Kellan didn’t say a word. His hand had a death-like grip on mine. His entire body was like stone. He was tensing up and I knew something more was going to happen.

“No.” Another hiss. “You’re not here to greet me. You’re here to kill me…for her? You are betraying me for that monster?”

Again, no sound from Kellan. I looked up and saw the torment on his face. His father was in his head, and Kellan’s face had drained of blood. No. His father was assaulting Kellan’s mind, how the snakes/tentacles were still assaulting Giuseppa. They were loving it, whatever they were doing to her. I wondered if Kellan’s father was doing the same to him. Loving whatever torture he was inflicting on his son?

I turned to face his father, and I said the first thing that came to mind. “Stop.”

“It’s you.”

As he spoke, the ice plunged deeper inside of me. I cried out from the pain, almost doubling over. That was him, he was inside of me like he was inside of his own son. “You are what my son loves above all else, why he refuses to return to my side.”

The rest of him stepped through the hole. He wasn’t corporeal. The snakes/tentacles were a part of him as was the ice he had inflected upon us both. The smoke had been a part of him, too. Everything about Kellan’s father was to bring suffering and pain. He was thriving on ours, and I could see that he was getting stronger because of it.

I closed my eyes. I had to block out the pain, somehow. I could get a footing then.

“You think to fight me?” He was laughing. “You are nothing. Even the great Shazaam couldn’t take me on. I am Darkness. I am Evil. You are a small shadow underneath a rock in my world.”

The ice burst through new layers inside of me, tunneling all the way to my core. He was going for my soul. That was the ultimate destination for him.

“No.”

I felt more than heard Kellan’s protest. He knew what his father was doing to me, and he was rallying against it.

‘What did you say?”

“I said no. Let her go.”

The ice was ripped out of me. I screamed, falling to the floor and I felt myself being pulled away. There was a vacuum effect going on, yanking me backward. Kellan stuck his foot out, maintaining contact with me, and as soon as he did, the world righted itself. He anchored me again. Without Kellan’s touch, I would’ve been swept back, and I glanced over my shoulder. Damien and Aumae were on the other side of that barrier. Both had wide eyes and paled features. Damien’s hands were curled into fists. He’d been trying to break through the barrier, but paused, seeing that I was looking back. Aumae clutched at a blanket over her shoulders. Tears fell down her face, and she never flicked them away. She just let them fall, like she knew something we didn’t, like she knew this was our goodbye, like she knew I was going to die.

“NO!” Kellan roared, hearing my thoughts and feeling my pain. He broke free from his dad’s hold a little bit more, enough so he could lean down and grab my shoulder. I lifted my arm up and he caught my hand. There. As soon as our palms were next to each other, it sealed our connection. A wave of strength surged through me, going through him, too, or maybe it had been his in the first place. Maybe he loaned it to me. Either way, I felt a tiny bit stronger.

His father had pulled all the snakes/tentacles back. He stood in front of us in a corporeal form wearing a black suit, buttoned in front of him. His body looked like Brad Pitt, and he cocked his head to the side, a genuine curiosity alighting his eyes. “Well. That was interesting.” He studied us closer, sniffing the air. “You two are bonded, but not enough. You’ve not taken her completely, son. What are you waiting for?” He gestured to me. “She is willing. Even her messenger is silent, knowing it needs to happen.”

My messenger—she wasn’t fighting for me. I tried to waken her, use her power, but nothing. It was like kicking around an empty can.

“Ah.” Kellan’s father smiled at me. “You’re not used to being as one with your messenger, are you? I put her to sleep. I won’t have a half-messenger trying to kill me and only killing herself before I’m done with you.” He swung his head back to Kellan. “Why have you not fully bonded with her?”

I wanted to die. He was talking about sex. If I weren’t so scared, humiliation would be coloring my face red.

Kellan’s eyes closed to slits. “Are you joking? What we do is none of your business.”

“It is my business. That’s why you were sent here, for her. You’re supposed to take her power. I want her power.”

What? I needed to know more, feeling that this was important, but Giuseppa coughed from behind us, rolling to her hands and knees. Her body was black and blue now, with red splotches all over. There were marks that looked like rug burn, like she had been dragged behind a car. I cringed just looking at her.

“Vespar?” she croaked out, one eye looking to the left as her right tried to focus on Kellan. “Where is he?”

Kellan’s father walked around, gazing down at Gus. “Ah yes. This is the foster sister that I sent you to be with.”

She wasn’t looking up at him. Her head hung low, and her back was spasming from trying to breathe. He kicked her, flipping her over. The front of her looked the same as her back, black and blue with red splotches all over except blood had broken through her skin. It was trickling down her body, making a path among the soot, markings, and dried blood that had already been there. Her head fell back to the ground. She couldn’t move. She could only look up at him, and she said, hoarsely, “They did something to my brother.”