It was a black storm cloud the size of a football field. It hovered a few yards over the vehicle. There were crackles of lightning spreading across the phenomenon like a neural network.
The car itself bobbed down the dirt path toward the cottage.
Emily felt her heart sink. She’d been hoping they were somehow wrong. She’d hoped that maybe the Alfreds weren’t going to push their advantage. She’d hoped they’d allow their pride to get to them by thinking they could defeat Emily and her friends.
She’d been wrong.
Emily surged to her feet. She watched with silent panic as the vehicle approached. They were a few minutes out, and they had slowed down.
This is going to be a long night, Selena grumbled.
Emily sneered. It’s going to be shorter than you think. She silently cursed the fire demon for sapping her of her energy. She wouldn’t be able to transform back into The Owl anytime soon, even if her life depended on it.
Even if she somehow had the inner strength to shift back into The Owl, she would be dog tired. Useless. They’d pick her out of the clouds and turn her into mincemeat. No, the fire demon had made sure she was out of the fight.
Emily briefly wondered if the fire demon was a contraption of the evil rove. Maybe this was the rove’s plan all along. If it was, Emily had to give it to the rove for his tremendous brilliance.
He’d known that Aunt Anastacia and Emily were a powerful combination. So he’d taken Michael, who not only hated supernaturals but also didn’t know he was a rove. He’d battered Michael’s body so much so that repairing it would take all the power Anastacia had. Then he’d sent his son, Marion, to invite her over. More like he’d baited her, and she had taken the bait. Hook, line, and sinker.
He’d known that she wouldn’t resist helping Michael when they got to Anastacia’s house. He was counting on it. And he was spot-on. He’d manipulated the situation so that she’d trigger the fire demon. Emily wondered why Marion had to send a blue flame her way. Maybe the imagery triggered her fiery response, bringing the fire demon to full consciousness.
Then the evil rove had sent the bat creatures. A formidable adversary. One that the fire demon—as enthusiastic as it was—could not resist. The fire demon liked to show off. He liked it big and brash and loud. How could he resist the monument in the sky? How could he resist being named the destroyer of the swarm of death?
The evil rove must have been counting on it, and it all worked beautifully. The fire demon had taken control. And though he’d defeated the swarm, he’d also sapped her energy.
So now, the two most powerful adversaries against the roves—Aunt Anastacia and Emily Davies—were both out of commission. The Alfreds weren’t coming to fight. They were coming to take them into custody.
They’d take her, Anastacia, and Michael without having to use their powers.
Wow, Selena said, impressed.
“Yeah,” Emily muttered as she kept her eyes on the Land Rover. “He’s brilliant if this has been his plan all along.”
Well, I wasn’t really wowing the plan, Selena corrected. I was wowing that you put all this together in your mind.
Emily couldn’t help but smile in spite of everything going on. Selena was still as sassy as could be. Another thought occurred to her. What if she was making all this up? What if this wasn’t really the evil rove’s plan?
If this wasn’t his plan, then maybe there was still a chance they could make it out alive.
“What do we do?” asked Dad.
“What can we do?” Emily shut her eyes for a moment, willing her magic to flow to her eyes. When she opened them again, she could see with the enhanced vision of The Owl. Her vision was always enhanced, but if she really focused, it was spectacular.
She blinked and sort of zoomed in on the faraway Land Rover. The car came into crystal-clear view in spite of the harsh beam of the headlights. At the steering wheel was a young adult. He couldn’t have been older than his early twenties. He was . . . beautiful, really. He had the same inky hair and eye color as Marion. He wore a regal robe, much like Aunt Anastacia’s robe, only his was a light brown color. There was a badge on his right breast that looked like a weird cross between a lion and a snake.
Next to him in the passenger’s seat was a female. A young girl. About three or four years younger than Emily. She had the same hair and eye color as the man. But her skin color was paler, and she had a frown so horrid that Emily felt chills ripple over her body.
Behind, in the back passengers’ seat, was Marion. On seeing him, Emily’s heart thumped. In spite of all he’d done, she still felt inordinately attracted to him. Not in a romantic way, of course. She had just felt drawn to him since the first time she saw him. She gulped and tried to think straight. He looked irritated, like he didn’t want to be in the car. He was wearing the same robe with the weird badge on his right pec.
They were silent. Emily knew this because none of their lips were moving. That was all. Emily didn’t see a mother or a father. They must have sent their children to do the dirty work.
Maybe there’s still hope for us yet, Emily thought to herself. “There are only three of them,” she said out loud, hope filling her voice. “Maybe we could defeat them if we fought hard enough.”
“It only takes one of them to destroy us,” Aunt Anastacia whispered.
The dryness of her voice caused Emily to whirl around and glance at her. The woman now leaned on her staff, her face pinched in pain.
“What’s happening with you, Aunt?” Emily
