Demons of Bourbon Street

chapter 25

The warped, wood-sided house sat buried in the overgrown marshland. With most of the windows boarded up, the camp appeared

deserted. There wasn’t a boat, or even a footpath cut through the thick brush from the dock to the front door. No light, no movement,

no life.


I knew better. My emotional radar went into overdrive. I couldn’t sense Philip, but a tiny thread of Dan’s energy reached me. He was

inside. Antsy, but not nervous. More like he had cabin fever. Who could blame him?

Most importantly, Meri waited inside with the rest of my soul. My fatigue instantly vanished, and I felt whole for the first time in days.

Did Meri feel it too? Would she know I was nearby? It didn’t matter. We were already here. I stepped onto the rickety dock. “Let’s do

this.”

“Hold on.” Lucien radioed our location to Ian and stashed the device under a seat.

I eyed the radio and then raised my eyebrows in question.

“The silence charm only works while we’re on the boat. The last thing we need is Ian trying to reach us before we secure them in the

building,” Lailah said.

“Secure them?” What was this—a sting operation? All I wanted to do was confront Meri. Surely if we duked it out, my soul would find

a home with one of us. And that one of us was going to be me, if I had anything to say about it.

“Yeah.” Lailah gestured to the house. “So Philip can’t transport them anywhere.”

“He can do that?”

She sighed. “Yes. He’s an extremely powerful angel.”

More powerful than her. The thought popped in my head before I could stop it. I winced and glanced at her, but either she ignored

me or our mental connection was on the fritz. “You better hurry. My soul feels whole again. If Meri is paying attention, she might

already know I’m here.”

Lailah nodded and split from Lucien as the pair crept along the bank in opposite directions. Their magic collective barely brushed

against my skin in a feathery caress. Magic filtered in a silver stream toward the house, split apart, and circled around until the two

threads met again, sealing together. Another transparent bubble covered the shack. It was the same type of spell they’d used back

when we’d gotten on the airboats. Though, this time the magic hadn’t affected me at all. My soul had to be the difference.

Lailah nodded. “They aren’t going anywhere now.”

With her statement, I strode straight up the front door, not caring who saw me. I didn’t even knock. What was the point?

I threw the door open, surprised they hadn’t even bothered to lock it. Not that a deadbolt would’ve stopped me. I had my strength

back. Or so I thought.

My eyes met Meri’s determined gray ones and an internal battle began. My newly won strength faded just as quickly as it had

appeared.

Meri seemed to stand taller, more confident with each passing moment. My eyelids grew heavy, and my legs ached with fatigue. All I

wanted to do was sink to the floor. A hollow sensation grew inside my gut, and that’s when it hit me. Meri was sucking me dry.

I had to do something. Anything.

I lunged.

Surprise flickered over her face and she side-stepped me, but she was too late. I tackled her, and we crashed down on the rough

wood floor. My right elbow throbbed. I grunted and clutched Meri’s arm. Her energy and my soul started to fill the empty crevices of

my being. Everything hummed with possibilities. I’d never felt so…powerful.

“Give it up,” I growled, grasping the raw, tingling edges of my soul. I gripped tighter, ready to suck the last strands from the former

demon.

Her sad gray eyes stared straight into me as if she were searching my hidden depths. Then she spoke, her voice broken, defeated.

“Take care of him for me.”

“No!” Dan sprinted from another room and pounced.

I lost my grip, and a sliver of heat slashed through my gut, causing a vague sense of loss. My strength wavered slightly then

stabilized. I searched the rough edges of my soul, and I realized a small section had snapped back into Meri.

A small gasp of surprise escaped her lips, echoing my own.

“Dan, move,” I grumbled, scrambling to get out from beneath him as Kane grabbed his arms.

“Don’t touch her again, Toller.” Kane’s voice was low and dangerous, matching his hard face. I shuddered a tiny bit. I’d seen him

mad before, but never like this. “Next time I’ll put a permanent dent in that straight nose of yours.”

I sprung to my feet, rubbing my battered knee. “Dan! What are you doing? She forced you into Hell.”

“You don’t understand.” Dan tried to struggle out of Kane’s grip. Kane tightened his hold, forcing Dan’s arms behind his back.

“Ouch. Damn it, let go. I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

I stalked up to him. “I’ve been trying to save you from the moment you sacrificed yourself, and this is how I get repaid?”

“It’s not his fault,” Meri said, keeping her distance.

“Oh, I know,” I spat at her. “A demon is to blame.”

She winced and a bone-deep shame filled her, echoing in my being.

I closed my eyes for a moment and heaved a heavy sigh. “Kane, you can let Dan go. She’s right, it isn’t his fault.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

I nodded.

“If you say so.” He jerked back on Dan’s arms one more time for good measure and leaned in to speak into his ear. “Touch her

again, and I won’t hesitate to break you in half.”

Dan nodded, grimacing.

Kane released him, pushing him forward. Dan stumbled. He caught himself on the back of a wooden chair and glared at Kane.

“What’s wrong with you?” I demanded, pointing a finger at Dan. “Why are you helping her?”

Dan’s eyes darkened. “She isn’t a demon anymore.”

“But she stole my soul!” I cried.

Meri winced. Dan frowned in sympathy then turned back to me. “She didn’t do that on purpose. She can’t control what’s happening.

Don’t you understand? She’s a human now, possibly even an angel. You can’t just…she doesn’t deserve this.”

I shook my head and eyed Meri. She still had a piece of my soul, but she wasn’t trying to drain me anymore. What was I supposed to

do, give up my life for hers? She leaned against the rough wall, her burgundy button down shirt askew and her tattered jeans ripped

at the knees. She gazed through an open door a few feet from her.

Muffled voices filtered into the common room, one of them Lailah’s. Keeping a wary eye on Meri, I inched toward the door. Inside

the small, pea-green kitchen, Lucien stood slightly behind Lailah with his arms folded over his chest, while she proceeded to chew

someone out. I couldn’t see the person in question, but it didn’t take a psychic to figure out who.

“I can’t believe you.” Her normally pale face was covered in angry red splotches. “You have no right to mess with Jade’s life this way.

”

“You know it’s not that simple.” Philip’s voice was quiet, but steady.

I moved closer to the door, hyperaware of Kane at my back and Dan hovering protectively over Meri a few feet away. Lailah gripped

the edge of the sink until her knuckles turned white. “She was a demon, Philip. Now you’re trying to save her by sacrificing someone

else.”

“The council won’t see it that way.”

I tensed. Was he planning to invite them to this party?

“I didn’t know it was happening,” Meri said, her tone almost apologetic. “The sharing of your soul, I mean.” She slid down against the

wall, as if her legs couldn’t possibly hold her up any longer.

I took a slow step toward her, taking in the purple smudges under her eyes and the way her hand slightly shook as she smoothed

her rumpled shirt. She was weak. Exhausted. Barely holding on. Exactly how I’d been when she had the majority of my soul. In the

other room, Lailah continued to argue with Philip, while he patiently tried to reason with her.

I ignored them and focused on Meri. “How did it happen?”

She stared at the rotting floor. After a moment, she glanced at Dan. He nodded. “After you destroyed me…”

I winced. She’d been a demon. My choice had been her or Bea. Holy ghost on a cracker, why did that statement make me feel so

guilty?

She cleared her throat. “I was just a shell, a nothing, trapped in my gilded rooms in Hell. Not a demon, but not an angel either. Just a

void wrapped up in human-like packaging.”

“You weren’t nothing,” Dan interjected.

I glared at him. “You do know if she succeeds in stealing my soul, I will cease to exist, right?”

“No. Philip said that wouldn’t happen.” He spun and stared through the open door, where Lucien was holding Lailah back.

Jesus Christ. Had they come to blows already?

Dan let out a huff of frustration and turned to me. “Philip said the council would do what was best for everyone.”

“They won’t.” Meri raised her head. “They’ll do what’s best for them.”

“And more angels are what’s best in their eyes, right?”

She shrugged. “I’ve been away a long time. Maybe things have changed.”

“Jade.” Kane wrapped his large hand around my wrist and tugged me backwards to his side. “I think you should end this now. Do

what you have to.”

With Lailah monopolizing Philip, I wouldn’t get a better opportunity. Kane was right. Meri was weak; this was my best shot.

In three large steps, I leaped to Meri’s side and kneeled on the floor beside her.

She flinched, trying to move away from me, but I caught hold of her arm, keeping her in place.

Immediately, the last remnants of my soul started to flow toward me, a cool salve on my battered insides. Slow at first, then faster,

sensing its rightful place.

Whole. I’d be whole again. All me, ready for my new life with Kane. I’d get to know my mother again. Dan would be free. My body

tingled with anticipation, welcoming what Meri had stolen from me.

Through my giddy haze, my focus narrowed on her pale, slumping body. I snatched my hands back, horrified to realize I was

draining every last bit of life out of her.

I was killing her.

“Meri!” Dan cried as he ran over and scooped her in his arms.

She lay motionless, her body limp.

“I…I was only trying to get my soul back.” Angry tears sprung to my eyes. Mom was right. Nothing was black and white. Meri didn’t

deserve to become a demon and now that she wasn’t one, she didn’t deserve to die, either. Even though I knew it was a her-or-me

situation, I couldn’t do it.

Kane slid to the floor beside me and pulled me close. “It’s okay.”

“Kane, I…”

“I know, pretty witch. I know.”

We sat against the wall with my head on his shoulder. I stared at the emerald stone on my left hand, trying only to think positive

thoughts for the future. Though the exercise was useless if I couldn’t bring myself to claim my soul. But would I be able to live with

myself if I did? I’d never considered I might not be able to go through with it. I hadn’t let myself think of Meri as a real person.

Dan picked Meri’s lifeless form up and carried her toward the single bedroom. As they passed me, a sliver of my soul slipped from

me to her. Her eyes fluttered open. “What happened?”

“Shh.” Dan smiled down at her. “You fainted.”

Philip came storming into the small living room with Lailah at his heels.

She ran around him, begging, “Don’t do this. It’s not fair.”

“None of this is fair.” The despair in his voice was unmistakable. “I lost my mate. Do you understand what that means? My mate! It

was my fault for not going after her. I can’t sit by and let her slip away again. I won’t.”

“But Philip.” Lailah took a small step, edging slightly closer to him. “She isn’t your mate anymore. The bond is broken. You know as

well as I do it’s highly unlikely to form again.”

Hot fury exploded from him, noticeably raising the temperature in the old shack. “This is not about that, Lailah. Are you so self-

centered—”

Lailah swung. The loud smack of her open palm against Philip’s face rang through the room.

He stepped back in stunned silence.

Everyone else froze, too.

“How dare you?” she seethed. “Do you think me so shallow I’d be worried about whatever arrangement we have? The one where

you decide to come into town for a night every four to six months and expect me to drop everything to keep you company in my bed?

F*ck you, Philip.” She waved an angry hand in my direction. “I’m worried about my friend and what’s going to happen to her. Not

your goddamned ex-demon mate. It’s not Jade’s fault Meri got stuck in Hell and her soul corrupted. It’s yours. And here you are,

using a witch to right your wrongs. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

His eyes had gone progressively wider during Lailah’s rant. I had a feeling my own expression mirrored his. I’d never heard her

speak like that before, and I was willing to bet neither had he.

His lips turned down in a sad, almost hopeless frown. He reached for her hand, but pulled back when she flinched. A ray of sun

spilled in the window and over his face, illuminating the deep sadness burning in his eyes. “You’re right. I am ashamed.” His troubled

gaze flickered to me. “I’m so sorry, Jade. You don’t deserve this.”

“Damn right, she doesn’t,” Kane said, not bothering to hide the anger coursing through him.

“You have no idea how much this pains me,” Philip said.

I started to nod. But when Philip raised his hands and an ice blue circle sprang up around me, I jerked, trying to scramble out of it.

No witch ever wants to be caught in an unsanctioned circle. Anything could happen. My shoulder slammed into what might as well

have been a concrete block. I let out a cry of pain.

Clutching my arm, I realized Kane was no longer pressed against me. He was sitting outside my circle, pounding on the invisible

wall. There was no sound, only an eerie cone of silence while I watched his mouth move, frantically trying to communicate with me.

Jade! He mouthed and then turned in the direction of Philip.

The angel stood in the middle of the room, bright light shining down on him like a sunbeam from Heaven. The anguish shone clear

on his face as his pale green eyes bore through me.

Almost as if in slow motion, the front door swung open behind him and our friends appeared: Ian. Pyper. Kat.

And just behind them, my mother.

Her jade green gaze was the last thing I saw before I was blinded by Philip’s brilliant sunlight.