Page 44 of Two Who Live On

“You spend a lot of time with clairvoyants?” he asked quite politely, even lifting his foot to stop squishing her cheeks.

“Not even sure what branch that’d be,” she said.

“Fibber.”

“What’s going on?” Ellie asked.

“Demons have a natural immunity to branch magics,” Lena explained. “However, that resistance can be superseded by a skilled enchanter.”

“However, however,” Milo said playfully. “The more a demon encounters a particular branch or the type of magic from that branch, the stronger their immunity to it becomes. It also makes it less effective for them to feed on.”

In other words, this succubus might’ve had a big diet in arcane branches now like all the current victims, but perhaps in the past, she’d fed on lots of witches with a psychic branch similar to Milo’s. It all came down to his specific frequency and the skill he had in channeling and overpowering the demon’s natural resistance.

The succubus’s body lunged forward. Lacking a good vantage point to see her target, the body missed Milo’s chest as he leaned back. Lifting his leg, he kicked the air, pinning the demon’s body to the wall and holding it in place with telekinesis. Redistributing the telekinesis into his arm, he kept the body bound and stomped his foot onto the demon’s head. Harder. More force. More magic.

“Melody Mauve, Jonathan Graves, Tyson Beck, Angela Mayes…” Enchanter Evergreen said name after name, recounting victims that’d died since the demons arrived in Chicago.Returned.The word clung to his thoughts furiously. All the lives snuffed out. Whether bright, gloomy, or mundane, he’d never know now. I couldn’t see the colors or broken threads clearly, but there were potential futures ripped away. He studied other threads, the ripples next to them, the alteration in pathways that’d taken root. “Who are you working with?”

Images flashed, muddling my connection. Milo’s eyes fluttered, having established a link to the demon’s energy, and he searched through her possibilities, seeking leads.

“Me,” a deep voice called out, sending a slithering shudder down my spine.

A familiar voice. A haunting voice. A voice I’d never wanted to hear again.

Wisps illuminated the alley. Milo spun around, realizing another demon had arrived. He vanquished the succubus and now stood squarely between Acolyte Novak and Reed. Neither young witch had noticed his demonic energy or reacted to his physical presence. How could they? Enchanter Evergreen had been caught off guard by the sheer speed of this monstrosity. The white lights of wisps created a sheen sparkle among the sapphire scales covering the demon.

No. No. No.

This was a gorgon. There were countless gorgons. This was not the same one. It couldn’t be. His eyes lingered on Milo, slowing his reaction time. Their gaze caused petrification, allowing them to slow the speed of anything their vision had sight of.

Gorgons were deadly. Dangerous. Even the best enchanters… No.

I took a deep breath because the fear consuming me began breaking the connection of my telepathy linked to Milo. This wasn’t like then. This wasn’t the same demon. Milo was more prepared, more powerful, than we were then.

“It’s been a long time since our paths crossed, Enchanter Evergreen.” The gorgon’s eyes shimmered, and he took an inhale, sucking up all the wisps of the fallen succubus, feeding on her magical corpse. “Last time I saw you, you killed me.”

I sprang forward in my bed, completely severing the magic connecting my mind to Milo’s.

No. No. No.

This was the same demon…the same gorgon…that…that killed… Finn.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

I clutched the blankets of my bed, searching for Milo’s mind. A thousand nearby thoughts collided with my telepathy.

“Shut up!” I leapt off my bed, quelling the world around me.

Channeling my telepathy so distantly, so precisely, was like threading a needle from the opposite side of the room with a stack of needles surrounding it. Impossible. How’d my telepathy manage it so inherently when I didn’t want it to? Why couldn’t I control it?

How was this demon alive? Milo had killed it. I saw… I saw it. Dead. Broken. Banished. Not a fiber of its presence remained. Even the demon said… No. I struggled to breathe. Grabbing my chest, I stumbled forward. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t. I wouldn’t allow it.

Milo’s thoughts pounded against my skull, rocking me to my knees. Flashes, too chaotic to gain a grasp. I clenched my jaw.Everything about this fight strained my vision. The acolytes had disappeared. No—they’d been thrown back by Milo. The gorgon continued slowing Milo’s speed, but not his magic. Focusing everything on telekinesis and levitation, he soared and zipped around the demon, evading the gaze. He couldn’t maintain that in the tight space of the alley.

I needed to… I had to…

My feet moved of their own accord, dragging me out of my bedroom and into the living room. I’d find him. Help him. This would never happen again.

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