Unnatural Souls (14 page)

But I’d made it, I remembered
suddenly. And with that thought, my heart started beating again,
hammering against my ribs. I’d beaten the demon. I had the talisman
that would save Ash’s life. And I had fifty minutes to spare. Still
too freaking close. I pulled the charm from my pocket, rubbing my
thumb across the rough surface and holding it tightly in my hand. I
could feel a familiar warmth coming from it that I hadn’t noticed
at first—a warmth similar to my powers—and the feeling strengthened
me.

I took a step forward, but a movement
to my right made me stop. When I turned in that direction, I saw
the flicker of another person out of the corner of my eye … but
couldn’t see anything else. At first.

Then the dark, shifting figure I’d
seen outside the school appeared. I only caught glimpses of it, as
it kept morphing between its human form and an unreadable shape,
appearing for only seconds before disappearing back into the
darkness. It slithered in and out of the shadows, moving quickly
down the hallway on my right—and making its way right past me,
toward Ash.

It was the demon Ash had sold his soul
to. It had to be. There was no other reason for any creature of
Hell to be here.

I took off running toward
Ash, desperate to get to him before the demon did. I had to get the
talisman around his neck before that thing had a chance to rip his
soul out. And I had an ace up my sleeve: The demon had no idea what
he was walking into. I had the element of surprise on my side if it
came down to a fight. That thing might think that it had it all in
the bag—Ash right there, waiting to be destroyed—but it would never
guess what
I
was:
a freakish half-angel half-human hybrid ready to tear him to
pieces.

With a demon-killing badass ally right
above him, watching from the second story.

Ahead of me, Ash closed the door to
his locker and slipped the padlock on. He was still staring at it,
one hand resting on its surface, and completely unaware of the
threat heading right at him.

Worse yet, I wasn’t going to be able
to beat the demon in a footrace. It was too fast, and had already
gained several feet on me. It was going to get to my brother before
I did.

“
Ash!” I yelled at the top
of my lungs.

Pain shot through my vocal chords at
the intensity of my scream and I forced my legs to move faster,
determined to catch up to the demon. Ash turned, his eyes widening
at the sight of me, and I had a quick thought that he was probably
equally shocked and terrified to see me there.

But I was only thirty feet from him,
now. Another few second and I’d be at his side—and able to answer
all of his questions. After I saw him safe. I was almost
shoulder-to-shoulder with the demon, the talisman in my hand, ready
to toss it over Ash’s neck the second I reached him.

I was going to win. I could feel
it.

Then the shadow abruptly turned in
front of me, cutting me off and throwing me into the lockers. I
fell backwards, the wind knocked out of me by the force of the
blow, and fought to regain my breath.

Then it took shape—its true form, no
longer concealed in darkness. Its back was to Ash, so that it was
facing me, but that blocked my view of my brother. And the demon
looked—somehow—amused. His eyebrows were pinched … and he
chuckled.

For a moment I was that scared ghost
girl in the clearing again, staring up at something I didn’t
understand. This was the creature that haunted my dreams. He was
tall, with dark hair and pale skin that stood out against a set of
angry red eyes. He wore dress slacks and a crimson shirt that
matched that red glow, and in my mind, I saw him shaking hands with
my brother, heard myself screaming for him to stop. It was a
nightmare I’d had almost every night since the day it happened, and
I knew it by heart. This creature had ruined my life, and planned
to end my brother’s—or sent him straight to Hell without a
soul.

I had spent a year fearing
him.

I knew I was a different person now,
and completely capable of fighting him, but I couldn’t help the
feelings that came crashing back as I stared at him once
again.

Despite that panic, though, I stood
up. This wasn’t the time to get girly or forget my own powers. I’d
met many demons in my time with Kali. This one made my blood run
cold, but I didn’t fear him anymore. He was just another creature
of Hell. He might be the demon of my nightmares, but I would be the
human that ended his life.

“
No. Don’t,” Ash
whispered. His voice echoed through the large hallway.

The demon turned his head to look at
Ash, and I took my chance, jumping forward and dashing toward my
brother. We were running out of time, but if I could just get this
charm—

The demon whipped his head back toward
me and held up a hand. One moment I was sprinting toward Ash, and
the next I was running face-first into an invisible force. I fell
backwards like I’d just slammed into a brick wall at full speed,
and could feel blood tricking down from what I was sure was a
broken nose. I glared at the demon and slowly stood up, ignoring
the pain.

He was going to regret
that. And he was
not
going to take Ash away from me. He would have to kill me
first. I had taken on two demons only twelve hours earlier, and I
could kill one more. I was already reaching down into the depths of
my soul, pulling at the source of my power.

“
Grace!” Ash shouted from
behind the demon. “No! You leave her out of this. It’s between you
and me.”

“
Then your friend needs to
leave,” the monster snarled.

Ash moved into my view, then, his eyes
wide and his face pale. I knew the fear that was coursing through
him. It was the exact horror I’d felt when he made the deal with
this monster—fear of losing him, fear of seeing him die right
before my eyes when I could stop it. He had felt that same terror
the night of the wreck, and when he’d watched me fading away in the
hospital bed. Now he was feeling it again.

“
Or she dies, too,” the
demon suddenly snapped.

Not today,
I thought.

I wasn’t human anymore. I couldn’t be
kept away by some invisible wall, like a helpless human could. I
could just teleport myself directly to my brother’s side. And from
there, I’d be able to save him. This thing would be done—and the
demon would never even see it coming. He was about to find out what
he was really up against.

I smiled and closed my eyes, pulling
at my power and focusing on the spot just to the left of Ash. And I
disappeared, as usual—but to my shock, I was yanked out of my jump.
It felt like I’d just driven a speeding car into the side of a
mountain, every bone in my body vibrating from the
impact.

When I reappeared, I was laying only
three feet from the demon.

I got to my feet much more slowly this
time, the pain coursing deep into my bones. Then he smiled at me,
and my heart sank. This was bad. How the hell was this demon’s
force field able to stop me from teleporting?

And what else could it do?

“
I knew there was
something off about you,” he purred.

Shit, shit, shit. So that plan had
backfired, but I wasn’t done fighting yet. I couldn’t be—Ash didn’t
have time. Clearly, I had underestimated this demon. He was really
strong. And suddenly my cockiness over the two demon kills I had
under my belt melted away. This one wasn’t like those. I wasn’t
going to distract him with a craznado. He would never fall for
that.

I had assumed this monster was another
low-level demon, and that was a mistake. My brother hadn’t sold his
soul to just anyone ... but I still didn’t think he was as strong
as one of the originals. He didn’t feel as powerful as
Kali.

Which meant that even if my next plan
failed, I still had one card up my sleeve. Either way, I thought I
was probably going to have to fight him. And I was going to have to
do it quickly. Ash couldn’t have more than thirty minutes
left.

I desperately wrapped the talisman
around my wrist as I called to my weapons, and within the blink of
an eye, a blue light was shining around both my hands. Thank God—I
was getting better at it. My hands shot out, the weapons flashing
in front of me, and my eyes raced over the demon as I tried to
decide where to strike.

To my frustration, the demon’s smile
just broadened as his eyes bored into mine. But for the first time,
those red eyes didn’t scare me. I was angry. I was going to keep
this thing from hurting anyone ever again. I was going to save my
brother.

Even if it was the last thing I
did.

“
Grace?” I could hear Ash,
but I ignored it. He had to be freaking out. I would be, in his
place. His sister had just pulled blades out of thin
air.

But I didn’t have time to explain
right now. I still had to kill this guy, get close enough to Ash to
get the chain over his head, and save his soul.

No problem.

“
I changed my mind. She
can’t leave,” the demon suddenly cackled. “She dies either way.
Can’t just let an interfering angel slip away.”

At that, Ash exploded in
my direction, but slammed into the same barrier I’d found—with even
less force. He didn’t fall, though, and started banging on the
invisible force field that kept us apart, screaming. Of course he
would still be trying to save his sister, even if he knew he stood
no chance of it. He would do anything for me, I realized. Just like
I would for him. Like I was
going
to do for him.

“
Please,” Ash begged, the
pain in his voice breaking my heart. “Not her. I sold my soul to
save her. You have to let her go.”

But the demon didn’t bother
responding. His focus was on me, and that’s where I wanted it to
stay.

Since I couldn’t get to Ash, I was
building a new plan: to lure the demon into coming after me first.
I needed to get him to step out of his invisible shield if I was
going to kill him. And while he was busy with me, I needed Ash to
get out of the way. If I killed the demon, Ash would be safe—for
the time being. His soul would still be marked for Hell, but I’d be
able to save him with the pendant as soon as I got to
him.

He wouldn’t leave on his own, I knew
that much. And even if he did leave, he’d need protection in case I
couldn’t kill this monster. In case it all went wrong, and the
demon got away. If it came down to it, I’d hope for that—for Kali
to guard him until I could catch up with them again. And get the
talisman to him.

The moment I stopped distracting the
demon, though, he would collect on the deal, and Ash would be
finished.

“
Kali!” I called out,
twirling the blades. I couldn’t get to Ash, so it was time for that
Plan B.

The monster’s smile disappeared the
minute he heard that name, a snarl crossing his lips and his eyes
burning a fiery red, so bright they were glowing. Most demons
recognized Kali’s name, as she was one of the originals. And I
assumed the name had become even more infamous once she started
killing her own to earn redemption. All of Hell probably knew about
her, now.

And I’d counted on it. So I reveled in
the look of terror and fury on the demon’s face. He’d thought he
had me up against the ropes. But he clearly hadn’t expected her to
be there with me. We had him.

Looking up, I saw Kali grab the edge
of the railing and throw herself over the side. It was a
twenty-five-foot drop that would have broken anyone’s legs—if they
were human—but she landed gracefully beside my brother, who jumped
about two feet in the air, screamed, and slammed sideways against
the locker.

She smiled at the demon and walked
forward, clearly thinking that I needed her to kill him for
me.

Then she came into contact with the
shield. She pushed against it but it didn’t budge, and she pursed
her lips, intrigued and irritated. The demon whirled around,
looking back and forth between Kali and myself. Clearly he thought
that Kali the demon killer was there for him. Clearly he was under
the impression that we’d somehow trapped him—and were there to kill
him.

That wasn’t my plan for Kali,
though.

“
I need you to protect
Ash!” I shouted, both frustrated and angry. Of course she hadn’t
understood. Of
course
she’d thought I was calling her to deal with the
demon.

Even after what happened in the alley,
she didn’t trust me to take on a demon by myself. And the thought
made me furious.

She tilted her head to the side,
confused, and I snarled at her. The demon continued to look back
and forth between us, as if he was trying to decide what to do
next, and that was fine. As long as he wasn’t moving against Ash,
we had time. I was sure he was dying to collect Ash’s soul, but
from the looks of it he didn’t want to try to get through Kali. He
seemed to be furious at me … but probably didn’t think I was a big
threat or target.

Which just meant he didn’t respect me
any more than Kali did, right now. And he had no idea how big a
threat I actually was. I quickly called my powers to the surface,
the warmth flowing over me, and without thinking it through,
mentally yanked the locker banks from both sides of the hall,
controlling them telepathically. They ripped out of the cement
walls with a hideous groaning, the sound of snapping and bending
metal echoing down the halls, and the demon stopped abruptly,
casting a glare to me.