Vial Things (Resurrectionist #1) - Leah Clifford Page 0,96

what he’s done to Allie. I don’t know if she’s okay.

The gun’s useless. I toss it onto the floor and grab the knife with the longest blade out of the glove box. I clip the sheath to my belt loop. Two deep breaths later, I’m out of the car.

Now that I’m closer to the house, I feel exposed. I get out of the gravel, heading to the grass and following the yard around. It keeps my steps quiet. The tree with the old rope swing gives me shadows to creep into. The movement feels good. The last of the stiffness fades from my hip where I landed.

When I make it to the porch, I dart by each of the windows. They look in on an unused dining room but without the gun, I can’t get caught. I’m silent as I open the door, close it behind me. The house is dark, quiet except for the buzzing of a few straggling flies.

There’s dim light streaming into the kitchen from the hall. I wait, knowing it’s coming from the cellar and that Jamison will be closing the door in a second, locking it behind him. My plan starts to form. I’ll hide just to the right of the cellar door. When he comes up… I draw the knife into my hand. My palms are sweaty. You can do this, I tell myself. You have to do this.

But the light doesn’t go out. The door doesn’t close.

Something’s off. A fluttering starts in my stomach. She already got him, I think. They killed him and don’t have the combinations to the locks. But why is the door unlocked? a small voice whispers. I can’t imagine him being forgetful. Not with so much on the line. Maybe he knows Allie gave me the blood. Maybe it’s a trap.

As I creep closer though, I hear a hard thump. I’m steps into the kitchen when I hear Talia scream Allie’s name and I think for a second they did overpower Jamison somehow until she cries, “Stop! Can’t you see she’s dying?”

Dying. Allie’s dying.

It takes everything in me not to bolt for the door. She’ll heal, I think. Unless he’s taking her organs out of her. Talia said dying, not dead. I edge around the kitchen and take a quick glance into the hall before striding across to the cellar.

My feet move, swift and silent, carry me down each step. I can’t see all of Jamison, but his foot swings back and forth, in and out of the frame of view the stairwell gives me. And then one of his kicks spirals the body. Allie’s head slams against the ground hard enough to bounce. Blood pours from her nose. It mixes with the white foam that drizzles from between her lips.

The poison, I think instantly, but I’d checked her for the vial. She hadn’t had one. Had I missed it? Had Jamison? If she drank it, there’s no amount of healing that would help her, no boost from my blood that would save her.

I forget I’m supposed to be sneaking. I forget how much I need the element of surprise. There’s only her, dying. Maybe dead.

Jamison rears his leg to kick her again, aiming for her face and I don’t think, just launch myself from the fifth step up. He doesn’t turn in time to see me before I crash into him. I hear him screaming and then realize it’s me, my wrist bent back as he avoids the knife I’m driving down. I’m going to kill him. Gouge the terrified look out of his eyes.

And he is terrified. I’m covered in rot and grave dirt and blood and up until half a second ago he thought I was dead.

Jamison stumbles under my weight and as we hit the ground I roll us, end up on top. Spots cloud my vision as I struggle to breathe, stay conscious. My strength fades fast. He squeezes my wrist until my fingers lose hold of the knife. We’re tangled, punches slamming and knuckles grinding on dirt and when he reaches for the knife I do the only thing I can and kick it away. It clatters across the floor into the corner.

“You bastard,” Jamison grunts in my ear. He’s got an arm latched around my head, hugging it to his chest. His fist pounds my side. “Why couldn’t you stay dead?”

Instead of resisting, I grab his forearm and yank hard toward me. He’s not expecting the move. It throws him off