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I grabbed her around the neck and grappled her to the
ground. She shrieked as I yanked on her hair and slapped at her
face. I managed to get a boot to her gut before I was pulled off
and tossed to the side like a bag of trash. I landed face first on
the hardwood floor. My nose smooshed into the ground. I heard the
snap of bone and felt the rush of blood.

"You can't win, sugar pop."

I felt Thane's presence looming over me.

"You should just let it go while you're still
breathing."

Hot bitter tears filled my eyes blinding me. I
couldn't stop them as they rushed out and dripped onto the floor
beneath me, mingling with the blood drops. Thane was right. I
couldn't win. They were much too strong. There was nothing I could
do to hurt them.

They were going to get away with all the rotten
murderous things they'd done—turning me into a monster, turning
Trevor as well, and killing his sister. It was too much for me to
bear.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I slapped the palms of my
hands down on the floor in frustration. I was helpless, unable to
defend myself, unable to save Trevor.

I opened my eyes again, staring down at the floor
powerlessly. It was then that I noticed I was lying in a deep
shadow in the corner. Squinting, I spied a glint of something
beneath me. Something bright. Something shiny.

Merlin's sword.

"Get up, sugar pop, so I can kill you properly."

Taking in a deep breath, I reached into the shadow,
willing my arm to dissolve into the darkness. My skin tingled as I
pushed through the shadows. My hand groped blindly, my leap of
faith the only thing guiding it. Until finally, blessedly, my
fingers wrapped around the leather hilt.

I drew the sword out of the shadow just as Thane
reached for me. I pushed up with my other hand and twisted my body,
swinging the weapon around with every ounce of strength I could
muster.

Like in the movies, the next two minutes moved by in
slow motion. Surprised, I watched as the blade sunk into Thane's
body. He looked just as shocked when he noticed the steel
protruding from his chest. His hands came up to the wound,
caressing the sword in his palms. Blood quickly spilled through his
clenched fingers.

Stunned silent, I watched as the blood ran in thin
rivulets down his forearms to finally drip, like a leaky faucet,
onto the floor.

His gaze flickered over me and I could see the shock
in his eyes. Shock and something unexpected. Remorse. But remorse
for whom? Me or himself. Thane opened his mouth to speak. I wasn't
sure I would hear him anyway, but it was too late, because he fell
over onto his side, slack-jawed and lifeless before he could utter
one word.

Sinking back onto my rear-end, I turned to look at
the others. Seth and Quinn stared wide-eyed, mouths gaping like
fish out of water. Devon, on the other hand, looked like she wanted
to rip out my throat, which I thought she was gearing up to do.

"I'm going to slaughter you, bitch!" she
screeched.

I reached over and grabbed the hilt of the sword with
both hands. I drew it out of Thane. The second it was removed, his
body turned black like charcoal, and then it split and broke apart
into pieces sinking into the floor, dissolving into the shadows
until there wasn't anything left of him but a puff of fine
soot-colored dust.

I pushed to my feet, hefting the sword in front of
me. It was heavy and my arms shook with the strain but I refused to
let them see how frightened to death I was. How mortified I felt
for killing Thane, although he deserved it full heartedly.

Seth shook his head. "I'm out of here. This isn't
worth it." He ran toward another of the big shadows on the floor
and disappeared inside it. Quinn followed his lead.

That left me, Trevor and Devon. I knew she would
never run away. She'd stay and fight to the end. I just feared it
was going to be my end. With Thane I had the element of surprise;
with Devon I had nothing by my false bravado.

"You won't get that thing up before I twist your head
off."

But before she could come at me, Trevor sprung up
behind her and wrapped his arms around her, effectively pinning her
arms to her sides. She struggled against him, but he held her
firm.

"Get off me!"

I raised the sword in front of me and walked toward
them. My arms hurt, my hands were sore. I could barely keep the tip
of the blade from scraping on the floor. But I kept coming,
determined to end this once and for all. For Trevor. For me. For
all the people we were going to save.

I wanted to go home.

"This is for my sister," Trevor grunted as he shoved
Devon forward. Hard.

She came spiraling toward me, shrieking like a
banshee. I hauled the sword up just in time. Her eyes bugged out as
the blade impaled her.

Unlike Thane, she didn't die quietly.

With a scream that nearly burst my ear drums, Devon
exploded into a thousand dark pieces. Ebony glass-like shards fell
to the floor and shattered into dust. A breeze blew through the
center, carrying her essence with it as it swept the building and
out through the back door.

I dropped the sword and ran to Trevor just as his
knees buckled and he collapsed onto the floor. I knelt next to him,
cradling his head on my lap.

"We did it," I murmured to him.

He smiled up at me and I knew it caused him a lot of
pain to do so. "You did it, Salem. I knew you would." He coughed
and blood bubbled between his lips.

I wiped it away with the sleeve of my hoodie. "It's
okay, baby." He tried to speak again, but I put my finger on his
lips. "Don't. Save your strength."

I checked the rest of him over. I didn't see any
blood blossoms on his chest or legs. The red on his t-shirt I
assumed came from his face. At least I hoped it did.

"Can you move? We need to get out of here."

He shook his head. "I'm broken."

New tears rolled down my cheeks. "I'm going to fix
you, okay? Don't worry."

He tried to protest but I stopped him by pressing my
lips to his. He tried to pull away but I held him still by gripping
his chin with my fingers. Closing my eyes, I thought about the
energy inside my body, gathered it to me and breathed it into
Trevor.

My essence left my body and went into his. It was a
strange sensation, maybe how drowning would feel. Like losing
oxygen. I poured it into Trevor until my lungs burned and my head
swam.

I stopped only when he nudged me away, breaking the
spell.

"Enough, Salem. It's enough." His face wasn't as pale
or sweaty. His eyes were clearer.

I nodded then put one hand under his shoulder, and
the other gripped his arm. "I'm going to pull you up, okay?" I
didn't wait for his reply.

It took about five minutes to get him up to his feet.
He couldn't walk, but had to lean on me. If I had been a weaker
person, there wouldn't have been a chance in hell that I could've
carried him out of there. But my demon genes gave me the strength I
needed. Go figure.

As I helped him hobble into the nearest shadow, he
turned his head and looked at me. "Take me home, Salem."

I nodded, and took him at his word.

Chapter 29

A lot can happen in a week. I'm proof positive of
that. Twice.

The first time I went from average teen, if slightly
off kilter, to half demon roadie for a demonic rock band. This
time, I went from half demon ex-roadie to semi-normal teen back at
home trying to assimilate back into her life.

When Trevor had said home, I took him literally and
stepped into the shadow and transported us back to my bedroom in
Boise. Needless to say, my mom nearly had a heart attack when she
burst into my room to find Trevor bleeding on my bed and me sitting
beside him trying to wipe that blood off. Oh, and she'd happened to
notice the sword lying on the rug.

I'd asked her for a washcloth and some water and she
got it for me without much argument. I figured she could see the
determined and devastated look in my eyes and knew not to push the
issue.

It wasn't until after I'd cleaned up Trevor and left
him sleeping, that the questions came fast and furious.

She'd alternated between yelling and crying but after
a few hours I'd been able to tell her something that she could
believe. That Josh had attacked me and Trevor had saved me by
beating Josh into a coma and we had run because we didn't know what
else to do. Although I suspected, she hadn't believed one word and
now was just waited for me to spill the truth.

I could've told her she might be waiting for a long
time.

To both our surprises--my mom's more I
suspected--Trevor healed quickly. He'd slept for nearly six hours
and when he'd woken, his eyes hadn't been swollen any longer and
the bruises on his face had already started to green.

My mom hadn't asked. I suspected she thought there
was more to Trevor than I was saying. More to me too. She'd looked
at me oddly, but it wasn't full of disgust or shock just curiosity
and interest. My mom, the rock. She was the epitome of
unconditional love.

I probably could've confessed all and told her the
truth and exposed Trevor and I as cambions and she'd take it in,
absorb it, and come out on the other side, just more enlightened.
She'd probably want to ride the shadows and find the other two
members of Malice and end them because of what they did.

I was almost inclined to let her. But for me it was
over. I'd gotten my retribution. I was okay with how it all turned
out. I just wanted to move on with my life.

And for now, we were enjoying just being us. Two
normal teenagers trying to navigate the tumultuous road of life and
well, love.

"Salem." My mom knocked on my bedroom door. "Trevor's
here."

Bouncing off the bed, I jammed my feet into a pair of
sneakers, grabbed my hoodie from the floor and opened the door. My
mom was there, leaning against the wall, waiting for me.

She smiled, and tucked a stray newly dyed blue hair
behind my ear. "Be home early. You have school tomorrow."

"I know. I will." I kissed her on the cheek,
lingering a few seconds to drink her in. Her scent never failed to
make me feel loved.

Trevor was waiting for me at the door. He smiled when
I came barreling down the hallway and tackled him with a hug. He
wrapped his arms around me tight and kissed me on the lips.

"I missed you," he said.

"You just saw me yesterday."

"I know," he nuzzled my ear, "but I miss your messy
bed head in the morning."

"Oh, like it is now?"

He looked at my hair and ran a hand over it. "Yup,
perfect."

"Have fun," my mom called from the kitchen.

"See you, Lynn," Trevor returned.

She popped her head around the corner. "Be good. And
take care of my girl."

He slung his arm around my shoulders. "You know I
will."

"Bye mom." I pushed open the front door and we went
out.

Hand in hand, we walked down the driveway to the
fabulous POS Trevor had bought with some of the money he'd earned
by being a roadie. He opened the door for me.

"So, I was thinking, there's this new band
playing..."

I shook my head. "No. No bands. If I never go to
another gig in my life it will be too soon." I slid into the seat.
He shut the door.

He got in the other side and started the car. "It's
jazz. What could possibly go wrong at a jazz concert?"

"I don't even want to know."

Laughing, Trevor put the car in drive and pulled away
from the house.

It felt good to be out with my boyfriend. We were
going to a movie with friends. Chloe and her new boyfriend were
meeting us at the theatre. It was nice and normal.

Just what both of us needed right now. For today it
was perfect. For tomorrow? Well, I didn't know. Does anyone?

About the author

Tawny Stokes has always been a writer. From an early
age, she'd spin tales of serial killers in love, vampires taking
over the world, and sometimes about fluffy bunnies turned
bunnicidal maniacs. An honour student in high school, with a
penchant for math and English, you'd never know it by the foot high
blue Mohawk and Doc Martens, which often got her into trouble. No
longer a Mohawk wearer, Tawny still enjoys old school punk rock,
trance, zombie movies, teen horror films, and fluffy bunnies. She
lives in Canada with her fantastical daughter, two cats, and spends
most of her time creating new stories for teens.

You can visit her at www.tawnystokes.com