“I’ll go find the other Moroi,” said Neil, starting to move ahead of them. He paused and glanced back at Sydney. “Unless you need me?”

I shook my head. “I’ll get her out of here. Go help the others.”

The dhampirs and Jill disappeared, leaving me alone to look after Sydney. That snake demon was down to one head, but I noticed now that there was smoke in the corridor. One of her fireballs must have hit a door and found something to ignite.

“We need to get out of here,” I yelled to her. “That fire might spread. Jill’s safe.”

“I’m not leaving this guy to run rampant!” Sydney shouted back. A well-placed fireball nearly took out the remaining head, but the creature dodged at the last second, missing the hit by barely an inch. It roared in fury, and one of its tentacles shot out more quickly than Sydney could anticipate. It caught her by her feet, knocking her to the ground, and with equal speed, the demon hurried over, its last head rearing up in triumph as it prepared to drench her in acid.

Do something! Do something! Aunt Tatiana screamed at me.

But there was nothing to telekinetically throw, no plants to summon like Sonya might do. This was the waking world, not a dream. Spirit was not a combat magic, but in the space of a heartbeat, I still knew I had to act. Sydney—my heart, my love, and my wife—was seconds away from death. I would have gladly thrown my body in front of hers, but there was no time for that either. I had only a millisecond to decide, so I pulled out my last spirit trick.

“Stop!” I ordered.

Spirit burned through me, and I sent a wave of compulsion into the demon, attempting to bend its will to mine. I’d never done anything like that. I didn’t even know if it could be done. The creature actually paused, however, making me think it had both sentience and the ability to be controlled. Emphasis on ability. Because even though the creature momentarily restrained itself, I could feel my hold slipping, and it snarled again, ready to strike Sydney. The more strong-willed a person was, the harder it was to compel them. Demons must be in an entirely different class, because I was already amped up on spirit and was just barely having an effect.

More, more! said Aunt Tatiana.

I drew on greater reserves of spirit, pulling everything out of me, all my energy and life, all my resolve. It was more than I’d used in the dream with Olive, nearly as much as I’d used to bring back Jill. Spirit filled every part of me, making me greater than I’d ever thought I could be, nearly godlike. I turned that power on the demon, exerting my control as I issued my commands: “Let her go! Back up!”

The demon obeyed.