The Remnants increased their assault, growing stronger as they fed from my pain. Katie’s face streaked across my mind next, her features hazy because the only time I’d seen her face-to-face I hadn’t been interested enough to memorize them. A fresh wave of agony coursed through me, but this had nothing to do with the Remnants’ ripping me apart from the inside out.

Now I’d never be able to tell her how sorry I was that I’d missed the first seven years of her life. Or let her know that Madigan couldn’t hurt her anymore, and that there was more—so much more!—to this world than the ugliness she’d been shown. Or tell her that while she might be alone now, she had not been abandoned, and though she was different from everybody else, in my eyes, she was perfect in every way . . .

That all-encompassing pain stopped. Its absence cleared my mind enough to see shattered glass at the bottom of the staircase. For a second, I was confused. I’d broken in through the door, not the window—

Bones.

I felt his pain before I saw him rolling on the floor covered by the same Remnants that had been tearing into me. With a snarl, I tried to fling Marie off, but a new batch of Remnants appeared, ravaging me with a fresh assault.

“No!” I tried to scream, though with Marie’s arm still wedged in my mouth, only a gurgle came out.

Suddenly, Marie’s movements became sluggish, as though she’d been encased in cement and was trying to break through. Realization dawned, and with it, hope. Bones was using his power on her. Despite the pain that threatened to break my mind as well as my body, I seized the opportunity, flinging myself away from the ghoul queen.

Marie’s arm ripped from my mouth, leaving hunks between my fangs that I spat out. Before I could bite down on my own flesh, however, she shoved her other arm between my teeth, moving so fast that she must have shaken off Bones’s power.

“Kill him,” she roared, her free arm still bleeding from my fangs.

The Remnants began tearing into Bones with greater fervor, increasing in number until I couldn’t see him anymore. I couldn’t hear him, either. The howls they emitted were too loud.

Determination rose so forcefully that it numbed me to the pain. I would not fail my daughter, and I would not—would not!—watch Bones die again.

I didn’t try to throw Marie off this time. Instead, I grabbed the arm she’d shoved between my fangs and pulled with all of my strength.

It tore free, hitting the staircase with enough force to coat it in red. I didn’t pause to savor her scream, but bit my lip hard enough to tear it open.

“Back off!” I snarled through the instant spurt of blood.