Page 14 of Tangle of Lust and Lethargy

“Oh, come on, now.” Damon spread his arms wide with mock cheerfulness, though his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “It will be a walk in the park. Like skipping through Mordor. How bad can it be?”

Zara dragged her fingers through her long red hair. “Bad. Real bad. Like the taste of wolfsbane bad.”

Grady looked at us. “We need to avenge Brody.”

I clasped his arm. “No. You don’t know what those demons out there are.”

He broke free of my grasp. “They killed my friend.”

The tension in the room ratcheted up as Grady buckled his leather belt around his waist, the sound of metal clinking ominously. With a practiced motion, he pulled his sword from its sheath, the blade singing as it sliced through the air. His eyes blazed with fury as he growled, “Death to demons.”

Scott raised his weapon above his head, the overhead lights glinting off its polished surface. “For Brody,” he declared, his voice thick with emotion and barely contained rage.

“Wait.” My words tumbled out in a desperate rush. “We don’t even know what demons those are. It could be extremely?—”

But my warning was as effective as a substitute teacher trying to control an unruly classroom. Before I could finish, Grady and Scott were already in motion, charging out of the manor with reckless abandon. Their battle cries echoed, a cacophony of anger and vengeance.

The suited figures on the porch remained unnaturally still, their black eyes regarding Grady and Scott with detached interest. They looked at our friends as if they were insignificant insects, barely worth acknowledging.

Grady reached the nearest demon first, his sword arcing through the air in a deadly swing. But where the blade should have connected, suddenly, there was…nothing. The demon had vanished, reappearing in a blink behind Grady.

“Grady!” I cried. “Watch out!”

The demon’s hand shot out, fingers brushing against Grady’s shoulder with frightening speed. In an instant, Grady went limp, his body freezing mid-motion. His wide, surprised eyes stared blankly ahead, but he wasn’t a statue. His skin had no stony texture. He simply…stopped.

Scott slashed wildly with his sword. The blade met air as the demon flickered out of existence, and Scott stumbled forward with the momentum of his missed strike.

“Where did he go?” Scott yelled, spinning frantically, his sword cutting angry arcs through the air.

I saw the danger materialize. “Behind you!” I screamed, pointing desperately. Yet, as the words left my mouth, I knew they were futile.

With graceful, almost lazy movements, the demon sidestepped Scott’s wild slash. Its hand shot out, fingers grazing Scott’s arm. In a heartbeat, Scott was frozen, his sword still above his head, his face an eerily still mask of determination.

Unlike Zara’s sister, neither Grady nor Scott had turned to stone. They stood there, flesh and blood, but absolutely motionless. Their chests didn’t rise and fall. Their eyes didn’t blink. It seemed time itself had stopped for them, suspending them in that moment of action.

A deafening silence followed. Where moments ago had been the clash of metal and battle cries, now was only the soft whisper of the wind and my hammering heart. Grady and Scott stood like mannequins on the porch, victims of their own bravery and rashness.

The unnaturally calm demons turned their pitch-black eyes toward the house. Toward us. Our situation had gone from bad to World War III.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The demons’ black eyes glittered with malevolent amusement. One of them curved his finger in a slow, deliberate motion, beckoning us to come outside and join the macabre tableau. A shiver of dread rippled across my skin, and terror seeped into my bones like winter frost.

Above us, the sky darkened further, angry clouds vexing and churning as if alive. Suddenly, jets of black smoke erupted from the clouds, twisting and coalescing into even more demonic forms. They materialized on the porch, surrounding our frozen friends, their suits impeccable and their smiles razor-sharp.

“No,” I whispered.

Justice’s features hardened with determination and fear as he made a sudden dash for the door. Garrick was faster, throwing himself in front of Justice with outstretched arms.

“You can’t go out there!” Garrick shouted.

Justice struggled against him, his eyes wild with desperation. “My friends are out there!”

Garrick’s arm shot out, latching onto Justice with unmistakable force. His muscles visibly strained as he held the other man back. “Yes, I know,” he replied in a grim whisper. “But those creatures are sloth demons. One touch, and you freeze.Not merely unable to move but too lazy to even try. Too lethargic to eat or drink.”

The situation unfolded like a fever dream, each new revelation more nightmarish than the last. I glanced at Grady and Scott with an understanding of the true nature of their predicament.

Garrick continued, his words tumbling out in a rushed, terrified stream. “We have to get out of here while we still can. If we don’t, we’ll end up like them. Motionless, helpless, until we waste away and die.”

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