Chapter 19: The Binding

Cross lunged at me with the silver rod raised, and Dorian stepped between us before I could move.

The rod hit Dorian's arm instead of my face, and the metal sizzled against his skin. He didn't scream, but his jaw locked so tight that I saw the muscles bulge under his ear. He shoved Cross back with his other hand, and Cross stumbled into the boiler.

Jenna threw the grimoire across the room. Vance caught it with his bound hands, and the book smacked against his chest. "Read the binding spell," Jenna shouted. "You need to do it now."

Vance looked at the book, then at me. His face was pale, and there was sweat on his upper lip. "I need my hands free before I can read anything."

Jenna pulled a knife from her belt and cut the electrical wire around his wrists. The plastic fell to the floor, and Vance shook out his hands.

Raze pushed against my thoughts again. My right hand lifted toward Cross without my permission, and my fingers curled into a fist.

I dug my nails into my palm until I felt the blood. The pain brought my hand back down to my side.

"You can't hurt yourself forever," Raze whispered inside my head. "I will wait until you get tired."

Vance opened the grimoire and started reading the ancient words. His voice shook at first, but then it grew steadier.

Cross stopped fighting Dorian and turned toward Vance. "You wouldn't dare to read that spell. It will kill you if you're not the caster."

Vance didn't stop reading. He looked up at Cross for a second, and then he looked back down at the page. "I'm already dead, so that threat doesn't scare me. I'm just taking my time catching up."

The symbols on the floor started glowing blue. The light came from under the concrete, and it looked like something buried was waking up.

Cross grabbed Mira from the corner where she had been hiding. He threw her at Dorian, and Dorian caught her with both arms. Cross ran up the stairs, and his footsteps echoed louder and louder until the sound disappeared completely.

Jenna pointed at the stairs. "He's getting away from us."

Dorian dropped Mira on the floor. She landed on her hands and knees, and she stayed there without moving. "Let him go for now," Dorian said. "We have the grimoire and Zoe. That's what matters."

The blue glow faded from the floor. Vance closed the grimoire and pressed his palm against the cover. "The spell is primed and ready. We need a willing vessel to complete it properly."

My mouth opened, but Raze's voice came out instead of mine. "I am the vessel now, and you can't bind me without killing her."

Dorian grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. His fingers dug into my arms. "You need to fight him, Arya."

I tried to focus on his face. I looked at the gray of his skin and the dark circles under his eyes. My eyes flickered between black and brown, and I saw his expression change each time. "I am trying to fight him."

Raze laughed inside my head, and the sound came through my mouth at the same time. "She is losing the fight. When she's gone, I will open the portal myself. With her magic, I won't even need the blood moon."

Jenna turned to Vance. "How long do we have before she loses completely?"

Vance wiped his forehead with his sleeve. "We have hours at the most, but it could be less than that."

Zoe stood up from the floor. Her legs were shaking, and she held onto the wall to keep herself from falling. She walked toward me on unsteady feet, and each step looked like it cost her something.

She stopped in front of me, and she put her hand on my cheek. Her palm was warm against my skin.

"I am so sorry," she said. "This is all my fault because I made the deal with him."

My eyes flickered to brown for a second. I felt the warmth of her hand, and I could smell the salt on her skin. "This is not your fault."

Then Raze pushed me back down, and my eyes went black again. I shoved Zoe away from me, and she fell against the wall before she slid down to the floor.

I backed into a corner. My hands came up in front of me, and blue flame sparked from my fingers. The fire wasn't hot, and it left frost on the pipes above me.

"Let me drive the body, little witch," Raze whispered. "You are so tired, and I can take over for you. You should just sleep."

I pressed my back against the cold wall, and I tried to make my hands drop. They wouldn't move no matter how hard I tried.

Dorian walked toward me slowly, like I was an animal that might bite him. "Arya, you need to look at me."

I looked at him. My eyes were black, but I could still see his face.

"You are still in there," he said. "I know you are still fighting."

Raze made me shake my head from side to side. "She is not in here anymore. I am the one who controls this body now."

Vance stepped forward with the grimoire open in his hands. "If I complete the spell right now, it will bind Raze to her permanently. She will never be free of him."

Jenna grabbed his arm before he could take another step. "Do not do that."

"The spell is the only way to stop the portal," Vance said.

Dorian turned around and punched Vance in the face. Vance fell backward, and the grimoire flew out of his hands. The book landed on the floor with its pages open and facing up.

"Nobody is binding anyone to anyone else," Dorian said. His voice was low and hard, and his hands were still in fists. "We will find another way to do this."

Zoe pushed herself off the wall. Her face was wet with tears, and her lip was split from where she had hit the wall. "There is no other way to do this. I read the spell when Raze was inside me, and I remember what it said. It requires either magic or a life to complete it."

She looked at me with her brown eyes. "I owe you for everything you tried to do for me. Please let me be the vessel instead of you."

Dorian shook his head. "You are human now, so it won't work on you. The spell requires a witch."

Zoe picked up the grimoire from the floor and held it against her chest. "Then what are we supposed to do instead? We cannot just watch her turn into a demon."

Nobody answered her question.

The blue flame on my fingers grew brighter, and the frost on the pipes started spreading. I felt Raze pushing harder against the inside of my skull, and my knees bent like I was getting ready to run.

"You cannot stop me from taking her," he said. "She is already mine to control."

My mouth opened, and I tried to say something to Dorian. I tried to say his name or any word at all. No sound came out of my throat.

Dorian stepped closer to me. "Arya, squeeze my hand if you can hear me."

He held out his hand toward me. His fingers were pale and cold, and they were shaking just a little.

I looked at his hand. I tried to move my own hand toward it, but nothing happened.

Raze laughed inside my head. "She cannot move her hand because I control it now."

Then my index finger twitched. The movement was small, but I felt it. My finger moved toward Dorian's palm.

He grabbed my hand and held it tight between his fingers.

"I have got you now," he said.

The blue flame on my fingers went out completely. The frost stopped spreading.

My eyes turned back to brown, a

nd my knees gave out from under me. I collapsed toward the floor.

Dorian caught me before I hit the ground.