The Trackers looked from her to me and back again. They said nothing as they stepped around her, walked to where Van stood, cowering behind the large pine tree. They latched on to the witch, two on either side, and turned to Sam with a challenging grin. “Feel free to use your power to stop me, child.”
It waited, but neither Sam nor Azi made a move. The demon knew killing the Trackers wasn’t an option. That would only buy us time and, in the end, make this ten times harder. The last thing we needed was eight of those bastards on our asses instead of four.
Sam must have been thinking the same thing. With a sigh, she relaxed her shoulders, and she took a step back. To Van, she said, “I’ll keep my promise. I swear.”
“You can’t help me, Sam,” Van said. She struggled for a moment in the Tracker’s grip, then gave up. “They have me now. And in a few moments, I’ll have to take them to get the key. I’m so sorry…” She kept her shoulders squared and her chin up, and she held her head high with an admirable air of defiance. “You’re a very special person—with very specific traits. A rarity in this world. Take care of yourself.”
Specific… Holy shit. Does she mean…?
Elation overcame the demon. Savannah Gray had just bought us time to get to the stone first, but better than that, she’d told us Sam would be able to steal the stone.
Chapter Eighteen
Sam
“I can’t believe we let them walk off.” I hadn’t moved since they’d taken Van away. I’d promised to keep her safe. I’d sworn nothing bad would happen to her.
I’d lied.
Just like Azi had, I’d lied. The guilt was an albatross around my neck. It didn’t matter to me that it hadn’t happened on purpose, or that I had every intention on righting this. I’d failed.
I turned—and gasped. Jax’s face was inches from mine. I backed away, but only made it a half step before Azi grabbed me, Jax’s fingers wrapping painfully tight around my forearms. The demon spun me hard and slammed me against the nearest tree, the one Van had been hiding behind.
“Do not ever do that again!” The fury I saw in Jax’s eyes stole my breath. I’d seen it a thousand times, directed at everything ranging from Chase to the scoop of ice cream he’d dropped in the dirt during our high school freshman carnival. This was the first time, however, that the full weight of it had ever been directed at me. And even though I knew in my gut that it wasn’t really Jax glaring death at me, it was still unsettling. The air turned cold and making my lungs work got just a little bit harder.
It took a moment, but I calmed myself and realized the demon was referring to what I’d done to the Trackers. How I’d gotten between them and saved its miserable life! “Are you for real?” I tried to wriggle free, but I didn’t so much as jostle it. I wasn’t moving until Azi allowed it. “How about a thank-you instead of being a complete asshat?”
The demon blinked, and Jax’s stormy gray eyes clouded over in confusion—then rage. “Your actions were not to save my life. They were to save his—which is a waste since he is already dead.”
Of all the things I’d expected the demon to come back with, that wasn’t on the list. The temperature plummeted, and in that moment the only thing keeping me from crashing to the ground was the demon’s grip. “What?”
It watched me without answering. Jax’s head tilted to the left, and then to the right. Like it was listening to something only it could hear.
The silence, along with the almost blank stare, was too much to handle. I balled my fist and, forgetting for a second that it was Jax’s body, I let loose and, as hard as I could, punched his shoulder where it looked like one of the carnivi must have gone to town. “Answer me!”
Azi righted Jax’s body and squared his shoulders. There was the smallest hint of a flinch. “I will not relinquish control of our body. Therefore, he is as good as dead.”
I wanted to argue. To kick and scream and fight until my hands were bloody and there was no strength left in my bones. But what good would it have done? The only way I was evicting that bastard was by getting my hands on that stone. And with Van gone, that task had just gotten a hundred times more complicated. At least Jax was still in there. Still safe for now.
“Focus,” I snapped. “What now?”
“We know where she hid the stone. We go there. I believe her last remark was her way of telling us that you would be able to take the stone from its resting place.”
I’d gotten that, too, but I’d hoped it had slipped the demon’s notice. I should have known better. Getting the stone would solve Azi’s problem, but without Van to wield it, I didn’t think I could use it to save Jax. “It can’t be as simple as walking in and snapping it up.”
“Possibly not. But Zenak will bring her to the cave. He will force her to hand him the stone. We know where. And we know when.”
“They could still get there first.” Either Azi was packing some serious ammo I wasn’t aware of, or the demon had lost its ever loving mind.