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His voice was quiet, so I used Jax’s magic to crank up my hearing rather than moving closer.
“I’m glad I could help weaken him for you, Mel. I… always cared about you.”
“It was our world you should’ve cared most about, Ty.” Some part of me would never forgive him, no matter that his forgiveness had helped weaken Andras. “We want to keep our world safe. Will separating him from his host close the portal?”
“It will never close completely,” Ty wheezed. “The link between worlds cannot be severed. But without a host, Andras can’t maintain a portal this big. It will collapse back to the size they used to be before the Year of Rending.”
“Good.”
Some part of me wanted so badly to reach out and touch Ty, perhaps to ease his suffering. Maybe part of me still loved him, in spite of the horrible things he’d done.
But I didn’t budge.
Ty’s legs jerked, his whole body sliding unnaturally over the ground, his foot flying out to touch me before I realized what was happening. The moment his body brushed against mine, it felt like I’d touched an electrified fence.
“You are mine.”
The monstrous voice of the devil filled my mind, making me fall onto my knees and elbows as I clapped my hands to my head. Something like metallic barbs pierced my very being like I’d gotten my mind caught in a bear trap.
“No,” I moaned. I couldn’t let this happen. Was I really going to give Andras a new, stronger host? The guys would never stop trying to save me. He would capture them and keep them until he used me up, and then he would use them. And who knew how much stronger we would make him, thanks to our new blood bond?
The link strengthened as my desperation took root. That’s when I realized how stupid I was. Andras had fed on Ty’s hatred. Now he was feeding on my fear and anguish.
I couldn’t allow that. I refused to let the devil take hold. I refused to become its host. I would fight until my last breath if I had to. A scream tore from my throat as those barbs tore chunks out of my mind itself.
Then suddenly, a comforting presence enveloped me. The contrast made me shudder, fearing some trick. But this new presence… it gave me strength. It pushed against the barbs, showing me how to protect my mind. And it felt… familiar.
“Fight, mija,”my mother’s voice echoed inside of my head, filling the space and pushing outward, showing me the way.“Reject his hold on you before it’s too late.”
Part of me latched onto her, wanting to keep her here with me. But I could feel her loving withdrawal as she pushed me away from her presence and toward the barbs, showing me how to remove the devil’s hold on me.
“No!” I rejected him not just in words, but with all of my being.
Using all the magic at my disposal, I pushed outward in all directions, unconcerned about what my lightning, fire, earth, or sensate magic struck.
My mind emptied. In moments, it felt clean. Devoid of the devil’s presence, but also of my mother’s. I doubled over from the loss and sudden weakness from channeling so much magic.
Ty let out an unnatural shriek. When I looked up, his skin blistered with burns from my flames and lightning. Sickly yellow magic still flowed across his body, down his leg, and toward me. Except now, it stopped at his foot where a barrier of elemental magic stood between me and him: A thin wall of molten lava, a blend of earth and flame, trembled with flickers of lightning and ripples of magic unseen.
And not far away hovered a nearly invisible spirit. She wasn’t gone. She was always with me, even if I couldn’t see her.
“Strike, Mela.”
I hoped with all of my might that the guys had gotten themselves and the trapped spirits to safety, because this was my chance. My mother was right — the devil would never be weaker than at this moment.
Without somewhere else to go, the disgusting yellow magic stretched along the old host’s entire burned body. This might be my only opportunity to kill not just Ty, but Andras with him. He seemed to come to the same conclusion.
“Do it, Mel.” Ty tilted his face up, his eyes clear and focused. “End us both.”
Once upon a time, I thought I’d killed Ty after he turned. Hearing him say that now nearly destroyed my resolve.
Ty let out a groan, his eyes widening yet unseeing. “This is for Mel.”
All at once, he ripped his arm away from the shadows, his fingers twined around yellow magic strands, pulling them free from the infernal realm. Ty snapped his arms and legs in, bundling that sickly yellow magic tight to his chest and curling himself into a ball around it so that it couldn’t escape.
He was sacrificing himself to save me — to save everyone.
I had to make it worthwhile. But I felt so weak after using so much magic. I could barely rise.
