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Alice entered with a horrified expression on her face.

“Alice, I’m—” Hugo started. “I’m so sorry. I thought it was you. There were panicked knocks, and your reflection said you were in a panicked state.”

Alice surveyed the damage. Pages torn out of her grimoire and tossed all over. Her apothecary cabinet emptied and contents spilled out. She bent down and picked up one of the cracked mortars Hugo had given her as a Christmas gift.

Hugo lingered over the barren opening in the stone wall, once the hiding spot of The Lovers’ Kiss. “She said she couldn’t find the spell.”

“I moved it,” Alice responded as she turned her attention to the back corner and her special wine rack. The rack containing over a dozen bottles ofThe Lovers’ Kissbrewed potion lay on the stone floor, each bottle smashed.

“She took one. She showed it to me and took it,” Hugo said. “What about the Raskins? Are they okay?”

“They’re fine. I held off Sebastian. I took out two of their ghouls.”

“They wanted us separated,” Hugo said. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Grab your stake.” Alice said, turning to Hugo. Revenge spewed forth from her eyes. “This ends tonight.”

“Time to storm the castle?” Hugo asked.

“It’s time to storm the fucking castle!”

Chapter 22

Storming The Castle

Alice bolted out of the front door onto the darkened porch. She tugged and jostled the brim of her hat to make sure it was snug on her head. Hugo followed, slamming the door shut. He held the wooden stake from the vampire hunter’s kit upside down in his right hand, ready to strike at any given moment.

“They have to know we’re coming,” Hugo said as he pulled on his black leather jacket.

“Good,” Alice responded. “They better be ready for a fight.”

“Two ghouls down, right?”

“Yep. Two left.”

“Two of us against the four of them. I like those odds,” Hugo said. “What about the mind control?”

“Don’t make eye contact, and you’ll be fine.”

“Oh, I’m going to,” Hugo said with a smirk as he turned his head toward Alice. “I want to see the horror in her eyes as I drive this stake through her heart.”

Alice smiled back at Hugo.

They left a trail of ghostly clouds of vapor from their breath as they charged down the gray steps and across the yard. The sky wasdark, only illuminated by the waning moon. Ravenhill Drive was silent, except for the two pairs of feet trudging through the frosting grass in the cold autumn air.

Alice snapped her fingers, and the Savinos’ porch light went out. They stomped up the white steps and into the darkness. They cared not for stealth or a tactful approach. They wanted to announce their presence. Alice wanted to let them know their reckoning was coming. She raised her hand to fling the door wide open.

“Wait,” Hugo said as he blocked her hand. “Let me go first.”

“I can handle it,” Alice said.

“I know, but this could be an ambush. What if they’re waiting for you to enter and then try to bite you? What at they going to do to me . . . turn me into a double vampire?”

“Good point.”

Hugo approached the door, readying himself in a fighting stance. He held the stake shoulder high, primed and ready to strike. “I can smell them in there.”

He took two quick breaths and gave a nod. Alice snapped her fingers to unlock the door. Hugo lifted his hind leg, lurched forward, and kicked the door wide open.