Page 73 of Bent Out of Shade
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“Miriam,”Laurent said, “check Sabrina.”
Icy tendrils snaked through me. It was terrifying to contemplate, yet a dybbuk gaining the upper hand went a long way to explain Sabrina’s extreme violence tonight.
“Are you sure?” Juliette said. “There’s nothing inside her other than vampire magic.”
“You’re not Banim Shovavim. You can’t sense them.” I nudged her aside and dropped to my knees.
Tatiana and Emmett crowded into the space with us.
Closing my eyes, I sent my magic out over her.
Inside Sabrina, a storm raged. It was like being in the destructive inner rings of a hurricane: violent twists and seemingly limitless power all hell-bent toward destruction and set to an unending howl. Her mind must have been in chaos. Still, I concentrated, looking for that familiar pulse of endless darkness.
There.
Then I was yanked to my feet, and my eyes snapped open as Laurent furiously balled up his sweater sleeve to wipe my lip. “You’re bleeding.”
I touched my tongue to the spot and winced. “I didn’t realize I bit down on it.”
“Is she possessed or enthralled?” Tatiana said.
“Enthralled,” I replied.
The collective tension deflated.
“Was Sabrina Ohrist?” Emmett said. “How did she become inhabited?”
“She was definitely Sapien,” Tatiana said. “Vincenzo had no reason to lie about that, nor would Sabrina have hidden it from him. She must have a recessive gene that allowed her to become enthralled Friday during the Danger Zone.” She paused. “Before she was turned, since vampires can’t be possessed.”
That was a relief, though it made Eli with his recessive gene susceptible. I rubbed the back of my neck. The list of worries was endless. At least he could behave appropriately during the Danger Zone and not fall prey to a dybbuk.
“Talk about the world’s worst night,” Emmett said.
“She was probably exhausted from the trial.” I shook my head. “Add a celebratory drink or two at her staff dinner and she’d have been primed for being inhabited.” I refastened my ponytail. “I’ll get it out of her and then you can wake her, okay?”
Juliette nodded.
I made everyone leave the elevator before manifesting my shadow scythe. “Mut!” The Hebrew letters for “die” shimmered onto the blade, and I swung the tip into Sabrina’s shadow, severing it.
An angry crimson mass exploded out of her body to dive-bomb me, but I made short work of the spirit, cleaving it in half. It leached of all color and imploded, dead. Oh for the days when dybbuks were the worst of my problems.
The vampire didn’t fall into convulsions, which was good, but again, breathing would have been a handy clue that Sabrina had come through the dybbuk removal unscathed.
“One freaking thing gone right tonight,” Emmett said.
“No kidding.” I flung a strand of hair from my face, my scythe vanishing. “She’s all yours.”
Juliette took my place while I crowded against the back wall with Laurent. As soon as Sabrina woke up, we’d determine if she was in compos mentis. If she wasn’t, then we’d protect her until she could make informed decisions. We also needed a description of the vampire who’d turned her and if she had any theories about why this had happened. I tapped my foot, impatient to speak with Sabrina and put a solid plan into action.
Laurent nudged me, his gaze fond. “More lists?” he murmured.
I stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled.
Juliette swore and shook out her hands, bending over Sabrina so low that her nose almost touched the vampire’s body.
Next to me, Laurent tensed.
