“Where are you going? There’s no way out of here!” Dai She’s voice rose to a hoarse whisper. “This is all your fault! You and your odds. You got us into this!”

Markhor spun on his heels and leveled a glare that stopped Dai She in midrant. His eyes glowed red with a fury that shone in the darkness like fiery embers of coal. He quickly got his temper in check. Dai She thought he was in charge and Markhor had to keep it that way, though it was becoming increasingly difficult. “I know. And I will get us out of it. Now drag that mattress over to the doorway and get behind the door.”

Dai She mumbled something about heavy lifting but did as he was told, listening carefully to Markhor in the pitch-darkness. “They won’t be subtle. When they storm in here we will need to react quickly. We don’t know how many there are or what kind of weapons they have, but we have darkness on our side. You will need to close your eyes. I will flash-blind them with my wand, which you will be able to see through your eyelids. The mattress should cause them to stumble.

“As soon as you see the flash, use your wand to slam the door closed so hard it will burst off the hinges. That should take out whoever is waiting on the outside.” It wasn’t the best plan, but it was all he could come up with until they could see what numbers they were up against.

The car thumping ended and hushed whispers took its place as the partyers gathered their mob courage. Seconds later, as Markhor predicted, the door burst open and two large thugs fell forward, landing heavily—one on the mattress, one on the floor next to him.

Before they could gather their wits, Markhor blazed the power of full sunlight directly into their eyes, making them shriek in pain. As he was instructed, Dai She let loose the full fury of a repelling spell through his wand that sent the door viciously in the opposite direction—with unintended but fierce results. The second intruder had not fallen completely into the room, and the force of the door broke both of his legs below the knee. Everything happened so quickly that it took a moment to register.

And when it did, the chaos began.

Blood-curdling screams erupted from both the victim and the remaining two people outside—both women—who were hit by the splintering fragments of the door. Markhor advanced to the doorway, using a spell that gave the illusion of a large animal. He growled with the ferocity of a caged lion.

“Chupacabra!” one of the women screamed in terror. She painfully yanked a large wedge of wood from her thigh and hobbled quickly toward the off-road buggy, her partner right on her heels.