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.
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.
Adrian and I made it outside, and I guided him past the busy guardians and Alchemists, as well as the Warrior prisoners. Out near where we’d parked, I caught sight of some familiar faces and made them our destination. Rose, Dimitri, and Eddie stood by Jill, who was sitting in a folding chair next to another chair. That chair’s occupant was starting to get up and be led away by a guardian, and I recognized the vacant expression of a feeder.
“Wait,” I called. “Adrian needs blood too.”