Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
He laughs, and it echoes through me again. He’s clearly enjoying tormenting me.
“Don’t worry. He will be spared for tonight. For we have work to do.”
Vairov slides out of Alexei’s bed and heads for the door.
As terrifying as this experience is, there’s a moment of relief, knowing Alexei is safe. Even if just for now.
“Don’t be too pleased. As I said, I fully intend to enjoy him. Especially now that I know how much you have.”
I try to will my trauma to the surface to take him on.
“You’re only hurting yourself,” he assures me, and I can feel the truth of it, the way these images of my mother torment me. The fears of this darkness in me.
Vairov heads out the door, down the hall. Is he really gonna just walk through the dorm naked?
“Clothes are the least of my concerns,” he tells me, and I hate how he’s right on my every thought, that there’s no way to outsmart someone who’s in my goddamn mind like this.
I reach again for those dark memories in me, but it doesn’t feel as it did in Finnegan. And there’s nothing to cling on to within Vairov. Fuck, what am I gonna do?
I try to anticipate what he’s doing, and as he continues toward the end of the hall, I fear I know the answer.
“Yes, you know who I’m after.”
Cody.
As we reach Seth and Cody’s door, I try to shout—can’t I reclaim just enough of my body to warn them? But Vairov raises my hand to the keypad, and the green light flashes. It reminds me of what Preston said, how Syphor was able to amplify Preston’s powers. I have some abilities too, and Vairov accesses them easily.
He opens the door and steps inside. Moonlight spills in through the window on the other side of Seth’s bed, illuminating the room. I’m trying fucking everything. To scream. To warn them that something’s in here. If Seth could just wake up and stop me!
Vairov heads into the kitchenette, drawing my eyes to the knife block on the kitchen island.
“You leave them the fuck alone.”
“What will be will be. Surely you must realize that by now.”
“That can’t be true, if you managed to stop Alexei’s brother. And they stopped that creature Cody had visions about.”
He ignores this, but I keep struggling, returning to my attack tactic, since it’s all I’ve got. But my efforts are in vain. He inspects the knives, taking his time, like he knows nothing I can do will work against him. He studies the chef knife first. Then a paring knife. Then the utility knife.
“Cody! Seth! For the love of fucking God, wake up!”
Again, I’m surrounded by the snickering as he rounds the island, toward the beds. He passes Cody’s bed, going straight for Seth’s. He moves confidently, like he already has a plan in mind.
Seth, lying on his back, wearing a tank top, is sleeping soundly enough not to hear the subtle movements Vairov has made since he’s entered the room. Certainly not hearing any of my mental pleas for him and Cody to wake up and save themselves. Vairov moves close, running the tip of the knife so that it hovers just over Seth’s throat.
“Oh, to show you the things I will do to this one too.”
He pulls the blade away, then takes the comforter roughly off Seth, leaving just the sheet still covering him.
Seth’s eyes pop open, and I’m waiting for him to scream, to run, anything. But he remains still. It reminds me of how I woke up.
Vairov grabs the sheet and starts slicing it with the blade.
“Matteo?” Cody asks. “Matt—”
When he silences, I’m sure Vairov has done the same thing he did to Seth. This thing’s power is so far beyond what we saw with Syphor.
“I told you I was strong. And that’s in this pathetic corpse of a form. Just wait and see what I’ll be able to do soon.”
And I know what he means.
Once he’s inside Cody.
What the fuck will he be able to do then?
Seth shifts, struggling, his eyes screaming out the way I’m sure mine have been this whole goddamn time this thing has had me.
Vairov takes his time shredding Seth’s sheet. Once he’s finished, he rolls Seth over and binds his wrists to the posts of his headboard and his ankles to the footboard. Next he fashions a gag out of the remaining strips, keeping it tight at the back of Seth’s head.
“I wish I could plunge this damn knife into my own chest, you sick fuck.”
Vairov doesn’t even seem amused by me anymore. He’s too focused. He heads over to Cody’s bed, where he’s lying flat on his back, shirtless. Like Seth, his eyes are wide open. He’s able to move a little more than Seth seemed to. He must be able to fight Vairov with his power.