Fuck.
I start towards the woods.
“The wendigo is back,” Lucas says, tipping his head up and smelling the air. “He’s not far, but we have some time.
“Those things move fast.” Evander’s eyes widen.
“So do I.” Lucas grabs me around the waist and pulls me against him. “Go home.”
“No, Lucas.” My breath hitches, and I shake my head. “You’re coming with us.”
He just smiles, kisses me, and runs into the woods, going the opposite direction of my house. I stand there staring at the spot where he left.
“Come on.” Evander grabs my hand and pulls me toward him. I get hit with a terrible feeling of déja vu. Of Evander trying to lead me to safety while Lucas risks his life for me.
Again.
“I can’t let him go out there alone. That wendigo could tear him apart!”
“And it will tear you apart if we don’t get going.”
Binx nudges me forward, agreeing with Evander.
“And the banshee?”
“He’s the strongest vampire I’ve had the displeasure of meeting. He’s fast and he’s strong.”
“Right…he…he is.” I close my eyes in a long blink and feel the magic sizzling around my fingers. I’m wasting time standing here worrying. We need to get to my house, grab what we need, and come back out here and kick demon ass. “Let’s go.”
I toss an energy ball up, lighting the way, and race into the woods. With Freya and Pandora leading the way, Evander and I make it nearly a mile before the banshee’s cries ring out overhead.
Gritting my teeth, I focus on my breathing and push forward, taking a few more strides before realizing Evander is slowing down. Binx doubles back, pushing Evander forward. I take his hand and start running again. The cries grow louder and louder, echoing inside my head, making it feel like my brain is going to explode, splitting my skull in two.
“She’s almost here,” I pant. In spirit form, my familiars are unaffected by the banshee. If she gets close enough, they’ll be able to hold her back so Evander and I can get away. But that’s assuming her cries don’t drive us to the point of madness first.
Tree branches snap as something barrels toward us. Their smell hits first, and I whirl around, throwing an energy ball at a scrapper built like a tree trunk. It growls, dropping to its knees from the pain of the magic but not dying.
“Get the scrappers,” I tell my familiars, conjuring another energy ball with one hand and grabbing Evander’s with the other. I jerk him forward, trying to block out the banshee’s screams. Banshees are lower-level but aren’t entirely corporeal. An energy ball won’t kill one, but it will slow her down.
We’ll take what we can get.
Low-hanging branches scratch my face, and dew from the underbrush soaks my pants. Evander slows, brings his hands to his head, trying to cover his ears.
“Come on!” I shout, holding up my hand. Blue light illuminates his face. His nose is bleeding, and his eyes are bloodshot. “No,” I cry, shaking my head. “Fight past this, Evander!”
He falls to his knees and the banshee’s screams echo louder and louder. I whirl around, looking for her. The pain in my head becomes almost too much to bear as well, and I double over, feeling like I’m going to throw up.
And then that same weird feeling takes over, making my heart skip a beat and the magic swirling around my fingers spark. The pain starts to subside, and I straighten up, wiping a trickle of blood from my nose.
“Where are you?” I bend my fingers in toward my palm, forming the energy into a ball. “I’m going to find you, and I’m going to kill you,” I sneer. “All of you. This is my town, and these are my friends you’re messing with.”
The banshee lets out one final harrowing scream and then goes silent. My breath leaves me as I whip around again, watching my familiars tear through the scrapper demons. Evander’s on the ground, head between his hands.
“Are you okay?” I ask, rushing over to him.
He looks up, blinking.
“Your eyes,” he starts, squinting as he looks at me. “I…I thought I saw them glowing.”
“That doesn’t matter. We need to go. I don’t know where the banshee went but she’ll be back. They don’t give up until they get their kill.”
“Neither do you.”
“I’m not giving up until they’re all dead.” I take a step back, looking around. I usually like hunting lower-level demons, but this is just adding to my stress level. Evander is still crouched down with one hand planted on the ground. “Do you need a minute?” I ask.
He shakes his head, eyes falling shut, and bows his head down, but doesn’t get up.
“Evander?”
Chapter 30
“Evander?” I repeat. “Hey…talk to me.”
He jerks his head up, and his chocolate brown eyes are jet black.
“Evander?” I shake my head. “No, no, no…” His hand is still on the ground. I didn’t notice it before but now I feel it. The pulsing of the Ley line, traveling through the ground. I jump back, staring at the ground. I can’t see the energy, but it’s there…and it infected Evander.
The banshee screams again, but Evander doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t react at all. Slowly, he gets to his feet.
“Can you hear me?” I ask, heart racing. Binx snaps the neck of the scrapper he’s fighting and comes over, getting a read on Evander’s energy. Evander looks Binx up and charges at me. Binx knocks him to the ground and Evander jumps up, holding out his hands to cast a curse on me.
“Stop!” I yell at Evander. “You’re still in there! You don’t want to do this!”
Binx shadows around Evander, and I take a few steps back, looking behind me as the banshee’s screams ring out again. Two more scrappers drop, and Freya and Pandora take off, going after the banshee.
“Evander!” I go to him, putting my hands on his shoulders and giving him a shake. “Snap out of it.”
He leans in, tipping his head. I don’t know if he can even see me. It’s like there’s nothing in his eyes except the darkness. There’s no trace of him left, and the aura surrounding him is chaotic.
“Half-breed,” he murmurs, sending a chill right through me. “They’ve been looking and looking for you.”
I snap back, taking my hands off him. He’s possessed. A high-level demon must have ridden through the crack, slipping into the night and then into the first body it could find.
“Who are you?” I demand.
“Oh, I know better than to tell you my name. Though you didn’t know the name of the last demon who sought you out, and we all saw how that ended.”
“I’ll do the same to you.”
“And kill your friend in the process?” He shakes his head. “I was hoping to get inside the corpse you call a lover, but this warm body does the job.”
“I’ll exorcise you and then kill you.”
“Witches can’t do exorcisms.”
I push my shoulders back, heart racing so fast it hurts. “I’m not only a witch. You just said it.”
The slightest bit of annoyance flashes on his face. “You don’t know what you are, do you?”
“It doesn’t matter, right? You’re going to kill me anyway.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. The others…they want to kill you. I want you to join me.”
“Join you?”
“With you behind me, I’ll move through the ranks.”
“I don’t stand behind anyone,” I retort. “Let alone demons.”
He raises his hand, black smoke surrounding his fingers. “Think about it.” He waves his hand, and the smoke sparks, hitting me in the chest and knocking me on my butt.
“Callie!” Lucas speeds through the woods, standing protectively in front of me. He’s covered in blood and his shirt is torn. But he’s here. Alive. Well, kind of. “What the hell?” He stares at where Evander was just standing.
“He’s possessed.” I push up onto my feet.
“
Can you expel the demon?”
“I can try. There are rituals, but they’re dangerous. Not many survive.”
“What do you need for it?”
“Sage, salt, and a very specific spell.”
“Let’s go get it,” Lucas says, turning back to me.
“There’s no time. We need to get to the door and find the exact spot where the crack is. I have to stop this, Lucas. I can’t save Evander if more demons are coming out.” My hands shake as I look into Lucas’s blue eyes. “The demon said he wanted to possess you.”
Lucas’s face tightens, knowing how dangerous he’d be if he were possessed by a demon. He just killed a supercharged wendigo with a pocket knife and his own hands, for fuck’s sake.
“Okay,” he says and scoops me up. “I’ll take you.”
Binx runs along with us, and we get to the door in good time. Lucas sets me down.
“It was over here before,” he says, motioning to the spot where the Ley line almost filled him with darkness too. I hold out my hands, reading the energy.