“Until you,what?” I sneered. “Until you manage to move away from here? Until you run far enough away that maybe the monsters won’t track you down again?” I laughed bitterly. “Goddamn it, Rae, don’t you get it? It’s you. They’re afteryou. They’ll keep coming.I told you.”
She frowned. “What...what do you—”
“I told you the real reason the Hadleighs are so goddamn friendly to you,” I snapped. “They’ll keep coming after you no matter how far you go from this town.” I let her tension build. I wanted it to seethe. I wanted her terrified, as she should be. “You’re meant for their God, Raelynn. You’re their sacrifice.”
Her hands were clenched at her sides. “Why me?”
“Three survivors of the disaster in 1899.” I held up three fingers. “Three who ate the flesh of their fellow men. Three who were chosen by the Deep One. Three lives spared, but the God does not spare for nothing. In return, someday, those lives must be given back.”
She had gone pale. She was shaking her head. I stuck in the knife a little deeper, and twisted it.
“Some old relative of yours survived that mine, Raelynn,” I said, my toes pressed right up against the boundary of the circle. “The Godlethim survive. In exchange, It demands a life back: yours.”
She looked as if she’d seen a ghost. Her voice shook. “No. You’re a liar. You’re just trying to get me to—”
“I haven’t told you a single goddamn lie, Raelynn! Not one!” I growled so loudly that she stumbled back a pace and clutched onto the kitchen counter. I knew I was looking truly beastly at that point. Every muscle was taut, my claws fully distended, my teeth sharp enough that I couldn’t fully close my mouth. “Fuck, I’ve been more honest with you than any human I’ve crossed paths with in four hundred years! And I’ve been more kind, more merciful, than I have withanyonewho has dared summon me.”
I wanted to hold her pinned against that countertop. I wanted to run my claws along her neck and sink my teeth into her and make her scream—but hell, even now, evennow, I didn’t want to harm her. The thought of causing her unwilling agony was vile.
I hated it. I just absolutely hated it.
“Why do you think they call me Killer, Rae?” I hissed. “Did you think it was because I’m a guardian, killing the enemies of my master? Because I’m a fucking guard dog who only bites those who trespass?” She looked like she wanted to run—but where could she go? If she wanted to keep me trapped here, I wasn’t about to make it easy for her. “I’ve killed every single summoner who’s ever called me. Every single one, and I was glad to do it. You humans think you can justusewhatever you want for your own gain. As if I’m a tool to be maneuvered and locked away and worked until I break.Fuckthat. Any summoner who calls up my name has been made an example to those who would dare consider it after. Look it up. Paris, 1848. London in ‘41. Istanbul the year before. Want a real pretty picture of my work? Cairo, 1771. They still tell legends of it. Mybestkill, honestly.”
She looked sickened, as if she’d finally realized exactly what she’d gotten herself into. It was difficult to do it from a binding circle, but I still managed to nudge a little something into her mind: an image of that kill I was so proud of, of the three summoners I’d ripped to shreds after they dared try to make me obey.
“Stop!” She clutched her head, casting off my influence easier than shooing away a fly. “I get it, you’re pissed! I just...I don’t know what to do...I…”
“Erase the circle, Rae,” I said. “Now.”
She frantically shook her head. “No. No way. I can’t let you go. Not yet. Just...just give me some time…”
“Raelynn. Now.”
More head-shaking. More clenched fists. Fucking brat. Then my eyes fell on Cheesecake, that chubby, far-too-curious cat.
Of course. A cat was far easier to influence than a human.
I nudged his mind, and he came meandering over. He’d gotten right to the edge of the circle when Raelynn realized some hint of what was happening, and began desperately clicking her tongue and hissing, “Oh, no, no, no...kitty, here kitty, kitty…”
Cheesecake flopped down and began to roll. He rolled his fluffy fur all over the chalk, and I felt the magic binding me shudder, then drip away like water through a leak. The cat kept rolling, enthusiastically rubbing his face along the chalk and catching it up onto his fur.
Raelynn’s hands covered her mouth in horror. Poor little thing, watching her plans fall to ruin—ha! I clasped my hands behind my back, smiled, and stepped over the cat and out of the trap she’d set for me.
“Oh, Rae. You just couldn’t resist finding out what happens when you piss off a demon, could you?”
The last thing I saw before the house plunged into darkness was Leon’s wide, sharp smile and golden eyes blazing with righteous fury.I’d fucked up. I’d really fucked up. Why did I ever think I could control a demon? Why did I think I could make that work? Some chalk and a Google search didn’t make me a magician—but it sure as hell might make me a corpse.
The house had gone completely dark. Not dark like the night — dark like a void, as if all light had been sucked up. I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face. I couldn’t see the floor beneath me. But I could feel the cold, creeping up around me like frosty hands settling on my back. I heard a littlepat, pat, patand the jingle of a bell as Cheesecake fled up the stairs. He had the right idea.
Run.
I tried to find the stairs, but my foot struck something hard and I swore, stumbling in the dark. Laughter sounded, echoing darkly from all around me. The sound of scratching claws came from somewhere above me, dragging eerily along the ceiling like something out of a horror film.
“Stop it, Leon!” Fear dug in deep between my lungs. I held out my hands, trying to feel for something,anything, in the dark. “I get it, okay? You’re pissed! And I probably deserve that.” A breath against my ear made me whirl around, striking at nothing. More laughter. I whirled again, furious, goosebumps prickling over every inch of me.
“Leon! Comeout! Stop playing with me like this! If you want to punish me, just fucking do it!” Silence followed. Complete and utter silence, so heavy that I wanted to hold my breath because it sounded too loud. I gulped, and whispered, “Leon, please...please come out…”
Suddenly, across the room, two golden eyes blazed into my sight. Just eyes, no form, no face. Staring at me, staring into me. If looks could kill, his would have set me on fire.