27
ADDIE
Ididn’t enjoy being wrong.
Carving through the veil took much of my attention, but it was the only way that I could reach the afterlife and contact Maria’s spirit. While I was distracted in the beyond, the shades had gathered around me.
Maddox tried to warn them off. I could hear Vi asking questions, though I couldn’t understand her words while most of my consciousness was in the afterlife. I’d written off the shades as harmless.
That was until the pressure of their presence weighed down on my lungs and kept me from drawing air. No matter what I did, I couldn’t lift my chest to breathe. It was as if I’d been cut off from my own body.
“Maria?” I shouted in the afterlife. “Maria! Vince needs your help!”
She had to have been his mate. That’s the only reason I could think of that would make Vince so volatile. If she was out there, in the afterlife, then I might be able to get her to talk some sense into him. If we could do that, then maybe he would submit. This didn’t have to be a fight.
Maria wasn’t anywhere to be found, though. My body froze as I filled it with the arcana that’d been deep inside my core. Ice crawled over my skin and filled the holes in my chest. Soon, my heart would slow, and the burn of my breathless lungs would fade, but I still pressed on.
It was a fool’s errand, one that left me open to other threats.
Like the shades. They pressed closer and closer. Their anger enveloped me. I’d thought that they were harmless, but I’d been very wrong. I couldn’t see them, but I felt as they came together into one entity made of rage and vengeance.
That entity slammed into me. I wasn’t there. I couldn’t push back or shield myself. The shade filled my body and locked me out. Trapped in the afterlife, I screamed. No one could hear me, though.
Well, that backfired.
Maddox
Something wasn’t right.The shades were gone. They’d glitched into one being and blown right through Addie.
“Uh, what’s going on in my passenger seat right now?” Vi asked. She twisted in her seat to look back at Ness. “I could really use someone with a human mouth right now. Where the hell is Cerri?”
The blonde hadn’t accompanied us today. It was just the four of us in the Jeep. When Ness barked, the sky above rumbled ominously.
“You can’t use thunder to talk!” Vi snapped. “I don’t know whatboooooommeans!”
On your right.
Hel’s voice drew my attention. I whipped my head around and caught a flash of white fur right before he leapt at us. Vince aimed for Addie, but I leapt and hit him before he could make it through the open passenger window.
Vince twisted and bit down on my flank again. I waited for Addie’s arcana to reach out and slide into me, but nothing happened. My heart stopped. I froze and looked back to Addie. Her eyes were open now, but they didn’t belong to her.
Addie’s soft gray eyes had been eclipsed by a myriad of colors that didn’t sit right on her face. Her lips twisted with fury and agony. The scream that left her mouth was woven through with a handful of others.
Vince paused his attack. He pulled back and stared at Addie. She pulled her lips back and snarled before launching herself at the door. Hands fumbling, she struggled to get out. It bought Vi some time to grab Addie.
“This isn’t normal!” Vi shouted, her arms around Addie’s middle.
Addie scrabbled at the door handle. She kicked at it and sent the door flying open. The shades had possessed her. Their anger was palpable. They would put Addie in the middle of a dangerous fight if I didn’t get Vince out of here.
He lowered his head and prowled closer to the Jeep. Vi sent out a warning shot, a ball of light careening from her hand. Only, it fizzled out before it could reach Vince. She blinked, but she didn’t have time to worry because Addie kicked and thrashed in her grasp. Vi had to use both arms to hold Addie’s body back.
Ness leapt out of the Jeep and fell in behind me so we could herd Vince away from here. I took one direction and Ness took the other. We pressed in on Vince. He snapped and attacked Ness. With his attention on her, I hit him from the side.
I bit past Vince’s fur and into flesh. Blood burned my tongue like silver wire. I didn’t let go. No amount of pain would be enough to make me let go, especially when Addie was involved. With a twist of my head, I threw Vince away from the Jeep.
He rolled along the earth. Beneath him, the ground lost its color. It turned dead and gray.
“Guys?” Vi shouted to us. “What is Addie doing? This is freaky! Someone stop her.”