Page 61 of Till Death

Simon’s gaze latched onto mine and something passed between us unspoken. “I came to tell you the balance is shifting again.”

The…well…

“This isn’t going to be good,” I finished for him. “You can tell me the truth. I can take it. If we’re screwed then you need to tell me.”

And I’d have to find a way to break the news to the others.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Simon shook his head. “Ah, not exactly.” A smile twitched across his lips again. “It’s a good thing, Jade.”

“You’re going to have to rewind and repeat because there has been nothing but bad news for a while now. If the balance had shifted again, itcan’tbe a good thing.”

Realizing I’d been clenching my hands to the point of pain, I purposely let out a slow exhale and released each finger.

Simon nodded. “It seems that with the defeat of the other sin demons, the powers are shifting again. In a positive direction. The holes in the veil are closing.”

I shifted to grin at him. “Well, that explains why I haven’t seen any Halflings since my escape from the big house.”

“The numbers of Halflings on this plain have dwindled. Things are looking better, but people are hurt. It’s not like we haven’t suffered casualties of our own.” He continued to nod, already knowing my question. The damn man had a knack for reading my mind, and his inherent calm did wonders to sooth the exhaustion in my soul. “A few of Cliff’s wolves, including his second in command. More than a handful of vampires as well as…Kyle.”

I jumped at the name of the Halfling kid I’d helped cross over. “Shit, no. Are you serious? Kyle is gone?” My heart sank. I hadn’t known the kid long, but he’d seemed like a sweet soul and he’d taken his life to fight against the demon blood inside of him.

Sean popped his head around the corner, his gaze sweeping over us. “The demon trap is done. He’s snug and secure, and ah—” he broke off and cleared his throat.

“He’s going to be fine,” I lied, swallowing over the huge lump in my throat because yeah, I hated lying.

“He’s been through worse.” Sean tried to be optimistic.

“I’m not sure it gets any worse.”

Sean raised a finger to his lips. “Don’t say that. You’ll bring it down on us, Jade.”

I ignored him.

“What about you, Simon?” I asked. “Are you staying with us for a little bit?”

It still seemed strange, I thought, as I looked around at Sean, Arianna, Kay, and Lawrence. Being in this situation. With the immediate danger past and the adrenaline fading. I wanted nothing more than pizza and a nap.

“For a while. We’re having a lucky break, if you think about it.”

I didn’t feel lucky at all. I knew we’d gotten through the worst of this situation, but I still had a hard time believing we were on our way to victory. “You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t really believe your words.”

“You’ll see,” Simon insisted. “This is a good thing.”

“I definitely wouldn’t say good,” I replied with a scoff. “But at least everyone is here, we’ve halved the number of Halflings—”

Simon held his hands up as though to weigh them. “Give or take.”

“And I’ve gotten Cole out of Hell. So…mission semi-accomplished. I’ll have to deal with it.”

“Or you can just put him out of his misery,” Simon finished.

He had to be joking? Right?

He raised a brow the longer I stared at him, and fury began to bubble beneath my skin again. “I really think you need to watch yourself before you say anymore.”

Simon wisely clamped his mouth shut before he dug himself a deeper hole.

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