“One sec.” I hopped back up and grabbed the athame before crawling under the stone slab. Having some weapon—even a small one—made me feel a little better.

Lucas slid under with me. “The fire won’t keep them for long. They’re blood starved. What do we do now?”

He was asking me? “I don’t know.” Maybe if I had more magic, I could do something. But I couldn’t. I’d been drained for so long… I was below empty. “I don’t have enough energy to do anything helpful.” It was miraculous enough that I’d gotten the fire burning again.

“I can’t fight all of them. There are hundreds.”

I swallowed as the truth hit me. We were going to die. And so was my brother.

A tear rolled down my cheek. “I’m sorry I got you mixed up in this.”

Lucas brushed the tear away. “I’m not giving up yet.”

“There’s no giving up. Just reality. We’re going to die.” Sweat broke out along my skin, and I brushed it away on my shirt. As I moved, I saw my hands shaking.

Okay. I needed a way out of this. Something. Anything.

I dug through the contents of my purse. The ring. I put it on my thumb, and felt the hum of its power against mine. “With the power of this ring, I let the mages’ power sing. Destroy the evil in this room, so that the good in here can bloom.” I focused all my will and energy on letting those words ring true, but I didn’t feel anything. Not even a little bit of magic stirred inside me.

I waited, holding my breath. Hoping for a miracle.

But none came.

Beyond the flames, the vampires edged closer, moving faster by the moment. My breath came in tiny gasps as I watched them. We were running out of time, and I didn’t have anything to make a spell with. Just some hair, bones, the ring, and the crystal. But what could I do with them? One vampire would be hard enough to manage, but this many?

There had to be something. I just needed to think.

Come on, Claudia. Think.

“We need to bond.” Lucas’ words cut through my panicked thoughts.

All the air was forced from me like I was punched in the gut. “What?” Was he totally crazy? We’d known each other for days. Both of us came with a whole heap of baggage.

“Think about it,” he said as he scooted closer. “You’ll have all the pack magic at your beck and call. We’ve mixed so much with the brujos, that we’ve got power to spare, but my Alpha powers are useless here. I don’t have the ability to harness any kind of magic that would help, but you do. If we bond, you’ll have access to all of it.”