Jenna Black - The Devil Inside

She raised her gaze to mine again, and there was a sheen of tears in her eyes. She blinked them away. “It’s nothing personal,” she assured me. “Things…weren’t supposed to happen this way.” She took a deep, loud breath and let it out slowly, and it seemed to settle her some. Her eyes were no longer teary, and though misery still hovered over her, her expression showed a heavy dose of resolve. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that you got dragged into this.”

“Tell me what exactly I’ve gotten dragged into,” I demanded, but Val shook her head.

“I can’t do that.” She licked her lips and met my eyes squarely. The tears were completely gone now, replaced by grim determination. “If you take my cell phone away from me, I’ll have to use a pay phone to call the police. That’ll give you a bit of a head start.”

I blinked at her stupidly.

“You’re hosting an illegal demon. And there isn’t an exorcist in the world strong enough to cast him out. I’m afraid that leaves only one alternative.”

A chill shivered down my spine. She was going to report me. Her little friends had failed in their attempt to burn me to death in my house, and now they were going to try to get the state to do it instead.

Damn it! If only I could be sure Adam would be the one to investigate her complaint…

Val slowly unzipped her purse, then stuck her hand inside to rummage for the phone. I snatched the purse out of her hand, and she made no effort to fight me for it.

“I’m sure it’s no consolation under the circumstances,” Val said as I rooted through her purse until I’d found her phone, “but it’s for the greater good.”

“Greater good my ass!” I snarled as I shoved her purse, sans the phone, back into her arms. “I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, but one thing is for damn sure: you’re not the good guys.”

I slid off my stool, my food sitting untouched on the counter. I was so furious I wanted to punch her, so hurt I wanted to cry, but I wasn’t about to do either one. Val threw some money on the counter.

“You’d better hurry,” she said. “There’s a pay phone right outside the market. I’ll be making a call as soon as I reach it.”

Without another word, she turned her back on me. My heart was pounding in my throat as I watched her push through the crowd. How sweet of her to give me this generous head start! And she wasn’t even heading toward the closest exit. Maybe she thought her conscience would rest easier if she gave me something resembling a fighting chance. I started hurrying in the opposite direction, my mind frantically considering then rejecting various avenues of escape.

I was shaking and distracted, so when I bumped into a guy blocking my path, it took me a moment to realize who it was. When I looked up into Dominic’s expressive hazel eyes, I suffered a moment of serious confusion.

“Dominic? What are you doing here?”

My now-hyperactive paranoia came to a hasty, terrifying conclusion. “You’re one of them!” It came out a shout, and I took a hasty step backward.

“What?” he said, brow furrowed. Then he seemed to figure out what I meant. “No!” He took hold of my arm. “Adam thought you needed backup, after all. We followed you here.”

I’m sure I still looked very, very suspicious. “We? Where’s Adam?”

Dominic looked grim. “Following Valerie. Don’t worry — he won’t let her make a phone call.”

“What’s he going to do to stop her?” I had a sneaking suspicion I knew the answer. When Dominic didn’t respond, I knew my suspicion was correct.

I’d never thought of myself as gullible before, but I’d sure been getting fooled a lot lately. “He just pretended to let me win the argument. He figured he’d use me to flush her out, then he’d grab her and take her to his place.”

Dominic gave me a shrug and a sheepish smile. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“You knew what he was going to do, didn’t you?”

Another shrug. “I’ve known Adam a long time, so yeah.”

And here I’d thought Dominic and I were starting to become friends. He was just one more in a long list of liars.

“Thanks for helping me ‘sneak’ the Taser out, asshole,” I said.

He ignored that. “Let’s go, okay? I don’t think you want Adam to be alone with Valerie for too long. Not if you object to what he plans to do.”

I didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “It’s not like I can stop him.”

“No,” Dominic said gently, “but you may be able to…temper him.”

I didn’t want to participate in what was apparently going to become a good cop/bad cop interrogation. But it was either that, or leave Val to the mercies of the bad cop. She’d gone from my best friend to my worst enemy, but there were some things I didn’t want to happen even to my worst enemy. I had a feeling Adam was one of them.

“Let’s go,” I said, and let Dominic lead the way.

It seemed like Dominic had parked about three miles away. Or maybe I was just anxious. I hurried us both along as fast as I could.

We drove back to Adam’s house in silence. My last faint hope that Val was my friend had finally died. There was a hollow ache in my chest. I wanted to know why she’d done it, why she was party to a plot to destroy the demon king. Then I wondered why I was so sure Lugh was the good guy in this scenario. I mean, I had only his word for it that he meant the human race well. Maybe he was Evil Incarnate, and Val was right to want to destroy him.

Maybe, but I didn’t think so. If Lugh were the bad guy, and Val my friend, she would at least have explained to me why she was trying to kill me.

Dominic pulled into the parking lot across from Adam’s house. He didn’t pull into a space, though, instead slipping a key out of his pocket and handing it to me. I blinked at him.

“You’re not coming in?”

He shook his head. “I’m going back to my place for a while.” He motioned at the house with one hand. “I don’t want to get in the middle of all that.”

I gave him a cold look. “Ignorance is bliss, is that what you’re telling me?”

He didn’t answer, but I could see my words had hurt him. This time, I wasn’t entirely sorry. If he was going to condone whatever it was Adam was doing, then he should be willing to face it head-on.

I slid out of the car without another word, closing the door with unnecessary force. Dominic drove away as soon as I’d crossed the street.

For one agonizing moment when I shoved the key in the lock, I was tempted to follow Dominic’s lead and run away. I didn’t want to face this battle, didn’t want to see what Adam had already done to my former best friend. But I couldn’t abandon her to his mercy, no matter what she’d done.

The house was still and quiet when I stepped inside. My palms were damp, and I wiped them on my pants legs as I dragged myself toward the stairs. I knew where I’d find Adam and Val.

A whip cracked. Val screamed.

I lost my reluctance and charged up the staircase. The door to the black room was closed, but not locked. I burst into the room, then skidded to a halt.

Val’s hands were attached to the footboard of that huge iron bed by two sets of handcuffs, one for each hand, arms stretched to each side of her so there wasn’t much wiggle room. Adam stood behind her, a long, vicious-looking whip dangling from his hand. The back of Val’s shirt was ripped open, but I didn’t see any marks. It seemed that so far, Adam had done no more than scare the shit out of her.

“Well, well,” Adam said, turning to look at me, “how nice of you to join us, Morgan. I was just asking your friend Valerie to tell me who she’s working with. She’s been reluctant to answer. Perhaps you can convince her that I’m not bluffing.”