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I bit my lower lip and nodded. I wasn’t surprised. The demon would have wanted its host’s body to last for as long as possible. Freezing Myra’s body would have given it an indefinite amount of time. I grabbed the handle.
Collin placed his hand on mine. “Let me look.”
I shook my head, trying to work up the courage. “I owe it to her, Collin.”
He removed his hand and I lifted the lid. The freezer light blinked on, and there at the bottom was her bruised and broken body, a vacant look in her eyes.
“Oh, God.” I took a step back, sucking in deep gulps of oxygen. I was going to pass out. “Myra.”
Collin pulled me to his chest. “We’ll get the piece of shit that did this. I promise.” His arm dropped and he leaned into the freezer as I turned away.
He stood upright and closed the lid. “Ellie, she didn’t have the stone around her neck that David mentioned. The demon’s already been here.”
I closed my eyes and tried to hold back tears.Damn it.
“Let’s go back outside. I don’t feel comfortable leaving Claire and David alone. David may have a sword, but he’s not in great shape to fend off a demon.” He put an arm around my back and I let him lead me to the staircase. But halfway down the stairs, Collin tensed. “Do you smell that?”
“Smell what?” I shook my head, trying to keep it together.
“Sulfur.”
My eyes widened and raw anger surged through my body. “It’s still here.”
“We don’t know that. But don’t do something stupid if we find it.”
Instead of answering, I raced down the stairs and stood in the middle of the hall, spinning around in a circle. “I don’t smell it.”
When Collin reached me, he lifted his face in the air and just stood there for a moment. “Over here,” he finally said. He moved to the second bedroom on the left, his hand on the doorknob. “I hope we don’t scare the shit out of one of your boarders if I’m wrong.”
That was the least of my concerns. I stood to the side of the door and lifted my sword. My tears were gone, driven away by my strong need for revenge. “Open it.”
Collin flung the door open.
Demon Myra stood in the middle of the room, her hands wrapped around the throat of a woman who was on her knees in front of her. The demon had pulled back the rug and scratched a pentagram into the wood floor. Candles encircled the space. When the woman tipped her face up, I could see that it was Sarah, a researcher from Virginia. Duct tape covered Sarah’s mouth, and her eyes were wide with terror. Tears streaked down her cheeks.
“Let her go,” Collin said, raising his sword.
“I need her,” the demon hissed.
Collin moved several more paces into the room.
Myra’s eyes flashed red and she released a low growl as she lifted Sarah to her feet. “If you come any closer, I’ll kill hernow.”
I had to remind myself this wasn’t Myra, the woman I loved. This was a monster.
“You have two choices,” Collin said. “You can kill her and I’ll kill you. Or you can let her go, and I’ll let you jump out the window.”
“What?” I shouted. There was no way in hell I was letting that bitch go.
Instead of answering, the demon shoved Sarah toward me. The poor woman stumbled, struggling to get her balance with her hands tied behind her back. She tripped on the folded-back rug and I caught her before she hit the floor face-first. The demon kicked over several candles and then leaped for the window. Glass shattered, and a gust of wind rushed in as the demon dropped to the grass below. Within moments, flames started to lick up the drapes.
Sarah collapsed against me, sobbing in terror. I pulled the tape off her mouth and then untied the shoestring binding her hands.
“We can’t let it get away!” I shouted. “We have to go after it!”
But the flames on the drapes had spread to the wall, and the bed linens were burning too. The fire was spreading fast.
“Ellie, we need to get her and the other guests out of here.” Collin grabbed a pillow off the bed and started to beat the flames. “Go wake up the boarders. I’ll try to buy us some time.”
