Page 57 of A Soul's Curse
“I … I don’t know! She said she wasn’t feeling good, then just collapsed. Please do something!” He sat down on a folding chair next to the cot, rocking back and forth as he dragged his hands down his face.
“What’s her name?” The young girl, probably about fifteen, had raven-black hair braided over her shoulder and freckles dotting her pink cheeks. She was breathing, barely, but wasn’t responsive. Her lips were turning blue, and her skin was unnaturally cold. Her pulse was weak, and when I pulled up the sleeve of her jacket, it was littered with hives and rashes.
“Emily. Her name is Emily. I’m … I’m her father. Patrick.”
“Is she allergic to anything?” I asked, magic pulsing at my fingertips and ready to neutralize whatever was about to kill this poor kid.
“No … not that I know of. The only thing she had was a piece of that candy being handed out in the lobby.”
“See? I told you. He’s poisoning us all.” Henry, the scaled shifter from before, approached with a smug grin on his face, like this was the proof he needed to show everyone how truly evil I was.
“Wait, what?” Patrick studied me for a minute before realization dawned on him. “Wait. I know you! You’re that guy responsible for the food poisoning! I didn’t … I didn’t recognize the demon who gave me the bag. I didn’t know she was working withyou.”
“You,get the fuck out of here!” I growled at Henry.
“Back up, you ungrateful asshole. Let him do his work.” Ren, ever the faithful bodyguard, stepped in to push him back.
“Don’t you fucking touch me. I can’t believe you’re defending him.” The guy’s venomous glare darted toward me, his face twisted in disgust. Then, he called out in a booming voice so the entire church could hear, “He’s a damn murderer!”
Ren scoffed, stepping in between me and Henry as a human shield. “Oh, give me a break. If he wanted you dead, you wouldn’t still be standing here running your mouth.”
“Ren! You’re not helping!” When I went to dig my magic into the girl, Patrick slapped my arm away.
“I do not give you consent to touch my daughter, and everyone else here now knows it.” A crowd was forming, and at least a dozen sets of eyes were watching me.
“Look, buddy, your daughter is suffocating from what looks like an easily curable allergic reaction and I don’t see anyone else rushing over to save her. I’m not asking you for your permission to make sure she lives.”
Ivy and Stella came to my side, urging the crowd back to give me some space, but the whispers being uttered by the onlookers was meant for me to hear.
“Was it really him? He’s been coming here for years! I can’t believe he would lie to us this whole time.”
“I thought this was supposed to be a safe place. How could Nick let that bastard in here?”
“Theo!” I heard my name, but it was like a distant, fuzzy sound. “Theo!” It came again, and this time when I looked up, Sasha had pushed her way through the crowd, holding her belly, wincing, and had a horrified expression on her face as she stared at the puddle on the floor beneath her feet.
“Oh my God, her water broke!” Someone next to her gasped, helping her to a chair.
“Get me Theo! Theo, I need you!” She grunted through her heavy, strained breathing as she tried to work through the cramps.
I knew what she was doing and appreciated the gesture. Helping to bring a healthy baby demon into this world would win me some favors among the crowd, but Emily’s pulse was slowly fading, and my magic wasn’t exactly meant for helping a mother give birth, not that I even knew how to deliver a child to begin with.
“Ivy, can you summon Jacob to take her to a hospital? Hopefully Doctor Brooks is around.”
“Yes, but, I … what if she isn’t? What do I tell them? Who do I ask for?” Ivy was panicking, unraveling at the seams. There was too much happening at once, too many voices, too many threats, and she didn’t know what to do.
“I’ll go with her.” Stella grabbed her hand. “We got this, Theo. You and Ren finish things here.”
With that, they were off to welcome a new life into this world while I battled to save the one in front of me.
I concentrated for a few seconds before shrieks and gasps erupted from the crowd and disrupted my focus.
“I said get your hands off me!” Henry shoved Ren when he tried to grab his arm, but then went flying across the floor in retaliation. Ren was there standing over him, fist ready to deal another punch.
"Oh, you’ll pay for that." The lizard man's scales shimmered, hardening into razor-sharp glass. With a swift motion, he flung a flurry of crystalline blades toward Ren. Too slow to react, Ren flinched as he felt the searing sting as some slashed across his skin while others embedded themselves deep.
“Ren, stop!” With Ivy and Stella gone, and Nick having stepped out, I was on my own. “Look at what you’re doing! You’re making everything worse!”
Someone in the crowd dashed forward and tackled me, and Ren looked over in horror as the raging lizard man barreled into him.
