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“Do you think he’s gone looking for the others?” That was a possibility. That he was checking his traps to see if he had managed to get the children and the rest of the team back under his control.

Theo gave a grim nod and stepped deeper into the room, and as he moved away from the door, she saw a glow of spell work, and then caught sight of Marchant, creeping up behind him, something with a metallic blade in his right hand.

The spelled glow was from a scarf around his neck, and she realized all at once that Theo couldn’t see him. He probablyhadbeen in his room, lurking like the spider in his web.

“Careful!” It was the first thing that came to mind to shout out as she leaped forward, shoving Theo out the way to grab at the scarf.

With a hiss, Marchant shoved something at her with his left hand, and as she felt the ice cold against her face, felt the air sucked from her lungs, as she fell to the ground, she tried to remember that she could live through this.

She had done it before.

CHAPTER 34

The bastard had been there all along.

Theo knew it the moment he saw Melodie’s eyes focus beyond him, to the door. They had widened, and she moved, shoving him aside as she reached for something?—

He turned toward her, slightly off-balance, and saw her fall, something clutched in her hand. Then Marchant appeared out of nowhere just in front of him, turned almost completely away to focus on Melodie.

He had done something to her, something that had her gasping for breath, and as she lay there, Marchant lifted a long, curved blade in his hand as if to strike her.

Time slowed, like Theo often found it did in a fight, his focus on his target absolute as he swung his sword in a controlled, powerful arc.

This would be a killing blow, but although they had discussed keeping Marchant alive, he had no regret in him as his blade found its target.

Marchant fell, and Theo beheaded him in a single, clean move to make sure he would never get up again, before he landed on his knees beside Melodie.

She was making strange, whistling noises as she struggled for air, and panic grabbed him in its tight, suffocating grip.

“What can I do?” He half-lifted her, but her eyes were closed as she concentrated on getting air.

“S’all right,” she coughed at last. “Temporary.”

He cradled her across his thighs as she got her breathing back under control.

“He did this to you, too, do you remember?” she asked.

“When I stabbed him?” He remembered falling down, but so much happened after that, he didn’t have a clear memory. “How do you know?”

“He told me when he did this to me before. In the workshop.”

Theo looked over at the body, and wished he could kill him again. Instead, he tightened his grip on Melodie and stood with her in his arms, then set her down on the far side of the desk, away from the blood.

She glanced across, shuddered, and tightened her hold on his sleeve. “Thanks.”

“I wish I could do it again,” he said, and meant every word of it.

“What now?” she asked.

He began to light the wall sconces. “Find everything related to who he stole, and who he sold them to, that we can, burn all the evil shit, and go.”

She grimaced. “Then we’ll be here for a while.” She waved at the shelves. “Unless you class everything spell-worked as evil.”

“It’s all magical?” Theo eyed the shelves. They were poorly packed, and there were gaps where something had obviously been kept that was no longer there.

That worried him, made him wonder what it was Marchant had disposed of or sold on.

Melodie nodded. “Some of it might be useful.”