“It’s not too late to call a truce,” I say, keeping my voice low, steady, as though talking her down from the ledge, and hoping it’ll work to calm Jude as well—keep him from going forward with whatever crazy suicidal act he has planned. “You’re not looking so good. You’ve lost all control. Take it from someone who’s been there, it doesn’t have to be like this, there’s a way out, and I’d really like to help you find it, if you’ll let me.”

But despite my calm, soothing words, she laughs in my face. The sound harsh, abrasive, her gaze dancing crazily, unable to hold still, hold it together, when she says, “You? Helpme ?Please. ” She rolls her eyes and bobs her head from side to side. “Since when have you ever helped me? All you ever do is take from me. Over and over again. Buthelp me? Yeah, right. You’ve got to be joking.”

“Fine.” I shrug, determined to get past her words, to get through to her, to stop her from self-destructing. “If you feel you can’t trust me, then let someone else help you. You still have a family, you know. You still have friends.Real friends. People who care about you, unlike the ones you’ve manipulated into being your friends.”

She looks at me, blinking rapidly, swaying from side to side ever so slightly. Thrusting her hand deep into her bag, fumbling for her elixir but finding only a growing supply of empty, drained bottles she tosses all around her.

And I know I have to hurry, hurry up and get to it. We don’t have much time, she’ll erupt at any second.

My words are rushed when I say, “How about Miles—he’d be more than willing to help you. And your little brother, Austin, he totally looks up to you, hedepends on you. Heck, I bet even Josh is still crazy about you. Didn’t you tell me he even wrote you a song in an attempt to win you back? Which means I seriously doubt he’s over you yet. I’m sure he’d be there in a heartbeat if you called him. And—” I start to mention her parents, but I stop just as quickly. They’ve never really been there for her, and that’s a pretty good part of the reason why we find ourselves here.

But I hesitate for too long, long enough for her to glare at me and say, “Andwho , Ever? Who are you gonna add to that list? Thehousekeeper ?” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Sorry, but it’s way past all that. You robbed me of the one and only person I ever truly cared about, the one and only person who truly cared back. And now you’re going to pay for that.Both of you are going to pay for that. Because make no mistake, neither one of you will be leaving here in anything other than a body bag!

Or, in your case, Ever, a dustbin.”

“It won’t bring him back.” But the words come too late. I’ve lost her. She’s gone. No longer listening.

Having already drifted deep into the darkest recesses of her own troubled mind.

I can tell by the way her gaze goes hazy, by the way her whole body stills as she tunes in to the red-hot rage flaming within.

I can tell by the way the walls start to shake.

By the way the books begin to fall from the shelves.

By the way a flock of angel figurines soar through the room and crash into the walls before splintering toward the ground.

There’s no getting through to her.

No turning back.

She stands before me, eyes blazing, hair lifting, as her entire body trembles with fury. Fists clenched tightly as she rises up onto her toes and reaches for Jude.

So I start to say:Run!

Start to say:Make the portal and get the heck out of here!

But before I can get to the words he’s already leaped out from behind me.

Already charged her.

Already foolishly gone ahead with his plan to protect me at the expense of himself.

And as I reach for him, desperate to stop him from going any further, Haven reaches for me.

Snapping the amulet right off my neck, her face contorted, eyes burning bright, as she smiles and says, “So, Ever, how you gonna defend yourself now?”

Chapter 25

She dangles the amulet before me, the crystals glinting, taunting, leaving me vulnerable, exposed, defenseless, and bare. Tossing the amulet over her shoulder as the sickening shrill of her laughter echoes through the room.

Jude clamors, hands and feet grasping, at the ready, but he’s no match for her. With barely a flick of her wrist, she’s shoved him aside, paying no notice as he flies across the store and crashes straight into the wall.

Paying no notice to the horrible sound of bones snapping and popping as he crumbles to the floor in a sad broken heap.

But as much as I long to run to his side to see if he’s okay, I don’t do it. Can’t do it. That’ll only lead her to follow, and I can’t afford to let her get anywhere near him. For his safety, I need to keep her focused on me.

Still, I shoot him a look, mentally urging him to make the portal, to hurry up and do it while he still can, hoping he can somehow hear me. Unable to tell if his refusal to comply is due to the severity of his injuries, the gruesome mask of agony he wears on his face, the trickle of blood that flows from his mouth, or the fact that he refuses to leave me with her, determined to be there for me, no matter the cost to him.

She moves toward me, striving for slow and intimidating but nailing unsteady and shaky instead. Which, truth be told, is far more nerve-wracking than if she moved with purpose. Making it impossible to read her energy, to guess what she’ll do next, when she doesn’t even know yet herself.

She takes a swing, her fist rising, arcing, ’til it centers on me. But I duck just as quickly, moving right out from under it as I make for the other side of the room. Prompting her to turn and go after me again, tongue lodged against the inside of her cheek, her rage-fueled energy growing and expanding in a way that causes the lights to flicker, the floor to buckle, and all the glass fixtures, including the counter, to shatter and splinter.