Page 6 of Secrets in Salem: Part One

My eyes widen just before I blink. When they open again, however, the eyes are gone. I shake my head and turn to leave. I don't need hallucinations while I'm in the depths of Hollow Grove, or any time really.

Without looking back again, I race through the downpour and straight home where I can forget about this failure of a night.

Chapter 4

Standingin the shadowed part of the forest, we watch and listen.

The girl looks just as we thought she would. Long dark tresses fall in sheets down her back, a color that rivals the night sky. The palest gray coats her irises, only one other being that mirrors her own in existence. She's a slight thing, only standing at five foot four with a slender body outlined in a ridiculously tight dress. It does nothing to hide her toned legs encased in tights or the curve of her hips and ass when she walks. Fucking hell.

Luckily, she wears a black hat atop her head, hiding my brothers and me from view. Had it not been for the wide-brimmed hat, she would have seen the three of us standing in the woods already. She definitely would have seen my brother pacing back and forth like a wild animal with an attitude that is doing nothing for my anxiety.

"She's too oblivious. We aren't hiding well enough not to be seen, even if it is just a precaution," my brother gripes as he passes in front of me once more, obstructing my view for the millionth time. Steam comes off him in waves, his beast too close to the surface as he crosses his arms over his chest and turns his head to scowl at the beauty in the woods.

"We aren't supposed to be seen, idiot. She isn't supposed to know about us yet, so it’s a good thing she’s oblivious at the moment. Get your head out of your ass already," I snap, shoving my brother aside to watch the girl as she pulls out the ridiculous spirit board with her candles and photograph. With deliberate movements, she walks to an empty section between the fountain and bench, setting everything up for whatever she hopes to conduct.

Sadly for her, we know things aren't going to pan out like she hopes.

My younger brother stands stock still to the right of me, silent as ever. His hands are tucked in his pockets as he watches the scene unfold with intense blue eyes, brighter than any human’s. His beast is hovering too close to the surface too. Shit. He carefully watches every single move the girl makes, intent gaze following her like he can’t take his eyes off her. Observing is his thing. It's what he's good at. He’s selectively mute, meaning he never talks, but he's a pro at catching the little things. I don’t think I like him observing so closely when his beast is near.

I hear a huff then my brother’s reply. "I don't have my head up my ass. This entire thing is fucking ridiculous. We're not babysitters."

"No, we're not. We're here to watch over this girl until further notice byhisorders. We were told she's not going to be able to protect herself, so it's our duty to protect her instead. If you don't like it, feel free to take it up with him," I reply blandly, shaking my head at the girl when she says something about wasting her time.

My words have the desired effect, promptly shutting my brother up. With the three of us silent, we sit at the side lines spectating the events that will lead to his arrival. It doesn't take long for him to make himself known, creating a theatrical display I don’t much care for. Burning the board really was overdramatic, but it’s what he’s good at.

All three of us watch the entire scene unfold with rapt attention, but the moment the flames begin to engulf the girl, my whole body tenses and I feel the stirrings of my beast from deep within my chest. My younger brother looks down, jaw clenched, unable to watch the girl suffer. She screams out as the fire coats her flesh, pained sobs slipping past her full lips.

It's when the invisible hand that belongs to him pushes through her chest that I have to look away too. I'm not opposed to gore and blood, having spilled and created enough of it in my time. When it's coming from an innocent being who's done nothing to deserve it, however, my stomach revolts, and I find myself unable to witness her in so much pain.

She finally falls into a delirious state, lying still on the floor with strained breaths, so we all move closer.

"That was fucking grim," my brother comments harshly just as we stop four feet away from the girl, keeping enough space between us and the flames that still lick her skin. We won’t burn, but these are the only clothes we have until we’re better settled here. Best not to torch them before gathering more.

"It was necessary,” I admit quietly, though I hate how bitter the words taste on my tongue. “She had to be reborn, and the only one to do it is him."

My brother scoffs. "Did he have to drag it out like that, though? Fucking hell. I have more mercy on those that betray us than he did with an innocent girl."

I turn my eyes on him. "You remember who you're talking about, right?"

He rolls his eyes but snaps his mouth shut just as fast as he did before. My youngest brother keeps his silence, eyes boring into the burned and bleeding girl before us with a frown. He's always had more empathy for the innocent despite our line of work.

Before I can explain to my soft-hearted brother, he reveals himself.

I suppress a shudder, just like I’m forced to every time I see him. His horns curve to a pointed tip around his head, curling into his disheveled hair the same shade as the girl’s. His skin is ashen, a sickly pale color that almost glows beneath the moonlight. It’s the eyes that are the cause of my shudder, however. A gray as light as the girl's that fades into black, and his pupils are shaped like a cat's. His sockets are blackened, no white of his eyeball visible at all. It's fucking creepy to look at, but I keep my reaction in check as always. It will do no good to offend him.

"Sir," my brother and I mutter quietly, quickly averting our eyes. I know my younger brother is already looking down without having to glance over at him, so my eyes stray to the girl on the ground instead, my beast pacing frantically inside me now that he’s arrived.

Her body looks broken, clothes burned from her body to reveal grim blisters, charred skin, and burns so severe they make my stomach clench. A pang of sadness and grief pierces my chest, and a sense of incomprehensible familiarity races through my veins the longer I look at the girl. With a frown, I lock it down and don't breathe a word, keeping still and waiting for instructions, just like I’m supposed to, even as confusion tears through me. Why does she seem so familiar to me? And why is my beast pacing harder now?

Boss doesn’t look up, his focus on the girl. He rolls her over onto her ruined back, the girl making a face that shows discomfort instead of pain. She doesn't make a sound, not even a cry of agony when the cold stone meets her flesh. He cups her cheek, a move that looks wholly unnatural for him to make, and it confirms my suspicions.

The girl tries to speak, but her voice catches and she coughs, her breath escaping from her lungs with a nasty wheeze. When she tries again, her voice is no more than a rasp. "What are you?"

My eyes snap up, and I watch him closely. I almost miss it when he says, "The Devil."

My brother gasps to my left while my younger brother's hand grasps my wrist. I turn my head to face him, his wide eyes already watching me. I shake my head, telling him in my own way not to worry, but he doesn't relax his hold. In fact, it feels like he tightens it instead, his concern palpable.

"You can all relax. She won't remember a thing when she wakes up," the Devil admits, his eyes solely placed on the girl.

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