Truth and Consequences

by Cate Dean

“Get through me first, baby sister.”

  I left them arguing, moving faster as I got close to the Devil’s home. I just hoped she wasn’t there—partly because I didn’t want her hurt, and mostly because I wasn’t ready to face her. I needed time to digest the whole ‘monster is probably smarter than the average teen’ scenario.

  I stumbled again, every ache making me feel about a hundred years old. Once this was over, I promised myself. I could rest when this was—

  “ALEX!”

  Simon’s desperate shout spun me around. And I heard an odd, metallic click. Right before the world exploded.

  ~ ~ ~

  Brilliant light seared straight into my eyes. I screamed as the explosion blew me off my feet.

  Something big and heavy slammed me to the ground. For a panicked second I thought part of the building fell on me. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear, I couldn’t breathe—

  “Alex—” The muffled voice cut through my panic. “Get off now, before you smother her instead of saving her.”

  No—was that—

  A sweaty, blackened face appeared, hazy but recognizable, his smile shooting relief through me.

  Jake.

  He helped lift whoever knocked me down . . . oh, make that whatever. Even through my stinging, blurred vision I recognized the bulk of the Devil. And I saw the fur on her right side, singed and still smoking. I don’t know where she came from, but she saved me from more injuries than I cared to think about.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. She touched my shoulder, nodding. I turned to Jake. “Where—”

  “In the building. The woman may be crazy, but she can’t tie knots. I managed to get out just before the timer finished counting down.” Oh, God—that must have been horrifying. “And before you ask, she took Sam with her, just before you showed up.”

  “Where?” I was afraid I already knew.

  “The school basement.”

  Zach dropped down beside me, looking much better. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I whispered. I felt like someone beat me with a stick, and my eyes would not focus. But hey, I was alive, and in one piece. “I need to go after—”

  “I don’t think so,” Misty said. She stood behind Zach, arms crossed, angrier than I’d seen her—ever. “We will go after Sam and Mrs. Hyatt. You will go directly to the nearest hospital.”

  “You can’t go.” I forced down the panic threatening to choke me. “If anyone else shows up, she’ll kill Sam.” I refused to let myself think she already had. She lied about giving me the chance to save one of them by trying to blow up Jake before I even got to him. I was going to play her game, and get him back. “Zach, can you help me up?”

  He pulled me to my feet and held on, waiting until I met his gaze. Those intense blue eyes studied me, an echo of the pain I gave him lingering in their depths. “Simon is going with you. Misty told me there’s a tunnel entrance outside the protection field. No argument—she can’t see him, and he’ll be able to tell me when you’re in trouble.”

  Not if, when. I was feeling about as confident. “Okay.”

  Zach kept his arm around my waist as we headed back to the sign, Misty muttering under her breath as she followed us. I lasted until just before we reached the shield where Simon was pacing.

  “Spit it out, Misty.”

  She halted, blinking at me. Then she took a deep breath and obliged me.

  “You can’t go after her alone! That woman is beyond insane, Alex—she kidnapped her own daughter, for God’s sake. You can’t—”

  “You think I want to?” I rubbed my face, so far past exhausted I was numb. “She will kill Sam. I believe that, absolutely. I was the one who looked in her eyes when she told me, and she meant every word.” I looked over my shoulder at Simon, who studied me with an intensity that gave me hope. Don’t ask me why—but if any ghost could kick some ass, it would be him. “Simon will be with me—”

  “And we’ll be at the school, as close to the basement entrance as we can get,” Misty said. “No arguing, Alex. I’m not letting you do this alone. I can’t see this Simon, so as far as I’m concerned, you are alone.” To my shock, she leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Don’t get dead. I don’t want to lose my best friend—not when I just found her.”

  My mind just blanked. My eyes were still blurry from the flash of the explosion, so I blamed the tears on that. Misty just smiled, like she knew better, and carefully hugged me.

  “We’ve got your back. Here.” She slipped her phone into my hand. “I figured since you sent a supernatural shout out instead of making a simple phone call that your phone is history. Now go get Sam.”

  I nodded, tucked her phone in my pocket, still unable to put two words together.

  Jake and Candace moved forward, both of them covered in soot, holding hands. “I’ll make sure the fire is out before we leave,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I got most of it, but these buildings are old, and even with the damp they’d burn fast. Go get my cousin, Finch. We’ll follow the others, be there if you need us. Not that you’ll need us.”

  His confidence left me shaken, and I lost even the two words I might have put together.

  Zach turned me around, gently pushed me toward Simon. I limped forward, through the shield—and realized for the first time I had friends at my back, friends who would care if something went wrong.

  With a start I also realized I hadn’t done more with my laptop, Red, in the last couple of months beyond updating my monster files—and the hacking, which was necessary.

  I had stopped depending on tech for company, and had the real thing.

  Now I was about to walk into the lair of a human monster, with no plan, no research, no tech. Was I scared? Oh, hell yes.

  But sometime in the last couple of months, I started believing in myself, without even realizing it.

  Simon touched my wrist, the heat jerking me back to the moment. “Okay?”

  “Yeah.” I let out my breath, still more than a little lightheaded, my vision blurry. No matter how much I blinked, it felt like I was like looking through dirty glass. I didn’t tell Simon—he seemed like the type to shut me down for something like not being able to see clearly, and I didn’t have time to argue. “Let’s go.”

  I headed for the sewer entrance I knew was just beyond town. I never used it, but I remembered it from the map Katie gave me. It led straight to the basement at school.

  It took longer than I thought to climb down the ice cold steel ladder, and took more out of me than I expected. Simon waited at the bottom, and caught me when my knees said no more, leaning me against the wall.

  “You need to rest, Alex.”

  “And you know I can’t. She’s lost all touch with reality, Simon. I’m really scared that the longer she has Sam, the less chance he’ll come out of this alive.”

  Saying it didn’t ease the gnawing fear. But it got me moving again.

  We headed down the narrow tunnel, the string of lights flickering, like they’d go out any second. Which would be just fabulous, since I didn’t have a flashlight.

  My ankle screamed at me, but I kept going, faster with every step. Dread spiraled, until I had to focus to keep it from taking over. The pain from, well, everywhere, helped with that focus.

  Just when I thought we’d never see the end of the tunnel it curved and ended, the familiar wall mounted ladder climbing up into darkness. The fact that I’d climb up into the basement told me how far underground we were.

  I gripped the rung of the ladder, and Simon let out a sharp gasp.

  Spinning around, I expected to see him melting, or worse. He was hunched over—and fading.

  “Simon—”

  “Some power—stabbing at me.” He clutched his chest, and to my horror I saw blood spread over his pristine white shirt. “God—I thought being dead meant—you didn’t feel pain—”

  He dropped to his knees. Without thinking I reached for him, and he fell, straight through my outstretched arms, disappearing into the ground
.

  “Oh, God.”

  Not only was I alone, but some power just sucked my help out of existence.

  18

  More than a little afraid of what I’d find, I climbed the ladder, stopping right before the narrow access tunnel. I wanted time to assess before—

  “Come out, Alex. I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing.”

  Swallowing, I crawled out—and froze, on my hands and knees. The basement was blurry, but I could still see Mrs. Hyatt on the other side of the large room, near the spot where the old boiler had stood. Sam was next to her, tied to a chair and gagged, conscious but bloody. The part of my mind not panicking screamed when I saw she had chopped off his hair.

  That part went numb when Mrs. Hyatt turned around. She had Katie, trapped in a twisted maternal hug, a knife at her throat.

  “Stand up, Alex. Slowly. I don’t want any sudden move to startle me.” She waved the knife in front of Katie’s face.

  Katie flinched, but didn’t move. I prayed she would keep her composure, but I saw the tears staining her face, and her hands shook as they clutched her school uniform skirt.

  Pushing myself up, I found my balance, held up both hands. “Katie doesn’t need to be here, Mrs. Hyatt—”

  “I’ll be the judge of where my daughter should and shouldn’t be!” Wow, did I hit a nerve. “Get over here, where I can reach you if I need to.” I obeyed, limping across the basement. She watched me, obviously happy to see the bruises I knew must be visible. “Now you have another choice, since you managed to avoid my first surprise. You have more luck than I expected,” she muttered, anger narrowing her eyes. “Too bad Jake didn’t have his share of it.”

  She sounded smug, and I wanted to punch her for it. Instead, I tried to look upset, hoping my so-not-a-poker-face showed her what I was pretending to feel. If she thought Jake was dead, it gave me an edge.

  “What do you want?”

  “I want all of them gone!” Her shriek bounced off the cement walls. Katie closed her eyes, but she held still, even as the knife inched closer to her throat. Her courage astounded and humbled me. I swore to myself I’d get her out of here. I’d get them both out of here. “Sarah shouldn’t have died in the fire—she shouldn’t have been here.”

  I let out a gasp, covering my mouth. Mrs. Hyatt didn’t notice as she kept raving.

  “She had such an unnatural attachment to those—freaks. Her father encouraged it, and I’ll never forgive him for being part of that heathen, twisted group who accepted them, invited them to live where they had no right—”

  With a harsh breath, she got herself together, and looked almost sane when she glared at me. Until she spoke again.

  “Like I said, you have another choice. You can save your precious monster,” she pointed the knife at Sam. “Or,” the knife snapped back, pressed into Katie’s jaw. “You can save her.”

  ~ ~ ~

  I stared at her, unable to compute what she just said.

  Katie stared at me, her dark eyes big and terrified. She swallowed, and the blade nicked her skin, a line of blood sliding down her throat.

  That snapped me out of my shock. Without thinking I yanked Misty’s phone out of my pocket and threw it at Mrs. Hyatt.

  She let out a curse and ducked—which gave me just long enough to move.

  I lunged forward and tackled both of them.

  Pain exploded in my left arm, and I knew I’d hit the knife. I remembered that article I’d tried to read on knife fighting—the author said that when you defend yourself against someone with a knife, expect to get cut. He wasn’t kidding.

  Mrs. Hyatt screeched, bucking under me. It felt like she blew out my eardrum. I fumbled for her right hand, wanting control of that, if I couldn’t get the knife. She screeched again and tried to kick me, hitting a tender spot.

  I held on, and found Katie, who was sprawled on the floor next to us, unconscious. I panicked, terrified that she had been injured because I jumped her mom. That second of distraction lost me any advantage I had. Mrs. Hyatt elbowed me in the face and broke free.

  If I had trouble seeing before, it got worse. About two hundred times worse. Blinking away pain tears, I lifted my head—right before I saw a blurred image of the knife coming straight at me.

  “God—”

  With strength I didn’t think I had left I shoved myself sideways. The blade caught my left arm again instead of sinking into my chest. I screamed and kept moving away from her. Behind us, I heard frantic pounding on the door. I started to crawl toward it, and saw the thick length of wood, wedged under the knob. I wasn’t getting any help from my friends.

  A loud crash snapped my head around. And the world froze when I saw Mrs. Hyatt crouched over Sam’s overturned chair, the knife in her hand heading right for him.

  “NO!”

  I didn’t think. I just moved.

  Pushing off the floor I ran straight at her and rammed my shoulder into her side.

  We both toppled. I felt the knife blade slide over my ribs, but I was so angry I didn’t register pain. Mrs. Hyatt stared up at me, and for the first time I saw fear flash in those eyes.

  “How—you should be—”

  I punched her before she could finish.

  She collapsed, blood gushing from her nose. I found that extremely satisfying. Until I looked up and saw Katie, her dark eyes filled with tears.

  “Katie—ouch . . .” I sat on the floor, hard. It hurt to breathe, and I couldn’t figure out—

  “Hold still,” she said. She knelt down next to me, carefully lifted my shirt. “Oh, no.”

  I glanced down. The knife stuck out of my left side. Most of it still showed, but there was enough of the blade in me to feel it scrape against my rib. I did a stupid thing and sucked in a breath.

  “God—” I doubled over, the pain like a lance of fire in my gut.

  Small hands caught me, helped me settle on the cold cement floor.

  “Stay here.” I watched her move toward Sam, saw her talking to him. I couldn’t hear her over the screaming in my head.

  Relief when he opened his eyes shattered whatever barrier I’d put up against the pain. I clutched the knife hilt, wanting it out, wanting the pain to stop—

  Bloodstained fingers closed over mine. “No, Alex.” Sam’s low, quiet voice had tears stinging my eyes. “Stay with her, Katie. I’m going to let them in before they—”

  The heavy wood snapped like a toothpick and the door flew open.

  I saw a flash of black before Sam stood, stepping in front of me.

  “She’s alive, Jake. You need to stand down, so we can get her to the hospital.” The growl that answered him lodged my breath in my throat. “I’m fine. Mrs. Hyatt wanted to make a point, so she—used the knife in some creative ways.”

  “What?” I managed to get the word out, and pressed my right hand against the floor, trying to lever myself up. Just that movement had my eyes crossing in pain.

  “Alex—” Sam eased me back to the floor, and I finally got a blurry but full look at him.

  Long, narrow cuts marked his right cheek, on either side of the new scar, each one precise, like Mrs. Hyatt took her time. Which she probably did, to prolong the pain. I really wanted to punch her again.

  “We called the paramedics, and the police . . .” Misty’s voice faded, and she dropped to her knees next to me. “Oh, Alex.”

  “Out of my way, little sister.” Candace appeared, Zach right behind her. He pulled Misty up and into his arms. Candace leaned over me, checking my pulse. “Hey, Alex. No—don’t try to talk. You have a knife sticking out of you.”

  “Duh,” I whispered. Zach smiled at me. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

  “Are you having trouble breathing?” I nodded. “Okay.” Candace took my left hand, igniting the cuts in my arm. I moaned, not able to stop it. “I know you’re hurting. Help is on the way. Sam, get that mouth breather out of here before they show up. He’ll scare them off.”

  I heard claws scr
ape over cement, coming closer. A tall, furred body appeared behind Candace, the dark eyes studying me. Jake had changed, to break down the door. To get to me.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  He closed his eyes for a second, and growled when he caught sight of Mrs. Hyatt’s sprawled form. It died as Katie stepped forward, her eyes wide.

  “Jake?”

  He looked startled, but nodded. He was much more well-behaved than the last time I met him in this form. I figured Candace had plenty to do with it.

  To my shock, Katie smiled and rushed him, wrapping both arms around one long, hairy leg. “You came for me again.” This time the growl sounded more like a purr. She took his clawed hand—foreleg, and tugged him toward the door. “Candace is right. We need to go. She’ll take good care of Alex.”

  I watched that tiny, brave girl lead him out like a docile dog.

  About five seconds later all hell broke loose.

  The paramedics showed up, nodding as Candace told them what she knew about my condition. Two police detectives followed them in, along with several uniforms, who surrounded Mrs. Hyatt.

  One of the detectives came over and crouched next to me.

  “Can you answer one question for me, honey?” I nodded, flinching when it bounced pain around my skull. He touched my right hand—the only part of me that either didn’t hurt, or wasn’t being manipulated by the hundreds of hands working over me. His dark brown eyes were kind. “Did the woman over there attack you?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  Nodding, he glanced over his shoulder. “Arrest her.” He turned back to me, studied my face. I tried not to show any emotion—he had those cop eyes, the kind that could read everything. I had a feeling this wasn’t the last time I’d deal with him. And he confirmed that immediately. “I’ll need a statement from you, as soon as you’re feeling up to it.”

  I swallowed. “Okay.”

  “You get better. I’ll leave my card with your friends. See you soon, Alex.”

  It sounded more like a threat than a promise. At least I had time to come up with a story he might believe.