I was just about to give in to the blackness and accept my fate as a failure when Dad jumped into the air, remained floating, and put his hand on top of Andros' hand—actually, he sunk his own ghostly fingertips through Andros' hand and pried the huge man's fingers away from my throat.
I sucked in huge, pained gulps of air before Andros' hand clamped back down on me so hard that my entire spine went rigid and slammed into the ceiling.
Dad's expression darkened and he dropped Andros’ hand and shoved his way into Andros' body through the muscled mobster's left side.
Only—that pirate bastard was already in there.
I watched as the ghost with the scar was shoved halfway out of Andros' body before he dropped a shoulder and barged in after my dad. Each of them ended up with their legs and feet outside, dangling in midair, while they grappled inside his torso, their ghostly elbows popping through his chest every so often. I couldn't directly see them when they were inside, possessing him, but I did witness Andros start to shake uncontrollably, grunting as his body became a battleground.
Fuck! I reached up and tried to loosen his grip on my neck, so I could think, and maybe help.
Claude had another plan for me though.
My asshole stepfather created a sword out of ice. And though he was floating slightly, he inhaled a lot less Bubble than the rest of us. He was more clear-headed. It was also obvious that he had practiced for this moment. He came here tonight knowing exactly what he planned to do and how he planned to do it.
He swung his sword through the air and landed a blow on my arm, slicing through my black, fireproof shirt and deep into the meat of my bicep.
Rage and bile filled my throat and gamma radiation formed again in my palm. If no one else was here, I could so easily take him out. I wouldn't care that I'd end myself in the process.
Fury and pain burned away the remainder of Bubble’s effects and I sank slowly until I merely hovered off the ground. "Get that door open!" I yelled to my guys, not caring about stupid door handles. Malcolm could freeze the fuck out of it and kick it down for all I cared. There was no way we'd sneak out undetected now. It was all simply survival. I yanked the vial out of the pouch in my shirt with my uninjured right hand and hurled it through the air at Z, shouting, "Think fast!" just as Claude's second sword stroke started toward me.
It felt like time slowed as I watched Z's hand close over the vial then turned my head to see Claude's sword heading for my neck. At the very last moment, Dad leapt out of Andros' body like a ninja and spun in midair. He came down on Claude's wrist and yanked it so that the blow hit lower and was off balance—it became a glancing one instead of fatal.
It still hurt like a bitch. My left side felt like I'd deliberately run into traffic and been hit by a car. I crouched where I floated, three inches from the floor, gasping, and grasping that side.
Claude roared and raised his sword again, but this time my dad didn't settle for smashing into his wrists. This time, Dad dove inside Claude's body.
Dad's actions made the pirate ghost leap out of Andros and join the struggle; Claude writhed in midair like a snake, his body twisting and contorting unnaturally.
A hand yanked me backward and I looked over to see Andros, chest heaving. The huge man threw me through the air like I was an acrobat. I flailed wildly, though the Bubble didn't let me face-plant—it sent me barreling right into Gray, who flew backwards and smacked against the wall.
Our feet touched the ground as the effects of Bubble wore off. All around us, other feet scraped and tapped against the pavement. "Sorry." My apology for whacking Gray came out as a croak, my throat still recovering from the near strangulation.
He shook his head, his eyes not even focused on me, but over my shoulder.
I turned to watch as Andros reached out his huge, muscled, tattooed forearm and grabbed Claude’s neck, just like he had wrapped up mine. Then he smashed Claude into the wall behind him so hard that I could see Claude’s skull crack like an egg.
My vision blurred as the ghosts fled Claude’s form and started to tussle midair. But then Andros reeled back and the hulking man smashed my stepfather’s head again. Then double speed. Then the gory scene repeated in slow motion and I saw every drop of blood that flew from Claude’s head. Andros used his Tock power to reverse time … to make Claude die again and again and again.
“Andros!” Z called to his cousin. “That’s enough!”
I held up a hand to tell Z to leave it alone.
A hundred deaths were the least that bastard deserved.
4
Ginny’s screech rent the air like she was a fucking banshee. But Evan uncurled from his slump, grimacing, and grabbed her without a word. He put her into a headlock and held her, ignoring her kicks and scratches. He ignored the light she tried to burn him with, particularly when I started to counter every light she pulsed with one of my shadows.
Over to my right, several of the guys made for the new hidden door. Malcolm didn’t have a ton of firepower left but Gray watched his six as he struggled to get enough fire going to open it up.
When Ginny had slumped over and Evan had tossed her to the ground, my eyes checked on the ghosts, who were still grappling with one another.
We all tried to tune out Andros and the rhythmic thump of Claude’s body smacking the wall.
We watched the door smolder until Evan went forward and tried to add a tiny flicker of flame to Malcolm’s. Then Gray added a tiny bit of wind.
Zavier, though he’d exhausted himself just minutes before on the vault, raised a shaky tattooed hand toward the door. And I wasn’t certain, but I think he sped up time. Just a fraction. Just a bit. Enough for the flames to take hold and dance across the door, lapping up the wood instead of simply pulsing as embers inside.
As soon as the flames weakened the door enough, Evan used his massive shifter muscles to kick it in.
The wood splintered and half the door fell in broken shards to the ground. He shoved the rest of it so hard that it hit the wall as he barreled through.
Malcolm and Gray followed him.
Z and I were last and we glanced at each other before Z jerked his head toward the door and stepped back. “I’ll get him.”
“Andros!” Z wrenched his huge cousin out of his grisly daze. “Let’s go!”
I clutched my aching ribs as I surged through the door into the unknown.
But the sight on the other side made me gasp in astonishment. I'd expected another long, dark corridor like the one we'd left behind. Or a maze. Or maybe a magical wall of ice. Something. Anything but this.
I stopped short when we entered the room that had hidden Claude and Ginny and served as their entry point to the Pinnacle's vault. Because though the huge room had a cement floor, like the one we'd just left, that was the only similarity. The rest of the long space was set up like a high-tech lab. Metal tables gleamed. There were glassed off experimentation rooms on either side. Test tubes and computers decorated the space like some abstract artist's wet dream. But worst, most shocking, and most heart-wrenching, were the far walls.
Snarling vampires were chained to the walls with thick metal bands that surrounded their torsos. Their arms were pinned to their sides by the dark grey metal that encased their entire upper bodies. Silver chains wrapped around their ankles and clanged together as the vampires saw us and rushed forward as far as their chains would allow, growling, howling, and spitting wildly.