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I cross my legs and straighten my back, running my hands through my long dark hair, making sure it looks perfect.

Cindy glares at me while her friends console her. I ignore her, grabbing my pocket mirror and applying lipstick. I quite like what I see. My skin is flawless, and the youthful angles of my face. The dark god I now worship smiles on me as I knew he would.

The hippy retreat my father sent me away to was truly a spiritual and emotional experience. They told me to let my burdens go, and so I did.

I mourned him…I swear, I did. I’ve been mourning Daniel’s death from the moment I decided to kill him, which was over two years ago, when my father told me what I was to become. My father was horrified by how I did it, but there are no rules on how to kill, only that it must be done.

Now I see the error of my ways. It’s not the death that’s wrong; it’s that I don’t like getting actual blood on my hands. It’s quite gross.

“Behave yourself, Talia,” my father says under gritted teeth, as if sensing my morbid thoughts. “Her father is missing. The least you can do is acknowledge her.”

I snap my mirror closed and smile at Cindy. Appearances mean everything to my father.

Cindy’s the head cheerleader in Remy’s class, and I’ve been plotting ways to kill her for what she did to me—and everyone else who turned a blind eye to it. Eventually, everyone in this town will bleed…through their blood or spirit, it doesn’t matter to me.

I give him a sweet smile. “There…happy?” He nervously strokes his mustache, the polyester of his suit rustling as a breeze tousles my hair.

He looks at me as if he barely recognizes his little girl, the demon he created through his greed. A flicker of fear crosses his eyes—he knows what I’m truly capable of, even under this facade of designer clothes and flowers in my hair.

I turn my gaze back to Remy and Tommy, who are still doing their warm-ups. I haven’t spoken to Remy since I returned, and I know he’s avoiding me.

I watch the two of them interact…or barely interact. Something is off between them. They are missing the spark that makes them Remy and Tommy. They’re missing that playful banter that used to annoy the hell out of me. They’re acting like they have something to hide.

That dreadful woman from FreshMart yells from behind us, “Come on, boys, make this town proud!”

That catches their attention. My brother turns away—as I suspect, he’s angry with me for making him deal with Daniel’s remains. But what’s surprising is how Tommy also diverts his gaze.

My father’s men also discovered the body of a woman inside the well behind the property, her body covered with dirt, save for strands of her white hair. Lucy says the girl caught my brother and Tommy’s attention while I was away, and they seemed to be obsessed with her.

A turn of events I find incredibly interesting.

I watch the boys now, under the stadium lights, in their moment of glory. Tommy especially looks guilty as hell—and sexier than sin. His leg muscles are flexed, his expression focused and intense. He’s wearing a sweatband, his sandy shaggy hair falling in soft waves. I can’t tell if this is his usual routine or if he’s nervous, but he’s glistening with sweat. He’s fidgety, unable to stand still, constantly running his hands through his hair as he paces in front of the crowd.

I don’t know when it happened, when he shifted from being my younger brother’s friend to a man worthy of my affection, but it did. Now, whether he wants it or not, he has my full attention. And I always get what I want.

We began a dangerous game during a visit to my father’s house one morning. He watched me while I was in the shower. I knew he was there, lurking in the hallway, because I left the door open.

An invitation.

I let my towel slip, and our eyes met in the mirror when I got out. I smiled at him, and he stepped inside, not saying anything, but watching me.

That night I decided to kill Daniel and get it over with after months of pondering when I would do it. I knew it was time.

Daniel and I went for a walk after dinner. And during the walk, he stopped to kiss me, and that’s when I stabbed him. I have no memory of what happened after, all I saw was blood. My mind went into a trance-like state, and I didn’t regain consciousness until Remy found me the next morning. It worked perfectly, knowing that’s the footpath he runs on.

Tommy and I lock eyes, and I smile, but he quickly darts his eyes away. He lines up at the mark, his muscles gleaming, and the horn signals the start of the 100-meter dash.

Not even ten seconds go by and it’s over, and everyone in the stands is on their feet, chanting Tommy’s name.

He peers up at the crowd, directly at me, but he doesn’t wave. He doesn’t smile, just stares. My stomach twinges as heat sears through my veins. There has never been a time when I haven’t been the center of Remy and Tommy’s world, and now at their peak, they won’t even acknowledge me.

I rise as the two of them get swallowed up by the crowd and let them have their moment. My father plans to take them to the Sheffield house and conduct the ceremony before filling up the rest of that well, burying that girl’s body forever.

They have something to do with this…it’s written all over their faces. One of them fell in love and killed that girl, giving her soul to the devil, and I want to know which one it was.

PART II

From The Shadow Codex (Babylon)