Page 48
It cannot move. The elements will not let it.
I leave it there while I walk over to the girl, lift her out of the chair, then pass her through the barrier to Tanner. Holding her in his arms, he looks at Kole. Mack and Luther are restraining him, but I know he won’t hurt her. You don’t need her, my Viking. You have me.
Kole’s eyes soften and the black veins subside as my voice fills him up. When I turn around, the demon is still hovering above the floor. “I almost forgot.” I click my fingers. At the same moment his body drops, it explodes from the inside out.
Chunks of demon flesh splatter the walls and the floor. Blood, cords of sinew, and broken bones congeal in a heap. I release a loud sigh as the reverberation of my magick hums beneath my skin. Then I turn to the girl.
“She’s breathing, but only just,” Tanner says. He meets my eyes. “We won’t make it to the hospital before nightfall.”
I shake my head and hold out my arms, taking her from him. “You won’t, but I will.”
Then I run.
* * *
Traveling like this is a little like flying. My feet barely touch the ground. I move through the air as if its laws don’t apply to me anymore, as if I can manipulate it to do as I please. It parts with ease, allowing me to cover the distance between the bar and the hospital in less than a few short minutes.
I don’t stop, just leave her at the door then turn back to town.
The boys are outside the door of Rev’s apartment when I appear in front of them. I’m covered in the girl’s blood, so take off Kole’s hoodie and burn it. It disintegrates in my hand in an instant. I pull a t-shirt from my pack and jerk it over my head.
The others are watching me as if they can’t trust what they’re seeing. I’ve freaked them out, shown them too much too soon.
“Little Star, what are you?” Mack tucks my hair behind my ear. “What are you?”
“Oh, come on, Professor. You know the answer to that already.” I stroke his beard, then reach up on my toes to kiss his cheek. “But we should discuss it inside. Now they know I’m back, they’ll be coming for me.”
“Ragnor and Eve?” Mack’s eyes haven’t left mine.
“All of them,” I say quietly. In the distance, I hear them. The rumblings, and the groanings, and the teeth, and the claws. “Quickly. Inside. I’ll put up a barrier.”
“It won’t work.” Luther takes my elbow as the others hurry inside. “I tried every spell I knew plus a few extra.”
A smile curves my lips. Luther notices and frowns at me. “What’s so funny?”
“You haven’t got it yet, have you?”
He moves toward the door as I turn to face the street. “Got what?”
“I’m don’t play by the same rules as you anymore, Luther.” I slip my hand into his and give it a quick squeeze, then nudge him into the doorway of Rev’s apartment. Magick hums in my veins as I raise my eyes skyward. The earth hums beneath my feet, too. The vibrations travel up through my limbs and pool in my belly.
A strong breeze blows down the street, taking leaves and litter with it. My hair flies across my face as splinters of lightning crackle down from the starless sky to meet my fingertips.
I catch the lightning in my palm, then use it to trace an arch on the ground in front of the building. It glows bright as fire. A wall of light rises from it, forming a pale glittering shield.
I step inside the building and close the door behind me. In the gloomy stairwell, my boyfriends are staring at me. “It should be enough to repel the demons. They’re still weak.”
“Nova…” Sam looks at Mack, then at me. “How do you know all this?”
“I’ll explain, I promise. But first, I’m starving. Anyone fancy making me pancakes?”
30
MACK
She’s back. Snow can barely contain the urge to be near her. His energy throbs inside my head; growling, protective, but also desperate for her attention—like a puppy whose owner abandoned it for a summer vacation and now needs extra levels of attention from them.
She’s back, and she’s Nova, but she’s different. She looks the same, apart from her hair, and she sounds the same. She feels the same—every inch of her—but there’s a power inside her now that wasn’t there before. A light. A magick. A strength.
