through her dark mass of hair and the tangle of limbs as he landed on top of her.
“ADRIAN!” I SHOUTED, running over to them.
Obsidiana screamed as my sling touched her, but I couldn’t even relish her pain. I was too frantic as a red gush flowed from Adrian’s throat. I tried to stem that flow, but unbelievably, Adrian shoved me away. Obsidiana lunged at me as much as she could while trapped under his body. Her daggerlike nails raked over my stomach, cutting through my clothes and into my flesh, then Adrian grabbed her by the throat and pulled. Hard.
Her body went limp, but blood didn’t gush out. Her jugular vein wasn’t in her throat. Demon physiology was different. Adrian had just ripped out her version of a heart, yet that would render her only temporarily unconscious. Not kill her the way her attack on his throat might kill him.
“Adrian, stop!” I cried, flinging myself at him when it was obvious that he intended to keep tearing at Obsidiana.
He swayed, then looked down at the curtain of red streaming from his neck as if only now realizing that it was there. I kicked Obsidiana’s limp body aside and set down my sling, then covered that gushing wound with my hands. I couldn’t risk touching Adrian with the sling. He was half-demon, so when it was tangible like this, it would hurt him, too, and he was already too injured as it was.
“Lie back,” I said, panic rising at how much blood he’d lost. “Don’t move—it’ll make it worse. Stay very still.”
“Oh, shit!” a male voice said, then Costa, our best friend, came out of a nearby hotel room.
Some part of me was glad to see that Costa was okay, but I was too worried about Adrian to feel any real relief. “Where’s Adrian’s bag?” I said urgently. “He brought it with him, and it has manna in it. Bring it to me. Now!”
I couldn’t get up to get it. If I didn’t keep pressure on Adrian’s neck, he’d bleed out right in front of me. With all the blood he’d lost, he still might. I tried not to burst into tears as I kept attempting to stem that horrible, pulsating flow. Don’t die, Adrian, please! I can’t lose you now!
Costa left, and I was vaguely aware of him cursing and overturning things in the nearby room. I also noticed that the fire safety sprinklers had activated, because water pelted me from seemingly all directions, yet I didn’t move to wipe it away even when it hit me in the eyes. I kept all my attention on Adrian as I tried to close the gaping wound in his throat.
“You’re going to be okay,” I told him, smiling so he didn’t know that I was terrified. Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die! I mentally screamed. You can’t! I love you too much!
“Ivy!” My sister knelt next to me. “What can I do?”
As if on autopilot, I answered, “Smash the mirror in the hallway.” Otherwise, more powerful demons could use it to get here.
Jasmine ran off, and I heard the sound of glass breaking moments later. Then, so faintly I almost missed it, I heard Adrian’s voice.
“Have to...kill her, Ivy.”
I couldn’t believe Adrian could talk with his throat half ripped out, and I tried not to panic at how more blood spurted through my fingers from his efforts.
“Don’t talk,” I urged him before yelling, “Where’s the fucking manna, Costa?”
Adrian grabbed my wrist, his grip surprisingly strong. “Kill...’er,” he repeated, jerking his head toward Obsidiana.
His movement sent another spurt of blood free. Now a strange wind began to blow my hair back, but I paid it no mind as I put more pressure on Adrian’s neck.
“As soon as you’re healed,” I promised him.
Adrian grabbed his neck, blood making his hands slick enough to slide beneath mine despite the pressure I’d been applying. With his throat in a tighter grip than I’d dared, he stared at me, his sapphire-colored gaze seeming to burn.
“Now.”
Didn’t he know he was inches from death himself? Yes, Obsidiana would wake in an hour or so, but until then, she wasn’t a threat.
Or was she? She’d been strong enough to survive on this side of the realms when the gateways had sealed. Maybe Adrian knew she’d wake a lot sooner than I expected her to.
“As soon as you get the manna,” I said. I refused to endanger Adrian’s life by killing Obsidiana now, even if it meant that waiting would endanger mine. I’d take that risk.
Adrian made a frustrated sound and tried to get up. I pushed him back, gasping, “Don’t!” in horror. He only gestured angrily at Obsidiana. Kill her now! that wave demanded.
Costa finally came out of the hotel room, a heap of manna in his hand. I was so relieved; I couldn’t tell if I started crying or if it was the water from the sprinklers.
“Move,” he ordered, pushing me and Adrian’s hands away.
I watched Costa smear the manna over Adrian’s throat and found myself praying. That odd wind increased, until between that and the sprinklers increasing until they jetted out like fire hydrants, it was getting hard to see. If Adrian’s injury was fatal, the manna would do nothing because it didn’t work on mortal wounds. If he’d lost too much blood while waiting for Costa to find the manna, I’d have to watch him die.
The clump of manna over his throat immediately turned crimson, the flow of blood turning from paste into freely running liquid. I was shaking so hard, it felt like the whole hotel was shaking along with me.
“Ivy,” Adrian whispered, his voice fainter as that merciless red flow continued down his throat. “Please...kill her.”
Adrian couldn’t be dying...but if he was and this was his final wish, I wouldn’t fail him. The last thing he’d see was me killing the bitch who had done this to him.
I stood up and looked around almost blindly for the sling. Then my shaking hands caused me to miss it twice before I grabbed it. “I love you,” I told Adrian, tears choking my voice.
I spun the sling as I kicked Obsidiana’s body a safe distance away from Adrian, then I hurled the glass stone it contained at her. Even with my vision blurry and my whole body shaking, the stone hit her right in the chest.
Her body burst into ashes as if I’d thrown a dozen supernatural grenades at her. The instant cloud of embers was caught by that strong breeze and rolled over us like a fog, coating me, Adrian and Costa in its dark wake.
For a moment, I stood there, not looking away from the ashes wetly falling to the carpet. I’d faced a realm full of demons and minions determined to kill me, yet I had never been more afraid than I was now. What if I turned around and saw that the manna hadn’t worked? How could I bear it if the last seconds I’d spent with Adrian were the final ones we’d ever get?
I tried to breathe, but my chest ached too much. The wind picked up and the sprinklers began shooting out as if trying to douse a five-alarm fire. Please don’t let this be the end. Please, please, please!
“Ivy.”
A sob escaped me when I heard Adrian’s voice. I whirled, my paralysis vanishing. I fell to my knees next to him, an incoherent sound escaping me as I saw him brush the remains of another clump of manna from his now-healed throat. Then hard arms pulled me to him, his lips found mine and I kissed him until I couldn’t breathe for a different reason this time.
When he finally lifted his head, he was smiling. “I love you, too,” he murmured. “More than you will ever know.”
“I’m glad I get the chance to find out,” I said, so overcome I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
I thought a shadow crossed his features,