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CHAPTER 46
I carried the two tiny cups of espresso back to the table, sliding in beside Ethan so I could see through the window. In the distance, the spires of the Duomo rose high above the Piazza, the sky behind it a tranquil clear-blue backdrop contrasting with the crowded chaos below.
'Can I ask you something?' I said, wincing as the hot coffee scalded my lips.'If I say no, you're still going to ask me anyway, right?''Of course.' I shrugged, putting the cup back down on the miniature saucer and taking a deep breath. I knew how this was going to sound before I even opened my mouth, but I knew I had to say it. I had to know. 'The last time you broke into the Vaults,' I said. 'When you hid the Gospel there. Who helped you break in?'Ethan said nothing for a moment, his eyes not leaving mine as he took a sip of his coffee.I swallowed. 'I mean, you said yourself that you need a maledicti to get in and keep the Erelim distracted. So, who was she? The one that helped yoRelated chapters
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 47
Take a pill, take a pill.Swallow it down. Let it stick in your throat. Let it take you to where the snow chills your toes. Where the birds swoop low.Take a drink, take a drink.Let it burn on your tongue. Ignite a forest fire in your stomach. Let the embers dull your senses. Make you numb.Take the needle.Let your flesh devour it. Your veins consume it. Let it hold you under the surface. Drown out the noise.Yes, drown it all out. Swallow it all and just drown .It's better that way, she says.She's right. And I hate her for it.Deep in the darkness, I dreamt of her.Maggie.Her hair was ash-grey. Her face, once a canvas for someone who had been pretty in her youth, was like plaster dust, pale and flaking. Her body had been pushed inside the living room wall of our old council flat, until just her head and arms were still visible. She reached for me and as I watched, the print of the gaudy floral wallpaper cre
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 48
He was tall and lithe, dressed all in black, with cargo-trousers, black heavy lace-up boots and a black crew-neck vest top that showed off his well-toned arms. Around both wrists he wore matching hematite chain bracelets and his glossy, black hair was tied back in a Samurai-style topknot. His face was thin and angular, but handsome, and he carried himself in a way that demanded attention as he strode confidently towards where Juliette stood.As he reached Juliette, she dropped her hands to his shoulders and pressed her mouth against his. He accepted the kiss, I noticed, with a small hint of disdain and he pulled back almost instantly, dismissing her attentiveness with a glance at me over her shoulder. She spoke in a hushed tone into his ear, flourishing it with a coquettish giggle and looking back towards me as if she had just told him some fabulously-funny joke. His face, however, remained impassive. Stepping around her, he approached me, stopping just a couple of metres away,
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 49
The atmosphere inside the hall crackled with an electric tension that prickled over my skin and sent my heart racing, as if I'd just spent the night off my face partying at one of Davey's gigs.Ethan straightened up, rolling back his shoulders, and by his side, his fists were clenching and unclenching - that sure sign he was squaring up for a fight.Nobody had moved since the moment he'd appeared.The demon army surrounded him, their arms outstretched and ready to attack, and yet their stance and the expression on their faces seemed to tell a different story. If the tension was coming from anyone, it was coming from them, not from the one demon who stood alone, outnumbered, flanked on all sides by his enemy. The nervous energy coursing through the air was so palpable, I could feel it building, becoming this monstrous thing that was threatening to consume everything. I waited, my eyes wide, my throat burning, and as the seconds ticked by, I realised I was waiting for t
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 50
'Which, of course, you can do,' said Blake. 'After Helel has done what we require of him. I take it you have the book?'Oscar sniffed long and hard, swallowing down whatever shit he'd been storing inside his nostrils. 'Yeah, I've got it,' he grumbled, thrusting the holdall into Blake's eager hands, before looking down at Ethan, his expression almost apologetic. 'Sorry, lad, I really am, but I told you a long time ago that you couldn't hide from this.'Ethan glared at him, the full weight of his stare feeling like a shroud of ice that chilled my skin, even though it was directed solely at the demon who had double-crossed him.'I should have known,' he said, his tone laced with venom. 'Tell me, Berith, how long did it take you to betray your friends once Blake had wormed his way into your soul? When their bodies were still warm, or did you wait until they had turned to dust?''That hurts, Ethan, that hurts me right here.' Oscar thumped his fist against his chest. '
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 51
'Wait!' she warned, pulling him closer. 'Be wise, Azazel. Whatever has been done can be undone.''How, Juliette? The Gospel is useless to us without the witch's words.' The muscles in Blake's arm tensed as he wrenched it from her grasp, clearly exerting a great deal of self-control to stop himself from beating Ethan senseless. He thrust his fists into his sides.Juliette flicked through the pages herself, her eyes shrewd as she looked at each page in turn, running her fingers over the now-wordless paper. Pursing her lips, she raised her head to look in Oscar's direction. The rogue Demon, I noticed, had gone very red in the face, which had never been a good sign if you'd had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of his Vesuvius-like temper.'Did you have a hand in this, Berith?' Juliette accused.Oscar's eyes hardened. 'You fucking what? I brought that book to you myself. Do you honestly think I'd hand it over if I knew it had been tampered with?''Then h
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 52
Snowflakes were falling onto my face.The chill of each minute crystal felt good on my skin, like dancing in a brief, downpour of rain after enduring the sticky heat of a scorching summers day. I tilted my head back, so I could catch more of the snow on my face, eyes closed and smiling as it caressed my lids with the gentlest of icy kisses.'You feel better now?' Mr. Tumnus said, close by.I nodded, my eyes still closed. 'Yes. Thank you, Mr. Tumnus. I feel much better indeed. There's something so wonderful about the snowfall, don't you think?'Mr. Tumnus said nothing for a moment, and when he did, there was such a sad inflection to his tone, that it made me open my eyes and search him out, because I hated to think of Tumnus feeling sad.'I have grown accustomed to the harsh bite of winter, daughter of Eve,' he said. 'But I do so long for the summer. I think I would very much like to feel the softness of grass under my hooves, and dance in the warm glow of th
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 53
Ethan wrinkled his nose, as if the memory had conjured up a bitter taste on his tongue. 'Money. She wanted money. She came from a dirt-poor family and grew up in a rural town in Romania. They had nothing. Literally nothing. She claimed she wanted the money to send to them, you know, help them escape the shit-stinking poverty they lived in.'I frowned. 'But, that's a good thing, surely? I mean, I'm not excusing her for betraying you like that, but if she wanted to help them...'He laughed, the grin widening. 'It was a lie. She had no intention of helping them. They freaked out when they found out she was a maledicti and accused her of being in league with the Devil. Old Romania was steeped in a superstitious fear of witchcraft and spirits back then, it still is in a lot of places. She couldn't actually do all the things they thought a witch could do, but she still burnt her family home down anyway before running away. She killed her grandmother, her aunt and her baby brothe
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 54
The darkened corridor stretched ahead on an incline that grew steeper the further we walked. It was as wide and as tall as the great doors of the hall we'd left behind us, befitting the size of Kong and making me feel small and mouse-like, particularly when flanked by Blake and his two Demon guards. The smooth walls and ceiling were curved and segmented, like we were walking inside the belly of some huge worm-like beast and not a corridor at all. Dull lights moved under the surface, like fireflies bobbing under the skin, illuminating the strange walkway just enough for me to still see the hard lines of Blake's face as he walked alongside me.The growing heat was sticky and uncomfortable, like the sudden rush of a bad pill, and perspiration itched the skin on the back of my neck. I longed to reach up and wipe it away, almost as much as I longed to grab Blake's wrists and make him burn.No one had said a word since Blake had told me Addi was looking forward to seeing me, but
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