“We’ll never survive this,” Carter says. His voice is low, but as soon as he says it I agree. Deep inside, I know he’s right. I don’t know how we’re going to get past them all. It almost feels like every demon ever made is crammed into this space. I’d be flattered if I wasn’t terrified.
“I won’t go down without a fight,” I say. If they want me, fine, but they are going to work for it. I’ll go down a legend. At least, in my own head.
Carter leans his forehead against mine. “Together then?”
“In a blaze of glory, and all that.”
“Let’s tear down the place,” he says. He takes my hand, and then I know what we’re going to do. Just like the alley where we first blew up the windows.
We both move out of our safe nook, and as soon as they see us again, the demons all come charging.
I focus on the void, and let it fill me up. I try to see everything in my head—my magic bursting forth like sunrise or fireworks on the Fourth of July. I want them to feel it all. I want it to knock them off their feet and destroy whatever makes them demons.
Carter’s hand is squeezing mine and then there’s a movement that breaks my concentration, but it doesn’t stop us. The magic rushes into the void and out of the void and through me. It claws at my stomach, burns in my throat. A dark light pours from my fingers, from my pores, and then stretches out into the room.
Quick as lightning his lips are on mine, and it’s the most intense thing I’ve ever felt.
Between us, the magic explodes. It feels endless. Maybe it’s because I know that this is the void, but I feel like I can almost pull from it forever. My brain swims with power, my body with Carter’s touch, and the whole thing happens while I’m not thinking at all. The power flows through me, and I focus on Carter’s lips, on his hands, on this last moment of life. Passion and desperation. Every last moment alive should be spent like this.
My head swims then, and not in the good way. Not because of the kissing. I falter against Carter, but he can barely hold me either. We both sink to the ground and the power stops. It just stops. Gone.
When I hit the ground I notice it: all the demons are convulsing. They’re on the ground, their bodies moving in ways that bodies can’t move. They’re screaming, howling. It’s the worst sound ever—nails on a chalkboard with the white noise of the TV, and the squealing of brakes, and gnashing of teeth. It’s all the pain every human—witch or Non—has experienced, rushing from the teeth of these demons. It’s all my pain. It’s so loud that I have to cover my ears to keep out the noise
Before I can question it, every demon stops moving. Stops. Like someone hit pause. Then, just like that, they all disappear.
Gone.
Carter looks at me, his eyes wide and tired, his mouth open. I expect him to speak, and then he doesn’t. He falls over.
“Carter,” I say, shaking him. The movement is too sudden. The whole room starts to spin, and just when I think I’ve lost my balance this sudden surge of energy overtakes me. I feel brand-new. Awake.
A slow clap echoes from across the empty room and I look to see Kriegen. She slinks toward us, and I jump to my feet. “I have no clue what you did, but I am impressed. You would be a great addition to our side, kitten.”
“I’m not interested in evil,” I say.
Kriegen shakes her black demonic head. “It’s not about evil or good; it’s about power. Don’t you feel it? The void likes you. If you stayed with it, imagine what you could accomplish.”
I do feel it. I feel it in every single cell. It’s as if I am swimming in magic. I can’t say that it’s not a great feeling.
“You’d be so much more than a sliver of essence with us. My partner and I could teach you everything. We can make you more than an outline of a witch, kitten; we can make you whole.”
“I’m not broken,” I say. But isn’t that how I’ve always felt? Broken? Different? And now, right in this moment, I feel invincible. I feel like I’m floating, like nothing can touch me. I feel the endlessness of possibilities.
Kriegen moves closer to me and Carter, who’s still not moving from the ground. “I wanted you to join me. You and him. There’s room for both of you.”
“That’s not happening,” I say.
“I know. And it’s a pity because you already have the gene. You wouldn’t have to undergo the transformation. You could be eternal, much more than your pathetic witch lifestyle. You would have access to the void—lots of access considering what you just did to all those demons.”
The demons. What did we do to them? They just disappeared. No explosion, no guts, no nothing.
Kriegen shrugs. “They’re all dead, if you’re wondering. I can feel it. I’m guessing they won’t be lingering around hell either. Poof. Gone.”
Kriegen paces around the room between Carter and me. She demands attention, but I just want him to wake up. Whatever we did, he’s not recovering like I did.
“Is that a no then?”
“It’s a hell freaking no,” I say.
She snaps her fingers and her magic pushes me away from Carter and straps me to the ground. I try to fight it, but I can’t. It’s too strong for me, even now. “Pity. I guess I kill you then.”
“You can’t kill me when I’m connected to the void,” I say. If a witch’s essence is part of a witch, then the void must be part of a demon. The only way a witch looses an essence is being drained. I’m only grasping at straws but I don’t have any other ideas. “You need me,” I say.
Kriegen laughs and leans into me so her lips are right against my ear. “You’re replaceable.”
I try to head-butt her, but she moves too quickly, laughing.
I shuffle against her magic, trying to free myself. But it doesn’t work. Something pokes at my chest, and I remember I stuffed a dagger into my bra. “You said the void was part of me. You can’t do that if it’s true!” I yell.
Kriegen growls. “When a demon drains you, kitten, what are they doing? Getting that part of your soul linked to your essence. You’re right; it is part of you, a large piece of your genetic makeup—that’s why it connects with nature. Every single drop of blood in a witch’s system is her essence. That’s why we drain the blood. Blood is life.”
While she’s talking, a demon materializes behind her. It’s light mauve, and its eyes are on me. Then, its fingers are over its lips, telling me to be quiet. A demon is helping us?
Wait—I know that demon. It’s the one that helped us before. At the mall.
The mauve demon does something, and it’s only a second before I feel the magic rushing toward me. My arms are free. I reach into my shirt quickly and lay my arms down again so Kriegen doesn’t notice. The mauve demon dissolves into the white walls, the same quick way it appeared.
“When we drain you, we drain your blood—and since the essence lives in the blood, the witch dies. The void is the same way, a part of you that keeps you living. It flows through your blood.”
Kriegen snaps her fingers and a little wooden box carved with symbols on the side appears. When she opens it, there’s a black dagger. My heart races a little more because that’s the dagger that she used in the woods when she released the witch’s magic. I’ve seen what it can do, how it separates the magic from the witch. I guess it can be used on a demon too. Half demon.
“Think of the void as a watering hole. All demons are connected to it. It nourishes us. I’m going to carve it out of you.” She holds up the black dagger. “No more water. What happens when your body doesn’t get water, kitten?”
Kriegen turns back to me and lowers to my level, the black dagger inches from my chest. “Any messages for my son that I can pass along after?”
“Go to hell,” I say. Her eyes get wider, like she’s about to say something creative, but I raise my arm toward her chest before she can realize I’m free. In my hand, the army knife I took from the Nucleus House twists into her skin. Her skin burns, smokes from the point of impact. I know it’s not going to kill her, b
ut it distracts her enough to make her lose concentration and drop the magic that held me down.
I rush toward Carter, determined to wake him up. There’s another little scream and then Kriegen is laughing. When I look at her, she’s removing the army knife from her chest.
“Nice trick, but it’s going to take more than that to kill me, kitten. I’m a little offended.”
I don’t think; I act. I connect to the void, and it refreshes me. I feel stronger than the Hulk. Magic shoots from me toward Kriegen. It pushes her back a couple feet and she staggers. I charge at her, throw my body at her full force, and release another shot of power. She falls to her feet at the impact of my magic. I roll over her, squatting in a corner.
Kriegen laughs again, swinging toward me with a kick. I clench my fists and block the kick so I can grab her by the arm. Kriegen is quick, ducking my counterattack and landing on one leg as the other sweeps me off my feet.
I roll as she moves toward me, her fist coming toward my face. I turn my head to the side, and she misses. I grasp her forearm and try to yank her down. She’s too strong. Her arm twists mine and I dare her to break it so I can break her freaking neck with my other one. I shift my stance as she leaps over me. Her foot isn’t as fast as the rest of her body. I take her down, but I go with her. That’s when I see it: the black dagger, on the floor.
Kriegen sees it, too. She grabs my hair and digs her knee into my spine. I scream. I hear Carter yell, but I don’t know what he says. All I know is she cannot get that dagger. I won’t let her have it.
I access the void again and pulse out some power. Not toward her—toward the dagger. It flies across the room. She growls right before she leaps toward the knife. I leap too. Kriegen punches me, and my head is spinning a little. I struggle under her, but I let her hit me again. This time, I move left. Her fist pounds the ground; I ram my knee into her chest. She falls flat, but her magic attack rushes out at me, sends me across the room toward the army knife. My back lands against the wall.
Kriegen races after me, limping on her leg. She stands over me. I kick up my leg; she falls to the ground again, this time landing on top of me. I ram the army knife back into her arm, and she screams. I take the advantage, kick her in the shin. She curses me and pins me to the ground, her hands strangling my neck.
“That doesn’t work on me,” she snaps again.
“No, but this does,” Carter says.
She barely turns to get a glance at him when he thrusts the black dagger into her heart and out again. She falls to the ground as Carter grabs me. She gasps in air, black blood oozing from her wound. It looks more like tar than blood. Carter drops the dagger and pulls me toward him.
“Next time, do that a couple minutes sooner,” I say.
He looks exhausted. I pick up the black dagger and hold it between us in the air. Crazy how a little thing can do so much damage. Carter’s eyes drift to his mother as she dies on the floor. His jaw clenches and he scrubs a hand over his neck. As evil as she was, she was still his mom.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
Carter shakes his head and kisses the top of my head. A few feet from us, Kriegen cries out. Neither of us looks away from her, watching as all the black tar drips out of her, and she convulses with a last breath of air. Tears fill Carter’s eyes; I know this must be hard for him. He’s spent all his energy looking for her.
Then, she lights up in flames—the sound of her crying replaced with this annoying whistle and the smell of burning eggs. Carter helps me to my feet and we move closer toward the door. The last thing I need is burning demon guts exploding all over me.
“What are you going to do with that?” Carter asks, nodding toward my hand. I hold up the black dagger. I stuff it down my boot.
The mauve demon appears in front of us, and I grasp Carter’s arm. The demon holds up its hands in defense. “I’m here to help you leave,” it says.
“Why are you helping us?” I ask. It gives me an annoyed look, like I just asked it where babies came from.
“Not all of us are evil. The two of you aren’t evil,” it says, pointing between Carter and me.
“We’re not one of you,” Carter says.
It shrugs. “Maybe evil and good isn’t black and white. Do you have an exit plan?”
I bite my lip. I didn’t. It’s not like I had time to think through every move I made. Carter looks at me and I can tell he knows. He shrugs—he doesn’t have a plan either. I’m rubbing off on him! I probably shouldn’t be proud of that, considering where we are.
“Look, if you don’t want my help then you can wander around here until you die.”
Carter gives me a look. He doesn’t trust it. I get it, but I want to get out of here and never come back. Ever.
“You aren’t very trusting, are you?” it asks.
“You’re a demon,” I say.
It hisses. “Good luck then, because this isn’t over. Kriegen wasn’t the top. She was mid-level management at best. You think she was bad? Just wait.”
She’s mid-level? Now that is pretty motivating.
“If you take us out, what will you want? Nothing is free. Not with demons,” Carter says.
It smiles. Yup, he was definitely right. “That’s a conversation for later. I promise you won’t have to give me your firstborn or anything.”
I must be delirious. Demon or not, I kind of like its sass.
“Get us out of here,” I say quickly.
The mauve demon nods and heads toward the door. I start to say something else when Carter’s face changes into confusion. I look toward Kriegen, and watch as her body turns to dust. What happens when your body doesn’t get water?
You burn.
Chapter Thirty-One
The mauve demon delivers us a mile away from the Nucleus House, saying it couldn’t get closer than that. We could probably have used magic, but we’re both tired. And honestly, walking gives me time to replay the whole thing in my head, and all that power was intoxicating.
“Do you think we’ll regret letting it help us?” I ask.
“Undoubtedly.” Carter is quiet for a moment. “We should think of a story.”
“What?”
“The Triad will ask us what happened, and we can’t tell them the whole truth. They can’t know about Kriegen, not that we went after her and—”
“—not that she’s your mom? Got it. She took us, that was all,” I say. “As far as I’m concerned, we are both completely normal witches who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“I can’t believe you’re a halfling,” he says softly. “I felt really alone. My dad knew it would ruin us.”
“Gran too,” I said. “We probably shouldn’t mention that we made a bunch of demons disappear.”
“What was that, anyway?” Carter asked.
I shrug. “Kriegen says we killed them.”
“Not sent them back to hell?”
I shake my head. The whole thing is odd. Why did she need me?
I see the entrance of the Nucleus House when we turn the corner. We don’t have long to get a story together, and Carter’s right, there are going to be questions.
“Wait,” I say. I pull the black dagger out of my boot and step away from Carter. I have to hide this. I don’t want the Triad to have it, not until I know what it means. If they saw it, I would never get it back.
There’re directional signs that points to various routes for the parking impaired. I use magic to pull up a piece of the ground right next to the sign with the arrow pointing to Lot A on the left. I toss the knife inside, re-cover it, and guard it with a protection spell. I’ll come back for this later and then I’ll put it somewhere safe.
“So what will we tell them?” I ask, turning back to Carter.
“Not that you volunteered,” he says. “That was stupid, by the way.” Glad he’s still snappy even when he’s exhausted.
“I thought they had you!” I said.
He stops walking and presses a kiss to my forehead. �
��I overslept after being with Poncho in the library all night. Of all the possible scenarios, my mom being a demon wasn’t at the top of my list.” So that’s what Poncho told him. “I didn’t think you’d go to hell to look for me.”
“How did you find out, anyway?”
“Ric,” Carter says. “He was freaked when I showed up. I had to stun him so he wouldn’t try to follow me.”
That sounds like my best friend.
“So the story,” I start. “The demon in the woods was the same one who took you—which I found when I went to meet you and you weren’t there.”
“You called me but our call got interrupted and I came after you,” Carter adds. “The demon from the woods took us to De’Intero and we took it down with its own dagger, and then we fought our way out of De’Intero. Came straight here.”
“They’re going to ask details,” I say.
“Tell them the truth. Or most of it. The best lies are based around truth,” Carter says. “As long as we leave out the bit about your magic and the void and my mom, we’ll be fine.”
I knew what Kriegen said was true. They would never allow someone with that kind of power to exist. Carter’s existing, the direct son of a demon and a Triad leader and filled with two kinds of magic, is dangerous enough. If the Triad found out Mr. Prescott had been lying to all these years, it would make what happened in De’Intero look like a cakewalk.
Add in a girl with the same—except she has unlimited access to the void because her great-great-something-grandmother became a demon and then later some crazy demon stole her essence and left only the void behind? I’d rather them think me Static and be exiled from the witch community. They can’t know what Kriegen said I can do, even if I’m not sure how to do it.
“They’re here,” Carter says, pointing toward the Enforcers charging for us. He gives me a reassuring smile before we’re escorted inside.
I pace around the giant empty meeting room, the ends of my hair sticking to my neck with sweat. It feels like forever since the Enforcers found us. I don’t understand why the mauve demon helped us get out, but I know we haven’t seen the last of it.
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