Page 5 of Endless Terrors
Finn was already in the backseat. Gil opened the driver’s door and said something I couldn’t hear.
Better get out of here before they kill each other, I thought. I started across the lot without letting myself look back, noting the stillness as I went. The boys, the music, and the smoking woman were absent or silent now. Coincidence? Or had one of my companions scared them off to ensure our little conflict didn’t have an audience?
“Where are you going?”
This time, I didn’t react to the sound of Collith’s voice. I kept walking, my attention fixed on the Taurus. “Somewhere even you can’t find me.”
“Guess some things never change,” Collith remarked.
I stopped, my hands closing into fists. Gil raised his eyebrows at me through the window. Finn was watching, too. I knew they’d be out of that car in an instant if they sensed any danger. Rearranging my features into a calmer expression, I held up a finger and mouthed, One minute. Finn immediately turned away and Gil gave me a jaunty salute before he put his boots on the dashboard. I saw Finn say something to him, and the vampire responded with an obscene gesture that made Finn’s nostrils flare.
Just as the werewolf’s face began to lengthen, I spun to Collith and demanded, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means this is what you do,” he said, shrugging. “It’s your go-to whenever things get hard or uncertain. You run.”
“If I throw a stick, will you leave?”
“Giving up your life for someone?” he continued, as if I hadn’t spoken. “No problem. But tell that person you love them, or need them? You’d probably cut out your own tongue first.”
I scoffed and made a dismissive gesture, turning back to the car. “I don’t have time for this, Collith. Please, just trust me when I tell you that I left for everyone else’s sake, not mine.”
Collith materialized in front of me, and I stopped short, letting out an involuntary, startled sound. Finn snarled from inside the car.
“You’re so close. Just bring it home,” Collith said, ignoring the werewolf.
Bring it home? I frowned blankly. Then, all at once, I realized what Collith was doing, and my bewilderment vanished. I shook my head and let out a low, mirthless laugh. He was antagonizing me. Toying with my emotions, like a violinist plucking strings. Trying to get the truth out of me by a burst of terror or rage. Clever, clever faerie.
But Collith wasn’t as clever as he thought. There was another reason I hadn’t told him about the Dark Prince’s visit, and it was partly why I’d fled from Granby. It was what kept me going, running, and hiding, even on the nights I missed my family so much I felt it, a physical ache in my chest.
Collith was a Nightmare now. What if Lucifer tried to use him, as he’d used Jacob Goldmann? As he wanted to use me? And if Collith knew the danger, he might do something moronic and noble, like offer his life for mine. I remembered the last time I’d been responsible for his death. All I had to do was close my eyes, and I saw his body on the kitchen table again.
Just like that, my ire faded. I shook my head again, slower this time. “It won’t work, Collith. Just let me go. Please.”
Hearing me say his name made those hazel eyes soften. “Laurie isn’t the only one who made a promise, you know,” he murmured.
Unlike that moment back in the motel room, I wasn’t sure which promise he was referring to, exactly. I had to think about it. But the memory came within a few seconds, shining like a star in my mind. Burning bright. Painful and searing.
Don’t give up on me, okay?
Never.
“Collith, you and I have broken every vow we ever made to each other,” I reminded him, sounding as tired as I felt. Tired … and sad. I swallowed a sigh and forced myself to add, “But if you need me to say the words, then fine. I officially release you from your promise.”
With that, I took another step toward the car, and once again, the sound of Collith’s voice stopped me. “I will never stop looking for you. I will never relent. I am an immortal, and I’ve been to the depths of Hell, where light and time don’t exist. Compared to those years, this is nothing, Fortuna. And until you’re back home, where I know you actually want to be, I’ll keep showing up. So do us both a favor and spare us from months of chasing and arguing. Just tell me the truth.”
I turned to face Collith again. He stood with his hands shoved in his coat pockets, his eyes hard. Looking at him, I knew he meant it. I twisted my lips and mentally flipped through my options. “Well, I could just kill you. That would solve this little problem.”
“Tell me,” Collith said, his eyes steady. Batting my sarcasm away like it was nothing. Like he knew me. Like he didn’t give a shit that I’d just stabbed him, or about any of the other terrible things we’d done to each other.
Something inside me cracked. And despite all my resolutions, in spite of all my reasons, I felt myself finally crumple. Giving in to Collith like I always gave in to him, because no matter how much I fought it, he still possessed some vital part of me I hadn’t managed to take back.
My response was faint, almost a whisper. “Wings. He had metal wings.”
CHAPTER TWO
THREE MONTHS EARLIER
The devil himself stood in my doorway, and he knew my name.
