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“I know you’re still angry.”
Gabe’s voice came a short distance behind me. I had to fight back the sudden wish to rush into his arms. That desire was doused by flashbacks of two weeks ago and his cold treatment of me. Never again.
As if he could read my mind, he sighed. “And I’m sorry for being a total idiot that night. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. With Luke standing there, I just got so…”
“So what?” I spun to face him, heat building in my cheeks. “Embarrassed? Ashamed? Regretful? What exactly were you going to say?”
He clamped his mouth shut, the muscles flexing in his jaw. I waved a hand in dismissal and turned back to Reba, whose nose searched my hand for another treat.
I wasn’t being fair to him. If he didn’t want to be with me, I should just get over it. Twice now, I’d been rejected by him. It was more than clear. Gabe and I didn’t belong together. Not as partners and not as… lovers? The word seemed so old and out of place. Either way, we didn’t belong and I needed to get over it before it ruined our friendship.
“Let’s not do this anymore,” I said with a sigh. “I’m tired of feeling angry. I just wish everyone would stop treating me like a porcelain doll and let me know what’s going on out there. Luke won’t say anything during our meetings, and everyone else dodges my questions. I have a right to know.”
The skin on my arm tingled as he stepped beside me and put a hand on Reba’s forehead.
“Luke just wants to keep you safe. He’s already lost his wife. He doesn’t want to lose you, too.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of the hay that lined the floor of Reba’s stall. My daily meetings with Luke had been amazing. Little by little, we were breaking down the walls that twenty-one years of separation had put between us. I even managed to ask him the other day if I looked like my mother. His eyes had gone all misty and he nodded his head, telling me that I had her perfect nose and her facial expressions.
“I know, and I don’t want to lose him either.” Opening my eyes, I turned to Gabe. “But that demon is after me. I’m a part of this, whether you guys like it or not. How would you like to be kept in the dark?”
He sighed and pursed his lips. “Are you sure that’s what you want? Sometimes it’s less painful to remain in the dark.”
His foreboding tone made me pause for the smallest of seconds. But my curiosity, as usual, got the better of me. “Yes, I’m sure. Tell me what’s going on out there.”
He took my hand and pulled me toward the door. “Luke’s going to kill me,” he grumbled.
We walked north of the stables and arena and into the forest. It was dark, the thick pine needles blocking out most of the sunset. Gabe didn’t release my hand, but pulled me along until we were about a hundred yards away from the stables.
“What are you showing me?” I asked. Being this far from the manor without a weapon made me nervous. Margaret Thatcher could attack any minute.
“Don’t worry, we’re still in the boundaries of the manor’s protection,” Gabe said, as if he could sense my insecurity. “But, you have to see what’s waiting for you outside the circle.”
We stopped next to a rock jutting from the ground. I looked around, but there was nothing in the forest that looked off. Just trees, rocks, and ground.
“I don’t see…” my voice cut off as they began to show themselves. Six people hiding in the shadows of the trees. They moved toward us, stopping just short of the rock.
My eyes were drawn immediately to a petite one with long graying hair and a mousy little nose. With a gasp, I realized it was Elder Sarah. The goddess hadn’t killed her. She was standing right in front of me, as alive as ever. I nearly ran to her, but Gabe pulled me back.
“It’s not them.” He held tight to my arm. “They’re possessed by deceivers.”
I stopped fighting him and stared at the woman. It looked like Sarah. Her spine curved a little, giving her a bit of a hunched back. I’d seen her wear that ill-fitting floral patterned dress more times than I could count. Deep brown irises gazed at me through her heavily lidded eyes. Her movements were jerkier, like an insect. She cocked her gray head and fixed me with a wide-eyed stare that sent shivers down my spine.
“Hello, Lizzy.” Her squeaky voice was familiar, yet there was an icy chill underneath it. “Come home with me. Granny misses you.”
“Let her go, demon!” I yelled.
Gabe restrained me as I tried to lunge forward. This wasn’t fair. Elder Sarah may have been one of the women who decided to burn me to death, but she didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve to be a host to a demon parasite that infiltrated her body with an evil that oozed through her every pore. As I fought against Gabe’s
arms, Sarah threw back her head and laughed.
Every winter’s solstice, Sarah had been the one that insisted on throwing a town celebration. Even when Granny grumbled at the expense, Sarah had refused to let the tradition die. Holiday lights, wreaths, and presents were her specialties. She’d made sure every child got a homemade scarf from her very own knitting needles. It hadn’t meant much then, but now, watching her shell of a body inhabited by an evil spirit, I wanted to turn back time and relive those special moments in Hanna.
The fight went out of my body. What could I do? That demon would hold on to Sarah until it died and went back to Hell.
“I don’t understand.” I turned to Gabe. “How is this happening?”
He gave me a sympathetic frown. “The goddess has been recruiting demons to her efforts. It started three weeks ago. We’ve never seen so many deceivers slip through the Hell Gate at one time. They’re infecting tourists and locals, and sending them here to attack our patrols. We’ve no other choice but to cut them down.”
