Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“No. No, no, no. I will keep Xander here, with me. I will live in the house, on the land, and you will run far away.”
Lorne gripped the demon’s wrist and grabbed hold of his throat, squeezing tight. “Fuck you, I’m not leaving Xan. I’m never leaving Xan. He’s mine and—”
“Oh, human, what power do you think you possess?”
As we watched, the demon stepped free of Tanner Murphy’s body. One moment Tanner was standing there, the next he was on his knees, howling in pain. I had no idea if he was crying and raging because the demon had left him to all the pain and horror in his mind, or if it was that he was alone again in his body. Either way, he didn’t have much time to adjust to his new reality as the demon wrenched him to his feet and snapped his neck. Tanner was dead before he hit the ground.
As for the demon, he was now a large, dark, living shadow.
Lorne’s hands fell to his sides as he went limp in the demon’s grip.
“No, don’t hurt him,” I begged.
The head turned to me, but I was looking at nothing but darkness. “You will lower the wards, witch. You will allow me entrance onto the land, or your mate will die.”
“Whatever you want, just don’t hurt—”
“No,” Lorne yelled, and Kamosh refocused on him.
“You have no power here, human,” it said, cackling, then shoved its shadow fist into Lorne’s sternum. Hard.
The man I loved screamed, and it was horrible. It wasn’t a fake sound; it was torn out of his soul, and the pain had to be excruciating.
“Stop!” I roared.
The head swiveled to me, and for a moment the demon enlarged, as though my terror and Lorne’s anguish were feeding it, giving it energy, increasing its power.
“You will go to Corvus now!” Kamosh demanded, its voice hollow and icy. “You will open a path for me and show me the passage, or what I place in the very heart of your mate will eat him from the inside out!”
I started stripping out of my clothes fast, but Lorne’s howl made me turn to him. The demon released him, and Lorne took several steps back, gripping his chest in pain, shrieking the whole time, his body vibrating, his eyes filling with blood, then overflowing, blood running down his cheeks, dripping off the sides of his face.
Hesitating, not wanting to leave him, I took a step toward him.
“No!” Lorne cried out, gathering enough strength even through his soul-rending anguish to demand I fly home.
I bolted forward, and as soon as I moved, the demon crowed in triumph.
As I always did, I thought flight and was up, high, soaring over Osprey, an entire flock of ravens, racing for home, for safety, to save Lorne.
He was doing exactly as Elen had told him.
Blind the demon with all it seeks.
And that meant safety—if the demon lived with me on Corvus, nothing could hurt it.
Now it needed me to lower the wards, and create, as she’d said, a small path to enter.
I had to make Corvus understand, to convince it to let something unclean through every boundary the Corey line had ever created.
Lorne was using his power as the one, as Elen bid him, because he was the man I loved. The only man I loved, and therefore the singular being the demon would believe I would give up everything for.
This was Lorne’s trap, and he’d put the demon, literally, on the road to Corvus, but now came the hard part, and I was terrified. Because yes, the only way we could hope to kill the demon was on Corvus, but what if that wasn’t enough? What if me and my land, the two of us together, weren’t enough?
It was a horrifying plan, and I hoped I could do my part as well as Lorne had done his. And more than anything, I needed Lorne returned to me.
Landing outside the greenhouse, I retook my form and ran inside. I greeted my home, promised that all would be well, and put on jeans and Lorne’s sleep shirt—because smelling him would help ground me. Then I went back outside, trying to breathe.
I had to stay calm. This was my part to play now.
I was waiting on the porch so Kamosh could see me. As I expected, Lorne was driving, and under the demon’s direction, he stopped on the side of the road. Once they got out, I realized the demon had reprised wearing Tanner Murphy as a meat suit, the body appearing sickly now, as dead as it was. Gripping Lorne’s bicep tightly, Kamosh walked him around the side of the Jeep to the end of the cobblestone drive. Lorne looked ashen, staring at me with dead eyes.
I rushed down the stairs, sank to my knees in the grass, and shoved my hands into the dirt.