Stupid math! Then she lurches at me. I lose my balance and start to fall from the landing. Carter screams my name; I hear his voice around all the noise, and I am falling.
I brace myself for the landing, but it doesn’t come. Instead, the magic bubbles up without my really thinking, and I’m suspended in midair. Kriegen lets out a yell, and I picture myself landing on my feet. The magic listens, and in seconds I’m on the ground. A little dizzy, but in one piece. Alive.
When I land, a demon charges at me. I didn’t expect it and I get a claw to the shoulder. Quicker than me, Carter slits its neck and pulls me into the nook of this wall.
It’s barely big enough for him, but I squeeze into the small space next to him.
“You’re okay?” Carter asks.
I nod. Around us, the demons are still rabid. Some fight one another like they didn’t notice we were gone. Good. Let them take one another out.
“We’ll never survive this,” Carter says. His voice is low, but as soon as he says it I agree. Deep inside, I know he’s right. I don’t know how we’re going to get past them all. It almost feels like every demon ever made is crammed into this space. I’d be flattered if I wasn’t terrified.
“I won’t go down without a fight,” I say. If they want me, fine, but they are going to work for it. I’ll go down a legend. At least, in my own head.
Carter leans his forehead against mine. “Together then?”
“In a blaze of glory, and all that.”
“Let’s tear down the place,” he says. He takes my hand, and then I know what we’re going to do. Just like the alley where we first blew up the windows.
We both move out of our safe nook, and as soon as they see us again, the demons all come charging.
I focus on the void, and let it fill me up. I try to see everything in my head—my magic bursting forth like sunrise or fireworks on the Fourth of July. I want them to feel it all. I want it to knock them off their feet and destroy whatever makes them demons.
Carter’s hand is squeezing mine and then there’s a movement that breaks my concentration, but it doesn’t stop us. The magic rushes into the void and out of the void and through me. It claws at my stomach, burns in my throat. A dark light pours from my fingers, from my pores, and then stretches out into the room.
Quick as lightning his lips are on mine, and it’s the most intense thing I’ve ever felt.
Between us, the magic explodes. It feels endless. Maybe it’s because I know that this is the void, but I feel like I can almost pull from it forever. My brain swims with power, my body with Carter’s touch, and the whole thing happens while I’m not thinking at all. The power flows through me, and I focus on Carter’s lips, on his hands, on this last moment of life. Passion and desperation. Every last moment alive should be spent like this.
My head swims then, and not in the good way. Not because of the kissing. I falter against Carter, but he can barely hold me either. We both sink to the ground and the power stops. It just stops. Gone.
When I hit the ground I notice it: all the demons are convulsing. They’re on the ground, their bodies moving in ways that bodies can’t move. They’re screaming, howling. It’s the worst sound ever—nails on a chalkboard with the white noise of the TV, and the squealing of brakes, and gnashing of teeth. It’s all the pain every human—witch or Non—has experienced, rushing from the teeth of these demons. It’s all my pain. It’s so loud that I have to cover my ears to keep out the noise
Before I can question it, every demon stops moving. Stops. Like someone hit pause. Then, just like that, they all disappear.
Gone.
Carter looks at me, his eyes wide and tired, his mouth open. I expect him to speak, and then he doesn’t. He falls over.
“Carter,” I say, shaking him. The movement is too sudden. The whole room starts to spin, and just when I think I’ve lost my balance this sudden surge of energy overtakes me. I feel brand-new. Awake.
A slow clap echoes from across the empty room and I look to see Kriegen. She slinks toward us, and I jump to my feet. “I have no clue what you did, but I am impressed. You would be a great addition to our side, kitten.”
“I’m not interested in evil,” I say.
Kriegen shakes her black demonic head. “It’s not about evil or good; it’s about power. Don’t you feel it? The void likes you. If you stayed with it, imagine what you could accomplish.”
I do feel it. I feel it in every single cell. It’s as if I am swimming in magic. I can’t say that it’s not a great feeling.
“You’d be so much more than a sliver of essence with us. My partner and I could teach you everything. We can make you more than an outline of a witch, kitten; we can make you whole.”
“I’m not broken,” I say. But isn’t that how I’ve always felt? Broken? Different? And now, right in this moment, I feel invincible. I feel like I’m floating, like nothing can touch me. I feel the endlessness of possibilities.
Kriegen moves closer to me and Carter, who’s still not moving from the ground. “I wanted you to join me. You and him. There’s room for both of you.”
“That’s not happening,” I say.
“I know. And it’s a pity because you already have the gene. You wouldn’t have to undergo the transformation. You could be eternal, much more than your pathetic witch lifestyle. You would have access to the void—lots of access considering what you just did to all those demons.”
The demons. What did we do to them? They just disappeared. No explosion, no guts, no nothing.
Kriegen shrugs. “They’re all dead, if you’re wondering. I can feel it. I’m guessing they won’t be lingering around hell either. Poof. Gone.”
Kriegen paces around the room between Carter and me. She demands attention, but I just want him to wake up. Whatever we did, he’s not recovering like I did.
“Is that a no then?”
“It’s a hell freaking no,” I say.
She snaps her fingers and her magic pushes me away from Carter and straps me to the ground. I try to fight it, but I can’t. It’s too strong for me, even now. “Pity. I guess I kill you then.”
“You can’t kill me when I’m connected to the void,” I say. If a witch’s essence is part of a witch, then the void must be part of a demon. The only way a witch looses an essence is being drained. I’m only grasping at straws but I don’t have any other ideas. “You need me,” I say.
Kriegen laughs and leans into me so her lips are right against my ear. “You’re replaceable.”
I try to head-butt her, but she moves too quickly, laughing.
I shuffle against her magic, trying to free myself. But it doesn’t work. Something pokes at my chest, and I remember I stuffed a dagger into my bra. “You said the void was part of me. You can’t do that if it’s true!” I yell.
Kriegen growls. “When a demon drains you, kitten, what are they doing? Getting that part of your soul linked to your essence. You’re right; it is part of you, a large piece of your genetic makeup—that’s why it connects with nature. Every single drop of blood in a witch’s system is her essence. That’s why we drain the blood. Blood is life.”
While she’s talking, a demon materializes behind her. It’s light mauve, and its eyes are on me. Then, its fingers are over its lips, telling me to be quiet. A demon is helping us?
Wait—I know that demon. It’s the one that helped us before. At the mall.
The mauve demon does something, and it’s only a second before I feel the magic rushing toward me. My arms are free. I reach into my shirt quickly and lay my arms down again so Kriegen doesn’t notice. The mauve demon dissolves into the white walls, the same quick way it appeared.
“When we drain you, we drain your blood—and since the essence lives in the blood, the witch dies. The void is the same way, a part of you that keeps you living. It flows through your blood.”