Page 80 of Coerced

I spun to the left and saw John a few feet away. He was standing guard, despite heavy bleeding from a bad gash above his eye and a broken nose. To my right, Rome sprawled on the ground and Gigi and Travis knelt next to him. There was no one else in the clearing.

I swiveled my head, searching for—

“Where’s Gemma?”

Gigi started to cry and raised bloody hands to cover her face, then slumped back on her heels. John and Travis were silent.

“Where. Is. She?”

But I knew.

I knew before Gigi ever opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry!” she wailed. “I swear I tried to grab her! By the time I dropped Travis and returned, the demons had them wrapped up in blankets and were tossing them through the portal. Two of the larger ones spotted me and I had to leave. They took them. They took them all!”

Her voice broke and she sobbed.

Clutching my useless sword, I stood there as a tremble started in my fists, ran up my arms to my shoulders, and spread down my spine.

You failed her.My sight darkened around the edges.You failed her and now she’s as good as dead. You worthless piece of garbage—

I closed my eyes and bowed my head.

Calm down,I told myself.Calm down so you can think. If you can think, you can find a way to get her back. Start with breathing. In for a count of four. And out for a count of four.

“Kerry?” John spoke in a quiet voice. “Are you with us?”

I did the breathing thing ten or twelve more times before I opened my eyes. When I did, I saw I’d surrounded us with a wall of power that stretched at least twelve feet high. Travis had Rome’s chest wrapped with duct tape, Gigi still cried into her hands, and John stared at me with his usual calm eyes.

Dude was so zen sometimes, it was almost creepy.

“Are you with us?” he repeated.

A part of me wanted to scream, “No, and I don’t care who dies as long as I getherback!” The rest of me, though, drew in one more deep breath and blew it out.

“I’m with you.”

He gave me a short nod, then went back to scanning the area. How he saw anything through the river blood and my blue wall, I didn’t know, but hewasa messenger. His eyesight beat mine every day of the week.

With a heavy sigh, I ditched the katana, sat on the ground next to Gigi, gave her my back, and made myself do what needed doing.

“Here.” That was all it took for her to fall against my shoulder. “Just don’t vomit on me.”

“Don’t worry.” John sounded really strange through a broken nose. “She’s already thrown up twice. I don’t think she has anything left in the tank.”

Her body shook and her tight hold on my coat nearly strangled me. I understood completely. Just the thought ofherat the mercy of—

Jax is there, too.He’ll protect her. And I hope he knows I’ll watch out for his girl.

“It’s okay, Tennessee. You got Travis out, then yourself when you realized the others were lost for now. You did exactly what we practiced.”

“I should have tried harder to grab someone, too.” John blew out a heavy breath. “The monkey thing was after Maddy. I tackled it and started wrestling with it. It broke my nose and slammed a rock into my head and all I could see after that was stars. Maddy finally got enough arrows in it to kill it, then she started taking out the little demons. I was pretty dazed, but I should have been able to power through the pain like you do.”

I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard John say all at once.

“Listen, you look like you have a concussion.” I shook my head. “I don’t think you can teleport three feet right now. Plus, a broken nose will knock the sense out of anyone. You got away before you passed out or could be taken, so that was the right thing to do.”

“Kerry, can you look at Rome?” Travis called.

---