“So what happened after the fight at the warehouse?” I asked. “Where did you guys go? And how did you end up here at the Ito mansion?”

Claudia sat back in her chair, lacing her fingers together and making her silver Sinclair cuff flash on her wrist.

“I was pretty out of it myself, but the others took me to your library basement. Angelo and Felix used their magic and your supply of stitch-sting to heal me, Mo, and everyone else who had been injured,” she said. “The guards and pixies told us what had happened at the mansion, so we knew that we couldn’t go back there, but there wasn’t room for all of us in the library basement. So I reached out to Hiroshi, hoping that he had escaped the restaurant. He had and he suggested that we join forces. I agreed and, well, here we are.”

“And Devon and the others?”

She gestured to an empty chair that had been pulled up close to the other side of my bed. “He was sitting right there, watching over you, until I finally made him go get some sleep,” she said. “Everyone’s fine, thanks to you.”

I nodded, tears pricking my eyes. I’d hoped that Devon had escaped with the others, but it was such a relief to hear that he had. That he was all right. That everyone was okay.

For now.

“And this is fine too.”

She leaned down, picked up something from beside her chair, and raised it where I could see it.

My mom’s sword glinted in her hand.

My breath caught in my throat, and Claudia reached over and laid the sword down on the bed beside me. I eagerly traced my fingers over the stars engraved in the blade, then the single one carved into the hilt. I’d thought that my mom’s sword had been lost in the fight with the Draconi guards, that it was another piece of her that had been ripped away from me forever. But to see it here, now, to hold it in my hand again.... My heart lifted and tears scalded my eyes.

“How . . . who . . .” So many emotions were rushing through me that I couldn’t even get my questions out.

Claudia realized what I was asking. “Oscar,” she said. “He couldn’t save you from the Draconis, but he managed to dart in, scoop up your sword, and fly away with it before they could stop him.”

Despite their small size, pixies were quite strong and could lift and carry several times their own body weight, but this . . . this was amazing. A truly incredible feat on his part. I didn’t know how I would ever repay Oscar for saving this piece of my mom for me.

I ran my fingers over the sword a final time, then focused on Claudia again. “So what happens now?” I asked. “Victor told me that he challenged you to a duel. That you either had to face him, or he would order his guards to kill anyone who has anything to do with the other Families.”

She grimaced. “So he did. A one-on-one magic battle. Winner take all. You should like this. He wants it to take place on the lochness bridge.”

I frowned. “Why would he pick that spot?”

Claudia shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“You can’t face him. He’ll kill you with his lightning magic. You know he will.”

A wry smile curved her lips. “Concerned about me, are you, Lila?”

“Of course I am. I’ve grown rather used to living in a mansion, eating all the bacon I want, and sleeping in a nice, warm, soft bed every night. I’d hate to have to give that up just because you went and did something as silly as getting yourself killed.”

She laughed, but her face turned serious again all too quickly. “Well, Victor didn’t give me much choice, did he? I can’t just stand by and do nothing while he slaughters innocent people. I have to face him. I have to stand and fight, and I have to protect my Family and everyone else as best I can for as long as possible.”

I drew in a deep breath, staring at all the stars on my mom’s sword, knowing what I had to do now. Maybe I’d always known, ever since I’d started working for the Sinclairs. Or maybe I’d realized it even before then, the day my mom had been murdered.

“And what if you didn’t face Victor yourself? What if you chose someone else to do it for you?”

Claudia looked at me, her eyes sharpening with understanding. “You . . . you actually want to fight Victor.” She shook her head. “No, Lila, I can’t let you do that. Protecting the Sinclairs is my job, my responsibility. You saved Devon at the restaurant, and you kept him safe, just as I asked. In fact, you’ve done every single thing I’ve asked of you this summer. I’m not going to ask you to do this too. Facing Victor is my duty and my sacrifice to make, not yours.”

“And he’s the one who tortured and murdered my mom just because she got in his way, just because she dared to stand up to him, just because she tried to protect the monsters and everyone else from him,” I said. “He told me all about it—how she stole and destroyed the first stash of black blades he had all those years ago.”

Claudia nodded. “Serena never told me all the details, but I thought it must have been something like that. Even back then, when we were kids, Victor was always hungry for power. I just never thought he would go to such horrible lengths to attain it.”

“I can beat him,” I said. “That’s what my mom told me in my dream . . . or whatever that was. I can take away Victor’s magic, his Talents.”

She frowned. “And how can you do that?”

“I have no idea, but stealing is what I do best. Lila Merriweather, thief extraordinaire, remember?” I grinned and waggled my eyebrows at her. “I’m sure I can figure it out. I always have before.”

Claudia laughed, but the sound quickly faded away, and her face turned serious again. “But you never had to battle Victor before. He’s stronger and more cunning and ruthless than anyone else you’ve ever fought.”

Everything she said was true, but I shrugged, not letting her see how scared part of me was deep down inside. Scared that I would end up just like my mom—dead at Victor’s hand.

“You don’t have to do this for me,” she repeated. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“I know,” I said. “But I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for me—for me and my mom and every monster and every person that Victor has ever hurt.”

She stared at me, her green eyes locking with mine. She didn’t have my soulsight magic, so she couldn’t feel my emotions the way I could her worry and fear, but she could easily see the determination etched in my face.