Demons of Bourbon Street (25 page)

The cylinder of fire raged, bubbled up to the top, and swirled around as if alive. It turned from fiery white to orange, back to white, and so forth through a range of colors as the demon tossed more body parts into the inferno.

The cheers grew louder, filling the auditorium with a bone-chilling evil. My knees started to buckle with the intensity of it all. Kane held me up, locking me to his side, both of us momentarily paralyzed by the scene in front of us.

When the bag was empty, the demon tossed it in and raised his arms, inviting the frenzied crowd’s applause. The fiery dance within the glass chamber intensified and snapped together in one last triumphant finale to form an image of a tall, thin man, skeletal even, with distinctive bone structure. Anger and pride defined his facial expression as he stood, feet spread and arms crossed in a defiant stance.

Somehow, I knew the form was of the man the demon had just fed to the fire.

Was this Dan’s fate?
The vision we’d witnessed back at the club of Dan hovering over a fire flashed in my brain. We had to find him before he was next.

The silhouette of the man in the silo burst apart and the fire returned to its normal blaze, only now the flames burned an iridescent green. Across the chamber, a spotlight shone on a passageway.

From its depths, a tall female demon with an angular face and long black hair stepped up to a small podium. “I accept the honor of the Fire Sacrifice. In two nights forth, you shall have your offering.”

Meri!

We were just in time. If we didn’t get Dan out, he’d be fire food.

Demons of all shapes and sizes spilled forward from hidden tunnels and passageways. The mobs pushed past us and would have crushed us against the stone wall if Kane hadn’t moved and pulled me with him. He yanked me in front of him and steered us along, moving painfully slow toward Meri and the green tunnel.

As the chatter and whoops of celebration filled the chamber, my skin crawled. The instinct to flee was so strong, I started to drag my feet, unable to keep moving forward.

“
Stay with me, Jade,” Kane said into my ear. “Don’t let them take you.”

I didn’t know exactly what he meant, but I managed to put one foot in front of the other. After a long crawl through the crowd, we found ourselves only one passageway away from where we wanted to be.

Kane pulled me into an empty, darkened tunnel. “Can you do this?”

I struggled to breathe. My limbs were sluggish, and with every beat of my heart, dozens of tiny invisible needles prickled in my chest. I leaned into him, stumbled, and toppled to the side, only saving myself at the last minute when I grabbed onto his waist. My elbow jammed into his thigh. He gasped, biting off an oath.

“
Sorry!” I stared up into his pasty-white face. He was suffering more than I’d realized. I pulled out the earth-infused herbs. Mom told me to use them sparingly, but if I didn’t stop the drain working over both of us, we’d never get home. I held my hand out, a small mound of dried herbs in my palm. “Here. Swallow this.”

He didn’t argue. A second later he grimaced and coughed, trying to dislodge the herbs stuck in his throat.

I swallowed my own portion and closed the bag back up. That left one more dose. The pain pulsing in my chest started to dull. I gave Kane a questioning glance. “Did it work?”

He flexed his leg and gritted his teeth, but his color had returned. “I’ll be fine.”

While my energy wasn’t restored, at least I could think and function again. Kane seemed to move a little easier as well. We ducked back out of the tunnel, only to find the crowd was starting to thin.

Not good.

We’d been at an advantage, blurring in the crowded sea. Now we were sitting ducks. A small group of demons started to disperse. I glanced around, desperate for some cover. Nothing. Only the tunnel behind us and Meri’s passageway in front of us.

And Meri herself.

The last of the group wandered away. Meri’s familiar gray eyes turned almost black as they focused on me.

Instantly, I gathered the earth magic provided to me by Philip’s herbs. My chest burned with it, my fingers sparking with foreign power.

Meri’s high laugh reached me. “You make this so easy. Where’s the challenge, white witch?”

“
Bring me Dan and we can call this a truce,” I offered, knowing she’d never deal.

Her lips slid into a slow, satisfied smile. “A trade, then?” She gestured to Kane. “One for the other?”

I stared her down with my steely gaze.

“
Or I can take both.” Meri threw both arms out, magic barely kindling within her.

She hesitated, and in that moment, I sensed a deep internal struggle. Something was holding her back from a full out attack. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was battling her conscience. I stood my ground. “You’re not getting Kane. Not today. Not ever.”

Meri’s dark gray eyes narrowed, and the magic pulsing through me started to slip away. I focused, holding it close, ready to unleash on her at any moment.

Her smile turned evil. “You don’t even know what’s happening.”

“
Jade,” Kane’s voice rasped. I spun, finding him kneeling on one leg, clutching his thigh. He gritted his teeth and forced out, “She’s taking my strength. Use your magic to strike while you can.”

My magic flared, angry and desperate. I had one shot. Now or never. Without hesitation, I unleashed my fury on the demon.
Destroy. Destroy. Destroy
, I chanted in my head. I didn’t need a spell; I only needed intentions.

She held her hands out, accepting my magic. Every ounce of destructive power I sent her way, she ate up, feasted on, and grew stronger with it.

What in the bloody hell?

The earth magic disappeared, and my breathing labored once again as the piercing invisible needles resurfaced in my chest. “Kane?”

He didn’t respond.

“
We have to go,” I mumbled. Reaching down to grab his hand, I finally tore my eyes from Meri and gasped.

Kane lay unconscious, a hole burned right through his jeans. The wound pulsed with ugly gray magic.

Meri moved closer, stalking me like prey. “See that mark? My magic is eating his soul.”

It couldn’t be. I wouldn’t believe it. We had to get out of there. I scrambled to pull the last of the herbs from the satchel. I had enough magic for one more spell. Philip and Lailah could summon us out if I sent up the tracking spell I’d forgotten to perform earlier.

Meri closed in on me. With trembling hands, I dumped the rest of the herbs in my hand and cried, “Nevermore!”

The herbs went up with a whoosh of white smoke and almost instantly disappeared.

Meri paused, eyes narrowed. “My mate taught you that trick.” It wasn’t a question. She spoke with an air of confidence. Then she laughed. “He’s not coming. I would know.”

When Meri had still been an angel, she’d been trapped in Hell and waited desperately for Philip to save her. Time passed, Philip hadn’t showed, and Meri fell. It was what happened to angels stuck in Hell. She was justified in believing he’d never come for me. What she didn’t know was the reason he hadn’t shown up the first time—the very reason he would now.

Dan.

I said nothing. She couldn’t know Dan was Philip’s son. The potential to use Dan for revenge was much too strong.

Beside me, Kane stirred. Thank the Gods. I kneeled down, ready to help him up, but he brushed me off and stood.

Meri raised one crooked finger in his direction. “Come.”

And he did. With familiar, jerky movements. The same ones I’d seen in Dan’s gait when he’d been victim to Meri’s possession.

I stared at Kane, horror filling my heart.

“
I told you,” Meri said. “He’s mine now.”

Chapter 17

The closer Kane got to Meri, the more his gait evened out. I steeled myself, frantically searching my memory for some spell, anything to neutralize the obvious possession.

I could make a potion from bluebonnets, but that wasn’t a flower I was likely to find in Hell. Binding Meri might work, but with my magic and strength depleted, the thought was useless.

Rage burned through me, mixing with a tiny spark of power. Thank the Goddess I had something left to fight with.

There was no way I was letting her have Kane too. I’d die before she took him from me.

My fingers ached as magic strained to reach the tips.

Meri glided forward, her arms wide. A dark cloud of magical electricity circled her.

“
I have plans for you, white witch,” she said sweetly. “Together, you and I could be very powerful here in the underworld. You won’t even have to give up your lover.” Her tone turned flat as her gaze flickered between Kane and me. “Your choice. Join us, or I’ll end you right now.”

Magic pulsed through my limbs. I held it back. Waiting. “You know I’ll never agree to that,” I said with a dead serious calm.

An air of impatience flickered over her emotionless features. Electric power crackled around her, and when she moved, I was ready.

Raw magic collided, shooting rays of destruction, cracking stone all around us. My power drained at an alarming rate, and in my weakened state, it was all I could do to hold on, much less overpower her. My magical spark didn’t have anything else to give.

She stepped forward, pressing her advantage. I stumbled back. Meri wasn’t as weak as we’d thought. Of course not. She’d been draining me through Kane—and still was.

An absolute truth hit me. I was going to die.

Kane shifted into my eye line. He’d followed the demon and stood a few inches from her. His dark chocolate eyes met mine. Everything vanished.

He stared at me, love pouring from his gaze.

He wasn’t possessed. He couldn’t be. I could see through him, inside of him, and he was still mine.

My body screamed with effort as I moved forward on stiff, lifeless legs. I reached for the last of my power and yanked. Searing energy rippled through me, sending foreign tendrils of power deep into my being. Magic exploded and my insides seemed to rip apart. I fell to my knees, my strength gone.

Meri stopped inches from me, her right arm raised as if to strike me.

I stared up at her, defiance racing through every one of my cells. “Do it!” I demanded.

“
With pleasure.” She swung.

Kane moved, a small dagger clutched in his hand, and plunged the knife into her left shoulder. She fell to one knee, her face contorted with rage. Her magic vanished, and a weight lifted from my chest.