Released (The Eternal Balance #3)(33)

She studied me for a long moment, then glanced in through the window. “Say I believe your intentions are…pure. What happens to the stone after you get what you want?”

I threw up my hands. “Nothing at all. You can take it back, toss it down a drain somewhere, or use it in some new age jewelry setting. I honestly don’t care. I have one goal and only one goal.”

She watched me and gnawed on the corner of her bottom lip. For an endless minute, she said nothing, only stared.

When I couldn’t take it anymore, I said, “Please. I think…I think you’re my last hope to get him back.”

She looked from me to Azi, who was finally picking Jax’s body off the coffee house floor under the watchful eye of the other two witches. When she turned back to me, I saw sympathy. “Fine,” she said after a moment. “I’ll help you. But I want something in return…”

“Anything,” I said. And I meant it, too. Teaming up with Van was just what I needed. With her help, I’d be able to free Jax. I’d be able to save him. For the first time in weeks, it felt as though I could breathe.





Chapter Fifteen


Azirak/Jax

Azi didn’t trust the exchange that was taking place outside, but it had no choice other than to remain where it was. The two witches that stayed behind—the redhead who had removed the spell, and a tall blonde who regarded us with barely contained contempt—stood guard.

Sam and Van were outside for close to ten minutes, and when they came back into the building, Sam was smiling. Van pushed past her and waved to the two women. “We’re good here.” They stepped away, their reluctance like a ten-ton weight in the air, and disappeared around the counter.

She turned to me. “I’m agreeing to help.”

Neither Azi nor I missed the not-so-subtle flicker of her gaze in Sam’s direction, and I had to wonder if they’d made a deal to double cross the demon. Azi wondered, too, but wasn’t concerned. It would keep the stone regardless of the witch’s plan. “You will return the stone to me?”

“I’ll take you to where the stone is being kept. It’s protected.”

“Protected how?” the demon asked, wary.

Van rolled her eyes, and I couldn’t miss now how much like Sadie she looked. Azi noticed, too. The demon flashed the image of her lying at my feet, eyes wide and blood pooling beneath her, followed by a spike of rage. “Duh. By magic.”

“And in exchange?” Nothing was free. The demon had learned that through the hard lessons I’d picked up on the streets. On my own at seventeen, surviving had taken compromise and sacrifice.

Van looked at Sam. “In exchange, I want protection. From these things you say are coming after me.”

“Of course,” Azi said. “If I let them kill you, I wouldn’t find the stone.”

Sam’s disgust was obvious. It floated off her, thick tendrils twisting into the air. Van, on the other hand, was smug. She grinned and winked. “There’s something else.”

“Such as?”

“I want my magic back.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When Sadie—” Sam cringed then went on. “When Malphi attacked Van to steal her magic, she didn’t finish the ritual, obviously, but she did get a good chunk of her magic.”

Van folded her arms and fixed me with a determined stare. “You want what belongs to you. Then I want what belongs to me.”

The demon’s irritation was like a brick tied around my neck.

Don’t say anything stupid…

“Well?” Van pressed.

A barrage of images stormed through my head. Most came too quickly to make sense of them, but one stood out. It showed Azi, still in control of my body, standing over Van as she clutched her bleeding throat and gasped for air.

If I didn’t do something, that vision would become reality, and we’d lose whatever chance we had at getting the stone. I couldn’t let that happen—even if it meant doing the unthinkable.

Agree with her for f*ck’s sake. She doesn’t need to know everything. You have no intention of giving the stone back to her? Big f*cking deal. You don’t need to advertise it.

The demon’s shock hit me hard. It couldn’t believe I’d suggested it lie.

We’ve got a common goal. Sam. This is going to help her. To keep her safe. From here on out, we have to work together. As much as I hate you, it’s time for a truce.

“Agreed,” it said, and I knew it was talking to not only Van, but me as well. I’d just made a deal with the devil.

…

I was in the white room again. Van insisted we get a full night’s sleep before venturing out, saying the stone wouldn’t be easy to get to. She even let us crash at her friend’s place.

I had no concept of time while locked inside, but it felt like an eternity when Azi finally showed himself to me. “You are restless,” it said. The shadows wafted from its vaguely human form.

“Ya think?” I snapped. I had a flash of my own—my hands wrapped around the demon’s smoky neck as they choked the life from it and took back my body.

“Your thoughts are pointless. You cannot kill me.”

“Stay out of my f*cking head.”

It regarded me for a moment and settled in the corner, once again beside the pencil. “You are growing weaker.”