Page 77 of Unbound

“Couldn’t have picked a better name to keep passing down,” she mutters.

I laugh. Claire almost smiles.

“Okay.” She reaches down, grabs a bag, and slings it over her shoulder. “I’ll go with you.”

Relief hits me so hard my knees nearly weaken. I turn and wave my brothers over from across the street. I introduce them, and we decide to go around the convention center instead of cutting back toward the parking lot. The more distance we can put between ourselves and those hunters, the better.

“Should I call for the car?” Antonio asks.

“Yeah,” I reply. “We can at least sit inside and drive around for a while. Stay out of sight.”

“Out of sight?” Claire repeats. She tenses the second Antonio and Leo fall into step beside us. I can’t blame her. Honestly, this kid is taking a massive risk by coming with me. I silently thank Eudora for telling Claire to trust me. And I have to fight back another wave of emotion, because the only way any of this makes sense to me is if my mother and Claire’s mother somehow found each other in the spirit world.

We reach a dead end at a locked door leading into the convention center. Leo grabs the handle. “I can pick this. Give me a minute.”

“Wait.” I remember the incantation Marie whispered when she unlocked the door at the Covenstead. “Recludere,” I say quietly. I probably butcher the pronunciation. But the lock clicks open. Claire stares at me in awe. Apparently the glowing ball of energy wasn’t enough proof.

Though honestly, I’ve known I had magic my entire life and I’m still impressed by half the things Marie does. We step inside. The convention hall is mostly empty. One of the cleaners gives us a curious look as we cross through, but no one stops us. We continue toward the opposite side and exit through the main entrance.

The second I step outside, the air changes. It hits me like a punch to the stomach. Every hair on my body rises at once and nausea twists through me. I stop. Turn.

And see Vivian step out of the shadows.

Chapter

Thirty

“Mom!” Leo shouts. He starts to rush forward, but Antonio catches him by the arm. Claire looks between us skeptically. I literally just told her we’re trying to escape this woman, and now my brother is calling her Mom.

“It’s not her anymore,” Antonio reminds him, pulling him back.

“Hello, boys,” Vivian says in a singsong voice. Vaelric is trying to appeal to our emotions. Which is almost funny. He’s been inside Vivian’s head for days. He should know better than to approach us with affection. Vivian barely did that when she wasn’t possessed.

“Get behind me,” I tell Claire. I hold out my hand and summon a ball of energy. “If you want her, you’re going to have to go through me.”

Vivian shrugs. She blinks a few times, and I get a better look at her. Her blue eyes are bloodshot and clouded. The skin around her lips is dry and cracked. Her hands are filthy. Demons burn through human bodies quickly. I always assumed the more powerful the demon, the faster it would destroy its host. Maybe I had that backward. Maybe the stronger the demon, the more sophisticated it is. The less it needs to drain just to keep a human body functioning.

“I was going to go through you anyway,” Vaelric says. His demonic voice blends with Vivian’s. “You’ve been very helpful, Florence.” He smiles. “First you released me from my prison.” His gaze shifts toward Claire. “And now you brought me the other half of the key.”

“I’m not going to let you trick her the way you tricked me.” I keep my hand raised. “My family locked you up once. We can do it again.” I stare directly into Vivian’s eyes. “And this time, you won’t have your little group of demon cronies backing you up.”

Something flickers across his face. Surprise, which is interesting. Maybe he doesn’t know how quickly we killed the chaos demon. Maybe he thought I would still be dealing with the fallout. Maybe he assumed the coalition would keep me busy long enough for him to get to Claire first. But all the maybes in the world don’t change what’s happening right now.

“Mom,” Leo says again, his voice breaking. “I know you’re in there somewhere. You can fight this.”

“Vivian doesn’t want to fight this,” Vaelric tells him. And for some reason, I believe him. I take a small step backward, pushing Claire closer to Antonio. He isn’t going to like what I’m thinking. But our best chance is for me to keep Vaelric occupied while my brothers get Claire out of here.

They don’t stand a chance against his power. Honestly, I’m not sure I do either.

“You know,” Vaelric says, “I hate sounding cliché.” He lifts one hand. “So I’ll give you the choice anyway.” His mouth curves into a smile. “The easy way.” He snaps his fingers and Antonio and Leo collapse.

“No!” I scream and instinctively move toward them. For one horrible second, I think Vaelric ripped the life out of Antonio. He brought him back once. I know he can take it away. Vaelric clicks his tongue.

“Don’t worry, little witch.” He glances down at them. “They’re alive.”He smiles. “For now.” My entire body goes cold. “Give me the girl, and they wake up in two minutes.” I suck in a breath and force my shoulders back.

“Then I guess it’s my turn to sound cliché.” Energy builds in my palm. “Over my dead body, motherfucker.” I throw the ball of energy. It slams into Vivian’s chest.

“Run!” I scream at Claire. She turns. Her foot catches on Antonio’s outstretched leg, and she crashes hard to the ground. The blast barely seems to affect Vaelric. Vivian’s skin burns where the magic hit, but he doesn’t even react to the pain.