Sin & Spirit (Demigod of San Francisco #4)(77)

“You okay?” Zorn asked again, scanning her face.

She seemed to know what he was asking. “Not about Jack.” More tears dripped down. “I’m not okay about Jack. He did this. He k-kill—” Daisy shook her head, unable to say the words.

“Tell her, Lexi, please.” Jack squeezed in. “Please tell her I’d never hurt her. Not if I was in my right mind. Please.”

“Zorn, give them a second,” Kieran said, his voice a whip crack of command. “Alexis, go ahead and act as the bridge between Jack and Daisy. They both need closure.”

Zorn stiffened, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to leave his charge, or because Jack was in the room, before stepping aside.

“She’s okay, but our work isn’t done,” Kieran murmured to him. “Find out who owns this place. How long it has been here. Let’s make sure we have all our eggs in the basket. Call the others to tell them she’s safe. Then we need to find out more about that Possessor.”

They moved into the larger room as I explained the whole Possessor situation to Daisy, telling her that both Jack and the woman who’d kidnapped her had been possessed.

“But Mordie made it,” I finished, tears in my eyes. “He’ll be okay.”

“Wait.” She grabbed my upper arm with her good hand. “Is…” She swallowed. “He’s…?”

I nodded at her, smiling with the relief I’d felt. “He’s okay. He’ll be fine. He just needs to heal now.”

She stared at me, taking it in, her eyes going glassy.

The feeling of spirit being manipulated tore my focus away. This wasn’t the same feeling as a spirit moving through the space, however. No, this was the feeling of something entering, like the other night at the house.

I turned, brow furrowed, stepping away a little. Daisy and I could hug it out later. We weren’t out of the woods yet.

“What is it?” Daisy asked, sagging against the wall.

“Something’s…” Another soul blipped onto my radar, faint at first, as though it was manifesting. It seemed to be overlaying Zorn’s, sharing the same space.

Dawning understanding made my stomach drop. Before I could turn, the door closed with a soft thump, and the lock clicked over.

“Kieran!” I rushed to the door and turned the handle. “Kieran!”

“What’s happening?” Daisy asked, pushing off the wall.

I banged my shoulder into the door to bust it open. It didn’t budge. This was well made, from an era that hadn’t tried to skimp on such things, and I didn’t have Zorn’s physique.

“Zorn’s compromised,” I shouted as Kieran approached the door.

“Alexis?” His voice was badly muffled. I almost couldn’t make out my name.

“Zorn is compromised!” I yelled as loudly as I could, magically digging into Zorn’s chest so I could boot out the Possessor’s soul. But it overlaid Zorn’s soul perfectly, as if the two had been fused. I couldn’t rip out one without ripping out the other.

“Not without seeing,” I muttered to myself, feeling around the edges of the soul box, trying to find any differences in how they were rooted. How they connected. “I can’t work on feeling the first time. I need to see—”

“I got it,” Jack said, dashing for the wall. “I can tell him.”

The handle jiggled, Kieran at the door, and suddenly Zorn’s soul—souls—burst into action.

“Kieran, watch out!” I screeched, clutching Zorn’s soul in my fist. It didn’t stop him. I could feel him pushing through my hold.

Something slammed against the door. A blast of power rocked me backward. Intense pain and alarm poured through the soul link. More power pumped into the room beyond, bleeding into the storeroom.

“You gotta get in there,” Daisy said, joining me at the door. “Force your way in!”

I slammed my shoulder against the door again. A third time. It was too strong and I wasn’t heavy enough. I backed up and kicked. Nothing.

“Damn it.” I shook Zorn’s soul, battered it. A prong snapped. “What’s happening?”

Jack ducked back in, his face ashen. “Zorn stabbed Kieran in the neck with a knife. Take Zorn down.”

I relayed the info, needing a witness, needing courage, not wanting to do this.

“Wait. Wait.” Daisy put her hand on the wall as another blast of power pumped into the room, singeing my skin. “Kieran is a Demigod. Zorn doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Kieran has to maintain pressure on his neck. He can’t fight the way he needs to fight, and Zorn doesn’t give in to pain,” Jack said. “He’s withstood days of torture. Not to mention he’s not in control. It’s either Zorn or Kieran, Alexis, and if Kieran goes, think what’ll happen to everyone else. This whole territory. You have to step in. Drop Zorn.”

“There has to be a way around this,” Daisy said, not able to hear Jack. “That Possessor can’t win again.” She fisted her hand. “We gotta get in there. We have to get in there, Lexi.”

My heart ached as I held Zorn’s soul, as I felt Kieran’s energy fading.

I shrugged out of my skin without a second thought. I didn’t lie down. I didn’t go into a trance. There wasn’t time for fear. I pushed my body away like a coat in the summer.