DEMON DOOR (#2 GHOST PORTAL series)

EIGHTEEN

"Shove her into the realm or kill her."

Avery snickered. Oh, he knew which of those options Ada preferred, and it rubbed him the wrong way.

"Killing her would be best, according to you, I presume?" He narrowed his gaze as he approached her; she inched backwards, her limbs curling inward in apprehension. She'd never feared him before, nor should she have, as there was nothing he could physically do to hurt her.

But if he'd somehow intimidated her, made it clear to her he wasn't messing around, then that was enough for him. For now.

"It's more final," said Ada, muttering her words. She zoomed out of Avery's way and reappeared to the side of him, but out of reach. "I understand the difficulty, I do. But if you want to help, like you said you did, then this is how you do it. Be reasonable, Avery. She's one woman, and though I see you care for her, you were never meant to develop anything more than a supernatural bond formed by a prophecy. You and her, you're not..." Ada winced, and turned away. "Not soulmates. That's not what this link between you means."

His jaw clenched, his fists tightened, his feet planted hard to the ground—but he didn't have a verbal response to offer her.

He did nothing to counter Ada's words, because deep below his rage, his disappointment, he knew she was right. Were soulmates even a real thing? Care for Jessamine as he might, they weren't meant to be. He wasn't meant to be with anyone, he thought. And Jessamine was meant to unleash chaos, or die trying.

He pressed a tightened fist to his mouth and closed his eyes. "I know. I know and still it fucking hurts."

He recalled Jamie's warnings the night before, his threats. He recalled the gun, the fight in front of the car, and Jessamine's figure in the night as she walked towards the house, leaving them both behind. That had been his opportunity—shoot her in the back, tackle her, tie her up, throw her in the trunk of the vehicle and take her away. He hadn't reacted fast enough—he hadn't reacted at all. No, he'd been too soft, too absorbed in his growing feelings for her. And that had given her time to destabilize him, to nearly neutralize him, and enter the house.

He could have entered it, too. But he'd been so stunned, stuck on the ground and watching her go fulfill her destiny. Jamie was partially knocked out, but he'd been waving at Avery, yelling at him to do something, now!

Avery did nothing. What would come next, whatever was in store for the world, it was on Avery's shoulders. His weight to bear, his responsibility to carry.

He had been hoping to throw her into the realm, though. Killing her was final, like Ada said, and he didn't want that. What if there was a possibility she'd rid herself of the demons once in their dimension? What if there was a way to then get her out, demon-free, back to her normal self?

He'd also thought being in the realm itself might kill her. That it would attack her for showing up, for failing. Then again, he'd gone into that world with opposite intentions, and he'd survived. He, a regular human, hadn't died from his time in the demonic realm, so maybe she wouldn't either. And maybe the demons wouldn't leave her body, but they'd relentlessly seek a means to escape again, to resume their actions where they left off—

No, he had to end her. A bullet to her brain, a slice of a machete across her throat, plunging a knife into her belly. However he could, with whatever force he could muster, he had to kill Jessamine.

How do you kill a woman who's a container for thousands of overpowered, incredibly intelligent demons?

Visions of blood pooled into his mind. His blood, Jessamine's, Jamie's, even Amy's. Gushing down the dusty stairs inside the house, dripping from the ceiling, magically rushing up from the basement. Swirling down door-frames, skidding along floor-boards, pouring out the front door and staining the front lawn. The horror of it all, pulsating, shooting out, bursting and blasting all over the walls—