Chapter 5
Crane
I should have seen it coming.
The jealousy. The rage.
I’d rattled the cage that held the devil. I shouldn’t have been surprised when the devil lashed out.
But I was.
One minute I was hearing Kat running the tap in the bathroom, wondering if Brom would allow me to clean him up with a warm washcloth, the same way I used to take care of him after I’d been particularly rough or cruel.
The next Brom had burst up to his feet in one powerful jump, the reins around the desk snapping. He lunged at me with a roar, biting through the tie, and tackled me to the floor.
The wind is knocked out of me and with the faintest twinge of irony, I recall how our positions were reversed earlier. And Brom doesn’t hold back.
Because it isn’t Brom.
I stare up into his eyes, watching as the pupils start to bleed out into the dark brown, like black ink, until it’s taking over the whites too.
He looks inhuman, a monster, and he bares his teeth at me, strangely sharp.
Is this what the Hessian soldier looked like before he lost his head?
If so, perhaps the world was doing him a favor.
Brom leans in, jaws snapping, trying to take a bite out of my neck, and I can only hold him back, my thumb finding the half-healed wound on his shoulder.
I drive it in and he screeches with his neck arched, a terrible noise, and I’m wondering how much longer I can hold him off.
Brom has always been a little stronger than me, but when he’s possessed, he’s something else entirely.
And to think that this was the monster that was going to defile my sweet witch.
With that rage fueling me, I let out a gruff cry to match his and somehow manage to flip him over on his back. I get my thumb inside the wound again, the noise of his flesh squelching making me nauseous, but I keep pushing it in.
Until he works through the pain and flips me back over, my head smacking the floor, and now I have no idea how I’m going to survive this. I’m unable to kill Brom, and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. If only I could get to my gun on the bed to maim him again.
“She is mine,” the horseman rasps at me, his voice sounding like rusty metal, his breath smelling of rotting meat. “She has been promised to me through the ages. You will not stand in our way.”
Through the ages? But I have no time to dwell on the words because his hand finds my throat and he’s squeezing so tight that my air supply is immediately cut off and he’s moments from snapping my neck in two.
So this is how I die. Would have been nice to go out choking Brom and not the other way around.
My vision flickers at the corners, growing gray and hazy, and I hate that the last thing I’ll see isn’t Brom’s pretty face but one of a monster.
Then the bathroom door flies open with a bang, Kat cries out, and before I know what’s happening Brom’s grip on my neck is loosening.
I’m staring up at those black eyes, watching as the darkness in them fades a little, no longer taking over his whole eyeball but just turning his brown eyes obsidian, and then he suddenly rolls over and to the floor, as if someone just hit him.
And then a most peculiar thing happens.
He starts sliding backward as if he’s being dragged from behind, until he slams against the wall and moans in pain, his limbs contorting.
I look over at Kat.
My heart leaps.
She’s holding out one of her hands toward Brom, palm out, and I can see the crackle of lightning and fire forming there, like she’s birthing a thunderstorm.
That same energy flows outward toward Brom, the lightning fading as it goes until it becomes invisible, but the force is apparent from the way she’s holding Brom back against the wall.
Her face is growing paler, dark circles forming under her eyes, and she’s growing visibly weaker as the seconds tick by. She won’t be able to do this for long.
I quickly get to my feet, ignoring the pain in my throat, the tightness of my breath, like I’ll never get a full lungful again, and grab the gun from the bed. I whirl around, wondering how else to keep Brom contained, but then Kat’s arm drops and she wavers on her feet.
I have her in my arms before she hits the floor, my gun aimed at Brom.
But he’s on his side and he’s barely moving. Everything is back to normal, including his pretty face, and it’s not lost on me that he’s still naked and his cock is still hard, even after all that. Or, perhaps, because of all that.
The two of us are more alike than I thought.
I glance down at Kat in my arms, holding her tight. “Are you all right?” My voice is tight and ragged.
She makes a weak noise but nods. “So tired,” she manages to say.
I lead her over to the bed and place her there gently, then I go over to Brom, the barrel still pointed at him just in case.
“Brom?” I ask carefully, my finger on the trigger.
He wheezes, his eyes pinched shut, but he’s nodding too.
“Will you try to keep that horseman under control for the rest of the night? Because I don’t think we can all keep doing this over and over again.” I wince at the sight of the blood running back down his shoulder, then look over at Kat, who is lying on the bed, her eyes flickering shut.
Shame pinches my heart. I’m supposed to be the one keeping them safe. Yet both of them are spent and worse for wear and no thanks to me.
I run a hand down my face, trying to think of the next course of action.
Brom is incapacitated for now, but the horseman could return and Kat needs to rest before she can try to stop him again.
That was an impressive display of magic, more than I’ve ever seen from anyone, let alone one of my students, and as much as I want to see her use it again, I now know the cost.
A knock at the door brings me out of my thoughts.
Oh, fuck.
I glance at Brom and Kat, but neither of them seems to notice. Then I slip the gun into the back of my trousers and head to my door.
I open it a crack and peer out.
Daniels is dressed in his pajamas, wearing a nightcap and holding a flickering candle.
“Crane,” he says in a gruff voice, eyes sleepy. “What the devil is going on in there?”
I clear my throat, trying not to grimace at the pain. “Nightmare,” I tell him hoarsely.
His brow crooks up. “A nightmare? You mean to tell me all the thumping around and screaming is because of a nightmare?”
“This school plays tricks on you,” I say by way of explanation.
Realization comes across his face. “Ah. Don’t tell me you think you’re being haunted by Vivienne Henry. Or Desi, now that he’s nowhere to be found.”
I need to play into this, though Vivienne Henry has become the least of my concerns tonight. “I have a susceptible mind,” I tell him, tapping my temple.
“I can tell,” he says gruffly. “I know your type, always ready to believe in anything.”
“Well, we are witches, Daniels.” I plaster an uneasy smile on my face.
“Harrumph,” he says, squinting at me. “We are witches for sure, but we’re also men. Try and keep your nightmares to yourself. I need my sleep.”
He turns and I call out to him. “Daniels?”
He makes another disgruntled sound and looks at me.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any chains, would you?” I ask. I’m not kidding. Chains would help immensely with keeping Brom properly restrained.
Daniels narrows his eyes at me again and gives me a dismissive wave before plodding back down the hall to his room. How I envy that man, able to sleep through the night without any headless horsemen or ghosts of dead teachers and dead wives haunting him.
I close the door behind me and turn around. Brom is sitting up now, his head in his hands, and at last his cock has subsided, though it’s still delightful to look at even when flaccid. Kat is sitting up too, the blanket pulled up to her chin, covering her nudity.
I sigh and come over to her, picking up her discarded nightgown along the way.
“Here,” I say to her. “Or would you rather take a bath first?”
Her eyes go wide. “Oh no, the bath!” she exclaims. She throws the covers back but I stop her, keeping her in bed with a firm grip of her arm.
“Stay,” I tell her. “You need to rest. I’ll go check the bath.”
I get up and go to the bathroom only to see the water just about to spill over the edge of the tub.
I quickly turn it off, surprised at the heat wafting off it.
I gingerly brush my fingertips over the water and marvel.
I haven’t been able to get a hot bath since I arrived.
I haven’t complained about it because it’s a wonder that the school has running water as it is, let alone in private bathrooms for the faculty, but the tepid water has been an annoyance on these increasingly cold days.
“Did you do that?” I ask Kat as I come back in the bedroom. Brom is still on the floor looking sorry for himself. “Did you heat up the water?”
She nods, a tiny smile on her lips. “I thought I would try and see what happened.”
Brom snorts and we both look at him.
He lifts his head and eyes her warily. “Seems you now know what happens when you try.”
She swallows, pain creased on her delicate brow. “I’m sorry,” she whispers to him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You meant to hurt me, Daffy,” he says, and the use of his pet name for her is like a knife to the gut. “You don’t need to lie about it. Don’t need to pretend. The both of you wanted to hurt me.” He glances at me now but his eyes look terribly empty. “The both of you did.”
I let out a heavy exhale and go to my wardrobe, pulling out a shirt.
“Put this on,” I say to him as I bring it over. “I can’t take you seriously when you’re naked.”
He scowls at me, those dark brows knitting together, but swipes the shirt from my hand. “I’ll only rip the seams,” he notes.
“Most likely,” I say, but still feel strange pride when he puts it on, keeping it unbuttoned. Both he and Kat look great in my clothes.
“So what do we do now?” Kat asks. “Will the horseman return tonight?”