“I don’t know. I don’t imagine he’ll give me much of a choice, especially since he’ll be doing his best to kill me.”

She let out a short, humorless laugh. “No, he won’t give you a choice. Just like he didn’t give those monsters or all the people he killed a choice.” Her face hardened, and she looked at me again. “So you do whatever you have to in order to protect yourself. Use every single low-down, dirty trick you know. Because that’s exactly what he’ll do. He won’t fight fair. He never fights fair.”

Deah blinked back the tears shimmering in her eyes and gave me a sharp nod. Her warning delivered, she hurried over to where Seleste was now twirling around Mo and Claudia.

I went over to Devon and Felix. They both gave me somber looks, but they kept on talking, as though we were all just out for a late-night stroll instead of one final battle to determine who took control of Cloudburst Falls—for good.

Felix glanced down at his phone. “The Ito and Salazar guards are in position, hidden in the buildings and alleys on all the surrounding side streets on the opposite side of the bridge. So Victor won’t be able to use his own guards to flank and overwhelm us. We’ve got your back, Lila. All you need to focus on is Victor. Don’t worry about anything else.”

I flashed them both a smile, forcing myself to hold the expression on my face. “Me? Worry? Please. Besides, if I don’t beat Victor, maybe you can talk him to death instead.”

Felix rolled his eyes, but he smiled back at me. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Claudia strode over to us, her face serious, her phone in her hand.

“The Draconis have pulled up on the opposite side of the bridge,” she said.

I nodded, knowing that it was finally time for my battle with Victor, the same one my mother had fought before me. But now, here, tonight, I was determined that the outcome would be different. That I would finally be able to end Victor’s reign of terror.

For my mom, for me, and for my Family.

“Are you ready?” Devon asked.

I drew in a breath and wrapped my hand around my mom’s sword, sliding it free of the scabbard and staring at all the stars running down the black blade. Her symbol, the Sterling Family symbol, and now, my symbol too.

“I’m ready,” I said, tightening my grip on my sword. “Let’s settle this—once and for all.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Claudia signaled everyone to be on high alert. Then she started walking toward the lochness bridge. Mo was right beside her, with Angelo and Reginald on her other side. I walked directly behind Claudia, with Devon, Felix, and Deah flanking me and Oscar flitting around our shoulders.

Even though it was midnight, the July air was warm and humid, and the clouds had darkened in the time we’d been out here, now hanging so low that I felt like I could almost reach up and touch them. Despite the thick clouds, there was plenty of light to see by, thanks to the old-fashioned iron streetlamps at either end of the lochness bridge and the lightning crackling in the sky, getting closer and closer with every passing second. It wouldn’t be long before the storm was here.

I just wondered if I’d be dead before then or not.

But I kept my face blank and didn’t let any of my worry and uncertainty show. More and more Sinclair guards fell in step behind us, and together, as one group, we walked toward the lochness bridge, where the Draconis were already waiting.

Several dozen Draconi guards lined the opposite side of the bridge, all of them wearing their blood-red cloaks and hats, with their hands on the swords belted to their waists.

Victor and Blake were standing in the middle of the guards. Blake was dressed like all the others in a red cloak and hat, but Victor wore a long-sleeved red silk shirt, black pants, and glossy black wingtips. The really interesting thing was the fact that he didn’t have a weapon strapped to his waist like everyone else. No sword, no dagger, no blade of any sort. Odd. I would have thought that Victor would have been carrying some sort of weapon to make it easier for him to kill me.

Then again, he had his lightning magic. He didn’t need anything else.

Claudia stepped out onto the bridge and stopped, looking over her shoulder at me. “Are you sure about this? You can still change your mind. I can still go out there and face Victor instead.”

I drew in a breath and slowly let it out. “No, I want to do this. I need to do this.”

She nodded. “All right then.”

I took off my cloak and handed it to Felix. Devon reached out, threaded his fingers through mine, and squeezed my hand. I turned to face him, focusing on the blazing conviction and rock-hard certainty shining in his eyes, and letting his emotions flood my chest, letting them comfort me and add to my own determination to defeat Victor.

We didn’t speak, but we didn’t need to. Not after everything that had happened the past few days.

I stared back at Devon, letting him see just how much I cared about him, just how much I loved him. I pressed a quick kiss to his lips, then slipped my hand out of his and joined Claudia on the bridge.

Together, the two of us walked out to the middle of the span. I glanced over the side, but the surface of the river remained smooth and calm below. I wondered if the lochness would help me again, since the monster had already saved me twice before. But three times might be asking too much of it, especially against Victor.

Victor strode out to the middle of the bridge as well, with Blake by his side. Both of them blinked at the sight of me standing next to Claudia.

“So you survived the copper crushers,” Victor said, his eyes narrowing in thought. “How did you manage that?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t about to explain myself to him.

“What is this?” he asked, turning to Claudia. “Why is she here?”

Claudia raised her chin and stared back at him, her features as cold and hard as his were. “Lila has volunteered to represent me, to represent the entire Sinclair Family.”

“Are you actually sending this girl out to do your fighting?” He let out a low, ugly laugh. “You really think she can beat me? What a fool you are. I killed Serena and I’ll be happy to do the same to her daughter. Then you’ll have two Sterlings to mourn instead of just one.”

Claudia’s lips pressed together into a tight line, but she ignored his cruel taunt. “Do we have an agreement or not?” she snapped.