Released (The Eternal Balance #3)(10)
Score another one for me, shithead!
“The charges—” The color drained from Spencer’s face, and his right hand, still clutching the corner of the desk, twitched several times before clamping down on the wood hard enough to turn his knuckles white. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He straightened, adjusted his shirt, and yanked open the door. “This isn’t over, Flynn.”
Azi stood. The demon made a show of smoothing out my shirt and picking a speck of lint from the sleeve before slowly sauntering from the room.
Yeah. Its impression was spot on.
Chapter Four
Sam
Azi hadn’t said anything since we’d gotten back into Kelly’s truck. It didn’t ask how I’d managed to dig us out of our little predicament, or how I’d convinced Kelly to let us keep the truck. The demon had slipped behind the wheel, and we were currently cruising up the Taconic State Parkway. Normally the silence didn’t bother me. The less the demon opened Jax’s mouth, the easier it was for me to pretend things were okay. But about an hour in, I started getting antsy.
“So Heckle mentioned a tracker? What was he talking about?”
Azi took an exit and turned the truck onto a narrow country road. “The Tracker is akin to what humans would consider a bounty hunter. It seeks out items of power and the things associated with them.”
I cringed as loose pebbles assaulted the underside of the truck. Kelley was a pain in my ass, but she meant well—in her own special way. She loved this stupid truck. I’d promised to keep it safe, telling her that I was taking Jax to a rehab facility and would be officially done with him when I returned to Harlow. She wasn’t going to be happy if both things turned out to be lies. “And you think Chase summoned it?”
“If he has half of the Brim Stone in his possession, it would be the logical move. Power attracts. Many will be looking for it. The sooner he obtains the other half, essentially making himself untouchable, the better I imagine.”
“So we need to find the other half before this tracker does.” I nodded as the truck listed to the left. We’d pulled down another road, this one all dirt and barely large enough for a single car. Branches scraped the sides and roof and I said a silent prayer that they weren’t messing up the paint too badly. “How do we do that?”
“We don’t.” When we couldn’t go any farther, the truck came to a stop. It hadn’t been a road, but a driveway that ended at a small log cabin situated at the mouth of a stream. The demon killed the engine and got out of the car. A moment later, it was at my door, yanking me unceremoniously from the passenger seat. “You do.”
“Me?” I repeated, as the demon dragged me toward the cabin. It looked old, and as Azi pulled me up the steps, I worried the tiny porch wouldn’t support our weight. Each movement sent a series of groans and creaks that sounded suspiciously like a warning. “How am I supposed to find it? And where the hell are we anyway?”
I didn’t get a response. Instead, the demon produced a key and unlocked the door, then shoved me across the threshold. I had no idea what I expected to find inside the small house, but it wasn’t neatly stacked cardboard boxes and tons of ancient looking furniture beneath what appeared to be decades of dust.
Azi let go of me and closed the door, and I took another step inside. The boxes went from floor to ceiling and looked to be piled around the edge of the room three deep in some places. Each one had a four-digit number on the front, some barely visible through the thick accumulation of dust. “What is this place?”
Azi thought about it for a moment. “The edge of the world. My world.”
I rolled my eyes. “That tells me nothing.”
The demon sighed. “I suppose it is my home.”
“Home?” I lifted the flap on the nearest box, one numbered 1908. It was full of black and white photographs. “Jax never mentioned this place.”
“He doesn’t know of its existence.”
I let the box close. “I don’t understand. If it’s his house, how would he not know?”
“You misunderstand me. It is mine.” Azi walked past me and traced the top of the box I’d opened. “They are filled with pieces of the past.”
“Pieces of the—” I ran my finger over the front of another box. When I wiped away the dust, I saw the number 1862. “Years… The numbers are years.”
“Of course.” It looked at me as though that should have been the natural conclusion, the expression on Jax’s face all Azi. “Enough about the boxes. We are here to find the Brim Stone.”
I stepped away from the pile and threw up my hands. “Oh, right. I’m supposed to find it.” I spread my arms. “Is the answer in one of these boxes I’m not supposed to be talking about? Am I pulling it out of my ass, or do you have a better plan?”
“Use your energy. The stone is powerful. Pures are attracted to power. Upon death, they gravitate toward it.”
“I’m not dead,”
“But you are activated. Your power has been unbound from your soul. It is the same thing.”
I wanted to argue, but I could see it would have been pointless. Jax was stubborn. I’d dealt with it all my life. But Azi? It took the whole thing to new levels. “Well, how exactly do I use my energy?”