A Villain's POV

River

Genevieve and company were on their way, but we had run out of time; Knox was chanting in Latin. Marva had run out of tricks. I could see that she was almost as drained as I was. I saw only one way to stop him from harming the Witch. It was likely to drain the rest of my energy. I wasn't sure what would happen if that happened. Hopefully Lily would come to lead me to the other side.

"I told Genevive that she shouldn't blame you," I said. "I've got to do something."

"Don't be a stupid hero," she said as I disappeared from view.

I faded out of sight and concentrated on Knox. With the eyes of a Necromancer, I could see the energy of the spirits flowing inside of him. I would have thought that he only held one person's energy at a time, but there were remnants of all of the people he'd killed. I could see an image of Sylvanie superimposed over him. I didn't have the energy to force the other ghosts into the world, but maybe I could draw on their connection to the Blood Mage.

"Spirits of the slain, I call to you. Justice is at hand. This murderer wants to escape us, but we can't let that happen. Use me as a conduit. Come and take back you energy."

For a long moment nothing happened. I was ready to join Sylvanie tormenting him and hope the two of us would be enough, but then I saw a mist form in the corner of the room. The mist became like fog and then it combined into a flowing group of spirits that came at me like the current of a river. It flowed through me and into Knox. I watched as hundreds of ghosts surrounded him and then pulled him under. This current was strong, but strangely I hadn't been pulled with them. It was as if someone was protecting me from myself. That's when one of the ghosts looked back at me and I saw Lily.

She spoke into my mind. "Still trying to save everyone at your own expense. I couldn't let you be destroyed. You still have work to do, Nick."

"You've got to be kidding me. I thought I got to cross over when I caught Sanders. That's what you told me," I said.

"Ah, but I'm afraid you're still his latest victim and you haven't caught him yet. Besides, when you cross to the other side you learn a lot more about things. Trust me, you've still got work to do and it's worthy work. So see you later, Detective."

With those words she rejoined the other spirits. I watched as each of the ghosts took a small spark from his body. The sparks shown in them like fireflies. It was a beautiful sight and almost made me forget what they were doing. I wondered for a moment what Marva was seeing. Then the spirits left Knox and flowed back towards me. As the first one hit, I felt energy returning to me. Each spark stayed with me as the spirits departed. When it was finished, I was stronger than I had been before, a lot stronger.