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“You’re my little brother, Max. I’d do anything for you. Right now, though, I’m asking you to trust me, okay? When this is all over, I promise, I’ll answer any question you have. But for now, just stay with me, and let’s finish this.”

Max paused. “Okay,” he said, after a few seconds. He didn’t sound convinced, but it was about as much as I was going to get out of him.

”We need to get to our mansion.” I told Lucien. “We’ll beat him to it, destroy the engine, and get out before he knows what’s happened.”

Lucien scanned the long road ahead. “I’m… not sure I know the way. Do you?”

“Oh… shit.”

“Shit?”

“I’ve barely left my mansion in my entire life. I don’t even know where we are, let alone how to get back on my own.”

“That’s not entirely true, is it?”

“Okay, I’ve used the amulet to get in and out, but I don’t exactly have to follow any roads when I’m—” I turned around to Max. “That’s how we’ll get there! We’ll ditch the car and use the amulet to get home! It’ll give us a head start on figuring out how to destroy the engine.”

Max looked at the amulet in his hand, then up at me, then over at Lucien. “Are you… sure bringing him home is a good idea?” he asked.

“Buddy, we went over this, didn’t we?”

“I know… I just, I can’t help it.”

I stretched my hand out to him. “If you can’t trust him, then trust me,” I said, fashioning a warm smile. “We’ve got this.”

Max reluctantly handed the amulet over, nodding. “I trust you,” he said.

I took the amulet, feeling its power rush through me once more. It was a familiar power, like reconnecting with an old friend. This time, though, I knew my abilities had grown, and so did the amulet. It pulsed in my hand, sending little vibrations into my skin. Max had managed to use the amulet to transport himself into our car. I was now going to use it to get the three of us out of the car and into our mansion.

Send us home… for the last time.

Lucien didn’t pull the car off the highway. Instead, he slowed to a crawl, then stopped. I held the amulet in one hand, channeled my power through it, and shut my eyes.

“Hold onto me,” I said, “This is going to be wild.”

“Maybe for you,” Max said. “I’m a pro.”

“We’ll see about that,” I added, and with a thought and a slight breath, the three of us were gone.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

Irealized too late the error I had made. In my rush to end this ordeal for the three of us, I hadn’t realized until we materialized inside of my family home, that we were returning to my family home. Back to the scene of the crime. Back to the place where my mother and father were murdered in front of me.

The first time I had taken Max for a ride through the Ether, he had been the one to throw up. This time, I was the one who almost wretched from the sudden nausea that overcame me. My hand flew up to my mouth, and I clasped it shut. My stomach gurgled. My chest tightened.

I was home, only I wasn’t ready for the emotions that came with my return.

Lucien placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you alright?” he asked.

I couldn’t speak. I could barely think. I needed a minute to compose myself, to center myself. To my surprise, though, Max was alright. He looked stoic, and steely-eyed. I supposed he had been preparing himself for this moment for a long time, while I had been preoccupied running errands for the Diaboli.

It was his presence that helped calm me down. Without looking at me, he took one of my hands and squeezed it. “It’s alright,” he said, “We can handle this.”

“I’m glad you think so,” I managed.

“We’ve got this.”