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“Two or so years ago, this hotel was in disrepair, right? It was going to crumble away to nothing until the new owners took over and injected a whole bunch of money. But no one asked where that money came from. And everything the new owners did had the golden touch. It was like a dream come true—the design, the construction, the grand re-opening, the influencer campaign… It all went off without a hitch. The new Bridgemont Hotel is a complete success.”
“A deal with a crossroads demon,” Jackson breathes, understanding dawning on his features.
“Exactly. And remember what Robert told me—the new owners have disappeared. They disappeared because our demon has come back for his due—their souls. And if he doesn’t get them, he kills guests and then leaves the number to say when he will come back again. And when they don’t pay up on the new date…”
“The next killing would be six weeks after the last. Unless he’s upping the ante, so to speak, and then it would be six days,” Brooks finishes. “That’s tonight.”
“Exactly. The demon is coming to collect.”
“We need to figure out how to stop him, how to break the deal. Orion?”
“If Lily’s right about all this, I have the demon’s name.” Orion jabs his thumbs into his phone. “It’s…”
He trails off, his words turning into a growl.
“Orion—” Brooks cuts off abruptly, his face draining of color, his attention fixed on his younger brother. “Orion?”
“Lily, step back,” Jackson whispers harshly.
He moves to stand in front of me and guides me until I’m flush against the wall. Tension lines his rigid shoulders and taut neck.
“Jacks? Brooks? What’s going on?” I ask, flicking my gaze between the two of them before focusing on the object of their attention.
Orion.
His head is lowered, lank hair falling across his face, and he seems to be breathing heavily. A dark flush erupts on his neck, the color shockingly pronounced against his alabaster skin. His hands curl and uncurl into fists by his sides.
“What’s wrong with him?” I demand, confused and a little annoyed by their reactions. “Is he sick?”
Orion twitches at the sound of my voice. His head tilts to the side like a predator who just caught a particularly enticing scent on the breeze.
Ice freezes my joints in place, and all of the air seems to be sucked from my lungs.
Because Orion doesn’t just look feverish… He looks animalistic.
Deranged.
His eyes glow a bright, luminescent yellow, and fur sprouts on his cheeks and forehead. I’ve seen this once before, the night of my prom just moments before my entire world went to shit.
When my date turned into a werewolf and tried to kill me.
Orion’s mouth parts, revealing razor-sharp canines, and one gurgled growl escapes him, holding a single word.
“Run.”
27
TWENTY-SEVEN: JACKSON
Iplaster my body over Lily’s as Orion lunges. His jaw snaps midair, right where Lily’s arm was a moment before.
Fuck, we left it too late. We should’ve locked Orion up the second he started scratching at his skin like his life depended on it.
Lily screams. I grab her arm and dive for the door. I know it’s hopeless when Orion rolls back onto his feet and snarls at us, circling around to cut off our escape.
He’s mid-shift, and although I’ve seen this every month for the last five years, the sight of my brother’s wiry body all mangled with wolf genes makes bile rise in my throat. The tufts of hair poking through his skin, the way his spine cracks and shapes itself, and his limbs bending and twisting as muscle and bone remake themselves.
It should be impossible, but unfortunately for us, werewolves are real.
