Within a few seconds, that felt as though they had stretched into minutes, the fog ahead of where Riley stood slowly began to clear. At first, I could only make out the steps of the building, but then the grassy knoll and the path the steps led down to appeared. The pool was on the other side of campus, but if Riley could keep the fog away, we would make it. I didn’t want to give much thought to what would happen when we reached the pool, given that it was open air.
“Let’s go,” said John, brushing past me to hold open the door for the rest of us.
One by one, we stepped out. I glanced at Riley’s face, but his eyes were closed as he concentrated, his expression stern. I didn’t want to do anything to ruin his focus.
Dana and Flynn led the way, clutching each other’s hands. Flynn reached back to take Laurel’s hand as she followed close behind. John was behind her, and he, too, took her hand, creating a line of four.
He grasped toward me. “Take my hand, Elizabeth. We’re supposed to keep hold of each other’s hands.”
I hesitated. I didn’t want to stray too far from Riley, and I knew taking his hand wasn’t an option. Doing so would break whatever hold he had on the fog, but as the others moved forward, he opened his eyes and began to walk too. He didn’t seem to see me, but looked into a space beyond me.
I braced myself and took John Spencer’s hand. I expected a blast of images to fill my head, especially since I was also connected to the others via him, but none came. Perhaps the fog was muffling my psychic abilities, or perhaps there was simply nothing to see.
“We need to go north, Riley,” Flynn called. “The pool is situated behind the main building.”
Riley must have heard him, because though the expression on his face didn’t change, he moved his left arm, causing the clear tunnel through the fog to suddenly flow in a different direction.
There were cries of alarm as everyone hurried to keep up with the movement of the gap in the fog. No one wanted to be left behind.
The tunnel through the fog felt claustrophobic. Small tendrils kept breaking away from the wall Riley had created and creeping into the cleared space. I didn’t want the fog touching me, as if it might be contaminated and somehow hurt me on its own. I clutched tightly to Dr. Spencer’s hand, my fear overwhelming my awkwardness at holding one of my professor’s hands.
Cra-aaa-aaack …
I froze, yanking the others to a halt, my heart crawling into my throat. I twisted my head left to right, peering into the thick, white fog, half of me hoping to see the demon, and the other half praying I wouldn’t.
“What is it?” John hissed at me.
“It’s here! The demon is close.”
“How do you know?”
I paused again, and, as if it was waiting for its moment, I heard … Criiickkkk …
“Can you not hear that?” I said, my voice breathy with fear.
His eyes had widened, his shoulders stiff, and I knew he had.
“What was that?” Dana whispered back to me.
“It’s the demon. It’s close.”
“That’s creepy as fuck,” said Flynn. “It sounds like its bones are cracking.”
“I know. I think that’s how it communicates.”
“Communicates?” said Dana. “To who?”
“I have no idea.”
“Come on,” said Flynn. “We need to keep moving.”
I nodded, but glanced back to Riley. The fog was so close to his back, it would be easy enough for this thing to reach out of it and grab him. If I were the demon, I would be focusing on Riley. If it took Riley out, the rest of us would be plunged into chaos.
I let go of Dr. Spencer’s hand.
“Elizabeth?” he said, urgent.
“I have to be with Riley. Someone needs to be protecting him.”
“It’s not far now,” Flynn called back to us. “Just around the side of the building and across the courtyard.”
We couldn’t even see the courtyard yet, the same place I had interviewed Flynn the first day I had met him. Knowing the demon was close, and we still couldn’t see our destination, was enough to terrify me.
“We’re almost there, Riley,” I encouraged him. “Just keep going.”
Even though he still didn’t make eye contact with me, he spoke. “My strength is waning, I can feel it. The fog is trying to push back in.”
I glanced ahead and saw what he meant. The tunnel he’d created had grown narrower, and shorter, reducing our view ahead. I didn’t want to panic him. “You’re doing great, baby. Just keep going. We’re almost there.”
Craa-aa-aack …
“Shit!”
The sound came from directly behind us. My fears of it attacking Riley were going to come true.
“It’s going for Riley,” I cried to the others. “I’m sure of it.”
“We’ve got to keep moving,” called Flynn.
“Do something,” I cried in distress. “Can’t you do something?”
Crick … Crick … Crack.
It was close, so close.
Just as I’d imagined, or perhaps had foreseen, a long fingered black hand reached out of the fog and grabbed Riley by the shoulder. I didn’t even get the chance to cry out. The fingers grabbed his leather jacket and pulled back, yanking him off his feet. Riley vanished into the fog.
Laurel’s scream merged with my own, but for a different reason. Whatever control Riley had had on the fog vanished and the thick, white mist enclosed around us, swallowing our vision.
“Riley!” I shrieked.
“Keep hold of each other’s hands,” I heard John yell. “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
But I held no one’s hand, and I plunged into the mist in the direction Riley had vanished. Right in that moment, I didn’t care about the rest of them. All that was important to me was making sure Riley was alive.
“Riley!” I cried again.
I heard it, the bone cracking sound of the demon, and I prayed to God that it wasn’t my boyfriend’s bones it was breaking.
I plunged through the fog, my hands grasping in front of me like a blind man. I didn’t care if my fingers wrapped around the cold flesh of the demon. All I wanted was to find the man I loved.
Movement came from behind me, something I sensed rather than felt, and I spun around. Words were being spoken, those of a similar tone to those Riley had used, and I realized Flynn was doing his best to clear the fog. It must have been harder to control the millions of microscopic droplets of water than it was use the air to push them away. A small patch of clear air appeared around me and my friends, and I could make out their frightened faces and the way they clung to each other. I was still untethered, and I didn’t want the space to be around them. Selfishly, I wanted it aimed in the direction I’d seen Riley pulled.
“Riley?” I cried again, heading forward.
“Beth, wait!” Flynn’s voice chased after me, but I wasn’t listening.
The fog surrounded me once more, and the faces of my friends vanished. I grappled forward, too frightened to even cry, though panic clutched at me like a man drowning. I couldn’t lose him, I couldn’t. What would be the point in anything else if Riley was gone?
Criii-iii-aaa-cccckkk …
The sound came from my right, and I flung myself in that direction. Reaching out, my hand clutched warm skin and I cried out.
“It’s okay,” Riley’s voice came. “It’s okay. It’s me. The demon’s gone.”
I clutched myself against his chest and tears of relief flooded through me. Behind me, the air began to clear from the control Flynn was applying to the water droplets, and I was able to make out Riley’s face more clearly. Deep grazes ran across his forehead and cheek, and long, red finger marks bruised his throat. Something was protruding from the arm of his jacket, and I reached out and plucked it off. A claw, thick enough and curled enough to belong to a black bear. I didn’t want to touch it, so I dropped it into my pocket and turned my attention to Riley.
“Oh, God.
You’re hurt!”
“I’m fine,” he said. “Let’s just get to the pool.”
“Can you clear any more of the fog?” I asked him. “Flynn is struggling.”
He shook his head. “I need to recuperate. I’m sorry. Flynn is on his own.”
I didn’t want to push him. “Okay, let’s just move.”
Clutching his hand tightly, I pulled him toward the others. Flynn stood in a similar stance to the one Riley adopted when trying to control an element. I didn’t know how long he would keep control.
“I think it’s gone,” I told the others.
“Good,” said Dr. Spencer. “Let’s get to the pool.”
Laurel cried, “But we can barely see where we’re going.”
The fog around us had begun to thin, and I didn’t just think it was because of Flynn. “It’s okay. The fog is clearing. I think it’s gone.”
“Where?” said Laurel, her eyes wide.
“I don’t know, but if it wants us, it will find us again.”
Chapter
23
By the time we’d reached the building that housed the bleachers, the pool, and the changing rooms, the fog had completely cleared.
The plan had been to trap the demon, but now we’d had a taste of it, none of us wanted it back again.
Laurel was trembling, but she needed to pull herself together. This was her and Dana’s turn now, and we all needed her to focus.
“I can’t believe we’re going to try to bring that thing here,” she said. “I didn’t even get a look at it. Hearing it was bad enough.” She nodded over to Riley, where he sat on a bench, his arms resting on his thighs, his head hung. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I think he’s in shock.”
“He’s barely spoken.”
I found myself rising defensively. “He was attacked. You can’t expect him to be fine.”
“We can’t hang around,” said John. “The demon is growing bolder, trying to snatch one of you in the middle of the day like that. And it did so with others around. God knows where it will stop.”
Dana stepped forward. “I’m ready to do the spell if Laurel is.”
I glanced to my friend, and she nodded shakily.
“What about using the pool to create a crack into the underworld like in the forest?” I asked.
John turned to Flynn. “If you can lift the water, I can open the crack.”
Flynn nodded. “I can do that.”
Dana and Laurel held hands, standing opposite one another, and closed their eyes.
We all waited, the air buzzing with tension, ears straining to catch any movement.
But they released their hands and looked toward us.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
Dana shook her head. “Nothing. It’s too strong, and we don’t have enough connection with it.”
I remembered something and shoved my hand into my pocket. “Will this help?”
Dana and Laurel peered at it with equal expressions of horrified fascination. “Is that what I think it is?” said Dana.
“The claw was caught on Riley’s jacket. It must have been torn loose in the struggle.”
Dana’s fingers closed around it. “Yes, that will help a lot.”
She positioned the claw in her palm and then reached out to Laurel, who placed her hand over the top of the claw, enclosing the object between their joined hands. Dana then put her other hand over Laurel’s, and Laurel repeated the motion so their hands were completely joined, the claw held between them. They closed their eyes again and began to chant together. I wasn’t sure of the words, but it sounded something like Latin.
“Clausum omne malum tenetur circulus in nostra, et non permisson relinquere.” And they repeated the words, “Clausum omne malum tenetur circulus in nostra, et non permisson relinquere.”
I glanced toward John and he translated, his voice low. “It’s something like, ‘Evil nearby, you are bound within our circle and we give you no permission to leave.”
My eyes flicked back to the witches. The hands they held around the claw began to vibrate, shaking faster and faster until they became a blur. The ground beneath my feet began to tremble, the tile surrounding the pool cracking. Tiles on the walls came loose and fell to the floor like leaves from a tree. The energy in the room made all the hairs on my arms rise, my scalp prickling.
I took a breath.
Movement came from the male changing rooms, a kind of scraping, shuffling sound. We all turned toward it, our collective breath held. I was poised, waiting for a long, stick-thin black arm to appear from around the corner and haul itself out into the pool area.
But instead of a monstrous thing, a human arm wearing a black t-shirt appeared, pulling itself along the floor. Whoever it was had been hurt. Their head was down, thick black hair falling in their face as they crawled out and into the pool area.
My heart felt like it had stopped. I froze, my stomach falling out of its self.
The new arrival lifted his head, and Riley’s face stared back at me. He stretched his hand toward me, imploringly. “Help me.”
My gaze darted back toward where the other Riley still sat on the bench. He stared at the new arrival with the same horror I imagined was plastered across my own face.
“Riley?” I said, my world spinning in a dizzying arc, as if I’d suddenly found myself on a fairground ride.
They were identical, right down to the grazes across their foreheads and cheeks, and the fingerprints around their throats. I remembered what John had said about the demon being able to take on the shape of any one of us, as if it’s holding up a mirror and reflecting someone else’s reflection back at us, while it hides behind the glass.
Had this one arrived because of the spell to trap evil the circle had cast, or had the evil one been sitting across from us all along?
I glanced toward my friends in the hope they might have some kind of special insight into who the real Riley was, but bewilderment and confusion crossed all of their faces.
“One of them is the demon,” whispered Laurel. The witches had finished their chant, but they still stood facing each other, their hands joined around the claw.
“Please, Icy,” the Riley who had just entered called to me. “I’m hurt.”
My head twisted to the other Riley who had gotten to his feet. “Don’t do it!” he yelled. “It’s a trick.”
I was torn in two. If that was my Riley hurt on the ground, and I did nothing to help him, what would that make me?
I took a step toward him.
“No!” everyone cried together.
I wrung my hands. “I don’t know what to do!”
“I’m the real one,” said the Riley on the bench.
“No, I am,” said the one on the floor.
They both looked and sounded exactly the same. One of them loved me, and the other one wanted me dead.
I turned to John, desperate for help. “What do I do? How can we tell them apart?”
He pulled me to one side and spoke in my ear. “Think about what you are. You will be able to tell what they are from what lies beneath the mask. You have a way of finding that out, Elizabeth.”
I realized what he meant. “You want me to bite them?”
“You’ll know in an instant which is which.”
“If I got close enough, he could just kill me.”
“The real Riley wouldn’t hurt you. I experienced how protective he is of you first hand.”
“And if I choose the wrong one?”
“Then we’ll know right away.”
I’d vowed never to taste human blood again. I knew what it did to me, the idea alone made the vampire inside me rise and smack its jaws together in anticipation. I didn’t trust who I was when I was around blood. The vampire part could be stronger than the human part, and I was frightened I would lose myself forever if I allowed myself to feed again. At some point, my body would grow used to the blood, and I would discover myself in a position where
blood was no longer something I wanted, but was something I needed to survive.
“I can’t,” I said. “Is there no other way?” I glanced toward Flynn and thought of something. “Riley is an elemental. Can’t the real Riley do something to control the air and prove to us who he really is?”
John nodded. “It’s worth a shot.”
“Do something,” I demanded of them both. “Move the air and prove to us who’s real.”
To my dismay they both shook their heads. “I’m hurt,” they said, almost simultaneously. “I have no strength left,” said one. “I’m not strong enough,” said the other.
I turned to John in confusion, but he just gave a brief shake of his head. I knew what he was telling me. My plan wasn’t working. I had no choice but to bite one of them.
I tried one last thing. Moving closer to my lecturer again, I lowered my voice. “If the demon knows it’s going to be bitten, why wouldn’t it run?” I asked him.
“It won’t run because, if it does, it will give its real identity away immediately. And anyway, the circle’s spell is keeping it here. It couldn’t run even if it wanted to.”
“So Dana and Laurel stop the spell, and we see if it runs.”
“Then we’re powerless to trap the demon. It’s smart. It’s not going to give itself away by making a run for it.”
I paused and pressed my lips together. I’d exhausted all other options. I had no choice but to choose which Riley I believed to be the demon, and sink my teeth into his throat.
I exhaled slowly. “The moment we know which is the demon, we put it back where it came from.” It was a statement, not a question.
John turned to Flynn. “Are you ready?”
He nodded, and lifted both hands. Instantly, the clear water in the swimming pool began to stir.
I saw no other way. The thought of tasting Riley’s blood made me feel all kinds of twisted emotions I didn’t want to look into too deeply. I just had to pick the demon. That’s all there was to it. I couldn’t let myself taste human blood again.
I approached the first Riley, the one I’d run here with, holding his hand, with no thought that he might not be who he said he was. I’d hugged him, pressed my face against his chest, and I’d gotten no sense he was anything but human.
Twisted Magic (The Dhampyre Chronicles Book 2) Page 18
