Page 73 of Hunted By Darkness

It still hurt to move. I needed to conserve my energy. If I was going to do what I planned, I couldn’t be taxed by meaningless fighting. I needed to wait for the perfect moment to act, when I’d regained enough strength. I’d be the sad little woman he expected. I’d let him think he’d won.

Rilas lifted me off the floor and put me back on the table. He bound my wrists and ankles with chains. These weren’t unbreakable, but my guess was he thought I’d be too weak to break them.

Turning my head, I eyed my guys hanging from the ceiling. Rilas caught my gaze and went over to Tometi. Searching the upside-down phantom, who was still visible for some reason, he collected the pouch we’d stolen.

Had he put them in stasis? Was that the item he used? Why had it worked on Tometi? What I did know was I couldn’t break their stasis without getting the item first.

I’d have to break it like we broke his necklace, and I wasn’t sure I’d have that kind of strength. My magic was barely sparking. I’d used a lot, and while I was healing, it wouldn’t be fast enough. Like this, I’d only have enough power left to do what I needed to send him back.

Hopefully.

Fuck! I hoped I had enough.

I swallowed and sucked in air when he got to Silas, holding a tiny ornate knife. A throb hit my stomach, and I had to smother it. I couldn’t use my power yet. If I used it reactively, I’d fuck it all up.

Smirking at me, Rilas cut my unconscious mercenary and collected his blood in a little vial, then left the three hanging. He didn’t do more than that. The air rushed out of me in relief.

I was worried he’d kill them in front of me, but he obviously needed me compliant for the next part. He wouldn’t be able to keep me cuffed to the table. He’d need me to actively take part in it. Which was easier to do with the three men alive and under threat. What he didn’t know was I already had a plan.

He made his way over to the table and lit the candles around it. He was busy placing items when I caught a flash of blonde hair and a heroic wink and salute. I kept my breaths short and sharp, my pulse hammering, as if I was afraid. But it was out of excitement, not fear. Lev’s green eyes appeared near the door, and my friend signed their plan.

Rilas hadn’t sensed either of them yet. I wasn’t sure how until I saw the item on Lev’s finger. A concealment ring. I was so infinitely glad I had this clever man on my side.

Ryker and I got this. You know what you need to do. Don’t hold back. It’s now or never, he signed.

I gave him a very slight nod, lips thinned.

They didn’t wait. Lev burst out with his magic and daggers. Ryker was already at my side, uncuffing my wrists and ankles. He winked, his hand already wrapped around one of mine, while his other arm locked around Rilas’s neck from behind. Lev’s magic wrapped around the demon, holding him in place. I was off the table, stumbling to get around Rilas.

Our eyes met and the final piece of fate slid into place. My breathing calmed and everything came into focus. I already knew what to do.

Live wires slithered all over my body the same way they did every time I used my Soul Collector abilities. The world crawled to a standstill. I searched for the feeling of her and grabbed hold of the invisible hand reaching out to me.

Grandmother came rushing out, appearing in front of me holding my hand in a form I’d only seen in pictures. Long purple hair poured down her shoulders. Blue eyes that shared the same coloration as mine gleamed. The elvish features that had passed from mother to daughter for generations stared back at me.

“Don’t be afraid, darling. Embrace every part of you,”she said in a disembodied voice, laying a small kiss on my cheek. Her smile was gentle as she disappeared into a sliver of white fog.

The feeling in my gut intensified.

Rilas blinked, and his eyes jerked over to me.

He couldn’t move. His body was being slowly covered in ice. Ryker had a strong hold on him, his eyes frozen on me, unseeing. The demon fought the hold on him, but I could see the fear creeping into his stare when nothing he did worked.

The slow-growing ice reached his face, and the red in his eyes dimmed to a dull gold. Then a sliver of inky blackness escaped his mouth. It wasn’t the same as the others. It was distinctly dark. It fled his body for mine, caught by the glowing gem around my neck.

The demon’s voice was in my head as time shuddered and moved forward again.“You’ll never do what you must to send me back, and it won’t be long before my powers return. The seal that old minger put on me is already falling apart.”

His vicious warning echoed inside my head, and I staggered back. Ryker and Lev were already there to catch me. I tossed both of them a grateful smile and stood on shaky legs. The dizziness was worse. I didn’t have long. Every minute was a fight.

Rilas’s icy form was a moment frozen in time. If he broke loose of my body, he’d find his way back to it, that much I was certain. Unlike the other souls, he didn’t need my help to reclaim his body, and I was already running out of time.

Shakily, I nodded at frozen Rilas. “The stone he has is enchanted. Probably a permanent form of stasis.”

Lev nodded and went over to search while Ryker kept me propped up. When my friend found it, everything was a little bit blurrier. “This?”

“Yes. You need to break it.”

Ryker grinned and made grabby hands for the tiny rock. Lev took his place and handed the stone over. Without waiting, the blue-haired Fae uncorked several healing potions and forced them down my throat. I breathed a grateful sigh when some of my energy returned.

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