Page 163 of Barbi and the Villain

I frown.

How can we kill someone who has can channel the souls’ energy to heal himself?

Nykander becomes frustrated with that fact too, while Damien is sporting a smug smile on his face every time his flesh mends.

“Not so strong now, are you, brother?” Damien asks, but it is not him who speaks. It is Baine. The voice is deeper, much more sinister than Damien’s strangled little tantrums from before.

I bite my lip in worry. The more time goes on, the more energy Nykander will spend and we will be back to the starting point.

Baine appears to be controlling Damien fully now, and in an effort to destroy his brother, he summons forth an army of souls.

Hundreds if not thousands of bright lights fly in the sky, heading straight for Damien’s body and charging him with new energy.

Nykander is breathing hard as he takes a step back, his eyes narrowed as he calculates his next movement.

At this rate, Damien will kill us both. The more souls he consumes, the more powerful he will be, and neither Nykander nor I will be a match for him.

Unless…

“Nykander,” I call him. While Damien is charging, I rush to Nykander’s side and take his hand in mine.

“The only way to defeat him is to stop him from getting more souls,” I whisper.

He nods grimly.

“But how? I do not know the spell he used to summon forth all the souls from Akkaya. And with how many he’s consuming…”

“What if we try what I did to Jocelyn? Once she was inside my energy field, she could no longer move or summon her powers.”

He tilts his head to the side. A bit of blood flows from a wound close to his neck, and I swipe it with my finger, then bring it to my mouth.

“It is worth a try.” He nods.

He holds tightly onto my hand as he lets his remaining energy take shape. I inhale deeply as I do the same. The darkness of his essence becomes a light gray as it mixes with my lavender one. And combined, the energies expand to a much wider range.

“Follow my lead,” he murmurs, leaning in to lay a kiss on the top of my head.

I nod, and we both turn our attention to Damien.

He’s consumed so many souls he no longer looks humanoid. There is a monstrous quality to his form. It’s big—and growing larger—bent and misshapen. It’s the stuff of nightmares.

Now, if I were the old Barbi—and I promise I’m not…just maybe a little—I would have squeaked and proposed we ran from that boogeyman. But this new Barbi must face her fears head-on.

I glance up at Nykander, admiring his decisive expression and the way he radiates strength even after fighting for so long.

Yes, this new Barbi will not give up.

“Ready, sweetheart?” Nykander smiles at me.

“Yes.”

Damien rushes toward us, ready to attack in full force. But as he steps inside our shield, he suddenly becomes immobilized. He snarls at us, his voice hitting me in my eardrums and making me wince. But it’s clear that he is trapped.

“Oh my! We did it!”

“Not quite yet,” Nykander mentions. “We need to wear him out and kill him inside the boundary so he may not consume more souls. Or…” he trails off, turning to look at me.

“Or?”

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