by Deanna Chase
“You don’t feel anything?”
“I’m dead. What’s there to feel?” His grin was lopsided, and I couldn’t help the smile that claimed my lips, despite the seriousness of the situation. “Ah, finally someone who isn’t obsessed with death and power.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What are you talking about? Who else has been here lately?”
He gave me an impatient look. “Who hasn’t? The demon hunters are here all the time. And then lately the spirit sucker.”
“Genesis? You’ve seen her?”
He nodded.
My heart raced. If I could find her, I could find Kane and Pyper. “Where?”
His easygoing nature vanished as he backed up and scowled at me. “She truly is evil. A spirit eater. The worst kind of deity.”
The way he said the words made me think he’d suffered a loss at her hands. “Does she consume the spirits of the shadows?” Lucien had said she needed spirits to stay young. Did she come here to feed?
He shook his head. “She needs fresh offerings.”
Fresh offerings. Spirits that came from live beings was what he meant. “Right. That’s what I thought and also what I’m trying to prevent. If you have any idea of how I can find her, the information would be most helpful.”
His eyes darkened and then flashed with fiery rage. “No one can stop her. The demon makes sure of that.”
A bolt of fire came out of nowhere, consuming the surfer-boy spirit. The flames sputtered and sparked and just as quickly vanished, leaving nothing behind.
“Shoot!” I scowled, frustrated and worried the spirit had been taken somewhere horrible…like Hell.
Clapping sounded from beyond my field of vision, followed by a familiar tinkling laugh.
“Genesis!” I cried. “Show yourself.”
The Goddess strolled up to my circle. Her skin still sagged with the passage of time, though she appeared thinner, more toned that she had when I’d seen her last. “Are you here to surrender yourself, white witch?”
“Hardly.” I reached into my herb bag and clasped my fingers around a smile vial. “I’m here for Kane and Pyper.”
She stared at me, her expression incredulous. “You think I’m going to just hand them over to you? Those two delicious beings? I’d heard you were naïve, but I hadn’t expected you to be stupid.”
I stared at her blankly. “You’re the naïve one if you think I’m going to let you take either of them.”
“Take?” Her laugh filled the air, making my ears ring. “I already have them.” She snapped her fingers and light illuminated the area around her, revealing Pyper and Kane locked together in another shimmering cage.
Pyper clung to Kane, her head buried in his shoulder. But Kane was staring straight at me, his eyes boring into me as if he was trying to talk to me telepathically. I shook my head, indicating I couldn’t pick up on whatever it was he wanted to tell me.
“No?” the Goddess mocked, misinterpreting my communication with Kane as a denial of her statement. “They belong to me, and you’ll never get them.”
Kane’s gaze shifted from me to Genesis and back to me again. Then he mouthed, Take her.
It was all I needed. If he wanted me to fight her, then I would. Still clutching the small vial, I let the circle of light fade away, leaving no barrier between me and the Goddess.
Her eyes went wide with lust and opportunity. “You’re mine now!” She flew at me full force, but before she could reach me, I flung my arm out, releasing the contents of the vial.
Liquid Lily of the Valley splattered over her as I cried, “Pello pepulli pulsum!”
She threw her hands up in defense and hissed, smoke coiling from her skin as if I’d drenched her in acid. Screaming, she reached out, trying to grab for me, but it was useless. Her body was being propelled backward away from me in rapid speed.
Jade! I heard in my mind and startled when I realized it was Kane calling to me. I turned and met his determined gaze. He pressed his hands to the shimmering barrier, barely wincing at the shock it must’ve given him. Then he pointed from the barrier to me and back again.
Break it, he mouthed.
The magic rushed through me as if he’d commanded it. An electric current of power burst from my fingers. But before it hit the shimmering box, I held my hand out, halting it. Then with my mind, I imagined the magic pooling into itself until it was a large, flat surface. Instead of one powerful thin bolt, it was now a large circumference designed to crush instead of pierce.
Putting all my energy back into the magic, I let loose and it crashed into the shimmering box just as Kane wrapped himself around Pyper, shielding her from the shattered shards of magic.
The ground rumbled under my feet and a roar of energy filled my ears, but all I saw was the angry gashes covering Kane’s skin.
“Kane!” My heart nearly pounded out of my chest as I ran forward. He lay limp over Pyper’s body as she struggled beneath him.
“Jade?” Pyper called back. “Help.”
“I’m coming.” I fell to my knees, blocking out the ever-growing ominous sensation that something was seriously wrong. Something worse than Kane being injured. I didn’t care. All I could focus on was Kane.
I pulled him off Pyper just enough so she was able to roll out from underneath him. She immediately scrambled to her knees, helping me position Kane on his stomach. I needed to attend to his multitude of wounds.
“Oh my God,” I whispered and ran my hands over his back, forcing bits of my magic into him. I couldn’t heal his wounds. All I could do was transfer enough energy into him to wake him so we could get out of there.
“He’s going to be okay. He has to be.” Pyper’s voice rose in a high-pitched panic.
“Yes, he will if I have anything to say about it,” I agreed with confidence, hoping my insistence would calm her. Unfortunately, other than the fact that Kane was still breathing, he hadn’t responded.
Pressure built around us as if the walls were closing in on us. I had to focus. Had to do anything to awaken Kane.
“Jade,” Pyper whispered, her voice hoarse.
“What?” I pushed Kane over on his back, wincing at the thought of all those wounds hitting the dirty ground.
“We need to go. Now.”
I glanced up and barely held back a cry of horror. The fabric of the shadows was ripping right before our eyes. Long red-leather claws poked out of the tear and slid down, slicing a long gash. One black eye peered at me, followed by an ominous laugh so evil it seemed to touch me deep in my soul.
My body recoiled, pain clutching at my gut, but I couldn’t tear my attention away. The demon trying to crawl right into the shadows felt…familiar. I focused on Kane and placed my hand over his heart. His energy rushed into me, mixing with the demon’s, and suddenly I knew why the demon’s energy was familiar.
The awful, gut-wrenching evil that streamed from the demon also had a tiny hint of Kane’s incubus energy. An undeniable allure that was probably used to seduce souls into Hell. My stomach rolled with the association.
“Kane, wake up,” I pleaded and forced my magic straight into his heart.
He woke with a gasp, his eyes wide with shock.
“We need to go,” I said to him, trying to tug him to his feet.
Pyper grabbed his other arm and the two of us got him upright.
“Hang on,” I said to Pyper then looked Kane in the eye. “We need to do this together. We’re going home.”
He seemed to understand and when I nodded, we both took a step.
The three of us tilted and a second later, we landed in a tangle of limbs in the middle of the club, not home. Good enough. At least we were out of the shadows. I scrambled to my knees, quickly taking inventory. Pyper was sitting up, holding her head, and Kane was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
Hot tears welled in my eyes at the sight of them. I hadn’t truly believed I’d find them in the shadows. Or that I’d be able to get them out by myself.
“You did well,” I heard Bea say from somewhere nearby.
I jumped up and spun.
My mentor stood next to Rosalee and two of the younger witches of the coven. They were holding tapered candles and the scent of sage filled the air. They’d come to the club to do some sort of cleanse. “Lucien called you.”
Bea handed her candle to Rosalee and nodded as she walked over to me. “We wanted to be here in case there was anything we could do to help.” She glanced down at Kane and frowned. “He’s hurt.”
“It was me,” I forced out. “To free them I had to…” I couldn’t get the rest of the words out. Emotion choked me.
Bea patted my arm sympathetically. “We all do whatever it is we have to do. Let’s get you three home and we’ll work on mending everyone’s wounds.”
“Thank you,” I said, grateful she was here and taking charge.
***
I sat next to the bed, holding Kane’s hand, while Bea doctored Kane’s wounds with an herbal cream. Rosalee and the other coven witches had gone home, while Bea had escorted the three of us to our house. Now she was on a mission to put Kane back together.
“These will heal in no time, Jade,” she said, swiping healing balm over one of Kane’s cuts.
“It looks awful,” I said, eyeing one of the ugly gashes.
“Only the first bit when she applies the cream,” Kane said, opening his eyes to meet my gaze. “After that, the area goes numb.”
“Well, that’s something at least.”
“How’s Pyper?” he asked and flinched again.
“She’s resting in the other room with Charlie.” I clutched the bottle of water I was holding.
His penetrating gaze bored into me. “That’s not what I asked.”
I grimaced. “Not that great. She’s nauseated and has a headache. I can’t get Ian on the phone, though she doesn’t seem to care that much.”
Kane scowled. He’d never been a fan of Ian’s, especially since I’d gone out with him once before Kane and I had gotten together. But he’d been trying, since Pyper was dating him. “Where is he? Chasing ghosts again? While his girl is fighting off crazy Goddesses and demons?”
“He was asked to work on that traveling ghost reality show. He’s been gone for a week.”
“He should be here.”
“Why? So he could set up his equipment and study the supernatural?” I sat back in my chair. “That’s not what she needs right now.”
All the conviction drained from Kane’s face as he closed his eyes. “No. It isn’t.”
Bea finished her administrations and signaled for me to join her in the other room.
“I’ll be back,” I told Kane. “I have to talk to Bea and then I’ll check on Pyper.”
“About?” He rolled to his side and glanced at Bea.
She didn’t look up as she gathered her herbal remedies.
“Witch stuff, I’m sure.” I smiled at him. “I’ll check on Pyper afterward.”
He didn’t look happy we were going to talk in another room, but he nodded anyway. No doubt he could use a moment to collect himself.
I squeezed his hand before I let go and then followed Bea out of the room.
Lailah was sitting at the kitchen table, both hands wrapped around a cup of tea. Bea sat next to her as I rummaged around in the cupboards until I found a fresh bag of sugar cookies. Tearing the bag open, I joined them at the table and then gobbled down two cookies before passing them around.
Bea shook her head as Lailah joined me in my cookie scarf-a-thon.
“We have a situation,” Bea said.
“Would it involve the fact that we left a demon in the shadows and that a lesser Goddess is trying to eat peoples’ spirits?” I bit into another cookie.
“Yes…and no.” Bea poured herself a cup of tea but made no move to drink it.
I glanced at Lailah. She was studying her cookie like it was the last speck of food on the planet. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Pyper,” Lailah said quietly.
“What about her?” I put my cup down and swallowed hard. “Is she hurt?”
Lailah shook her head. “No. Not physically. At least, not yet.” She frowned. “Lucien filled us in on the Goddess and what she’s doing here.”
“Okay.” My blood rushed to my head as my patience started to wane. “Just tell me what’s going on.”
Lailah pushed back from the table and blew out a long breath. “Charlie and Kat came back to us without any hold from Genesis. Pyper didn’t.”
My gut clenched as I realized what they were trying to tell me. “Pyper’s still compromised by an extra soul, isn’t she?” I hadn’t seen the soul leave. I hadn’t broken the hold Genesis had on her. I’d only kicked the Goddess’s ass and brought Pyper and Kane home.
Lailah nodded. “And that means Genesis can control Pyper no matter where she is. We can’t protect her.”
A chill crawled over my body. “At all?”
The angel shook her head slowly. “We can try, but all it takes is Genesis calling the soul back to her. And if that happens, Pyper could disappear right before our eyes.”
Chapter 18
I jumped out of my chair. “Then I’ll just expel the extra soul. I did it with Kat. I can do it with Pyper, too.”
Lailah shook her head sadly. “I wish it was that easy. The soul occupying Pyper is magical. Whoever it belonged to before was likely a witch. It’s started to fuse with hers.”
I sank back down onto the chair, my gut feeling as if the wind had just been knocked out of me. “Dammit! We need protection wards or something. Anything until we can defeat the Goddess.
“We will,” Bea said mildly. “But all that takes too long. Complex wards take time to cure. It’s going to take some time.”
“So what? We just sit here and wait for Genesis to take her?” I couldn’t believe how calm they were being about the situation. If this had been one of the coven witches, I was sure they’d be springing into action. “I can’t—”
“Jade.” Bea put her hand up to stop the onslaught of my rant. “Lailah has a plan. We just need to get it cleared first.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. “By who?”
“The high angel.”
“Chessandra?” I asked incredulously. “She doesn’t care about regular people. She only cares about souls.”
“Exactly,” Lailah said. “If this foreign soul stays with Pyper, eventually they’ll either completely merge or one of them will take over. Since the foreign soul is tainted with energy from Hell, it’s likely it’ll cause damage to Pyper’s pure one. The only thing we can do at this point is ask Chessandra to take her to the angel realm, where they can keep an eye on her to make sure she isn’t harmed in any way.”
“Is that the only option?” Kane asked from behind me.
I startled and twisted to look up at him. “Dang it. I had no idea you were there.”
He put his hand on my shoulder and straightened me out. “Will they take care of her?” Clearly he’d heard most of the conversation.
“I think so.” Lailah fingered another cookie but didn’t eat it. “At least until we can deal with the lesser Goddess.”
“Then we’ll request a meeting with Chessandra.” Kane glanced down at me. “Are you okay with that?”
“I…” I closed my eyes and gave a little shake of my head. “I don’t know. We need to ask Pyper.”
“I really don’t think she has a choice,” Lailah said, all her sympathetic nervousness gone. Now that she had Kane on board, it appeared she was confident her plan was the way to go.
“Let’s talk to her first.” I stood and glared at all of them. I knew they had Pyper’s best interest at heart, but I couldn’t just send her to the angels without clearing it with her first. While they weren’t evil, they didn’t exactly care about individuals either. If something happened to Pyper’s soul, there was no telling what they’d do.
“Of course we’ll talk to her first,” K
ane said and placed his hand on the small of my back. “We’ll check on her now.”
Lailah sent him a relieved smile as we left the room.
“I don’t like it,” I said, standing outside the guest room door.
“I don’t either, but I can’t let that evil thing get her hands on Pyper again. She has no way to defend herself. As long as she’s in the angel realm, the Goddess can’t get to her.”
He had a point. No one could cross the borders of the angel realm except angels and those they invited. Their magic couldn’t either. Physically, Pyper would be safe…as long as we forced Chessandra to give her word they’d protect Pyper and her soul.
“Ready?” Kane asked, gesturing to the door.
“Ready.”
He knocked once.
A faint “Come in” sounded from inside the guestroom.
We found Kat and Charlie inside with Pyper. The three of them were sitting cross-legged on the bed with a bag of red licorice in the middle of them.
“Hey,” I said softly.
They all waved and gave us tired smiles.
“You guys having a party without us?” Kane teased.
“Yeah, one with Red Vines and wine.” Kat held up her glass of Cabernet.
I laughed. “Sounds like the best kind of party.”
Charlie got up. “Here, have a seat. I’m going in search of something with a little more substance.” She winked at me as she passed us.
“Me, too,” Kat said as she stood and wobbled a little. She giggled. “Oops. Guess that wine went to my head.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s some leftover pasta in the fridge,” I said watching her stumble after Charlie.
“Lightweight,” Pyper called after her.
Kat raised her middle finger and flipped her off without looking back.
Pyper just laughed, her face lighting up.
It brought tears to my eyes. I didn’t want to ship her off to the angel realm.
“Well, take a seat and tell me whatever it is you have to say,” she ordered and patted the bed.
Kane chuckled and sat at the end of the bed, while I grabbed a Red Vine and leaned against the headboard.
“Did anyone fill you in on what happened?” Kane asked.
Pyper nodded. “Lailah and Kat did.”
