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I sucked in a breath as Liam gathered his magic again. Travis grabbed Liam’s wrist, and I slumped to the floor. For the moment, Liam was taking from Travis, and not just me. This was what was happening all along. Every time we all used magic together, the magic inside me got used up first. Like I was a lightning rod fueling them.

My head pounded, and my heart raced.

Travis grabbed Randy’s hand and then Randy grabbed Gabe’s. They closed their eyes, and I did the same. They started the spell again. Frayed at the edges, I tried to give them even the faintest spark in me.

Finally, Liam cried out. I opened my eyes just in time to see him fall to the floor. The snake leapt from his arm, coiling into itself and hissing.

Dupre laughed, calling to the serpent. “Thanks for doing my dirty work. Come here…”

I watched, looking at the scene, trying to crawl away from the serpent with as little noise as possible. I checked the guys’ wrists quickly, noticing they still wore their all-seeing-eye beads which was supposed to help them from evil magic. I was still convinced that was why the familiar hadn’t attached itself to me that night and attached itself to Liam instead. Liam and Dupre were the only ones who didn’t have bracelets on.

“Don’t let him attach to Dupre!”

The serpent swiveled his head around to me. He elongated, getting bigger and bigger. He moved along the pentagram, coming to a stop just in front of me. He towered over me, and I reached my bracelet hand out. The snake let out a loud hiss.

Thank fuck. That actually worked.

Dupre stepped forward. “Come here, serpent. You belong to me now.”

The serpent lazily turned its head toward Dupre who shuffled back a few steps. The snake’s bright red tongue shot out, and he hissed.

Another matching hiss came from the balcony, and the snake turned, his scaly neck arching and then moving to the floor again where it slithered away.

“What?” Dupre yelled, staring up at the balcony. “Why?”

I looked into the shadows, but I couldn’t see anything. This guy was fucking crazy.

“I’m getting her!” he shouted. “Right now, I have her!”

A loud hiss erupted, so loud I cowered and still the sound reverberated through my head. It was like it attacked my brain cells, overpowering them, until that was all I heard.

Dupre grimaced and staggered back. I peeked over to the guys. All four of them were linked. A tiny knot formed in my stomach until it grew and grew. I started to fill with light again, feeling the purple spread through my limbs. I reached out and touched the white net and it sputtered, falling away.

I backed up, putting space between Dupre and I. He roared. He brought his hands together in front of him and threw a spinning ball of magic at me.

I blocked it, sending it into the wall holding up the balcony. A huge crack formed, and stones fell to the ground.

Rage overtook him. He shook, his body fueling his magic with madness. The guys ran toward me and we stood in a line facing him. He tried again, forming his magic in his palms. The negative around us was sucked into that one spot. We linked hands, forming a barrier. Nothing was getting through to us again. We had too much to fight for.

He released the ball. It spiraled through the air. I closed my eyes, feeling the impact of it until it bounced right back, barely getting through any of our defenses.

I peeked just in time to see the ball barreling right back for Dupre. His eyes widened, but it was too late to do anything about it. It hit him square in the chest. His mouth dropped, and he went flying into the wall. His head hit it with a sickening crack, and then he fell forward, landing in a heap face down on the stone floor.

I swallowed. Blood trickled from his head. Inching forward, it didn’t take much to guess. Dupre was gone.

We’d won.

The air in the room shifted. It was no longer filled with negativity. The breath whooshed out of my lungs and I fell to my knees. I looked up, eager to find that one face to make sure he was okay. Liam was right there. His deep brown eyes staring back at me. His glasses were cracked, the lens splintered. He knelt next to me. I reached out to take his glasses off, letting them fall to the ground beside us. “Is it you?”

He bit his lip and looked away. “I’m so sorry, Norah. You know I would never—”

I launched myself forward, tackling him. Warmth spread through me as his arms came around my waist. I hugged him to me, and the others came right with us, their hands touching me, searching for any injuries on either of us.

I looked up, blinking at them. “We’re all okay.”

Travis nodded. “Dupre’s gone.”

I bit back the sarcastic retort. That much was clear based on all the blood and the fact that he hadn’t moved within the last minute to try to take us all out again.