Demons of Bourbon Street (28 page)

Kane’s emotions, on some level, always registered with me. As his frustration came into clearer focus, I squeezed his hand and pushed his energy to the back of my mind. We’d grown so close, I couldn’t completely block him anyway.

As Dan’s anxiety, impatience, and fear overtook my senses, my blood boiled and adrenaline made me itch for action. But I knew him well. Better than I knew Kane, even. I’d once been able to push his energy to the side. That changed after he’d been victim to Meri’s possession a few months ago. Curiously, I didn’t have an issue this time. With one sweep, Dan’s emotions faded into the recesses of my mind.

I let out a tiny sigh of relief. Maybe he wasn’t possessed. Or Meri was too weak to fill him with the vitriol I’d experienced just a week ago, before I’d kicked her ass and banished her to Hell.

I threw my mental energy into Meri. Her sorrow rushed through my limbs, making me shake. My heart weighed heavy with years of her unshed tears. My eyes burned, and I blinked back the intense desire to cry.

Meri turned, probably sensing my intrusion. She locked eyes with Dan, and fearful anticipation engulfed me, along with no small amount of love and loyalty. All of it courtesy of Meri’s emotional state. The demon had feelings for Dan. She cared about him. Deeply. But how? What had happened after I’d broken her last week? You couldn’t kill demons, but they could turn into an empty shell of their former selves.

Had she somehow gotten a new soul?

Terror seized me. Was that possible?

Kane reached for me, clasping my hand. A smooth, cold rock pressed into my palm, a small point pinching into my skin. The ruby.

I needed to destroy it to break the connection. I only hoped I had enough power.

Holding my palm up, I met Meri’s gaze, her intense eyes searching mine. An overwhelming sense of sorrow rocked me to my core. The sadness poured from her and touched my soul.

I hesitated. Was Meri beyond hope? Bea told me she was, but that was before we’d seen this new side of her. If I didn’t destroy the stone, what would happen to Kane? I couldn’t put him in danger just because I wasn’t sure what was happening with the demon. Whatever it was, she needed to go back to Hell, where she belonged.

“
Go on, Jade.” Bea urged from behind me. “Say the incantation. We’re here to back you up.”

In all the confusion, I’d forgotten the coven could feed me power again. Reaching for my magical spark, I frowned. The usual flutter below my breast bone was gone, leaving nothing but an unfamiliar void.

Damn, I’d lost more energy than I thought.

Don’t think about it. Just get through this and everything will be all right.
I could have a mental breakdown later.

Thank goodness for Bea and the coven. Resisting the urge to close my eyes, I kept a trained eye on Meri and held my hand out. Sun bounced off the ruby.

Meri and Dan froze. Then they exchanged a small glance. I had to cast the spell now.

“
Binding stone, hear my call. Sever your hold.” A small thread of coven magic pulsed in my chest. It was working. “Break the connection between dreamwalker and demon. Let your magic run cold.”

The heat from the stone faded. The coven’s power ran currents of magic through my veins. Alive. Powerful. Pure. My body flexed with strength, ready to destroy the stone. Once it turned icy cold, I could unleash the firestorm of destruction built by the coven. I focused on the very center of the ruby, ready to strike.

Dan moved, but I felt, rather than saw, Meri hold him in place. For whatever reason, she didn’t want him to interfere. Concern for him? Or did she really mean it was time for her to go back?

A fresh current of power jolted through me with so much force, I stumbled. My knee hit the soft earth and the ruby tumbled to the ground.

My only thought was to retrieve the stone and break Meri’s hold on Kane. Now or never. I closed my fingers around the narrow tip. Immediately I let the coven magic go, forcing it into the jewel.

Someone dove in front of me, knocking the stone from my tentative grip, but it was too late. The power I’d unleashed was already doing its job.

Behind me, Kane grunted and muttered obscenities, no doubt suffering a horrific extraction. I turned, expecting to see Dan holding the stone. Instead, he cradled Meri, careful not to let her fall.

If Dan hadn’t tried to take the ruby, then who had? I turned and met pale green eyes filled with guilt.

Philip. Where had he been?

“
Siste!”
he yelled and grabbed the stone. A white light pulsed in his hand.

“
Philip?” Meri said in a faint, bewildered voice.

Lailah echoed Meri’s call from outside the circle. Her eyes widened with disbelief as she hurried toward him.

Philip concentrated on the ruby until the glow disappeared. A sharp stab of ice ripped through my gut. I doubled over, clenching my stomach with my hands. The pain spread through my core, pulsing. My knees gave out and I fell to the ground, gasping for air.

Philip yelled, “Go!”

Black spots clouded my vision. Who was he yelling at?

I tried to get to my feet, ready to flee, but the spots grew bigger as my head spun. Voices morphed into a dull static of white noise. I clamped my hands to my temples and dropped to my knees once more, rocking back and forth, willing my senses to clear.

“
Kane?” I called, but had no idea if he could hear me.

Someone clasped my shoulders, keeping me from falling. The person was talking, but through the static, I couldn’t make out any words.

Panic seized me. Blinded and deaf, I groped for the person steadying me. Strong arms came around me and through my haze, the scent of fresh rain reached me.

Kane. His scent. I was safe.

I took deep, steady breaths. Kane’s worry started to seep into my awareness. Without thinking, I sent him a tiny dose of calm. His grip around me relaxed, but he didn’t let go. I leaned into him, grateful for the familiarity.

He tensed, and before I could react, a zap of magic tingled through me. The static faded, and the bright glare of the late afternoon made me squint.

“
Welcome back,” Bea said, squatting in front of me on her lawn.

“
Um…thanks.” I glanced around at the coven, still holding the circle. Only Bea and Kane were with me in the middle. “Where are Dan and Meri?”

“
Gone.” Bea’s face was blank.

“
Gone, as in…back to Hell gone?” I clamped a hand over my forehead and rubbed at the headache pulsing above my eyes.

“
Oh, no, dear. Once Philip interrupted the unbinding, the three of them took off. In Philip’s car.”

“
What do you mean? Left in his car?” I twisted, spotting Lailah. “What’s going on?”

She swallowed, her lips pressed together in a thin line. “It appears Philip has decided to help his mate after all.”

The hurt in her bright blue eyes almost made me want to hug her. I pushed the impulse aside. “Does that mean he’s on the verge of falling too?”

Lailah shook her head slowly. “No.”

“
How come? He’s helping a demon.”

Lailah’s eyes locked with Bea’s, each of them reading something in the other’s gaze.

“
What?” I demanded.

“
Here’s the strange thing.” Lailah paced in front of me and paused in thought.

“
Yes?” I prompted.

She met my penetrating stare. “Meri isn’t a demon anymore.”

I shot to my feet, almost toppling over, but Kane caught me. “Thanks,” I mumbled and turned back to Lailah. “How is that possible?”

“
We don’t know for sure,” Bea chimed in, her face pinched in confusion.

“
Something went wrong when Philip interrupted the unbinding. The spell didn’t work correctly,” Lailah said, her eyes full of pity.

I spun, grasping Kane’s forearms. “What happened? Are you all right?” Hastily, I did a visual inspection and then frowned when I didn’t see any obvious damage. “Did she get another mark on you?”

He smiled. “No. In fact, I’m as good as new. See?” He put his full weight on his previously injured leg and grinned. “All better.”

“
Good. That’s good.” I let out a sigh of relief and turned back to Lailah. “How is that possible? We were with her the night her soul died. How can she be anything other than a demon without a soul?”

“
She has one now. Or part of one.”

An ache rippled through my core, settling in my gut. “Part of one? Whose? Dan’s?”

“
No, dear,” Bea said gently. “Not Dan’s. For the time being, his is still safe.”

“
Whose then?”

Lailah took a step forward and rested a light hand on my shoulder. “Whatever Philip did when he broke your unbinding spell caused it to malfunction. Kane was freed from her grasp, but somehow, she managed to siphon part of someone’s soul.” Compassion radiated from her. “Yours.”

“
Mine?” I started to tremble, frantically searching for the edges of my soul. I’d touched it once while Bea coached me on finding my inner magic. It had to be there. “Am I…I mean, could I…is it gone?”

Lailah shook her head. “No.”

“
Thank God.” Hell wasn’t a place I ever wanted to visit again.

“
But it’s not one hundred percent here, either.”

“
What does that mean?”

“
You and Meri…well, you’re both sharing your soul.”

Chapter 19

“
How is that even possible?” I asked, lying in Kane’s lap. After Lailah had broken the news, I’d lost the ability to stand. I’d still be sharing the lawn with a colony of ladybugs if Kane hadn’t carried me to the safety of Bea’s living room.

Silence.

I turned my attention to Bea. She held a thick, mystical text open in her lap, one finger tracing the lines as she scanned for information. A few seconds passed before she glanced up, meeting my gaze. Her expression turned sympathetic and she gave me a tiny shake of her head. She didn’t have any answers.

Across the room, Lailah paced in a small oval, rapidly typing a message on her iPhone. Somehow she’d managed to rid herself of her blood-soaked clothes and had changed into a coffee-colored blouse and white cotton skirt. Her brow creased and her lips moved, forming a silent curse.