My Soul to Save
Page 74
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Choose. Avari clucked his tongue at Addison. Your friends cannot hold your soul forever. Not with this one near death. The demons gaze met mine, and suddenly his cruel truth sank in. I was dying. The poison had spread to my right hand, and now flowed over my left side on its way to my heart. I couldnt hold Addys soul for long.
My gaze pleaded with her as I struggled to keep the sound steady in my throat.
Addisons eyes watered and she glanced from me to Regan, who stood frozen in terror, clenching her sisters hand so hard it had turned purple. Then her gaze swung my way, and she focused on something over my shoulder. And I thought I saw some glimmer of hope in her grotesquely blank eyes.
Was that possible? Had she thought of something?
Addy turned to Tod and mouthed something I couldnt interpret.
I was next, and what she said silently to me was One more minute. Please. I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them and nodded. I would hold on, for just a little longer.
Addison smiled her thanks, then she nodded decisively, again looking over my shoulder.
An instant later, Addy collapsed. Her legs simply folded under her and her head smacked the frosted marble floor. Not that it mattered. She was dead before she hit the ground.
No! Regan shouted, tears pouring down her cheeks. She lurched toward her sister, but Tod held her back, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to keep her still.
Surprise dried up the trickle of sound flowing from my throat, and Addys soul bobbed, until I keened again a second later. Then things got even weirder.
A figure stepped forward from behind me and to my right, her mouth open, already sucking in a long, thick stream of Demons Breath from Addys still form.
Libby. My heart ached as I realized Addison had seen her over my shoulder. Shed nodded to Libby, not to me.
Then Tod spoke, Regan now sobbing on his shoulder, and I began to put the pieces together. The deal has changed, Avari. If you want Banas soul, you take Addisons with it and return her sisters. Or else, well leave with both of the souls in our possession, and youll keep only the one you have now.
Damn. Shock wound through me, blending with the pain now arcing across every nerve ending in my body. Somehow, Addison had known who Libby was and why shed come. Had Tod told her, or did understanding simply come in the last moments of her life?
Either way, with a single nod of her head, Addison had asked Libby to end her life, to force the hellion into trading her soul for Regans. Because Addisons was ready to reap now, and Regans wouldnt truly be his until she died, likely decades later.
Avaris face paled with rage, and the void in his eyes seemed to churn, though I could detect no motion when I looked directly intothose dark spheres.
Five seconds, or youre out of luck, Tod said as Nash continued to sweat, and my voice warbled. Were in a bit of a rush. He gestured to me, and I realized he planned to get me home before I died. He was trying to save me, since he couldnt save Addison.
All I could do was sing. And watch Libby claim the Demons Breath. And wait.
FiveFour Tod taunted as Regan heaved with silent sobs and Avari bellowed in rage. The floor grew slick with ice beneath my feet, and my breath puffed visibly into the frigid air.
Then, just when I thought it was overthought Addisons death had been for nothingthe hellion spat one short, powerful exhalation into the room, and Regans soul bobbed near the ceiling.
At Nashs signal, I let go of Addisons soul and sang for her sisters. Libby swallowed the last of the Demons Breath and popped out of existence without so much as a glance at the rest of us. Avari slurped up Addys soul in a fraction of the time it took Nash to guide Regans home. And only then did Tod release Banas soul into the room.
While Avari devoured it, Nash rushed toward me across the slick floor, tugging a shocked Regan by one hand. I had a moment to notice that her eyes were again beautiful, and blue, and normal. Then they converged on me, sliding so quickly they almost bowled me over.
Now! Nash whispered desperately, tugging me into an agonizing squat so that I touched both him, Regan, and Addisons limp arm. Take us back now!
That time, intent to cross was no problem, and I was already keening. Avaris roar of fury faded swiftly from my ears. An instant later I collapsed to the floor of a generic office full of cubicles and cheap industrial carpet. Addy lay at my side, and Nash and Regan stared down at me, a mixture of grief and relief coursing over their features.
A moment later, Tod popped into existence next to his brother.
Are you okay? Nash knelt at my side, but by then I could only shake my head. Id lost my voice completely, and was in so much pain it hurt to draw a breath. Call Mom, Nash ordered, sliding one hand behind my back, the other beneath my knees. He carried me out of the office and into the hall while Regan followed, crying and scrolling through the entries in Nashs phone for a name she wouldnt even recognize, because Tod carried her sisters body.
Each second we waited for the elevator was pure agony. I hurt all over, and worse wherever he touched me. But I was grateful for that touch.
Youll be fine, Nash whispered. Your expiration date is in full effect here, so you wont die. But youre going to hurt like hell until we get this fixed.
My gaze pleaded with her as I struggled to keep the sound steady in my throat.
Addisons eyes watered and she glanced from me to Regan, who stood frozen in terror, clenching her sisters hand so hard it had turned purple. Then her gaze swung my way, and she focused on something over my shoulder. And I thought I saw some glimmer of hope in her grotesquely blank eyes.
Was that possible? Had she thought of something?
Addy turned to Tod and mouthed something I couldnt interpret.
I was next, and what she said silently to me was One more minute. Please. I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them and nodded. I would hold on, for just a little longer.
Addison smiled her thanks, then she nodded decisively, again looking over my shoulder.
An instant later, Addy collapsed. Her legs simply folded under her and her head smacked the frosted marble floor. Not that it mattered. She was dead before she hit the ground.
No! Regan shouted, tears pouring down her cheeks. She lurched toward her sister, but Tod held her back, wrapping his arms around her shoulders to keep her still.
Surprise dried up the trickle of sound flowing from my throat, and Addys soul bobbed, until I keened again a second later. Then things got even weirder.
A figure stepped forward from behind me and to my right, her mouth open, already sucking in a long, thick stream of Demons Breath from Addys still form.
Libby. My heart ached as I realized Addison had seen her over my shoulder. Shed nodded to Libby, not to me.
Then Tod spoke, Regan now sobbing on his shoulder, and I began to put the pieces together. The deal has changed, Avari. If you want Banas soul, you take Addisons with it and return her sisters. Or else, well leave with both of the souls in our possession, and youll keep only the one you have now.
Damn. Shock wound through me, blending with the pain now arcing across every nerve ending in my body. Somehow, Addison had known who Libby was and why shed come. Had Tod told her, or did understanding simply come in the last moments of her life?
Either way, with a single nod of her head, Addison had asked Libby to end her life, to force the hellion into trading her soul for Regans. Because Addisons was ready to reap now, and Regans wouldnt truly be his until she died, likely decades later.
Avaris face paled with rage, and the void in his eyes seemed to churn, though I could detect no motion when I looked directly intothose dark spheres.
Five seconds, or youre out of luck, Tod said as Nash continued to sweat, and my voice warbled. Were in a bit of a rush. He gestured to me, and I realized he planned to get me home before I died. He was trying to save me, since he couldnt save Addison.
All I could do was sing. And watch Libby claim the Demons Breath. And wait.
FiveFour Tod taunted as Regan heaved with silent sobs and Avari bellowed in rage. The floor grew slick with ice beneath my feet, and my breath puffed visibly into the frigid air.
Then, just when I thought it was overthought Addisons death had been for nothingthe hellion spat one short, powerful exhalation into the room, and Regans soul bobbed near the ceiling.
At Nashs signal, I let go of Addisons soul and sang for her sisters. Libby swallowed the last of the Demons Breath and popped out of existence without so much as a glance at the rest of us. Avari slurped up Addys soul in a fraction of the time it took Nash to guide Regans home. And only then did Tod release Banas soul into the room.
While Avari devoured it, Nash rushed toward me across the slick floor, tugging a shocked Regan by one hand. I had a moment to notice that her eyes were again beautiful, and blue, and normal. Then they converged on me, sliding so quickly they almost bowled me over.
Now! Nash whispered desperately, tugging me into an agonizing squat so that I touched both him, Regan, and Addisons limp arm. Take us back now!
That time, intent to cross was no problem, and I was already keening. Avaris roar of fury faded swiftly from my ears. An instant later I collapsed to the floor of a generic office full of cubicles and cheap industrial carpet. Addy lay at my side, and Nash and Regan stared down at me, a mixture of grief and relief coursing over their features.
A moment later, Tod popped into existence next to his brother.
Are you okay? Nash knelt at my side, but by then I could only shake my head. Id lost my voice completely, and was in so much pain it hurt to draw a breath. Call Mom, Nash ordered, sliding one hand behind my back, the other beneath my knees. He carried me out of the office and into the hall while Regan followed, crying and scrolling through the entries in Nashs phone for a name she wouldnt even recognize, because Tod carried her sisters body.
Each second we waited for the elevator was pure agony. I hurt all over, and worse wherever he touched me. But I was grateful for that touch.
Youll be fine, Nash whispered. Your expiration date is in full effect here, so you wont die. But youre going to hurt like hell until we get this fixed.
