I laugh. “What? I mean it.”
“Guys?” Sloan says, stopped a few feet ahead of us.
“What?” Lukas asks, walking up to his side, Skye trailing him.
“What the fuck is that?” Graham says, looking down at the ground.
“Oh my God. So, they are getting out.” Salem says looking down at the massive pawprint.
A howl goes through the night and the hair on my neck stands up. I have a feeling like we’re being watched. The forest goes eerily quiet.
We’re not far from the house, and Salem was able to get it to stop attacking us last time.
“If it’s really out here, we should get back to the house as soon as we can.” I say, remembering the way it clawed through my skin like it was made of tissue paper.
“We need to warn people.” Skye says. “That thing could attack anyone if it’s getting out.”
“Let’s get back to the house. We’ll go back into the tunnels and see where they lead.” Salem says.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“What else are we going to do? Let it run rampant and possibly kill innocent people?” She asks. “No. We need to go back in and seal off any openings.”
Dread coils in my stomach, but I know she’s right.
“So, it’s decided. We’re going back in the tunnels.” She says, looking at us as snow falls covering up the print.
ChapterSixty-Two
SALEM
SONG: DARKSIDE BY ALAN WALKER, AU/RA, TOMINE HARKET
Ishove a flashlight into my pocket, readying myself for a trip down into the tunnels. I’m still a little buzzed, but I feel confident I’ll be okay. I’ve been studying spells out of my family grimoire, and there are a few new ones that I’d been itching to try out. I still was struggling with being able to find all the ingredients for replenishing my magic through the brewed tea, but Walker and I had just fucked this morning, so I figured I should be okay. I’d rather try and conserve it, relying on that magic instead of needing to call upon the demon.
It seemed like it was content enough to slumber, not taking me over like I’d seen happen with the guys, but the thought of it in there made me feel like my skin was crawling. Everything I’d found had mentioned killing the host, and I wasn’t ready to die yet, thank you very much.
“We should all go in.” Lukas says.
“No way. Someone needs to stay behind so we don’t get locked in.” Walker says.
“Rock, paper, scissors, to see who stays behind.” Sloan adds.
“Guys, doesn’t it make sense that I should be the one to stay? I’m the only one without a demon living in me. I’d hate for one of your little friends to take over you. Who knows what they could do? Maybe they’d decide to leave you all in there to rot.” Skye states.
“She makes a good point.” Graham says.
“So, it’s settled. Skye, you stay behind. The rest of us, we go together, in teams. We’ll split up when we reach the room with the heptagram to go down the tunnels.” Garrison instructs. He’s disheveled from being woken up. He’s still wearing hisStar Warspajama pants, which I honestly didn’t see coming, since he’s always so put together and proper.
Walker elbows me in the ribs, catching me staring at Garrison. “Reign it in, Knox.” He says with a smirk.
I hug Skye, handing her the walkie. “Don’t fall asleep on us.” I say, opening the door. It groans and we all wait to see if Satan is going to come barreling out at us.
“Satan?” I call out. My voice echoes, but we don’t hear anything else.
“I can’t believe you named the demon dog, Satan.” Emmet says with a scowl as the stench from the tunnel wafts over us.
“What? It’s fitting.” I say with a shrug. “Remind me to trip you though if anything starts chasing us.”
