Page 70 of Death Deals

“We need her, you bastard,” Cole spat. “You kill her and you kill us all.”

“It wasn’t me,Halfling,” Andre snarled at him. “She used her power then collapsed.”

“Her Ascension failed,” Eli said. As they talked, the pain in my head began to ebb. I ground my teeth, praying for relief. “She’s not supposed to have access to it.”

“Well, the vampire that is now a pile of ash at your feet would say differently.”

“Extraordinary,” Eli breathed.

When the spiking sensation lightened to more of a consistent hammering against my skull, I was able to open my eyes again. As predicted, the room was full with the three men and my closest friend, the only ones missing from the party being Sean and Arianna. The side of Andre’s face was an angry red, a gash under his eye healing rapidly. Looked like Cole had socked him good.

“Is there anything we can do?” Kay asked the men, obviously worried more about a solution than anything else.

“You all can not talk so loud,” I croaked, wincing as another bout of pain washed over me. “I have one killer headache.”

“Oh, thank God, Jade,” Kay gasped. “You really need to stop doing this to me. I don’t think my heart can take much more.”

“I’ll make a mental note of it.” I rubbed my forehead. Eli helped me back onto my feet. Jokes aside, I did have to be careful tapping into that side of myself. I’d come pretty close to visiting Hank again in the Void—I had felt it—so I’d have to be smart with it from now on.

Suddenly, Andre held up a hand, snapping us out of the moment. His head tilted to the side, listening.

“What is it?” Cole asked, muscles stiff.

Beside me, Eli grew rigid, too. Sensing something the rest of us couldn’t.

“What?” I pressed, my heart skipping.

“It’s happening,” Andre said. His gaze lifted to the ceiling. “Halflings. We’re under attack.”

Eli looked up, too. “On the roof.”

Hurried footsteps clamored toward us from the hallway. Almost passing us, Sean and Arianna had to backtrack to our room. A sawed-off shotgun was already in Sean’s hands, and they were both breathing hard from the run.

“They’re here,” Arianna panted, holding onto the doorframe to catch her breath. “My warning charms are going crazy.”

Cole turned to me. “Can you fight?” he asked.

I didn’t have a choice, did I? I nodded but then grimaced at the resulting poking sensation behind my eyes.

“Maybe you should stay behind, Jade. So you can recover,” Kay suggested.

I appreciated her concern for me, but ultimately, this was my fight. I couldn’t just sit around and let my friends battle Hell creatures for me.

“I know you don’t want to hear it, but I think Kay is right, Jade,” Eli said. “If you still have access to some of your gifts, then there may be a way Michael can help you tap into them. Sit out this battle. We need you for the war.”

“And let you boys have all the fun? I don’t think so.” I locked my knees and set my jaw, making sure to wipe all pain from my face. I had to hold it together. “If we do this, we do it together.”

Eli smiled, despite the worry creasing his handsome face. “Exactly.”

As a blur of something came at me, I threw my hands out and managed to catch it. Holding it up, I realized it was a gun.

Across the room, Cole was rummaging through his backpack. He pulled out another and threw it at Kay, who wasn’t as quick and dropped it. Luckily, it wasn’t loaded. She scrambled to pick up hers.

“A gun?” she asked, hands shaking around the weapon.

“You’re going to need some way to protect yourself.” Cole chucked a magazine of iron and Holy Water bullets to each of us.

“I-I’ve never shot a gun before,” she said.

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