A funeral procession had more smiling faces than we did as Dmitry ushered us to the gallery. Wren left our company to watch over Henry. She had played her role perfectly, but it seemed Dmitry was not fooled. He had taken every precaution to see that we didn't disrupt his perfect maniacal scheme. And there was still no sign of Terra.

While I had no intention of having Dmitry remove the curse, I still needed to find out how to do it before I blasted his ass to smithereens. At this point, we were flying blind and hoping for the best outcome. So, when the doors to the gallery opened, I was forced to get a grip and pretend I had my shit together. It was more for Vincent than anyone else.

The room looked the same as I remembered, like a bizarre museum with misshapen contraptions dangling over our heads and faces etched in marble watching through unmoving eyes. My gaze automatically landed on the endless staircase, but I didn't waste time gawking. Instead, I scanned the room for the source of the tortured growls. The problem was, I couldn't hear anything now. Only deathly quiet.

A shiver wracked my body, and I hugged myself as that urgent feeling returned with a vengeance. Of course, Vincent noticed my unease and slipped an arm around my shoulder. Dmitry said nothing as he brushed his fingers affectionately across the metal spokes of the staircase, drawing us deeper into the room, and my uneasy feeling grew.

Vincent's sudden intake of breath, had me slowing down, and when I glanced at him, the expression on his face forced another shiver through me. This one felt as cold as ice despite the intense heat I was holding inside my clenched fists. With a mixture of reluctance and desperation, I followed his gaze.

Dmitry had come to stand beside a large, rectangular box constructed of wooden slats. Standing on its long end, the box could accommodate a full-sized body, and that's what I found when I blinked my eyes to take in the surreal sight. Terra stood inside the box, which had the clear markings of a torture device.

The only body part that remained outside the slats was her head, separated by a thick plank of wood where a hole had been cut, allowing just enough room for her neck. Her toes barely touched the floor, forcing her to rely on her head to hold her up when her legs became too tired.

And that wasn't the worst of it. Another torture device surrounded her head. This one I recognized. It was a scold's bridle, used in the sixteenth century to punish women for speaking out against their husbands, or anyone else who didn't approve. Made of iron, a framework of bars crisscrossed Terra's head and a muzzle covered her lips. Attached to the muzzle was a bridle bit that entered her mouth, and based on the dried blood covering her chin, this version had a spike on the end that pierced the tongue if she tried to speak.

Due to the weight of the bridle, Terra's head was forced to one side, and her lids were closed. Dark, sunken flesh circled her eye sockets, and her cheeks looked hollow. Through the slats, I could see her bones sucked tight to her skin. Clearly, she had been starved. Was this the cause of the urgency I'd been feeling since we arrived? Was I too late?

I stood gaping at the macabre scene, hoping to find signs of life, while Dmitry wore a smug expression as he rapped on the box with his knuckles. "I believe you have all met, dah?" he said snidely.

I wanted nothing more than to rap on his face with my knuckles, but I wasn't going to blow our plan now. We had come too far, although that didn't mean I had to pretend not to hate him with every fiber of my being. "You're a loathsome piece of scum."

He shrugged. "I have heard worse. Actually, Terra has quite a filthy mouth. Zat is vhy I had to ensure she didn't tire herself out cursing me every time I came for a visit." He knocked on the box again, and Terra protested with a whimper. I was never so glad to hear a tortured groan in my life, and I stood in Terra's line of sight as her eyes fluttered open.

"Terra, it's me, Reese. You're going to be alright. I'm going to help you." The look in her dull, vacant gaze had my hands clenching tighter. Boy, did I want to give Dmitry my knuckles, and I turned to growl in his face. "What's your game, Dmitry?"

In an unexpected move, he stepped away from me, but his smug grin never left as he reached out to stroke Terra's cheek through her iron prison. She flinched but seemed too weak to turn away. "It is like I told you, I vish to make a trade. I admit, vhen I locked Terra up for safe keeping, I did not know vhat you and your mate had planned for your return visit. Of course, I knew zhere vas somezing vorking inside your clever heads. Being clever myself, I vas correct."

"Get to your point," Vincent ground out. "What do you want in return for releasing Terra?"

With a sneer fit for a lunatic, Dmitry pointed at me. "Give me zhe artifact you are vearing and I vill let her go. And do not attempt to deny you have it. I felt it as soon as you entered my home."

I glared at him, refusing to give anything away. At least, not yet. "How do you know it isn't just me you're feeling? I'm not the same as I was when I left here."

"Zat is not vhat I mean. Zis has zhe hum of a supernatural object. It is faint, but I hear it, nonezheless. I suspect you planned to use it to protect yourself from my strength. But you vere foolish to zhink I vould not overpower any veapon of yours."

I didn't doubt he'd grown in strength, but so had I, and I planned to test that theory with or without the artifact. I knew Vincent wasn't happy with the turn of events, so I didn't glance his way as I reached around my back and felt for the clasp on the chain. When I felt it give way, I slid the belt out from under my blouse. The balsa locket still hid the amulet, and as my palm grazed the surface, the wood began to blacken and smolder.

Dmitry made a grab for the locket, but I snatched it out of his reach. "You'll get this when you release Terra from that monstrous trap."

The wood was still smoking as he stared at it, and, for a split second, I thought he might tackle me for it. I'd seen him wield fire before, and he probably had more tricks up his sleeve, but he finally relented and turned to the box, beginning the process of unlatching the many locks that held Terra captive.

With her arms bound behind her back, she hung limply from her neck as the box loosened its grisly hold on her, and Vincent hurried over to catch her as she fell. Dmitry stood watching with no remorse as Vincent laid her gently on the ground, keeping her head cradled in his arms. "Now the bridle. It needs a key," he said, shooting a venomous look at Dmitry. You never would have known Terra and Vincent were not on the best of terms.

"Are you sure you vant zat? She is much more pleasant vhen her mouth is shut."

"No key. No amulet." Vincent's eyes were swirling like angry storm clouds now, and Dmitry stuffed a hand in his pocket, pulling out a small key attached to a chain.

"Have it your vay, but don't say I didn't varn you."

Kneeling opposite Vincent, Dmitry unlocked the cage, and as soon as the bit fell away from Terra's mouth, blood poured out with it. "Get me a towel. Something to stave the flow." I assumed Vincent was talking to me, since Dmitry had the compassion of a cockroach, and I glanced frantically around the room until my eyes landed on a burgundy ascot tucked into the suit of a headless mannequin.

I rushed over and snatched the silky cloth from its anonymous owner, and Dmitry screeched his complaints. "Zat ascot belonged to Christoph Walken! It vas a gift."

"Well, now it's serving a higher purpose," I said as I returned to help Vincent.

Dmitry watched us attend to Terra's wounds, which were extensive judging from the amount of blood leaving her body. A hand entered my peripheral vision as Dmitry cleared his throat noisily. "Zhe artifact...if you please."

With trembling hands that I desperately tried to control, I shoved the locket at him. He wasted no time burning away the flimsy balsa wood to expose the gold amulet. "Hmm. Zhe Seal of Solomon. I zhought zis had fallen into zhe hands of a demon queen. My sources vere mistaken, unless you had somezing to do vith its reappearance."

Neither Vincent nor I offered confirmation. We had staved off the blood flow enough to get Terra's fragile body propped against the box. "She needs nourishment," I said to Dmitry as he stood there admiring the artifact.

"All in good time, vhich ve have already vasted too much of. You came here to have me remove zhe magic, and zat is vhat ve vill do next." He slipped the chain around his neck, tucking the amulet beneath his shirt as he walked to a bookshelf built into the wall. A podium stood in front of the shelf, facing the room, and a thick book with a worn leather cover rested on top, which he began thumbing through. "Ah, here it is. Egestas a flammis. Zhe curse of flames."

I gritted my teeth, remembering how close I came to burning alive from the fevers caused by his curse, and when I exchanged a glance with Vincent, he was wearing the same murderous expression. This was it. The moment of reckoning was here. Time to do or die trying.

"Despite my intense hatred for you, Dmitry, there's something about you that has me intrigued," I said, attempting to pique Dmitry's arrogant nature as I strolled toward the podium.

A single eyebrow rose as he lifted his face from the book. "I am all ears, devushka."

I knew the word devushka could mean anything from lovely lady to wretched bitch, but I didn't bother asking for clarification. "What's your story? How did you become a necromancer? Did you recite a powerful spell from that book of yours? Did you find a supernatural artifact and suddenly realize you could turn people into zombies?"

A chuckle escaped his throat as his lips lifted into a sarcastic smile. "You have an amusing vay vith vords. If you are so interested to know, ve can postpone zhe ritual a few more minutes. As long as poor Terra doesn't mind vaiting to have her nourishment."

His attempt to give me a guilty conscience worked, and I glanced at Terra. She looked as if she couldn't hold herself up if her life depended on it, but her eyes told me to continue what I was doing. She knew the plan, and I could only hope she had strength enough to execute her part in it. Vincent remained by her side, no doubt hoping the same.

"Several centuries ago," Dmitry began. "I vas fortunate enough to participate in zhe first archeological dig of zhe Egyptian pyramids, even before Napoleon got his hands on zhem. Our team made great discoveries and ve became ever more eager to continue our vork. But ve vere greedy, cutting corners on safety. One day, vhile I vas deep underground, a tomb collapsed, burying everyone in my party under tons of sand and stone. During zhe collapse, I vas impaled by a blade, and vhen my body vas recovered, I vas pronounced deceased."

"Were you really dead?"

"Dah, I vas. But I vas resurrected by some miracle, and I later learned zhe blade zhat punctured me had been used in ritual sacrifices to zhe god Ra. Not knowing of my unique circumstance, I vent on vith my vork, but vith a renewed sense of purpose. My thirst for knowledge consumed me, and I did not stop searching. Finally, I found zhe spell book in an unassuming church archive."

He tapped the book with a crooked finger. Then, as if he'd somehow insulted the book, he stroked the open pages lovingly. "I began practicing zhe magic, and zat is vhen I realized I could control zhe powers of Ra."

"What about the cube? When did that come into play?"

"I learned of zhe cube zhrough zhe book, and I sent many people out in search of it. Vhen I finally had zhe cube in my hands, I began building my army. Ve reined for nearly two centuries. Now, vith my powers restored, I vill rebuild and bring peace to a restless world."

This time, it was my turn to chuckle. "Bring peace to a restless world, huh? You won't fool anyone with that rhetoric. Humans are a lot more savvy than they were back then."

"Ve shall see how savvy zhey are. Now, come. Let us take of your little problem."

Damn. All that stalling and I still had no clue how to take this guy out. I couldn't ask if there was a spell to reverse his connection to Ra. He would laugh in my face. Other than getting confirmation that he was a badass with the powers of an ancient god, I had nothing more to go on than what I started with, which was nothing.

"First, I'd like to know exactly what you're going to do to remove this curse?" As I spoke, I felt nervous energy building inside me, and I paced in front of the podium to give my body something to do.

Dmitry seemed to think this was humorous, and he chuckled as he watched. "I vill do very little. Zhe cure to removing zhe magic is found in zis incantation you must recite. You vill follow zis up by drinking a concoction zat vill neutralize vhat is causing zhe fevers."

"She will drink what?" Vincent stormed over to the podium, sticking his face between the pages of the book. "Where does it say that? What's in this concoction?"

With an annoyed huff, Dmitry turned the page and pointed. "Here is zhe ingredients I used. I cauterized zhe bottle vith vax to seal zhe contents inside. And if you are still concerned about it being poisoned, you can ask Terra. She helped me to make it."

Everyone turned to look at Terra, who had slid down the box and was huddled in the fetal position. Vincent grunted as he returned to Terra's side and crouched over her. Although her confirmation was barely perceptible, I saw her head shake in the affirmative.

Vincent returned to my side, his face pinched as if he had taken the concoction himself. "Fine. But I want to give Reese this potion myself. Where is it?"

Turning around, Dmitry reached for a silver box sitting on the bookshelf. He lifted the lid and pulled out a clear vial. Inside the glass swirled a red and silver liquid that looked like a mixture of blood and mercury. I had no doubt it tasted like shit. Once the vial was placed in Vincent's hands, Dmitry waved me in front of the book of spells.

My body was really protesting now, but not from fear or anxiety. My limbs felt like they were filling with fire, and I knew exactly where the feeling stemmed from. It was the culmination of all the practice I'd done over the past two months. I knew that if I recited the mantra, my mantra, I could build an arsenal of flame and fury that would result in massive damage to my enemies and a case of severe heartburn to myself.

Of course, I had no idea what kind of arsenal Dmitry had built up since he'd gotten his hands on the cube. If he was indeed receiving the powers of Ra, mine were like a flash in the proverbial pan. And now he had the amulet that was supposed to keep me from bursting into flames.

With nothing left to do but follow through with the plan, I glanced down at the book, pretending to read over the words. From my peripheral view, I watched Vincent take a few steps back. Could he feel the power growing inside me? Did he know my hands felt like I was holding exploding grenades?

Lifting one hand to my forehead, I brought the other to my belly. Despite all the practice, the surge of energy was so intense, my knees nearly gave way. But I powered through it, and, a moment later, a blinding light surrounded me as my wings unfurled. I felt my horns break through as they grew to join the rest of my supernatural weaponry, but the usual pain was blocked by the sheer force of adrenaline that pumped through my veins.

As for Dmitry, his face had lost its shimmer, and he appeared to be wrestling with a mixture of wonder and fear as he staggered backward. "Devushka bitch!" he growled as rage replaced whatever emotions had lurked there before.

But his curse didn't bother me. I just smirked behind my wall of light. "You're right. And you've messed with the wrong devushka, bitch!"