AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mary?” I asked, confused.
“Yeah, I finally got a name out of her even though she’s still not coming through clearly and she gets pissed when I call her that. Do you have any relatives named Mary? That perhaps went by anickname?” Judging from her mocking inflection, I gathered that the ghost must have been close to her.
“Uh…” I rubbed my temple. “I had a great-aunt Mary who went by Bitty.” Why were we discussing my relatives when I needed to prepare to save David? We had absolutely no plan at all. This was going to backfire and get all three of us killed.
“Maybe that’s her.” Claire seemed relieved. “Aunt Bitty says you’re in danger. Especially David.”
“Then the crazy-ass ghost of Great-Aunt Bitty is Captain Obvious,” Collin muttered. “He’s been kidnapped, and they’ve threatened to kill him. That’s about as dangerous as it gets.”
I shot Collin a scowl. I didn’t need the sarcasm, and I certainly didn’t need the reminder of the gravity of David’s situation.
“Aunt Bitty says you need the ring, but not how you think.”
My gaze locked with Collin’s. “How do I need it?” I asked.
“Each time she tries to tell me, the words are garbled.” I could hear the frustration behind her voice.
“If you find out, will you let me know?”
“Of course.” Claire paused. “Ellie, there’s one more thing. The blackness surrounding your house has gotten worse in just the last hour. And it keeps getting blacker and blacker.”
My stomach twisted. “What does it mean?”
“Evil.”
I hung up and stared at the phone.
Collin’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really trust a crazy-ass ghost?”
I gave him a wry smile. “Okeus says I can.”
He rolled his eyes. “Well, if Okeus says so…we know how trustworthyheis.” He opened the truck door and moved to the tailgate and climbed onto the bed.
I got out and followed him. Talk about a total about-face. Only a few days ago he was trying to convince me that Okeus was the way, the truth, and the life.
He started to open the toolbox attached to the rear of the truck bed when he squatted and stared into my eyes. “Are you going to accept Okeus’s offer?”
My gaze lowered to his feet. “I…” I swallowed. “I haven’t made a final decision yet.”
“Can we discuss it right now? Because I’d like to say my piece before you decide.”
My eyes widened. “Okay.”
He moved to the end of the bed and sat down on the open tailgate, patting the spot next to him. Once I was seated, he didn’t waste any time. “Whywould you accept Okeus’s offer?”
“To save you. And David and Claire and Drew and Myra. To save the people I love.”
He swallowed but he didn’t look at me, staring instead at the small county airport next to the aquarium. “So let’s say you become Okeus’s queen and you save all of us, but you get pregnant with Okeus’s babies. Do you really think you can love them and raise them?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I can’t let myself think about that.”
“That’sexactlywhat you need to think about. And when yourmanybabies grow up and become the monsters their father is, how will you deal with that?”
I closed my eyes.
“Let’s go ahead and ignore the fact that not one of us could live with ourselves if you made this decision. Let’s even ignore that you’d be lonely as shit. Despite what Okeus says, you will be utterly and eternally alone. And eternity is a fucking long time.” His hands curled around the edge of the tailgate. “But let’s not ignore what those creatures will do when they are grown. They will kill and destroy. You may have saved Claire and her husband, but you haven’t saved their children. And that’s the mind-fuck Okeus will play on you. He’ll kill their kids. Or, hell, maybe he’ll makeyourkids do it.”
The truth struck me with mind-numbing horror. He was right.
