25. Erin
Chapter twenty-five
Erin
Seth was pacing when we walked in. Josh sped here and nearly gave me a heart attack with the speedometer ticking one-eighty. My pulse was out of control from the adrenaline.
I am never getting in the car with his ass behind the wheel again.
I shut the door behind me as we walked into the house. Seth’s head snapped up, his calculating gaze meeting my confused one. He quickly glanced between Josh and me, his jaw tensed.
Libby and Derik sat at the kitchen island, snacking on a bag of cheese crackers, chatting, tones hushed. Libby turned and sent us a little finger wave. Josh ignored her. I waved back, a small smile formed on my lips, still attempting to process Josh’s little interrogation tactics. Libby seemed to give me a knowing look before turning back to her conversation with Derik.
Am I reading that correctly?
Does she know how Josh does his info grabbing?
I nibbled on the inside of my cheek, the thought nagged at me.
Josh said that Seth didn’t know, but did Derik or Libby?
Fingers snapped inches from me. I jolted. Josh eyed me, urging me to keep quiet. Seth grumbled a slew of words under his breath and picked up his fidgeting once more.
“Dude, you’re going to burn a hole into your floor pacing like that. Everyone’s here. Out with it.” Derik huffed at Seth.
“I found another connection between the humans that disappeared,” he paused in front of Josh and me. Under his gaze, a slight pang of guilt shot through me, as if I’d done something wrong. I sidestepped, putting a few inches between us. Seth continued, his eyes refusing to leave mine. “The eight women and five men that disappeared. They all worked for the same company before it went bankrupt and was forced to close down.”
“Okay, there’s only a few large offices around here, Seth. That’s not really all that surprising.” I arched my brow, feigning off the knot that formed in my stomach.
“Yes. But there’s only two warehouses between here and Riverside. And even Charshire.” He twitched.
Bile rose. “Seth. What do you mean, warehouses?”
“The missing humans…all were on staff up in the mountains in these warehouses. Before the buildings were shut down and abandoned,” Seth’s eyes rapidly searched mine. “The exact buildings which once stood above the stronghold Erebus had you hidden within.”
I froze. Libby cursed under her breath.
Derik scoffed. “Well, isn’t that convenient.” His stool scraped against the hardwood as he pushed back from the island, striding towards where I stood. It took everything in me to keep the flashes of Erebus from overriding my vision. An arm flopped across my shoulders, the weight pressed down on me, distracting me. “You ready for some payback, Princess?”
I tore my unfocused eyes from the ground and took in the guy who was using me as an armrest. Derik had a goofy grin plastered on his face but a fury danced in the depth of his irises. He’d pulled me out. As did Seth. And Josh. And even Libby. They saved me.
A pang of guilt ran through me. They’d pulled me out but had put themselves in danger doing so. The four of them watched me. A flash skirted through my mind. The four of them. Dead. Defending me. And the missing humans, in pieces.
I couldn’t let them put themselves in harm's way. Not again. I couldn’t risk the humans either. They were innocent in this Demonic conquest.
I had to find a way to save them first.
All of them.
I swallowed down the fear. A flame lit within me; lightning cracked outside the windows.
“Hell. Fucking. Yes.”