“Enough.” Jax boomed. I twisted, and in the fading sunlight, he was there. Standing at the mouth of the fort, trench coat flapping in the wind like a superhero’s cape. Larger than life, he was a mix of myth and magic made flesh and blood.
I wouldn’t let him sacrifice himself.
“I wasn’t sure you’d show.”
“I’d never leave Sammy to die.” Jax stepped over a fallen tree, into the mouth of the fort, eyes never leaving mine. “Get off of her.” The command left no room for argument. “Now.”
“Despite her less-than-friendly attitude, I’ll keep my word. She’ll be safe. I promise.” The pressure on my back disappeared, and Chase dragged me up. His voice was normal now. The demon was gone.
“You word means shit to me,” Jax snapped, stopping a few feet from his brother. “I want a minute to say good-bye.”
A plan. He had to have a plan. The Jax I knew would never just give up. He’d be smart enough to know that if he died, I would never be free.
Chase shrugged and stepped back. “Don’t see what it could hurt. She can’t leave, and if you make a move I don’t like, I’ll plunge a knife right into my heart.”
“I’d never risk it,” Jax replied.
“And that’s exactly why we’re here, big brother. Because you were never willing to take the risk.”
“No,” Jax said. There was a sad ring to his voice. How had we all ended up here? A few months ago my world was normal. Sure, Jax was gone, and Rick would have been sick either way, but there were no demons. No witches. No gate to hell swinging on rusted hinges. Life was simple. Now? I couldn’t imagine anything more complicated. “We’re here because you were.”
Chase looked like he wanted to say something more, but simply nodded. “You have your good-bye. I won’t leave the area, but I will walk away. That’s all Zenak will let me do.”
“It will have to be enough.”
Jax waited until his brother turned away to start forward.
“This is crazy. You can’t do this,” I whispered. Not that I cared if Chase heard. What was he going to do, stab himself again? Head rush another tree? That wouldn’t be as bad as watching him kill Jax.
“Sammy,” he said, taking my face into his hands. There was something in it. It was smooth and cool with a slight point at the top. “I’m doing what I need to do.” As he spoke, he slid the hand, and the thing beneath it, down my cheek and over my shoulder. From there, he skimmed my arm and ended by wrapping his fingers through mine. With a single squeeze, he took his hand back, leaving me with the small object. With a pointed stare, he gave a slight nod to my pocket. Whatever it was, he wanted me to hide it.
Ha! I knew it. A plan. Sniffling, I stuffed both hands into my pockets. “There has to be another way,” I said, keeping the charade going. No telling what Chase would do if he thought something was up.
“I wish there was.” He pulled way and slowly mouthed, “This might hurt. But when I make my move, I need you to run.”
I shook my head. “I can’t. He—”
His eyes darkened. The middle of each iris turned black, leaving only a thin line around the edge gray. “Trust me, Samantha Merrick.”
He pulled away, eyes reverting to gray, and I let my head fall forward so that our foreheads rested together. “There’s stuff I want to say…” I wasn’t acting anymore. What if something happened and he was killed? What if we both were? I’d told him how I felt, but there was so much more to it than short, simple words.
“Tell me later, then. Over popcorn and coffee and cartoons.” He brought his hands up to either side of my face, skimming my cheeks with the tips of his fingers and threading them through my hair. When his lips met mine, it was shocking. Like being dipped into an icy lake in the middle of a snowstorm. Suddenly every inch of me was alive and desperate for his warmth like my life depended on it. His arms crushed my body closer, the kiss stealing the air, as I fought to keep my balance. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Love. So much love. Everything Jax felt for me was there in that kiss.
A dizzying rush of images flooded my mind. Jax seeing me for the first time, at my parent’s funeral. The first time he’d crawled out onto his roof to sit with me after a nightmare. Our first day of high school. Our kiss in the fort. Him standing over Chase’s bed with a knife, fighting back the demon inside. Seeing me leaning across the table at McCarthy’s, kissing Chase.
I saw everything. I felt everything. His thoughts and emotions in all those moments were buzzing around inside my head, inside my heart, threatening to make my head explode.
When he pulled away, it was like he took a chunk of me with him. I could almost see it in the air as we separated, a thick, silver strand wrapped around me, connected to him. As he backed away, the silver faded, but the glow of it, faint but unmistakable, remained.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jax
The kiss left my heart thundering and the blood rushing in my ears. An unbelievable warmth filled me, slowly fading as I backed away from her. I didn’t know what it was, but everything about her was amped. Her colors were brighter, expression more telling. It was almost as though I could see inside her head. It was always intense with her, but that kiss had been the kicker. Something close to desperation came over me, and all I wanted was to touch her again. To feel that warmth. But I had something to do.
I turned away.
What happened in the next few moments would either save us and damn me forever, or get us both killed.
I don’t know how, or why, but you love her…
A picture of Sam flashed inside my head.
I’m going to need to give you control if we have any hope of getting out of here in one piece…
An image of Chase, lying still and bloodied at my feet.
No. You can’t kill him. Sam will die, too…
I felt the demon’s irritation, but oddly, also its understanding. The rage it had for Chase’s demon was there, but miraculously, the feelings it had for Sam overshadowed it. I hoped those feelings would ground my humanity and keep me from losing myself to the demon like Chase had, because I was about to gamble big.
“Time’s up, Jax.”
It was ironic that Chase had chosen this spot. “Of all the possible scenarios that have gone through my head over the years, this was never one of them.”
My twin came forward and stopped a few feet away. He pulled out a gun. “You ready?”
I couldn’t resist. “If I say no, can we take a rain check?”
“I know you think I want to do this, but I don’t.”
“Then don’t,” I said simply. I had to do this with as little damage as possible. The stone Sadie supplied would disturb Chase’s control over Sam, but it wouldn’t protect her from damage done to him.
Chase raised the gun. “Good-bye, Jax.”
“Good-bye, Chase.”
“Stop!” A voice boomed through the trees.
The inhuman echo bounced off the rocks and vibrated inside my chest. From the darkness beyond the fort, Heckle stepped forward, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d visited the bartender earlier to ask him to watch over Sam if something went wrong tonight. He agreed, but also said he had a plan. It was a risky one considering all the complicated factors of our situation, but it was all I had. I just hadn’t been sure Heckle could pull it off.
“Zenak, I’m sure you are aware that I cannot allow you such an unfair advantage.”
Chase bristled and lowered the gun. “The gun?” He let it fall to the ground. “Fine. I’ll kick his ass with my bare hands.”