Chapter 48 Survive an Abduction Attempt #3
Her jaws snapped shut around the doppelganger’s throat.
For a moment, nothing happened—demon flesh was notoriously resilient, able to heal even from grievous wounds.
I doubted if we’d actually kill him but merely send him back to his realm.
Then Nyx’s peculiar magic flared, purple-tinged shadow fire igniting along her teeth.
The doppelganger’s form rippled one last time, cycling through faces in what looked like panic—the dean, strangers I didn’t recognize, and then…
Pip. Those wide, anxious eyes staring up at me.
Those freckles. That nervous, earnest expression I’d seen a hundred times bringing me tea or hovering in doorways.
His scream cut off as something fundamental inside him was severed—not just his physical form, but the demonic essence that animated it.
Nyx released him, and he dropped to the sand with Pip’s face still frozen in place, truly dead this time. No regeneration. No resurrection. Whatever Nyx’s pink-shifted magic had done, it had destroyed the part of him that made him immortal.
I stared down at that familiar face, at the boy who’d never existed to me, who’d been dead on a road somewhere for two years while this thing wore his skin and served me breakfast. The real Pip had probably been kind.
Nervous. Genuine. Everything this creature had mimicked so perfectly that even my truth-sense couldn’t detect the lie.
I stood there shaking, power still crackling around me in violent spurts.
The doppelganger’s blood soaked into the pristine beach, black in the moonlight.
My hands wouldn’t stop trembling—not from fear, but from the need to destroy something else.
To chase Zaraiah down and tear her apart with my bare hands.
To resurrect the doppelganger just so I could kill him again, but slower.
A sound ripped from my chest, half scream, half sob. Magic exploded outward, carving deep gouges in the sand.
Even as the rage slowly banked to something colder, I felt cheated. Zaraiah’s escape burned hotter than any victory. The Syndicate had threatened Kaz. They’d threatened our people. They’d chosen their side.
They’d chosen wrong.
Nyx was batting the doppelganger’s body around like the world’s most macabre cat toy, complete with enthusiastic pouncing.
“We need to get back to the captives and be ready to leave as soon as the Sky Serpent arrives.” I had to tell Kaz the Syndicate would be coming for us.
The last thing we needed was to fight a war on multiple fronts, but it seemed that was going to be the case.
Zaraiah had fucked up my abduction, but she would recover quickly.
Nyx made a questioning sound, gesturing at the doppelganger’s body with her tail.
“You want to…” I stared at her. “Really?”
She licked her lips.
It wasn’t Pip, I knew, but still I hesitated.
Then I thought about Sims, about this thing serving me breakfast while plotting our destruction.
Nyx made that questioning sound again, almost hopeful.
She’d skipped dinner in our rush to get the last families.
And the doppelganger had plotted against Kaz and tried to kill me.
The least he could do was be useful in death.
“You know what? Fine. We don’t have time to clean up anyway. ”
I turned away as she began her grisly meal. My hands were still shaking when I pulled out the scrying crystal. It pulsed once in my palm, responding to my touch, then flared with light.
Kaz’s face materialized in the crystal’s depths, sharp and focused. He was somewhere dark—a portal space, maybe, or a shadow-shrouded alley.
“Arabella.” His eyes scanned what he could see of me, cataloging the blood, the wild look I probably wore. “What happened?”
“Zaraiah.” I kept my voice steady through sheer force of will. “She tried to kidnap me. Had Pip with her, but he was a doppelganger the whole time. They were going to deliver me to Auremar.”
Kaz’s face went absolutely still in that way that meant he was calculating exactly how to murder someone. “Are you hurt?”
“No. Nyx killed the doppelganger. Zaraiah escaped.” I swallowed. “Kaz, she said the Syndicate is moving against you. That they were going to use me as bait to make you reckless.”
For a moment, he struggled to rein in his temper. When he spoke, his voice was cold and commanding. “Where are you now?”
“Still at Meridian Isle but leaving soon.” I watched his expression carefully. “I’m safe. But I wanted you to know.”
The weight of everything unsaid pressed between us. I wanted to ask if he was okay. Wanted to tell him I’d been thinking about him constantly. Wanted to hear him say my name in that particular way he did when we were alone.
Instead, I said, “I’ll be home soon.”
He paused. “Be careful, Arabella.”
The crystal went dark.
“Arabella!”
I spun to find Sebastian of all people running down the beach toward me. Behind him was the silhouette of the Sky Serpent, hovering above the water. He skidded to a halt, taking in the scene—me splattered in blood, Nyx enthusiastically dismembering a corpse, shadow warriors standing sentinel.
“Sebastian? What are you—”
“Vex sent me with the ship.” He was breathing hard. “She said you’d be alone and might need—” His gaze landed on what was left of the doppelganger. “Protection.”
Despite everything, I laughed. “As you can see, I handled it.”
“I… yes.” He swallowed hard, looking faintly green. “That’s certainly… handled.”