Page 44 of Jagged Souls
“No.” Grabbing my arm, he phases us north. We land in a walk-in closet full of brand name clothes, shoes, and purses on every wall. The room is dark, the only light coming from the crack under the door. A shower runs not far away.
The pull towards my girl is weaker now, and panic hits me. Does that mean she’s weaker, on the verge of death? Or just that we jumped too far? “That way,” I snap, flinging an arm out in her direction.
“First, tell me how Caden died.”
“We don’t have fucking time for this.”
“Then walk. The door’s there.”
My jaw tics as I glare at him. The fucker’ll actually leave me here; no one matters to him but himself.
“He killed himself cursing her,” I snap.
He grabs me, and we phase again. The bond is weaker. My panic is stronger.
“What’s the curse?”
“Every time she uses magic, it drains her life.”
On the next jump, the pull to her is even weaker again. Fuck! She has to be dying.
“She doesn’t look weaker.”
“She’s a healer,” I snap. She can hide such things with her magic, topping up her physical looks while the inside of her is a hemorrhaging mess. A part of me wonders how close she is to dying. The other part of me doesn’t give a shit. She set Micha up so I would be paranoid enough to torture her. And although Talon was really the one who set that fire, Mother had set up the kindling. Now Micha is without her magic because of her.
No. She’s damaged because of me.
Fuck! I’m so sorry, little monster. I’m so sorry.
I spin in place, feeling her pull. My frustration mounting, I try to figure out how far to jump. “Go half the distance that way,” I say.
He doesn’t move.
“Aleric! I will fucking sell her to you. Just go.”
“I don’t need to buy her when she’ll crawl to me on her knees.”
I lunge for him. He grins. We phase, and the pull to her is now stronger. I turn my head, trying to figure out where we are. Where we’ve been. Try to put it all together to –
Aleric knees me in the balls, and I go down.
I twist towards him, knocking out his legs. He falls onto his back. We’re in the woods, and as I jump on top of him, he grabs a handful of dirt and throws it in my eyes. I flinch away automatically, but I still manage to punch him in the face. He hits me in the spleen. Pain explodes throughout my body, and I fall to the side, blinking rapidly to clear the dirt from my vision. I get a brief warning of moving air before a rock bashes into my skull.
I crumble. He phases away, and I hit the ground as he stands over me, tutting. “You take after your mom when you’re angry.”
Blood pours down my face. My head thrums hard as my vision blurs. Stumbling to my feet, I pull out a knife.
He laughs. “Now, your love of patricide – that you got from me.” He cocks his head, not at all concerned. “Then again, that could’ve come from Caden too. Nurture versus nature and all that.”
Cursing, I put my weapon away. Fighting with him will only drag this out more. “Ask your fucking question,” I snap.
“You’re normally not this much of an embarrassment, so what gives?”
I blink.
He smiles, enjoying how much he’s caught me off guard. “Come on, Vay Vay, talk about your feelings with your old man.”
Of course he knows Maddox’s fucking nickname for me.
