bigdaddy!" She turned back to the hovering symbols, eyes focused on another rune, and began chanting again.

"You stupid son of a—" Maximus's mouth slammed shut. His eyes bulged, but he seemed incapable of saying another word.

"I will not have your foul mouth running off in front of my granddaughter any longer," Conroy said.

While Conroy seemed distracted with Maximus, I mustered every last ounce of speed I had, and blurred toward Ivy. I hadn't gone five feet when something yanked me off the ground, and jerked me back, suspending me in the air like Maximus.

"Haven't you caused enough trouble in the past few months, boy?" Conroy said.

"Me?" I said, pinching my forehead. "Now, that's the pot calling the kettle black." I wriggled, and only succeeded in spinning myself upside down. It was like floating in space—a sensation I might have appreciated at another time.

"I suppose our little plan to deliver you into Maximus's hands wasn't the best we've ever come up with," Conroy said, regarding me as one might an interesting zoo specimen.

My heart almost broke. "Ivy helped?" I asked, a bitter taste in my mouth.

"But of course she did, boy."

I looked to Ivy, but she was too busy powering the next rune.

Conroy shrugged. "If it's any consolation, she didn't want us to outright kill you." A frown tugged on his lips. "Truth be told, even if you are one of those filthy spawn, you are my"—he shuddered—"grandson."

I didn't know what to feel. Rage, grief, and fear swarmed through me, leaving my insides a conflicted mess. The dark poison inside my leg ached and burned, tingling all the way down my toes and up to my waist. No matter what happened here today, I suspected I didn't have much time left.

"You do realize Ivy has the same parents, right?" I said, mustering some venom. "She's as much spawn as I am."

He chuckled. "In that, you are quite mistaken, boy. She takes after her mother." His gaze turned to Ivy. "I do believe our conversation is at an end." He flicked his hand toward me and something clamped my mouth shut. I could still breathe through my nose, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't pry my jaws open, not even using my hands.

The time for pleading was at an end. Now I had to do something. But what?