Lux flicked the wand, but nothing happened. Ira stared at him, waiting for something, so Lux shook it. Still nothing happened, and Ira threw back his head and laughed.

Of course the wand wouldn’t work for him. It was a unicorn horn, and Lux was a peccati with no training in sorcery. He had absolutely no idea how to make the thing work, except what he’d seen witches do before. Wick just held it and magic spewed forth, but apparently, there was some trick to it that Lux couldn’t decipher.

“Dammit,” Lux muttered and shook the wand again.

“Oh, that’s rich.” Ira tried to quiet his laughter. “That is just pathetic, Lux! Is that even a real wand? Or is that just a twig you picked up outside?”

Ira was too busy laughing to really be on guard, so Lux charged at him. It was the best plan of attack he could come up with. But as soon as Ira saw Lux moving at him, he stopped laughing and righted himself. He swung at Lux, who ducked below it, and kept running.

There was nothing in this part of the hallway to fight Ira with, so he had to go somewhere else where he could find something useful. Ira called Lux a coward but chased after him. Lux heard Ira’s feet behind him, sounding like a stampede of horses rather than one man, and Lux knew he had to get out of the way.

Lux threw open the first door he came to, and immediately realized that wasn’t the wisest choice. Unfortunately, Ira was right on his tail, so he had to go inside, even if the room spelled certain doom.

If Lux had been paying more attention, he would’ve known what room it was just by the smell. The skinning room had the distinct scent of hot oil and cooking flesh. Valefor liked collecting the hides of his victims, and the skin came off much easier when boiled in hot water.

The skinning room had about ten feet of ledge right inside the door, and then it was open to a giant vat of boiling water. It was kept hot by lava that flowed up from the surface. Just being inside the room was almost unbearably warm, and Lux could handle heat very well.

A sonneillon stood near one side of the room, stirring the water with a large pitchfork. Apparently, there was something in the water in the process of being skinned.

“Good choice, Lux,” Ira said, sounding genuinely impressed when he walked in the room behind him. “I couldn’t have picked a better room for your demise.”

“I was just thinking the same thing, except about you.” Lux turned back around to face Ira and flashed him a cocky grin, even though he did not feel cocky at all.

Ira swung at Lux, but when Lux tried to move out of the way, Ira’s big arm clotheslined him. Lux started to fall backward, but Ira caught him. He lifted him up, so Lux’s back was to Ira, and Ira clamped one arm around his throat, so Lux could barely breathe.

“When you hit the water, make sure you scream a lot,” Ira said, his voice right in his ear. “I want to hear you die.”

Lux flailed, kicking at him with both legs, and tried futilely to pull at the arm crushing his neck. It would be easier to claw at Ira’s arm if he weren’t holding the wand, but he doubted that it would make much of a difference. He wasn’t strong enough to move Ira anyway.

Just as Ira stepped to the edge of the ledge, preparing to drop Lux into the boiling water, Lux thrust the horn back and stabbed Ira right in the eye. Ira screamed and stumbled backwards, then let go of Lux.

Lux hit the ground gasping for breath and watched as Ira fell down next to him a few seconds later. Lux had jammed the horn right into his brain, and Ira’s dead body twitched next to him.

“The luxuria has slain the ira,” the sonneillon hissed and stepped toward Lux, its long fingers reaching out for him. Ira might be out of the way, but the sonneillon would still get quite the reward if he killed Lux.

Lux got up, still rubbing his throat, and stepped back from the sonneillon. It kept coming at him, so Lux moved to the side. He kept stepping backwards, moving so the sonneillon would stand between him and the hot water.

When the sonneillon reached out for him again, Lux kicked it as hard as he could in the chest. The creature went flying backward, growling as it fell into the water. It began to scream, but only for a few seconds before it died.

“I always thought you things were so gross,” Lux said, watching the sonneillon float in the water.

With Ira taken care of, that left him with only thing to do: figure out how to stop Valefor from going after Lily. Because as long as Valefor was alive, Lily would never be safe.

22

Under her breath, Wick cursed herself for giving Lux the wand. She’d given it to him because he needed a fighting chance to survive. After everything he’d done for her and Lily, Wick felt like she owed him that much. But she’d done it in the heat of the moment and hadn’t been thinking.

Without the wand, Wick had no idea how to get out. The trail of fairy dust she’d left would be of no use to her, since it wouldn’t show up without the magic of the wand. She and Lily were running blind through Valefor’s lair. And Lily wasn’t even running that fast.

“Lily, come on,” Wick hissed, pulling on her to move faster. Wick still hung on tightly to Lily’s hand, afraid if she let go that Lily would stop completely.

“We shouldn’t have just left him behind like that,” Lily said, her voice thick.

“It’s what he wanted.”

“But it’s not right.” Lily stopped and refused to go any farther, no matter how hard Wick tugged on her.

“Lily!” When she saw that Lily wouldn’t budge, Wick turned around to face her and put her hands on Lily’s shoulders, trying to convey how important this was. “I left him with my wand. He’ll be alright.”

“But I can’t let him risk it.” She shook her head. “I can’t leave him to die for me.”

“If he dies, it won’t be just for you.” Wick put her hand on Lily’s cheek, her eyes grave. “It’s for the whole world. If Valefor gets you, we all suffer. This is about more than just you or Lux.”

“If something happens to him, it’s my fault,” Lily said, with tears in her eyes.

“No, it’s not.” Wick shook her head. “It’s his fault. He chose this life in service of a daemon. And this, what he’s doing for you, is far more honorable than anything he’s done before. In return, you need to get out of here alive. Otherwise his efforts will be for naught.”

Lily bit her lip, and Wick took that as a sign of a reluctant agreement. She took Lily’s hand again, and they began running. Lily quickened her pace but only slightly.