Erebus charges forward. At least I’m ready for him this time. I throw out my right arm, tossing up an invisible wall to shield myself. I can fight back harder than this. He hates when he’s forced from his host body, and I could force him from this one now—but I won’t. While it takes more energy to hold back my powers and just listen than it does to melt the ice behind me, I do it because it’s better to have Erebus here in front of me than somewhere unknown, hurting someone else or possessing another body.
“What do you want?” I demand again, more forcefully than before. “Why now?”
“Katrina, honey.” His voice is sickly sweet. “Your friends and family are in grave danger. I’m here to warn you.” His expression is falsely sympathetic.
“From what?” I ask with a straight face.
He tilts his head again, his face twisting into a sinister smile, and I swear his tongue flicks between his lips like a snake’s. “From me.”
Erebus doesn’t affect me the way he wants to—at least I don’t show him the fear quickly working its way through me. I glare instead. “You came all this way to cause a snowstorm and tell me that? Your scare tactics are a bit lacking in creativity, don’t you think?” I tilt my head. “What a waste of your time. My friends and family are well protected. You aren’t getting to them. Maybe you should have just picked up the phone—or emailed.”
He tosses his head back and laughs, his voice echoing down the long, narrow hallway. “I come from an ancient world of magic. Technology is not my thing.” His laughter ceases almost instantly, and his eyes narrow. “Now hear me, little girl. If you wish for your friend in there to live past winter, then you will obey my wishes.”
My heart sinks. Which friend? My mind and insides are churning so fast, I can’t surrender a response. I desperately want to turn around and see what’s going on behind the glass of ice, but Erebus isn’t done, and who knows what he would do if my back was turned.
“That’s better.” He straightens his stance, and I can only imagine he’s referring to my silence. “My long quest is near its end. I’m close. I can feel it.” Energy radiates through his body in ripples of gold light.
“If your quest is to find the energy source, then you’re talking to the wrong person. Rose won’t tell me. She’d rather die than risk you knowing a thing.”
Erebus nods. “While that might be true, I know it’s not beyond you to figure it out. Dear Katrina, you’ve been a part of my plan since before your birth. You’re where you are now because of me. Do not test me. Do not deceive me. You will do as I say, or one by one, I will destroy everyone you love. Even you can’t protect them all.”
My body trembles. I want to scream, stomp my feet, and muffle my ears with my quivering hands. But I have to stay strong. “I already told you—I don’t have the answers you want. But why now? Why tonight?”
His chuckle is deep, yet airy, an eerie echo that comes with a gold puff of air that swirls from his mouth. “I’ve stayed away long enough, Katrina. I’m afraid my time away has made you forget your mission. And I find events like these make for a more effective way to get my message across.” He lifts a brow, only infuriating me more.
I want to tell him his theatrics do nothing but take the lives of innocent people while making the Enchanter community stronger, but I know better than to think he would care in the least. So, I take another approach instead. “Where have you been all this time?”
His eyes grow momentarily distant, then return with a blaze. “Ask your friend Johnny.”
The retort surprises me more than anything else that’s happened today. Erebus knows Johnny followed him.
He takes something from his pocket and throws it to the floor. It clatters then skids to a halt a few feet in front of me. I don’t dare take my eyes off Erebus to see what it is.
“That’s it?” I act disinterested. He can’t see my quivering insides, so I try my best to appear calm.
I can’t see his expression behind the mask, but I’m certain he’s smirking right now. “Almost. If you want your loved ones to continue breathing this wretched air, then you will deliver the energy source to me. If you don’t…” His glare glows. “People will die. And their blood will be on your hands—quite literally, in fact.”
I try to stifle a gasp. The thought of Erebus possessing me is something I fear daily. He would have total control of my body. The things he could do… I shudder. Of course, that’s only if he can gain entry.
“Did you forget?” I release the shield to hold up my wrist carrying my pendant. Erebus doesn’t waste a second to use this as an opportunity to pin me against the melting ice wall, lifting me so my feet dangle.
“I do not forget anything.” He rolls his head around his neck, making a series of cracking noises as the old man’s muscles adjust. “You will be mine. When the time is right, of course.”
I struggle against his hold, my feet kicking as a growl tears up my throat. “And how do you expect to possess me if you can’t remove my bracelet? It can only be removed by me to protect a child of mine or by my Fated.” I swallow back all the personal feelings I have on the fact that the man I thought was my Fated walked away from me, returning only for his revenge mission on Erebus.
The man sneers. “Oh, dear Katrina. There’s another way.”
My heart is crashing wildly against my ribcage. Rose never disclosed such a thing. “How?”
“You’re an Equinox, which means there’s no power than can stand in a way of you allowing yourself to be Taken. That bracelet only protects you from me taking you against your will.”
“I will never allow it,” I spit out.
The man grins. “We shall see.”
Muffled screams come from behind the thinning sheet of ice at my back. I turn to see Johnny pounding on it. Alec comes up beside him, and I immediately hear the ice begin to crack.
When I turn back to Erebus, he’s backing away, eyes focused on me. “You have your instructions, Katrina. I’ll let you get back to your friends.”
“Wait! What happens when I get the information you’re searching for? How do I find you?” I don’t plan on giving him what he wants. I’m just curious to see how far he’ll go.
He smiles. “You don’t find me. I’ll find you.”
“When?” I practically scream it.
He doesn’t respond, and he doesn’t attack me again. Instead, the Equinox man collapses to the ground, lifeless, as Erebus’s serpent form slithers away through the darkness.
Released from his magic, I feel my knees go weak, and a loud crack breaks through the new silence. I turn to find the ice wall is seconds from shattering, but I’m too tired to move. My legs and eyelids feel heavy.
I can faintly hear my friends on the other side of the wall shouting for me to move. With a step backward, I lose my footing, and my sight goes fuzzy. Then I’m sinking into the darkness. The last thing I’m aware of is the cold linoleum floor greeting my face with a hard smack, just as the ring of ice shatters behind me.
My energy is faint, but I hear voices and feel myself being carried away.