“This may feel strange, it may even manifest violently,” Kamen said. “It is imperative that no one breaks the circle at any time.” He looked to his left at Angelina who stood waiting with her hand held out and Viève on his right doing the same.

He took their hands simultaneously.

The room exploded.

Or that was how it felt. Lightning struck in the center of the living room, wind began to blow violently around them, whipping at their hair and stinging their eyes. A clap of thunder was heard all around them and the room began to shake violently, as if there was an earthquake. Angelina fell to the ground, but Kamen gripped her hand harder.

“Don’t break the circle!” he shouted to all of them. Leo echoed the warning to the First Faction.

“What did you do?” Leo shouted accusatorily.

“I didn’t do anything!” he shouted back. “This is happening on its own! I never got a chance to even try to cast my spell! I think the curse is breaking on its own because—!”

He was cut off when a growl tore through the room, then what sounded like a feminine scream of rage.

“Noooo!” it cried angrily.

Then there was another blinding flash of lightning and when everyone’s eyes recovered…

There were fifteen people standing in the room.

And they could all see each other.

—

The first thing they realized was that one of them was screaming in agony.

The Shadowdweller. The lightning strikes had burned his retinas, blinding him, and it had seared his flesh so that his exposed skin was a raw, open burn filled with blisters oozing pus. Everyone ran to him.

“Get back!” Kamen commanded in a booming voice. Everyone immediately obeyed. He kneeled before the Shadowdweller, who was on the floor writhing in pain. He laid a hand on top of his shoulder, a part of him that had been covered by clothing and unexposed to the lightning so it would not hurt him.

He chose his healing spell very carefully. It had to be a spell that didn’t give off any light at all or it could do even more damage…potentially even kill him. They were fortunate he was still alive as it was.

Kamen spoke the words of the spell quietly and strongly, ignoring the clamor of voices and concerns going on around him. He bathed the Shadowdweller in lightless, healing energy; dulled his pain until the screams died down.

“Sagan!” Valera cried.

She and many others had rushed into the room the minute they had heard the screams. Now she ran to him, wanting to throw herself protectively over him, but knowing that she would only harm him further if she did. She settled for sitting on the floor beside him and placing her lap beneath his head. She shushed him gently as his cries of agony quieted down.

Silence gripped the room, except for Kamen who was continually speaking the words of his spell, over and over again. Valera knew healing magic of her own, but she didn’t use it for fear of disrupting the Bodywalker’s work.

Kamen followed his healing spell with another spell. A quick Word that put the injured Shadowdweller into a deep sleep.

“We should bring him to a bed,” Kamen said. “Somewhere he can rest comfortably while I continue to heal him.”

“Take him to our room,” Jackson said. “It’s better than carrying him all the way to the other house.”

Kamen nodded, then cast a levitation spell, which lifted the Shadowdweller into the air without need of any hands to touch his injured body. He followed the floating man as he directed him up the stairs and into the master suite of the house. He waited for Valera to enter, then shut the door behind them. He lowered Sagan onto the bed and immediately Valera moved a pillow to place under his head.

“Take off his shirt,” Kamen instructed.

She nodded and gingerly went about taking his shirt off. It made her cry to see the painful burns on his flesh. Belated fear gripped her. He could have died. He could have been gone in an instant and she never would have had the chance to…oh, the list of things was endless. To say she loved him one last time. To go back home to Alaska. To give him a child. There were dozens of things they hadn’t done yet that they had wanted to do one day.

One day almost hadn’t come. For good.

No. She wouldn’t think like that. He was there now. She would protect him. He would be healed and she would protect him until her dying breath.

—

Downstairs, in the living area, almost three dozen people stood around looking at each other. Confident that Kamen was caring for the injured Nightwalker, they now were able to take stock of themselves and each other.

Bella was the first to speak.

“Hi!” she said, waving. “I’m Bella! This is Jacob and…”

The introductions flew around the room, First and Second Factions no longer existing as they all became one. Nightwalkers. Once everybody was introduced, a slightly overwhelmed Viève said, “I don’t know about you all, but I could use a drink.”

The sentiment was echoed all around. Most of them took to the liquor cabinet, the Demons went to the fridge.

“So that’s why there’s zebra milk in the fridge!” Viève exclaimed when she was told a Demon’s alcohol was animal milk. Different animals equaled different “proofs” of liquor. Cow’s milk had the potency of grape juice. Zebra milk was like a fine whiskey. “When I saw it I thought it was a joke. Say, how does one get zebra milk exactly?”

“Very carefully,” Bella and Jacob said in unison.

The room erupted in chuckles.

“Well, the curse is broken obviously,” Jasmine said. “What do we do now?”

“We train,” Leo said. “Together.”

“Wow, our teams for ‘capture the flag’ have just doubled in size,” Faith said.

“And that’s a good thing. Now we train as a cohesive unit instead of split factions,” Jackson said.

“Did anyone else hear that woman’s scream?” Viève asked hesitantly.

“I did,” Leo said, “and what’s more, I think I recognized it.”

“What are you thinking, Leo?”

“I think it was Apep. And I think he knows the curse is broken,” Leo said.

“I can’t decide if that’s bad news or good news,” Jackson said grimly.

“When it comes to Apep, it’s all bad news,” Leo said.