Chapter 25 #2
“What the hell are you doing?” Trent asks, panicked at the sight of the black box Jac is holding. “You…you don’t want to do that. That’s dark magic, and you’re all too moral for that, aren’t you?”
My lips curve into a smile. “Not at all.”
Jacques sets the box down and waves me over, turning his back so Trent can’t see what we’re saying. Hasan takes the role of guard again, and Tom and Gil look nervous about whatever the hell Jac is about to have me do.
“He is right,” Jacques starts, and sticks a rusty skeleton key into the box.
“This is dark magic. Be quick, though, and you’ll be fine.
I have full confidence in you to avoid the pull to the dark side.
” He opens the box and carefully pulls out two amulets hanging on long gold chains.
“Put this on, but don’t let the amulet touch your chest yet. ”
I slip the chain over my head and keep the amulet in my hand. There’s a symbol etched into the metal on one side, and the other side has one sharp prong in the middle.
“What is this?” I ask again, watching Gil shuffle his feet, looking more and more uneasy.
“A way to see into Trent’s mind,” Jacques answers.
“And a way for him to see into hers,” Tom whispers. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
My eyes widen and I want to take the pendant off. Jac is usually the most cautious out of all of us. Did breaking the curse do something to change that?
“Yes,” he says. “Ace is strong. She can do it.”
“Usually I’m all for showing off how strong I am, but this is making me a little nervous,” I admit.
“Don’t be. Fear will get in the way. I’m going to put the other amulet on Trent.
Once it touches his skin, you can put the amulet against yours.
You’ll feel a little pinch for a moment, but then the connection will be made.
It’s a two-way connection, but you are stronger.
See into his mind. Get the information you need and then get out of there. ”
“What if I can’t?”
“You can.”
I bite my lip and look at the twins. “Rip the necklace off me if need be.”
Tom nods. “I’ll keep you safe, Ace.”
Trent thrashes around, making it difficult for Jacques to get the amulet over his head.
Hasan puts his hands around Trent’s temples, keeping him still.
Jacques slips the necklace over his head and drops the round, metal amulet on Trent’s chest. He flinches as the sharp metal on the back punches into his skin.
The symbol etched into the metal starts to seep with his blood.
“A little pinch?” I question, looking at Jacques with wide eyes.
“Now, Ace,” he says, and I drop the amulet down onto my chest. Right away, this feels dark. Everything around me is pushing me down, and that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach before something bad happens is overpowering.
I can still see everyone around me, but I can’t hear anything anymore. Training my eyes on Trent, I mentally push into his mind.
“Where are you keeping the demon powers?” I ask, and Trent tries to keep his thoughts from me.
“Go to hell, bitch,” he says, voice echoing in my mind. My concentration slips. Suddenly, everything presses down on me again and I get a flash of something…something I can’t quite place.
But it’s something familiar.
And then I smell sulfur. My heart speeds up and I narrow my eyes, staring at Trent. He’s trying to get into my head. Balling my fists, I take a deep breath and push forward.
“The demon powers,” I press, and mentally work my way in deeper. I’m gaining control again, and Trent knows it. I can feel his panic as it floats in the air around us.
“Do you remember the night your parents died?” his voice hisses in my ear. “I do.”
Whatever hold I had on him slips away, and the basement fades to black. I can’t see anything. I can hardly breathe. The smell of sulfur gets stronger and stronger, and I can hear distant chanting.
No, stop it! Sweat rolls down between my breasts and I feel like I’m pushing against invisible weights. Then it’s as if the lights come back on, but instead of seeing the basement around me, I’m in the living room of my childhood house.
The panic and fear I felt the night I found my parents dead on the living room floor hits me hard, right in the middle of my chest. It spreads, suffocating me.
I know I’m not really there.
I know I’m in the basement of my own house.
I know this is just a trick Trent is playing on me.
But it feels so real. I’m helpless. Weak. Only able to hide under my blankets until I muster up the courage to get out of bed and go find Mommy and Daddy. I’m just a child and need my parents.
Stop it! I mentally scream. I squeeze my eyes shut tight, clench my fists, and open my eyes to stare down Trent. The smile on his face disappears when he meets my eyes. That’s right, asshole. I’m back.
“I killed your parents while you slept,” he whispers, and though he’s sitting several feet in front of me, he’s in my mind and it’s as if he’s standing behind me, pulling back my hair and putting his lips close to my ear. I can feel his hot breath on my neck.
I flinch, hand going to my neck. Get it together, Ace. He’s not there. He’s in the chair, tied up. I need to do this. I need to focus so I can take the amulet off. It’s dark magic…I don’t want to risk it influencing me later on.
“I know you killed them, you piece of shit,” I growl back. “So tell me where the demon powers are.”
“Your mom died first,” he snarls, and I feel myself slipping again. The smell of sulfur burns my nose. I hear myself crying, and I get a flash of little Ace running through the dark living room, blood on her hands after she tried to shake her mother awake.
Tears well in my eyes and the pain that clutches my heart almost brings me to my knees. My parents are dead. I’m all alone. Scared. I don’t know how to go on without my—
Family.
I have a family, and they’re standing around me right now.
Narrowing my eyes, I focus on Trent and mentally force my way deeper into his mind. He took my parents, and I won’t let him do it to anyone else.
Suddenly, my vision tunnels and it’s as if I’m looking at the world through Trent’s point of view. Only, I’m not sitting in the chair in my basement. I’m back at the penthouse, sliding a large brass box into a hidden safe in the wall.
The demon’s powers are there.
Next to the box is the deed to the building and several bundles of hundred-dollar bills. Something whispers my name, and I feel the pull of darkness closing in on me. I want to stay here, in Trent’s mind, and get more information. I want to control him, make him do whatever the hell pleases me.
But then I’m like him, controlling another human being. He’s an evil man with a soul damned to hell, but that doesn’t mean I can use him like this. I pull the amulet off and yank the chain from around my neck.
“Did you…well, do whatever you needed to do?” Gil asks.
“Yeah,” I say, going over to drop the amulet in the box. “And I saw something else that gave me an idea.”
“What?”
I smile, and look from my guys to Trent and back again. “How do you feel about owning a fifteen-story building and running our own paranormal PI business?”