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H ollyn wasted no more time, knowing that she didn’t have much to waste anyway. This volcano was clearly going to erupt, and she was likely going to die today, but she wasn’t going to go down until she was certain Grigori and his evil ways couldn’t hurt anyone ever again.

She knew he likely had a way to escape the island, and she also knew he was likely using magic to avoid danger and find his way through the maze of tunnels down here.

What he didn’t know was that Hollyn had discovered a new ability with her magic.

While they fought in the cave earlier, she’d began to pick up on the floating remnants of his magic use, glowing bright red in the air.

She could now see a trail of magic he’d used to guide himself through the crumbling tunnels that, now, she could follow like bread crumbs, and the trail would lead her right to Grigori.

Even now, she followed the deep red glow of his magic through darkened tunnels, climbing stairs and twisting around corners. Without the trail, she would be left in complete and utter darkness, but instead, she followed along, knowing that soon she’d turn a corner and face him one last time.

With her hands raised, ready for anything, Hollyn began to hum the song her mother sang to her all those years ago. It was like she couldn’t help herself. The song just began to rise from somewhere deep inside her. She sang the words that came back to her.

‘Cause I’m just a girl, little old me

Well, don’t let me out of your sight

She hummed a few more bars before turning the corner and seeing Grigori staring at her in horror.

She ended with one last line:

Oh, I’ve had it up to here!

“Now, Hollyn, you know I don’t like that song.”

Hollyn lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Well, there’s a lot that you’ve done that I don’t like.”

“But that’s all over now. Your friends are safe, including the one you have a romantic relationship with. Now, it’s time to hold up your end of the bargain.”

She cocked her head to the side, and gave him a knowing smile. “You know, living with Yumia was not easy. Did she give you the long list of chores to do?”

“Yumia? No, she never gave me anything to do. She often dropped me off in the middle of nowhere and told me to find my way back on my own. When I finally did, days later, starved and suffering from exposure to the wild, she’d laugh and curse, explaining that she hadn’t expected me to return.

One time, I didn’t. I’m sure she missed me. ”

Hollyn had to admit that the story tracked. It sounded just like something Yumia would do to one of her students.

“Yeah, I doubt she missed you. She didn’t have anything nice to say about you. But, to be fair, neither do I.”

He shrugged. “I’m not a bad guy, Hollyn. It’s just the nature of a warlock.”

“I don’t buy that excuse, and that’s all it is—an excuse. But, you know what? You get the energy you put out, so the time has come for your reckoning. Karma’s a bitch, and so am I.”

Hollyn raised her hands and began to fire blue energy toward Grigori.

He seemed taken by surprise and slammed backward into the helicopter he was standing in front of with a loud clanging sound.

She continued to fire at him, moving toward him one step at a time, lifting her voice with her song again.

He covered his ears for a moment before raising his own arms and blasting her with a red wave of magic. She skidded backward but kept her footing. His magic really was weaker than hers.

They paused in their attacks long enough for Hollyn to smile knowingly. She was strong. And she was in control.

Grigori’s eyes widened as he realized the truth at the same time.

He scrambled under the helicopter and over to the other side, where he hit a button that opened a pair of doors above them.

He climbed inside the cockpit and started the engine up.

Before he could get the rotors spinning, though, Hollyn ran toward the chopper, blasting her blue magic at it, leaving dents everywhere she hit.

She watched in horror as Grigori lifted the vile of her tears to his lips and swallowed them down, closing his eyes as her magic infused his body. When he opened his eyes once more, they glowed red, reminding her of terrifying moments of her childhood.

He started the rotors moving and climbed into the back until he could slide open the side door.

With blast after blast, he continued to throw his magic at her in rapid fire succession until she was on the ground, crawling for cover, each hit more painful than the last one.

Her skin was singed, and her whole body ached.

“I’ll leave you today, but I think I’ll pick up a certain lovestruck pilot who just happens to be a powerful Son of Poseidon. I think with his natural magnetism, if you survive, you’ll come right to papa. And if you don’t survive, I’ll have a new toy to play with.”

“No! Leave Kai alone! He has nothing to do with us.”

“Not yet, but when I get done with him, you’ll do anything I ask for the rest of your days.”

Just as the volcano began to shake a constant rumble that included explosive eruptions, Hollyn watched as he threw himself back into the cockpit and pushed the lever to make the helicopter rise once more, leaving her to escape on her own.

She’d never felt more alone in her entire life, never more defeated.

Failure? Where was the lesson in this? If the lesson was that she could never win, then she’d learned that long ago.

If the lesson was that Grigori would always be there to hurt the ones she loved, then she was the smartest student in the class.

If the lesson was that it was time to give up…

well, she had to admit, she’d really yet to learn that one. She hoped she never did.

As she struggled to rise, the ground shaking intensely around her, two hands reached out and pulled her up, cradling her in arms she never thought she’d feel the touch of again.

“Kai! I told you to go! This place is about to erupt!”

“I know. But I checked my calendar and didn’t have anywhere else to be except by your side.”

They watched as the helicopter continued to rise, but Kai shook his head. “We’re not going to let him get away.”

He carried her to a section of the chamber that served as a landing pad and leaped up the stairs along the side.

Once they breached the doors and stepped out onto the rocky surface that was wholly unstable now, Kai set Hollyn on her feet.

Hollyn was awed by the size of the full moon hanging low in the sky, a twin reflecting off the ocean water below.

Kai turned her toward him and shouted, “You are the most powerful person I’ve ever met, and we’ve met some interesting characters over the last couple of weeks.

There is no doubt in my mind that if you wanted to, you could give him such a blast of your magic, that he would never bother you or anyone else ever again. ”

She nodded. He was right. She was in control.

Resolve firmly in place, Hollyn turned her focus toward the chopper, quickly turning to avoid the rising plume of toxic smoke billowing out of the volcano now.

She took one last look at Kai, and with everything in her, released a perfect high C, gripped the talisman tightly in one of her hands as she blasted the biggest wave of blue energy she’d ever let loose directly at the helicopter holding her father.

Every inch of her glowed with energy, and she felt the catalytic effect of the medallion amplifying her power beyond anything she could have imagined.

Like a titanium fist, the energy pounded the chopper, bending it in the middle and breaking one of the rotors.

It began to careen in circles, losing all ability to fly.

Like a perfect three-point shot, the chopper plopped right into the mouth of the volcano, falling out of sight.

The volcano gave a giant shake, and Hollyn embraced Kai for what she thought would likely be their last embrace.

“Thank you for coming back for me.”

“Always, love.”

Hollyn watched as a grin lifted the corners of Kai’s mouth. “Tell you what. If you’ll trust me one last time, I think I can save us.”

She nodded. Everything inside her said that Kai would always do the right thing by her. She could trust him.

“When I say, leap, let go and jump with me, okay?”

“What? I don’t think I can?”

“Are you kidding me? How many times have you done something you didn’t think you could do? I don’t know for sure, but I bet you wished for freedom, and if you did, this is what it looks like, taking the risks even when you’re scared.”

Be careful what you wish for. But if Hollyn were honest, she had gotten everything she’d wished for and more, and not because she’d played it safe. She’d taken multiple risks. What was one more?

She gave a decisive answer as she said, “Let’s do it!”

At the same moment that the volcano blew and began to spew bright red lava, along with barely recognizable pieces of metal that had once belonged to a helicopter, a giant wave rose out of the ocean toward the shore.

On it, was a sleek speedboat. As a cloud of ash began to pour toward them at a ridiculously high speed, Kai pulled her arm, and they began to run toward the edge of the cliff.

“Jump!” Kai shouted, and without hesitation, Hollyn took the leap with him.

They hit the speedboat, rolled, and quickly clambered inside. Like a getaway tsunami, the wave switched directions and began to push them out to sea. All around them, debris began raining down, hitting the water with a sizzle.

“If any of that hits this boat, we’re done for!” Hollyn shouted.

But Kai didn’t seem worried at all. He started the engine, and it revved a few times before the wave set them down gently, and Kai hit the gas. They sped away, dodging the rocks that were still being sent out to sea from the blast.

Hollyn looked back at the incredible sight of a volcano in full eruption, one they’d barely escaped. A sense of complete and utter relief washed over her. She was free. She was forever free from Grigori.