the coins. That’s why Jazmine had fled in the midst of a battle. She had wanted the formula for eternal life more than victory tonight. Rebuilding her army would come later as long as she possessed the coins. Her cause had now been inherited by Martin, who was scrambling to locate the prize.
With some relief, I realized Martin didn’t have the translation. As far as I knew, unless Rita and the others had deciphered it, which was indeed a possibility, no one had it.
Regardless, I couldn’t allow something so important that had destroyed so many lives remain in the hands of a madman. Martin, with his misguided loyalty to Jazmine, certainly qualified as mad.
Wanting my human hands back so I could gather coins, I pictured myself as Chloe Carpenter, human female, and following renewed bodily rearrangements, I was rewarded with my original, God-given shape. Naked shape, but who was complaining at this stage of the game?
Once more taking advantage of my mind magic, I froze Martin in place and dashed to the car. I found two of the coins, and was just starting to sift through the spilled contents of his suitcase, when an earth-shattering roar shattered any semblance of momentary sanity I was feeling.
I’d forgotten the demonic beast and the whistle I was supposed to be retrieving.
So caught up in my hatred of Jazmine and our subsequent fight, I’d failed my friends again.
Gripping the two coins, I scurried back to where I’d overpowered Jazmine.
It wasn’t a pretty sight.
The grass was trampled and torn. Splatters of blood dotted the landscape. Jazmine’s throat yawned open like a gory mouth. Her eyes, no longer filled with anger and loathing, were void of anything. They were empty. Lifeless.
I’d killed her.
And in the process I’d emerged somehow victorious, and also unscathed.
Trying to ignore the unfamiliar feelings that resulted from taking a life, I continued my frantic search for the one thing that could control the rampaging monster.
Without any concrete way to determine how long I’d been away from the others, I had to consider that the demon might have freed itself from David’s magic-made prison.
With that horrible thought urging me on, I dropped to my knees, running my fingers through the grass. At this rate, it would be dawn before I found anything.
Sensing a nearby presence, a chill swept across my exposed back.
I rocked back to sit on my heels, more mortified by my bare ass on display than who my stalker might be.
“Chloe, are you hurt? What happened?” Zane rushed to help me while pulling off his tattered and blood drenched T-shirt. He knelt and lifted my chin, his eyes searching mine.
Unable to meet his gaze, I dropped my head. “We have to find the whistle,” I whispered. Afraid if I said more, or acknowledged his gentle touch, I might break. A breakdown would have to wait. We had a demon to exercise.
Pulling away, I yanked on his filthy shirt and stood, relieved to see it reached mid thigh. “The whistle’s silver,” I added, before sending Zane a mental summary of my fight with Jazmine and subsequent search for the coins.
“Here. Put them somewhere safe.” I pressed the coins into his hand. He shoved them deep into the front pocket of his jeans. To my relief, he didn’t press for more details.
Turning his attention to the ground, his eyes rested on Jazmine, but again he didn’t comment. “We have to hurry. That thing is testing the barrier. They can’t keep it up much longer. They’ve expended too much magic.”
We had to help David and his fae-blooded friends; they’d done so much for us. Without them, we’d all be dead.
With that in mind, we explored what felt like every blade of grass. My frustration increased the longer we looked. The beast was barking excitedly, a sure sign it was closer to freedom.
“Dammit,” I groaned. “Oh no!”
“What?” Zane looked up, puzzled.
“I figured it flew off Jazmine during our … anyway, maybe she’s still wearing it.”
Zane stalked over to gaze down at his former fiancé. I hurried to join him.
“There, in her hair.” I pointed; shocked to see the chain tangled in her blood-matted bob, the whistle still intact. I couldn’t help remembering her sleek coiffed hair the first time I’d seen her. She’d seemed indestructible.
I knew better now. No one was indestructible.
Without a hint of compassion, Zane ripped the chain from her bloodied throat and grasped the one thing that could silence the beast.