“Emma,” I gasped. The leshane was twisting the tip of the knife into my side, the fresh cuts still oozing blood. I begged her to save me, or at least end it through our bond. This was no way to live. This was worse than dying.
The leshane curled his fingers, and bruises began mottling my skin as the demon loomed over my mate. By this time, I’d lost the strength to cry out, my pain diluted to a few whispers. Desks and chairs flew around the room in the leshane’s whirlwind, and the others had to duck to avoid being hit.
“We’re losing control!” Kiara’s face was panicked. She shuffled pages of her book, in a prayer she’d find something that would keep the leshane contained.
She didn’t find it in time. When Emma was backing away from the demon in terror, her shoe cut a hole in the salt circle.
That was the only opportunity the demon needed to attack. The whirlwind abruptly stopped, and the desks flying around fell to the ground as the leshane sprang forward. He zoomed around the room as a dark spirit set loose, though a piece of him was still attached to my soul.
The leshane smacked into Stefan, knocking him unconscious before he turned its attention on Alexei. The boy instantly turned into a griffin and tried to combat, but the leshane threw out his dark fingers, and Alexei fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
Theo changed into an alicorn and charged at the demon with his head down, but when the leshane screamed, a large cut formed across Theo’s chest. The alicorn cried out as blood sprayed everywhere. Odette flung a shield around Theo, to protect him. The leshane bounced his magic against it, and Odette fell to her knees as her shield broke, crying out in pain. Delmare’s battle magic bombs fizzled into nothingness as the leshane approached, smacking her across the face. She flew to the other side of the room and slammed against the wall, going still. Kiara backed away from the circle, holding her book to her chest and shaking in fear as the demon advanced on her.
His bloodlust had been set free. We were all going to die in here, and I was helpless to do anything about it. I’d led my friends to their doom.
The leshane opened his dark mouth wide. It unhinged from the jaw, becoming a bottomless pit. Kiara let out a bloodcurdling scream as the demon prepared to eat her alive.
“Enough!” Emma’s scream shook the walls. She flung out a hand. I felt it through our bond— Emma’s magic ran through me before it grabbed the tail end of the demon, yanking it back inside my body. The leshane let out a gasp. It was pulled into my chest, and I screamed again as I heard bones break. The leshane was desperately attempting to escape, but Emma’s magic was holding it bound. She knelt in my blood and placed her hands on my chest, teeth gritted as she kept the demon imprisoned.
Eventually, the leshane grew quiet. The torture stopped, and all I could feel anymore was the familiar thrashing of the demon inside of me.
And my newly broken ribs.
Emma sat back, breathing hard. She put a hand on the ground to keep herself steady, trying not to pass out. My blood was streaked all over her clothes.
Around the room, there were groans of pain as people came around. Alexei gasped for air as he changed back. The cut on Theo’s chest was already healing, but as he shifted into a man and touched the wound with his fingers, he winced with the sting. Stefan helped Delmare to her feet, while she held her head. A bruise had formed from her chin to her hairline from the demon’s slap.
It could’ve been a lot worse. My shifter magic worked to repair my battered body, but it would take a few days to heal completely. The fresh cuts on my chest began to close as I sat up in desperate pain.
Kiara’s eyes watered with tears. We’d gotten the demon out of my body for mere moments, but after all that work, we hadn’t managed to sever his connection to me once. It hadn’t worked.
“I didn’t know it would be like that.” Emma’s voice shook as her tone grew accusative. She whirled around on Kiara. “Why didn’t you tell us it would be that horrible? I was completely unprepared.”
“If I had told you what needed to be done before, you wouldn’t have tried it.” Kiara wiped away tears with the back of her hand. “This isn’t over. We can try again.”
“No.” My voice was firm as I struggled to remain upright, giving a cough. “We aren’t doing that again.”
“We have no choice. We have to get this demon out somehow,” Kiara pleaded.
“It nearlykilledyou all,” I spat. “I will not risk the lives of my friends, or the life of my mate. Let the demon do as he will.”
“We can’t give up,” Emma demanded. “This is the only way.”
“There is another way, and it is to let me die,” I said harshly. “That is the end of it. Do not ask me to risk the well-being of my friends a second time. It’s over.”
Emma’s lip wobbled. I forced myself not to care. The exorcism had failed. This demon was here to stay. He was determined to sap the life out of me, his host, before continuing his rampage elsewhere.
I was powerless to stop him. Which meant I needed to stay far away from my friends, to protect them. I didn’t want them to become collateral damage when the demon regained control. What happened today was merely a taste of the carnage the demon would cause when he finally broke loose. I would not be a puppet for this creature’s bloodlust.
I had to get my affairs in order. Then, I had to prepare to die.
Chapter Eight
Emma
I’d failed to save my mate. It was only a matter of time before I lost Ethan forever.
Watching him go through that pain as we tried to get rid of the demon… it was terrible. I would’ve rather experienced a thousand agonizing deaths than witness Ethan clinging to my shoes, begging me to stop the agony I was causing him. I used every violent illusion I had in my arsenal to kill the leshane, but nothing I had did any good. The demon shook my magic off like dust and continued on his violent rampage.
