Came Back Haunted (Experiment in Terror #10) - Karina Halle Page 0,120
black flash behind him, getting closer.
Closer.
Closer.
It’s the demon.
“Hurry!” I scream. “It’s behind you!”
Max jolts and rushes through as Ada waves her hands around, quickly attempting to close the portal.
But it’s too late.
As the burning lines collapse in on themselves, the demon snakes forward, all black malevolent energy, with the intention to kill.
Maximus stumbles toward me, pushed by momentum from the collapsing Veil, then stands in front of me, putting himself in front of me and the demon.
Willing to do this for me, for us, all over again.
Tell him to get out of the way, Dex says. We don’t need his sacrifice. I can do this.
But to be honest, I’m not sure he can.
Because now the Veil is closed and the demon is on the ceiling above us, its long oily black body hanging there, that leathery tail whipping back and forth. I’m so horrified that I’m mesmerized as I stare at it, and from the way Dex has gone quiet, I know he feels the same way. My god, those claws. Those claws should never exist.
I swear I feel it smile at me.
Its tiny white eyes find me, pin me in place.
Maximus puts his arms back to shield me, but I know it won’t do me any good.
“Get out of the way, Max,” Dex says through me, my voice loud and firm. “You’re not doing this again. You can be selfless some other time.”
“Dex,” Lana says, and I glance over at her to see her hands out, one aimed at the demon, the other aimed at Max. “Get ready.”
Before I can say anything, I feel Dex completely take over, booting me to the back of my brain, where all I can do is watch, imprisoned inside myself.
“Ada,” Lana says to her, giving her some instruction I’m unsure of.
Then the demon lets out a bloodcurdling cry, a cry of hunger and savagery and evil, a sound that fills the room and makes the walls shake, causing the lanterns to fall over, paintings to crash to the floor.
It lunges for me, flying through the air until all I see is black.
Lana does something to Max, his energy changes and he yelps, and then the demon passes right through his body, right onto me, physically knocking me to the ground, those horrible claws digging into my shoulders. I don’t feel pain at this point, but Dex does, and he’s crying out through me.
I can feel the beast trying to get inside, trying to smother both of us from the inside out, and for a moment I think we’re just not enough. We can do so much together, but we can’t do everything.
Then I feel that flame inside me grow brighter, stronger, until my whole body feels like it’s a supernova, light filling the room. And I know that’s all Dex now.
This soul is already taken, he says gruffly, staking his territory.
Then with a final pop of energy, the demon is expelled out like smoke, then physically pulled off of us until the weight lifts.
I look to see Ada grabbing it by the tail, while Lana does something with her hands in the air, and Ada swings it around, opening a portal at the last second while it goes flying through it.
Samantha appears in the portal, staring at me in shock and horror, opening her mouth to scream, her eyes pleading, but Ada is fast. She closes the portal as quickly as she can, shutting Samantha in before falling to her knees in exhaustion.
The room goes silent, the malevolent energy sucked away.
Everything stills.
Then Max is on his feet, grabbing my arms and helping me to mine.
“Are you okay?” he asks, hands on my shoulders. He looks at one of my eyes, then the other. “The both of you?”
Dex shifts inside me and I move to the foreground again, trying to find my voice, my body. I nod. “I’m fine,” I manage to say. Feels like I’m putting on shoes I haven’t worn in a long time.
“You big dumb idiot, what were you trying to prove?” Now that’s Dex talking.
Maximus shrugs. “Can’t help what you’re born to do,” he says. He slaps my shoulder with his meaty palm, the kind of slap that was meant for Dex. “Glad you’re okay.”
Then he goes over to Ada and helps her to her feet. “Very impressive, little lady,” he says to her. “I reckon your training has been going well. You’re about as good as Rose, after we worked together for years.”