My boots thud against the packed ground as I rush to her, reaching for the flickering threads of her spirit again, desperate. If I can feel their souls, maybe I can untangle the parasite from the host like I unraveled the siphoning threads.
Is that possible? I’m reaching for anything, but at least it’s an idea.
The woman Asher just grounded is dazed when I get to her. I grab at the darkness wrapped around her essence andpull. “Reveal. Reject. Restore.”
I pour all my intention into those three words. “Reveal. Reject. Restore.”
The woman writhes, striking out at me, and I erect my personal shield. “Reveal. Reject. Restore.”
The demon lets off a shriek that scrapes the inside of my skull and warmth drips down my lip. I swipe under my nose with the back of my wrist, not surprised to see the back of my hand covered in blood. But if she’s fighting back, that’s a good sign, right?
So, I continue. “Reveal. Reject. Restore.”
She claws at me, her shiny acrylic nails snapping off against my shield. She screams again, and pain lances through my skull like broken glass.
The demon inside her has some sort of psionic attack, and I have no clue how to defend against it. Hopefully, she’s not dissolving my brain to mush.
Something crashes into me from behind. I sprawl forward, the meat of my palms scraping against a jutting rock on the muddy ground. A second woman looms over me, her mouth open too wide, more of that black ooze spilling out.
She tackles me, knocking me from my hands and knees, and flipping me over to straddle my hips. Her hands lock around my throat, and I clamor, grabbing at her wrists.
I get nowhere.
Crap.Does being possessed make them super strong?
Orion’s there in a flash of white, slamming her off me and sailing through the air with the swipe of a paw the size of my head. But then three more close in on him, coordinated and vicious.
Sebastian hurls a bolt of crackling spirit energy that sends one flying. “We’re losing ground!”
He’s right. We’re surrounded.
The corn maze is now a trap instead of cover. From every direction, possessed townspeople swarm in at us, their jerky and uncoordinated gaits making my skin crawl.
Rowan staggers, her shadows noticeably less opaque and powerful. Wylder is bleeding from a gash above his eye. Asher is backed into a corner, breathing heavy, kicking anyone that comes near him or the two teenage girls huddled together on the ground behind him.
“We need to retreat!” Sebastian shouts.
But there’s nowhere to go.
A man tackles me from the side. We hit the ground hard, and the air punches out of my lungs. His hand comes down on my face as his fingers dig into my forehead and temples.
The pressure of his grip threatens to cave in my skull until my street survival instincts kick in. Bending my knees, I plant the soles of my boots on the ground close to my butt, and I buck my hips as hard as I can.
When the demon pitches forward, I roll. Black spots dance across my vision, but the pressure vanishes.
The man collapses to the ground beside me, and I kick his side, pushing to get some distance from him.
“Ow, fuck.” The indignant tone of his comment has me scrambling around to face him. “That hurt, bitch.”
He looks human again. Pissed off, disoriented, but definitely in control of his body.
Around us, every possessed body drops to the ground like marionettes with cut strings. A moment later, they’re all sitting up, groaning but aware.
The demons are gone.
Just... gone.
I drag myself upright, chest heaving, and scan the surroundings, searching for my friends.
