AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Of course, she would lash out at them,’ Jeremy had shouted at the principal of that school. What did she expect from a child being tormented day in and day out by her peers?
‘You’re placing the blame on the wrong person.’
The woman had smiled at him smugly and told him there was nothing she could do. Her hands were tied. She had been happy to be rid of the angry little girl with dark hair. I hadn’t known then that my aura had been poisonous enough to turn her against me.
During the drive home in his cruiser, he had looked at me, and I hadn’t understood why he had been so angry. I had always assumed he had been angry with me.
‘When people are so horrible to you that you want to give up, remember, that’s what they want you to do. Don’t give them what they want. Don’t ever give up.”
My rage flared, and I felt more power bubble up from within me. I felt it score through my bones and wrap around my frantically beating heart. Amon was right. If I died now, Ash Nevra would win. Clair’s death would have been for nothing. I couldn’t die. Not yet, but I didn’t know how to make it stop.
61
I reached out and grabbed his arm, the matte-black metal of his armor crinkling like paper beneath my touch. The metal felt like nothing I had ever touched before. It was otherworldly. He raised his eyebrows at the display of strength but said nothing.
“Help me,” I gasped. He nodded and pulled me in close. I winced, waiting for him to knock me out or blast me with some kind of magick. Instead, he leaned in, touching his lips gently against mine.
The shock of the kiss wrenched me out of the downward spiral I had been headed towards. His energy rubbed intimately against me, and my daemon sighed softly. My blood was on fire, but my skin went cold with exhilaration. His lips were soft and dry, and his scent enveloped me. My mouth flooded with the warm taste of cinnamon. I felt myself soften, and my body began to melt into him before I realized what I was doing. Then… I slapped him.
His head snapped to the side, and I was impressed for a moment that he had managed not to be thrown right into the ground despite the amount of power I had put behind the slap. The storm that had been raging died down to a whisper, and the drum in my chest fell silent.
“What the hell was that?” I snarled at him. The planets and stars in my aura were slowing, and I realized suddenly that we were still suspended in the air, and as my power died, so was my ability to hold myself up. Fifteen feet was a long way to fall, half-daemon or not.
Amon touched his cheek where I had hit him, and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.
“It worked, didn’t it?” He asked, sliding forward to hold me, so I wouldn’t plummet to the ground. The shock of the kiss quickly wore off, and suddenly I was tired.
So, so tired.
Maybe it was the grief or the amount of energy I had used to wipe out our enemies. Either way, suddenly, I could barely keep my eyes open. I collapsed into Amon, and he hoisted me into his arms before lowering us both to the ground. His left arm was under my knees, and his right arm supported my back. Despite myself, I allowed my head to rest against his shoulder.
With my rage gone, the docks were now a silent wasteland. My small band of friends emerged from behind the now slightly crushed shipping container. I knew now I hadn’t imagined the police sirens. I could see cruisers racing up around the bend.
Amon’s feet touched the ground close to Clair’s body, and tears welled into my now normal eyes. The sight of her wrecked me to my core. Rycon padded forward, followed by the magick folk, Blue-Hair, and the Mountain.
“We don’t have time,” Amon said before anyone could speak. “I am taking her across The Veil. Anyone who would like to join us is welcome to come.” The latter was directed at the small coven of magick folk I seemed to have adopted over the last couple of weeks. I was still in his arms and too exhausted to be enraged by the fact that he had made this decision for me. To my surprise, everyone nodded.
‘I obviously don’t have a choice, then.’ Rycon said, stepping forward on silent paws.
Amon gave him an icy look. “No. You do not.”
Conrad stepped up next. “Mi coming.”
“Me too,” Meredith said.
Mr. Abbey and Conrad’s grandmother exchanged glances.
“We will stay here to manage The Board and relay today’s events. We will contact you as soon as we have news.” Mr. Abbey said. Amon nodded. The police cruisers were pulling into the docks now, tires squealing on the pavement as they surrounded us where we stood by Clair’s preserved body. The rest of the corpses had been destroyed beyond the point of recognition by my energy storm.
Mr. Abbey and Conrad’s grandmother shimmered away. Blue-Hair and the Mountain came to stand beside us as Amon opened a hole in The Veil. I glanced down at Clair’s broken body before we stepped through, whispering a silent goodbye to her in my mind. Moments before we passed into the daemon realm, I glanced up, and my eyes met with Jeremy’s as he stepped out of an undercover cruiser at the forefront of the fleet.
I saw, more than heard, him mouth my name in confusion as he took in the sight of me wrapped up in a strange man’s arms with a larger-than-life panther, Conrad, and the rest of our party.
Amon stepped through The Veil just as Jeremy’s gaze fell to take in Clair’s silent form, his face paling. As the door to the new world closed behind us, I made eye contact with him one last time and mouthed the words, ‘I’m sorry.’ And then, we were gone.
