Devils & Thieves (Devils & Thieves #1)(57)

I knew immediately what that meant.

Darek was talking, his head hung, his eyes hidden behind aviator sunglasses despite the heaviness of the night. “I came to say good-bye and—”

“Someone is tracking me with a locator spell,” I said, cutting him off. His words barely registered. “Have you seen my mom?” I peered behind him, at the house. Warm light glowed in the windows. “She just texted—”

A roar of motorcycle engines hit our ears.

“Shit. That must be Crowe.” I couldn’t see the riders yet, but I was guessing Crowe was at the front, leading the pack.

“When he catches me with you…” Darek started.

“I know. I know.” I sighed and scrubbed at my face. Crowe had already done enough damage. I wasn’t going to allow him to do more. “Come on,” I said, and grabbed Darek by the hand, the minty scent of my magic immediately hitting my nose.

The drone of the engines grew louder, and headlights shone up the road toward my house. I yanked Darek toward the front door, fumbled at the doorknob for what seemed like too many minutes, and finally got the door open enough for us to slip inside.

Two Harleys swerved onto the front lawn as I ran into the living room, wondering if I could get away with hiding Darek in the coat closet.

Footsteps crashed through the garden, and the kitchen door banged open a bare second before Hardy charged into the living room and saw Darek and me frozen on the other side of the couch.

“Jemmie…” he and Darek said at the same time.

Footsteps in the kitchen and the smell of honey and smoke told me who was about to join us.

“Go!” I yelled, and pushed Darek down the hall.

Hardy leapt over the couch behind us.

Darek and I stumbled into my room, and I slammed the door shut. Locant magic burst from my palms in frenzied waves—a weak barrier spell.

“What now?” Darek asked.

“Window,” I said, but as I turned toward it, more headlights flashed outside.

Darek chuckled. “Hell is empty and all the Devils are here.”

I spun on him as Hardy pounded a fist against my door, threatening to shatter the reflexive barrier I’d covered it with. “Come here.” I held out my hand. Darek took it, and I gritted my teeth, calling on all my power and muttering an incantation my dad had made me practice all those years ago, when he still had hope for me.

The protective shield burst out in an orb around us, cascading down around Darek and me like glittering rain. Mint stung my throat, my eyes, but I stood firm as Hardy tore my door off its hinges.

By the time he reached us, though, the bubble had closed. The hair on my arms rose on end, the air suddenly charged with electricity.

“Where is she?” Crowe yelled as he stormed down the hall. “Jemmie!”

Hardy stared at me through the fractured light of the barrier. “She’s in here,” he called, keeping his eyes locked on me, nostrils flaring.

Crowe barged into my room and froze when he caught sight of me, standing there inside a barrier bubble, Darek safely beside me.

“What the fuck is this?” shouted Crowe.

“I win,” Darek said simply. “And you lose.”

The calm, cold sound of his voice chilled me. I looked up at him as he slid the sunglasses off his face.

His perfect, unbruised face. He gave me a smile. “A little of your friend Flynn’s inlusio goes a long way. And when you cloak it under locant? You don’t even know it’s there.”

“Boone’s gone,” Hardy said to me. “We had your dad do a locator to find you. He said you were here.”

“She came here because I asked her to,” Darek said.

“Where’s my mom?” My voice was so thin I’m surprised he heard me.

“Snug as a bug in a rug,” he said with a wink.

“You’re helping him,” Crowe said to Darek, amber ropes of magic sliding over my barrier, looking for a way in. “You’re helping Killian gather kindled to do the cruori.”

Darek laughed. “Nah, you big idiot. You’ve got it all wrong.” He set his hand on the back of my neck, his fingers curling around my throat. “Let me make it all perfectly clear.”

A lance of pain shot up my spine. I cried out. Darek squeezed harder as the air left my lungs. Smoke and honey and ash filled my nose. Gold and black streaked my vision. Venemon. This was Alex’s magic! Mixed with…

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

Darek Delacroix wasn’t powerless. Not at all.

My knees buckled. “Killian,” Darek explained as he guided me to the floor, “is helping me.”

“Don’t hurt her,” Crowe pleaded, slamming his hands against the barrier.

“Then don’t make me,” said Darek.

I couldn’t feel my feet. Not my arms. Or my hands. Not even the breath in my lungs. My mind felt fractured from the rest of me, separate from my body.

Hardy beat his fist against the shield. It held firm. No one except another locant kindled could break through it, I knew. I had put this one up with intention, and I was stronger than I’d believed. Maybe even as strong as Dad. Too bad I had discovered it at exactly the wrong time.

“I’ll liquefy her insides if you don’t back the hell up,” Darek said.