Page 300 of Psycho Devils: Aran's Story 2

Screamed.

“We need to flip her over,” Malum barked, and multiple hands reached down to turn me over.

“I’m sorry for everything,” he whispered as he turned me, and I threw up from the jostling.

John pressed a cloth to my face to wipe up the sickness, but midwipe, he halted.

Everyone ceased moving at once, and the room fell creepily quiet.

No one breathed.

The sudden tension was a tangible weight.

Orion whispered something to Scorpius.

“Why,” Malum said roughly. “The fuck.” His teeth clashed together. “Is ‘WHORE’ carved into your back?”

Crack.

I opened my mouth and whispered my darkest secret aloud, “Mother did it. The night before I killed her.”

I sobbed and convulsed. Arched my back and jackknifed my legs.

“What!?” Scorpius bellowed.

I spat out between gasps of pain because apparently, I was feeling very chatty. “She used to light me on fire. For fun. Just like you, Malum.”

In my peripheral vision, the wingback chair burst into flames.

“Aran,” John whispered brokenly.

Someone’s fists slammed against the wall.

Malum made a broken noise, and he stalked over to the bathroom door, ripped it off the hinges, then cracked the flaming wood over his knee.

Orion fell to his knees beside me.

He screamed, and the sound was so high-pitched and lyrical that a headache throbbed in my temples.

The demons backed away from me with horror.

John draped himself across my back like he was hugging me. His large body trembled, and warm tears dripped across my skin.

More pain exploded across my back, and I couldn’t swallow the whimper that burst from my lips.

I bit down on my lip to hold in another scream.

“We need to help her,” Scorpius growled. “Orion, bring the first aid kit. Now!”

There was a loud sizzling. Scarlet flames turned purple, and the bathroom door disappeared into a pile of ashes.

My teammates fell to their knees around me.

Hands held me down.

Fingers pulled bloody glass shards from my back. A needle and thread were pulled frantically through my wounds.

Crack.

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