Page 77 of Cheater Slicks

They might die. Some of them will die. You almost died.

I wanted to argue. I wanted to hesitate. I wanted there to be a different answer.

But he had been trapped longer than Vi. He knew better than anyone what the others endured night after night. The enchantment might muddle them until they weren’t certain what was happening, which would be a kindness, or it might leave their minds intact, forcing them to act out a predetermined script.

How much worse would it be, for your body to move through automatic steps while your mind screamed at you to stop, to run, to break out?

“Okay.” I would make peace with my actions later. “I’ll do it.”

For courage, I laced our fingers, allowing me a small reminder that I had done what I set out to do. As convinced as I had been that would be enough, I was no longer certain that was the case. Guilt choked me, tightening around my throat like a noose.

Most were paras, so they were heartier than humans. That worked in their favor. They had accepted the risks of attending an auction too, which meant they had known their safety wasn’t guaranteed. But still.

I had driven Dis Pater to this. Even if I knew—Iknew—that if it hadn’t been him, it would have been someone else using the relic for their gain, I couldn’t erase the knowledge that these people had been selected to suffer as punishment for their degrees of separation from me.

A faint twitch of Matty’s fingers in mine gave me the courage to take the final steps.

Closing my eyes, reaching deep within myself, I chose threads at random. I allowed their knots to unfurl and their souls to glide through my hands and disappear from the edge of my consciousness. I hissed as the connections between us broke, each one a sharp sting that radiated through me.

As I fell into a rhythm, I lost count of the victims. Even though I hadn’t fed off the souls for long, I grew exhausted from the toll of releasing their energy. Each one that left drained me further, as if they were reclaiming a portion of their unwilling donations on their way out.

The hope it might help them survive made it easier to keep going, ignoring the mounting pain.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat with Matty, unraveling the tangled lives Dis Pater had knotted together with his use of the relic. But after setting the last one free, a wave of exhaustion crested within me, washing away the pain. And everything else too.

Asharp jerk snapped me out of the peaceful darkness to find Josie gripping me by the shoulders and shaking me like money might fall out if she tried hard enough. “Hmph?”

“We’ve got a problem.” She quit rattling my brain when my head started lolling. “Kierce is outside.”

“Kierce.” I shot upright, wincing at the throb in the back of my skull. “In the street?”

“Yeah.” She sank onto the mattress next to me. “Two guys are with him.”

Suddenly wide awake, I scrambled for a plan. “Any idea if they’re god bloods?”

“I don’t know what they are, but they’re not here for a tea party.”

“I can’t hurt Kierce.” I amended my statement. “Iwon’thurt him.”

“You may not have a choice.” Jean-Claude entered the room. “They’re hammering the wards to get to you.”

“Then I’ll go speak to them. Anunit can come too.” I sounded braver than I felt. “Maybe I can negotiate a truce.” I climbed out of bed, ignored my wobble, and yanked my hair into a ponytail. “We’ll lead them away from the house then…”

“Yeah.” Josie snorted at my half-baked idea. “And then what, exactly?”

As if speaking her name had summoned her, Anunit prowled into the room in her spirit form, free of her poor, battered host. “Where’s Harrow?”

“Nice segue. Real smooth. I almost didn’t notice you ignoring my question.” Josie rolled her eyes. “Harrow is in bed, resting, so no worries there.”

“Your sister has been blessed with our strength.”Anunit rubbed her cheek along mine, which was much cuter than when she did it wearing my ex.“The three of us will face them.”

“Josie was never part of our bargain,” I growled at her, earning me an odd look from Josie until she put it together that Anunit must have returned. “I’m the guardian. She stays put. Rollo too.”

“I’m not letting you go down there alone, especially when Kierce is pitching for the other team.” Josie crimped her lips then waved her hand. “You know what I mean. He’s not on our side.”

Not on our side. The reminder stung. But she wasn’t wrong. Even if it wasn’t his choice.

“Wait for us on the balcony.” That was as far as I was willing to let her go. “Vi has all sorts of plants you can use. I’m sure you’ve made friends with most of them already.” Aware I was releasing a genie from its bottle, and there was no corking that knowledge again, I added, “There’s a poison garden in the courtyard if you need more ammo than the vines out front.”

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