Released (The Eternal Balance #3)(55)

The shadow pulsed twice then exploded, wisps of black careening in every direction before dissipating into nothingness.

I waved my hand in the air where the demon had just been. “I can’t believe it’s all over. That he’s gone…”

“Heckle?”

I took a deep breath, filling my lungs—my lungs—with cold air. “Azi.”

Sam’s lips tilted upward. “You called the demon a he.”

“I did,” I said, smiling. “Because he deserves it. In the end, you were right. Azi cared about both of us. Cared so much that he gave up this lifetime so that I could stay here with you. Someone who does something like that—sacrifices himself—is just about as human as you can get in my book.”

Van cleared her throat, and we both turned, having forgotten she was here. “Thank you,” she said. “You have no idea what you’ve done for me.”

“Thank us?” Sam stuck her fingers through the gaping hole in my shirt and frowned. “I think we should be thanking you.”

She grinned. Van was beautiful—even more so than Sadie had been. Her black hair, previously dull and lifeless, now shone with new luster, and her eyes… I hadn’t realized how dead they’d been before. “You have no idea what it’s like for a witch to be stripped of her powers—even if not completely. It was like I was living in the darkness, unable to find my way home. Here.” She made a fist and whispered something into her hand. When she opened her palm, a small white stone sat in the middle. “You only need to hold this and call my name. Not that I expect you’ll be needing me for anything, but if you ever do…”

Hesitant, Sam took the stone from her. I knew she’d had enough jewelry to last ten lifetimes, between the Brim Stone and the demon cuff. “Thank you,” she said. “I’d love to say we’ll never need your help, but even though Chase is gone, there are other demons out there. Someone is always going to want a piece of me.”

Her smile brightened, and Van pressed a single finger against Sam’s forehead, then shook her head. “No, they won’t. You’re human now as well.”

She looked from me to Van. “But the Pure energy—”

“Must have dissipated when you killed Chase and nuked the stone.” She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, she was smiling. “I can’t feel it at all anymore.”

Nothing short of a nuclear explosion could get rid of that energy…

Van leaned in and hugged her, then me. Without another word, she turned on her heel and strode from the cave without looking back.

“I want to leave, but I’m afraid,” she said, trying—and failing—to take a step forward.

I laced my fingers through hers. “You heard her. We’re free, Sammy. It’s done. Over.”

“Is it? Is it really? Can it really be that easy?”

I pulled her around to face me, and just before crushing my lips to hers I said, “The world owes us a little easy.”





Epilogue


Jax


We waited by the edge of the cliff. The sun was about to set, the sky painted in hues of pink and orange that reminded me of Sam’s breakfast this morning. Rainbow Sherbet. For the past four months, ever since expelling the Pure energy, she’d been eating the stuff like there was no tomorrow. Heckle said it was just a side effect of purging the energy. Nothing to worry about.

I hadn’t been spared a side effect of my own. Several, actually. Though not nearly as pleasant as Sam’s, nothing so far had presented itself as a serious hindrance to our lives. In fact, one of them was downright helpful.

While nowhere near as hardy as I’d been when Azi and I had been sharing the apartment, I had found that my ability to heal faster than normal had remained. Simple cuts and bruises were gone within hours, and when I’d broken my leg a month ago, it had healed completely in a week’s time.

The other lingering effect from Azi’s residence was an ability to sense demons. I couldn’t explain it—there wasn’t a telltale smell or distortion in their appearance. It was as simple as passing someone on the street, and knowing deep in my gut that they weren’t human. Again, not horrible, but it rankled. Knowing what they were, that they would probably hurt someone sooner or later, made it hard to keep walking. And with Azi gone, I was merely human. A fight to the death would probably mean my own.

Sam had stayed in contact with Van, and since her own experience with demons wasn’t a warm fuzzy one, we were currently trying to come up with a system that used her coven’s magic and my demon radar to help combat the threat these things posed. It made me feel like I was doing something, and since Heckle had released Sam and me from service as Balance Agents, there’d been an odd hole in our lives—which was seven kinds of f*cked up when you considered we’d never wanted that job to begin with.

I turned back toward the path and noticed someone approaching from the distance. When his features came into view, I realized it was Heckle. “’Bout time you showed,” I called, as he sauntered up to us, casual as could be. He was late—knowing how important this was hadn’t seemed to light a fire under his ancient ass.

He glanced around, offered Sam a small nod, and shrugged. “Seems I’m not the only one.”