Kimber snorted. “Yeah, right.”
When we didn’t laugh, she looked at Heven through the rearview mirror. “You’re serious?”
“At this point I couldn’t even make this stuff up,” she said, weary.
“Your power over the souls,” I said, low, trying to work it all out in my mind.
“Guess so. I guess being the Soul Reaper doesn’t just mean I can set them free. I guess it means I have control over them.”
“That explains why he hasn’t told the other Princes about you. He doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s up to,” I said, finally understanding.
“Or he doesn’t want the competition,” Kimber added, taking another too-sharp turn.
“I guess it’s good he didn’t tell. Otherwise, all of them might be after you.” I nodded. “It makes sense. He hasn’t tried to kill you at all since he found out who you were.”
“No, he’s just unleashed a pack of werebats, an infectious disease, and body-hopped around Maine,” Heven replied.
“And that’s all we know about!” Kimber said, chipper.
“Not helping,” I called.
She pulled into Cole’s driveway and Heven breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his blue puck-up in the drive. Kimber turned to look at her. “You coming?”
“His mom isn’t a fan of mine,” she said, shaking her head.
“Right.” Kimber agreed. “Well, I’ll see you later!” she jumped out of the car, then poked her head back in. “Don’t worry. I’ll fill Cole in on everything.”
I waited for Heven to argue, to try and come up with an excuse that Kimber shouldn’t spend time with her brother, but she didn’t say anything. It showed me how upset she was about what just happened.
Kimber disappeared into his house and Heven looked at me. “Let’s go.”
She stayed in the back seat as I jumped in the front, turning the ignition and looking over my shoulder at her. “Where to, Miss Daisy?”
She smiled. “Home.”
She didn’t say much the whole ride home, but because of our Mindbond I had a front-row seat to her inner thoughts. Usually, I tried not to listen, but her silence bothered me and I wanted to know what she was thinking, so I tapped in, trying to get a handle on her thoughts.
What could my mother have promised Beelzebub all those years ago to make him come after me this way? It wasn’t her fault I was the Soul Reaper. That was just a cruel twist of fate. Although, I guess it really wasn’t. I was already on Beelzebub’s radar anyway. Why not pin the title on me and spare someone else the pain?
When we pulled up to the house, I turned to look at her. “You know I’ll never let that happen, right?” I said quietly. “You’re not going there with him.”
She nodded. “I know.” Then she said, “But, Sam?”
“Hmmm?”
“We’re going to have to work fast. He’s already working on a way to get back into hell. Once he does, stopping him is going to be a lot harder.”
“Then we’ll work fast,” I said. “Once those souls are released, he won’t be able to force you down there.”
No, then he’ll just go back to trying to kill me. The thought slipped right from her head and into mine. It seemed we were caught in a vicious circle, and we were the hamsters, destined to keep running on the wheel, never getting anywhere but always running.
There was a way out of all this. All I had to do was find it.
My brainstorming was interrupted by the rush of adrenaline through my limbs. I fumbled with shaking hands to get out of the car, stumbling into the grass and fighting the impulsive urge to shift.
Heven was beside me, calling my name, trying to talk to me, but I barely heard her voice. All I heard was the insistence of the animal inside, the need to let it out.
And then I gave in. Well, not so much gave in as surrendered. The urge was just too great and I shifted right there in the yard, my senses becoming more acute, the drive to hunt all encompassing.
Hunt. Kill. Destroy.
Those were the last thoughts I heard as I took off through the yard and blackness overcame me.
Chapter Twenty
Heven
The change came over him so quick that I barely had time to think, let alone try and stop it. What was causing him to shift like this? Was what happened at the school so stressful that he just snapped? It just didn’t feel right. Sam wasn’t the kind of guy to buckle at the first sign of stress.
I watched as he started running through the yard like he chased some unseen prey. I took off after him, realizing very quickly there was no way I was going to be able to keep up. So I veered off, rushing into the barn and ushering Jasper from his stable. I didn’t bother with a saddle, swinging myself up onto the horse with ease. Riding bareback wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but losing track of Sam would be worse.
I guided Jasper out of the barn and into the yard, my eyes scanning for the dark shape of the hellhound. I saw it disappearing into the orchard and gave the horse a kick, pointing him in the right direction.
I asked a lot of the horse, pushing him to his full potential as we raced after someone I could no longer see. Every now and then I’d catch a glimpse or hear a sound that told me I was going in the right direction. When we got deeper into the woods, Jasper tried to slow his pace. I gave him another easy nudge, trying to get him to speed up again, and he started prancing around like he sensed something I didn’t.
Great, I thought. I’m so not up for another meeting with Beelzebub and his newest body.
“Shhh,” I soothed Jasper, eyes scanning the trees, looking for something I couldn’t see.
I managed to get the loyal animal to go a bit deeper into the trees before he reared back and had me grappling to hang onto his neck.
“Whoaaa,” I called out. “Easy, boy.”
But there was no calming the horse.
And soon I saw why.
A werebat appeared from the sky, swooping at us, snapping its jaws and trying to make us lunch.
I focused my inner flame and the bat caught on fire, falling to the ground, where it flopped around until it stopped moving altogether. Jasper was still beyond upset, but I managed to calm him enough that I was able to get off—okay, fine, I fell off, but it didn’t hurt—and I smacked him in the rump, sending him in the direction we came from, back to the safety of the barn.
I heard a lot of commotion ahead of me and I ran forward, weaving around trees, leaping over fallen logs until I burst through, coming face to face with the small lake the bordered Gran’s property.