Three knocks sounded at the door, followed by Damon’s voice, muffled through the wood.
“Mary Jane!” Damon called. “Stefan’s waiting for you outside.”
That had been the agreed-upon code that would cause Mary Jane to open the door. I held my breath as I heard the floorboards creak and the door slowly swing open. Moonlight flooded the landing as Samuel rushed through the door, his eyes gleaming in excitement. Seaver was at his side. At the sight of them Mary Jane gasped, a theatrical effort that impressed me. I leaned forward, my heart surging in my chest. This was going to work.
“Mary Jane. Finally, we meet again.” Samuel leered as he pulled a glittering silver knife from inside his jacket. I clutched the stake in my hand. I wouldn’t jump unless Damon faltered.
As if on cue, Damon pulled a stake from inside his vest.
“So stupid, Samuel,” Damon whispered, a smile crossing his face. But Samuel was faster than Damon had anticipated, and before Damon could stake Samuel, they were caught in a struggle. My breath caught in my throat. I knew what I was supposed to do now: kill Seaver. But with Damon in trouble, my rationale quickly fell by the wayside. I couldn’t let Damon die at Samuel’s hand.
“You thought you could get the best of me?” Samuel asked, elbowing Damon away. Damon lost his footing and fell to his knees, and I used the opportunity to lurch toward Samuel, grabbing his neck in a choke hold. The knife clattered to the floor, and I hastily pulled out the stake that I had stashed in my boot.
My arm around his throat, Samuel gasped. I pressed tighter, allowing the point of the stake to graze Samuel’s chest.
Just then, Seaver rushed through the door and tackled Mary Jane. She tumbled to the ground, screaming, as he held her nose with one hand and pulled a vial from his cloak with the other. Mary Jane gasped for breath, and at that moment, Seaver forced the liquid down her throat, chanting loudly the whole time.
“Help!” Mary Jane shrieked.
“Stefan!” I barely heard Lavinia’s throaty voice as she clattered through the doorway. It was clear the witches thought the plan was already going awry. But I couldn’t focus. Instead, I pressed against the base of the stake. But I didn’t have a good angle, and it kept sliding sideways instead of down. I was surprised at how little Samuel was fighting. Did he recognize the futility of the fight? Was he surrendering? Focus. I repositioned the stake, ready to drive it into Samuel’s chest.
“Asporto!” Seaver’s deep voice yelled, and instantly, I was pushed against the wall as if by an unseen hand. My temple cracked against the wooden wall and blood spurted from my forehead, obstructing my vision. When I went to wipe it away, I found myself unable to lift my arm.
“Help!” I called in a ragged voice, hoping the other witches waiting in the alley would hear. A few feet away, I saw Samuel had gotten hold of Damon. I closed my eyes, trying to draw my Power up from my center and push it toward him as Damon wrestled loose from Samuel’s grasp. He lunged, but Samuel dodged, and in the process grabbed Mary Jane from where she stood behind Lavinia. Still, I was frozen to the spot, unable to do anything to save Mary Jane.
“Concisio!” a female voice yelled. Then I heard a sound like a gunshot, followed by a brilliant white light. It lit up the small room like a firework before once again plunging it into darkness. I turned around. It was Jemima.
“You’re free. Kill the witch!” she shrieked. I lunged forward, suddenly unshackled. I plunged the stake I held into Seaver’s back, twisting it until his body fell to the ground. The stake may not have been meant to kill a witch, but it certainly did the trick. At impact, I saw another flash of lightning.
Then I heard Jemima’s scream, over and over again. Damon was standing dead still, his eyes locked on Samuel.
“That’s right, Damon. Stay where you are like a good boy,” Samuel said smoothly. Blood was dripping from his lips, and his entire body seemed to glow. He tapped his long, tapered fingers together as he surveyed the room. My eyes tracked his gaze and I saw Mary Jane lying crumpled on the ground. My knees buckled under me. There was a crater in the center of her chest. Her amber eyes were open, her face an unmoving mask of horror. Rivulets of golden liquid were streaming from the hole where her heart should have been. Samuel had done the unimaginable. He’d eaten Mary Jane’s heart.
“No!” Lady Alice shrieked, throwing herself on top of Mary Jane’s body. I stood, frozen in place, as Damon grabbed the stake from Lavinia’s hand and lunged toward Samuel.
“Run!” I pulled Lady Alice from Mary Jane’s body. Her robe was smeared with gold-tinged blood as though her heart, too, had been torn out.
“You can’t run. Stay still. You too, Stefan,” Samuel said smoothly. Damon stopped midstep, confusion on his face. Samuel had compelled us both. I willed my feet to move, but nothing happened. I was stuck. I felt my stomach and heart clench. The orphans rushed in, too late to the scene, and looked on in horror, although I couldn’t tell if they were paralyzed by fright or magic.
Samuel laughed. His lips pulled back from his teeth, revealing fangs that glowed gold. “You see, I got what I came for. And you did, too, even if you’re too stupid to realize it. I won’t kill you. In trying to betray me, you still fulfilled your end of the bargain. Of course, your good-for-nothing brother killed Seaver, but that’s neither here nor there. He was no longer useful to me, so it’s just as well. You’re free to leave. And I’m feeling magnanimous, so I’ll let your brother loose, too. I feel you may have new enemies to keep you busy now,” he said with a demonic laugh.
In the moments since he’d eaten the heart, Samuel had changed. He was taller and stronger, and seemed to be glowing from within. I tried to avoid staring in his eyes, doing anything to resist potential compulsion. Damon blinked, for once at a loss for words.
Samuel kicked Mary Jane’s prostrate body and snorted derisively. “What’s one less witch? You all should feel jealous that she died and got to escape this slum. If I were a nice man, I’d give you the same opportunity.” At this, Jemima and the other orphans fled the scene, terrified. I didn’t blame them. “But I have much to do, and none of it includes spending a second longer here than I have to,” Samuel concluded. He roughly picked up Seaver’s still-bleeding body and hauled it over his shoulder, walking out and making sure to close the door gently behind him. I heard the whinny of a horse, followed by hoof-beats.
Damon and I locked eyes, and as if by mutual agreement I grabbed the still-keening Lady Alice, and Damon grabbed Lavinia. Together, we made our way to the river. With every footstep, I imagined the agony Mary Jane must have felt in the instant her chest had been ripped open and her heart pulled from her body. I wanted to dive into the inky blackness of the Thames and swim as far as I could, to where the river met the Atlantic and I could swim onward to America.
Finally, when we had put enough distance between us and the house, we stopped. For the moment at least, we were safe. Unlike Mary Jane…
I carefully placed Lady Alice on her feet.
“I’m sorry,” I said, knowing the words meant nothing. Anger flashed in her eyes.
“You did this,” she spat.
“I tried my best. I killed Seaver. What else could I have done?” I said. My voice was angry, not soothing.
“You could have killed Seaver before he removed the spell on Mary Jane. That was your job. But no, you had to go after the glory and try to kill Samuel. That wasn’t your place, vampire,” Lavinia said, her voice dripping with hate.