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Lucas hesitated. I started to cast a spell, but he stepped in front of the woman on the floor, who'd begun to sob.
"Wait," he said. "This isn't your Nix."
"And it's not an innocent bystander, either. It's one of her partners. That hurt she's talking about--it ain't from heaven."
He hesitated, then started to step away. The woman leapt up. I lifted my hands in a knock-back spell, and Lucas wheeled to grab her, but she lunged out of our paths and raced into the dining room, heading for the knife. Savannah was closest. She turned and ran after the woman.
"No!" I shouted.
As Lucas ran for the dining room, I cast a knock-back spell, aiming it at Savannah, to knock her away from the woman. But Savannah moved too fast, and the spell missed her by a good six inches, hitting Lucas instead and sending him flying across the room. The woman grabbed Savannah from behind. Savannah let out an oath and twisted. Then her eyes went wide as the woman pressed the knifepoint to the base of her skull. Lucas and I both stopped.
"What a pretty child," the woman crooned. She reached up to stroke Savannah's hair.
"Let her go, Suzanne," I said.
Simmons turned toward me, frowning. "You know me? How strange. Is this pretty child yours?"
She looked me--Paige--up and down, then glanced at Lucas. "No, she's much too old to be yours. A niece perhaps?"
Simmons paused, eyes rolling back in her head. Then she smiled. "Oh, how interesting. So this child belongs to her, the one who tricked me."
She traced the knifepoint around to Savannah's throat. A paper-thin trail of blood welled up on Savannah's neck.
I snarled and started to lunge at her, but a motion from Lucas stopped me. Behind Simmons's back, he shook his head. He was right, of course. I was a dozen feet away. She could slit my daughter's throat before I got to her.
"Oh, I will enjoy this," Simmons said, eyes glimmering with the same hunger I'd seen in the visions and in the cemetery. "Now, where to begin...?"
Lucas motioned again, signaling an idea. I gave the barest nod. Lucas counted down on his fingers as his lips moved in a cast.
Three, two, one.
He launched a fireball, hitting Simmons in the back of the head. The moment she stumbled forward, I slammed Savannah with a knock-back spell, throwing her backward, out of Simmons's grip. Lucas grabbed Savannah and shoved her behind him, then went after the knife.
I raced across the room and snatched Simmons's arm as she spun back toward Lucas and Savannah. I yanked, and kicked at her feet, and she went down. While I fought to hold Simmons, Lucas said something to Savannah. They both cast binding spells. Simmons's arm lashed out at me. Her hand bounced off my shoulder. She growled and kicked, but could barely move her legs.
"It's working," I called to them. "Well enough, at least."
I pinned Simmons easily. As my hands went to her throat, Simmons's eyes blazed. Then her gaze went dull, empty. I squeezed, and her eyes closed. I hesitated. Shit! What if the binding spell killed her? It obviously wasn't working the way it should. Maybe--
Jaime's body leapt up, nearly throwing me off. I held on tight and put my full weight on her. I looked back into her eyes, and knew Simmons was gone.
"Welcome back," I said. "You're a little late, though."
The Nix's lips curled and she bucked beneath me. I squeezed harder. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lucas jump to his feet.
"Keep binding her!" I said. "It's still working. Start a fresh cast."
They did. It didn't bind the Nix, but it kept her demonic strength in check. I bent over her, looking into her bulging eyes as I continued to squeeze her neck.
"Wanna count down with me?" I said. "I figure you have about thirty seconds left."
"Paige!" Savannah yelled. "Stop it! That's still Jaime. You can't kill her."
I tightened my grip. "Lucas, take her out of here. Please."
Savannah had broken her cast, but the Nix had almost stopped struggling, eyelids flagging as she faded from consciousness.
"Paige! No!"
