Jaime's body leapt up, nearly throwing me off. I held on tight and put my full weight on her. I looked back into her eyes, and knew Simmons was gone.
"Welcome back," I said. "You're a little late, though."
The Nix's lips curled and she bucked beneath me. I squeezed harder. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lucas jump to his feet.
"Keep binding her!" I said. "It's still working. Start a fresh cast."
They did. It didn't bind the Nix, but it kept her demonic strength in check. I bent over her, looking into her bulging eyes as I continued to squeeze her neck.
"Wanna count down with me?" I said. "I figure you have about thirty seconds left."
"Paige!" Savannah yelled. "Stop it! That's still Jaime. You can't kill her."
I tightened my grip. '"Lucas, take her out of here. Please."
Savannah had broken her cast, but the Nix had almost stopped struggling, eyelids flagging as she faded from consciousness.
"Paige! No!"
Savannah grabbed my shoulder to wrench me off Jaime's body. I looked up into her eyes.
"It's not Paige, baby," I said. "It's me."
She blinked. "M-Mom?"
And here was my long-dreamed reunion. At last, looking into my daughter's eyes and having her looking back, knowing it was me… and I had my hands wrapped around the throat of her friend, choking the life from her.
"You have to go, baby," I whispered. "Please. I know what I'm doing. Lucas will explain. I'll take care of Jaime. I promise."
She just stared at me, eyes wide. "Mom?"
I tore my gaze away from hers and looked at Lucas, standing behind her. He nodded and put his hands on her shoulders.
"I'll be right outside," Lucas murmured to me. "Call me when you need to bring her back."
He whispered something to Savannah, and she let him lead her from the room. I could feel her stunned gaze on my back until they turned the corner. Then I looked down at the Nix and squeezed. When her body went limp, I held her down and waited for Trsiel to do his job.
Would I know when Trsiel had captured the Nix's spirit? How? I looked down at Jaime's face. Her lips had turned blue and her eyes were glassy, pupils dilated. Shit! I needed to start CPR soon. But if I started it too soon, she might resuscitate before Trsiel had the Nix.
"Lucas!"
By the time he got here, Trsiel was bound to have the Nix. Then he could start CPR and maybe, just maybe, the Fates would give me a few moments with my daughter before they whisked me back.
The back door clicked. Jaime's body began to pulse with a dull glow. As Lucas's running steps tapped up the rear steps, that glow began to separate from Jaime's body, just as it had in the community center.
The Nix's spirit condensed, taking on the features of her true form. Lucas rounded the corner, limping from his wounded leg. I held up a hand.
"Just give it a sec. It's almost over. Is Savannah-?"
"Outside," he said, dropping beside Jaime. He checked her pulse, then turned to me. "She's fading. I need to start-"
"Wait. Just a few more seconds." I cast a quick look around. "Damn it, Trsiel. Where are you?"
"So that's the Nix?" Lucas said, one hand still monitoring Jaime's pulse, the other gesturing at the Nix's spirit.
I started to nod, then stopped. "You can see her? Oh, shit! We shouldn't be able to see her. She should be on the other side. That means Trsiel can't-"
"Eve! We're losing-"
His lips parted in a silent oath, and his head whipped down to Jaime's and started CPR. The Nix's spirit writhed and twisted. For a second, I saw her face clearly in the fog. I grabbed at her, but my hands went right through her form. She threw back her head and laughed. Then, with one last twist, she tore herself free, shot up to the ceiling, and disappeared.
"Goddamn it!"
I drove my fist into the wall. Then I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. Okay, so it hadn't worked. The kids were still safe. As for the Nix, I'd catch her again, this time in the ghost world, where she couldn't escape so easily.
I knelt beside Jaime.
"Is she okay?" I asked. "What can I do?"
He pulled back and began chest compressions. "We lost her for a second, but I think she's coming back. Can you take over the-?"
"Lucas?"
Savannah's voice drifted out from the back of the house. Her footsteps clomped across the kitchen floor.
"Mom?"
"In here, baby. Come-"
A bone-chilling scream cut me short. I sprang to my feet and raced for the kitchen.
Chapter 50
THE KITCHEN WAS EMPTY.
"She must still be outside," I said as I jogged to the back door. "Go back to Jaime. Make sure she's okay."
"If you need me-" Lucas began.
"I'll call."
I ran out the back door. Though the sun had fallen, the floodlights from the neighbor's yard lit the lawn to near-daylight, and I only needed a single sweep to know Savannah wasn't there. As I turned toward the drive, I glimpsed rheumy eyes glaring through the side fence. Lucas and Paige had erected a privacy fence around their yard, but there was just enough space between the slats for a determined neighbor to peer through.
"You!" I said, wheeling.
The old man wobbled back. I strode to the fence.
"Did you see a-Savannah, my ward-did you see her out here?"
"Watch your tone, girl," he snapped, coming back to the fence. "You-"
"Did you see her?"
"Ran off on you, didn't she? I may be old, but I'm not deaf. I heard them arguing out here, her and your husband. They can whisper all they want, but I know arguing when I hear it."
"Good for you. But Lucas went back inside and then-"
"Then the girl went back inside and someone screamed. I heard that. Don't think I didn't."
I gritted my teeth and wished those slits in the fence were a little wider, just wide enough to get my hand through and grab the old bugger by the throat.
"You saw her go back inside? And then she came out again?"
"Nope. Probably ran out the front door. You kids can't control that girl. And now she's run off, hasn't she? Good riddance, I say."
I flicked a knock-back spell at him. He hit the ground with a yelp.
"Hope you broke a hip," I mumbled as I ran back toward the house.
I threw open the door to the lean-to and crossed the darkened shed, gaze fixed on the still-open back door. Something fell on my back. I went down, slamming face-first into the concrete floor. Knees jabbed into my back and fingers dug into my shoulders.
I tried to flip over, but the hands went to my neck and squeezed so hard I barely had time to register pain before everything went dark.
I came to on my back. Savannah stared down at me, face twisted in hate and rage. For a second, my gut went ice-cold. She thought I'd killed Jaime, maybe even Paige. Then I looked into her eyes, and knew my daughter wasn't in there.
The Nix leaned down, her hands still locked around my throat.
"How does it feel, witch? I could snap your neck right now. Could have done it the moment I grabbed you. But this is more poetic, don't you think? Kill you the same way you tried to kill me."
I squirmed, but her demonic strength pinned me to the cold floor.
"I suppose I should thank you. Had I known I could leap bodies, I wouldn't have wasted my time in that silly necromancer." She closed her eyes and shivered. "This is a body truly worthy of a demon. So young and so powerful."
I opened my mouth to cast, but could only gasp.
"Now it'll be no trouble pinning the blame on your daughter, when it really is her hands choking the life from her guardian."
Her grip tightened and the world dipped into blackness. I fought to stay conscious, writhing beneath her, trying to get an arm or leg free.