“It doesn’t matter,” the demon said. “You think we give up that easy? You have no idea.
You belong to us. Nothing you did would have made a bit of difference. You made your choices, now you must deal with the consequences.”
Gideon touched the bleeding scratch on his chest. When he pulled his fingers away the blood caught fire. The hellfire was still inside him. And now the demon was coaxing it out.
“We’re close to the end now. And if you don’t step aside when the blood begins to flow it will devour you whole.”
We were close to the end now. Gideon’s end.
“I have money,” Gideon said. “Lots of money. I can pay you whatever you want. Don’t do this.”
“Really?” the demon said. “How much are we talking about here?”
“Lots. Everything. I’ll give you everything I have. Everything I am.”
The demon smiled. “Yes, you will.”
Gideon’s expression twisted with fear and he looked at me. “Sarah—”
Thierry’s arm curled around my waist as he pulled me farther away from Gideon, who now reached out to me.
“I’m sorry,” I said as tears burned my eyes.
“So am I,” Gideon said.
The hellfire inside Gideon leaked out through the cut the demon had made. He looked down at his hands as they filled with flames. He blinked, and his eyes changed from black back to their normal emerald green.
“It doesn’t hurt.” He smiled at me. “I suppose I should count my blessings, right?”
A moment later the flames consumed him and he disappeared in a column of fire.
I choked out a sob and turned to Thierry, grabbing him into a tight hug. He gasped with pain.
“Sorry,” I managed. “I’m sorry.”
“For staking me?” he asked.
“For everything.”
“Don’t be.” He took my face between his hands and stared down at me. “Are those tears for Gideon?”
“Some of them.”
He kissed them away. “I understand.”
“He’s gone.”
“I know.”
He held me for a while until I calmed down a little. Then I pulled back from him and jabbed a finger in his direction. “I think I told you to stake me, mister. And you totally bailed on me like a chump.”
“I did.” He gingerly touched his chest. “And I think I paid the price for that.”
“I did that to keep you safe.”
“I’d hate to see what you’d do if you were very upset with me.”
“But what if—”
“Enough talking.” He pulled me—gently—against him and shut me up with a very deep kiss.
I felt a hand on my back after a moment. It was Steven. He looked completely shaken, but at least his eyes were back to normal.
“Dude, what just happened?”
“You were possessed by a demon,” I said.
He groaned. “Again? That so sucks.”
“Do me a favor?” I asked. “Go let Amy out of the crypt?”
He nodded and ran off to two crypts nearby, letting out a now-conscious Amy from one and his mother from the other. Steven embraced his mom very hard, and she patted the top of his head.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I promise I won’t do any more demon magic.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “But we’re still moving to Germany. And then you’re grounded for six months. And I’m confiscating all of your CDs.”
“Aww, Mom!”
Thierry stroked the hair back off my face. “How do you feel? Did he take too much blood?”
“I’m a bit woozy, but I’ll survive.” I looked up at him. “But he took everything. All of my extra strength. My curse. Everything. I’ve totally regressed.” I ran the tip of my tongue over my teeth. “Still got the fangs, though.”
“Perhaps if he’d continued to drain you, you might have become human again entirely.”
“Let’s not go overboard.” I managed a smile. “Why would I want to give all of this excitement up?”
“An excellent point.”
Veronique stood nearby with her arms crossed—the spell keeping her silent and still long over. She finally approached.
“I can’t believe this,” she said.
“Nor can I,” Thierry replied. “You sided with Gideon?”
“In an attempt to help stave off any unnecessary bloodshed.”