“Because it’s in our interest to protect Rose Novak. We don’t want the black witches getting hold of her… Just come with me, there’s no time for talk. There’s a hidden gate to The Sanctuary only a few miles away. We’ll go there now.”

Before I could even realize what was happening, an invisible force jerked Rose and me away from each other. Our bodies levitated in the air, as if controlled by puppet strings.

“No,” I shouted, struggling even as I was raised higher into the air.

Hermia drew us both back onto the deck. As soon as we both landed on the floor, I crawled over to Rose and held her. I glared back at the witch.

“You just need to trust me on this,” she said. “It’s for your own good.”

She began to walk up to us. I was sure she was about to touch our shoulders and vanish us to their hidden gate.

But I wasn’t going to give up this easily. As she raised her palms, I extended my claws and slashed at her. She vanished, but not fast enough to avoid my claw cutting a deep gash in her right palm. I felt her blood on my hand as I picked up Rose and ran back into the interior of the boat, along the corridor and through to the other side of the deck.

We weren’t far away from The Shade now. If we managed to make enough noise, maybe, just maybe, one of those vampires or werewolves would detect us. I wasn’t willing to jump in the sea in case my legs became paralyzed again the moment we hit the water.

“Mona!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Anyone! I have Rose Novak! Help!” I opened my mouth to yell again, but choked as hands closed around my neck, crushing my larynx. I forced my head backward, expecting to see the blonde witch. But while I saw a witch, she wasn’t blonde.

Two witches with pale skin and dark curly hair stood over us, both dressed in black. They looked alike enough to be sisters. The witch gripping me by the neck was a few inches taller than the other.

I could tell just by looking at them that these were a different breed of witches to Hermia. The breed of witches I’d spent most of my life with. These were black witches. The same witches who’d stolen Annora away from me were now attempting to steal Rose.

Gasping, I lashed out again and managed to graze one witch’s chest. She let go and jerked backward. I crouched down in front of Rose, shielding her.

Two black witches against a vampire. I had no chance. They knew it. I knew it.

They drew closer again, like hyenas closing in on prey.

“You’ll rue the day the two of you injured our brother,” the taller witch hissed.

Julisse and Arielle. The two remaining sisters of Rhys. I’d heard talk around the castle that they were two of the most formidable female witches of our time, but I’d never met them before.

As they both held out their palms, a burst of light blinded me. It was so bright, it seared through my brain. I staggered back against Rose, clutching my eyes. I forced them open even as they burned.

Through a veil of shimmering light, I caught sight of Hermia standing on the roof of the boat. Her uninjured palm was outstretched as she glared down at Julisse and Arielle, who appeared to have been blinded by the light as well.

I grabbed Rose once again. I had no time to contemplate whether my legs would still be paralyzed. We had to flee while Hermia distracted them. I dove into the water, thanking God when I found I was able to kick down.

I didn’t know how far I’d get with Rose now. It wouldn’t be long until those two black witches finished off the white witch. Even though she was from the Ageless’ lineage, she would be no match for them.

We managed to get about a mile away when the black witches approached the boat’s railing, scanning the waves for us. I ducked down quickly, hoping they hadn’t spotted us. But they would soon. The brilliant flashes of light had stopped. That meant they’d killed Hermia or she had fled for her life. I actually had expected her to fold before now—I knew how much it took out of a white witch to launch an attack on a black witch like Rhys or his siblings, the most advanced witches of our time.

We weren’t far away enough for them to miss us, especially now that they were moving the boat toward us.

I tried not to think about getting caught. I just focused on protecting Rose. If they were going to pry Rose from me, it would be from my dead hands.

I ducked down, daring to swim a little deeper this time, and stayed there until Rose once again struggled against me. But this time, as I tried to surface, I couldn’t. And it wasn’t because my legs were paralyzed. Far from it. A powerful suction began pulling me downward. It happened so fast I couldn’t react.

The next thing I knew, my body dropped through what felt like a hole, my elbows banging against a hard metal surface.

There was a grinding sound of metal. I sat up in a pool of water, realizing that I could breathe normally. Fluorescent lighting surrounded us. My eyes were still sensitive from Hermia’s spell, and the bright lights clouded my vision again. I squinted, and turned to Rose next to me. She’d sat up too, coughing and gasping for breath as she rubbed her eyes.

Once my pupils adjusted, I thought I might have finally discovered what lay in wait for the undead after death.

Chapter 31: Rose

I thought I was hallucinating. That I was suffering from shock. That I’d swallowed too much sea water, or was oxygen-deprived. But when Caleb said her name, the cold truth sank in.

“Annora?”

She stood over us. The water in the metal chamber we found ourselves in came halfway up her legs. Her long dark hair hung damp down her shoulders, her eyes wide and glassy as she stared at Caleb. There was something different about her eyes. They seemed warmer in color somehow, no longer the harsh grey they used to be. And her skin was a little less pale.