36. Dominic

THIRTY-SIX

DOMINIC

I've lost count of how many times I've searched through every room.

Now we're back in the living room. Lily is napping. Sweat clings to her pale skin.

No one speaks.

I sit with my elbows on my knees, fingers in my hair. But it doesn't matter how much I pull on the short strands, the growing panic won't subside.

Orange hues stream through the window behind me—a stark reminder that we're running out of time.

Where are you, Camryn?

I pull harder. Nothing works.

"We can't just sit here," Gwen whispers, her voice barely audible above my screaming thoughts.

"What do you suggest we do?" Aron asks, framed by the setting sunlight as he gazes at the trees.

"We need to break down the door somehow. We need to find help." She checks her phone signal again, when Aron begins to laugh. Putting her cell on the table, she looks over her shoulder. "What's so funny?"

"What's so funny?" He turns around and pins his dark eyes on me. "We're going to die here tonight, all thanks to our new friends."

I lift my head, and our eyes lock, a cruel smirk curving his lips as he rounds the couch with slow, measured steps. "Maybe you and Camryn intended for this to happen. Maybe the demon lives in you."

"I was in here when Lily was injured."

"But where was Camryn? Maybe you work together."

I follow him with my eyes, on edge, while he does a full circle of the seating area. There's a palpable sinister air around him, and when he walks behind me, I break out in a cold sweat.

He laughs again, exposing the column of his throat. "Camryn stabbed Lily. Admit it."

"You motherfucker," I hiss. "Camryn is missing."

He pauses across the coffee table and raises an eyebrow. "Is she? Are you sure about that?"

"Aron," Gwen pleads but falls silent when I stand to my full height.

"Let him talk. Let's hear what he has to say."

Aron's smirk deepens. "This demon story that you've made up, it's convenient, don't you think? The moment you showed up in town, our friends started dying, and you fed us all this bullshit about demons and ghosts." He pretends to look around. "But I haven't seen any evidence of any demons yet."

"Admit that you stabbed her." My voice is low and tense. I'm barely able to keep my anger on a leash. If he keeps pushing, I'll soon snap. "You kidnapped Camryn in her sleep."

"Pray tell, where did I drag her to?"

"Maybe you killed her in the forest." I don't want to let my thoughts stray there, but I can't deny the obvious—Camryn isn't here.

"Newsflash." He leans closer. "She never left the house. We have surveillance to prove it."

"She's not here," I grit out, and his smirk grows. We meet in the middle of the room, circling each other, drawn together like magnets.

You could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

I'm vaguely aware of Gwen pleading with us to stop fighting, to stop feeding the demon. But I shut her out, intent on Aron, the boy who's had his eyes on my girl from day one. Now she's missing, and he's behind it. I know he is.

"Maybe you hurt her." His lips pull to the side, his eyes darkening. "You were the last one to see her, after all."

"You think I had something to do with it?" I spit.

"Maybe the demon entered you, and you killed her before hiding her body somewhere in the house." He looks up at the roof. "Maybe she's stuffed in the attic. Or…" He fixes his eyes on me again. "Maybe the demon had nothing to do with it. Perhaps you snapped and killed her all on your own. A demon makes for an easy scapegoat."

"Shut your fucking mouth." My voice vibrates with anger. I'm two seconds away from breaking his neck like a fucking twig.

"Maybe you raped her, too."

That's it. I fly at him.

Red is all I see as my body collides with his, and we crash against the wall behind us. I drive my fist into his smug face, and he grabs my shirt then head-butts me full force, causing me to stagger back. The room spins for a few seconds. I've barely recovered when he sacks me, sending us crashing into the glass coffee table, which shatters. Gwen screams, jumping out of the way.

I roll on top of Aron, punching his face and ribs. All the while, he laughs. Fucking laughs. His chin and teeth are smeared in blood from his busted nose. My knuckles are cracked.

I don't fucking stop.

Not until he grabs an object on the floor and chucks it at the side of my head. I topple over onto my back, pressing my hand to the bleeding cut on my temple. "Shit…" I'll need stitches.

"I'm going to kill you," Aron growls, pushing up on his elbows and climbing to his feet. He spits a wad of blood on the floor. "You're dead."

I watch him clutch his bruised ribs, and then my gaze slides past him to the bookshelves. A porcelain doll sits on top of two books stacked on their sides.

Blood trickles from the crack in its cheek. "Fuck!" I shoot to my feet, the world spinning as I lift my hand to hold Aron back. "Look behind you, man. The doll…"

He frowns, then turns over his shoulder. "What the fuck? Is that blood?"

No sooner has the word left his mouth than Lily sits up on the couch and trains her black eyes on us. She pulls the knife from her abdomen and then stabs Gwen in the chest before I can even take another breath. It all happens so fast.

She stabs and stabs and stabs, sinking the gleaming blade to the hilt before pulling it back out to repeat the process. Then she shoves Gwen away and looks at us while licking the blood off her fingers. She's covered in it.

I swallow, stomach twisting, as I look down at Gwen's body on the floor. Her empty eyes stare up at the roof as blood slowly pools around her.

"She's dead… What the fuck?" Aron breathes beside me, stepping back when the sea of red reaches his shoes. "What the actual fuck?"

Lily laughs, sending chills skating down my spine. I've never heard a more frightening, sinister sound. "Now, let's play, boys." She stands up from the couch and swipes her blood-soaked hair away from her stained cheeks, the knife gleaming in her hand as she taps her smiling lips. "Don't look so frightened. I'll be gentle with you."

"What the fuck?" Aron whispers again, backing away, ready to bolt.

"We can't outrun it," I bite out. "We have to stay together."

"Is that so?" Lily's cruel smile is slow to form. "But who can you trust?" She throws the knife to Aron, who catches it mid-air just as she collapses to the couch and grips her wounded waist, a sharp cry rippling from her lips.

Aron chuckles low and deep, inspecting the bloodied blade before his black eyes slide in my direction. "Tell me something. Do you like pain? I quite enjoy watching it contort a human's face."

And then, he stabs me.