Released (The Eternal Balance #3)(37)
“The cave itself isn’t actually submerged. Just the entrance. It’s not hard to get to, but like the locket, it can only be removed after dusk—and by a select few.”
“And what does this ‘selection’ entail?” Azi took a menacing step toward Van.
“First off, you have to be human to remove the stone, so don’t go getting any ideas, demon-boy.” She pulled her jacket tighter.
“And second?” I asked.
“There are specific requirements.”
“Which you have no intention of telling us about,” Azi finished for her with a growl.
“Sorry, demon-boy. Don’t trust you as far as I could throw you—especially since you just admitted to not caring about our agreement. If you want that stone, you need to keep me close—and alive.”
I had no intention of screwing Van over, and I intended to make sure Azi didn’t either. “So what do we have to do now?”
She walked to the door and leaned around the corner. When she pulled herself back inside, she was wearing a wicked grin. “Now we go get ourselves a locket.”
Chapter Seventeen
Azirak/Jax
Van led us down the main path, deeper into the park for about a mile. She seemed particularly interested when we came to a hulking rock, and veered off the path.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Sam asked. “It’s so damn dark, I can’t see a thing.”
“I know,” Van replied. “I could find my way to the locket blindfolded.”
We continued through the brush, stepping over fallen trees and through pricker bushes. No one came out this way—it was obvious by the heavily overgrown foliage and nonexistent path. Yet Van was sure. Azi went with it but stayed on alert.
“What’s so important about this locket,” Sam asked. She stumbled, and Azi caught her just before she toppled to the ground. She looked at me and smiled for a second before remembering it was Azi she was looking at—not me.
“I was wearing it the day Sadie stole my magic. Some of it transferred to the locket. I need every bit of lost magic there is if I hope to get it all back.”
“And to what extent do your powers remain?” Azi asked.
She slowed and tensed slightly, but didn’t stop. “Why? Weighing the possibilities of betraying me again?”
“Not at all.”
Careful. You’re a horrible liar…
“I am simply assessing your worth should we encounter a problem.”
Should we? Wishful thinking, *. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re problem magnets.
“A problem?”
“I’m trying to weigh how useful you’ll be when we are attacked again.” Which was true, but the demon was also fishing for information.
“I can do simple stuff. Curses and small spells of defense, but my primary magic, my specialty, is impossible.”
“Specialty?” Sam asked.
“All witches have what we call a specialty. A predisposition toward a specific kind of magic.”
“I didn’t know there were different kinds of magic.”
“Oh, yeah. My mom used to use the snowflake analogy. No two are exactly alike—like witches.”
“What is yours?” Azi asked. “Your specialty.”
The sadness that rolled off her then was pungent and thick. “No idea. My magic was stolen before I could figure it out. But I always felt a predilection toward—”
A shrill howl filled the air. We all froze.
Van glanced back toward the path. “What was that?”
“That…” Sam said and grasped the other girl’s arm. A tuft of gray lifted into the air, barely visible against the darkness. “…was definitely a problem. You remember those dog-things back at your apartment?”
“But—” She poked a finger in my direction. “He killed it!”
There was a rustle in the trees a few feet away, followed by another, much closer, howl. As Sam screamed, “Run!” several carnivi broke through the trees. We scattered, and Van let go of a terrified shriek. She scrambled to the left just as the first one touched down, inches from where she’d been.
“Keep moving!” Azi rushed forward and, with a snarl, threw my body at the carnivus. We both careened sideways. This gave Van a chance to move farther out of the way. Until the demon got the stone, the girl was under its protection.
“There are at least three,” Sam cried. She ducked as another exploded from the brush and sailed overhead. It landed with an earthshattering thump, and let out an otherworldly howl.
The one beneath me reared and snapped its powerful jaw, but thankfully Azi missed the attack. It wrapped my arms around the thing’s hulking neck and twisted. It wasn’t enough. The beast was too strong, and it bucked us off.
Movement to our left caught my attention, and Sam screamed. One had her cornered, teeth bared and saliva dripping. It advanced slowly, herding her toward the open end of the path.
Azi sprang to action. It lunged to my feet, shouldered our own carnivus aside, and dove for Sam’s. My body crashed into the monster, and it felt like my bones came dangerously close to shattering as we were knocked apart upon hitting the ground again.
As I’d hoped, the carnivus switched focus and turned. It rushed me, and Azi’s excitement flooded my system. These things were different. The demon couldn’t pull sustenance from them, or the Trackers, but the fight was something the demon craved almost as much as feeding.