“They’re going to the bathroom. Here, have a drink.” He says, holding out a cup to me.
I look around for Walker, but don’t see him.
I guess some liquid courage wouldn’t hurt. I take the cup from him with a smile and down it in one gulp.
I see Emmet come barreling straight towards me, an angry scowl on his face.
“Woah, what’s up with you?” Jackson asks. Emmet grabs him by the lapels and shoves him into the wall, hitting one of the framed paintings and making it crash to the floor.
Several people stop to stare, but most shrug it off like it’s a typical occurrence.
“What the fuck was in that drink you just gave her?” Emmet screams in Jackson’s face.
“N-nothing. I swear!” Jackson’s brow sweats profusely, his glasses knocked askew as he holds his hands up in surrender.
Emmet lets go of him and grabs my arm, hauling me up the stairs.
“What the fuck is going on?” I ask as we close the door to my room.
“The headmaster and Leighton Ledger planned to drug you to get you to open up the veil tonight.”
I stand mouth agape. “Well jokes on them, I’m already headed to the veil.”
“What the fuck for?”
“For Pierce!” I yell out. “I heard you talking! They said he’s alive. You told me, he’s alive down there.”
“Salem, you can’t just walk into a place like that. It’s literal purgatory.”
Walker comes into the room looking back and forth at me and Emmet.
“What’s going on?” He asks.
“Were you just going to let her run off to go beyond the veil?” Emmet shrieks at Walker.
“I don’t ‘let her’ do anything. She makes her own fucking choices and I support her.”
“Fuck, you irritate me. Do you not understand? The moment you go through, you’ll unleash the lost souls on the world. You’re the key, Salem.”
“I found a spell that I think might protect us from that.” I say, pulling out a folded piece of paper that I’d snatched from one of the books that Madame Leroux had given me.
As he takes the paper, the entire house shakes. I look over at the guys.
“What the hell was that?” I ask, before it happens again, this time with more force.
Several screams can be heard from downstairs, and someone cuts the music. We run from the room and see the crowd surging for the door. The house shakes again like it’s being hit by a wrecking ball.
I scramble up the stairs and pound on Skye’s door. “Are you guys done with your anal fiesta? There’s some shit going down out here.” The house shakes again, knocking me off my feet and into the wall.
My legs wobble beneath me, and my mind suddenly feels fuzzy, like I’m not fully here. I set down the backpack, overcome with how heavy it is.
Oh fuck, what if there really was something in that drink?
ChapterSeventy-One
THE DEMON
SONG: DOWN BY SIMON
