by Jenna Black
“I’m sure you can come up with something.” He leaned forward, putting an elbow on the table and propping his chin on his fist. “You could tell her you’ve decided to throw your boyfriend over for me.”
Dominic laughed and shook his head. I resisted the urge to kick Adam under the table.
“Ha-ha, very funny. But all jokes aside, I think I’d rather meet Val in a public place.” It occurred to me to wonder why Adam wanted her to come to his house. I didn’t like any of the answers I came up with.
He sat up straight, his face gone neutral. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We need to control the meeting place, make sure she doesn’t have backup.”
“She’s not going to burn me to death in the middle of a public place, no matter how much backup she has with her. Besides, she might have nothing to do with any of this. She might have been telling me the truth.” I didn’t really believe that, but I tried to allow myself to hope.
Adam didn’t challenge my delusion, though the look he gave me told me exactly what he thought about it. “If it’s just you and her meeting in a public place, why would you think she’d tell you anything? She’ll just claim innocence, and you might want to believe it enough to be convinced.”
My temper tried to make an appearance, but I tamped it down. He was right, but I still didn’t want to bring Val to Adam’s house. I had a sneaking suspicion I wouldn’t like his interrogation techniques.
“I’ll ask her to meet me for lunch at Reading Terminal,” I said. “If I can’t get her to tell me anything, then we’ll switch to Plan B.”
Adam looked exasperated. “And after you’ve had your cozy little lunch and she knows you’re on to her, what do you think the chances are that she’ll come meet you here for further questioning?”
I figured it was time to be blunt. “I’m not bringing her here so you can torture information out of her, and don’t tell me that’s not what you have in mind. I’ll either meet her for lunch, or we figure out another plan.”
“You’re a fool.”
“Well, you’re a — ”
“Morgan,” Dominic interrupted, reaching across the table and laying a hand on my arm.
I ground my teeth and glared at his hand until he moved it away. But he’d gotten his message across. I swallowed my opinion of Adam and crossed my hands over my chest in a classic I’m-not-open-to-your-suggestions pose.
Adam pushed away from the table with enough force to rattle the dishes.
“Fine! Do it your way. But when they catch you and burn you at the stake, don’t blame me.”
He stomped out of the room like a kid having a temper tantrum. I really wondered what Dominic saw in him. It seemed to take about five minutes of conversation for me to want to put a bullet through his hard-as-rock head.
“Well,” Dominic said with a little grin, “I’m glad to see you and Adam have patched things up.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “Yeah. We’re best friends now.”
“Do you want me to come with you when you go meet Valerie? If she might have backup with her, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to have it, too.”
His offer touched me, especially considering what I’d done to him. “That’s very nice of you, Dominic, but I think this is something I have to do on my own.” My throat tightened. “She’s been my best friend since high school. I need to find a way to deal with what she’s done, you know?”
He nodded. “Let me at least give you a Taser, just in case.”
That made me raise an eyebrow. “Why do you have a Taser?”
He laughed. “I don’t, but Adam does. I’m sure he won’t mind you borrowing it, as long as he doesn’t know.”
I was really starting to like Dominic. If I could just forget that he had some pretty sickening tastes, I might even say we could be friends.
“Thanks, Dominic. You’re definitely one of the good guys of this world.”
That seemed to both please and embarrass him. He muttered some self-deprecating remark that I didn’t quite catch, then slipped out of the kitchen to go steal a Taser.
CHAPTER 16
Val was only too happy to meet me for lunch. When I called her, she practically tripped over her own tongue with all her copious apologies and pleas for forgiveness. I tried to seem open to it, because if I didn’t, she might decide not to come.
Reading Terminal used to be a train station, until they converted it into an indoor version of a big open-air market. You can buy just about anything there. Cheesesteaks. Fresh flowers. Exotic spices. Produce. Baked goods. Meat, fresh from the flank of a living cow…Okay, just kidding on that one. The place is a total madhouse at lunchtime. The convention center is right next door, so the market fills with tourists as well as native Philadelphians.
I met Val at one of the Mennonite lunch counters, fighting my way through the throng to get there. Val was there before me, and had somehow managed to save me a seat at the counter despite the press of people. We greeted each other cautiously as I boosted myself up onto the stool. I ordered a turkey sandwich and coffee, having to shout to be heard over the echoing roar in the building. Then I turned my stool and faced Val.
She’d gone with her off-duty look today, her hair loose around her shoulders, contacts instead of glasses. A crisply ironed blue Oxford shirt tucked into a pair of tailored chinos. Her sneakers were sparkling white, fresh out of the box.
“I’ll buy your lunch,” she said to me, leaning forward so she didn’t have to shout. “It’s the least I can do.”
My best friend tries to Taser me, and she thinks buying me lunch is going to make up for it?
I let that thought show on my face, and she had the grace to look embarrassed.
“I’m really sorry, Morgan.” She looked down at her manicured hands, twisting her fingers around each other. “It was an unbelievably stupid thing to do, and I — ”
“Let’s just cut the crap, okay?” Her head jerked upward and she gave me those wide, innocent eyes. Maybe if all this other shit hadn’t happened after she’d attacked me, I’d have fallen for it. But the shit had happened, and I wasn’t buying what she was selling.
“You tried to Taser me because you recognized the name of the demon who’d possessed me.”
Her eyes widened even more. “You mean you really are possessed?”
I was glad the market was so damn noisy. I’d have hated to have this conversation in a quiet little café. No one even looked our way, though Val had practically shouted that.
I leaned into her personal space, my hands clenched into fists to help me resist the urge to wrap them around her neck and squeeze. “And after you Tasered me, you were going to take me to your friends — whoever the hell they are — so they could burn me to death.”
The color leeched from her face, and she couldn’t meet my eyes anymore. “Morgan,” she said, her voice hoarse and whispery, “how could you possibly believe something like that?”
She sounded convincingly hurt, but her facial expression was all wrong for it.
“If I’m being so unreasonable, then why do you look so guilty?” She didn’t seem to have an answer for that. My food arrived, but I wasn’t feeling in the least bit hungry. I’d told myself that I’d already abandoned the last vestige of hope that Val was still my friend, but the hurt that crushed my chest now told me I hadn’t.
I shook my head in disbelief. “Val, how could you?”
She raised her gaze to mine again, and there was a sheen of tears in her eyes. She blinked them away. “It’s nothing personal,” she assured me. “Things…weren’t supposed to happen this way.” She took a deep, loud breath and let it out slowly, and it seemed to settle her some. Her eyes were no longer teary, and though misery still hovered over her, her expression showed a heavy dose of resolve. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that you got dragged into this.”
“Tell me what exactly I’ve gotten dragged into,” I demanded, but Val shook her head.
“I can’t do that.” She licked
her lips and met my eyes squarely. The tears were completely gone now, replaced by grim determination. “If you take my cell phone away from me, I’ll have to use a pay phone to call the police. That’ll give you a bit of a head start.”
I blinked at her stupidly.
“You’re hosting an illegal demon. And there isn’t an exorcist in the world strong enough to cast him out. I’m afraid that leaves only one alternative.”
A chill shivered down my spine. She was going to report me. Her little friends had failed in their attempt to burn me to death in my house, and now they were going to try to get the state to do it instead.
Damn it! If only I could be sure Adam would be the one to investigate her complaint…
Val slowly unzipped her purse, then stuck her hand inside to rummage for the phone. I snatched the purse out of her hand, and she made no effort to fight me for it.
“I’m sure it’s no consolation under the circumstances,” Val said as I rooted through her purse until I’d found her phone, “but it’s for the greater good.”
“Greater good my ass!” I snarled as I shoved her purse, sans the phone, back into her arms. “I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, but one thing is for damn sure: you’re not the good guys.”
I slid off my stool, my food sitting untouched on the counter. I was so furious I wanted to punch her, so hurt I wanted to cry, but I wasn’t about to do either one. Val threw some money on the counter.
“You’d better hurry,” she said. “There’s a pay phone right outside the market. I’ll be making a call as soon as I reach it.”
Without another word, she turned her back on me. My heart was pounding in my throat as I watched her push through the crowd. How sweet of her to give me this generous head start! And she wasn’t even heading toward the closest exit. Maybe she thought her conscience would rest easier if she gave me something resembling a fighting chance. I started hurrying in the opposite direction, my mind frantically considering then rejecting various avenues of escape.
I was shaking and distracted, so when I bumped into a guy blocking my path, it took me a moment to realize who it was. When I looked up into Dominic’s expressive hazel eyes, I suffered a moment of serious confusion.
“Dominic? What are you doing here?”
My now-hyperactive paranoia came to a hasty, terrifying conclusion. “You’re one of them!” It came out a shout, and I took a hasty step backward.
“What?” he said, brow furrowed. Then he seemed to figure out what I meant. “No!” He took hold of my arm. “Adam thought you needed backup, after all. We followed you here.”
I’m sure I still looked very, very suspicious. “We? Where’s Adam?”
Dominic looked grim. “Following Valerie. Don’t worry — he won’t let her make a phone call.”
“What’s he going to do to stop her?” I had a sneaking suspicion I knew the answer. When Dominic didn’t respond, I knew my suspicion was correct.
I’d never thought of myself as gullible before, but I’d sure been getting fooled a lot lately. “He just pretended to let me win the argument. He figured he’d use me to flush her out, then he’d grab her and take her to his place.”
Dominic gave me a shrug and a sheepish smile. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You knew what he was going to do, didn’t you?”
Another shrug. “I’ve known Adam a long time, so yeah.”
And here I’d thought Dominic and I were starting to become friends. He was just one more in a long list of liars.
“Thanks for helping me ‘sneak’ the Taser out, asshole,” I said.
He ignored that. “Let’s go, okay? I don’t think you want Adam to be alone with Valerie for too long. Not if you object to what he plans to do.”
I didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “It’s not like I can stop him.”
“No,” Dominic said gently, “but you may be able to…temper him.”
I didn’t want to participate in what was apparently going to become a good cop/bad cop interrogation. But it was either that, or leave Val to the mercies of the bad cop. She’d gone from my best friend to my worst enemy, but there were some things I didn’t want to happen even to my worst enemy. I had a feeling Adam was one of them.
“Let’s go,” I said, and let Dominic lead the way.
It seemed like Dominic had parked about three miles away. Or maybe I was just anxious. I hurried us both along as fast as I could.
We drove back to Adam’s house in silence. My last faint hope that Val was my friend had finally died. There was a hollow ache in my chest. I wanted to know why she’d done it, why she was party to a plot to destroy the demon king. Then I wondered why I was so sure Lugh was the good guy in this scenario. I mean, I had only his word for it that he meant the human race well. Maybe he was Evil Incarnate, and Val was right to want to destroy him.
Maybe, but I didn’t think so. If Lugh were the bad guy, and Val my friend, she would at least have explained to me why she was trying to kill me.
Dominic pulled into the parking lot across from Adam’s house. He didn’t pull into a space, though, instead slipping a key out of his pocket and handing it to me. I blinked at him.
“You’re not coming in?”
He shook his head. “I’m going back to my place for a while.” He motioned at the house with one hand. “I don’t want to get in the middle of all that.”
I gave him a cold look. “Ignorance is bliss, is that what you’re telling me?”
He didn’t answer, but I could see my words had hurt him. This time, I wasn’t entirely sorry. If he was going to condone whatever it was Adam was doing, then he should be willing to face it head-on.
I slid out of the car without another word, closing the door with unnecessary force. Dominic drove away as soon as I’d crossed the street.
For one agonizing moment when I shoved the key in the lock, I was tempted to follow Dominic’s lead and run away. I didn’t want to face this battle, didn’t want to see what Adam had already done to my former best friend. But I couldn’t abandon her to his mercy, no matter what she’d done.
The house was still and quiet when I stepped inside. My palms were damp, and I wiped them on my pants legs as I dragged myself toward the stairs. I knew where I’d find Adam and Val.
A whip cracked. Val screamed.
I lost my reluctance and charged up the staircase. The door to the black room was closed, but not locked. I burst into the room, then skidded to a halt.
Val’s hands were attached to the footboard of that huge iron bed by two sets of handcuffs, one for each hand, arms stretched to each side of her so there wasn’t much wiggle room. Adam stood behind her, a long, vicious-looking whip dangling from his hand. The back of Val’s shirt was ripped open, but I didn’t see any marks. It seemed that so far, Adam had done no more than scare the shit out of her.
“Well, well,” Adam said, turning to look at me, “how nice of you to join us, Morgan. I was just asking your friend Valerie to tell me who she’s working with. She’s been reluctant to answer. Perhaps you can convince her that I’m not bluffing.”
He swirled the handle of the whip like he was stirring batter, and the leather thong circled like a mini-cyclone.
“Morgan!” Val said, looking over her shoulder at me. Her eyes were almost swollen shut with tears. Rivers of mascara smeared her cheeks. “Please help me!”
I swallowed down all my anger at Adam. He hadn’t actually hurt her. Yet. And if I could get her to talk, he wouldn’t have to-and I wouldn’t have to try to stop him.
“I’m not really in a position to help you, Val,” I said, hoping I sounded calmer than I felt. “I’m at quite a disadvantage against Adam in hand-to-hand combat. Your best bet is to tell him what he wants to know.”
She sobbed. “I don’t know anything! Please, Morgan — ”
“You were on your way to report me as an illegal demon so I’d be executed, and now you’re asking for my help?”
Adam grinn
ed at me. “I thought I was supposed to be the bad cop.”
“Shut up, Adam.”
He was still twirling the whip. He moved it closer to Val, so that the circling leather brushed her pants leg. She yelped and tried to jerk away, but of course she didn’t have anywhere to go.
“Val, please tell him what he wants to know. He…gets off on hurting people. Don’t give him an excuse.”
Adam raised his eyebrows at me, then glanced down pointedly at his crotch. I followed his gaze even though I didn’t want to. Apparently, he wasn’t enjoying himself at the moment. Of course, he hadn’t actually hurt her yet.
“I’d tell him if I knew anything!” Val said, sounding desperate.
“That would have sounded much more convincing before our little chat at lunch,” I said, and Val had no clever response.
“I suggest you back up a bit,” Adam said to me as he stopped his little twirling game. “I’m very good with this, but you’re still better off keeping your distance.”
“Morgan!” Val screamed.
“Don’t do it, Adam. Please. Let’s just — ”
He didn’t wait for me to finish. The whip sliced through the air. The crack was almost deafening in the closed room. Val’s scream tore at my conscience, but I honestly didn’t know how I could stop Adam unless I could talk him out of it.
An angry red welt rose on the skin of Val’s back. She sobbed, sucking in great gulps of air.
“That was a warning stroke,” Adam said. His voice was dead calm, no hint of emotion in it. “The next one draws blood. Tell me who your associates are, and there won’t be a next one.”
“Please,” she begged in a tear-ravaged voice. “Morgan, don’t let him do this to me.”
I should have been content to see Val in pain after what she’d done, but she’d been my best friend for too long. I couldn’t make myself stop caring about her, at least not this fast. My eyes pleaded with Adam to stop, or at least to slow down so I could think of some way out of this.
“If you’re too squeamish for this, love, then I suggest you leave. The unpleasant reality is that people are trying to kill you, and if we don’t find out who they are, they’ll eventually succeed. Considering the manner in which they plan to do it, I think a few lashes from a bullwhip are rather inconsequential.”