Eighth Note (Fire Ballad Book 1) Page 11

  “No matter how far away from you I was, the guilt still found me. Ate at me. I started helping more and more people as a way to… atone.”

  The song made sense to me now. I gripped the throw pillow on the couch, turning to hack into it disgustingly. Finally, I caught my breath, wheezing a little.

  “Maybe you should write in your journal about it, you fucking pussy.”

  His face snapped to mine, and I opened my eyes, my lips curling into a slow smirk.

  He exhaled with a puff of laughter, and then shook his head, resting the guitar against the oversized arm chair. “Look at me,” he moved to my side, kneeling next to me. I tried to, but fatigue turned my eyelids to lead. My limbs were too heavy, and I turned again to cough into the pillow, scratching at my palms. “Eva, I won’t let you die. I’m not leaving your side. Grab what you need, we’re going back to town. We’ll stay in a motel. I’m not letting you sleep here with a fuckin’ hole to hell in our kitchen and no cell phone reception. Okay?”

  “No, I’m tired,” I protested softly. He ignored me, gathering a few items. I groaned, forcing myself into a sitting position. Admittedly, I felt better after sitting up, and managed to throw my bag together and follow him out to Mack once more.

  I was asleep before we could pull away from the cabin. The sound of my phone ringing woke me up, and I saw that Cole was pulling into a Red Roof Inn parking lot. “Will?”

  “Eva,” the phone jostled. “Are you watching the news? People are dying! Did you listen to that song?”

  “Will,” I coughed twice, pinching my eyes closed as Cole’s hand settled over my back in soothing circles. “I listened to it. I had to. From what we’ve seen, we believe that we’re dealing with a demon. We came into town to stay in a motel tonight. I’m going to research-…,”

  “Fuck the research, Eva! You are coming home! You will either tell Mathison to drive to the airport now, or I am coming for you!”

  I couldn’t speak. I’d heard Will curse maybe once in the entire time I’d known him.

  “I heard him. Tell him I’ll take you to the airport,” Cole confirmed from the driver’s seat.

  “No!” I returned, sending both men into momentary silence. “No, Will! These are innocent people dying! What if it was Perry? This- possession- or whatever it is, it stops with me. I’m immortal. I’m strong, and I can fight it. I just need to know how. I need to research tonight. There’s always a way,” I added, realizing I sounded a lot like my father.

  “Listen to me, love,” his voice lowered, and Cole pointed to the front desk area. I nodded, watching him go to get us a room. “You cannot know what you are to me, Eva. You cannot understand how... the moment I found you lying in the snow, crying, so lost… you became mine. I cannot lose you. I will not lose you.”

  “I love you Will,” I promised. “I love you and Perry, and I’m sorry that I’ve been so… stupid, and spoiled… I need to do this. Please. Listen to me! I’m not crazy, and I’m not dead. I’m me. Okay?”

  I kept the information about the evil symbols on my palms to myself.

  “As I said, if you will not come home, I shall come to you. I am taking Perry to your parents.”

  I sighed, watching the motel lobby as Cole handed over his credit card.

  The images of the doctor strapped to the gurney ran through my mind, followed by Nina’s death video. The horrible ways that I could hurt Will if this demon did take me over frightened me to my core.

  Will was my entire heart. I couldn’t imagine loving another person the way that I loved him. He was my opposite but my parallel, balancing me in the way that I’d lacked since the moment I was brought into this magical life. Our love was destined, fated, and so powerful.

  Only his fire made me feel.

  And I could destroy him.

  I could rip him apart, limb from limb, with my strength. My powers, if fallen into the wrong hands, would take away the one thing that I loved more than anything in any world.

  I took a deep breath, choking through another coughing jag.

  “I don’t want you here,” I managed, gripping the phone with white knuckles. “Cole and I are doing just fine. He’s… what I need right now, Will. You know things have been strained with us.”

  The silence on the line was deafening.

  “What are you saying?” He demanded, and I could hear the growl in his voice. He rarely lost his temper, but now, it was gone. Very, very gone.

  “Don’t come here. I don’t want you here. I’ll come home when I decide what I want to do with my life.”

  Oh, God, the words hurt. They broke my soul in half. I coughed, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.

  “In one breath you say that you love me, and yet you tell me that Cole is what you need?” He demanded. His controlled tone reminded me of when he’d ruled, so confident, so logical, and the pain in my heart doubled.

  Cole was returning to the car. I sobbed from somewhere deep in my chest, pressing my palm to my forehead.

  “I do love you Will. But I can’t trust what’s happening to me. I can’t trust myself. Don’t come to me.”

  I hit the end call button as Cole opened the passenger door.

  He took one look at me before crouching and wrapping his arms around me.

  A hug. A fucking hug? I needed Will, with his strong arms, his confident words, and his perfect kiss to take this all away. Instead, Cole shoved his hand into my hair, and just before I could jerk away, I realized his fingers were crawling over my scalp.

  “Come on, hon. You need to shower and get this glass out. Don’t cry.”

  “I don’t cry,” I sobbed, letting him lift me from the car. “And I’m so tired.”

  “I got you.” He shouldered both of our bags and continued carrying me to the set of outdoor stairs. “Come on, we’re on the second level.”

  I was feather light to him, and in a matter of minutes, he set me on the bed and was starting the shower.

  “I’m too tired to shower, Will.”

  “Cole,” he corrected, walking me to the bathroom. “Wake up. You have glass in your hair. Get it out. Wake up!”

  I jerked my arm away, feeling the strange delirium in my mind linger for a moment longer before it evaporated with cutting clarity. Bathroom, motel, shower. Glass.

  Cole.

  “Okay. I’m awake,” I nodded toward the door. “Go on. I’m okay now.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “I’m leaving the door cracked.”

  I coughed in response, stripping and stepping into the shower. The warm water felt good against my skin, and I reached for the complimentary shampoo, unscrewing the top as a hand thrust around the curtain.

  “Here’s your shampoo. I know you need the curly stuff, Curly.”

  I grinned, accepting the bottles. “Thanks.”

  “Yep.”

  I tried to stop thinking about the fact that I’d just hurt Will. A lot. I never actually said I was doing anything with Cole, but the amount of information that I’d left open for interpretation was enough to do irreparable damage.

  Not irreparable. I’d find a way.

  I towel dried and slipped an oversized tee-shirt over my head, realizing the thing nearly came to my knees. Flicking my eyes to the mirror, I read Bass Fishing scrawled across the front. Oh, come on.

  “Cole, this is your shirt,” I called, patting my hair and pulling open the door.

  He lay on one of the two full-sized beds, ankles crossed, flipping TV channels like the demon soldier of Satan hadn’t just inhabited his roommate’s body.

  “Shh,”’ he gestured to the television. “People are losin’ their fuckin’ minds. The YouTube video has been taken down, but some of those who’ve listened are turning themselves into police. They’re being kept in empty cells, some in padded rooms, in every effort to prevent suicides.”

  I lowered to the bed, coughing softly and turning my palms upward. The symbols were branded there in red, raised welts.

  He turned his eyes on me, sigh
ing. “Kid, that’s my shirt.”

  “I know, you left it out for me.”

  “No, I left it for me, I’m taking a shower.”

  “What the hell did you expect me to wear?”

  “Towel woulda worked just fine.”

  I opened my mouth to snap at him, not sure if he was being crude or just practical. When his eyes switched back to the TV, I decided to go with practical.

  Maybe even indifferent.

  “How’s the tattoo?”

  “The least of my problems.”

  “Okay. Listen,” he stood, pulling down the bedspread and patting the sheets. “Get some sleep. As long as those people are living- if we’re right- you’re safe. Right?”

  “I guess. I’m going to research these marks on my hands for a while. Just… leave the light on. And the bathroom door open. I promise not to peek.”

  He snorted, standing and pulling his shirt over his head before dropping it to the floor. “Night, honey.”

  I gave him a questioning look as he moved to the bathroom. I could see his reflection in the mirror but obediently turned away, focused on my iPad.

  Touching the Google app, I closed my eyes as I waited for the network to catch up.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Eva!”

  I bowed against the bed, lost in the incredible warmth of his body on mine. He was pushing at me, but I was stronger with my power, flipping him over to his back and straddling him.

  “You wanted me. I’m here.”

  I slid my hand down his stomach and into his boxers, and by now he was shouting at me.

  “Eva wake up!”

  It took seconds to snap the elastic down, and my fingers wrapped around his thick girth. He groaned, his hand flying upward and rearing back.

  “Eva!”

  He slapped me.

  The pain in my cheek was brief but sobering. I let go of his dick and whimpered, sitting back on heels.

  As soon as he felt me let go, he flipped me over in the bed, cupping my cheek. “Fuck! Did I hurt you?”

  “No,” I blinked, the roaring in my ears like a waterfall. Motel, Cole, Nina Fayette.

  Demons.

  “What am I doing?” I cried, scurrying from the bed to the bathroom to run the water. He was right behind me, flipping on the light.

  “Hey. You were dreaming, it’s okay…,”

  “No! I don’t sleepwalk, I don’t do this,” I washed my hands first, cringing at the sting on my palms. “Jesus! I was touching you!”

  “Let it go.”

  “It’s happening,” I lifted my eyes to the mirror, fear clinging to my words.

  Cole was gone.

  In his place, Troy stared forward, into the mirror.

  I froze, my heart refusing to function.

  His face was there, but his right eye was missing, a sunken hole, and I moaned as his arm slid around me.

  “I’ve been waiting for you. Moving my way through. Biding my time. It’s you that I need, Eva. Your powers. Your flame. You belong in hell. And I will make you a queen.”

  I was screaming.

  I cried so loudly that that I woke myself up, and Cole was at my side in an instant.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  Looking around anxiously, I saw that I was back in the hotel bed, the lights off, the TV on mute with the CNN ticker scrolling along the bottom of the screen.

  “Were we just in the bathroom?”

  He scrubbed his face with his hand, narrowing his eyes. “No. I took a shower, came out, found you asleep. It’s three AM.”

  I stared at him blankly, scratching at my palms. “I wasn’t… in bed with you?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “I’d remember that, kid.”

  “Ugh.” I threw the blankets aside, palming my cell phone and moving to the door. “Give me a few minutes. I need to call Will.”

  “Hold on, you’re not going out there alone. I need a smoke anyway.”

  He held the door open for me, and I moved to the stairs while he stood at the balcony. The tickle in the back of my chest had died down a little, but I was still annoyed with my new-found, constant throat-clearing tick. I knew it was the middle of the night, but I dialed Will’s cell phone anyway.

  When I got his voicemail, I disconnected.

  “Listen, I know someone who might be able to help us. Or at least shed some light on what we’re dealing with here.”

  Tucking my hands between my knees, I stared at his stupid Bass Fishing shirt, tracing the edge of the fabric. “Who?”

  “He’s a medium. But he doesn’t call himself that. He’s about two hours away. In Troy.”

  His name whipped my face to Cole’s. “Where?”

  He blew a waft of smoke away from me. “Troy. New York. Near Barker Park.”

  My stomach went from unsettled to a full-on ache. I longed for Will, and felt horribly guilty over what I’d left him thinking about me and Cole. I dialed him again, and again got his voicemail. Maybe he’s not sleeping, maybe he’s ignoring me. That realization hurt me more than anything.

  “Come on. Throw on some clothes. We’ll get some breakfast and be there by five.”

  “You think this guy will be okay with us just showing up on his doorstep at five AM?” I asked, climbing to my feet.

  “He owes me a favor. Come on.”

  We dressed, packed up, and checked out of the motel. I settled into the passenger seat, searching MURMUR DEMON SYMBOL on my iPad.

  I touched Google Images.

  The exact symbol on my hands tiled my screen. With a sharp inhale, I broke into a coughing jag, watching Cole set the GPS on his phone.

  He turned to me, his eyes flicking between the screen and my palms.

  “That’s the mark of this thing?”

  “I guess. The demon has his own symbol. Like Prince.”

  He gave in to a weak smile, sighing deeply. “I talked to Monroe after you fell asleep. None of the other victims had any strange marks on their body like those. They were coughing, though.”

  His hand lifted to my face, his thumb brushing beneath my eye. My brows knitted, and I pulled away. “What are you doing?”

  “You have deep circles under your eyes. Like bruises.”

  “I’m tired.”

  As he drove, I continued researching. “Murmur is the duke of demons. He’s a… soldier. A teacher of philosophy who brings the souls of the dead to the conjurer.”

  “What’s a conjurer?”

  “A… medium, I think? I don’t know.” I had too many windows open, and I closed out of several tabs. “He doesn’t sound that bad. Not like what we’re dealing with.” I glanced at my phone. Will still hadn’t called me back.

  Cole pulled through McDonalds and ordered enough food for a small army. As he turned to me expectantly in the drive-through line, I realized that all that food was for him. “I’ll have a large coffee… and chocolate chip cookies.”

  He shook his head. “Come on, kid.”

  “With cream and sugar.”

  He sighed and turned back to the speaker to order. I tore into the cookies, and he pulled onto the highway. I waved my hand in the air for the news, playing it softly while sipping the hot coffee.

  “…rash of unexplained suicides across the world. Doctors are suggesting that these seemingly healthy people have been exposed to a virus. People are afraid to leave their homes, clinging to online media for news of these deaths and the virus causing them.”

  “Fuck! That’s exactly the opposite of what we want them doing! They need to stay off the internet,” I growled, shaking my head to glare out the window. “I should just try to crash it.”

  “Crash it. The internet.” He turned to me, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Sure, who cares.”

  “Crash the world wide web. Do you know what would happen to our national security? The stock market? Fuckin’ terrorism?”

  I listened to him, turning to cough into my elbow. “Oh.”

  “Right.” He rolled hi
s eyes in response, and I threw a cookie at him.

  “Stop making fun of me.”

  “I didn’t say a word. It’d be a good idea, if our world didn’t revolve around the web. You’d cause mass chaos.”

  “I get it.” I snapped, glaring at him.

  We listened to the news the entire way to Barker Park. As we passed a Welcome to Troy sign, I cringed.

  “His name is Kellan Franklin. Let me talk first, okay?”

  “Why didn’t you mention this guy before?” I demanded, feeling the car slow on the long, winding drive.

  “I was hoping to save this favor. I thought you’d be enough. I didn’t realize that this wasn’t just about music.”

  He stopped in front of a looming, turn-of-the-century house. The peeling paint and boarded windows made me crinkle my nose. “Maybe I should fix the place up for him.”

  “It doesn’t last though, right? We leave, and you take your spell with you,” he got out and moved around to my door, speaking to me through my open window. “Like the cabin. It only looks clean and new because of your magic.”

  “Well, right, but at least he can enjoy it while we’re here. Also, stop opening doors for me. I like the gentleman act you got going on, but this is a waste of time.”

  “You got it,” he clipped, leaving me sitting in the passenger’s seat. I pushed the door open myself in a huff, following him to the house.

  “You’re crabby.” I snipped, joining him on the stoop.

  He turned and looked down at me. I fully expected a sarcastic remark about needing a cigarette, my shitty attitude, or the mess that we were in.

  Instead, he pinched my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I’m worried as hell about you, little lady.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  I stared up at him as the giant door creaked open. A man in his mid-sixties, with powdery hair and an early-summer sweater vest poked his head out. “Get off my lawn, Mathison.”

  “I’m on your doorstep, Kellan. Big difference.”

  “What do you want?”

  Cole shifted and moved slightly from his position in front of me, and I lifted my face to the man.