“Lila,” Devon said. “Be careful.”

I nodded and kept climbing. A few seconds later, I was at eye level with the cage. It was a small, metal contraption, about the size of a pet carrier, with bars all around it. The door on the cage was open, and something flat and gold gleamed inside. I reached through the opening—careful not to trip the lever that would send the door shooting down—snagged the object, and dragged it out where I could see it.

A dark chocolate candy bar.

My stomach twisted, and bile rose in my throat. Someone had deliberately put the chocolate here to lure a new troll into the cage since they’d already killed the monster who’d been trapped earlier tonight—and all those other poor trolls before it.

“Lila?” Devon called out. “What is it?”

I tucked the chocolate bar into one of my coat pockets, then took hold of the metal cage.

“Use your compulsion magic and tell me to destroy something,” I snarled. “Now.”

Devon drew in a breath. When he spoke again, his voice held a cold crack of magic. “Lila, destroy.”

Devon’s voice wrapped around me like the mist cloaking the trees. The second I heard his command, invisible hands took hold of my arms, moving them this way and that. Devon’s power soaked into my body and quickly melted into a familiar, icy wave of magic flowing through my veins, so cold that it was almost painful. Suddenly, I was stronger than before—and I used that strength to rip the metal cage apart with my bare hands.

Bit by bit, bar by bar, I tore the trap apart, the pieces ping-ping-pinging off the tree branches and disappearing into the darkness. I had just snapped off the final bar when the last of Devon’s magic burned out of my body. I exhaled and took a moment to get my emotions under control before I threw away the remains of the cage and climbed down the tree.

“The trap?” Devon said, shining his flashlight at the broken pieces of metal that had fallen to the ground.

“Yeah.”

“But who would do such a thing?” Felix asked. “And why? Who would deliberately be that cruel to a bunch of harmless monsters?”

I thought of Victor and Blake. Both of them were definitely that cruel. Both of them could easily kill monsters—and people too—just because they wanted to. Just because it amused them. Just because they thought it was fun. But I didn’t understand why they would bother with tree trolls.

“This must be what’s driving the trolls down the mountain and into the squares,” Devon said. “They know that someone’s hunting them.”

The three of us moved back over to the ravine, with Devon shining his flashlight down the rocky slope again. We stared at the broken, murdered creatures, but there was nothing we could do for them. We didn’t have any rope to climb down to get to them, and we didn’t have any shovels or other tools to bury them.

Besides, all around us, blue, green, and red eyes appeared, glowing brighter and brighter as the other monsters crept closer and closer, drawn by the scent of fresh blood. Whoever had killed the troll was long gone, which meant that the danger had passed. But there were still other things lurking in the mist, hungry things that would be happy to snack on the dead troll—and us too, if we didn’t leave soon.

“Let’s go,” Devon said. “There’s nothing we can do for the trolls, and it’s not safe for us to stay here any longer.”

He moved away from the edge of the ravine. So did Felix. But I stayed behind, staring down at what was left of the dead tree trolls.

No blood, just bones and blades . . . bones and blades . . . bones and blades....

For some reason, Seleste Draconi’s warning whispered in my mind. I shivered, clutched my sword a little tighter, and hurried after my friends.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

We made it back to the Sinclair mansion without running into any more problems—or finding any more dead monsters.

The three of us headed to the library, where Claudia was sitting behind her desk, shuffling through papers and pointedly ignoring Mo, who was lounging on a white velvet settee by the fireplace, sipping some delicious-smelling hot chocolate.

I went into the library first, and Mo straightened up.

“Where have you been, kid?” he asked. “I was getting worried.”

“Oh, I picked up some company in the woods on the way back.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder.

Felix and Devon stepped inside the library, with Devon shutting the doors behind him.

“We need to talk,” Devon said. “About exactly why you sent Lila to spy on Victor.”

Claudia sighed, took off her silver reading glasses, and sat back in her chair. Mo looked at me, but I shrugged. I hadn’t been here all that long, but I’d quickly learned that there was no stopping Devon when he wanted answers about something.

Devon marched over to Claudia’s desk, crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at his mom. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were sending Lila to spy on the Draconis? I’m the Family bruiser. I should know about these things.”

“Because I knew that you’d try to go with her,” Claudia said.

“And what would have been wrong with that?”

She arched her eyebrows at his harsh tone, but Devon didn’t back down.

“Because Lila is a thief and a very good one at that,” she said in a cool voice. “She’s used to getting into and out of places she isn’t supposed to be with no one seeing her.”

“You’d better believe it,” Mo chimed in, toasting me with his cup of hot chocolate and extolling my virtues, such as they were.

Claudia ignored him. “This job required the Family thief, not the Family bruiser. Besides, there was more risk of both of you getting caught if you went with her.” She looked at Felix. “Although I see that you took Felix along with you . . . unless he had some other reason for going over to the Draconi compound?”

Felix gave her a tentative smile, but Claudia’s gaze was hard and knowing. It looked like Devon wasn’t the only one who’d noticed Felix and Deah making googly eyes at each other. Then again, it was Claudia’s job to know everything that was going on with all the Sinclairs.

“Felix saw Lila leave, and we went after her,” Devon lied. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you should have told me what you asked Lila to do, especially given how dangerous it was. She’s only been here a few weeks. You should have sent someone else, if you were that worried about Victor.”