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Sylvia laughed. “I think I touched a nerve. Okay, I’ll leave. I know when playtime is over. But before I go, I want you to do something for me. I want you to let her know it was me. Can you do that for me?”

He didn’t answer.

“Answer me,” she commanded.

“Yes,” he replied.

She laughed, flicking her head so her hair flipped over her shoulder. She leaned in and whispered into his ear. Her breath was torturous with every word.

Hugo's earsperked up as he heard the distinct sound of Alice's footsteps echoing on the gray wooden steps of the porch. Thepartially open front door gave a glimpse of Alice, frozen in place before she could even knock.

“Hugo!” Alice shouted, freed from her momentary hesitation.

She rushed through the door with Guinevere following.

“Hugo, are you okay?”

She slammed the door shut before darting into the living room.

Hugo remained in the same position as before, his body tense and unmoving. His hands still clutched the seat cushion. He wanted to move, he wanted to talk, but the unseen force still held him in place. His eyes focused on Alice.

Alice moved through the living room with a stunned expression on her face as she examined her surroundings. The candles on the floor, the knocked over bookshelf, and the shattered potted plant. She removed her curved witch’s hat and bent down to pick up the set of keys from her memory shrine. Alice locked eyes with Hugo.

“Hugo, what happened here?” Alice asked.

“Say her name,” Hugo commanded.

“Say whose name?”

“Say her name,” Hugo commanded again.

Alice dropped her hat to the ground, her expression of concern morphing into anger. “Sylvia.”

“Sayhername,” Hugo commanded once more.

Alice paused. The grandfather clock ticked and tocked a few times, cutting through the silence of the room. Alice glared at Hugo, her tongue holding back the words she needed to say.

After a pause, she said in a low growl, “Sylvia Savino.”

Hugo sprang up from the couch, the unseen hold relinquishing its compulsion over him.

“I’m going to stab her. I swear, with every fiber in my being, I’ll stab her.” He sprinted out of the room toward the basement door.

“What happened?” Alice asked as she followed him.

“She was in the cellar looking for the spell,” he answered as he bounded down the steps.

The light was still on from when Sylvia had been there.

“How did she get through the door?”

“There was a panicked knock at the door. I thought it was you. She mind-controlled me through the window on the door.”

He rushed across the basement to the open wine cellar door. Hugo stopped, his face sunken as the flickering lights from within illuminated the damage inside.

“Vampires can’t enthrall other vampires. She must have some of your blood from before the transformation . . .” Alice’s words trailed off as she stepped into the entryway.

The cauldron and other items from Alice’s workbench were strewn across the stone floor. The hourglass shattered as its sands spewed into the crevasses of the stone floor. The wine presses smashed. The vats run through with the grape stompers. The bottles awaiting a trip to Ez’s place all broken. The once pristine cellar was now the latest victim of the Savinos’ wrath.