Page 71 of Deceiver

“I’m not hurting him.”

“Yes, you are. That’s why I brought you here. I’m not strong enough yet, but you are.”

A heaviness settles over me, almost like I can feel his hands on my shoulders, gripping tightly and digging his fingers into my flesh.

“This is your chance, Keagan. Your chance to prove to me that you really are my son. You can take up my cause and make things right. There’s only four people left, give or take.”

The reality of his words twists around my chest, squeezing my lungs. “You said you didn’t do it. You said it was a demon.”

“Maybe it is a demon that makes me do things, or maybe it’s just a need for justice.”

“Killing people is not justice. You’re a murderer.”

“And now you will be too.”

My arm twitches toward the man, who is thankfully still snoring and unaware of what’s happening right under his nose. I have to get out of here. I have to figure it out.

“It’s easy, Keagan. One good hit across the neck or into his heart and he’ll bleed out.”

The room seems to swirl around me, and I stumble slightly but manage to catch my balance.

“No. I won’t do it.”

Tightness grips my neck, as if there are hands wrapped around it, and within seconds, I find it hard to swallow.

It’s clear to me that my own life is in danger, but there’s no way I’m chopping up another human being.

I spin around at the sound of a car approaching. Someone’s here!

“Fuck,” my dad says as the pressure around my neck subsides. “Make it fast.”

Instead, I dart from the room, running toward the back door as quickly as I can, even though it feels like my legs are knee deep in thick mud. I make it outside, slamming the screen door behind me, and I tear off into the woods, running as fast as I can until my lungs burn and my legs ache.

I fall to the ground, clawing at the dirt and leaves while trying to catch my breath. I need help. I need Wilder.

Chapter 20

Wilder

Before I can even make a plan for how to find Keagan, I turn around and bump straight into Farnsworth.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. “I can handle it.”

“Handle what? I doubt you know the issue since I just discovered it.”

Maybe he doesn’t know I lost Keagan. “What issue?”

“There’s been a breach in the Below,” Farnsworth says, glancing around the room. “This isn’t your house.”

“No. What about the breach?”

“It seems your Horror is craftier than most. It used the target to make contact and several more escaped.”

My mouth drops. “Fuck. How?”

“We’d all love to know. Wilder, are you sure your target isn’t complicit?”

“Complicit?”