Chapter Eighteen
Something was calling her. Nicole wasn’t sure just what it was, but there was something telling her to move toward it.
She had glanced over at the fight and knew Joran would win. There was a certainty about the way he moved that hadn’t been there before. But more than that, whatever was calling her told her that he would win.
Nicole stood from the floor and moved toward the thing that called her. Unlike when Erebus had her under his spell, she was free to do as she wanted. But she had to know just what it was. What sort of thing could draw her in like a moth to a flame.
The door was closed when she stepped up to it. She placed the palm of her hand carefully against the wood. It practically vibrated with the energy behind it.
This was it.
Nicole twisted the knob and was surprised to find herself inside a small office. A couch lined one wall while the other held an old desk and some metal filing cabinets.
Whatever was calling to her was calling from inside one of the metal cabinets. The sound was so loud it was almost deafening. Nicole took a step toward the cabinet before she came to a sudden stop as the door closed behind her.
She turned to see the woman from before step in. Up close, Nicole could see the deep burn on her face as the woman twisted around with a frown, her blood red eyes searching, as if the woman knew she wasn’t alone but couldn’t quite place where the intruder was.
After a few moments, the frowning woman stepped over to the humming cabinet. She wore a key around her neck. She pulled it off.
The key slipped easily into the rusty lock and squeaked open. A bright blue glow shone from inside.
“Still here,” the woman whispered. She reached in and picked up the stone. The vibration noise grew louder. Before it had sounded like it was almost singing. Now, in this woman’s hands, the stone cried. Nicole could feel it down to her very core, and it made her heart nearly break to think it.
Corrupted and evil. That’s what this woman was. That much was already certain by the way Joran had reacted to her earlier. She was the reason for those monsters in the other room, and she was the reason for the blue dome. She had to be stopped.
Nicole took a step closer, each time pausing to make sure she really wasn’t visible. When she was nearly in front of the woman, she stopped.
Could she just take the stone? What would happen? Nicole existed in the blue space and the other woman in the natural world. Whether that was the real world was a question she didn’t know the answer to. Whatever the truth, there was a chance Nicole wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.
The stone cried out to her, and she knew she had to do something though.
“It knows you’re here,” the woman said.
Nicole froze, arm still outstretched for the stone. The woman stared in her direction but still didn’t focus directly.
“I don’t know who you are, but the stone is mine,” the woman hissed.
The stone only cried louder in her hands. Nicole couldn’t let this woman continue tainting the stone with her evil. Not only that, even ignoring Erebus, the Glycons and the dome had killed people.
It was the deputy’s duty to protect the town, and she would do whatever was necessary for that. Not only would she protect the town, she would protect the hybrids. Hell, she would protect the whole damn world from these monsters.
Nicole lunged and gripped the stone hard.
The other woman screamed. The stone burned. Not like fire but like ice. The sensation shot from the surface of Nicole’s hand to her veins and muscles, but she still held on.
She could hear Joran as he called her name, but no voice came out. Instead it was as if her whole body was singing the tune of the blue stone, almost as if it were urging her on.
Nicole knew, deep inside, the stone wanted her to win. She saw the sorrow and pain and hatred it had suffered through the years. The stone wanted to be with light, and that was exactly what she was to it.
The evil woman reached out and clawed at the air around her until she made contact with Nicole. Her claws dug deeply into Nicole’s arm, and yet the Vestal still held on.
“It is mine!” the woman screamed.
The sound echoed in the room, and Nicole wondered if the woman was like Erebus, given how similar their sounds were.
Nicole gasped as the claws at her arm moved away and wrapped firmly around her neck, squeezing off all air.
The woman cackled. “You will be just another sacrifice to the stone and my cause. You’re nothing. You’re just a tool.”
Outside the door, Nicole could hear Joran shout for her again, this time much closer. If she didn’t do something, it would be too late. Already she was getting light headed. Her eyes fluttered slightly as the woman only squeezed harder.
Nicole was out of options. She wasn’t going to last. She needed to do something, so she did the only thing she could think of. With all the strength she had left in her body, she slammed the hand with the stone hard against the cabinet.
The sound from it was deafening. The stone was screaming.
The woman let go of her death grip on Nicole’s neck, and the Vestal breathed in deeply as the door opened.
“Agatha!” Joran growled.
So that was her name.
The woman turned, and Nicole wondered if she’d heard him. Either way, it was all the distraction she needed.
Again, Nicole slammed the stone against the cabinet.
“Show her what she did to you,” Nicole whispered to the stone. “Let her feel your anger.”
She spotted Joran from the corner of her eye as he raced into the room.
“Don’t touch me,” Nicole shouted.
Joran stopped in his tracks.
This was between her and Agatha. And she was winning.
The other woman dropped to the floor, writhing in pain as the stone delivered all the hurt and evil it had been forced to endure. Agatha screamed again, but still held onto the stone.
“It’s mine,” she said as she shivered. “I will kill you. I will kill you all. Everyone will know my wrath.”
Nicole’s hand balled into a fist. She’d had just about enough of the people she loved being put in danger. The Vestal lunged and slammed her fist hard into the woman’s face.
Agatha’s hand on the stone went slack as she slipped unconscious to the floor.
Nicole turned to Joran and took one step, her legs caved under her, but instead of hitting the floor, she found herself in his arms.
“You could have been killed,” he growled at her.
Nicole gave a small smile and placed a weak palm against his cheek. “So could you.”
Around them the blue haze began to fade. It wasn’t just that they’d left Erebus’s world. The dome was disappearing.
With the stone against her chest, Nicole slipped into a deep sleep.