Evil - Tijan Page 0,40

from her force. It was so strong, so powerful…

“She’s his. You know this.” He started to circle, the predator.

She stood upright, never the prey. “She’s mine! I am in her. You cannot separate us.”

His eyes were fierce, promising ways of vengeance as he kept circling, slowly, so slowly.

She stared straight ahead, head high and chin lifted upward. Her shoulders were strong, so steady, and instead of watching him rounding, she ignored him. Then, as he hissed and lurched forward, she flung out an arm. Blinding light burst forth from underneath her arm, all the way down to the ground. It was a gleaming white cloak that she had adorned, and it beamed so bright, like a sun that’s too close to the human eye.

He reeled back.

“Leave!” she spoke with force. “Leave her alone, and I won’t break her. I will not force my way, but you will leave her.”

His body jerked upright, but a fluid look took over. His skin shifted easily, and it was Kellan in the forefront. His eyes snapped open, in control, but the same smoldering reddish color from the demon. “If you break her, I will kill you.”

She snorted, smiling cruelly. “As if you have the power—”

Then his hand shot out, and dark light burst from him. It shot her backward into the woods. The messenger recovered quickly, in midair, and sent another zap of her own energy. Kellan flung his hand open, caught it, and sent it back. She gaped, floating in the air, as it hit her body. No impact was felt. She absorbed it and then lifted stunned eyes back to him. Gliding to the ground, to stand before him again, she studied him. “You are not a mere hybrid.”

Kellan didn’t respond, standing there and waiting.

“Why should I not open my arms and let you be blinded by my real self? You would die, right now. Your eyes would burn into your body, and the demon would never recover. Tell me why I should not do that? Your kind hates my kind. My kind loathes yours.”

Kellan bristled in anger, but controlled it. “Because she needs me. I am bonded to her, and you know this. You’ve felt this her whole life, your whole life, and you know that if you kill me, she will be broken. You cannot survive without her.”

Hatred boiled underneath her surface, but something shifted, and she was gone.

KELLAN

Shay gasped, reeling backward. She threw her arms out, trying to regain some sort of balance. “Kellan!”

Swooping in, he caught her before she fell and swiftly lifted her up in his arms. His hand tucked her head against his chest, and he murmured, “Sleep. I’ll explain when you wake.”

“No!” She dug her hands in his shirt, her nails scraping through to his skin.

Kellan watched, unharmed. He didn’t react as she drew his blood, but smoothed out her hair from her forehead. “Sleep, Shay. It will be all right. I promise.” He ducked his head down and pressed his cheek to her forehead, drawing strength from her as well. The demon was exhausted from fighting the messenger. He could feel the turmoil inside of her and sucked in his breath, angry the messenger had even threatened to destroy everything. Shay wasn’t strong enough to handle the switch from messenger to human. Only one other human had survived a break as this messenger had done. They weren’t supposed to break free and take control over the body. They hadn’t been created for that.

“Kellan,” Shay murmured drowsily. His magic was working, slipping into her, making her succumb to exhaustion.

“Sshh. Sleep.”

And her eyes closed. Her entire body gave up the fight and was limp in his arms.

He drew in another shuddering breath and wrapped both of his arms around her tight. Then he whisked them through the woods and into his bedroom.

The lights were off. Since there was no moonlight that night, his room seemed darker than normal. Kellan saw everything clearly, as if it were day, and laid her down onto his bed gently. Then he sat beside her, gazing down at her in concern.

The messenger had broken free, taken over. What would be the ramifications? What would Shay remember? What parts of the messenger had become more linked to her, had broken her own sheltering spell that she cast as a child?

Kellan lifted up her sleeve and saw the circling tattoo had stopped. The strings that had formed a circle were now intertwined. They mixed together except one string at the bottom. It stood