“Close the door,” the demi-demon whispered.
I did.
The guard watched me, eyes narrowed, card still raised, like he’d love to shove it down my throat. Watch me choke on it.
When he spoke, his words were garbled. “Whatever you want me to do, I won’t. ”
The demi-demon chuckled. “Then you don’t know much about necromancers, particularly this one,” she said, though he couldn’t hear her.
“I don’t want anything,” I said. “I’m sorry-”
“Sorry?” He spat the word and stepped toward me. His coat swung open, showing a charred hole in his chest. The stink of burned meat wafted out. I gagged, and my mouth filled with bile. He stepped toward me again.
“Stop,” I said, voice quavering.
He did, and stood there, skewering me with those burning eyes.
“I might suggest you take his gun,” the demi-demon said. “To be safe. ”
I looked down. His fingers rested on the butt of his pistol.
“Don’t move,” I said.
I tugged out the gun.
“You’re going to use me to escape, aren’t you? You won’t. You belong in here. They were right. You’re monsters. I hope they kill you all. ” He sneered down at me. “No, actually, I hope they don’t kill you. I hope they lock you up and experiment on you. Poke and prod and test until you wish you were dead. ”
A week ago, I’d have shivered at those words. Today, I wasn’t going to cower under his threats and name-calling, and I wasn’t going to shy away from what I had to do.
I told him to sit. He did. He had no choice. Then I freed his soul, envisioning not a release but an exchange. Eyes shut, I sat cross-legged, necklace on the floor, inches from my hand. I willed this to work. Please work. Just-
“Well, that’s better,” the guard said, his mumble replaced by a weirdly musical lilt. He cleared his throat. “No, that’s better,” he said, in his normal voice.
I snatched the necklace back. The guard gave a girlish laugh. His eyes glowed orange. He blinked and rolled his shoulders, then cleared his throat again and the laugh deepened. His eyes went black, then brown.
“Will I pass?” the demi-demon asked from inside the guard’s body.
I picked up the gun from the floor.
The demi-demon laughed. “Do you really think I’d shoot you and doom myself to eternity in a rotting mortal shell? I am as much your slave as the mortal, and I promise, I shall obey with far less unseemly whining. ”
I rose, the gun still in my hand.
“I would suggest you keep that,” she said. “But you’ll need to find a place to hide it. ”
I tucked it into the back of my waistband. Whenever I’d seen that on the big screen, I’d rolled my eyes, thinking “one wrong move and you’re going to shoot yourself in the butt. ” But, right now, it was the only place I could think of.
As I adjusted my shirt over it, my fingers trembled. I took a deep breath.
“Yes, I know,” the demi-demon said. “That experience was far from pleasant, but at least he was angry about it. ”
When I glanced over, her brows arched. “Would you rather he’d been grateful? Happy to be resurrected? Pleading for a few final minutes with his family?”
She had a point. I pulled the shirt down one last time, then finger-combed my hair.
“You look marvelous, my dear,” she said, and fluttered her fingers at the door. “Shall we?” She paused. “Let’s try that again. ” Her voice went gruff. “Ready to go, kid?”
I was.
Forty-one
AS THE DEMI-DEMON HAD said, all the major players were in a meeting. Given how loath they were to admit to problems, we hoped they hadn’t rushed to tell all the other guards about the death of their colleague, so anyone we encountered wouldn’t find it odd to see him escorting the prisoners through the building.
As it turned out, the halls were empty. We made it to the security office without seeing or hearing anyone. The door was unlocked. The demi-demon opened it. A guard sat inside, his back to us as he monitored the screens. I stayed behind the demi-demon, but when the guard turned, I caught enough of a glimpse of him for my heart to sink. It was the one who’d been with us earlier.
I jerked back out of sight, and I plastered myself to the corridor wall.
“Hey, Rob,” the demi-demon said.
“Nick?” the guard said. His chair scraped the floor, as he scrambled out of it. “I thought you were-”
“So did I,” the demi-demon said. “Seems it takes more than a witch’s spell to kill me. Whatever mojo that shaman Phelps uses, it’s good stuff. ”
“They called in Phelps?” The guard exhaled. “I didn’t think they would. Dr. Fellows is good, but…”
“She’s no shaman healer. A lot easier on the eyes than old man Phelps, though. ”
They both laughed at that.
“Anyway, I’m back in action, and apparently, almost dying doesn’t even earn me the rest of the shift off. They want you up front, manning the door. Trudy’s nervous with those kids back. ”
“I don’t blame her. Personally, I don’t know why they keep trying to rehabilitate them. After what that brat did to you, I’m ready to lock them up and throw away the key. I’ll go keep Trudy company, though. ” The squeak of shoes, then a sniff: “What’s that smell?”
“Smell?”
“Like something burned. ”
“Yeah. I think Trudy burned popcorn in the microwave again. ”
“No, it’s not popcorn. ” Another shoe squeak. “It’s coming from-”
A gasp. Then the thump of a falling body. I raced into the room. The demi-demon was tugging the guard into the corner.
“Do you see a ghost, child?” she asked without turning.
“N-no. ”
“Then he isn’t dead, is he?” She arranged him, mostly hidden behind the chairs. Then she took my hands and pressed them to the guard’s neck where his pulse beat strong. “You’re giving me the first chance at freedom I’ve had. Do you think I’d spoil that?”
She looked at the guard, then slid a sly glance my way. “Still, this would be an excellent opportunity to obtain a far more suitable body for me, one that no one thinks is dead. ”
I glared at her.
She sighed. “All right then. Find your friends. ”
I scanned the monitors while she watched the door. There was no sign of Tori, but I’d expected that-it only meant she was in one of the camera-free cells. I found Simon, still in the surgery, still strapped down, an IV in his arm, no sign of a guard.