Page 24 of A Study of Blood and Ichor

“Perhaps I could help?”

I gave a sidelong glance toward the demon. “I doubt you could help me.”

“Don’t be so cocky.”

Ignoring its smug taunt, I threw my hands out and forced all the magic I had at the rings, but no matter how hard I pushed, they didn’t budge. Beads of sweat formed across my brow, and I became more anxious with each passing minute that Lena would barge through the doors behind me.

I let my arms sag as I attempted to regain my strength and felt Vain’s silent leering gaze burning a hole through me. In the sigh I heaved, I allowed myself to let go of the last shreds of my stubborn pride.

“How much power do you have now with the wards gone?” I asked in between heavy breaths.

The demon rolled its shoulders, seeming to test the well of its dark power.

“Not much.”

“Enough to help me move those rings?”

“Perhaps. But, if I spend too much, I may not have enough left to shift out of here.”

“Try.”

Vain looked up at the darkened ceiling and focused on the rings as I lifted my hands again. Drawing on every last ounce of power within me, I swirled my wrists above my head. Alongside my own thread of magic, I swore I could feel the graze of Vain’s power beside it. The sensation caused me to recoil sharply from its icy touch, but I didn’t allow it to make me lose my focus.

With Vain’s help, I grasped onto the enchantment woven into the rings and wrenched my fists apart as if I were pulling a string taut between them.

The rings stilled.

I'd sealed my fate in one movement, and my stomach dropped as the demon sprung free of its cage. Vain reached for my throat in one swift motion with an outstretched hand and then pulled me firmly to its chest with the other. Before I realized it, it yanked my hair and was holding the pointed tip of my hair stick to my jugular. Vain could have killed me in an instant, but I could sense it toying with me, delighting my fear.

“So much for your word,” I ground out through my teeth.

Vain wrenched my head around and forced me to look straight into its obsidian eyes, as if relishing in the last moments of my miserable, pathetic life before finishing me off.

“Do you feel foolish for putting your trust in a demon like me?”

“Go fuck yourself!” I spat. “If you’re going to renege on our deal and kill me, then get it over with.”

Vain kept my back pressed against Rory’s chest. The smell of smoke and ash was heavy on his clothes. The demon leaned down to whisper into my ear, fingers squeezing around my neck slightly, and the scrape of a stubbled cheek against mine sent a shiver down my spine. “Oh, mellilla. I’m just making this look real.”

The doors of the Hull burst open, and a flood of witches swarmed in. Vain whipped us around, still holding me with an iron-clad grip that didn’t allow me to squirm away even an inch.

Lena led the charge, and from her wide eyes and blanched skin, it was obvious this was the last thing she had anticipated. Her hands twitched at her sides, but Vain tsked and shook its head.

“Ah, ah, witch. I wouldn’t try anything if I were you.” Vain pressed the gold pin harder against my throat, letting everyone see how the demon held my fragile, mortal life in its hands.

I shook in anticipation of that makeshift blade sinking into my neck and made peace with the fact that the sound of me choking on my blood might be the last thing I would ever hear. But if Vain hadn’t killed me yet, maybe it was possible the demon hadn’t crossed me?

“Do it,” I muttered so only Vain could hear the unspoken message: either kill me or get us out of here.

The demon grinned at the witches before they could raise their hands to form a single spell as a thick darkness of smoke and shadow swelled around Vain and swallowed us up. When I couldn’t feel the ground beneath my feet anymore, my stomach lurched, and then we were hurtling suddenly through an expanse of endless night.

NINE

Ava

We landed on solid ground, and the world reappeared before my eyes. I tugged out of Vain’s grasp and collapsed, my hands and knees connecting with warm, wet asphalt as I retched, and chunks of gravel dug into the flesh of my palms with each heave.

“I guess I should have warned you.” Vain’s shadowy voice stalked behind me. “The first shift is not an easy one.”

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