“Damn, Richard, I’m sorry.” He shook his head. He dreaded having to report back to his friend.

  “Not as sorry as you’re going to be for coming down here,” a deep, arrogant voice said.

  He quickly turned around, only to get punched in the gut by Cedric. He doubled over, the pain concentrating in his middle and spreading throughout his torso. Harry stumbled backward and drew his gun, but Cedric was too quick and knocked it out of his hand before he could pull the trigger. The vampire then grabbed Harry by the wrist—the same one he wore the spy watch on. In one smooth motion, Cedric squeezed until the watch crumbled. Harry shouted out in pain as he was sure his wrist was broken right along with his device.

  Cedric let him drop to the floor. “Did you think I wasn’t keeping tabs on you? You pathetic piece of shit?”

  “I could say the same for you, killing all these people.” Harry nursed his injured wrist and scooted backward, trying to create more distance between himself and Cedric.

  “The only reason you’re not dead Harry is that your brother is LAWT, and I don’t need them screwing with me or what I have going on.”

  Good, then maybe there was a chance to escape evisceration. “So, what are you gonna do, huh?”

  Cedric smirked. He raised his hands, and they lit up an eerie blue. The first word Harry heard was Imperare, and then his head spun, and he lost consciousness. When Harry came to, he was slouched on Cedric’s couch next to the blonde woman. Her throat was slit, and the knife was in his hand. When he realized what was happening, he dropped the blade and jumped to his feet. His heart pounded in his chest, and dread nearly made breathing impossible. All the partygoers were gone, including Lawrence. Cedric walked in, alone, carrying two glasses of what Harry knew deep down was blood.

  “Vlad, you fucking beast, I told you to wait for me…”

  “What the…” Harry’s gaze went from the dead blonde and back to Cedric. “What did you do to me?”

  Cedric rolled his eyes. “Oh. It’s you.”

  A nerdy male voice popped into his head. “Harry, if I were you, I’d get out of there. This vampire is dangerous.”

  Harry spun around. “Who said that?”

  Cedric swirled one of the glasses and offered it to Harry. “Probably one of the spirits inhabiting your mind. Vlad, are you there? Come back.”

  “Leave, Harry,” the nerdy voice said. “NOW!”

  Harry stumbled and nearly tripped. He ran for the sliding glass door, half-expecting Cedric to pounce on him and rip his throat out. Instead, the vampire just watched him and drank blood from one of the glasses.

  Harry ran, climbed, and crawled through the backyard up to the hill until he made it back to his ’77 Maverick. He hopped in, started the car, and sped away without looking back. Crushing guilt settled in on him: did he slit the woman’s throat? Or did Cedric do it and he just happened to pick up the knife? What kind of spell did the vampire put on him?

  The nerdy voice came back. “I’m sorry Cedric did that to you, it’s called an Imperare curse.”

  Harry’s heart sank in his chest at the sound of that, but most curses had cures. “Okay…uh…are you Vlad? Can I fix this?”

  “No, I’m Jonathan. This can be fixed, but it won’t be easy.”

  “How many spirits are inside me?”

  “Three,” an effeminate voice answered. “I’m Sola, by the way.”

  He felt like puking again. “And Vlad is the third?”

  “I’m here,” a dark voice said in his mind before letting out a satisfied chuckle.

  It took Harry every ounce of his humanity and strength not to gouge his own eyes out and run his car off a cliff.

  Today…

  Harry sighed and watched his brother’s reaction to his story, of how he had been burdened with the Imperare curse. Vernon had slipped him the vial filled with Cedric’s blood and had promised to at least let him meet the director to enlist his help. Harry then looked across the desk at his brother’s boss, Director Williams. All the color left Williams’s face, and the gray-haired man shook his head.

  “Mr. Storm, I did not know Cedric Astaroth was responsible for all that. Did you ever recover or obtain further proof of the murders he’s committed?”

  Harry let out a frustrated breath. “Everything’s gone, destroyed. No evidence.”

  Vern sat up in his chair. He was right next to Harry and looked like he wanted to punch him. “Wait a minute, I was looking for that Master Key for three weeks until I finally found it. You stole it? That thing is worth a month’s mortgage you asshat!”

  Director Williams held up his hand. “We will deal with that incident later, but as for your request Vernon and Harry, I don’t see how I or anyone can force him to lift that curse. What do you want me to do? Torture him? Chop his hand off to get him to do it? Yeah, that’ll really motivate him.”

  Vernon spoke up. “Sir, Cedric would jump at the chance of a reduced sentence. He knows that he’s either going to the Red Lab or death row. Maybe we can make him think we’re giving him some kind of deal to escape that, just until he lifts the curse, then do what you want with the bastard.”

  Harry liked that. Smart move.

  Williams leaned back in his swiveling chair and considered. “Any deal made requires paperwork—which I must file and be responsible for. He’s not going to take us at our word, he’s going to want actual filed papers and signatures. And this means Astaroth would, at least on paper, be transferred to a different LAWT facility as part of the leniency deal. What happens when my superiors check on this and wonder why a vamp who’s supposed to be a thousand miles away in a max security facility is suddenly a ghost? I can’t do it.”

  Harry’s adrenaline kicked in and sweat beaded his forehead. Williams clearly sympathized with them, but he would choose LAWT and its rules over them any day. That was the type of man he seemed to be.

  The ghost, Sola, suddenly appeared next to Harry. She eyed him as if he were the most pathetic man in the world. Heat rose in his cheeks, and he wasn’t even sure why he felt embarrassed by the way she looked at him.

  She said in an imperious voice that only Harry could hear, “You have magic, fool. Use your powers to destroy this old man and bend Cedric to your will. He will gladly lift the curse if you do what I say. I know how to hurt a vampire…I know how to hurt many things.”

  She had a point. Well, half a point. Harry didn’t want to hurt Director Williams, he was only doing his job. But Cedric, he’d gladly screw him over. Maybe it was time the vamp got a taste of his own medicine.

  The tips of Harry’s fingers sparked with magical energy. He felt the warmth of his magic coursing through his veins, begging to be released. Just when he thought he would finally give in and let it take over, an alarm blared throughout the facility.

  It snapped him back to reality, and his brother and Williams were already on their feet and drawing their guns. A LAWT agent stepped into the office.

  “Director Williams, a woman is leading a band of vampires. They’ve breached the building.”

  “Shit,” Harry said. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the woman was Mira the Soul Eater. She must’ve been the powerful ally Miguel said the vamps were rallying around. It seemed she upgraded and got a squad to come along with her—a vampire squad that had a score to settle with LAWT and sought to free Cedric Astaroth.

  Not today, Satan.

  Vernon handed Harry a LAWT firearm. “Come on, stay with me. We’ve got work to do.”

  Harry nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

  12

  Harry

  Harry didn’t know which was more dangerous—the vampires jumping on LAWT agents and taking chunks of flesh out of their necks, or the grotesque experiments from the Red Lab. He never thought he’d see a real-life chimera shot down by four agents or a man with the head of a wolf running around. These sad mixes of science and magic had burst from their quarantined area and joined the rebellion.

  Harry, Vern, and Williams used an overturned desk to shield themselves. Bullets flew across the large area and spells were being slung, and at the center of it all was Mira. Harry bent low and tried to get a shot in at her. He missed, and he had the misfortune of witnessing her opening her mouth and sucking out the soul of a young LAWT agent who looked no older than twenty-five. Damn. She didn’t even have to touch a person. She just opened her mouth, locked gazes with her victim, and their essence would just fly out and go into her. She was not all that different from a vampire, except her food was souls instead of blood.

  Williams stood and chanced a shot at Mira with one of those handy mental disruptor guns. The force hit her square in the forehead, and she stumbled backward. Both Vernon and Williams then moved in unison, marching forward while Vern pulled the trigger on his gun. Mira’s body jerked, but then she suddenly let out a howl that hit them like a blast of wind. Both Vernon and Williams fell backward, and Vernon hit the ground hard enough to be stunned. Director Williams was knocked on his ass, but he still held his disruptor gun and aimed it again at Mira. He had to give the old man credit for being a badass.

  She opened her mouth in that creepy way she did when she was ready to take another soul. Harry rushed forward. “Williams! Get out of the way!”

  Digging deep down, he drew from the magical energy within him, though he knew it would probably cost him. His fingers sparked again like earlier, and he shot a blast of hot white light at Mira, hitting her in the chest. She flew backward, knocking down Wolf-Head Man and an injured vamp.

  Harry felt a surge of power, and all he wanted to do was bask in it and fly away. He could probably do that if he wanted. He felt powerful enough to do anything. However, a sickening sensation reached his belly and traveled up to his throat. His gaze swept the room, and all he saw were monsters. Mira, vamps, Red Lab rejects, and human monsters. They were all monsters.

  No, wait…

  He didn’t quite know why he had that thought.

  Someone placed their hand on his shoulder. “Harry, you all right?”

  The creature spoke with Williams’s voice, but the face…it wasn’t human. Was this some kind of trick being played on him? Or maybe this magic was driving him crazy?

  Harry recoiled and blasted Williams with a spell. The man screamed out in pain. Only when Harry heard his shouts of agony did his vision refocus, and he saw just a normal old man on the floor in front of him.

  Someone else jumped on Harry’s back, and he heard Vern’s voice. “What the hell is wrong with you? Harry, it’s us!”

  Vern wrestled him to the floor. Harry let the magic flow through him, not knowing whether it would burst out and devour his brother. Just as he raised his hand to cast another spell, Aria and Clare burst into the room.

  “Harry! Stop!” Aria rushed forward and pushed him off Vernon. “What are you doing?”

  Harry stood, not able to look Williams or his brother in the eye. “I’m sorry.”

  “Is it the bad magic?” Aria asked, placing a hand on his cheek and eyeing him with sympathy.

  It made him hate himself even more. How could Aria look at him like that when he had done terrible things?

  The ghost, Jonathan Larsson, appeared right next to Aria. Only Harry could see and hear him. “Harry, listen to me. This is your last chance to get Cedric to undo the Imperare curse. Come on!”

  Harry apologized to Aria again and reached into his pocket. He placed the vial of Cedric’s blood into her hands. “As promised. I’m so sorry that I’m a screw-up.”

  He turned and ran down the corridor that led to Cedric’s cell. Aria called after him, but a couple of vampires blocked her, and she and Clare had to fend them off and protect Vern and Williams. He knew they were more than capable, especially when he felt the presence of a hellhound summoned by Aria. Good. She finally learned how to control them.

  Harry made his way down the corridor and all the way to the door of Cedric’s room—it was already opened. He slipped in, hand on his gun and at the ready. His stomach tightened when he saw Mira there, opening the cell and letting Cedric go free. He had a smug smile on his face.

  The vampire looked over at Harry and said to Mira, “Kill him.”

  She stepped forward and opened her mouth, and Harry froze. He could’ve called upon his magic, but he wasn’t willing to be tainted by it again and turn on his friends and family. His shoulders tightened as he stared into Mira’s black eyes, his heart thumping in his chest faster than ever.

  He clenched his mouth and balled his fists. Well, if this was it, at least he tried. He hoped Aria would do a sin eating ritual for him once they found his corpse—assuming Cedric didn’t devour him.

  The inside of his chest burned like fire, and he let out a gasp as his vision blurred. He could see tiny sparks of life escape his mouth and glide over toward Mira. His vision dimmed…

  This is it…

  But as soon as his sparks of life touched Mira’s lips, she gagged and took a step backward. The flashes halted mid-air and then quickly flew back toward Harry, rushing back into him. His vision cleared. Mira coughed and retched, eyeing Harry with amazement.

  Cedric arched an eyebrow, his gaze darting between Mira and Harry. “What happened?”

  Mira stumbled sideways like a drunkard and vomited. Harry realized what had happened and let out an incredulous laugh. Who would’ve thought the very magic that corrupted him also just saved him? Damn, if he made it out of this alive, he’d have to tell Aria that he was so screwed up that not even the Soul Eater wanted him.

  He faced Cedric, his expression, pure rage. The vamp didn’t know what was going on, and Harry saw how he could use that to his advantage. “Cedric, you see not even your darling Soul Eater is a match for me. Do you really want to take me on? Now?”

  Harry raised his hands as if ready to cast a spell, but it was all for show. He hoped Cedric wouldn’t call his bluff. The vampire looked over at Mira, who steadied herself against the cell bars, eyeing Harry with disgust. She looked reluctant to launch another attack.

  Cedric’s lips curled into a fake grin. “Harry, I could’ve killed you that day, but I didn’t.”

  “No, you just fucked up my life, but go on…”

  Cedric drew in a deep breath and held his hands up, palms forward, in surrender. “I killed that woman. With the knife. Is that what you want to hear?”

  Thank goodness. Harry didn’t know if the relief was apparent on his face, but he addressed Cedric again in a stern voice. “What I want to hear is a reversal of the Imperare. Lift the curse.”

  The vampire nodded. “And I may go free? It would do me no good to undo the curse and then let you kill me.”

  If only he knew.

  “Fine. I can’t guarantee you’ll get out of here alive since the rest of the building is a war zone, but I won’t stop you from leaving this room. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  Cedric extended his right hand, and that familiar eerie blue light made his fingers glow. He chanted, invoking the Imperare, and Harry’s body, including his senses, buzzed with magical energy. From the corner of his eye, he saw the ghosts Jonathan and Sola materialize.

  Jonathan smiled at Harry, giving him a nod. “My time is up. I enjoyed living in your head for a year, Harry Storm. Good luck.”

  Harry would’ve said something or acknowledged his remarks in some kind of way, but his body was going haywire with the sensation of the curse reversal. He could hardly speak. He hoped Jonathan could at least sense his gratitude. Sola, on the other hand, sneered at him.

  “You bastard. After all, I’ve done.” She seethed as she tried to step forward, but Jonathan grabbed her by the arm and held her in place. “I was the one who kept Vlad at bay when you lay crying at night. Me! All I asked was for a little time.”

  A portal of light appeared just above the ghosts, and Jonathan shoved her toward it. “And you’ve had more than enough as a ghost. It’s time for you—and me—to move on.”

  Sola let out a strangled cry as an invisible force lifted both her and Jonathan in the air and into the portal. The ghosts, and the light disappeared just as Cedric said the last word of the incantation.

  Harry shuddered. He no longer felt the dark magic or the burden of the ghosts. The taint of the Imperare curse was lifted.

  Cedric inclined his head toward Harry. “As per our agreement—and, might I say I think you are the type of guy to keep his word—I will be leaving now.”

  He used his super speed to get the hell out of dodge.

  Mira stood up straight, glaring at the exit. “You idiot! I can take him now! He’s defenseless!”

  Damn. Harry knew he was missing something from his genius plan. But at least he was cured, and Cedric was gone without knowing he was now easy prey. He heard Aria’s voice from down the hall calling out to him. He was just about to shout a warning to her when Mira swung her hand down in a diagonal direction, and an invisible force threw him into the wall.

  Everything went dark.

  13

  Jacob

  Besides a couple of joggers running the trail on the other side of Corinthian park, all was quiet. Jacob shifted uncomfortably as he sat on a bench near the water fountain at the center of the park. He was glad Max had designed warded tactical vests to look like regular suit vests. His was black, not bulky at all, and would withstand firepower from various weapons, both non-magical and magical.

  But not all weapons…

  He wasn’t cocky enough to assume the vest would make him invincible, which was why he brought along a gun with iron-tipped bullets, the cloaking ring for stealth, and he even had a deflection knife strapped to his ankle. If he really needed to rain hell down on these people, he had already imbibed a potion from Max that would allow him to cast lightning spells that would rival the god Zeus.