Page 139 of A Taste of Torment
I swallow, trying to place the voice. It’s like a doctored version of someone I know. If I could figure it out—
“Another Montgomery in my clutches,” the voice says with a chuckle. “Whatever will Mommy and Daddy do?”
My breath rushes out, and I curl a lip, barely resisting a snarl. “Who are you?”
The voice laughs.
“No?” I say between clenched teeth. “Too afraid to reveal yourself?”
“I’m the jinn, of course,” she says sweetly.
“Jinn don’t exist. So, you’re probably actually a fae or something hiding behind a bit of magic and a whole lot of cowardice.”
“You think you’re very clever, don’t you?” She sounds much less amused than before. Good. I cross my arms and flick a brow.Maybe a little.
Ten minutes. We have to stall for ten minutes until Jarron has his magic back. I don’t know what kind of charms or protection spells they’ll have placed over themselves or the exits.
In the distance, a wolf howls.
“Would you still feel that way after I kill your protector?”
I frown. What does that mean?
A blast of white-hot magic slams into me. The world spins, and the next thing I know, the ground crashes into me. There’s a roar of rage that I can’t place, but it sends a wave of terror through my whole body. It’s inhuman. Alien.
With a groan, I force my body upright, and just a few feet away there’s a man holding a sword piercing the Astroturf, right next to where I was just standing. Where did he come from? Was he attacking me? Did the jinn just save me?
Another cry, this time of utter agony, echoes through the dome, and my blood turns ice cold.
“No.” The word comes out hoarse and quiet, but inside my mind it’s a scream.
Oozing black blood pools, seemingly from the fake grass beneath the man’s sword. Right where the invisible demon prince had been standing next to me.
Jarron.
Ears ringing, I look up to his attacker and find the demon I’d anticipated from the beginning.
Mr. Vandozer pants and wipes a splatter of black blood from his cheek. “Hello, Candice.”
51
I’m Not Nothing
“Hello, Candice,”Mr. Vandozer says with a smug smile.
One heartbeat. That’s all I allow for my shock to settle before I leap at him, nails and teeth flying. I roar in rage, desperate and wild. My mind only able to focus on maiming the man who hurt Jarron. Who hurt my sister.
With a simple flick of his wrist, invisible magic pushes me aside like I’m a tiny kitten. To him, I am.
I am nothing.
I land on all fours, eyes glaring daggers.I’m going to kill him. I’m going to find a way if it’s the last thing I do.
My mind clears, and I force the rage into something more useful: determination.
Panting, I sit back on my knees. I take a moment to examine the bloody lump on the ground not far away. The blood makes his form slightly visible, but there’s no sign the magic is fading yet. He’s magicless. Weakened because of me. And because of the invisibility potion, I can’t tell how badly he’s hurt. But based on Mr. Vandozer’s relaxed shoulders and proud grin, I’m guessing it’s bad.
He was run through with a large sword. Jarron told me demons can heal from major wounds. But will that still be true without magic? I do have something that may be able to help. It’s at least worth a shot.
