Page 32 of Haunted Heart
Cursing under his breath, Jonas does his best to manage him and I just lead the way.
Julia waits for us, the door to the bedroom open again.
When we reach the bedroom, Jonas turns to the portal to the human world as if it tugs at him the same way that his entrance to Hell did.
He loosens his grip, and Dylan turns.
Dylan spits, and Jonas shoves him, snatching his hand back before Dylan tries to bite him.
“Jesus Christ. What the Hell is wrong with him?”
I get behind Dylan and push. He vanishes as soon as his hand touches the portal in the frame, back to the living world.
I shiver, leaning back into Julia, whose hands have gone to my shoulders, stroking my skin. “I think we just saw the real Dylan. He spent the last year lying to me. I guess coming to Hell made lying impossible.”
I push Jonas through and he, too, disappears, but I don’t let Julia send me through first.
“We go together.” I am not about to let something happen to trap her here.
She nods, and we help each other over and through.
The floor feels more solid, and I shiver once we’re finally through.
Before I do anything else, I touch the outside of the frame, letting it burn me. “Fracta.”
The wood splinters where my fingers touched it, the entrance to Hell vanishing as easily as the guys did.
Behind where it was, the paneling of the wall is charred and crackled.
“You still need to deal with him,” she says.
“I know.”
And I hate that it came to this.
Hurrying down the stairs, I try to think of what I’m going to say.
Now that he’s out of Hell, Dylan has to be better, right?
I catch sight of him as he stalks out the door. I’ll go after him in a minute. I need to check on Jonas first.
He’s already upright, blinking and weaving on his feet. “Is this the real world?”
“Yeah, we’re back.” I hold his shoulder to steady him. “Are you okay?”
“He’s soul weary,” Julia says. “It’s done a lot today.”
Jonas doesn’t seem to hear her anymore.
He nods “I think so?”
“Are you going to be okay while I go deal with Dylan?”
He looks toward the doors, grimacing. “Are you sure you want to do that alone?”
“No. I don’t want to do it at all, but… I have to.”
“You could give him a day or two to cool off.”
