The attack came at once. Spike leaped over the balcony and landed in a crouch. Then he was on the move, headed straight for Eli and Zeran. Crusher whipped out one of his tentacles and grabbed my ankle. He squeezed so hard that it felt as if my bone would snap in two. I hit the floor, but not before I swung my staff and connected with my target. Crusher yelped and fell back.

“Maya, are you okay?” Eleni screamed as she ran to my side.

“I think my ankle’s broken,” I said through gritted teeth.

Eli’s ghosts fought off Spike, but the big Azurian kept slipping through their grasps. Zeran was doing combat with Butcher while Crusher’s tentacles wrapped around Eleni, pinning her arms and wings to her sides. I tried to get to my feet again, but my ankle had swollen to the size of a grapefruit. “Let my sister go!” I yelled.

“Stop!” Eleni commanded, winded. Fairy dust floated in the air around her, and I had a sudden feeling of wanting to stay completely still. “You will never hurt anyone else again.”

Her fairy dust settled on Crusher’s tentacles and disappeared. He gritted his teeth like he was trying to fight her magic, but in the end, he slid to the floor and drew his knees to his chest. Eleni slumped against me, exhausted.

Butcher had Zeran on his knees, with her claws to his throat. “I’ve had enough of this foolishness,” she said. “It’s time to end this.”

She grunted as something—not something, someone—knocked her to the floor. It had to be Eli in ghost mode. Butcher hissed and let loose a purple mist.

“Get them off,” Eli screamed as he became visible again. The purple mist had settled on him and transformed into spiders. His ghosts faded one by one.

“Oh dear,” said a stately head librarian wearing a top hat. He was the last ghost to disappear.

“They’re not real, Eli,” Zeran yelled. “It’s a trick.”

Butcher laughed. “Oh, they’re very real.”

Mama used peppermint spray to keep spiders out of the house. I stood up, hopping on one foot, and pointed the staff at Eli. A second later, I caught a whiff of peppermint in the air, and the spiders scattered.

Wait, where was Spike? I turned, but not fast enough. Spike lifted me into the air with one massive hand, and my staff slipped out of my grasp. “I find you to be very annoying, godling,” he growled. “Time to put you out of your misery.”

“I think not,” I said, driving my knee into his belly.

Spike laughed. “You’re a funny little one, aren’t you?”

“Hey, Spike,” Eleni said with my staff reared back. “You should wear better shoes.”