I gasped. The fire had only been a diversion to what she really wanted to do—possess me.
Tabitha! Help!
On it!the ghost called back, and although I hadn’t noticed before, I could tell that she was.
If Tabitha wasn’t already fighting, would Ishtar have possessed me by now?
I dared to meet the queen’s stare again, and saw that I was right. Smoke literally spewed from her nostrils, and her eyes gleamed a brighter red. She was furious.
But unlike when I’d used black magic against her, she didn’t scream her indignation. In fact, as I watched, she inched backward a little. The reason why materialized immediately.
Ishtar didn’t want to rage and storm because others would know that I had a means of fighting off her possession.
There! I got her off you. Now get out of here, I’m not ready for round two!
Not wasting a moment, I twisted.
Simone was almost to us.
I waved. “Faster!”
The raven-haired vampire’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t shoot back any snark as she bore down, zooming toward us at unbelievable speed. My hair blew back a little as she flew through the warphole and disappeared.
“Hunter! Eva! Go!” I pushed my friends through the hole.
“Odie, your turn.Now.” Andre pointed up, and I noticed that, while the demon queen and king hadn’t moved, they had retaliated.
Balls of flames, each the size of a smart car, were headed straight for us.
I’d apparently become crazy, because the sight made me grin and wink.Too slow.
Ishtar let out a shriek, and I stepped safely through Andre’s portal.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
“Oh my god! Odie!” Eva threw herself at me the moment I appeared in the mountain valley that surrounded Nightdwellers, Andre right on my tail. “Are you okay?” Her eyes ran over me, searching for any sign of injury.
I grinned. “I’m fine. Tabitha protected me from possession. It scared Ishtar! I—”
The words died on my lips.
Although I’d felt proudjust moments before, cocky even, now I realized that I’d made a terrible mistake.
Before this, the royals might not have known that Eva and I could use black magic. They also might never have realized that they’d almost possessed us our first night back in this world. In fact, if they had, surely they would have tried again before now, right?
A pit formed in my stomach.
But tonight, the royals had seen with their own eyes what we could do. They learned we could keep them from our heads. And then, to rub it in, I’d winked.
No matter how slight or dubious, we’d lost both advantages—and I was to blame.
“Shit!” I clenched my fists. “If I hadn’t been so damn proud and justleft, I—”
Eva gripped my arm. “What! What happened?”
“Eva, I’m so sorry. Ishtar and Lucifer know I’m protected against possession.” I threw my hand over my eyes and squeezed hard, as if by doing so, I could will the truth away. “They don’t know the same about you, but I’m sure they’ll guess. I lost us our advantage.”
“But I’m here. So is the fae.” Simone appeared at our side and gestured to Flynn, passed out on the ground only a few feet away. “You made a tradeoff, witch. One I appreciate.”
