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Artery and Gregor spread out to the left and right of theira couple of metres behind They’re here to et to kill Bo as a bonus Neither will be allowed to har me for himself

"Grubbs," Bo whimpers

"I know," I say softly

"What are we going to do?"

"Be brave Fight"

"But I don’t know any ic"

"Just do what you can" Eyes on Artery and the cockroach Trying to believe it’s not hopeless If I can pin one of them to the barrier and kill it, Bo and I can escape Gutted that we can’t take anyone with us, but Ius out alive

"Did you forget about the barrier, Grubitsch?" Lord Loss sniggers "You are slow to learn I would have thought, after running afoul of it once, you would have had"But you are not stupid A cunning boy, as I learnt to ht you have had anotherhere?"

He’s close to the truth I have to act now, before he or I settle on the baby-sical cry, I unleashwith alarm, propelled towards the barrier I step closer to the spot where he’s going to hit, readying myself to kill the hell-child

But then he stopsin opposition toharder Artery jolts forward another round He scuttles back to hisshelter behind a parent

"That was a very nice attempt, Grubitsch," Lord Loss murmurs "You had me foxed until almost the very end I should have known you had an ace up your sleeve Dervish must have told you how to create a rip in the barrier You planned to kill my sweet Artery and skip out of the party early" He tuts ly "That was rude I shall have to"

I hear noises in the background and spot people running towards us fro his eyes over the various faces, searching-as I am-for Dervish Butto my rescue These are just ordinary, terrified movie folk They won’t be any help

"More victihs "See how they run towards el Should I pretend to be good? Sweep them to my breast, shower them with kisses, only to turn vile and make my true intentions knohen it is too late for them to escape?"

I focus on the cockroach I try to pitch hiuard, then hurl Gregor or Artery at the barrier But the demon doesn’t even slide a centimetre off balance

"No, Grubitsch," Lord Loss says "We will have no more of that Leave my familiars alone Your battle is with me, not them"

"Then come on!" I screa for? Do you want to reduce ht oes dead The snakes in the hole in his chest stop hissing "So be it," he whispers, rising aoutwards with a slow, dreadful, race

"Grubbs," Boall over, preparing ainst me

"But over there it’s I think I can see Dervish!"

That startles me so much, I look away from the threat of Lord Loss Thankfully, the de lances to the side

Bo is pointing off toat The land looks devoid of life, just grass and weeds But then I notice the air shihtly The shimmer intensifies, thickens, then fades to reveal Dervish! And just behind my uncle, between him and the barrier- Bill-E, Juni, Vanalee and the boy whose name I don’t know

"An invisibility shield," Lord Loss groans "I don’t believe I-"

A wind blows up out of nowhere It s him and Artery over

"Grubbs!" Dervish yells, focusing on the wind, veins stretched across his face like ridges of blue putty I know instantly what he wants Pointing at Gregor, who has been unaffected by the gale, I shout a word of ether in a mixture of hate and fear He strikes the invisible barrier Sticks Dozens of tiny legs kick at thin air as he tries to tear himself free

"Juni!" Dervish shouts "Kill it like I showed you!" Juni steps up to the struggling cockroach She makes a fist and takes aim at the brittle shell of its sto her fist She’s s, but before she can, one of Gregor’s hairy, spindly legs strikes the back of her head She falls with a startled cry, tries to rise, then slumps, dead or unconscious

My first instinct is to rush to her aid, but I ignore it Instead I look for Artery Concentrating on the fire in the hell-child’s eye sockets, I ically rip the flames out As Artery squeals and slaps blindly at his eyes, I transport the fla on a coht for a second, letting theor is frothing at thefrorin Then, clicking ers for emphasis, I release the flames and they erupt in a ball of destructive red and yellow fury

The deony There’s a crackling, throbbing sound Then a jagged line appears in the air around the deht- a hole in the barrier!

"Get out!" Dervish barks at Bill-E and the others The wind is still blowing, but Lord Loss and Artery have stopped tu into it now, the de his childish hands at his enite fresh flames

As Vanalee and the boy race to safety, Bill-E hurries to Juni’s side He turns her over, checks quickly, then shouts, "She’s alive!"

"Then take her with you!" Dervish roars, struggling to maintain the wind

Bill-E hesitates-I can see he wants to stay and help-then grits his teeth Propping Juni up, he slides his hands under her arh the hole As they exit, the quality of light changes and it’s as though I’h a thin, se but stops and looks back at the crowd racing towards us She’s panting hard, squinting "My father and brother I can’t see therowl "I can’t"

"Youback for theardless My left hand rises Magic flows Bo comes to a forced stop She turns her head and looks at o I have to do this"

"But you’ll die if-"

"Probably," she interrupts, "but not necessarily Maybe I’ll find and rescue thes helplessly "I have to try"

"But your father orking with the de this upon us"

"He’s still et on your nerves, like I did," she grins

I grin back and reluctantly release her, knowing I don’t have the right to deny her, figuring I’d probably do the sa for them," I warn her