Chapter 24
Lynx
Each page is the same as the last time I flicked through it. The words that make no sense. The rituals that could destroy mankind. The patterns on the leather that are rigid and worn. I trace the edges, wondering if giving myself a papercut with the book from Hell might wake me from this nightmare.
Not even being cursed to spend the rest of eternity in Hell was as bad as this. I eventually was able to handle it down there. Up here? Around her? Not knowing why I feel the way I do? That is my own personal version of Hell.
The heaviness of the grimoire in my hands rivals the anxiety in my chest right now.
Sable kissed me.
Her lips were on mine, and it just made everything worse.
She should’ve stopped the game and ended this.
We were getting along—learning about each other and on the path to possibly enduring each other’s presence for a little longer.
Now, I think if I laid eyes on her, I’d materialize on that cliff again and hang myself from it.
I don’t like Sable. It would never work. And there would never be a world where she would even contemplate having feelings for me. We’ve fucked and messed around, yes, but I did those things in Hell and walked away with no emotions, so what’s so different now? Why do I want to kiss her again?
My brain has been my enemy all day. Full of thoughts of her regretting it, or even worse, wanting it to happen again.
My eyes scan the pages of the grimoire, but I’m not taking anything in. Because, I fear, a huge part of me isn’t ready to leave her.
I slam it shut and toss it onto the table, the bang echoing into the hall I march down.
If I find a way out of here, I’ll try to take her with me. The fact that a soul sucker already attacked her and more will likely come following its death means she’s in too much danger here. Not only that, but she’d be alone, in this house, forever.
My conscience won’t allow that to happen.
Fuck.
“Sable?” I ask, knocking twice on her door.
I sigh, leaning my shoulder against the wood, waiting ten seconds before knocking again and saying her name louder.
I can’t hear any movement, and I frown when I realize… I can’t sense her.
I push the door open harder than necessary, so it slams against the wall, a photo frame shaking and crashing to the ground.
It was a portrait of her and who I assume is her sister.
To be a dick, because she keeps calling me one, I leave it on the ground and pull back her blankets, check under the bed, then her bathroom.
“Sable?”
Silence…
An uncomfortable coldness washes over me, making the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“Sable? Where the fuck are you?” I call, opening doors along the corridor and being met with no response—a quiet house that I definitely don’t like.
I pause my steps and try to listen for any sound around the house, to focus on my senses so I can feel her, smell her, fucking anything.
“Sable?”
Nothing.
The image of the Tor’Oth attacking her comes to the forefront of my mind, and with a curse on my lips, I rush down the stairs and check every single room on the ground floor.
She isn’t here.
Materializing to her location is possible, but it’ll leave more residue, and that’s not something I’m willing to risk now. There’ll already be some rallying to come here after I killed one of them, and using any of my powers would draw even more of them here. I can handle some but not an army.
I fist my hands and push the back door open to the yard, calling her name loud enough to echo across the land.
I pause when I see the four-legged freak pouncing in front of me, his teeth bared. “Have you seen her?” I ask, not giving a shit if he tries to eat me right now. “Sable? Have you seen her?” I push when his big eyes just stare at me.
He lets out a deep groan as his hair starts to shorten, his fangs and claws retract, and he curls up into a ball before I see human flesh. Naked, human flesh.
“Fuck me,” Tony blurts, getting to his feet, his cock swinging. “You lost her?”
Before I can throw a punch at him, the sound of stones being crushed vibrates in my ears, a strange sound I vaguely remember from Sable showing me a movie on one of the phones she stole the night of the party.
Someone is here.
“Get clothes on,” I warn Tony as he follows me all the way to the front yard.
“Can I help you?” I question when I reach the intruders.
More police officers, from the same place as the two Sable and I told to fuck off by the looks of their uniform and badges. They’re already skimming the bushes next to the manor’s entrance with their torches.
“Two men have gone missing. Their last known destination was this address. We’re going to have a look around.”
“No,” is all I say. A warning they better take before Tidus appears and eats them too. I assume that’s what happened to the other two anyway.
His voice comes from behind me. “What did I miss? Ah, cops. How fun. What do you want?”
“They want to look around for two men who went missing,” I tell him.
“So sad. Well, you’re not getting very far here.” He chuckles at himself because he thinks he’s hilarious. “Bye.”
The tallest officer frowns. “Bye? You can’t dismiss us.”
Tony scoffs. “I just did.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to count to ten before I kill them all. I need to find Sable, and this isn’t helping. Especially when Tony continues, “Bye again.”
“We have every right to search the premises. Two officers are missing, for Christ’s sake.”
I wince and turn to Tony, who grimaces. “Even the Lord and Savior would be disgusted by that fringe.”
Oh, fuck me. This asshole is going to get us arrested. Which means shit, since I can’t leave.
Then I frown and stare at him. Can he leave? Can he walk out of the gates and into the real world?
His eyes meet mine. “No can do, Lynx boy.”
Sighing, I shake my head and bring my attention back to the officers. “You can leave.”
“Like I said, we’re searching the grounds.” The cocky one glares at me, and I imagine him decapitated and dismembered.
Tony crosses his arms and nonchalantly leans against the doorframe. “I’m certain you need a warrant to do that.”
“It wouldn’t take me long to get one.”
My friend gestures behind them, clicking his tongue like he would at a horse. “On you go, then. Don’t let the gate hit your ass on the way out.”