Chapter 74
Monster In My Bed
“Where are we going?” Josh glanced over his shoulder as he drove.
The look on Ethan’s face when Karson said he spelled me to come to Church Heights wasn’t one of complete shock.
Ethan knew. He tried to warn me away from him but never told me why.
Did he know about my mother too? Betrayal twisted my chest. He was my roommate, my best friend, I trusted him not to hurt me, but in the end, he had let me down too.
Truth was, I had nowhere to go, no one to go to. Not anymore.
I just knew I needed to get as far away from Karson as I could. I didn’t want to see his face, couldn’t stand the sight of him. Besides, if I knew anything about The Death Bringer, soon his pain would switch to anger.
I didn’t want to be near him then.
I’d been spelled to make him love me. I’d buried what happened that night when I was ripped from my bed, drugged and taken to the basement.
Maybe if I’d reached for the memory instead of blocking it, I could have warned him.
I could have stayed away from him … I snorted. As if I’d had a fucking choice.
Georgie stroked my trembling arm. I had to leave; I was barely holding it together. But the one thing that was most precious to me was still at his mansion.
“I need to go back to get my things.”
Georgie jerked her head to me. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if he comes looking for you?”
I turned my head to stare out of the window, seeing nothing. “It’s the last place he’ll think I’d go.”
“You can stay at my house.” Georgie squeezed my arm. “We’ll grab our things and go back to my place until you figure out what you want to do.”
I was hurting so bad, I just wanted to curl into a ball and die. I dragged my aching head back to look at her. “No, we’ll go back to Church Heights, but I can’t stay with you, Georgie. It’s not safe for you.”
She smiled weakly. “I don’t think they will let Sarah go now. I’m sure that danger’s over.”
My head stabbed with every beat of my heart as my brain tried to think about what I was going to do. Even if they locked Sarah up, with what I was, with the grimoire still out there, it put anyone I was around in danger.
I had lost my family. Both men I loved. I’d lost my best friend.
I couldn’t risk losing any of the friends I had left.
I had lost everything.
I hated the witches for what they had done.
I had spent years in foster care being shipped from strangers’ home to strangers’ home. But I had never felt so utterly alone as I did right now.
Tears stung my eyes. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Josh looked in the rear-view mirror. “We don’t need to make a decision now.” His voice was gentle. “I’ll drive you to Church Heights and we’ll work out what we’re going to do on the way.”
I swallowed back a sob and nodded.
The house was eerily quiet. I left Georgie and Josh in the foyer and ran up the stairs to the bedroom. Karson would have to stay to deal with Sarah, or Rodney, or both. It gave me precious time to get away from him.
I didn’t know if he would take his fury out on me for spelling him. Would he kill me to break the link? One thing I did know, he could never hate me as much as I hated him.
The shadows of fury crept through my body, wrapping around my heart, at the mere thought of what he’d done.
Orange from the night lamp flickered across the room.
The night light Karson had bought for me to help me feel safe.
I huffed a bitter laugh. Ironic really, I was so afraid of what was waiting for me in unseen places, when all the while I had lain in bed next to a monster.
Tears started slipping down my face again.
The emerald in my ring glinted on the nightstand. Wiping the tears off my cheeks, I picked it up and slipped it into my pocket. Then I grabbed a bag out of the walk-in closet and stuffed a few items of clothing in. I was ready to leave the house, leave this life, leave him—forever.
I sucked in a shuddering breath. My heart—
It was impossible to prepare yourself for the type of devastation walking out on everyone and everything that ever mattered brought.
My heart felt like it was shattering all over again.
That’s when I felt his icy presence.