The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5)
Page 17
“You’re right,” Steven said. “A hotel that’s full of books and strange objects.” He paused, thinking about the task he’d soon have to fulfill, once Aka Manah made his list of items known.
“You really can’t talk about it, can you?” Eliza said.
“Nope,” Steven said. “I agreed I wouldn’t.”
“I feel bad you and Roy had to schlep all that stuff out into the forest, given that it was never going to work.”
“I think we all underestimated him,” Steven said, “except Judith. She knew the best we’d be able to do was cut a deal. She made sure we got as good of a deal as we could get.”
“And you can’t tell me what the deal was?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“No,” Steven said. “The terms of the deal are a secret between him and me.”
“Don’t you mean ‘it’ instead of ‘him’?” Eliza said.
“No,” Steven said, “I think it’s a him. When we talked, he appeared as a man. But really, he’s just evil. A completely evil being.”
“And now you have to live with an arrangement you didn’t want to make,” she said. “Must be uncomfortable.”
“Not as bad as it could be,” Steven said. “I think I can honor my end of the deal.”
“But can you trust him to honor his end?” Eliza asked.
“That’s the trouble,” Steven said. “That’s where I feel I don’t have a choice in the matter. I was forced into the whole thing. He holds all the cards.”
“Do you think you’ll have your end of the deal completed quickly?” Eliza asked.
“I really don’t want to talk about it,” Steven said. “I don’t want to slip up and have something bad happen.”
“Alright, I’ll stop,” Eliza said. “It’s just so intriguing. I mean, I hate that you’ve been put over a barrel. That I can’t know the details just makes me want to know all the more.”
“I’m sure I’d feel the same way,” Steven said.
“Has Roy asked about it?” Eliza asked.
“Not much,” Steven said. “He’s been a little jealous ever since my markings appeared. I suspect he’s similarly jealous that I have some pact with an entity that he can’t know about, even if it is completely detrimental to him to know about it. We’ve always shared everything before this, and he’s used to being in charge. It bothers him when he’s not.”
“He’s a good man,” Eliza said. “I’d trust him with my life. I do trust him with my life.”
“Who do you trust?” Roy said, walking onto the porch with an old fashioned.
“You,” Eliza said. “I’d trust you with my life.”
“Well, thank you,” Roy said. “And I’d trust you with mine.” He held his glass out to her, and she clinked her glass against his.
“What about you, Steven?” she asked.
“I trust both of you,” Steven said. “I hope you trust me, even though I can’t talk about the deal.”
“We trust you,” Roy said. “We’ll just have to work around the problems it’ll cause.”
“What problems?” Steven asked.
“There’s always some problems that come up when there’s secrets between people,” Roy said. “You just say, ‘it’s part of my demon deal,’ and I’ll know to back off.”
Steven laughed. “I wish it were funny.”
“No,” Roy said. “I know it’s not. I’ve never had to make a deal like that, so I don’t know. I hope I never have to. Since that plan for shocking the demon was bogus, I’m afraid we roped you into this whole thing unnecessarily, Eliza. We didn’t need that ingredient at all.”
“I don’t mind,” Eliza said. “It’s nice to visit with you two again, regardless. I was telling Steven I feel like I could stay here forever.”
“That’s the problem with this place,” Steven said. “It’s like heroin. When it’s time to go home, you go through withdrawals.”
“Just tell me one thing,” Roy said, turning to Steven. “Are you comfortable with the terms? Do you feel one hundred percent confident you can handle your end of the deal? I need to know if I’m gonna have to step in at some point.”
“I feel confident,” Steven said. “I can’t see any reason why I can’t pull it off myself. You’ll just have to take some vague answers from me sometimes.”
“Alright, I can do that,” Roy said. “And hey – you learned how to trance.”
“Yes!” Eliza said, raising her glass again. “Here’s to Steven and trancing!”
“Here here!” Roy said, raising his glass.
“Does this make me a full-fledged member of the club now?” Steven asked.
“Well, let’s see,” Eliza said. “You’ve got this place here, Eximere, so you’ve got a worthwhile project. You’ve learned how to trance. And you’ve got your own deal with the devil. Yes, I’d say you’ve made it to the big leagues!” She smiled.
“The only thing left to do,” Roy said, “is to talk to Jason. Bring him into the fold.”
“I’ll do that as soon as I get home,” Steven said. “Although I don’t think I ever want him to know his father made a deal with a demon. It’s not something I’m proud of.”
“There’s nothing wrong in what you’ve done here,” Eliza said. “Not that I can see. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Maybe” Steven said, rising from the bench, troubled. “I hope so.” He walked off the porch and into the house.
Eliza stared out over the porch handrail, into the slowly dimming light. “Remember when we sat over there on the other side of that banyan tree and watched as the marchers came through here?” Eliza asked Roy.
“I do,” Roy said. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”
“As wonderful as this place feels,” Eliza said, “I remember feeling dread while we sat there, waiting for them to come. I feel the same way now.”
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When Steven returned home from dropping Eliza at the airport and Roy at his house, there was a message waiting for him. It was from Jason:
“Dad, if you try to reach me and can’t, don’t worry. I’m going to be out of town for a few days, in fact I’m in the car now, heading south. I should be back next week. I don’t know if there will be much cell reception where we’re going. I haven’t heard from you in a while. You haven’t returned any of the calls I left you. But I don’t want you to worry, I’ve found someone who is like you and me, and he’s agreed to teach me what I want to know. Turns out he’s my next door neighbor. I met him last week when I first moved in, and we’ve become friends. The two of us are taking a trip to Nevada to see someone there that Michael learned from. He’s going to give us both lessons. Say ‘hi’ to my dad, Michael.”
Steven’s blood ran cold and he felt frozen, waiting for the voice on the other end. It couldn’t be that Michael, could it? Jason had just moved into a new apartment. Where was it again? He’d told him the address in an earlier voicemail. He’d moved there with his girlfriend. It was a room in a house – what was the address? Was it on 34th? Could it be the same Victorian mansion where he and Roy had met college students last year, as they searched for Ben’s murderer? Could the next door neighbor be – Michael?
“Hello, Mr. Hall,” the voice came. “Jason’s in good hands. All the best to Roy.”
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Michael Richan lives in Seattle, Washington. He was born in California and raised in Utah.
You can contact Michael at www.michaelrichan.com.
Receive a FREE Steven and Roy novella when you sign up for Michael’s email list!
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The next adventure awaits!
Far away, in the remote deserts of southern Nevada, lies a cave with secrets: strangely twisted creatures, mass deaths, and a hole so deep, anything that goes in, never gets out.
Steven’s son Jason has been taken to this desolate place by someone bent on vengeance. Steven and his father Roy pursue them in a desperate attempt to save Jason’s life.
However, the River is different here, where fa
llout from nuclear testing has altered the ghosts and entities inhabiting the many abandoned mines and hidden caves surrounding Devil’s Throat. Steven and Roy are on unfamiliar ground; they seek the help of locals Winn and Deem to save Jason from a horrific ghost town, once submerged, now revealed.
Devil's Throat is a fast-paced and suspenseful paranormal novel that confronts evil, ghosts, and the dead.
Pick up your copy at Amazon today!
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The River series:
The Bank of the River
Residual
A Haunting in Oregon
Ghosts of Our Fathers
Eximere
The Suicide Forest
Devil’s Throat
The Diablo Horror
The Haunting at Grays Harbor
It Walks At Night
The Downwinders series:
Blood Oath, Blood River
The Impossible Coin
The Graves of Plague Canyon
The Dark River series:
A
All three series are part of The River Universe, and there is crossover of some characters and plots. For a suggested reading order, see the Author’s Website.