Page 98 of Hallows End

This fire will scorch and sear.

I push against the heat of the fire and the energy trying to hold me in with all my might. At last, I break through and am able to run across the bridge.

I don’t stop until I reach Breena’s house. Lightning flashes above and around her little home, and I can feel the chaos inside.

I run in, relieved to see Lucy standing, but then come to an abrupt halt when I see the man standing behind Breena.

“Alistair?”

All eyes turn to me, and Lucy cries out in relief, but I can’t take my eyes off the man from Hallows End.

“Alistair?” I repeat.

“Nooooo.” His voice slithers like a snake over my skin, and I watch in disgust as his hands roam over Breena’s body. She’s as pale as death, her eyes white the way Lucy’s were the night her house was destroyed, and Breena doesn’t put up a fight when Alistair starts to pull on the rope, lifting her heels off the floor.

She struggles to keep her toes planted on the ground as Giles struggles to free himself from invisible shackles, desperate to get to Breena.

“Alistair,” I repeat and step toward him, but he turns to me and screams, the same one I heard in Hallows End. I’m trapped.

“You have the wand,” Xander says, yelling over the wind that’s picked up in the room. “Use the wand, Jonas.”

It takes all my might to point it at Alistair and begin speaking. At first, he ignores me and simply lifts Breena off her feet. She’s dangling now, twitching as her body fights for air.

As I speak, my voice grows louder and weakens the bonds keeping me prisoner. The others are able to move, as well, and we all start to speak as one.

Alistair turns to us, his black eyes wide, his mouth gaping inhumanly wide as he screams.

Mist leaves his body, floating up to the ceiling, and then, still shrieking, it flies out the window and into the darkness.

Alistair’s body crumples to the floor as we all race to Breena, who also fell.

Giles scoops her into his arms, crying as he checks for a pulse.

“Damn it,” he mutters. “Breena, you can’t leave me like this. Damn it, Breena.”

But when he looks up at us, I know.

There’s no pulse.

“No,” Hilda cries and kneels next to Giles, pulling her child into her arms. “No, no, no, my sweet girl. My darling baby.”

I turn to Alistair, who is moaning and rolling on the floor. When he opens his eyes, they fill with terror as he skitters back against the wall.

“Help me.” His throat sounds raw. “Where am I? Please, help me.”

“He doesn’t know,” Xander says.

“No.” My voice is grim as Xander lays a hand over Alistair’s forehead and puts him to sleep. “It used Alistair to do its bidding. Though how it took a man from Hallows End and brought him here, I have no idea.”

“Breena!”

Giles has the woman by the shoulders as she gasps for breath, her green eyes wide and hands pulling at the rope still around her neck.

“Get it off,” Lorelei says, yanking on the rope herself. “Oh, thank the goddess, the ward worked.”

Breena still gasps, her eyes pinned to Giles as he breathes with her, trying to calm her down.

Lucy throws herself into my arms and holds on tightly, her arms trembling around my neck.