“I’m fine,” I let him know, bunching up his shirt where I am fisting it with one hand while the other one makes sure the stone is still safe in my pocket. “Niko, your friend… I think he might be one of them…”
Voices from behind set off a wave of crawls down my back. Before Niko can reply, we are running again, pushing past doors and gilded corridors, until we are finally outside. The crisp midnight air hits me like a bucket of cold water, the sweet scent of flowers, the gurgling of the fountain nearby. Just a bit more and we will be safe, hidden in the jungle’s embrace.
Within minutes, we reach the edge of Isidoro’s property. A tall metal fence looms before us, the last obstacle we must overcome.
“We have to climb over,” Niko states, frowning as his eyes scan the area.
I follow his gaze, realizing he must be looking for something we can use to prop ourselves up. There are a few water barrels near a pergola with orchids. I point at it.
“Over there. We could—”
“Why are you running away and making this difficult?” Isidoro says. “If you just let me explain—”
I jolt, jerking away from the tall metal fence. Niko shoves away from it as if bitten by a snake, wheezing and curling his hands into fists while taking on a defensive stance. I blink once, twice, three times, but no matter what I try, my brain can’t put together how Isidoro ended up on the outside before us and without us noticing him.
“Wha—Howare you there?” Niko blurts out, baring his teeth at his friend.
“As I said, if you just let me explain—”
Niko narrows his eyes. “Whoare you,Isidoro?”
Isidoro sighs dramatically, flicking a stray lock of hair from his shoulder. As he does that, I notice that he’s no longer wearing the robe, that there is no blood staining his clothes or face.When the fuck did he clean up and change while chasing after us?
Instinctively, I take a step back, then another one, my fight or flight reflex triggering. But I don’t get to go far, and neither does Niko, as between one heartbeat and another, three robed figures pincer us in. They are the three people from the altar room, and unlike Isidoro, there is still blood clinging to them. I smell its tang in the air, I feel it across my skin. Up this close, it’s invasive, overwhelming. My head spins, my legs shake. Niko and I didn’t get this far just to die in such a grotesque way at the hands of some cult.
Studying the faces of the three men, I consider our options. Their blood-red eyes are trained on us, their teeth bared to showcase those terrifying incisors.
Fuuck, I don’t like this. There’s something wrong with them. And how did they catch up to us so quickly? Like Isidoro, they don’t seem to be quite normal.
“We could fight them, or we could try to run. But…” Niko trails off, clutching me closer like I am a precious thing he must protect even if it costs him his life.
“Do we even stand a chance?” I regret my question the moment I glance at Niko’s strained expression. “And what’s up with their teeth? And why were they bleeding that man?”
This has to be some weird cult. Did we walk into the lair of lunatics who think drinking blood can make themimmortal or something? But still, it doesn’t explain how they popped out of thin air to surround us like this.
Isidoro places his hand on one of the metal bars, and with hypnotizing elegance, he vaults over the eight feet fence in one fluid movement. He lands in front of us just as gracefully, like a cat. My brain struggles to rationalize what I’ve seen, to comprehend what he just did. Human bodies just don’t operate like this, they aren’t capable of such strength and range of movement.
“I am your friend, Niko. As I have always been,” Isidoro says, cocking his head sideways. He crosses his arms over his chest as he studies us.
Another wave of unease floods me as my eyes dart to his long, black nails. They are sleek and sharp, and I immediately wish they weren’t so close to me.
“Yeah? So what was that weird ritual killing downstairs, huh? Care to explain that? One torture room wasn’t enough or what? For fuck’s sake! Tommy really didn’t need to see that.” Niko steps closer to Isidoro, but stops dead in his tracks a moment later as the three men surrounding us inch in and hiss in warning. I mean, they kind of have a point, don’t they? It’s not really Isidoro’s fault when we were the ones who went snooping around. “Jesus! Get your clowns off my ass, will you? And what’s with the claws and the fangs? Seriously? Are you running a cult or something?”
“It’s not a cult,” Isidoro clips, a vein pulsing across his forehead. He lifts one hand and waves at his three goons, who growl in dissatisfaction before they stand down.
Niko flails his arms. “Fine. You know, who cares if you run a cult. You could’ve just told me. But what I reallywant to know is who that Crimson Crew man on the altar was and what you were doing to him.”
Taking a deep breath, I step forward and glare at Isidoro, even if I feel like I’m about to shit my pants. “And why did you have the exact same dagger as the people who killed Zac that night at the party?”
Isidoro rubs his forehead like he’s trying to chase away a nasty headache. “Well, you see, dear Tommy, me and thosepeople…” He bares his teeth at me, this time on purpose, like he wants me to see them, toreallysee them. “We are the same. And we aren’t quite what you’d call human.”
16
Nikolas
IstareatIsidoro,our decades-long friendship flashing before my eyes.
Tommy gasps. “What?”
