Page 112 of Bad Demon

I wasn’t in the forest anymore.

I stumbled to my feet.

What the fuck?

I was at the coven house. I’d seen this room, I’d smelled it, and now, I was here.

There was a muffled sound from the shadows.

I spun around, snatched my phone from my pocket, and I turned on the light.

Phoebe.

Oh, fuck. She was strapped to a gurney, bloody welts all over her exposed skin.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

“Phoebe?” I whispered.

I didn’t know how I was here. I’d been thinking of this place, and now, here I was.

My powers, it had to be because if The Chemist had somehow done this, he would have been waiting. Oh gods, Relic would be frantic.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said, rushing to my friend. Hands shaking, I quickly undid the straps. “Can you talk?”

She shook her head and shuddered.

“Are all of you down here somewhere?”

She nodded.

He’d magically gagged them so they couldn’t use the wards here to toss him out.

“Is it just The Chemist and Grady?”

She nodded and shuddered again when a scream of pain echoed from somewhere else in the basement. A tear slid down Phoebe’s face.

Sutton.

That fucker was hurting her.

There was a storage cupboard on the other side of the room. I quickly helped Phoebe over to it. It was big and full of coats and a few sleeping bags.

“I need you to hide.”

She limped in.

“Help’s coming. They’ll be here soon. I need you to stay still and quiet, no matter what, okay?”

She nodded again and tucked herself into the back corner, wrapping her arms around herself. I covered her with coats and stacked several of the sleeping bags and camp equipment in front of her. As I shut the door, I hoped like hell she survived this. Whatever he’d infected her with was already taking hold.

Rushing to the door, I listened for movement beyond it. Power throbbed through me while I stood there, power that I had no idea what to do with. All I could hope for was that The Chemist felt it, that he sensed the strength flowing through me. Because it was so incredibly vast and wild, there was no way that monster wouldn’t feel it pouring from me on the waves of my hatred.

Sutton screamed again, her pain and horror so raw that tears sprang to my eyes.

Get it the fuck together.Your friend needs you.

Gritting my teeth, I yanked the door open and strode out into the hall. There was another one at the end, and I didn’t think—I couldn’t think, not when my friend was being tortured. If nothing else, if all else failed, The Chemist seeing me walk into that room would stop him hurting her. I just had to stop him from hurting her, and then Relic and his brothers would be here. I just had to buy some time.

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