Eclipse breaks the locks effortlessly. Jamie leaps towards me as soon as the door of his prison swings open, hugging me tightly. Marty crouches and wraps his arms around both of us, pulling us close. I can feel him shaking. I don't know whether it's from cold or fear or relief, but all the same I rest my head on his shoulder until I feel him start to relax. Even then, I don't want to let go. I'm too scared. It feels like the second I let go, Jamie and Marty will disappear again, vanishing in the night all over again.

"Maya..." Marty whispers in my ear. His voice is strained. "They have wings... They can... Torture people..."

My heart aches as I look into his eyes. His blue irises are shattered glass. He must've been through so much over the past few weeks. He must've been frightened out of his mind. Worried sick about Jamie, unable to protect him for the first time in his life. And to see real demons... Marty is such a logical person. He's used to the ordinary and predictable. He's the type of person who needs to be on solid, stable ground... He needs to know what's going on all of the time, what to expect. He needs to have a plan. Seeing demons fly and use magic... It must've seriously messed with his head.

"I know," I whisper back, squeezing tighter. "I'm so sorry."

My big brother is the strongest person I know. He'll be okay. I know he will.

Eventually, I find the strength to pull away.

"Who are they?" Jamie whispers, looking nervously at Jude and Eclipse.

"They're friends of mine, Jamie," I grin at them, and they smile hesitantly back. "Good friends. They're here to help us."

Marty clears his throat, nodding at Jude and Eclipse with an awkward smile. "Uh, yeah, I remember you two. Hey, thanks."

"No problem," Eclipse says reassuringly. "And don't worry. You're safe now."

"You two have to get out of here," I tell my brothers, trying to keep my voice firm through the traces of tears. "Right now."

Marty frowns at me. "'You two'? What about you?"

I look round at Jude and Eclipse again. "Two more of our friends might need our help right now."

"Maya, you have to come too," Jamie whimpers, tugging on my hand. His hazel eyes are wide and fearful. "I don't want you to stay here."

"Maya, it's okay," Jude says. "You get your brothers out of here. We'll be alright. We'll meet you back home with Ted and Ash."

I stare at him for a second, then at the stairs we just came down. It's tempting to run, to grab my brothers and go, never having to look at this place again. But I know I can't. I don't want to. Teddy and Ash could be in trouble, and I have to know they're okay. They could have been caught, or something might've gone wrong if Ash turned the hourglass. I can't just leave without them, especially after they've both sacrificed so much for me.

I take a deep breath. "Get out of here and wait for us in the woods. We'll catch up to you."

"Maya, are you sure?" presses Jude.

"Yeah. Listen, neither of you worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Hey," Eclipse crouches down to look Jamie and Marty in the eyes. "When you get out of the gates and into the woods, go up the hill and you'll find an old, abandoned cottage. You'll be safe there. And here," she pulls another vial out of her belt. "This will make you invisible."

Marty gapes at her. "It will what-?"

"Wow!" Jamie's eyes somehow open even wider.

"Stay together and follow us," Jude tells them.

Jamie clambers onto Marty's back, wrapping his skinny arms around our brother's neck, and Eclipse pours the vial over both of them. They fade away before my eyes, and I have to forcefully remind myself not to panic because they're still here. Judging by Marty's quiet gasp, I'm not the only one.

"If you want to be visible again, just concentrate," I tell him. "And don't panic."

Jude, Eclipse and I vanish too, then all of us make our way quietly towards the stairs. It feels like seconds before we're back in the stone entrance hall again. The iron doors loom before us, the the pair of staircases behind.

I become visible again, just for a minute. "Go through those doors and find the cottage," I repeat. "Don't look back. Hurry."

Jamie reappears and hugs me. After a few seconds of struggling, Marty appears too. He looks at me, his expression unreadable. I'm expecting him to say what we usually do- 'I hate you', 'I love you too'- but this time he surprises me.

"Love you, Maya."

I swallow hard, my eyes prickling. "Love you both too," I manage.

He gives me a small smile and lifts Jamie up, and they both vanish again. A few seconds later the iron doors creak open, then closed.

I wipe my eyes fiercely then disappear again. "Do either of you know the way to the hourglass?"

"Ash said it was at the top of the highest tower," recalls Eclipse. "So I suppose we just have to keep going up."

I nod, and the three of us make our way up the left staircase. This side of the castle is much, much emptier than the right. There are so few people that eventually even Jude agrees that it's safe to become visible again. We make our way up so many stairs that I'm ready to collapse, and it doesn't help that we make a couple of wrong turns, but eventually we stumble into the right room.

What I see there makes my heart plummet.

The huge hourglass is untouched in the centre of the room, hovering in midair, a faint blue glow surrounding it. Teddy and Ash stand motionless, trapped, black daggers pressed against their throats by the Feallan standing behind them.

"Welcome," says a cold, horribly familiar voice smoothly from behind us.

There's the harsh screech of metal being unsheathed, and then I hear Jude gasp in pain.

"No!" screams Teddy. He somehow fights off his captor and rushes forwards, but he's seconds too late.

Jude stares in disbelief at the point of a blade that's jutting out of his chest. Saleos rips it out of his back and Jude collapses.

"No, no-" Teddy catches him and they hit the ground together. Jude grabs his hand, gasping desperately for breath. Teddy glares up at Saleos, hatred and tears swirling in his green eyes.

"Why... Why isn't the healing magic working?"

Saleos shows us the dark sword, smirking. It glints wickedly in the blue light of the hourglass. "This is a powerful blade. It was created to rival even Nero magic. And that really is saying something, isn't it?"

My chest tightens, and I'm seized by the uncontrollable urge to punch the leader of the Feallan in the face. "How could you?"

Eclipse kneels next to Teddy, reaching out to take Jude's other hand. Tears are cascading down her face too. "God, Jude... Just hold on, alright?"

Saleos suddenly throws his arm forwards and I flinch, but he isn't directing his magic at me. Ash has managed to break away from the Feallan holding him too, but Saleos freezes him in place with his fingers just inches away from the hourglass. He clenches his teeth, struggling, but Saleos sends him flying into the wall. He moves forwards, his eyes never leaving his nephew.

"What are you thinking?" he hisses. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Like you care whether I get killed or not," Ash snarls back.

Saleos's eyes flash. "And that, Ash Riddley, is the mistake you keep making over and over. Of course I care. I've already told you, I'm not going to kill you because I want to. I'm going to kill you because you leave me no choice." He moves closer and clenches his fist, pinning Ash to the ground. "I can't let you touch that hourglass."

"Jude..." Teddy whispers, his voice breaking.

I look down. Jude's eyes have drifted closed.

"No..." Teddy shakes his shoulders, tears rolling down his face. "No... Jude, pl-please. Don't you remember what Ash said? H-He said that if he turned the hourglass, we could grow up t-together. Wouldn't that be amazing? You can't g-go! I l-love you..."

Jude turns his head, just a little. His eyes remain closed. "I... Love you too..." he murmurs.

The remaining colour drains out of his face. He goes limp.

"No!" Teddy closes his eyes, resting his forehead against Jude's. "Please! S-Stay with me!"

Eclipse takes a huge, heaving breath, pressing her hand against her mouth, shaking her head.

I can't breathe. I know that I'm crying, but I feel detached from my body. Numb. No. This can't be happening...

Saleos's voice is breathless with insane triumph. "However..." he says quietly. "I must confess that I don't care about how many of your friends I kill."

Suddenly, I'm walking towards him without meaning to. Saleos's cold eyes are on me, and he's beckoning me forwards.

"In fact," His face shows no hint of emotion any more. "How about I hold you to my promise and kill all of you together?" He snaps his fingers at the Feallan standing guard. "Fetch the girl's brothers!"

I hold my breath as the Feallan leave the room without question. Just Saleos, now. Maybe that can help us?

My body moves closer, but this time I don't try to stop it. My mind casts back to earlier, when I remembered the shadowy stranger we'd seen in Manchester. Saleos. And with that thought comes all of the other fears and doubts and possibilities that had crashed over me as I lay there in the grass outside the house. But this time, I don't try to push them away.

If what I'm thinking is true, then I have to face it. Maybe it can even work to our advantage.

"I thought you said that you didn't want to kill me or my brothers."

Saleos's face softens, just slightly. "I don't. But I have to."

"Why do you care whether we die or not?" I challenge. "Ash is your nephew, but why do you care about three kids from the mortal world? Why are you going to kill us in the first place? Feallan aren't killers, are they? Most of you are manipulators. You only kill if absolutely necessary."

A hint of a smile spreads over the cruel face. A smile that holds a tiny trace of sorrow. "You can never understand what motivates me, Maya Mossley."

"I think I already do."

"That's impossible," Saleos insists, but his face flickers with doubt.

I smile grimly. "You know..." I say softly. "I've had a deadbeat stepdad for a long time, but I never got the chance to meet my deadbeat father."

Saleo's eyes widen, and he actually steps backwards in shock. I know I have him corned now, just for a second.

And a second is all I need.

"Get ready, Ash!" I yell, and then I launch myself towards the hourglass.

Before Saleos can recover, before he can react, I'm turning over the glass.

"No!" Saleos thunders. He stretched his hand outwards towards me,his face dark with terror and fury, but before he can do anything, he doubles over, coughing.

And so does Ash.

They collapse together, at exactly the same time, as though they're the same person. As though they're connected through more than blood. Ash's face mirrors Saleos's; all the pain and fear and vulnerability and guilt and darkness reflected on each other. I knew that they were related of course, but right now, they've never looked more alike. It's terrifying to watch. They're dying together. Ash is dying. Because of me.

"Ash!" Eclipse yells in terror from near the door. Fresh tears make their way down her face, but she pulls herself to her feet bravely.

"Ash, fight it!" I shout. "You can do it!"

Ash's whole body jerks. Blue light floods through him like an electric current, filling his veins with glowing poison. His eyes glow creepily.

Teddy tears his eyes away from Jude, looking distraught as he kisses his hand. He whispers something to him, something that I can't make out, stroking the long blonde fringe out of Jude's pale face. Then he stumbles over to Ash and grips his shoulders.

"F-Focus," His voice is somehow weak and strong at the same time, still choked with tears yet determined. "Focus on the light. Feel it inside you, and push it away."

"I can't, I can't-" Ash squeezes his eyes shut, his face twisted in pain. He shudders, and the light glows brighter.

Eclipse kneels next to him too, gripping his hand just as Teddy did to Jude just moments ago. Her face has the broken expression of a girl who's been strong for too long. I remember seeing that expression on Marty every once in a while, after a particularly hard day.

"You can," Teddy says. "I know you can. You're... You're not one of them any more. You're not just some lost little kid anymore. You have a home, you have a family. You have Eclipse."

Eclipse smiles through her tears. "Right here, Ash. And I'm not going anywhere."

Ash opens his glowing eyes and smiles dimly. "I don't want to leave you, Eclipse. Not again."

"Focus," Teddy reminds him. "You can beat this. Just concentrate..."

The light fades a little. "How did you do this, Ted?" croaks Ash. "You changed your power completely. And you were just a kid. How did you manage it?"

Teddy looks a little taken aback, as though he's never really thought about it before. "I guess... I guess I just knew that what I was wasn't what I wanted to be. I didn't want to hurt people. I wanted to... I wanted to help them. How about you, Ash? Do you want to die? Don't you know how much you have to live for?"

The light pulses, and Ash moans in pain. "I...I know that now. I do, it's just... It's hard to remember it all the time, Ted. When you were... When you were little, you thought I was so strong, but God, I'm not."

"You are," protests Teddy.

"I wasn't even strong enough to stand by you all," The tears that shimmer in Ash's eyes glow blue too. "I wasn't strong enough to keep myself from screwing up, over and over. You're right Maya, Feallan are manipulators, and I've always known that. And I still wasn't strong enough to stop them from manipulating me." He closes his eyes again and the cerulean tears spill down his pale face, like fresh ink running down a page. "And I'm... I'm not strong enough to stop this."

"You are!" I crouch beside them, trying to ignore Saleos. He's shaking and shuddering just like Ash, and his glowing eyes are fixed on us.

"Maybe this is easier, Maya," Ash mumbles.

"Maybe," Eclipse says firmly. "But life gets easier too, Ash. It really does. So... So make sure you're around to see it when it does."

The blue glow fades again. Just a little.

"Ash..." Teddy's eyes spill over again. He looks over at Jude's unmoving figure. "We... We can't lose anybody else today. Please."

Ash's eyes fly open again, and the blue glow flickers out as quickly as it appeared. He sags against the stone floor, gasping.

Eclipse laughs tearfully and presses her lips against his. Ash closes his eyes, smiling into the kiss until Eclipse breaks away. Then he looks at Teddy for a long second. Teddy smiles sadly back, but before he can say anything, Ash has thrown his arms around Teddy's shoulders, pulling him into a tight, unexpected hug. Teddy gasps, but then he melts a little, crying.

"Ted," Ash says softly. "You haven't lost Jude. You can heal him."

Teddy shakes his head, sniffling. "You heard Saleos. The sword can't be beaten by a Nero."

"You're the most powerful Nero I know," Ash insists. "If I could do that, they can do this."

Teddy pulls back and stares at him. Then he scrambles to his feet and runs to Jude, Eclipse hot on his heels and helping Ash along. I'm about to follow, but suddenly the temperate in the room drops, and my limbs become heavy- still able to move, but heavy. But it's not just affecting me. Everyone in the room is frozen in place.

I round on Saleos, furious. His glowing blue eyes shine smugly at me.

"What are you doing?"

"One last spell," he says weakly. "And if it's to be my last, I have to make it a decent one."

"We have to heal Jude!" I growl. "I can't afford to play one of your stupid games!"

"I froze time," Saleos points out. "When the spell breaks, it'll be like nothing ever happened. And it makes no difference. Your pathetic little Nero friend will never be able to counter my magic."

"That's what you think," I clench my fists. "Unfreeze everyone. Now."

"I want to talk to you," he persists. The blue light blazes brighter, and he gives a roar of pain, then turns his attention back to me with difficulty. "H-How... How did you know that you could turn the hourglass?"

I swallow, then I move closer to him. i sit down, crossing my legs, then stare right into those terrifying eyes. Except I'm not terrified any more.

"You're my father, aren't you."

It isn't a question.

Saleos laughs feebly. His hands stretches outwards to touch my cheek, and I slap it away.

"Yes," he says eventually. "Yes, I am."

I grit my teeth, staring up at the stone ceiling. Even after everything, part of me still hoped that it wasn't true.

"How did you figure it out?" he asks.

I look back at him. "Most of it was just guessing," I admit. "I remembered when we saw you spying on us that day in Manchester. And Eclipse told me that you spent a few years in the mortal world about fifteen years ago. Everything just fit together."

Saleos smiles, wincing. "Smart girl."

He starts coughing.

"When you saw Jamie in the park that day..." I take a deep breath. "You recognised him. He looks so much like... Like Mum. You knew that he could be related to you, but that he wasn't your son. But there was still a possibility that he could use the hourglass, and so you decided that you had to... To get rid of him. In case he destroyed you."

"It wasn't just that," Saleos's face contorts into a mask of bitterness. "He was proof that your mother had married another man. I couldn't take that."

I scowl. "First of all, my mother isn't and wasn't your property, especially after you left. She could marry whoever she wanted to. And you don't need to worry anyway. My stepfather is an idiot."

Saleos grins a little, choking on blue light. I watch him.

"You didn't plan on taking Marty that night," I continue. "But you knew that as your biological son, he was even more of a threat to you than Jamie. So you locked them both up, and when I came to find them and managed to escape you, you kept them as hostages. You knew I'd come and find them. And then you could kill us all."

Saleos grunts. "You... You think that's why I didn't kill them right away? Both you and Ash misjudge me. It's insulting. I kept them alive because I didn't want to kill them. You three... You're all that's left of your mother. Jane Mossley."

My chest aches, but I try to ignore it. "Why should that matter to you?"

"Why should it matter?" Saleos echoes in disbelief. "I loved your mother, Maya. Of course I did. She was one of the things that mattered most."

I stare at him. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

"I met her on one of the rare occasions that I came to your world," he begins. "She really was... The most incredible woman I have ever met. So kind. So strong. So... So light. And you've read that silly little book of yours from cover to cover, haven't you? You know that Feallan are drawn to the light. The innocent. Whether we know it or not, we're always looking for something to counter our darkness. And I can say that I never, never loved anyone so much as I loved Jane Mossley."

"And yet," I say flatly. "You still left her."

"You think I did that by choice?" Saleos snaps, sounding outraged. "I would never have chosen that. I wanted to put my past behind me, and stay with her in the mortal world forever to watch our children grow up. I was never even going to tell her what I really was. But the Feallan grew restless. I had abandoned them for years. I was their leader; without me, they were less powerful. They couldn't cause trouble any more. So they took me back here." His voice shakes a little. "I never got the chance to say goodbye."

I swallow, hard. "My... My mother disappeared too. When I was ten."

"Yes," Saleos whispers. "I took her."

Any shred of pity that I had started to feel for Saleos boiled away into fuming, scorching rage. "You what?"

"I needed her." For the first time, Saleos's voice is desperate. "She was the only light that I had ever been able to find in a long time. I could never be truly happy without her."

"We were the ones who needed her!" I yell. "We were kids! We had to practically fend for ourselves! We loved her, and she loved us, and you took her! You let us believe that she has left us on purpose!"

Saleos smiles miserably. "She didn't want to stay. She fought and argued and demanded every day to go home. She missed you. Eventually she managed to run away, but she... She didn't make it very far. She was killed by a hellhound. I... I couldn't save her."

I gasp, feeling tears run down my face. "You... You call that love? You trapped her. You didn't care how she felt or what she wanted, as long as you were happy in your own sick, twisted way. And you got her killed!"

Saleos's eyes gleam with anger. "I did love her," he growls. "I just... I'm an angel of darkness, Maya. I've almost forgotten how it feels to love. I don't know how to handle the emotions."

"Not like that," I say tightly.

"I loved you too!" Saleos cries out. "I loved you and Marty. That's why I couldn't kill your brothers. I wanted to be a father to you!"

"I don't want a father like you," I say harshly. "And clearly, you didn't love us enough to stop yourself from trying to kill us."

Saleos struggles to fix his cruel smile back in place. "No. Do you know why? Because no matter how much I love something, I can never love it as much as I love my own power. My own life."

I inhale sharply. "So... So if you had the choice right now between saving your own life and... And getting to see my mother one last time... Which would you choose?"

Saleos's face crumples. He actually looks conflicted.

"I... I don't know."

I lean closer. "Well, you're never going to get to see her now. Because my mother? She's in heaven."

Saleos smiles bitterly. "Yes. Yes, I know."

The conversation feels like it should be over, but I have one last question. One last burning question that I can't ignore.

"So, if Ash is your nephew," I say slowly. "You must have a sibling. Who's my mysterious aunt or uncle?"

Saleos smiles his last cold smile. "My brother's name is Lucifer. Lucky for you, he isn't in this realm. If you hate me, then the last thing you want to do is meet him."

And with that, the blue light consumes him. One last choking breath, and he's gone. Like he was never there at all.

I hear my friends's footsteps behind me again and I try to clear my head of that conversation for a little while. I move towards Jude and watch as Teddy presses a hand over his wound, closing his eyes and leaning forwards.

Nothing happens.

"You can do this, Ted," Ash says.

Teddy covers his hand with his over one and hunches over, his forehead furrowing.

Still nothing.

"No..." Teddy whispers. "No, no, please, no..."

And then Jude's eyes fly open.