Page 48

Get them to stop!

But Logan was broader, with thicker arms and a more powerful chest. He was also ex-military, having been recruited by the Order straight out of the Marines. Kara hadn’t met him until after that particular part of his life, but when it came to winning a fight she’d seen what he could do.

Somehow Jeremy managed to get on top. His hands went around Logan’s neck, his long fingers squeezing down. Kara gave up shining the beam on them and ran over. She bounced the flashlight off the bed and the room was once again cast in shadow.

By the time she got to them, the situation had flipped. Logan was still on his back, but now he had one corded arm locked around Jeremy from behind. The muscles in his forearm flexed, and Jeremy’s face went tight. His teeth gnashed together, his eyes still shifting left and right with lunatic abandon.

Kara didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t sure who — if anyone — she should even assist. In the dim light she glanced around, wringing her hands helplessly. Reflexively she picked up one of the splintered legs of the broken chair and clutched it in both hands.

“Both of you, STOP!” she screamed. “NOW!”

Suddenly, Jeremy’s eyes changed. His whole face followed, his entire expression returning to normal as he struggled to understand where he was, what was happening to him. Lack of oxygen had turned him a shade of purple now. His eyes shot pleadingly to Kara.

“LOGAN! LET GO OF HIM!”

Tentatively, Logan relaxed his grip. At first just enough so that Jeremy could breathe, and then when he didn’t struggle, even more. Eventually he let go completely. Jeremy rolled off him, coughing, while Logan sprang to his feet.

Kara was kneeling beside him in seconds.

“A— Are you okay?”

He coughed mightily, two or three times, then spat on the floor. Kara gave him a moment, then helped him up. He sat on the bed, chest heaving.

“Yeah,” he said finally, rubbing at his throat. “Yeah, I’m okay.” He stared up at Logan angrily. “W—Why the hell were you—”

“You were possessed,” Logan cut him off. “Or something like that. You bolted from the other room and we ran after you. I tried to subdue you, and you attacked me.”

Jeremy looked to Kara for confirmation. She nodded. “He’s right.”

“Possessed?”

“Taken over temporarily at the very least, yes,” said Kara. “Definitely. By whatever was in the—”

“The other room,” Jeremy finished for her. His eyes scanned around at his new surroundings. “I was in 321, I think. I picked up a presence.” He seemed to shiver at the memory. “A bad presence, Kara. Something was wrong. Something…” his voice trailed off. “I was trying to commune. Opening myself up to whatever was there. And then…” he rubbed his head with one hand. “And then… I—I just don’t remember what happened.”

“I’ll tell you what happened,” said Logan. “You went batshit crazy. You ran in here after breaking the door down and started wrecking this place. Breaking furniture and—”

“No,” said Kara. They both looked at her.

“What do you mean no?” scoffed Logan. “I was right here. I saw him—”

“Not wrecking the room,” said Kara. “He ran down the hall with a destination in mind.” She gestured around. “He passed a bunch of other doors and came here. To this room. To wreck something specifically.”

Logan had picked up the flashlight. He shined it down on the broken chair. “This stupid thing?”

Kara swiped the flashlight away from him. “No,” she said. “Not the chair.” She guided the beam directly onto the surface of the ornate Venetian mirror.

“That.”

Twenty-Eight

They stared at the mirror while she swept her beam over the rest of the hotel room. Kara even ventured back into the previous room to retrieve Jeremy’s flashlight, then hurried back faster than she’d ever moved in her life.

“That’s it,” Jeremy agreed. He and Logan were staring down at the picture on his phone. “This is definitely the mirror hanging in the background of Northrop’s ceremony.”

“And it’s the mirror you tried to break,” Kara added. “When you were… uh, taken over by whatever forces compelled you to come here?”

She sounded unsure. Actually she was unsure. Twice in the past Kara had seen Jeremy commune with spirits, not including the footage taken in Estonia. He’d never channeled before. And this was way past channeling.