Page 5 of Crown of Envy

A green-eyed shadowy figure emerged from the trees, eyes glowing with malice. “You found it,” the figure hissed. “But it belongs to us.”

The figure raised its skeletal hand. Putrid, ink-black tendrils of energy shot toward us like vipers, searing the air with the stench of decay. They coiled around Justice’s wrist, and he released a blood-curdling scream as they tightened, the skin beneath them bubbling and blistering. The tendrils ripped the box from his hand with a sickening crack of breaking bone.

“Justice!” I cried. Bile scorched the back of my throat, and my knees quaked, threatening to give out. The figure loosed a rattling, malevolent laugh that scraped my soul and plunged icy shards of dread into my heart.

CHAPTER THREE

Justice fell to his knees, his face contorted in agony as he clutched his wrist, a string of curses hissing through his clenched teeth. The foul creature melted into the shadows of the woods, its malevolent presence still palpable.

I scrambled to Justice’s side, my heart pounding. “Justice, oh my god,” I choked out, my fingers trembling as I clasped his arm. The heat of his skin seared my palm.

Brody slipped an arm around Justice and hauled him up. “We have to get him inside before the envy’s poison takes hold,” he gritted out, his gaze darting toward the tree line.

Cold sweat prickled my spine. “Poison?” I whispered.

“I don’t know what else to call it.” His grip on Justice tightened, his knuckles turning white. “But when those tentacles leave a mark—” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “That’s how the poison gets in.”

Justice’s legs gave out, and he collapsed, his body convulsing as he hit the ground. His eyes rolled back into his head, the whites stark against his rapidly paling skin.

Damon stalked forward, his eyes narrowing to glittering slits. “Great, just what we needed—demon venom,” he spat, his nostrils flaring. “Let’s move, people!” He gestured sharply toward the house, his voice cracking like a whip. “We’ve got a ticking time bomb here.”

Lisa met us at the door, her eyes widening as she took in the scene. A hand flew to her mouth to stifle a gasp. “What happened?”

My lower lip trembled, and I fought back a sob, my vision blurring with unshed tears. “A demon attacked him,” I managed.

“It had long black tentacles.” Damon panted, his chest heaving as he and Brody lowered Justice onto the couch. “You’ve got to use your mojo to help him like you did Maggie.” His gaze locked with Lisa’s, a desperate plea.

Tears streamed down my face, leaving hot, salty trails on my cheeks. “Can you?” My voice cracked, raw with emotion.

“I don’t know. Let me get my bag.” Lisa’s words came out in a rush as she ran back to her bedroom.

She returned with her bag, her face pale and drawn. Her arms trembled violently as she wrenched the bag open. She plunged her hands inside, rummaging through the contents with a desperate urgency. The items within clattered and shifted like a chaotic orchestra.

Her teeth sank into her lower lip as she rifled through the bag’s depths. Her wide, haunted eyes flicked erratically between Justice’s still form and the tools she extracted with shaking fingers, each one seemingly more inadequate than the last for the daunting task.

“Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me.” The words tore from my throat as I collapsed to my knees at the edge of the couch. My heart clenched so tightly that I could barely breathe, each beat a painful throb against my ribcage.

With trembling fingers, I gently brushed his sweat-soaked hair off his forehead. A shuddering gasp escaped my lips as I traced the lines of his face, committing every beloved detail to memory, terrified that each moment might be the last.

His chest rose and fell in shallow, labored breaths, the only sign of life in his otherwise still form. I watched, transfixed, as I silently willed his eyes to open, to look at me with that familiar, heart-stopping intensity. Yet they remained closed, his lashes dark smudges against his ashen skin.

Lisa spread out various vials and herbs on the table, her hands moving with practiced urgency.

“Hold him steady,” she instructed.

Damon and Brody held Justice as Lisa found a small vial of green liquid and a sprig of an herb.

“This won’t cure him, but hopefully, it will slow the poison,” she explained. She poured the green liquid into a bowl, crushed the herb into it, and stirred, muttering an incantation under her breath.

“By the earth’s breath and the moon’s light,

Hold back the poison’s blight.

Slow its course, delay its harm,

Until we find the cure’s charm.”

She dipped a cloth into the mixture and gently applied it to Justice’s wound. The liquid sizzled on contact. Justice’s eyes flew open, and he gritted his teeth, a groan escaping his lips.

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