Page 89 of Infernal

Yours eternally.

I crumbled the paper in my hands and then swung around on my heel to leave, but Tessa quickly grabbed my elbow and hauled me back.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To get my best friend back. Where the hell else would I be going?”

“You can’t just waltz in there alone, Jemma. We need to think this through.”

“What’s there to think about?” I asked as I pulled my arm free from her grip. “He wants me at All Saints, so that’s where I’m going.”

“First of all, you’re not going there alone. Second of all, I need to get these bodies to the Council. Once that’s done, we can talk about this and figure out our next move. You don’t know what he has planned. Besides, the minute you give his Caster back, they’re going to use their magic to bury you inhishell-tomb!”

“I wasn’t planning on giving her back.” I crossed my arms and looked away from her. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. She’s already dead.”

Tessa immediately started cursing profusely as Gabriel stepped up beside her, his worried eyes fixing me under the weight of their stare.

“What happened?” he asked softly.

“What do you think happened, Gabriel?” I bit out and then dropped his gaze. “I killed her.”

“What do you mean you killed her?” asked a pissed-off voice from somewhere behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know it was Nikki. “What about Trace?!”

I lowered my head as his name assaulted my soul.

With my back still turned to her, I sucked in a breath and shook my head. “There’s no way to save him.” The air in the room thinned as I recalled Arianna’s world-shattering words. It took every bit of strength I had not to crumble to the floor in pieces. “The Order was right. You were right,” I said, bouncing my glance between Gabriel and my sister. “Their souls are tethered together. If I kill one, the other one dies. The sisters made sure of it.”

“And how exactly do you know they weren’t lying?!” snapped Nikki as she grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face her. “You just killed our only hope of saving him!”

“If there was a way, she certainly wasn’t going to tell us,” interrupted Dominic as he ambled into the den. “The witch chose death, which either means she was telling the truth and there is no way to save him, or she was willing to go to her death to keep the secret. Either way, Jemma did the right thing.”

“Of courseyouwould say that!” barked Nikki. “You’ve had a hard-on for her since the day she moved here. Nothing she does is ever wrong to you,” she accused bitterly.

Everyone in the room fell silent as Dominic causally leaned back against the bar and locked his eyes on Nikki. An easy smile curled his lips when he said, “That may very well be true, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s right.”

My cheeks flushed red as I realized what he’d just openly admitted in front of everyone.

“Thank you for proving my point, asshole,” she said and then glared back at me. “Morgan’s vision was right all along. Even if you didn’t kill him by your hands, you’re still the reason he’s gone,” she said and slammed her palms into my chest.

I stumbled backwards and hit the wall, though I didn’t bother raising my hands to defend myself, because I knew she was right. Iwasthe reason he was gone.

“That’s enough,” warned Tessa. “Touch her again and I’ll rip your insides out from your mouth.”

Vengeful tears pooled in Nikki’s eyes as she looked back at me with disgust. “I should’ve buried you when I had the chance. Maybe then Trace would still be alive,” she seethed and then slowly backed out of the room.

A few seconds later, I heard the front door slam shut, and I dropped my head, too ashamed to look at anyone.

“She’s just upset,” offered Caleb, though I wasn’t sure if he was trying to comfort me or defend Nikki.

Maybe it was a bit of both.

“She’s also right.” Lifting my chin, I faced my judge and jury.

Caleb and Ben were hovering near by the doorway with a mixture of sympathy and pity on their faces while my sister hung back looking wholly ticked off, probably at Nikki. And, of course, Gabriel wore his usual troubled expression, his eyebrows knitted together with never-ending worry.

I couldn’t even look at Dominic.

“Come on, Jem. We all know you didn’t do this to him,” said Ben, his voice straining to remain even. “The only people responsible here are devil-worshipping bitches that cast the spell in the first place.”

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