Betrayal - By Lee Nichols Page 0,13

wraiths; they were too consumed with hunger to listen. They screeched their desires: Feed, feed, eat the flesh, suck the blood …

William used arcane phrases and a tone of complete command, but the chorus of bloodlust drowned out his words. He crumpled to the floor as a wraith flung itself onto him, bony claws slashing his neck.

I gathered my dispelling energy and twisted it around the wraith attacking William. Like wringing water from a dishcloth, I torqued the wraith until nothing was left but a spray of sticky black blood. William pressed his palm to the wound on his neck and crawled to the old-fashioned phone on the desk, as I spun toward the others.

Gabriel remained frozen in place, straining with the effort of compelling the wraith inside Rachel, keeping it from finishing off Yoshiro. Bennett stood at Gabriel’s side, protecting him from the other two wraiths. Light crackled and burst around Bennett as he pierced one but was unable to dispel it completely, while the other attacked Gabriel.

They were losing. I concentrated on dispelling the wraith attacking Bennett, adding my own power to his. The wraith slithered away from him and staggered toward me, claws slashing. Drool from its gaping mouth splashed at my feet like acid, and I waited as it lurched forward. I waited until my palm was an inch from its ribcage, then I unraveled it into smoke.

Gabriel yelled for help, and Bennett spun and saw the wraith at Gabriel’s throat. He launched a glowing nimbus of light directly into it.

Too late. Gabriel staggered under the wraith’s attack and lost control of the wraith inside Rachel. It pulled its bony arm from Yoshiro’s chest. An arc of blood spurted across the room as Yoshiro collapsed to the floor. As Bennett burned his way through the wraith still attacking Gabriel, the one inside Rachel leaped at Bennett from behind.

Its bony arm swung in a lethal arc toward Bennett’s unprotected neck, and a wave of blackness rose around me, an almost overwhelming flare of fear, rage, and urgency. From some dark chamber of my heart, I unleashed more force than ever before, a single blast directly into Rachel’s chest.

The blast shot through her and exploded against the opposite wall. She stopped dead and her insectlike limb morphed back into a regular arm, as she swayed on her feet.

I caught Rachel as she fell, the wraith leeching from her body. Her skin faded from the unnatural white to a deathly pallor, and her eyes, still sunken, glinted with tears.

She clutched at me. “Forgive me; I couldn’t stop him.”

“Shhh, you’re going to be okay.”

“No. You need—,” she gasped, “a weapon. To focus your power. It’s your only hope. Emma, you need …” Her voice faltered.

“Rachel,” I said. “Don’t go. We just met. I need you—”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For everything. You need to end this, Emma. Neos fears you. He sent a siren. To cripple you. She will …”

And Rachel died.

4

The Knell doctor arrived within minutes. She checked Yoshiro, but we all knew he was dead. When the wraith-arm had jerked out of his chest, blood had spouted across the room. I’d never get that sight out of my mind.

The doctor treated William’s wound, disinfecting and stitching it, then tended Gabriel’s and Bennett’s cuts and bruises. She looked me over and tsked at my chattering teeth and jittery hands, and the blood splatter on my sweater. She offered a Valium for the shock, but I shook my head.

I’d lost Yoshiro, the only person who knew how to defeat Neos. And I’d lost my newfound aunt in the most gruesome way possible. It’s called parricide, the killing of a close relative. Probably not on the SATs, but branded in my mind. I didn’t want to dull the pain; I wanted to feel it.

We left the room as the doctor began performing an autopsy on Rachel. She didn’t want to move the body, as she’d never autopsied the corpse of a possessed person before. We crossed the hall into a sitting room, where we all sat in stunned silence.

“Wraiths can’t possess people,” Gabriel finally muttered.

“They can now,” Bennett said. “And they can march right into the Knell and kill our leader.”

Nobody said anything for a while. Then I said, in a small voice, “What do we do?”

“Stick to the plan,” William said. “Build the teams. Start training together and …” His voice trailed off.

“And what? Does anyone else know how to beat Neos?”

William didn’t answer—his defeated expression spoke loudly enough.

“That’s why Neos