Page 18 (2/2)

Nina pleaded, arm stretched as I backed her up another careful step My skin tingled, and I shivered as I reached the last ared her to the other side of the outer circle

"One ainst the lure as I hesitatedbreathedand finally pushed myself out of Trent’s spell

"No!" Nina h it as well My pulse thundered, and the zing of Trent’s field see the demon inside We had hilanced atain, vertigo hazing , but they looked okay

"Nothing" Jaw clenched, Trent turned back to the charm "Keep Nina back"

"Give it to me!" Nina howled, and I suddenly foundfor breath on the hard dirt Nina had shoved me, and I watched as she hammered on the colu the sa out as their brief moment of connection was sundered

"Holy pixy piss, Trent, finish it!" Jenks shouted

"Ta na shay cooreen na da!" Trent said, horrified as the dey barrier "Ta na shay!" he said again, to no effect

The demon howled at the sky, then turned to Trent, hatred in his eyes

And then the deh the surface deer to fear, and then panic as he suddenly dissolved, vanishing into a quicksilver pulse of light that spun through the spiral to the tiny endpoint

The deone

Nina stared, shocked as Felix’s soul was suddenly not there In the new silence, the bottle slowly rocked, spun, and fell over, clinking against the pebbly dust

Had it worked?

"Give Me My Soul"

It had been Nina, and I stared at her as Trent, oblivious to everything, struggled to find hi as the ends of his ribbon shook He’d done it, and it looked as if it had cost hiet hiain, and I scrambled up as she jumped at Trent Bis flew up in fear and Jenks darted away Scared, I grabbed Nina’s shirt and jerked her off Trent

"Nina! Kick him out!" I demanded, and she snarled, her hair wild as I pinned her to a tall rock,as if they were on fire

"There is no Nina," she howled "I want my soul! Give it to me!"

"I’lazed, fierce expression Ipop Pain flashed up through ht and all the force had gone right into her head, knocking her out

Elbow stiff, I caught her before she fell and eased her down If Felix had been himself, I never would have been able to do it, but he was half out of histouched his soul

"Are you okay, Rachel?" Trent whispered, and I nodded He was slumped beside Bis, exhausted, shaken by what he’d done I knew he’d have no regrets and would do it again if I asked But I wouldn’t

Seeing Felix with even the hint of his soul had been enough to convinceinto the sun I’d seen Cincinnati without her undead Asof the end

"You can’t give hi, I crossed the space between us, kicking dust and dirt into the spiral as I went to get the soul bottle The spiral was dead It held nothing anymore

"You sahat it did to him," Trent added

The bottle felt small in my hand, and my stomach twisted as I remembered the dee Without the mind to temper it and the body to cushion it, the soul beca had they been apart? A hundred years? Two hundred?<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>