Your glass coffin awaits,
It’s calling out your name,
So say goodbye,
To everything you love,
Now it will all be mine.
—Poem written by Randall Wiggins, age thirteen
“I DID IT!” RANDALL SPINS IN PLACE. THEN HE JUMPS WITH A FIST in the air. He sprints and jumps once, twice. He’s getting farther and farther away from us, too excited to glance in our direction.
Samira grunts. She’s squirming hard again, sweating up a storm.
“What are you doing?” I whisper-yell. “You’re hurting yourself!”
“Be quiet!”
“He’s going to see—”
“Be quiet, Lana. I need to concentrate.”
Randall’s laugh stabs through whatever’s left of my heart. He clicks his heels together in a ridiculous display of euphoria. His back is turned to us as he faces the lake. “I did it!”
Samira’s shaking so much, I think she’s about to pass out. “Just … a little … more …”
“You have to stop. Whatever you’re doing, it’s hurting you.”
She keeps pushing herself to the brink, doubling over with her eyes pressed shut.
Then she stops. She’s huffing out in exhaustion as she straightens back up. Randall’s magic is still gripping her as hard as it’s gripping me.
“My master rules the skies again.” Randall walks back over to us. When he’s close enough for me to touch, he points to the hole in the roof with his wand. “Your worthless friends are about to regret their defiance. And they will—”
Samira bulldozes into Randall.
She pins him to the ground with a battle cry. Randall loses his grip on his wand.
The stabbing pressure on my body washes away in a steady stream. I lean to the left. No pain. The Paralysis Charm is no longer trapping me!
I jump to my feet. “What … how did you—”
“I don’t know! I just felt the need to charge him, and I could!” Samira kicks Randall’s wand away. It lands about four feet from where he lies. “Let me fetch my wand real quick!” She rushes off to fetch her wand, while I launch myself at Randall. Then I beat him over and over.
He slams his head against mine.
I’m knocked off of him. Even without his wand, this jerk’s strong enough to paralyze me yet again. At least he’s not gouging my eyes out like he did to that bureau-agent lady when he was a kid. “Ugh!” I’m lying on my back. The pain in my ribs and my shoulder blades smashes into each bone like a wrecking ball. Randall’s magic returns even worse than before.
He towers over me. “It feels good, doesn’t it? Your rage? It makes you think you can do anything.” Randall wags his finger. “Rage is a liar, Lana. So is hope. Your friends at the bureau taught me that. The first thing I did when I freed myself was act on rage. It didn’t make me happy. It just fanned the flames, but Master showed me true power. Revenge hurts more when it’s calculated.” He shrugs. “Too bad you’ll never avenge stupid little Andrew.”
I try to lunge at him, forgetting about the Paralysis Charm. Invisible knives slice into me. My scream could shatter an entire building made of glass. “Don’t you dare say his name again!”
Randall smiles. “Andrew. Andrew. Andrew.”
“SHUT UP!”
“What a great name, isn’t it? Andrew.”
A boulder rushes toward Randall from behind.
Randall raises his clenched fist. The boulder disintegrates. He magically yanks Samira across the habitat, and drops her directly between me and him. Samira tries to summon a fallen tree, but Randall cracks it into splinters. He laughs as he lowers her wand. Then he marches to the spot where the Sire flew outside of the habitat, twirls his wand, and aims it at us.
“I don’t know how you got free, but it doesn’t matter,” he says. “Lights out, little girls.”
A golden lightning bolt shoots out of Randall’s wand.
I thrash to no avail. “Samira, get out of the way!”
She summons a lightning bolt, too. It’s as copper as the humble weapon she wields.
BOOM!
The two lightning bolts clash, spreading outward and engulfing the two wizards in a giant ball made of magic. Part of the ball is made of copper lightning; the other half is gold. While the copper lightning flickers, the gold lightning is steady, and devours its rival inch by inch. Punishing heat swarms the habitat. Samira’s barely able to keep her wand from breaking. She shakes and sweats and doesn’t let go of the metal rod. It’s seconds away from bursting.
Randall’s the picture of poise. He’s still smiling.
“Samira, just run!” I yell. “You’re not going to die for me, too!”
“I’m not going to die, and nobody’s killing my best friend!”
She lets out an earth-rattling scream. Her wand quakes harder. The coppery color fades, as if the wand’s turning itself off. The magic ball keeps getting dimmer and dimmer. It grows smaller, too, leaving Randall out of its lightning walls. Only Samira is stuck inside.
Even if I could move, chances are I’ll get fried if I touch that ball. But I can’t have Samira’s blood on my hands, too. One loss has already ruptured my soul. I need her out of that magical prison ASAP. “Samira, get out of there right now! He’s going to kill you!”
She doesn’t listen. Her copper lightning is three inches away from her skin.
Randall blows her a kiss, leaning forward as if he’s about to jab his wand in her direction.
The lightning stops.
It’s frozen about a breath away from Samira, shaped in an electric outline of her body.
Randall jabs his wand. His lightning doesn’t move.
“What the hell?!” he spits out.
Samira’s wand doesn’t have any color left. The metal rod is translucent, worn-looking, and dead. None of us make a sound. It’s like the whole habitat has been stripped of life, along with the wand’s magic. Then the whole thing bursts into light, but it’s not copper anymore.
Samira’s wand shimmers bright gold.
“Oh my God … Samira, you …” I can’t even finish my sentence.
Samira throws all of herself into the counter spell, her screams rising as the copper lightning bolt shifts to the same gold that’s filled up her wand. It’s gold against gold now.
The ball leaves Samira behind. Now it’s traveling back to Randall at an even quicker pace. No matter how hard he tries to shove it toward Samira, the ball keeps barreling toward him. His eyes are bulging out. He’s heaving frantically, shaking his head like he’s in disbelief. “How are you doing this?! Stop!” Randall wails.
With a jab of her wand, Samira rips the ball apart in a flurry of crackling sparks.
BOOM!
Randall’s wand explodes into dust particles.
He’s in the middle of a scream when Samira strikes him in the chest with a lightning bolt. He’s launched ten feet deeper into the habitat, landing spread-eagle on the other side of the lake.
“Yes!” I haven’t laughed this hard since God knows when. Who cares if my sides are exploding with each prick of those invisible knives? Samira has to be the first witch in history to evolve from Copper to Gold. To change her wand from one level to another. Magic users can’t change their wands even when their wand level evolves. Their wands just stop working. Instead, they have to buy a brand-new wand for their brand-new status.
Samira pants like she’s been running a marathon nonstop for a week. She waves her Gold wand at me. I can move again. My ribs and my shoulder blades aren’t begging for mercy.
“Are you okay?” Samira asks, watching Randall intently. He moans, so I know he’s still alive. Though it’s taking him forever to get up.
“Forget about me.” I let her help me stand. “Are you okay? That looked like it hurt a lot.”
“Not as much as he’s hurting right now. I mean, it was just a Shield Charm. I didn’t mean to do any damage.” Samira risks a smile. She lets out a soft giggle, as if she’s excited yet a little guilty about what she did to Randall. “But I guess some jerks get what’s coming to them.”
Randall is back on his wobbly feet, bleeding from his nostrils. “You … stupid … Regular-loving … Gold wannabe!” He’s closing his fist, as if he’s about to conjure a spell.
Samira yanks me behind her and raises her wand.
WHOOSH!
A white object flies past me. I don’t recognize it until it finds Randall’s stomach, stabbing him in a clean, swift blow.
Takeshi’s claw dagger.
Randall doubles over with a grunt. He unclenches his fist and pulls the dagger out. It falls to the floor with a clang. The dagger’s tip isn’t smeared in blood, though. It’s coated in a viscous liquid the color of tar—the same color Randall’s veins are turning. He stops bleeding. Randall grunts then drops on his side, hugging himself.
“Dragonshade,” Samira murmurs. “He’s been poisoned. His magic is gone.”
“He’ll be dead in three days,” someone behind us says.
I wheel around.
Takeshi exits the elevator alone. His eyes are glued to Andrew’s body.
And. He’s. Crying.
His is a silent, lonely kind of devastation. He makes it to Andrew without sparing us a glance, even though Samira’s pointing her wand at him. Even though I’m ready to knock his teeth out and demand to know what he’s done to Papi. He kneels on the floor and puts a tender hand on Andrew’s shoulder, as if he’s made of glass.
“I didn’t know,” Takeshi whispers. “I’m so sorry, Andy. I didn’t know it was you.”
I wait for him to stop acting—to pounce on me with a hidden Death Charm orb, but he stays where he is, quietly draining himself of tears for a boy he just said he didn’t care about.
I don’t give a damn about how sad he seems. Not only did he betray Andrew, he also took my dad. He’s not getting out of this building without telling me where Papi is.
“What have you done with my father?” I ask.
“He’s safe,” he replies quietly. “Sienna is Transporting him to New York headquarters.”
Wait, what? Agent Horowitz is here? And he’s on a first-name basis with her?
“Takeshi!” Randall yells, zapping me back to reality. “You filth!”
Takeshi finally releases Andrew. He lingers beside him for a bit longer, eyes unfocused, then he rises. “Could you please bring Randall over here?” he asks Samira.
“No way,” I cut in. “Why should I listen to a thing you say?”
“Because I think he saved your dad’s life,” Samira says. “Also, he just poisoned the strongest Dragon Knight of all time. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like he’s not all trash, Lana.”
“He also stole a Fire Drake’s crystal heart. He killed a bureau agent!”
“I didn’t kill him. He’s not dead,” Takeshi says, firmly.
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. “So that whole throat-slitting thing was all an act, huh? Agent Robinson is pretending to be dead?”
“No. Yes. It’s quite complicated, but I can explain later.”
Samira uses her magic to drag Randall across the habitat. He lands at Takeshi’s feet. His veins are even darker now, bulging and slithering like snakes in a frenzied search for prey. “Here’s the garbage you ordered.”
Takeshi nods at her, then stares at Randall. He’s no longer a boy-shaped disaster without a course. Now Takeshi is a tempest that’s found its target. “My name is Agent Takeshi Endo with the International Bureau of Magical Matters. Randall Wiggins, you’re under arrest for multiple murders, including Andrew Galloway, Hari Sandhar, and my steed, Hikaru.”
Samira and I gasp at the same time.
I take a shaky step back. “What? You’re a … and he’s … what?”
Randall twitches, but his eyes are unblinking. “You knew this whole time?”
Holy. Crap. He’s admitting it!
“I’ve known for a while,” says Takeshi. “I just don’t know what you’ve done to Antonio Deluca. You either killed him or kidnapped him. Which one is it?”
Randall’s silence unnerves me, even more than Takeshi’s accusation. Then there’s the whole separate matter of Takeshi Endo being an undercover bureau agent. How come they couldn’t catch the Sire with an agent in his midst? Director Sandhar’s been relying on President Turner to locate the Sire, when Takeshi could’ve easily given them his whereabouts. He could’ve stopped his transformation. Turned Randall in. He could’ve saved Andrew’s life.
I glance at the Dragonshade. Director Sandhar never would’ve given Takeshi that poison. He never would’ve approved of Takeshi’s actions since becoming a Dragon Knight.
“You’ve been playing both sides,” I say. “Just like the Sire. You did this for Hikaru.”
He’s about to speak when Randall asks, “How did you figure it out?”
“Six months after Hikaru’s murder, I found another Fire Drake with a crystal heart. He granted my wish after I did him a favor. I saw you and the Sire in Hikaru’s quarters. I saw him give you the order. And I saw you obey. Three months later, I joined the bureau in order to get Dragonshade. Then I joined the Dragon Knights in order to get to you and the Sire. In all this time, I’ve had only one question.” Takeshi’s eyes narrow into vicious slits. “Why?”
Randall winces, the poison eating him from within. “Akarui dragons can scramble their opponent’s senses by emanating a blinding light from their scales. Master suspected that power had been used in his curse to restrain his magic. Hikaru wasn’t a total waste, though. His death broke you. It made the most beloved Blazewrath player go rogue.” Randall winces again. “Does my father know you’ve stolen Dragonshade from his vaults?”
“He’s not your father, and once he sees you like this, I don’t think he’ll mind. Now tell me what you did to Antonio Deluca.”
Randall’s expression hardens even more. “You’ll never find him. And I’ll tell Hikaru you said hi when I get to hell.”
“He won’t be there.” Takeshi gets up, then draws nearer to Samira. “Remember our faces, Randall. Remember our names. Samira took your wand and your dignity. I’m taking your life. And if the Sol de Noche dragons haven’t beaten me to it, I’m taking your master’s life, too.”
“You’ll never do it!” Randall’s yell could rattle the habitat’s walls. He’s red-cheeked despite the black seeping into the rest of him. Snot hangs from his flaring nostrils.
“I joined his army to help him return to his dragon form. Do you know why?” Takeshi says with an unnerving calmness. “So that he would be able to die again. As of right now, the Sire is a mortal dragon. I will end him today.”
“No!” I say. “The Sire’s life is tied to someone else’s.”
Takeshi nods. “I know about the Anchor Curse, Lana, but this is the plan. I have to see it through.” His tone is so final, so heartless, it makes me want to throw up.
I give him my most defiant scowl. “You want to take petty to a whole new level, I get that. But enough people have already died. We both have to accept responsibility for that. So before you go on about more killing, ask yourself if revenge is worth another person’s life.”
Takeshi looks like his brain is about to burst. He’s not happy, but he’s not exploding, either. Like his grayed mind is filling with colors he’s never seen before.
Finally, he says, “What do you suggest?”
My spine tingles. There’s only one thing that could end this war. One prison the Sire will never be able to escape from.
“We’ll lock him inside the Dark Island.”
Samira and Takeshi stare at me. “The what?”
“Just trust me.” I turn to Samira. “Get us to the roof. We’ll signal for my teammates.”
“You’ll never win! None of you will see the end of this war!” Randall spits out a gob of black blood. He’s coughing like his lungs are already failing him. As much as I despise him, this is a horrible way to die, and he looks like he’s aware of it. I wonder if he’s also realizing he never had a fighting chance in the poor excuse of a life he’s been given.
He’s better off unconscious. That’ll help him suffer less.
“Lights out, little boy.” I kick him in the face.
He’s knocked out immediately.
Samira uses her magic to tie his arms around the sturdiest tree she can find. Then she says, “To the roof!”
“Wait.” Takeshi runs to fetch his claw dagger from Randall’s gut. He tucks it into his pocket and frowns at Andrew. “Are you sure this Dark Island will hold the Sire for good?”
“Definitely. He won’t even have his fire.”
Takeshi blinks slowly, as if he’s both exhausted and on the verge of crying again. He bows his head. “Then to the roof it is.”