The life drained out of him, and he became a lump of clay in a good suit.
Beside me, the daemon tipped back his head and roared until my ears rang.
Fury ignited in my veins until it singed the hair on my arms. The smell left me praying I wasn’t cooking from the inside out. Even the ends of my hair carried embers. I opened my mouth to cry out and choked on smoke climbing the back of my throat.
The grate overhead burst open, and my heart stopped as Colby swooped down to land on my head. I coughed and gasped, trying to breathe, but she didn’t pay me a lick of attention. Her sole focus was on Clay. Even when a charred smell, like leaves burning, hit my nose.
“Book.” I shook and hit my knees. “Book.”
Now I sounded like a zombie. I hoped it wasn’t catching.
The daemon stomped over to the table, palmed the book, then gripped the cover, half in each hand.
“Stop,” he snarled at the insidious tome. “Kill Rue, I kill you.”
The pain roared through me in an endless wave, and I sank onto the floor.
“Stop.” The daemon pulled until a ripping noise filled the room. “Rue mine.”
Tension mounted while the daemon and the book engaged in their standoff, but the book caved first.
Colby blasted off once free of its control, her eyes pinwheeling as she absorbed her surroundings. Rough sobs shook her as she cradled her poor hands, which were scorched black from the power roasting me like a turkey.
When she spun back, her eyes were bright with tears when they lit on me, reminding me so much of the night I bound her to me that my black heart cracked down the middle. “Rue.”
With a grunt of disgust, the daemon slapped the grimoire closed then tossed it onto the bloody floor. He stomped on its cover as he pivoted on his heel, then marched to Melissa. He lifted her over his immobile partner and planted her right in front of me.
“Purge magic.” He poked her with a finger, miming how I incinerated people. “Now.”
Easier said than done, but with Colby cognizant of her surroundings, and her powers, I ought to be okay. Through the stinging ache, I fought to lift my hand toward Melissa. I reached the mucky toe of her boot.
The power within me lashed out in a blazing arc of burning light that forced my eyes shut.
Relief spread through me a heartbeat later, the critical discharge of excess magic sparing my life.
I sucked in my first full breath in minutes and gulped down a mouthful of the ash raining around me, too grateful for the oxygen to complain about its flavor or its texture.
“I’m so sorry.” Colby lit on my shoulder, and I screamed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“Not…” I wet my lips, tasting my blood, “…your…fault.”
The grimoire had sunk its hooks in her, there was no doubt of it now, but I would pry her loose and torch the cursed thing.
“Dollface.” Clay knelt beside me. “I hate to do it, but I’ve got to move you.”
I must have lost time. Not good. But there was no other excuse for how fast Clay had been reanimated.
“Let’s…not.” I gulped down more grimy air. “Say…we did.”
“Your little explosion set the rug on fire. And the curtains. And the bed.” He touched my arm, wincing as tears formed in my eyes. “It’s magic. There’s no putting it out until it’s run its course. Not without you.”
Fried to a golden crisp, I wasn’t working more magic any time soon. “’kay.”
“Look on the bright side.” He kept up his cheery façade. “You can add psychic to your resume.” With loving care, he lifted me while I wept silent tears that dripped into my ear. “You predicted this place would go up in smoke.”
“Self…fulfilling…prophecy.” I kept my eyes open by sheer force of will. “Asa?”
“He’s rescuing our stuff and locking down the book.” He leaned over me. “Come on, Shorty. We’re out.”