Page 21 of Infernal

A breath of silence passed between us as we both sat with the weight of everything and let the implications sink in.

“This is so messed up,” she said, her face ashen as she shook her head, causing her long blond locks to gently bounce back and forth.

“Welcome to my life,” I said bitterly as I pulled out my cell and dialed Tessa’s number again. “It’s like one big shit-bomb after another.” And I had no idea what to do about any of it, and now, I wasn’t even sure I had a place to stay. If Dominic was somehow messing with my mind, I couldn’t trust myself to be near him. Even if he was one of the only people I had left right now. “I think I need to get out of town. At least until I figure out what’s going on and who to trust.”

Voicemail.

Again.

“Goddamn her! Why does she even bother having a cell phone?!” I tried not to break out in sobs, but I could feel the pressure building at the back of my throat again.

“Come on, babe, don’t do that,” said Taylor, wiping a straggling tear from my cheek. “It’s going to be all right.”

I gave her a have-you-not-been-listening-to-a-word-of-this look, and she promptly shrank in her seat.

“Okay, so it’s pretty bad,” she said, deciding to just come out with it. “But you still have me, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m your sidekick, remember? You don’t have to go through this alone.”

“Yes, I do.” More tears fell as I looked up at her and caught the sincerity in her eyes. “I’m not putting you in any more danger, Tay. Not after what happened—”

Taylor slammed on the breaks as a sleek black car cut in front of us, forcing us to come to a dead stop behind it.

“Who the hell stops in the middle of the road like that?” she said and then started pounding her hand against the car horn. “Nice driving skills! Get out of the way, asshole!”

The driver’s side door popped open and I watched in a stupor as Dominic stepped out of the car and strode over to us, his black trench coat catching air at the ends as he moved.

My heart hopped up into my throat and pretty much stayed there.

“Shit! What do I do? What do I do?” cried Taylor, realizing it was him and not some random inept driver.

I lowered my head, defeated. There was nothing to do at this point. I couldn’t very well have her take us on a high-speed car chase and risk something bad happening to her. I knew Dominic, and he would not give up that easily. He’d chase me to the ends of the earth if he had to, and worst, he’d enjoy every minute of the hunt.

He walked over to the passenger side and yanked open the door, narrowing his eyes on me. “Kindly remove yourself from the vehicle.Now,” he said in that godforsaken will-stealing voice.

I swung my legs out and then stepped out of the car. “Son of a—”

“Don’t make me cut out your tongue, angel. I’m rather fond of it,” he said, inspecting my face. It looked like he was searching for signs of injury, but I couldn’t really be sure.

“Did you just hypnotize her again? You sick freak! I’m calling the cops,” cried Taylor as she pulled out her phone.

Dominic leaned in the car and yanked the phone from her hands. “You were never here. None of this happened. You drove around for a short time and now you’re going home. Goodbye.” He tossed the phone into her cupholder and slammed the door shut.

And just like that, Taylor put the car in drive and took off into the night…without me or her memories.

Well, there goes my ride out of town.

My stomach dropped as I realized I was alone with the man who may very well have been lying to me this entire time. I had no idea if he was stealing my memories or even conjuring up entire new realities for me. My whole time with him could have been a farce—some demented joke Dominic came up with in his twisted little mind. It’s not like he wasn’t capable of it. He just put the whammy on Taylor right in front of me.

“Get in the car, angel. Don’t make me tell you twice.” His usual babyface features were all shadows and edges now.

“Fine. Relax. Don’t have a cow.” I took a few steps towards the car and then spun on my heel to make a run for it. Before I could even taste freedom, he snatched my elbow and pulled me backwards.

My back slammed hard into his chest.

“Running from me, angel? Really?” he asked close to my ear as he secured his arms around my torso. “You know you can’t outrun a Revenant.”

“Probably not, but I could kick the shit out of one.” Ramming my elbow into his stomach, I broke out of his grip and spun before clocking him in the nose with the palm of my hand.

The sound of crunching bone was a strange kind of music to my ears.

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