My nerves tingled with anticipation as I stood at the secret door, looking into the library through one of the gaps in the boards. It looked like I was seeing the room through a tunnel and I realized that my view was between two books—the door must have been cleverly built into one of the bookcases.

I shifted my position to relieve the pressure on my leg as well as to be able to get a better view of the book on the coffee table. Reminding myself to breathe, I placed my hand—the one that wasn’t burned—on the panel that would slide the door open while I waited for Derek to create the distraction that would allow me to slip into the room and steal the book.

Carson, Idris and Felicity were still discussing their dastardly plan of action, but I wasn’t listening. I was too intent on waiting for the perfect moment.

“Fire!” I heard Derek yell and saw him rush into the library, standing in the doorway and pointing excitedly into the hall. “The kitchen’s on fire! Everyone out!”

Carson ran out into the hall. Felicity sprang up from the couch and headed toward the door. Idris followed at a more dignified pace.

I pushed the panel, the door slid silently open and I stepped into the room, my eye trained on the book.

Idris had almost cleared the door when I was already halfway into the room. He must have remembered the book on the coffee table and he turned back toward it, his eyes growing wide when he saw me.

I ran for the book, noticing absently that a paperweight very similar to the one Elspeth had given me sat on the table beside it. Like my paperweight, this one glowed strangely, as if lit from inside.

Idris charged back into the room with surprising speed for a man his age.

A jolt of adrenalin surged through me—I knew I had to stop him. I grabbed the book and the paperweight, yelping as the paperweight seared my already burned fingers.

I aimed at Idris. Swinging the orb with all my might, I let go, watching in awe as electricity arced from my fingertips, circling the paperweight that exploded into a million pieces.

Kaboom!

My eyesight blurred. I felt the sensation of flying, then the weightlessness of falling. Hot air rushed past my face, then a bone jarring thud sent pain shooting through my body before everything went black.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

A crushing weight on my chest made it hard to breathe and what little air I could get was tinged with smoke and the smell of charred wood. I opened my eyes, but it was dark. The debris I was pinned beneath made it impossible to move.

“Mew.”

I tried to call out, but my voice was muffled by the debris.