There was light and heat. Air rushed into my lungs.

Oxygen—it was so sweet. I sucked in one lungful after another and opened my eyes.

Mildred's face was inches from mine. "You okay, child?" She patted a place on my pants that was smoking. "I worried that the lightning would fry you. Didn't know what else to do. You were dead. I figured, could more electricity hurt you? It seemed to do the trick. It started your heart." She leaned in until our noses touched. "You still in there?"

I nudged her back. "I'm fine," I rasped and touched my bruised throat. I'd survived Weatherton's attempt to strangle me. The big bad killer was no longer a threat, his spirit on the other side in hell.

Mildred straightened. "I couldn't believe it when you crossed those spirits over. Never seen anything like it. The feeling of love that came out with that golden light... I swear I could hear harps playing."

"I didn't hear harps." Wendy stood nearby. She looked bruised and beat up, but she gave me a small smile. "You did it. You banished him."

"Straight to hell." Sitting up, I lifted my arms. "I need some help."

Mildred pulled me to my feet. "You remember all of our names? You know your own name? Pouring all that electricity through you after the shock treatment was risky, but I didn't know what else to do."

"I'm fine. Mildred, you did good. You saved me."

She gave me a wild grin. "I did. I saved your life. The old girl came through when the going got tough." She danced a little jig.

I glanced at Dean. He lay still on the ground. "Is he—"

Wendy followed my gaze. "He's still alive. He's breathing, and I think he's coming to. I heard him say your name a few minutes ago."

"Is Luke— Is he—" Terror filled me. I couldn't get the words out.

"He's in there. I can feel the two of them from here. I didn't dare get close enough to touch Dean though. I didn't know what he would try to do to me." Her eyes grew wide. "What is he?"

"I don't know. And I don't know why he changed. I can't believe he killed Andrew."

"He tried to kill all of us." Wendy said in a small voice.

Dean had tried to kill all of us. But was it Dean?

Mildred shook her head. "The way he absorbed the magic and deflected it. His strength, his speed, those yellow eyes..." She gazed off into the distance, as if thinking hard.

"Mildred, do you know what happened? What he became?" I asked.

She looked back at me. "Child, I know what he is, but I never thought I would see one, not with my own eyes."

When she didn't continue, I asked with impatience, "See what? Mildred, what happened to Dean?"

"Odin's men rushed forwards without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild oxen, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon them. These were called Berserker," Mildred sang. At my blank expression, she said, "What, you've never heard it? It's from the Ynglinga saga. I guess you haven't read any of the old Icelandic poets. Dean is a Berserkergang."

I stared at her. Maybe she'd finally come unhinged.

She nodded. "He's a berserker. It's said that during battle, special warriors go berserk. They become fighting mad, blind with the need to kill. There are stories from a hundred years ago. Berserkers have no magic of their own, but magic doesn't work against them. It actually gives them power."

Could it be true? Could Dean be one of these berserkers?

Mildred looked over at Dean and then back at me. "Your kind—death dealers—get dark magic when they do the first ritual and cross over and see the other side. But as a berserker, Dean would've come back without any power. When his folks started him on the second ritual..."

"Dean wouldn't have had the magic he needed to push back the spirit that possessed him," I finished. I looked at Dean passed out on the ground. Not five minutes ago he had come at me, his eyes glowing.

"It would explain how he survived when the lightning hit him," Wendy said.

About that... I turned to Mildred. "How did you call down the lightning?"

Mildred didn't answer.

I gave her a hard stare in return. All this time, Mildred had kept her powers a secret, and now that I questioned her about them, she was evasive. "What other magic do you have?"

She stared back at me as though she didn't know what I was talking about.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Dean move. "Colina?"

Mildred was, for the moment, forgotten. I hurried as best I could to Dean's side.

"Colina, what happened? Where's Weatherton?" Dean asked.

"It's okay. Everything's okay. Weatherton is dead." I helped him sit up.

He looked at his hand in mine, studying his bruised knuckles. Blood remained between his fingers and burns on the backs of his hands.

He frowned. "What happened? I had this dream. There was fire and lightning."

I looked at Andrew's body. How could I explain to Dean that he'd gone mad and killed Andrew? That he had, in an unearthly rage, ripped Nurse Harrington into pieces? Dean had murdered before. He'd tried to murder us all and would have if the odd madness that came over him hadn't faded. Would it come back? At any minute, would his eyes take on a yellowish glow?

I looked at the blue orbs full of confusion staring back at me. Dean wouldn't hurt me if he had a choice. I knew that. He had only gone berserk when the magic flames had hit him. Whatever had happened to him, magic had fueled his response.

I squeezed his hand. "Everything's okay."

Slowly, Dean and I got to our feet.

He looked over at the crowd. The patients and staff had all gathered again, huddled together by the building.

"Why aren't they coming after us?" Dean asked.

I looked over at the many faces filled with shock. They'd watched Dean go on a killing spree, and now they quaked in fear of him. But how long would that fear last? How long until they came after him?

"We need to get out of here." I looked over at the fence. Mildred's lightning had blown it wide open. "The fence is down. We have to go while we can." I tried to pull him with me.

Wendy and Mildred remained in place and looked at Dean with fear.

"Are you coming?" I asked, impatient to get away before the dust could settle.

"We should leave him here," Wendy said.

Mildred nodded in agreement. "The reader's right. The boy's dangerous."

Dean looked back and forth between the two. "What do you mean, dangerous?"

"Enough!" I yelled. "No one's staying behind. We're all getting out of here." I met Wendy's eyes. "We're leaving right now, and he's coming with us."

Wendy and I glared at each other before Mildred broke the silence. "He lays one finger on me, and I'll fry him. You understand, boy?" She walked toward the fence.

"We're almost free." I begged Wendy, "Please."

To my relief, she followed Mildred.

Dean looked confused. "Why are they looking at me like that? Why did she say I was dangerous? Why is Mildred threatening me?"

I patted his arm, pulling him toward the flattened fence. "It doesn't matter now. I'll explain everything once we get out."

We made our way over torn metal and tree limbs until we were finally on the outside. I stopped and looked up at the sky. Rain fell gently against my face.

We'd finally escaped the hospital. We'd made it out alive. We were free.

I looked back at the hospital, at everyone still standing there, watching us. They hadn't made a move to stop us from leaving.

I put my arm inside the crook of Dean's elbow. Luke was still in there. I'd see him tonight. I would finally feel his arms around me again.

He might only be able to come out at night, but he was still here by my side. Dean believed we could find a spell to help Luke. We'd transfer Luke's soul safely into another body somehow. And then Luke would be safe, and Dean would be free to live his life.

Now that we were free, there was hope.

A long, winding, dirt road ran from the hospital, and we started down it. After walking for a while in silence, I noticed that Mildred and Wendy had fallen behind us.

"Colina, my child," Mildred called out to me, and I turned. She stood in the middle of the road, an odd expression on her face.

Then I noticed Wendy on the ground next to her.

"What happened?" I sprinted back to them. Dean followed. "Did she collapse? Do you think her injuries were worse than we thought?" I made it to Wendy's side and got down on my knees. She was eerily still and incredibly pale. I peered into her face and felt for her pulse. She was alive and breathing but unconscious.

"Colina, I'm so sorry. I had to do it," Mildred said in a strange voice.

What? I looked up. Mildred held a knife held to Dean's throat. "Don't do anything foolish," she warned.

Since I'd first met her, Mildred had balanced on the edge of insanity. The fight we'd just gone through must have somehow tilted that scale. I looked into her eyes, expecting to see madness shining back at me. Instead, I saw cold calculation.

I straightened up slowly and took a cautious step toward her. "Mildred, listen to me. Dean isn't dangerous." Even as I said the words, I knew they weren't true. The image of Dean's mother flashed into my mind. She had told me how a possessed Dean had killed. But a killer had taken over his body. The Dean I knew wasn't intentionally violent. He had only turned brutal during the battle.

"Mildred, think back. Dean didn't start to go berserk until Weatherton's magic hit him." I took another step.

The knife pricked Dean's skin, and a drop of blood slid down his throat. "Don't think I won't do it."

I froze, unsure of what move to make next.

Without warning, two large SUVs came roaring out from a side road. They skidded to a stop beside us. A half dozen men all dressed in black scrambled out of the vehicles.

A tall, incredibly handsome, twenty-something man dressed in a shiny black suit and red tie stepped out of the passenger side of the nearest SUV. He adjusted his tie then focused on me, staring intently.

A long scar slanted across his forehead and marred his perfect face. His eyes were a shade of blue so light they looked almost white. His black hair was streaked with a wide shock of white that started just above the scar. Dressed like a B-movie gangster with that scar, he looked dangerous. But that lethal edge didn't take away from his good looks.

In a voice like honey, he said, "Colina, when I first heard what you could do, I thought perhaps the stories were exaggerated." His eyes shone with cruel glee. He looked like an eight-year-old boy ripping open his presents on Christmas morning.

He must have noticed my bewildered expression, because he said, "Ah, where are my manners? Let me introduce myself." He bowed formally. "I'm Gage St. Clare. We have a mutual acquaintance, I believe." He held his hand slightly above his waist. "Yay high, pigtails, full of fire and brimstone?"

He's talking about the demon I raised.

I glanced at Dean, who remained Mildred's hostage.

"Well?"

When I remained quiet, Gage's expression changed, and he suddenly looked dangerous. "Don't test me. I will order her to kill him and she'll do as I command. We both know that if this one dies, then the other one—the one you love—will be lost in the ether sea. I know you don't want that. Neither do I."

My mind was spinning. We'd just escaped the hospital. I'd thought we were free...

"I don't understand." I stared at Mildred. She still held the knife to Dean's throat. "Mildred, what's going on?"

Gage glanced at her. "She's been helping me keep tabs on you."

All this time she had been spying on me? Plotting against me?

Gage laughed. "She's not nearly as odd as she acts. Are you, my dear?"

"You were spying on me?" My eyes bore into Mildred's.

A flash of guilt crossed her face before she looked away.

"What do you want?" I turned back to Gage, trying to keep the fear from my voice.

"I need your help on a little...project of mine."

One of Gage's cronies took a strip of flexible black metal out of a bag and moved in front of Dean.

"What are you doing?" I yelled.

"Calm down, my dear. We aren't going to hurt him," Gage said.

The man wrapped the metal around Dean's neck and stepped back.

Gage observed the process with measured appreciation. "Call it my insurance policy." He pointed to Dean's neck. "It's an enchanted collar. Clever, no? An extremely handy device. Perform any magic within a one-hundred-foot radius of the young man, and the collar will collapse. You can imagine how hard it would be for him to breathe with a crushed windpipe."

I tensed and balled my hands into fists.

Gage's eyes narrowed. "Your precious boyfriend won't be hurt as long as you cooperate. However, call up any magic, and you'll watch him die in front of your eyes."

If I let the blind fury inside me loose, Dean and Luke would both die. I forced myself to calm down and held up my hands in surrender. "Don't hurt him. I'll do whatever you want."

Gage nodded, satisfied. "That's better. Let's be friends, shall we?"

Two men picked up Wendy and put her in the back of one of the SUVs. Mildred guided Dean to the same vehicle and shoved him in after Wendy.

I took a few steps toward them before Gage stopped me, his hand on my shoulder. "I need you to come with me."

I watched the black car holding Wendy and Dean drive away. They were all gone. The ones I counted on, my only allies, the man I loved, were gone.

The grip on my shoulder tightened. "Don't get any ideas. Dean might be out of range, but my men have their orders. Anything happens to me, and Dean gets a knife in the back. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes," I whispered.

I let him guide me to the waiting car and climbed into the back.

Gage slid into the passenger seat and looked at me in the rearview mirror. "Make sure you put your seatbelt on. Safety is important."

The car started, and I watched the hospital fade away as we headed down the road.

* * *

We drove for hours. I watched the passing landscape. We were climbing higher into the mountains, leaving the storm behind us, and moving into the broken clouds. The trees grew thicker now, and I could make out mountain peaks between them, bathed in a golden glow by the late afternoon sun.

The beauty of the scenery did nothing to dispel the cold dread settling around my heart.

Finally, the car stopped in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

"We're here." Gage opened the door and stepped out.

The sun sat low on the horizon. I looked around, but there was no other car in sight, no sign of human habitation. Both the highway and the dirt road that had brought us here were completely invisible through the thick forest.

Gage motioned for me to follow him. He headed up a grassy hill rising through the trees. "What I find so fascinating is that they're both in one body," he said over his shoulder. "I understand that Luke—it is Luke, isn't it? —can't always keep control and then the other one pops up. It must make for a complicated love life. Or an interesting love triangle." He laughed.

I could feel a blush spreading across my cheeks at his slimy, suggestive tone.

We walked until we were almost to the top of the hill, and then Gage picked up the pace, jogging to its crest. "You, my dear, will help me see my dream come true."

I managed to stumble along behind him and stopped next to him on top of the hill.

He was looking off into the distance. I followed his gaze. A wide, grassy field lay before us.

My breath caught in my throat.

As far as the eye could see, dead bodies stretched out on the grass in neat rows.

"You see, Colina, I've heard quite a bit about what you can do. And I want you to raise an army to serve me."

Shock and disbelief filled me. I felt sick and could feel drips of sweat trickling down my neck and forehead. I had been afraid before in the hospital, but this was different. A sense of dread and horror rose within me as I looked out at the bodies.

I heard the faint, distant howling of wolves on the wind. My spirit pack. Many perished during the battle with Weatherton, but some had survived. They could feel my fear. If I didn't calm down, they would come to my aid. I didn't know how—or if it was even possible—to restrain them. I also didn't know what kind of magic Gage possessed, but he'd made it crystal clear that if I harmed him in any way, his men would kill Dean.

I fought to stay calm. I took a deep breath and forced my emotions back. Gage had the upper hand, holding Dean and Wendy prisoner. I had to protect my friends.

He seemed unconcerned with my state of mind. "If you don't raise everyone, I'm afraid that I'll have no choice but to kill Dean." He looked at me. "I wonder... How long do you think Luke will stay in the ether sea there before he crosses over?"

Obviously, he wouldn't think twice about killing two people when there were hundreds of bodies in the field. It all suddenly felt surreal, as though I was outside myself watching this happen to someone else.

"Did you kill all these people?"

"Of course," Gage said. "They aren't your normal citizens. I wanted something a little...special."

It dawned on me. These were the three hundred death dealers who had been murdered, the ones Dean had described. Oh, Goddess. Gage had murdered them so I could resurrect them into zombies.

Death dealers were hard to kill one-on-one. A large group should have been impossible. Either this man already had an army, or he had serious power.

An unearthly red glow shone from Gage's eyes. "You have a choice, Colina. Do as I say, or risk losing the ones you love."

I watched the sun hovering on the horizon. What else could I do?

The body closest to me was a girl my age. There wasn't a mark on her, but her face looked frozen in terror.

I'd once been a healer, raised to protect life at all costs. And now I had orders to create an army of undead. This was the path I had chosen. I had welcomed the darkness into me. Even now, I could feel it coursing through my veins.

I was a death dealer, a harbinger of evil. This was the path I had chosen.

The cost of my revenge.

Dean's face flashed before me—first with bright-blue eyes, and then Luke's dark brown ones. I fell to my knees in the grass, tears falling freely down my face.

Gage threw out his arms to encompass the carnage. "This is your true calling! Your gift!"

I wiped the tears away.

Whatever it takes to protect Wendy, Dean, and Luke.

I drew in a deep, shaky breath, threw my shoulders back, and reached out...

* * *

Thank you for readingPossession!Colina's story continues in Revenant, where her power grows, butso does the danger!