Page 79 of Anathema Codex

"Fine." Rolling her eyes, she grabs her backpack from the floor and digs through it, slapping the handle of the knife onto my open palm a few seconds later. Just as I wrap my fingers around it, she takes out another one, but this blade is folded in until she swipes her thumb over the side and it swings out, clicking into place.

It's black, and although it's shorter than the one in my hand, I can tell it's very sharp—whereas the one I'm holding is more than a little well-used. The guy had it with his fishing gear, but I'm oddly comforted by the fact that Willa cleansed any lingering residue of fish off of it by stabbing it into the asshole thirty-something times. Somehow that tiny bit of knowledge makes it easier to swallow that Willa ended up gutted by the same knife. Daphne leans back against the seat and I realize I've been staring at her when she says, "See something you like?"

"No." I'm sure my face shows how disgusted I am by her bullshit attempt at flirting before I turn around and set Willa's knife on my thigh. The blade belongs with me. It's tied to both of us, and even though it looks clean… Willa's blood still touched it. This thin piece of metal took her life, and so, in a way, it's my last connection to her. More powerful than the hair tie around my wrist, and a hell of a lot more helpful.

"Think you can actually use that?" Lakyn asks, glancing over at me.

"Wouldn't be the first time, Pops."

He just laughs, low and quiet, and the way the lights from the dash cast his face in shadow makes him look creepy as fuck. "We'll see about that." Flicking his cigarette out the window, Lakyn takes the next exit. "I think we'll try out our party favor and then get some rest before we hit the road again to go find your auntie in the daylight."

Whatever.

It's hard to believe this town exists because it's surrounded by so much empty black. I can't see shit more than ten feet off the road, but in the distance the light pollution forms a bubble of gray haze around this random pitstop of civilization somewhere in Arizona. Unfortunately, Lakyn isn't headed toward the center of town, he's slowing down and I already know where he's headed.

There's an absolute shit hole of a motel ahead, with a dismal looking gas station a little beyond it, and he proves me right when he swings into the almost empty parking lot.

"Only the best for you, eh Pops?" I ask, and he sighs.

"Why don't you start crying over your dead girlfriend that you never had the balls to fuck while I go in and get us a room?" Lakyn's gaze barely brushes me before he leans into the back. "Keep the party favor quiet, Red. We don't want anyone spoiling our fun."

"Of course!" she answers, all chipper and batshit fucking crazy.

I hate them both so much, but I just tighten my grip on the handle of the knife, imagining what it will feel like to plunge it into her belly and watch the light leave her eyes.

"Right," Lakyn mutters, swinging his legs out of the SUV. He slams the door behind him, stretching his back out for a few seconds before he walks inside the dim motel office to talk to the sweaty-looking fuck behind the counter.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe," Daphne whispers, and I glance back to see her leaned over the seat talking to the priestess.

What. The. Fuck.

I'm tempted to tell the woman the truth—that she's definitely going to die, probably horribly—but Willa never got a real warning, so why should I help out the devil-worshiping wannabe? Nope. If she's dumb enough to believe that psycho, then she deserves whatever Daphne will do to her.

It's not like I've ever been a hero anyway.

I was always the villain in my mother's world, and I turned out to be the villain in Willa's too.

But what should I have expected? I'm the spawn of an abusive whore and a bastard named Lakyn Meyer and the only thing I have waiting for me in my future is violence and blood and death, and… honestly, that doesn't bother me as much as it probably should.

As long as two of the bodies on that path are Daphne and my father, then I'll walk into Hell with my head held high and I'll just have to hope that Willa will be there waiting for me when I finally arrive.

FOURTEEN

Only the Lonely

ICHABOD

I’ve cleaned the house twice now.

I’ve taken a nap.

I’ve made myself lunch, then dinner.

I went to check on the sludge that Willa became before I poured another half-gallon of acid into the tub.

And now, I’ve spent the past few hours laying on the couch in the living room staring at the ceiling.

The house always seems different when Lakyn isn’t in it, and while it usually bothers me, this time I know it’s for the best.

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