Текст книги "The Monster Within"

Автор книги: Kelly Hashway

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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

NO. That couldn’t be true. Ethan was confused. He’d just come back to life, and he was confused. When I came back everything seemed different, off. That was all this was, Ethan not being able to make sense of things.

But Nora knew him. How would she know him if she wasn’t the one who’d helped him bring me back?

Ethan sat up on the counter, and I backed up next to him, facing Nora.

“You dyed your hair,” Ethan said. “Was that so I wouldn’t recognize you?”

“Is it true?” My voice cracked. “Did you bring me back?”

“Oh, Sam. It was too easy to trick you. To make you believe Dylan and the rest of the coven were the bad guys, the ones who were trying to kill you.” She stepped closer, and Ethan slid off the counter, so he was blocking me.

“Don’t come near her,” he said, sounding more alert.

“Always trying to save her, aren’t you, Ethan? You were so desperate when I met you. All serious and heartbroken.”

I glanced at Shannon, still imprisoned in the corner. She shook her head at me, and even though she couldn’t talk, I knew what she was thinking. I was an idiot. I’d been played by Nora. For once, I agreed with Shannon.

“Why did you do it?” I asked. “Why did you lie? You could’ve told me you were the one who brought me back.”

“Told you I was the one who used black magic? I was the one the coven threw out? You wouldn’t have trusted me.”

She was right. I would’ve been afraid of her at the very least. “What else did you lie about?”

“See, that’s the beauty of it. I barely had to lie. You already know most of the story. Just substitute my name for Dylan’s—and in a few places Shannon’s—and you’ve got it.” She smiled, obviously proud of herself.

“She poisoned you against us, Sam,” Dylan said. He was on his feet now and looking a little better, but he was still trapped by the salt. “She told you we were trying to kill you, but we never were. We didn’t like that you were alive and killing people. That much was true, but we never tried to kill you. The fact that you came back like this is her fault.”

“How?” I stared at Nora, my supposed friend. I wanted to hear it from her.

“Dying for love—it’s romantic, don’t you think?” Nora smirked as she circled around Ethan and me.

“I didn’t die for love. I died of cancer.”

“You did. Yes.” Nora stepped in front of Ethan. “But he didn’t.”

That’s right. Ethan had exchanged his life for mine.

“Did you know that by helping her bring me back, I was stealing life away from you?” I asked him.

Ethan turned away. He’d known. He’d willingly given his life for mine.

Tears spilled down my cheeks, and my body shook with anger. “How could you do that to me? After everything I’ve been through. You were the only good thing in my life. The one thing I clung to while I was fighting to stay alive just one more day! I loved you! How could you bring me back, knowing it would kill you? Knowing you’d leave me here alone?” I pounded his chest with my fists. I’d never been this angry with him, but this was unforgiveable. No wonder he’d refused to tell me the truth. He knew part of me would hate him for this, for making me watch him die.

“Sam.” He choked back tears and wrapped his arms around me. “I would’ve died on the spot to bring you back. You’re everything to me. You didn’t deserve to die so young.”

I pulled away from him, feeling the bile in my stomach rising. “I’m nothing without you, Ethan. You know that.”

“I can’t apologize for what I did. Your life means more to me than my own. I’d do it all over again if I had to.”

Nora clapped, like she was enjoying the show. “Do you want to know my favorite part?” Nora asked with a huge smile.

This was going to be bad in an earth-shattering sort of way. I was sure of it.

“You never would’ve had a taste for human life if I hadn’t given you some of your boyfriend’s.”

Ethan whirled around to face Nora. “That’s why you needed my blood? You said it was to transfer my life force to Sam.”

Nora laughed. “The spell did that on its own. I needed Sam to do a favor for me. In exchange for giving her back her life.”

“A favor?” Of course. “The coven. You wanted revenge on them for kicking you out. So what? You made me into this zombie, witch-killing monster just so you could get back at them for shunning you?”

“They did more than shun me. They took away a power I wasn’t willing to live without. Sure, I’m powerful on my own. But as a coven, we had the ability to do much bigger spells. Ones that would’ve made us invincible.” She walked over to Shannon and grabbed her face, squeezing it in her hand. “But these goody-goodies wouldn’t hear of messing with black magic like that.” She let go of Shannon’s face. “I almost had this one convinced. I even showed her that spell to make every student at that pathetic school bend to her will. But she was mad about some teacher not paying enough attention to her, so she refused to go along with my plan to convince the others.”

Mr. Ryan. He’d stopped Shannon from turning into what Nora had become. He’d saved her by not giving in to all her obvious come-ons. He really was a good teacher.

Nora brought her hand back and slapped Shannon across the face. A big red handprint smeared the blood on her cheek. Nora had slapped the gash she’d cut into Shannon’s face earlier.

“Wait!” I yelled. “You dripped Shannon’s blood into Ethan’s mouth during that spell.”

“She did what?” Ethan spit several times as if that would erase the problem.

“You said that would make sure it was Shannon’s life Ethan drained by being here, but that blood is what’s going to make him feed off others, isn’t it?”

“Very good, Sam.” Nora looked at Ethan. “Oh, and another thing I forgot to mention when you asked me to save your girlfriend—I don’t know how I neglected to tell you earlier—is that she’d see glimpses of the lives she stole. Not only is she killing to stay alive, but she’s being tortured by visions of what their lives would’ve been if she hadn’t fed on them.”

“You sadistic witch.” Ethan lunged at her, but she held her hand up and mumbled something. He slammed into an invisible wall and fell to the floor.

“Ethan!” I bent down to him, making sure he was okay. As angry as I was at him, I still loved him.

“And those visions Sam had,” Nora leaned forward so only the magical barrier separated them, “they were of your future, too. She saw you marry another woman. Guess I was wrong about you falling to pieces after she died. Turns out you would’ve moved on just fine.”

Ethan sprang to his feet and lunged again, but the same thing happened.

“He’s not the brightest one, Sam. Are you sure he was worth all this trouble?”

“Shut up,” I said through clenched teeth. I had to figure out how to get Ethan and me out of here. How to temporarily knock Nora out so we could run for it. But I needed time to think, to form a plan. I had to keep her talking.

Nora laughed. “That’s not what you really want, is it?” There was that almost mind-reading thing she did. “You want to hear all about how I deceived you, don’t you? It was easy, even with that one over there trying to protect you from me.”

“Dylan tried to protect me?” My eyes shot to him.

“The witch box with your ring in it, the necklace, the circle of rocks around your house—those were all me. Every single one of them was supposed to protect you from Nora. To stop her spell from working.”

“You said the necklace was from you,” I said to Nora.

She shrugged. “What can I say?”

“I didn’t have any attacks when I was wearing it, and you couldn’t allow that,” I said, piecing the puzzle together. “You needed me to start dying so you could get me to kill your coven. You stole the necklace from my bathroom that night. You used magic to force a human to break the circle of rocks, so it would look like Dylan broke into the cottage tonight.”

“Yes, yes, and yes. It was the perfect plan. All I needed was a simple spell to make you trust me, which was easy enough after I stole your necklace; it was the personal possession I needed, and thanks to Dylan being a total spaz and not knowing how to talk to you like a normal human being, it was easy to pin everything on him.”

“So you did this to me all so you could kill a few witches who wouldn’t go along with your evil plan? What would happen to me after I killed your coven? What then? Were you going to fix me? Make me human again?”

“I wouldn’t have any further use for you.”

My heart pounded. “You were going to kill me.” That’s why all my future visions of Ethan didn’t include me. I wasn’t alive anymore.

“Don’t make it out to be such a big deal. You were already dead. You shouldn’t be here, and if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be.” She stepped closer, lowering the magical barrier she’d created to stop Ethan. “You are nothing more than a pawn in my game. And when I win, I’ll dispose of you. Let you finally rest in peace.”

Ethan made a move for her, but I grabbed his arms to stop him. She was a witch. He couldn’t take her. We were the two weakest people in the diner. Once again I wished I could tap into Ben’s power that was still lingering inside me. I didn’t know how much longer I’d have it. An attack could come on at any time.

Nora laughed and took a seat. “Sam, be a dear and make me some coffee.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Not at all. If I have to sit around waiting for you two to get all peckish and need to feed, I’m going to need some coffee.”

Waiting on her was the last thing I wanted to be doing, but I still hadn’t come up with a plan. I started for the coffee pot, but Ethan grabbed my arm, holding me back.

“You don’t have to listen to her,” he said.

“Oh no?” Nora snapped her fingers. “Sit down, Ethan.” His face contorted in pain as he was forced onto the stool next to him. “Good boy,” Nora said.

I couldn’t watch her make a puppet out of Ethan, so I shot him a pleading look. He shook his head in protest, but he didn’t try to get up or make any comments, so I considered it a win. I went to the coffee maker and brewed a fresh pot.

As I waited for the coffee to finish brewing, I glanced down at the salt line on the kitchen floor. If I could break the line, Dylan could get free. He’d be able to attack Nora. Then Ethan and I could run away. But Nora always seemed to know what I was thinking. If she read my mind before I broke the salt line, I’d be finished. She’d bind me in magic just like she had done to Shannon, then wait for me to have an attack. Shannon and Dylan would end up dead, and Ethan and I would be next.

I needed a distraction. Something to draw Nora’s attention so I could get to the kitchen.

“How did you pull all this off?” I asked. “You were here at the diner every day. If Ethan could recognize you, why would you chance coming here?”

“Easy. I made sure Ethan never saw me.”

“What do you mean? Did you put a spell on him so he couldn’t see you? Like you did that day when you came to talk to me and the place was packed? You made it so no one knew we were there.”

“Something like that. I made sure he couldn’t leave the kitchen. As long as I didn’t go into the kitchen, I was fine. We’d never meet. And thanks to my new hair color, he wouldn’t recognize me from afar or from any description you gave him.”

Beth had been right. “That day I went to get Ethan to introduce you guys, you went to the bathroom and did some sort of spell. Beth heard you.”

“Beth?” She cocked her head to the side.

“That girl you didn’t like. The one who asked all the questions. She saw right through you. She followed you to the bathroom and heard you doing a spell. You made sure Ethan was too busy to come out into the dining room.”

“Ugh, nosy girl. Now I have one more person I have to get rid of.” She sighed. “Well, Sam, the good news is that you’ll get to stick around a little longer. I think I’ll let you have the honor of killing Beth.”

I wished I had Beth around right now. She’d be a good distraction. She’d annoy Nora so I could free Dylan. Of course I wasn’t sure Dylan would even help me. I’d killed his brother. I had to hope his will to live would override that fact right now.

I checked on the coffee, noticing a pad and pen next to it. I casually reached for a cup, dragging the pad and pen toward me in the process. I scribbled a note to Dylan. Will you help me get rid of Nora? I coughed to cover up the sound of tearing the paper from the pad. I poured the coffee and slipped the note through the window to the kitchen.

I brought Nora her coffee, and she motioned to the stools at the counter. “You can have a seat, too. I’ll let you know when I need a refill. If you haven’t fed by then.”

I walked around the counter and sat down next to Ethan. I glanced into the kitchen. Dylan was standing there, scribbling on the paper. He made sure Nora wasn’t watching, and he slipped it back into the window.

“Nora,” I said, “can I get some coffee for myself?”

She shrugged. “Why not? The caffeine might speed up your decaying process and make you need to feed. Pour a cup for Ethan, too.”

I got up and went to the counter. I took a cup and grabbed the note at the same time.

I’ll help, but I haven’t forgotten about Ben.

I scribbled back, Neither have I. I’m sorry.

I put the note in the window and poured Ethan’s coffee. I brought it to him and went back for my own. The note was back in the window.

I blame her more than you.

I wrote one last note. Get ready. I’m going to break the salt line. I stuck it in the window and got my own coffee.

This was it. I had to walk around the counter to get back to my stool. I could reach my foot out and drag it across the salt line. All I had to do was break it. Then Dylan could attack Nora. I met Ethan’s gaze, and he wrinkled his brow. I looked quickly toward the kitchen and then at Nora. Ethan looked confused for a minute, but then he raised his coffee to his lips and mouthed, “Got it.”

I walked around the counter, taking the turn wide. I stuck my foot out and brushed the line. The salt spread, but it was still blocking Dylan’s path. I didn’t know what else to do, so I let go of the cup, tipping the coffee onto the salt. I pretended to slip.

“I’m okay.” I caught the edge of the counter and stood back up.

“Just sit down,” Nora said. “Unless you’re feeling weak.” Her voice perked up. “Could it be nearing feeding time? You tend to get weak and wobbly before an attack comes on.”

“Yeah, I’m not feeling a hundred percent right now,” I played along.

Nora put down her coffee and clapped her hands. “Oh, good. Time to get to the fun part of the evening.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Dylan said, stepping out of the kitchen.

CHAPTER THIRTY

DYLAN thrust his arms forward, and a burst of energy knocked Nora backward. She landed next to Shannon. If only Shannon wasn’t still trapped in her own magical prison. I grabbed Ethan and pulled him toward the door. I had to get us out of there. This wasn’t our fight. This had started long before Nora did the spell to bring me back, and I knew it was going to end with a lot of dead witches.

Ethan and I moved around the counter slowly, trying not to draw attention to ourselves. We were still two powerless humans in a diner full of witches. Nora attacked Dylan with a jolt of energy that sent green sparks through the room. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said she was channeling all the electricity in the place and trying to fry Dylan. He dodged to the side, ducking behind the counter.

Nora turned toward Ethan and me. “Stick around!” She raised her hands toward us, and I knocked Ethan onto the floor before she could hit us with her spell.

I was on top of Ethan, and he stared up at me with a pained expression. “Did she hit me?”

I moved off him and checked his chest and limbs for injuries. He was fine. Not a scratch on him, except for the gash on his head from colliding with the bathroom sink when he’d died. “Is it your head?” I asked.

He reached for his chest. “My lungs.”

No, not already! His body was giving out on him. He was going to need to feed soon. The urge usually took hold of me pretty quickly. At least it did before I’d started feeding on witches. Now the magic sustained me longer. If only I could give Ethan some of Ben’s magic lingering inside me.

“Stay calm. It’s an effect of the spell Nora did to bring you back.” Glass shattered and sprayed down on top of us. I shrieked and covered my head. Ethan leaned over me, shielding me with his body. I could feel his skin turning cold again.

Dylan and Nora were throwing spells back and forth at each other, destroying the diner in the process. Ethan and I separated, and I peeked around the counter. If only I could free Shannon. Then she and Dylan could overpower Nora. It was our only chance. With the way things were going, I’d never get Ethan out of here before his symptoms turned into a full-blown attack.

“Stay here,” I told him. “I’m going to try to free Shannon.”

“How? You’re not a witch. You can’t break her free from the magic holding her.” Ethan was catching up quickly, and he was handling it well. I hoped he’d still be so open-minded when I told him he’d have to kill to stay alive.

“I don’t know, but I have to try. We can’t sit here and let them battle it out.”

“Why not? Dylan’s holding his own. We could make a run for it the next time he knocks her down.” He stared at me, pleading with his eyes. “I don’t want to lose you. If Nora catches you, or if you get in the way of one of the spells…”

I had to tell him. “Ethan, we can’t leave. Something is going to happen. To you. The tightness you’re feeling in your chest…” A rumble as loud as thunder shook the diner. I didn’t know who had cast the spell, but it made everything shake like we were in an earthquake. There wasn’t time to explain all this to Ethan. I had to move. “Trust me.”

He nodded. The last time he didn’t trust me had been right before he died. I knew he didn’t want to make the same mistake again. He reached for me, kissing me hard on the lips. “I love you.”

It was like he was saying goodbye. The thought rattled my insides. Made me so angry and desperate to save us. “I love you, too.” I kissed him again quickly, and then darted under the booth in the back corner.

Nora had Dylan raised about six feet off the ground. She held her hand in the air, looking like she was squeezing something in her fist. Dylan choked. I wasn’t sure if he could do any spells. She was strangling him. I couldn’t let this happen. I owed him that much. I dove out from my hiding place and charged at Nora. She turned her head slightly, sensing my attack. And before I knew what was happening, Dylan was soaring through the air right at me. He slammed into me, and we toppled to the floor.

“Sam!” Ethan yelled.

“Ethan, stay back!” My entire body hurt, like I’d been run over by a Mack truck.

Ethan was on his feet, but Nora didn’t pay attention to him at all. He wasn’t a threat as far as she was concerned.

Dylan shifted into a sitting position. He held his hand up and created a shield to block us from Nora’s attacks. She pounded spell after spell against Dylan’s protective shield.

Nora laughed. “You can’t keep that shield up forever.” She was right, and Ethan was helpless out there on his own.

“Use the magic inside you,” Dylan whispered to me.

What was he talking about? “I don’t have any magic left in me. It goes away after a while. I can’t feel it tingling under my skin anymore.”

Dylan shook his head. “The power never left you. It settled inside you. We don’t get that tingling feeling unless we are tapping into the power, actively using it. But it’s still there. All of it.”

“Nora said I wouldn’t be able to do spells.” Not that I knew any.

“More lies. You can help me fight her. Channel your energy into that magic. Channel Ben’s magic.”

My heart clenched at the sound of Ben’s name. Dylan was helping me, even after I’d killed his brother.

“Ben would want you to take Nora out. He’s dead because of her.”

“He died because of me.”

“I’m not saying I don’t blame you at all, but Nora used you. It’s her fault you came back this way.”

How had I been so wrong about all of this? No, I knew the answer to that. Nora had used a spell on me to make me believe her. I had to do what I could to fix it. “Tell me how to use the magic. I want to free Shannon, give us the upper hand.”

“Focus on the magic until you feel it tingling under your skin. Then think about what you want to do. Don’t let any other thoughts into your head or it won’t work. I’ll take care of Nora.”

“What if I can’t do it?”

“Then get Ethan and get out of here.”

He was going to save me. After all I’d done.

“Ready?”

Not at all. I nodded. My hands shook, and Dylan ran his fingers on top of my forearm. His touch tingled, and I could see the faint glow of magic inside me.

“See, it’s still there. Use it.”

I nodded more confidently this time.

“Now!” Dylan threw the shield forward at Nora, and she fell backward. I rushed to Shannon. I didn’t have a clue how to break the ring of magic containing her. I reached for it, but Shannon shook her head. I remembered she couldn’t talk, so I raised my hand to her mouth and concentrated on breaking the silence spell Nora had cast on her. My hand shook, and I felt the magic tingling through me.

Shannon opened her mouth and inhaled deeply. “Don’t touch the magic holding me. It will pull you in here with me, and we’ll both be trapped.”

“How do I break it?” I stared at the swirling prison.

“Get the salt and pour it on the magic. It will break the spell.”

“What if it touches you?”

“It will burn me, but I’ll live. Remember, you can’t touch it either. You’ve got magic inside you now.”

Ethan was at my side with the salt in his hands. “I can’t sit on the sidelines and watch, Sam. I—” He stumbled forward, and his eyes widened.

Crap. It was happening.

Shannon looked at him with fear in her eyes. Ethan could feed off her. It would save him. No. We’d be down a witch, and we needed her to fight Nora. I grabbed the salt and eased Ethan into a booth.

“Hang on, okay?” I told him, knowing it didn’t work that way. He had no control over how fast the life drained from him.

I took the salt and poured it on the magic ring around Shannon. She cringed as some of it touched her skin, but the magic disintegrated and she was free.

Nora and Dylan were killing each other. They were both cut up. Their clothes were torn, and their noses were bleeding. They were using all their energy to fight.

“Time to finish this,” Shannon said, advancing on Nora. She thrust her arms out, and Nora flew backward, slamming into the coffee maker and falling to the floor. The hot coffee poured down on top of her. I could see her skin bubbling from the scalding hot liquid. Shannon said another spell, and Nora was pinned to the ground by magic.

It was over.

I breathed deeply, thankful that Nora was contained. We’d have to figure out what to do with her, but for right now, she wasn’t a threat anymore. Shannon and Dylan stared at each other and then looked at Nora. They nodded in silent agreement.

“What?” I asked.

They both turned to me. For the first time, Shannon wasn’t looking at me with hatred in her eyes. We were on the same side, at least for now.

“We have to kill her,” Dylan said. “She’s too far gone. Consumed by black magic.”

Deep down, I knew that was what he’d say, but it still hit me hard.

Dylan walked over to me. “She was never your friend. I know it’s hard, but if she doesn’t die, she’ll come after all of us. She won’t leave you or Ethan alone. And if you don’t do what she says, she’ll kill you both.”

Ethan. Oh, God, he was dying. I spun around. He was slumped back in the booth. I ran to him. “Ethan?”

He coughed and grabbed his chest.

“He’s dying.”

Dylan turned toward Nora again. I rushed to her. She’d put the spell on Ethan. She could remove it.

“Tell me how to break the spell,” I said, standing over her.

She laughed. “Sorry, Sam. It doesn’t work that way. I can’t lift the spell. He needs to feed or he’ll die. You should’ve listened to me. I could’ve helped you.”

“You weren’t trying to help me. You were trying to kill Dylan and Shannon.”

“What do you care? Shannon hates you. You should’ve let Ethan kill her. You still could. And if you think Dylan will forgive you for killing Ben, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought. He’s using you to get rid of me.”

I turned to Shannon, hating that I was actually debating it, but it was Ethan. I’d done this to him. I’d told Nora to bring him back. She wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t asked.

Shannon shook her head. I saw a glimpse of a silver necklace tucked under her shirt. I stepped toward her.

“What are you doing?” She backed away.

“You have my necklace. You were the one who broke into my house and stole it?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Then how do you have it?” I was yelling now, totally panicked.

“I took it from Nora. I had to ransack her house to find it.”

So Ben hadn’t come after Nora. He hadn’t tried to kill her. Shannon was the one who’d wrecked Nora’s house.

“I was going to give it back to you, but she trapped me before I could.”

“You expect me to believe you were going to help me?”

“Just because I didn’t like you doesn’t mean I wanted you dead. And I certainly didn’t want you to continue helping Nora kill witches. Rebecca and Ben were my friends.”

I held out my hand. “Give it to me.”

She removed the necklace and placed it in my hand.

I wrapped my fingers around it. “How are you even able to wear it?”

“The spell I put on it protects you from harmful magic, nothing else,” Dylan said. “It’s not harmful to witches. That’s why Nora was able to steal it.”

“Shoddy spellwork, Dylan,” Nora said with a laugh. “Your magic is nothing compared to mine. I was even able to keep Sam from rising for four days after I did the spell to bring her back.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

“We couldn’t have you waking up in the middle of your own funeral, now could we?” She laughed, clearly amused with herself. “I even cast a spell on the mortician so he wouldn’t touch your body after I gave you Ethan’s blood.”

I looked at the necklace. If it protected the wearer from harmful magic, it could help Ethan. I rushed over to him, placing the necklace in his hand. “Hold this. It will help.” He was so weak he couldn’t even hold the necklace. I had to close his fingers around it.

“That necklace was made to protect you,” Dylan said, coming up behind me. “It won’t help him.”

No. That couldn’t be true, but Ethan sputtered and coughed again. His fingers were like ice in my hand. I turned to Dylan. “What am I supposed to do? I won’t let him die!”

“The only way to break the curse she put on you two is to kill her. She did this. Only she can undo it.”

I couldn’t believe he was suggesting Ethan kill Nora, but doing that was the only way to make up for killing Ben. I saw that now.

Ethan choked, and the life in his eyes started slipping away.

“You’re running out of time.” Dylan grabbed my arm. “You don’t have a choice. This kind of curse will die with her. As long as she’s alive, you’re going to be a monster—witchy powers or not. And Ethan’s going to die. This time for good.”

He was right. If the choice was between Nora and Ethan, I had to choose Ethan. And killing her would mean freeing both of us for good.

“Okay,” I said. “Bring her here.”