Chapter 27
Lilin saw Cosette’s intent and said to the beast, “Kill her.”
Cosette ducked out of the way of that protruding tongue, meant to suck the very life from her body, and rolled between his legs. It made an ungodly noise and turned to attack again, but Quinn interceded. He stepped in front of her, a barrier between Cosette and this creature.
“Quinn, no!” she shouted, as the beast targeted him.
Cosette formed another ball of light and prayed as she sent it flying toward the aswang. It hissed as she tore a gash in the side of its dark flesh. Black blood dripped from the wound, and it glared at her with a malicious rage. She quickly formed another one, this time aiming it right at its head. It grazed his ear, taking off half of it. But it also distracted it long enough for her to slide across the marble and grab the tablet.
She turned to Charlotte, who was pressed against the front door, absolute fear in her wide, green eyes. “What do I do?”
“Speak th’ words as they’re written,” she croaked.
Cosette held the tablet before her, but it was wrenched out of her grasp by a spark of lightning. It clattered across the floor, landing at Charlotte’s feet. The girl stared at it as if was a serpent, preparing to strike. Cosette turned to Lilin, who was now only a few feet away. The second floor of the manor was still a blazing, flicking scene of destruction that devoured everything in its wake. Wood creaked and groaned, and Cosette knew it wasn’t long before the entire upper level of the manor collapsed around them.
They were running out of time.
“Do you recall when you said you wouldn’t accept anything from me?” Lilin said, her words calculated. “What about now, dear Cosette? Shall you join me? If you do, I shall allow Blackburn to go free.”
“Go to hell,” Cosette snapped.
Lilin only sighed. “You do try my patience.” She lifted her hand, causing the beast to howl in pain. “Are you sure you don’t wish to reconsider? I can crush him, end him, with only the slightest pressure on his windpipe.”
Cosette swallowed, the cost that she might have to pay to destroy Lilin—could ultimately be Davien’s very life. If that were the case, she couldn’t do it. She looked at the beast and a single tear slipped down her cheek. “I’ll go with you. Just please, spare him.”
Those disturbing eyes had a moment of clarity, where Cosette saw Davien’s love for her shining in their depths—before the luminescent energy was crushed, blown out like the wick from a candle flame. The creature fell to the floor in a lifeless heap, turning into Davien as it lay silent, still.
Dead . . .
“NO!” Cosette screamed. She turned to Lilin. “You promised me that you would spare him!”
The other woman didn’t even glance at the lifeless form splayed across the marble. “Is he not free?”
Cosette sent a light ball in Lilin’s direction at the same time she turned and grabbed the tablet from Charlotte, who was waiting for just the right moment to hand it to Cosette.
With a clear, steady voice, Cosette read the words engraved.“Negeltu Talamu Nadu Enu Mulki Duranki Mummu Kataru Kasadu Ni Apsu.”
Lilin’s powers faded and ebbed the moment the last word was spoken. “No! It cannot be!”
Cosette’s eyes flared with a brilliant force. “Lilin, demon spawn of Dantalion, I send you back to the Underworld where you shall be bound for all eternity. You shall not cause any further harm here, or anywhere else, as long as I have breath in my body.”
With one last ball of light, Cosette sent it hurtling toward Lilin, where it struck her with an intensity that caused the very foundation beneath her feet to shake. A wave of pressure slammed outward from Lilin’s core, like a brilliant blast of sparks. The force sent Cosette, Charlotte, and Quinn flying across the foyer to slam into the wall behind them.
And then, there was nothing.
Lilin was gone, cast out of this world and into the next, where she would remain.
A loud crack sounded as the floor above them began to collapse against the strain of the blaze. “We have t’ go!” Charlotte shouted as the smoke began to clog the air around them with a thickening, gray haze.
She looked at Blackburn’s lifeless form. “Not without Davien.”
“He’s gone, Cosette.” Her friend tried to grab her arm and pull her to safety.
She shrugged it free. “I’m not leaving him!”
Charlotte grumbled something as Cosette stumbled over and knelt down by the duke. She brushed a strand of dark hair away from his handsome face and felt her chest split apart at the idea that she would never see those perfect, masculine lips smile at her again, never feel his comforting arms around her.
As the manor around her burned, leaving charred embers in its wake, she held on to Davien’s hand and wept. She brought it to her mouth and gently kissed his knuckles. “I love you, Davien Elswood, Duke of Blackburn. I should have told you long ago, but I was . . . scared, afraid that you wouldn’t feel the same. Before I met you I was a lost little girl, clinging to the hope that someday I would find whatever it was I was searching for. I had no idea that what I truly wanted, what I needed . . . was you.” Her voice broke. “I just wish there was a way I could bring you back to me . . .”
