CHAPTER 176

Dana smirked, then moved down the hall until she was at the door. She picked up Tick Tock and held the mimic to her chest.

"Quetzalli is in Mike's room. She needs protection," she said, and the mimic sprouted legs and raced down the hall.

She moved toward the door, curious at how its mechanisms worked, but froze in amazement at the interior.

The room itself was a giant conservatory made of several round windows, each one looking at a different patch of starry sky. Up above hung the remnants of an ancient telescope that looked as if it was in the middle of being repaired. All around the room were shattered mechanical parts, as if something complex had exploded and never been cleaned up. In the middle of the room was a small table, and the dark figure pored over a set of volumes that sat in the middle of the table before choosing one and picking it up.

"The Grimoire! You lose, Emily." The man let out a laugh and then hugged the book to his chest. "All you bought was time, and it still cost you your life." When he turned around, he went still when he saw Dana.

Dana noticed two things. The first was that his eyes were black, like Sulyvahn's. The other was that the tome he held was very large, intricately bound in thick leather. Embossed in the middle of the cover was a very large apple.

"Goodbye, dead girl." He pointed his wand at her and she dove out of the way. The ensuing blast ripped apart the floor between them, and she scrambled for cover behind a cog the size of her body. Wave after wave of force struck the cog, causing it to resonate and shift as she circled around it, using it as a shield. He finally walked out the door, the book held tightly against his side.

She had no idea what was actually inside the book, but she did know one thing: she had been killed for it. The Grimoire had been one of the possible treasures Daryl had sent her to find, and there was no way she was going to let this asshole leave the house with it.

When she looked down the hallway, she saw that he had gone into Beth's bedroom. Outside the house, there was a loud shriek and something smashed into the roof, showering her with dust. At Beth's room, she opened the door to see that the closet door was open, revealing the mouth of the magical cave.

A hand touched her and she jumped, then turned to see Beth and Kisa standing behind her.

"He's got the Grimoire," Dana said. "And he's headed into the Labyrinth. Who the fuck is this guy?"

"Mike's shadow friend, wearing my former coworker Marco as a meat suit." Beth looked at Kisa, then back at Dana. "Any ideas what he wants with Ratu?"

"None, but that wand of his is nasty. I feel very outgunned here." The house shook again. "What the hell is going on outside?"

"As far as we can tell, the spirits have possessed the Jabberwock and it keeps attacking the house. They've also flooded this place and are tearing it apart from the inside. We need to get word to Ratu, but I can't find any of the faeries, and Sofia's book is missing, so we can't get her help either." Beth wiped some blood off her forehead. "Damn, won't stop bleeding."

"There's got to be something we can—" Dana stopped talking, her eyes on the dark figures in the door of the room. They were flickering in and out of existence, and spread out to trap them in the middle.

"They can touch you when they want to," Kisa warned, then hissed at the one closest to her. The three moved back to back as the spirits encircled them.

"Jenny! We need your help!" Beth yelled, but the ghost didn't appear. The house rumbled again, and Kisa launched herself at the nearest spirit, only to be scooped up and tossed across the room.

Quetzalli appeared in the doorway, carrying a large piece of wood. She swung it frantically at the spirits, only to trip over her own feet and stumble forward through the shadows. As she passed through one of the spirits, the room filled with the smell of ozone as she discharged electricity.

The shadow became motionless, then color filled in its features, as if a dam had broke and allowed paint to fill in all the color. It was a man wearing leather armor from centuries past, and he held up his hands in wonderment, as if surprised to see himself standing there. His features rippled as if he was being projected on water, glowing cracks now appearing along his body.

The other spirits recoiled when he exploded into motes of light, all of which immediately flew out the window. Their attackers evacuated, and Dana ran to the window to watch as the motes of lights shot through the gate to the Underworld. The shadow castle loomed larger than ever, and the phantom militia continued to march toward the house.

Out in the darkness, Cerberus whimpered.

The faerie queen's face was fixed into a scowl as she walked past Mike to sit on her throne. She crossed her legs and looked down at him, then glanced over at the broken throne by her side.

"Well?" Mike asked. "We had an agreement. You said if I came back to you through the Underworld, you would let me take her. I believe you have an agreement to honor."

She held out her hand and a scroll appeared, identical to the one she had given him. "Should you find a way to enter my court via the Underworld itself, I will allow you to leave here with your dear Cecilia. Per your addendum, the two of you will leave unharmed, as well as intact. Hmm." She rolled up the scroll and tucked it away in mid-air, clearly using some sort of extra dimensional magic. "I'm curious, Caretaker. On your way in, did you happen to...meet anybody?"