Page 64 of Twisted
Vivian’s eyes widen and I can sense her fear.She’s entirely cooked if this gets out.The Order needed to keep this whole thing under wraps.While most of the members blindly follow whatever they’re told to do, knowing the Order was behind injecting members with the blood of a witch isn’t going to go over well.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you,” Mabel says, appearing at my side.She doesn’t mean it, I don’t think at least, but she’s here, being that ride or die friend I’ve always wanted.
“I-I can tell you where your parents are,” Vivian blurts out and I inhale sharply.Xavier told me they were dead, but I didn’t believe him.
“You’re lying,” I reply, breath hitching in my chest.
“No,” she insists.“Blackwood.That was your last name.Florence Blackwood.That’s who you are.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I’m sorry, Wren.”
I shake my head.“No, you’re not.”With tears in my eyes, I raise my hand to cast the sleep spell on her.Vivian is faster, and whips a throwing knife at me.
But Mabel is the fastest of us all, and she catches it right before it hits me in the shoulder.
“That wasn’t nice,” she says, gripping the blade with her hand.It cuts through her skin and blood drips onto the ground.Someone inside the room with the demons screams, and I spring forward, casting the sleep spell on Vivian, too.I don’t catch her, but step back and let her heavily slump to the floor.
“I’m so sorry,” Mabel says, tossing the knife onto the ground next to Vivian.Her hand heals immediately.
“It’s fine,” I rush out, bending down to get the knife from Marco.
“It’s not,” Mabel says as I start down the hall.“No one who said they loved you would treat you that way.But I know this isn’t the time to talk about it.”
I turn, meeting her eyes for a second and nod.She can be so odd and out of touch that it takes me off guard when she’s incredibly understanding.We throw open the door and burst into the room.It’s dimly lit, with a table in the far corner and a couch in the other.Two guys are huddled together at the table and one is unconscious on the floor, pants around his ankles.
“You certainly work fast,” I say, and the succubus crouches over the man on the ground whirls around, mouth open as she screams, looking far from the pretty young woman she was pretending to be only moments ago.Her jaw opens unnaturally wide, revealing dozens of sharp teeth.She makes a move to lunge at me and I throw a ball of energy, hitting her square in the chest.
“It’s go time,” I tell Mabel.“Get the guys out of here!”
She nods and zooms forward, picking up the guy on the floor.His pants fall to the ground as she swings him up onto her shoulder and I run forward, using another blast of energy to knock the other two demons to the ground, giving Mabel time to zoom to the table.
The succubus on the ground recovers and charges at me.Gripping the knife, I look at the others and lean back, kicking the one coming at me in the chest.Using a combination of magic and hand-to-hand combat, I get her pushed up against a wall.
“Please have brought the right weapon,” I mumble to myself as I stab the blade into the demon’s chest.Her hands land on my shoulders and she pushes against me, trying to keep the blade from piercing her heart.Letting out a harrowing scream that reverberates through the entire room, her arms fall to the side and I shove the knife in, cracking her sternum.
Her body tenses and then starts to shake, and thick, black blood drips from her eyes right before she collapses, pulling the knife along with her.I bend down, having to use brute force to pull the serrated edge blade from her bone.
The door opens and closes again and Mable rushes to the other demons.She’s holding a silver-tipped wooden stake, one that I recognize as belonging to Marco.
“Look what I found!Will this kill them?”she asks cheerfully.
The blade comes free, splattering blood on my face.“Don’t look at them in the—” It’s too late.“Eye,” I finish and straighten up, using my arm to wipe blood from my eyes.One of the succubus has Mabel’s hand in hers, smiling as she looks into Mabel’s eyes.
“Hi, best friend,” she says, voice echoing through the room.
“You’re just like a sister,” the other coos, telling Mabel what her heart wants to hear.
“Don’t listen to them!”I shout, pulse bounding.Shit.What do I do?If they’ve got Mabel under their spell they can get her to do anything.
“That’s a pretty thing you’re holding,” the first one goes on.“You should stab it into your heart.”
Mabel’s eyes narrow ever so slightly.“Why would I do that?”
“It would make us happy,” both demons say at the same time.“Don’t you want your friends to be happy?”
This is what succubus demons do.It’s not just about sex, though sexual energy is the most potent.They pull on your heart's desires, and since there is no one in here to make Mabel physically pine over—which could be a little insulting.I mean, I look pretty good, but that’s so not the point right now—they are instead pulling on her other desires, which is to have a best friend.
