The Demon's Half

Chapter 30

The sudden shift in space hit hard.

Logan barely had a second to register what had happened before he doubled over and vomited.

I grimaced. "Sorry... I should've warned you about that."

Alexander, utterly unfazed, only sighed in exasperation before flicking his hand toward the distance. "There."

I followed his gaze—and my breath caught.

Across the field, the others were gathered near a tomb. But something was very wrong.

Alilla sat in the grass, legs crossed, staring blankly ahead—her eyes an abyssal black, void of anything human.

A cyclone of wind spiraled around her, an impenetrable wall shielding Jade and the twins inside. They stood frozen within it, watching with tight grips on their daggers, but their presence barely registered compared to her.

Alilla looked... possessed.

Her arms rested on her legs, palms upturned like she was offering herself to something unseen.

And then—

The cuts appeared.

Thin, bloody lines, spreading across her skin in unnatural patterns—multiplying by the second.

I took a step forward before I could stop myself. No.

The demons outside the barrier fought like rabid animals, their frustration twisting their features into something monstrous.

Emmeline's power hurled huge rocks, each one striking the wind with explosive force, but it didn't budge.

Magnus, vines coiling around his arms like writhing snakes, tried forcing his way through, but they snapped before they could take hold.

Ramses threw himself at the shield, his entire body a blur of desperation—like he could shatter it through sheer will alone.

But it held.

Alilla's spell held.

At a cost.

I could barely hear over the storm, but I felt the dread creeping into my bones. The way her blood seeped into the earth. The way her body shook.

She wouldn't last much longer.

"It's already taking pieces of her as payment," Alexander murmured, his voice disturbingly neutral, as if this were nothing more than an observation.

I flinched. "Why is that happening?" My voice was barely above a whisper.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

"This is why we don't let her use witchcraft," Logan muttered grimly from behind me.

Alexander gave a low, amused chuckle. "Don't let her?" He tilted his head, mockingly intrigued. "And she actually listens to you all?"

His smirk turned razor-sharp.

"She's a witch, you idiots."

"Listen, asshole—"

Logan barely got the words out before Alexander cut him off.

"This is only happening because she conjured two spells at once." His voice was flat, almost bored. "One for protection. One for tracking. Amateur mistake. Let's go."

Logan lunged.

He grabbed Alexander by the collar—a move that should've been useless. Usually, the demon slipped through his grasp like smoke. But this time, he didn't.