Page 80 of Jackal's Pride

“Are you about to say Jackal?” he asked with a knowing smirk.

I saw no reason not to smile back. “He’ll probably be here before the fam. Too bad the big guy will be too furious to let me kill you myself. Happened with your brother.” I said the last part just to piss him off.

He chuckled, clearly amused about something. “He’s not coming, Maureen.”

I ignored him. “He’d come even if I ignored him every day for a year. He’s persistent, unwavering—”

“Even without those wretched hearts he was cursed with?” There was something in his expression. Something confident and dangerous.

I straightened my back against the wall. “Even without them, he’d still be mine.”

His lips rolled in disgust. “He’s not coming. He doesn’t even know who you are now. I took away his feelings, then I took away his memories of you.”

Ice filled my chest. “What?”

Was that shriveled up voice mine?

“About your family, they’re the only issue here, but I don’t see why we can’t work something out. A little barter, Maureen. It’s a chance to save you and your family months from now. Let’s be honest here, it’s not looking good for you guys.”

“Jack,” I whispered.

“Are you crying?”

Those words were all I could take. I was going at him again with my thin blades. Of course I was knocked back, but I didn’t let that stop me. I kept trying and trying until my neck burned.

“Would you stop?” he groaned. “I haven’t had a chance to cloak you yet, and I’ll need to before your family regrows their limbs.”

I channeled fate’s eyes so that I could see the chain residing in his chest. Instantly, my hand wrapped around it. The collar worked to push me away from him but what it didn’t understand was I didn’t have to be close to him. And I wasn’t. I saw his fate in the depths of his eyes as I yanked hard, and he crashed onto the floor.

“Wait, Maureen, no,” he said quickly, raising his hands. “You’ll never find a way to live on after the end if not for me.”

“I’m not searching for a way to live on. We’re going to stop it,” I gritted out.

“Then you’re a fool,” he spat. He tugged at his own chain, and I forgot the bastard could figure it out with my hand gestures. I gripped tighter and yanked. His head smacked the floor again. “Put it down!” He tried to order me with the collar. Funny thing. It never reacted. It didn’t know what to react to. A chain that it couldn’t see? How could it react to such an order?

Bet the witches forgot to put that in the collar’s will. Now I was a little pissed that I didn’t think of my eyes when Gavin had kidnapped me.

“Put down what?”

He stared at me, eyes warped and crinkled in fear. He realized it too. “We’re friends.”

“No, we’re not.” I quirked a brow, eyes glinting, and it was empowering to watch him squirm. “You made sure of that the second you met me. I didn’t know it then, but you made sure to tell me how you connived and used my curse against me with your brother.”

“Only because he saw you first,” he whispered.

Strangely, I believed him.

“Well, congratulations, you get to see me last.”

I twisted his chain around Ben until it broke free from his body. Newt’s body thudded against the floor, and my curse flourished like wildfire.

It didn’t last long when I remembered everything else. I materialized some clothes on, briefly letting my mind drift to who I wanted to think about—who I wanted to be with. I would find Jackal and forget the fears that came with Newt’s words. I had to focus on getting to New York City first.

I faded to the human world. Instead of a busy city, I was greeted with a giant crater. It was all that was left of New York City. My ears stung. So much screaming. So much panic. So muchdeath.Lost souls floated in masses around the crater—we’d have to ascend all of them. Today was not a good day. Today was a failure.

Police squad cars and a battalion of ambulances were parked near the crater but none of them could get close just yet. Flames poured from the hole. Firefighters from several companies worked desperately spraying it down. Slipping past the water, I dropped into the crater in search of my family. I saw Payne before he saw me. He was busy with something. Once I was closer, I could see that he was picking someone up—

“Dad!” I rushed to him, but he waved me off.