Page 124 of The Devil and His Ghost

“Your hospital?” I snapped.

“Yeah. My hospital,” he mimicked snarkily. “This has been my playground for longer than you’ve been alive, you little pest. Granted, it became more of a base for my collection of ghosts once it became abandoned. I had to take my fun elsewhere with no one here to scare and suck power from, but you’ve made the place pretty entertaining again.”

I fought futilely against my bindings as my gaze bounced between the demon and the ghoulish girl at the end of the bed.

Riddle noticed where my attention had gone, and he let out a proud huff before drifting closer to her. “You like my pet? Understandable. She’s my favorite, too. At least, when she’s like this. Her other form can be quite the fucking nuisance, but this version makes putting up with that disobedient brat worth it.”

“So that’s really Maria?” I asked in disbelief even while already knowing the answer.

He curled a lock of her tangly black hair around his clawed finger. “One and the same. My special ghost with her many forms. Same spirit yet completely different people depending on the form. Crazy people truly make some of the best spirits. But you would know all about that, wouldn’t you?” He cocked his head as he regarded me. “Or maybe you wouldn’t. You don’t know anything. Not that I mind educating you. The result either way would please me. I’m not picky like your current stupid fucking demon.”

“Don’t talk about Xander,” I snarled, yanking against my restraints again. My chest heaved, and wrath infused my body with strength to make another desperate attempt at freeing myself.

This demon was nuts, but if he wanted to waste air on useless words, I didn’t mind. All I cared about was getting out of here. Xander had to have realized something was wrong when I disappeared. He couldn’t shadow-walk down here because of the seal this demon had placed over the area, and while he should’ve been able to ride the elevator down with the same code we’d used before, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Riddle had done something to prevent him from doing that, too. But none of that would stop Xander. He’d reach me somehow. I simply had to buy enough time for that to happen.

“What is it you want?” I demanded while fully realizing the question was probably pointless. A demon like this wouldn’t need a reason to toy with and hurt someone. It was all a game for him.

Riddle hummed while those golden eyes raked over my restrained body. He drifted close and skimmed his fingertips along my ankle and up my leg. Every cell in my body raged at the touch, but I refused to yank away. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me struggle again.

“What I want?” he questioned as he came to stand above my head with those fingers dancing between my breasts only to land on my throat in a tight, possessive grip. His lips peeled back to expose a fanged grin. “You. I want to add a ghost gifted with the Devil’s Eye to my collection.”

A ghost.

His collection.

Ice froze my insides while the color drained from my face. He planned on killing me and claiming my soul for his own. My heart beat erratically, and I worried I might faint, which would only make me more vulnerable to whatever he was planning. Despite the spinning in my head, I kept an unimpressed and arrogant look on my face while meeting his stare head on.

“You can try,” I lied with a haughty laugh. “But I’ll never submit and become a demon’s property. I’ll resist you at every turn and be your worst fucking nightmare.”

His eyebrows shot up to nearly reach his blue hairline. He actually seemed stunned for a brief second before he threw his head back and clutched his stomach on a hysterical laugh.

I shivered at the maniacal, outrageous display of his mirth as he doubled over from how hard he cackled. I fought against the restraints keeping me on my back, and all the while, the warped version of Maria watched me like a predator drooling in anticipation of sinking their teeth into their prey.

Riddle righted himself, a delirious grin still on his face as he wiped under his eyes. “Oh man. This truly is too funny. I don’t know who I pity more. You or that pussy of a demon who chases someone who doesn’t want to be caught.”

Fury ignited my blood. “I said don’t fucking talk about Xander!”

“You think someone like you can stop me? You’re both powerless.”

He suddenly shot his hand out and hovered it right above the center of my chest. A tingle rippled through me, making me shake uncontrollably on the table. Fire flooded my body, but the pain rendered me immobile, staring wide-eyed and mouth slack on a scream that wouldn’t come.

A ribbon of white mist appeared where his hand hovered, the light extending past his hand and reaching up toward the ceiling. He moved his hand away, taking the agony with it. I gasped like someone finally cresting above turbulent waves that had nearly drowned them. I sagged in exhaustion against the table and blinked past the dark spots clouding my vision to stare at the faint, wispy light.

What the fuck was that? Was that my soul, my lifeline? Was he about to sever it?

Shit. I couldn’t die, yet. I couldn’t leave this world, yet. I still had to tell Xander how I felt. I still had to live out the life we had planned.

“Don’t,” I tried to plead, but the word came out slurred and rough from the dizzied confusion swarming my head.

Riddle snapped his fingers. Maria shrieked an animalistic wail from her dripping mouth, and the ghosts lingering around the room suddenly began moving about restlessly, sobbing and whimpering in fright. Maria leapt onto the bed and crawled over me like a spider. The terrifying sight gave me a burst of energy, and I thrashed helplessly, trying to throw her off. She merely dug her sharp nails into my shoulders and slammed me down hard. Pain burst from where all ten nails dug into my flesh, and I screamed as she opened her jaws wide like a beast going in for the killing bite.

“Maria, don’t!” I cried, hoping I could reach the little girl within this one, hoping that the child I’d built a relationship with would surface at the last second to stop “The Evil One” the way she’d done before.

But my pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears as the Monster of Mountview screeched and rushed forward with gnashing teeth, aiming right for that wispy light.

I let out a vicious scream. The creature was thrown off of me like an invisible rope had yanked her back. The commotion must’ve broken Riddle’s concentration, too, because he whipped around, and my lit up lifeline disappeared. I lifted my head to see Maria struggling against a thick black rope that was wound tightly around her neck. I squinted.

Was rope supposed to have scales?