“Just because she’s not your definition of alive doesn’t make her gone. What she is now … it’s just another state of being. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
Jolene sighed. “I understand you must feel very alone right now, especially since your mate walked out on you a few years back. But no amount of pain or loneliness gives you the right to do what you’ve done. You need to return all those bodies to their graves—”
“I won’t lose Molly,” he gritted out.
“You already lost her, Enoch. Let her rest in peace.”
His jaw hardened. “She stays with me.”
“Don’t make me take this matter into my own hands. I’ve been gentle with you because I know you’re in great pain, but that can change in a heartbeat.”
He smirked. “There’s nothing you can do. Any living thing that touches that forcefield will die. You have no way of getting past it. Of course, you could kill me, but you’d fail to make it a permanent death—not even you could destroy a Lazarus demon. My body would turn to ash, but I wouldn’t psychically be dead, so the forcefield would remain intact. And when my body regenerated, I’d come back for my girls. You can’t get to them.”
“Last chance, Enoch,” said Jolene. “Agree to return the children to their graves.”
His mouth twitched into an ugly smirk. “Or what? Oh, I get it, you intend to sic your granddaughter on me.” He chuckled and cut his gaze to Khloé. “My kind is resistant to mind control, so you can’t force me to do your bidding, no matter how strong you are.”
Well of course he’d assume that was why she was there. He didn’t know of Khloé’s other ability—many didn’t. “Jolene didn’t call me here to hijack your mind,” she said, flexing her fingers as the potent force humming in her belly pushed for freedom.
Sliding her gaze to the forcefield, Khloé lifted her hand, palm-out, and sent out a blast of electric fire. A beautiful mix of blue and amber, it crackled and flickered as it rippled through the air. The power enveloped the forcefield like a net, buzzing and sizzling. She snapped her fist closed, and the electric net sliced through the forcefield.
“No!” yelled Enoch, his eyes wide. A smoky, black sphere appeared in his hand. The fuck? He tossed three in quick succession.
Her grandmother slammed up a hand, causing a protective shield to pop up in front of her, Khloé, Ciaran, and the sentinels. The shield absorbed two of the orbs, but it didn’t pop up fast enough to block all three.
The other sphere crashed into Khloé’s head and … God, it was like having someone pour noxious gas up her nose and into her mouth. It seemed to burn her insides as it dived down her lungs and consumed the oxygen there.
Dropping to her knees, she coughed and gagged and tried sucking in fresh air, but it was like the dark force blocked her airways. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t fight it.
She was distantly aware of the mayhem around her—of the sentinels surrounding her, of hellfire orbs being tossed, of Enoch screaming in agony, of the corpses collapsing to the floor, of a cluster of ashes zooming out of the basement window like a swarm of bees. But she was mentally caught up in the fact that she was choking.
Spots filled her vision. Her burning chest screamed for air. A feeling of weightless fluttered through her.
Her demon went apeshit, knowing they were both going to die—
A hand slapped against her back, and power punched inside her like a cold breeze. It drew her own power like a magnet. The two forces clashed and melded into one. Then it exploded.
Wave upon wave of power rushed through her, clearing the darkness that clogged her lungs. Khloé sucked in a sharp breath. And another. And another. And another. God, fresh air had never tasted so good.
“Stop, or you’re going to hyperventilate,” said Ciaran, his hand still on her back. “Breathe slowly. Come on, deep breath in, deep breath out.”
Struggling to fight the reflexive urge to suck in mounds of air, she concentrated on trying to calm her breathing. Soon enough, the dark tinge to the edges of her vision cleared, but panic remained a living thing inside her. And, Jesus, what was that godawful taste on her tongue?
Looking up at her twin, she gave him a nod of thanks. They’d always been able to join their collective power that way, but they didn’t do it too often as it left them both wiped.
Ciaran rubbed her back. “You okay?”
“Never better,” croaked Khloé. She coughed to clear her throat. “What the fuck did he hit me with?” She coughed again as Orrin and Ciaran helped her stand.
“I’m not entirely sure,” said Jolene. “I’m assuming it was a poisonous gas of some kind, considering you almost choked to death. Mitch, go get her some water.”