Before I Wake
Page 71

Cant imagine, Tod said. Got any sins you wanna confess? Something in the vein of narcissism and cruelty?
Its not hell, I said, elbowing him. Its the Netherworld.
Whats the difference? Sophie wiped her nose, glaring at Tod.
Sophies question was rhetorical, but Sabine huffed in reply anyway. Hellions vacation in hell to cool off.
Not helping, Bina. Nash sank onto the couch next to Sophie and took her hand. It has nothing to do with you, personally. This particular hellion has been around for thousands of years and has been directly or indirectly responsible for more deaths than any of us can even imagine. His breath killed Doug Fuller. He killed Mr. Wesner, Mr. Wells, and Mrs. Bennigan at school. This afternoon, he killed Brant Williams in his own car. And even if he didnt personally kill Scott, hes ultimately responsible for his death.
Why? Snot dripped from Sophies nose and she wiped it with the back of one hand. He tried to lock me up in the Netherworld and now hes killing everyone I know. Why is this happening to me?
Sabine rolled her eyes. Because youre the beautiful fairy princess and the evil Lord of Hell cant secure his kingdom until hes feasted from your flesh and slaked his thirst with tea brewed from the ashes of your incinerated bones.
Nash groaned, and Tod laughed out loud.
Sophie hiccuped and turned to me, frowning. Is she serious?
This isnt happening to you, princess, Sabine snapped before I could do more than shake my head. This is happening to us. While you spent the past few months prancing around in ignorant bliss, we were all being possessed, or kidnapped, or stalked by this hellion. So dry your tears and take off the tiara, because this is a call to arms, not a pity party. Youre not going to find any sympathy here.
Okay, thats enough, I said. Shes still new to the horror. And the truth was that shed been involved in most of this from the very beginning. She just hadnt known it.
Im only showing her the bigger picture, Sabine insisted. She needs to understand whats really going on.
I understand. Sophie reached for the shot glass and held it out to me with one shaky hand. So Im gonna need one more of those.
I hesitated, until I noticed that Sophies eyes were already glazed with shock. Fine. I poured one more shot for her, then screwed the lid on the bottle. But thats it. Im not putting my life in the hands of a bunch of drunks.
My phone buzzed in my pocket so I handed the bottle to Tod and dug my cell out so I could answer it. Hello?
Lucasnumber was on the screen, but I couldnt understand whatever he whispered into my ear, so I had to shush the rest of the room so I could hear him. Sorry. Im in the office, so thisll have to be quick. Is Tod with you?
Yeah. Why?
His voice dropped even lower, and I glared at Sabine, who was still talking to Nash. Theres someone at your house. Someone like you, and its not Aunt Madeline. If its not Tod, either, my guess is Thane .
Shit. Okay, thanks.
Hows Sophie? he asked, before I could hang up.
Shaken. But shes dealing.
Whats up? Tod asked as I pocketed my phone.
Luca says theres a walking corpse at my house. His guess is Thane.
I stood already heading for the door before I remembered that I hadnt driven, and that walking would be a ridiculous waste of time. I held my hand out and Tod took it. Ready?
Nash stood. Im coming, too.
No way. Sabine scowled. You are not leaving me here with Ballerina Barbie.
Call her dad, I said. But if shes drunk when he gets here, you can explain how that happened. I glanced at Nash, holding up the half-empty bottle. Any more where this came from?
He shook his head. You still have my whiskey. Because hed left it at my house the night he showed up on my porch, and my dad had confiscated it.
Good. Lets go. I took Nashs hand and glanced at Tod. See you on the other side. Then I blinked us both into my living room, which I could only do over short distances. Fortunately, Nash only lived a few blocks from my house.
Tod appeared in my living room as I let go of Nashs hand and set the tequila on the coffee table.
Good thinking, Thane said, and I whirled around to find him standing in my kitchen, holding an open bag of my dads favorite tortilla chips. I was getting thirsty. His empty white eyes made it impossible to tell what he was looking at, and my skin crawled as I stared at him.
Nash and Tod started across the living room toward him, and their combined rage made the hairs on my arms stand up. In that moment, watching them face a mutual enemy, I caught a glimpse of just how powerful a force they could be togetherif I could keep Nash busy fighting someone other than his brother.
But Thane held up one hand. Ill be gone before you get halfway here, and then youll never know what I came to tell you.
Did Avari send you? Tod stopped and hauled his brother back by one arm when Nash didnt stop on his own. Nash jerked free of his grip, but stayed put.