I let my eyes drift closed, which is why I don’t quite know what happened next. But suddenly the world stretched and snapped. Sound like dozens of hands scraping fingernails across chalkboards screeched through the cavernous workroom, and the temperature dropped down into the negatives.
I shuddered at the unearthly sounds and clamped my hands over my ears, opening my eyes at the same time.
Law and So’la were still at it. Law had the demon on the ground now, standing above him and pouring energy into the writhing creature. His face was almost expressionless, his eyes glittering with turbulent emotion. White frost rimed the floor, walls, and ceiling and even me. The ghosts circled above the battle, arms locked together as they spun. Their mouths hung open, making that unbearable noise. My skin prickled and I felt a pull on the tie holding me to the demon. It reached deep down inside me, tracing all along the intricate spread of roots anchoring us together.
My body arched and jerked forward a few feet. It didn’t exactly hurt, but it didn’t feel good either. More like someone had invaded. My gut reaction was to scrape at my skin and try to dig the feeling out. I clawed long divots out of my arms and neck before I caught myself, balling my hands into fists and holding them tight to my jaw as I got jerked again. I felt like one of those big bluefin tunas getting reeled up out of the ocean depths.
By this time, Law had realized that something was up. He glanced at the circling ghosts and snarled at them like a dog guarding a bone. So'la kicked weakly and twisted, trying to escape Law’s magic. Guilt assaulted me. I’d robbed him of the power to defend himself. Not that he couldn’t have tried to escape. I mean, was that all these two could do? Attack and kill, rinse and repeat?
I should have stopped it. For the sake of So'la, if nothing else. Even if I could have survived his death, I wouldn’t have been able to live with his death on my conscience. Better late than never, I supposed.
I got up on my hands and knees then staggered up to my feet, bracing my legs wide when my knees tried to buckle. I didn’t have near the power Law did. He was connected to the auberge and the magic running under it. That didn’t mean I was helpless.
Pain continued to snap through me in random explosions of fire and sparks. I pretended they were happening to someone else and made myself focus. The ghosts continued to distract Law with that awful cacophony. What could I do? The answer suddenly seemed stupidly obvious. I walked toward him. My bare feet ached with cold, then turned numb. Oh goody. I was going to end up with frostbite along with all my other aches and pains. I was having such a fabulous day.
Law snarled at the ghosts as they darted in to touch him. Little spots of blue and black pocked his exposed skin. I tried to hurry. At any moment he could turn on them, blast them into oblivion. I let out a little moan at the possibility. Without thinking, I flung a shield out around them then another around the demon.
The effort took almost more than I had at that point. I stumbled and caught my balance and kept going. Law started blasting the shield protecting So’la with furious bolts of pure energy. I couldn’t hold out against those long. Already I felt my spell retracting and thinning under the assault.
I was close now. Only a dozen feet away. I pushed my feet to move faster and lunged. In something between a controlled fall and a charge, I crashed into Law, plowing into his side and wrapping my arms around his waist.
He twisted, trying to keep his feet as he grabbed me. I’d committed to the fall. Gravity and dead weight were on my side, not to mention he was off balance. We hit the floor with me half under him. The breath exploded from my lips and my head knocked painfully on the slate. Stars spun around my head and I thought I heard birds twittering.
Before I could collect myself, Law had rolled away. No doubt to get back to his attack, damn it. I elbowed the floor, pushing myself onto my side. Before I could complete the move, Law had an arm around my shoulders and was angling me up to lean against his chest.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? I could have killed you.”
“You were doing quite a fine job of it already,” Edna declared in a prim voice. “Weren’t you paying any attention? The demon dies and so does Mallory. Or don’t you care?”
He gave a fierce shake of his head, his arms tightening around me. “The demon lies. It’s his nature.”
“Is it a lie?” Tabitha stood on the other side of me. She stretched a ghostly hand out and touched my cheek. I blinked in surprise. Her touch was warmer, like fire, and sent a burst of delicious heat through me. I let my head fall back.
“Thank you. That’s heaven,” I whispered.
“Christ,” Law said and he heaved me up into his arms and stood. “Why didn’t you tell me? God damn it. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. You’ll be fine.” He sounded determined. He swung me around in a circle as if trying to figure out where he wanted to go then strode toward the gaping doors.
“What about So’la?” I asked.
“We’ll worry about him later.”
I started to wriggle and kick. “He needs looking after. I’m responsible for him.”
Law stopped dead and stared down at me. “You can’t be serious.”
“It’s true. He and I are tied together. He can’t refuse anything I want of him. That makes me responsible for him.”
Law started to shake his head but then went still, closing his eyes and breathing in and out before opening them again. “All right. Let me take care of you first; then I’ll come back for him.”
“Soon?”
His jaw tightened. “As soon as possible.”
I let myself go limp then, laying my head against his shoulder. I barely kept myself from nuzzling into his satin heat. “Thank you.”
He made a growling sound and started walking again.