Page 59 of Till Death

“Yes, well, I’ve been busy trying to keep my people safe.”

“Same here. I know it’s not easy,” I replied.

“You were looking for someone like—”

“Jesus H! What is that Halfling doing in here?” Arianna screeched, pointing.

A third miracle. It had taken them this long to see Cole.

“Hey, hey, no one touch him.” I had to bolt to make it to him in time amidst the click of a handful of safeties being unlocked. “He’s under my protection.”

“Get away from him, girl, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Wyatt burst out. “Put him down.”

“Honey, I don’t think you understand—” Lisa began.

Lawrence tugged Kay out of the way and at once everyone was talking over one another. A million voices mingled. No one was going to listen to me. I cast a frantic look at Sean, who seemed to be the most reasonable out of everyone because he stared at me through narrowed eyes.

Eli simply stood with his arms crossed over his chests and a lock across his lips. No help there.

At least no one was willing to go through me to shoot Cole.

“Jade, explain,” Sean said when the raised voices finally began to calm.

Simon stared over my shoulder where Cole crouched, sniffing the air. “Looks like you’ve brought back a present from your travels. We’re going to need to contain him.” He drew a piece of white chalk from his back pocket.

Although I didn’t say it out loud, I thanked Simon with everything in me. So reasonable, so calm. He didn’t lose his cool like the rest of us.

I wanted to tell him to forget it, that Cole wasn’t going to be a threat, but I needed to use my head instead of thinking with other parts of my anatomy. Namely, the hole in my chest, still gaping wide open.

Simon drew the two of us to the side and Cole followed dutifully behind us. Although there was little privacy in the cramped confines of the magic shop, the separation gave us at least a semblance of seclusion.

“I can draw a decent demon trap, if you want me to take care of this,” Simon said, motioning toward the open space in the other room. The storage room if I remembered correctly.

“And I can do one better.” Sean stepped forward and gingerly took the chalk from Simon’s hand. He continued to stare at Cole and although there might have been a hint of recognition there, I doubted Sean really understood what was happening. “Not that I don’t trust you. This is just what I do.”

“He does it better than anyone else I know,” Wyatt replied.

“Let him,” I told Simon. “He’s got the goods and he knows what he’s doing.”

Unspoken words aired between us, and I showed Simon exactly how far I’d go to protect the Halfling.

A small smile flashed across Simon’s face, there and gone before I could even be sure it had existed at all. “Fine.” He spoke to Sean instead of me. “I trust you to do the right thing. But it seems we have quite a bit to talk about.” Once again he stared over at Cole with his frown deepening by the second. “It also seems we’ve been in this situation before.”

“Yeah, I guess we have.”

“This is the half-demon you love. The one who always managed to get you into such trouble.”

I nodded at his statement. There was no hint of question in his voice. As usual, Simon had seen straight to the heart of the matter. “Turns out there’s not a whole lot I won’t do for love. I also think we can both agree that I’ve gotten myself in a fair bit of trouble without any help.”

“Even though he tricked you. He lied to you.”

Ugh, I hated when Simon was right. I nodded like it cost me my life’s savings. “I know what you’re going to say and you can save your words,” I told him. “None of it matters. You don’t have to be on my side for this. I’m going to do whatever it takes to save him from this fate, with or without help.”

Simon shook his head. “That’s the thing, Jade. It’s a little hard to pick sides anymore when there are none.”

Oh. Hmm. He had a point there. Didn’t see that nugget of wisdom coming, though.

“It seems your commitment to your people has served you well up until now. You’ve done everything you are able to in order to help, and it has turned the tide,” he continued firmly. “The balance is shifting. That’s why I’m here.”

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