I flashed the cold, glittering Ice at Pike. “Try to take this one away from me, you son of a bitch,” I hissed.

Pike looked at the Ice dagger, then at my face, his eyes narrowing in thought. Too late, I realized what I’d done—and all the memories I’d triggered.

“You . . . you were in the woods!” he accused.

“Guilty as charged,” I hissed again. “I should have killed you back then when I had the chance. But I’m going to rectify that mistake right now.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.”

Pike waved his hand again. This time, the refrigerator wrenched free of the wall and zipped across the floor, coming straight at me. I staggered out of the way as it toppled over, the doors opening and spilling vegetables, mayonnaise, milk, and more all over the floor.

Lorelei finally yanked open a freezer drawer in the bottom of the island and pulled out another elemental Ice gun. A row of identical weapons were lined up inside the frosty space. Cool arsenal.

Even though she was still tangled up in all those pots and pans, Lorelei flipped over onto her back and raised the weapon to fire at Pike.

He grabbed a toaster off the counter and tossed it at her. The appliance hit her hand, shattering her Ice gun and making her yelp with pain.

At this point, I was starting to wonder if any of us were going to be able to kill Pike—

Woo-woo. Woo-woo.

Maybe we wouldn’t have to. The distinctive wail of a police siren blared in the distance. For once, I welcomed the sound.

“Looks like the party’s over for you, Ray,” I said. “All we have to do is keep you pinned in here until the cops arrive. I’m sure that they have a nice cell waiting for you downtown. You should enjoy it, what with all those metal bars. It’ll be just like juvie all over again.”

Rage flashed in Pike’s eyes, but he gave me a cold smile and flipped my knife end over end in his hand again. “One more lesson, then, before I go. You helped take my father away from me. Now I’m going to return to the favor and take someone away from you.”

I sucked in a breath, knowing exactly what he was going to do. But I couldn’t stop him.

I couldn’t stop him.

Pike flipped my knife over in his hand a final time, then whipped around and threw it at Owen.

But Owen realized that it was coming. Still wobbling on his injured knee, he snapped up his hand, his eyes glowing a bright violet with his own metal power.

My knife stopped in midair a foot in front of him.

“Owen!” I screamed.

I started forward, but this time, my foot got caught in the bottom of a pan. My feet flew out from under me, and I hit the floor.

Lorelei cursed, reaching into the freezer drawer for another elemental Ice gun, but her movements were slow and awkward, and she wasn’t going to be able to stop her brother.

Pike tilted his head to the side and studied Owen with new interest. “Another metal elemental. How quaint.”

His eyes burned an even brighter blue as he sent out another surge of magic, but Owen pushed back with his own power, and my knife hovered in midair between them. Sweat beaded on Owen’s forehead, lines of tension and pain grooving deeply into his face. I could feel how much magic he was using just to keep my knife from coming any closer.

But it wasn’t working.

Inch by inch, my knife slid forward through the air, swimming toward Owen like a hungry shark.

I scrambled to my feet, hoping that I could put my body in front of Owen’s and take the blow meant for him.

Too late.

With a cold, hard rush, Pike’s power overcame Owen’s and blasted right through his defenses.

Pike sent out a final burst of magic, and my knife zipped through the air and plunged into Owen’s chest.

23

“No!” I screamed. “No! No! No!”

Owen staggered back against the counter. His feet slipped out from under him, and he slid to the floor, my knife buried in his chest.

I started toward Owen, but Pike raised both his hands and sent out another blast of magic, one that ripped through the entire kitchen. Pots, pans, appliances. Anything that had the slightest bit of metal in it rattled, rolled, and tumbled to the floor.

But it was nothing compared with my magic.

My power erupted as I screamed, surging through every piece of stone that made up the mansion. The floor bucked and heaved, the walls shook, and deep cracks zipped through the ceiling.

The vibrations threw Pike off balance and made him lose his grip on his magic, giving Lorelei enough time to grab another Ice gun and fire it at him. But the rippling floor spoiled her aim, and the bullet thunked into one of the cabinets instead of his skull.

In the distance, the police sirens kept wailing, getting closer and closer, louder and louder. Pike growled, yanked his mace out of the cabinet, and plunged through the shattered glass patio doors. But I didn’t care about chasing after him.

I didn’t care about anything but Owen.

I swallowed down my screams, tossed my Ice dagger aside, waded through the debris, and sank down beside him. The mansion kept shaking, though, the stones still vibrating from my violent burst of power.

Owen looked up at me, his violet eyes bright with pain. “Gin . . .” he rasped. “Gin . . . it’s not . . . your fault . . .”

He coughed, more and more blood gushing out from the wound on his chest. Pike hadn’t hit his heart with the knife, but he’d come close enough. I knew exactly what would happen next. Owen’s lungs would fill with fluid, and he’d choke to death on his own blood—if he didn’t bleed out before then.