Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Cody removes his hand. “That better?”
“Yeah.”
“We need to work together,” he says, “to help Matteo.”
He’s right. Between that and him taking my pain away, this has really thrown me off my whole these guys are my fucking enemies and I must stop them at all costs. But I’m not really concerned about my well-being. “Do you think you can help him?”
“We’ll try,” Luke says. “We were going to ask it some questions about why it’s inside him, but I have a funny feeling you have some thoughts about that.”
I nod, biting my bottom lip as I struggle to decide what I should and shouldn’t share. “I was trying to do a spell,” I confess. “Matteo offered to help me. We did the first part of the ritual last Friday, and we were supposed to do the next one tomorrow night.”
“What kind of spell?” Luke asks.
“It was for conjuring, but I don’t want to get into it.” There’s enough going on tonight without me getting all emotional about my brother.
“Okay, that’s fair,” Cody says. “So where did you get this spell from?”
“That’s another thing I don’t want to share.”
“You guys just let me know when you need me,” Seth says, settling at the desk. Cody ignores him and the comment, but Luke looks back, clearly annoyed by Seth’s less than helpful remark.
“Okay,” Cody says, “did anything strange happen during the spell?”
“No,” I say without thinking, but then… “Maybe? There was this heat. Matteo described it as almost a fever. We assumed it had to do with a pill he took, but I felt a warmth during, like a heat he was giving off. Maybe something was happening to him.”
Cody nods. “Thank you, Alexei. That helps. So now we’re gonna talk to it, see if we can get some answers.”
“Is that thing gonna hurt Matteo?” I ask.
“We’re not gonna let it hurt him. We’ll keep him down. If you want to help Brad hold him, we’ll see if it can offer us any insight before we try and get rid of it.”
“Try? I’ve seen what you guys can do. Can’t you just do it?”
I can tell by the concern in their expressions that they know just how much more we have to talk about once we’ve figured this out, but I can’t be bothered to worry about that just yet.
“You said Seth subdued it with his powers,” I say, “so can’t he just tell it to leave?”
“You think that wasn’t the first thing we tried?” Seth asks.
“It didn’t work,” Brad adds. “But Seth’s power has some effect on him, so we’re hoping he can extract some answers.”
“And maybe this thing will tell us how we can get rid of it,” Cody says.
“Why haven’t you guys done that already?”
“We were interrupted shortly after we managed to get him here and tied down,” Brad reminds me.
“Oh fuck.”
“Come on,” Luke says. “Let’s figure this out and get Matteo back.”
He doesn’t look at me like someone who just held a knife to his friend and revealed he’s known what they were doing. He looks like the friend I’m used to interacting with.
12
ALEXEI
The Sinners and I gather around Matteo. I’ve got him by one arm, Brad by the other. As Luke removes the gag, Matteo—or whatever entity’s possessed him—turns to me. Now that I’m up close, I can’t distinguish between his irises and his pupils. They’re black as night.
The entity struggles, leaning toward me and sticking Matteo’s tongue out. “Come on, I want a quick taste. See for myself why he thinks it’s so fucking good.”
“Seth,” Brad says through his teeth. “You gonna handle this or what?”
“I want another taste of you too,” Matteo says, gnashing his teeth at Brad, mimicking biting him again.
“Seth!” Brad snaps.
“Alexei should see the consequences of his actions,” Seth insists.
“Oh really?” I say. “The guys who unleashed the monster last semester are gonna judge me?”
“That’s not what happened.” Cody sounds so confident about it, but maybe he just hasn’t made the connection between what they’ve done and the monster that escaped from the Rift.
“Come on. Lean in for me,” the entity says, and Brad spits out, “Seth!”
“Stop moving,” Seth commands.
But Matteo keeps struggling.
“I said fucking stop!”
Matteo stills in my hold, hissing and growling, his body trembling as he fights Seth’s push.
“Answer my questions, and answer them honestly,” Seth says. “Tell us why you’re here.”
Matteo rests his head against the floor, taking a deep breath.
Seth repeats his question, and Matteo chuckles. “I’ve returned from hell. I escaped through an opening, found my way back into this world.”
“So you were alive once?” Seth asks.
“I’m alive again now.”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Seth says. “What’s your name?”
“Jonathan Farras. You may know me as the Buford Night Stalker.”
“Night Stalker?”
“It feels so good, I can’t resist the hunt. And now I have this body to get that delicious sensation again…that can only be felt by spilling blood.”