AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I lifted my hand. I would get her out of him and then she would have to leave. Whoever was left, I could get rid of in due time. Over and over, I’d get rid of them until there were no more of them left to get rid of. I had no choice. My father, who I never met, left me a legacy, and I would use it to make things easier. I just wasn’t going to think about how hard it would be, and focus on one small task at a time.
Nathan and Cruise argued nearby. I smiled a little, amused how my brain could pick their voices out of the crowd.
I lifted my hand, but Ryker’s body seized backward as the demon ran from his body and into the crowd behind me. I whirled around. Where had the fucker gone? I couldn’t see it anywhere.
“I can be anyone at any time,” someone shouted and then fell over. Another person shouted. “You’ll never know where I am. I am going to fuck up your whole life. And I started with him.”
Well, she was going to be a huge pain in the ass. How could I stop her from jumping bodies? So I could exorcise her?
“Addalee.” Ryker’s voice was faint, but like the other two, I could hear him, and he didn’t sound…right.
I ran over to him immediately, having to push two people out of the way to even get to him. The crowd ran away, whether because of demon’s orders or because they understood the situation, I didn’t know. I didn’t care. Kneeling down, I stared at Ryker. Bruises were appearing all over his body and blood leaked from his nose.
What had she done to him? I took his hand. “Don’t move. We’ll get an ambulance. Cruise! Nathan!” I shouted. One of them would call an ambulance—maybe they already had.
“Not everyone survives possession, Addalee. I should have died when she took me.” His hand shook. “Couldn’t take the possession. She was too much for me. How did you do it for so long?”
What did he mean? “You’re going to be okay.”
“Addie, I’m not.” He knew what that name meant to me. The fact that he used it meant he was saying that I had a future. It wasn’t the time to argue with him, so I just gripped his hand in my own.
“I’ve loved you from the moment I met you,” he said, then he coughed. Blood splattered when he coughed, marking my shirt, but I tucked him closer.Oh, that is bad. Where is the ambulance? Where are Nathan and Cruise?
“Don’t talk like we’re saying goodbye,” I begged him. Tears leaked from my eyes. It dawned on me that Ryker was going to die. He was absolutely going to die in my arms, and he knew it. Panic welled up inside of me, its own kind of demon. I brought his hand to my mouth and I kissed him. “I loved you, too. My whole life. I’ve always loved you. And…and I would’ve died without you. I only ate because you fed me. You never stopped loving me, not even when the whole world did. There was always you. Oh, Ryker.” I could hardly speak, sobs stealing my voice. “This is my fault. It’s all my fault. She killed you to hurt me.”
He shook his head. “You have important things to do, Addie. You always have.” His gaze moved past my shoulder, as though he saw something there, but there was no one behind me. “I love you.”
Hands gripped my shoulders. Nathan. Cruise knelt beside me. “We’ll get an ambulance.”
He was gone. An ambulance couldn’t bring him back, and I knew it. I could feel it. Anger surged through me, fury the likes of which I never felt on my own. The demon, yes. She got this angry. But not me. I didn’t.
I shoved Nathan off my shoulders. Half-crawling, half-walking, and sobbing through all of it, I found the target for my rage. He pretended to lead people in exorcisms while he had a demon riding him the whole time. His head tilted back as he laughed at something someone from the crowd said, and I laughed with him as I let myself yank his demon the fuck out of him.
Shock registered on his face just as Nathan pulled me backward. The demon hung in the air for a second before he turned to ash and vanished, as they all did. Gordan fell to the ground, dead, his empty eyes staring at the sky.
I blinked. I just killed him. I…killed him by yanking the demon out of him.Ryker is dead. And…and…
I let out a scream, a sound like I didn’t know I could make. I stood there and screamed. Screamed and screamed. In the distance, sirens howled.
