Demon's Vengeance The Complete - Jocelynn Drake Page 0,145
into the concrete floor. It was still close, watching everyone and everything, but it could no longer reach out and harm anyone.
I slumped, leaning heavily to the side on my right forearm. Never had I felt so drained in my life. It was like my very life force had been used up by the demon. And maybe it had.
“Is it gone?” Gideon asked cautiously.
I nodded, patting the concrete with my right hand. “Trapped outside of me.”
And still no one approached me. No one held me, offering comfort or support. They stayed back, afraid.
“What the hell was that all about?” Serah demanded loudly as she walked toward Gideon and Trixie, still giving me a wide berth. “Your eyes were glowing red.”
“A bad spell,” I lied.
“Bullshit,” Gideon snapped, drawing my gaze up to his face. He was pissed. “What the fuck do you think you were doing? You—”
“You would have done the same!” I growled at him. Anger helped put some energy back into my frame so that I could push to my feet. I swayed slightly. While the pain was gone, I was still exhausted to my core. Zyrus rumbled beneath me, but it could only look on and cheer my rage. I ignored the demon. It had caused enough trouble for one day. “If that had been Ellen tied up, you would have done—”
“No. Never!”
“Then you’re a coward and she’d be dead. We’d all be dead.” I stepped closer to the warlock, getting up in his face so that he couldn’t look away from me. “We had nothing. Vincent was toying with us. I wasn’t going to let that thing kill Trixie and my child because you’re afraid.”
Gideon glowered at me, looking at if he’d like nothing more than to break my nose with his fist, but he held back. It was probably best because I wasn’t holding on to my own emotions too well My mind had become a little frayed at the edges and I couldn’t risk looking too deeply at things. I wasn’t ready to start thinking about the fact that I’d killed the last unicorn and destroyed the bodies of the others. I didn’t want to think about the fact that I’d very nearly killed my own girlfriend and our child because I’d let a demon control me. The disgust and self-loathing would have snapped what little hold I had on my sanity.
“The Towers will find out,” Gideon said. The warlock blinked and I saw a brief shimmer of tears in his cold eyes. My bravado wavered. What I’d thought was anger in his voice was actually gut-wrenching fear for me; fear and disappointment.
“Tell them. I’m not afraid of the Towers anymore.”
Gideon nodded. He blinked again and the tears disappeared. His expression was cold and empty. “I’d once said that we would end this.”
I recalled the moment vividly in my mind. He’d been holding the dead body of a young girl in his arms; an apprentice witch who had tried to escape the Towers and got caught in the crossfire of a magic fight. I hadn’t thought of Alice in weeks. Another victim of the Towers.
“And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Gideon turned away and clamped a firm hand on Serah’s elbow. He nearly dragged her out of the building with him, not uttering another word. I felt the tiny tugs of a smile at the corners of my mouth. The woman had been in over her head for the first moment, but it hadn’t slowed her down. She also didn’t exhibit an ounce of fear for Gideon as she argued with him every step of the way. Not only did she not understand what had happened, but she wasn’t willing to abandon me. It was touching and misguided. I needed to do something about her.
It was with some reluctance that I looked back at Trixie. She stood several feet away, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her tears had dried on her face and the love I was so accustomed to seeing in her eyes had been replaced by fear and a horribly deep sadness.
“You summoned a demon,” she whispered as if she had to say the words aloud so that she could finally grasp what had happened.
“I couldn’t let Vincent kill you.”
“Maybe you should have.” She shook her head and bit down on her lower lip. “You say it’s gone, trapped, but I can still feel it on you. It’s what I’ve been feeling for days now. You’ve tainted yourself.”