“We’ll see about that.”
I pressed my fingers to her brow and opened myself up to take. At first it was as though I was trying to suck a large piece of ice cream from a straw. It was resisting the pull, only allowing small bits of cold energy to enter my body. I narrowed my eyes, sucking in a deep breath, and yanked my all my being. My tattoo flared a bright white, and heat raced up my arm. The pressure exploded, and the ker’s spirit flew into me, knocking me over.
I curled up in a fetal position and gagged at the sludge that clogged my throat and stomach. The world dimmed, as if a death shroud covered my eyes. The ker slithered around the inside of my mind, trying to fill every crevice with its presence. I shoved it into a back corner and imagined an iron box around her, just as my mother had taught me.
I climbed to my feet and gripped the upturned gurney as I took a shaky breath. I had no time to waste wallowing on the floor. I cradled my aunt’s body in my arms, kissing her forehead as the tears I’d bottled up flowed down my cheeks. I lay her on the metal gurney, folded her hands over her chest, and placed a coin over each of her closed eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “May you find peace in the Elysian Fields.”
The fire came easily with the ker’s power flowing through me. No need for the rage I’d felt in the cemetery. Within seconds, her body was alit and burning away to ashes, leaving streaks of black scorch marks on the shiny metal gurney.
I sprinted out the double doors into the empty hall and took the emergency stairs two at a time. No one seemed to be paying attention to the stairs on the second floor.
After winding through the halls and down another set of stairs, I left the hospital closer to the ER. The flashing of red and blue lights lit up the dark sky like a tiny, foreboding light show. I turned and headed in the opposite direction as my heart began to race, and I pulled out my phone. I really needed to put this taxi service on speed dial, especially with my car a heap of metal.
Outside the double doors leading to the ER waiting room, I scuffed my shoe against the sidewalk and tried to push down the trembles that threatened to consume my body. After an eternity, or thirty minutes, the cab driver finally pulled up. I slid in the back seat.
“Is there some sort of unwritten rule for Dallas cabs to be slow as fuck?” I snapped.
The driver glared at me from his rearview mirror. “You got a problem, Lady, you can walk or take the bus.”
I gritted my teeth and gave him my address. He took off, turning sharply, and I grabbed the armrest on my door to keep from sliding to the other side of the seat.
My gaze bore into the back of his head. It would be so easy to just wrap my hands around that fat head of his and twist. He wouldn’t see it coming. He would swerved to the side and hit that car turning at the light up ahead. If the driver wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, they might go flying through the windshield, leaving a trail of glorious death.
I pressed my hand to my mouth and swallowed hard as my stomach roiled. The box rattled, and a hoarse laugh filled my head. It fed off of anger and violence. The more I played into it, the more of a hold it gained me.
I inhaled deeply as I gripped the armrest and pulled a happy memory to my mind of Serenity and I on our couch, playing video games. She’d promised me that and ice cream a few weeks ago. I would talk her into tonight as it would be the last night I had here. I needed to return home and dump this daimon as fast as possible.
When the driver pulled in front of my apartment building, I shoved a ten at him, hopped out of the car, and rushed up to my apartment. The flung-open door hit the wall with a slam that shook the walls. I scanned the dark living room, panting.
“Serenity,” I called. “Are you home?”
A figure stepped out from the hallway, too tall to be Serenity. The overhead light of the living room flared to life, causing me to raise my hand up and squint. Hermes crossed his arms and leveled his gaze at me.
“I knew one of you would return home eventually,” he said.
Chapter 30
Hermes leaned against the wall with his arms crossed as he kept me pinned under his gaze. “Why did you run from me?”
I shrugged and tossed my phone on the end table beside the couch. “I had something I needed to do. Where’s Serenity?”
“And this something has you smelling like smoke?” He sighed. “What have you done this time?”
I glared at him. “You’re not my dad.”
He gave a rough laugh. “I would certainly hope not. I’m nothing of a father figure to you.”
“You’re nothing of anything to me,” I said. “We never can be. We should mark that night as a happy memory and move on.”
“Damnit. How many times do I have to tell you it’s different?”