I opened my eyes, returning to reality, to the natural flow of time, just as Alton finished preparing the hex cure. It had turned into a thick, dark green liquid, which he poured into a glass bottle. Tobe reached out to get it, but I stepped in and snatched it from Alton’s hand.
That took him by surprise. “Tatyana, what are you doing?”
“I’ve got this,” I said, energized as though I’d just swallowed the sun.
It didn’t take long for him and Tobe to figure it out. “You let a spirit in,” Alton replied.
I nodded. “Dylan is a Herculean, and, no offense, Tobe, but you don’t have the chops for him no matter how many monsters you’ve tackled before.”
“Now, that’s not exactly—” Tobe tried to object, but I cut him off.
“Oberon Marx,” I said.
That was enough to make him back down. “You have Oberon Marx in there?”
“Who’s that?” Harley asked.
“Oh. Big-time Herculean, star athlete of SDC about twenty years ago. Died a gruesome death in the late nineties, though the circumstances were unclear, from what I remember,” Alton briefly explained. Judging by the look on his face, he was quite impressed.
“You’re a fan of his?” I chuckled. I’d felt Oberon wanting to ask that question, and I could feel the pride swelling in my chest. The guy had lived to be adored.
“Most valuable player of the twentieth century, basically,” Alton replied. “Well, he could’ve been. His untimely departure deprived us of a legend, but… I’m glad to see he’s helping you.”
I gave him a weak smile and looked at Tobe. “Don’t get me wrong, I have all the faith in you, Tobe, but I feel responsible, and I can do this,” I said.
Tobe nodded and got ready to open Dylan’s box. Dylan had gone quiet, eyeing me like a very hungry wolf. “You have to move fast, Tatyana. And don’t let him bite you,” Tobe instructed. “The hex is transferable.”
“Now he tells me,” I grumbled, holding the bottle tight in one hand as I stepped in front of the box. “I’m ready. Let me in.”
“Be careful, Taty!” Santana called behind me.
I knew they were all worried, but this was part of the gig. Chaos and magic were never rainbows and sprinkles. There was darkness and pain, danger and poison. Sure, there was wonder and healing, the accomplishment of extraordinary feats and a fusion with nature otherwise impossible to achieve. But most of the time, there were risks of all kinds to be factored into the life of a magical.
This was one of them.
Tobe opened the box, and I slipped inside at lightning speed. He locked me in there as Dylan stepped back. He was momentarily confused.
“Dylan, I know you’re in there,” I whispered.
He lunged at me, snarling like a vicious animal. I let Oberon take over my limbs. We tackled Dylan. He pushed me against one of the glass walls, but my legs jerked upward and I kneed him in the gut. He groaned from the pain but didn’t let that stop him.
Oberon was phenomenally strong. I’d carried a tied-up Dylan into the coven mostly due to adrenaline, but this… this was something else entirely. I felt as though I were made of rock and steel. He punched me several times, but I hit back with my left fist, while my right hand was busy protecting the bottle holding the cure.
“Dylan, listen to me!” I panted. “I know you’re in there! I need you to focus! I need you to stop this and drink the cure!”
He didn’t seem to care. He was too busy trying to take a bite out of me. Oberon’s reflexes were mine now, though, so Dylan didn’t get that chance. I kicked him, then hurled him over my shoulder. He hit his head against the glass, temporarily dazed.
I popped the cap off the bottle and gripped Dylan by the throat.
“You’re the only one I’ve ever felt a connection to, Dylan!” I said, my voice uneven and my eyes stinging from the tears threatening to come out. “Never mind that we’re all worried about you. I’m the one in here, now, asking you… Dylan, please! Help me out here!”
I tightened my grip on his throat, enough to constrict his windpipe. He was struggling to breathe.
“I know you’re different from other magicals,” I added. “I know you can beat this. Let me cure this hex you’re under, because this isn’t you, Dylan. I want my Dylan back! We all do!”
He stilled all of a sudden, breathing heavily, his hands still clutching my forearm in an attempt to push me back. I couldn’t help but thank the stars for Oberon in that moment.
He blinked. I’d managed to strike a chord in there, beneath the madness. For one moment, despite the yellow eyes, I felt as though I was looking at the real Dylan. My Dylan. I raised the cure bottle for him to see it.
“This will make you feel better,” I breathed. “Let me make you feel better.”
He didn’t say anything, but he exhaled sharply. His muscles were twitching angrily. Every fiber in his body was probably telling him to attack, but he held back. This was my chance. I put the bottle’s lip against his. He slowly opened his mouth, and I tilted the bottle but didn’t ease my grip on him. I couldn’t risk it.
He drank it all and snarled at me again.
Then, he froze, staring at me with wide eyes. The yellow faded, and the warm caramel-brown I’d grown to be so fond of came back in gentle ripples. The red veins withdrew.
“Dylan?” I croaked.
He blinked again, then dropped to his knees and retched all over my shoes. My stomach churned, mostly at the sight of what was pouring out of Dylan—it was a thick, black substance, riddled with tiny worms, and certainly not the liquid cure I’d just given him.
Tobe opened the box again and helped me out, while Wade and Raffe carried Dylan. He’d passed out, but he looked a lot better than the savage fiend I’d struggled with earlier.
“It’s done,” Alton said. “Good job, Tatyana.”
I gave him a faint nod, then let out a long sigh.
“Thanks, Oberon,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome, darling,” he replied, his voice echoing in my head.
“Time to let go,” I reminded him.
I heard him groan, and sighed again when I felt his energy drain out of me. I experienced relief, thankful that I didn’t have much trouble with letting a spirit go. I was getting better at commanding the ghosts, from what I could tell.
My arms and legs felt weak all of a sudden, and I was aching all over. All the strength I’d gotten from Oberon was gone. In its wake was a tired, jelly-like Tatyana. I was just grateful I didn’t pass out, as I’d done in the past after a possession. I had learned a few breathing tricks, and perhaps I was making progress.
Dylan was on the floor, lying on his back while Wade checked his vitals. “He’s okay,” he said. “Quite stable, but we need to take him to the infirmary.”
“Krieger should take a look, for sure,” Alton replied. “Dylan will be out for a couple of days, though. And so will Damian,” he added, handing a second cure bottle to Tobe. “You can handle an angry human, right?”
Tobe scoffed. “Now you’re just insulting me.”
Alton chuckled. Santana put an arm around my shoulders as we watched Tobe go into Damian’s glass box and force him to take the cure. A beastly hexed human was much easier to handle than a Herculean, that much was obvious. The spell did give Damian ridiculous strength, but it wasn’t above Tobe’s level.
Wade and Raffe carried Dylan to the infirmary. I quietly watched them go, nagged by a dull pain in my chest.
I made it my mission to get my hands on Kenneth Willow. That little brat was in for a serious butt-kicking after what he’d done. Right after the Ryder twins. I had a bigger bone to pick with those two.
Twelve
Harley
After Dylan was taken to the infirmary, Alton called in a cleanup crew to take care of Damian. He was given medical attention, then had his memory wiped—just like they’d done with Maria, his wife. The Hellers didn’t need to remember this nightmare.
Wade, Santana, Tatyana, Raffe, Astrid, and I followed Alton into his office, where we briefed him on our progress so far. Each of our teams had visited two of the twelve families on the list he’d given us, before the Kenneth Willow incident.
“I know we still have more to run through, but the attack and Dylan’s condition took precedence,” Wade concluded his reporting.
I was restless, not just because of my own emotions, but also because of everyone else’s. They were all worried and fearful, mentally bracing themselves for another potential disaster. We were still reeling from what had happened with Finch and Katherine Shipton, after all, and the rumors of her emergence were still buzzing in the background of everything we said and did.
“No, that was a good call,” Alton replied. “However, we’ll need to check on the other families on our list as soon as possible. I need you all on this, first thing in the morning. Until then, however, I’ll send the Ryders’ photos out to the security team and have them keep an eye on each of the remaining houses.”
“Yeah, that’ll work until we get there and debrief the families,” Wade agreed.
“I’ll prepare more charms in the meantime,” Santana said. “I used up most of my supply for every room of the two houses we checked. I didn’t think we’d need so many.”
A few seconds passed in silence. I felt as though there was a big elephant in the room with my name on it. After all, I’d broken protocol with the Cranstons, and Alton had yet to say anything to me directly about it. That wasn’t in his nature.
“About the Cranstons—” I tried to speak, but Alton was quick to cut me off.
“I know why you did what you did,” he said. “You had good intentions. I get that. But it was against coven regulations. However, lucky for you, it proved to be a more viable strategy in the long run.”
“What, using the kids as bait?” I snapped.