Titus Leeds was proud of the fact that he’d finally avenged his human mother.
The Elder One hummed—in disapproval or approval, I couldn’t tell—and stepped into the bonfire.
I watched in unholy awe as the flames turned white, licking over its flesh like writhing veins made of fire. Stark horror crept into my chest, fisting my heart as it dawned on me how Titus got his facial scar.
The Jersey Devil had hurt him. As the puzzle pieces came together, I realized that Titus’ scars did look like claw marks under the burned and twisted flesh.
The Elder One tipped its head to the sky, where the full moon peeked over the branches that lined the clearing. Its arms stretched out, and its wings unfolded.
Waiting for its offering.
I braced myself, waiting for the sacrificial knife to drop. Or whatever a devil did when claiming a human soul. Instead, the circle opened and someone pushed a woman inside.
My heart crystallized when I saw who it was.
Gloria Brooks was still alive. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were swollen from crying and she was filthy. Her dirt-crusted cheeks were streaked with tear tracks. She struggled to her feet, fear filling her eyes as she took in the terrifying scene.
Even with the horror stark on her face, I couldn’t seem to summon any pity for her.
After several seconds, she noticed me. “L-Lorelei? Lorelei! Help me! What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is that you’re realizing everything I warned you about is true. Feel foolish now?”
My mom’s eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. “Help me! I’m your mother!”
I wasn’t sure what she expected me to do. I was helpless, just like her. Still, the smallest dose of satisfaction worked through me at the fact that she thought I had power here.
Good.
I wanted her to think that I had the option of saving her. Because either way, she’d get no help from me. Not after breaking my heart into pieces.
The Jersey Devil reached for Gloria, who was paralyzed in place by her dumbfounded fear. She cast one last hopeful look at me, a last-ditch effort to summon so much as an iota of sympathy from me.
Lifting my chin, the firelight’s angle shifted, casting ominous shadows across my face. “Goodbye, Mother.”
My mother’s screams washed over me and, to my surprise, I felt nothing.
Nothing at all.
Not as the Jersey Devil’s flaming fingers encircled her throat. Not as he lifted her into the air and opened his maw. Not as a white ball of blazing light tore from her throat and shot into his mouth, feeding his flames.
Not even when he flung her limp body to the ground and flock members picked her up, carrying her off into the shroud of pine trees.
I knew where they were taking her. She’d join the other offerings to wander the woods and rot in her listless madness.
Titus’s thumb rubbed over my knuckles, finally chasing away the numbness and eliciting some emotion. The resulting spread of warmth in my chest had nothing to do with my mother.
When the Jersey Devil had had his fill of the first offering, he raised his hand, pointing a great claw in my direction. Titus took his wing from around my shoulders and let go of my hand. Instead, he stepped in front of me and was shielding me with his body.
“Umero estil ne terka,”he snarled through clenched teeth.
The Jersey Devil leaned away, looking physically taken aback by whatever the half-devil had said.
The entire circle tensed in discomfort.
Fuck. I’d almost consider giving up my soul just to understand the exchange. The Elder Devil answered, his flames leaping high from his eye sockets. A strange sound bellowed from his chest, and it took me a moment to realize he was laughing.
Murmurs danced down the procession of cultists.
