Page 132 of Deliver us from Evil

“Zach, wait!”

The man immediately flips onto his back and grabs a passing rail before I can haul him down the stairs.

We stop.

Stare at each other.

My Ghost’s chest rises and falls, the action speeding up the longer I glare at him.

Trinity’s stepfather.

Keith fucking Malone.

But he looks different now. Too different to account for age.

Plastic surgery then.

He really didn’t want anyone figuring out he’d faked his own death.

Like Gabriel.

Like Trin—

Pain slices through me. My jaw clenches so hard the enamel on my teeth squeaks.

Cass stomps on Keith’s hand. The man curls toward the pain, letting out a wordless yell.

I yank him down the stairs.

He tries to sit up, but his head still hits several of the stairs on the way down. Each time, he leaves a splotch of blood on the wood.

I angle him down the short landing, and then we go down the next flight.

Cass hurries after, stomping on his hands every time Keith manages to grab hold of something. He must already have several broken fingers—they jiggle around too loosely as we make our way downstairs.

Police lights paint the living room walls blue and red. Outside, car doors slam.

I grimace up at Cass. “Grab his fucking arms.”

He does so immediately, deftly avoiding Keith’s teeth when the man tries to bite him.

We hurry through the patio doors, Keith fighting us every step of the way. But Cass and I, we’re filled with the Holy Spirit.

It gives us strength.

It guides our feet.

Keith gasps in pain when we drop him into the grave. It’s only about five feet deep—I guess whoever was digging it didn’t do all that well in school. But his body is cast in shadow when he rolls onto his side and coughs.

“Hurry,” Cass says, a shovel already in his hands.

When the first spade of dirt hits Keith’s face, he scrambles up and tries to claw his way out of the grave.

Cass slams his shovel against the back of Keith’s head.

But not hard.

Just enough to send him toppling over. He lies there at the bottom, dazed, as we frantically pile more dirt over him.

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