Chapter 285: Willing Sacrifice
Blood poured outward, thick, red, gushing over his hands, over the blade, running out over the crystal as Sassy clutched at his heart where the knife entered. The family magic reacted instantly, surging upward, repelled by the demon shield. Liam acted before I could think, a thick green ward forming around the bubble of amber.
The family magic fell back, stirred to anger, but unable to find its quary, circling slowly around the pentagram and the macabre scene unfolding before us. I didn't care now if our house was flattened, if the Dumonts came, the Enforcers. My friend was dying, falling to his knees, toppling over on his side, lying across the feet of the effigy of my father.
"A willing sacrifice," Liam whispered. "The greatest source of power."
I whipped my head around, tears pouring from my eyes. Liam winced, but went on.
"If your father had succeeded in killing himself," Liam said, "he would simply have just died. But Sassy giving himself, his existence... Syd, he may have just saved your father's life."
Sassy gurgled on the other side of the double shield, blood pooling behind his lips to spill down over his cheek. His brown eyes locked on mine, amber fire waking behind them. The crystal, soaked in blood, fell slowly to the ground as his hand went limp, the pulsing red and amber stone coming to rest on the statue's metal foot.
I watched his life leave him, could only sob and reach for Sassy while Quaid held me back, the last of the light leaving Sassy's eyes, a sigh of air escaping before his body fell still.
No. Nonononononono.
NO!
Quaid had his hands full with me as I writhed and screamed silently, mouth gaping open with nothing coming out, my heart breaking into a million pieces as my dear, dear Sassafras died at the feet of my father's statue.
I almost missed it, so broken was I in that moment. Almost failed to notice the ringing sound through the rushing hum in my ears from my own grief. The shimmer begun at the base of the effigy, racing upward in a rush of light I finally couldn't ignore as crystal engulfed steel until the exact replica of my father stood there in the light of the shields and the single bulb, sparkling like a polished diamond.
Both shields collapsed in a rush, blown outward by the light trapped inside. Liam cried out, clutching his head as his power recoiled into him. The family magic stilled, paused, held its breath. I was sure it would surge forward, but it had nothing to attack.
Not any more.
The floor above us rumbled and someone screamed, a hoarse sound filled with more agony than I could bear. I turned my face toward Quaid's chest, only for a moment, spinning back around as the basement was suddenly infused with amber light. The whole house shook, shifting slightly as pure demon power poured down through the floor and into the diamond effigy.
He was there, shining and perfect, the clear gem taking on the soft red tone of his demon skin before his human coloring returned. I heard pounding feet behind me, felt Mom crash into my back as she froze in her headlong flight to see what was happening.
"Your father's gone," she whispered. "From upstairs."
"I know." She was staring, not believing. I was with her on that one.
Dad moved. Stretched. Smiled at me, at Mom. She choked on a sob, one hand covering her mouth, but she wasn't looking at Dad.
Her eyes were locked on Sassy.
My father bent and picked up my friend's body. A hazy mist of amber magic rose from it, clinging to Dad, wrapping around him like a shroud. In one last flash of amber fire, Dad was gone from his statue, back to Demonicon at last.
And he took Sassy with him.
***
