Page 126 of Conjure

I stiffen as he walks across the glass-covered floor to Lily, who whimpers when he rounds the couch. He leans over the back of it and looks at me as he smiles against her cheek with the knife pressed to her throat. The threat is clear. He’ll kill her if I don’t distract him somehow. I try to steady my heartbeat so he can’t feed on my fear, but I know he can sense it.

“What if I told you that I have a proposition for you? Play your cards right, and you can save your precious girlfriend.”

Hope flares at the mention of Camryn. I inch closer despite myself. “Camryn is alive?”

Bait dangles between us while Lily cries softly. The demon breathes her in and then shushes her. He looks at me again. “I’ll let her live if you kill this one.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone and never return.”

I know it’s bullshit. I’m feeding out of his hand. “You’ll leave us alone?” I inch even closer. Glass crunches underfoot.

“And never return.” His smile is back, and he drags his forked tongue across Lily’s cheek, making her cry harder. She tries to stay strong, but her chin wobbles. “Delicious,” he whispers, feeding on her terror and pain.

“You promise to leave us alone if I kill her?”

He straightens up. “You have my word, human.”

I walk closer, avoiding looking at Lily.

“If you love the girl as much as you claim, this should be an easy choice.”

“In our world, we have empathy. Taking a life is never easy.”

“And yet,” he hums. “You’re all so quick to do it in the face of death.”

I ignore his statement. “Where’s Camryn?”

“She’s somewhere…around.”

“What did you do to her?”

He walks around the couch. “I brought her home, Dominic.”

I glance at the bloodied knife in his hand, my own T-shirt damp with blood. I won’t be so lucky a second time if he attacks me, but I refuse to move. The demon feeds on fear. Maybe he can sense it seeping from my pores, but I won’t let him see it too.

“Here,” he says, surprising me as he offers me the knife. I stare at the handle between us. It feels like a trap, but like a fool, I reach out to take it. His eyes flicker, and shivers crowd my spine. “The knife is yours,” he says. “Feels good, doesn’t it? All that power in your hand. All it takes is one slash in the throat for it to be over. One cut, and Camryn walks free.”

Lily is looking at me now, and I turn to face her on the couch. Her hands are soaked with blood. She clutches her injured stomach and stares up at me with eyes filled with tears. She trembles. I like that.

As if the demon can sense these dark thoughts, he walks up behind me. I’m vaguely aware of his soothing voice. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she? They always are when they’re dying. It’s a shame she’s so weak.”

More tears fall as she stares up at us. I reach out to run my thumb beneath her eye. “Sometimes those who seem the weakest are the strongest.” I cup her quivering chin and guide her eyes to mine. She’s pale beneath the blood and grime. “And sometimes those who seem the strongest are the weakest.” Before the words can sink in, I spin around and drive the knifeinto Aron’s side. Pulling it back out, I grip his shoulder as I stab him again. I sink the blade deep, and is eyes blow wide. I already know as I yank it back out that the demon is gone, because I can feel it stand up from the couch behind me. It’s jumping between bodies and playing a game of hide-and-seek. Lily’s menacing snicker crawls up my spine.

Running for the door, I skid across the floorboards in the hall before crashing into the family photographs on the opposite wall. I don’t have time to look behind me. There’s no time to think. I turn to run, when I hear faint shouts coming from the kitchen.

It’s Camryn.

Lily enters the hall, leaning against the doorframe as she watches me head for the kitchen. Her voice rings out behind me. “What are you going to do, Dominic? There’s nowhere to hide. Your friends are slowly bleeding out, and when they’re dead, I’ll let you watch the girl you love die at your own hands. Isn’t love poetic, Dominic? Till death do us apart, right?”

I stumble into the kitchen. “CAMRYN?”

“In here.” Her voice is faint. I spin around, searching for the source. “Camryn? I hear you, baby. Where are you?”

“DOMINIC!”

I swivel. She’s in the basement. Lily’s voice drifts closer to the kitchen while I sprint across the floor. I tune her out, throwing open the door.