Slowly, MJ lifts his hands from my body. As his essence withdraws, the pain returns, but it’s not as bad as before. I examine my arms. The cuts are scabbed over, and the skin is only slightly pink. It looks as if the cuts happened days ago instead of five minutes ago.
I sit up as his team circles around us. They all gasp again at the sight of my back. I peek over my shoulder. Pink lines crisscross on my shoulder blades and dip below my dress. I shut my eyes, fighting the memories of the vision.
“Tell me what happened,” MJ pleads. “Tell me everything.”
How can I even begin? How can I tell him about the masked demon bringing me to Hell? How can I tell him about the vision of Justin? How can I tell him about the demon hunting me?
And exactly what can I tell him? The masked demon said there’s much to tell MJ and much to not tell him.
MJ is looking at me, waiting for a reply. I lift my chin. No matter what happens from now on, I’m going to tell him everything I can.
I probably shouldn’t while everyone else is here, though. The demon said I should talk to MJ, not his team. I glance at them.
MJ follows my gaze and understands. “Leave us,” he tells them, “but don’t go far.”
Without a word, his team disappears.
“Thank you.” I give him a small smile.
He offers a smile back. “You’re welcome. Now, tell me everything, please. Somehow I need to stop this from happening to you.”
My fingers play with the hem on my dress running across my thigh, and I look across the hall at the row of lockers. Suddenly it dawns on me.
I’m at school—not home. I’m in a dress. I’m in this dress.
“Tell me she didn’t,” I say as I exhale.
His brows narrow, and suspicion fills his eyes. “What, Maddy?”
“She said she would, but I didn’t think she could.”
“Could what?” he repeats.
“The demon put me in the vision so she could come up here and live my life. And it worked.”
He stiffens. From the look on his face, I can tell he isn’t surprised. Maybe he knew? Maybe that’s why he and his team were surrounding me when I came out of the vision?
I look down the hall again, finding it empty. “Where is everyone else? She didn’t . . . she didn’t hurt anyone, did she?”
“Everyone is fine. So you know this demon?” His voice is clipped. “Who is she? Tell me so I can make her pay for hurting you.”
I open my mouth and wait for that sensation of not being able to tell him the truth. But this time it doesn’t come. I can tell him about her.
“I don’t know her name. I only know what she looks like. She’s the one who took me from the park Wednesday after Sissy tried to attack me. She pulled my soul to her again last night, then sent me into a vision of—of—”
Fear, pain, and unease send my nerves into a frenzy as I relive what I saw while inside Justin.
MJ’s face softens with worry. “The vision really rattled you, didn’t it?” he asks.
I sniffle as I nod. The shock and pain are too raw. I need MJ to get through this.
“Could you do something else for me, please?” I ask.
“Anything you want, consider it done.”
“Can you hold me?” My lower lip trembles as tears creep up.
Immediately, MJ pulls me into his chest. At first, he holds his essence back, remembering that I asked him not to use it to take away all my pain.
I take a few deep breaths, safe and warm in his arms. I tell him about the vision—though I don’t say Justin’s name. While I speak, MJ’s essence slowly begins flowing again. I don’t think he even realizes it. I don’t care. I just want to be in his arms. And I can only imagine the horrible thoughts running through his own head. Sending his essence no doubt makes this easier for him too.
As I tell him of the moment when Justin and his father stabbed each other, he sits up with determination. “Who was the boy?” he asks. “I might be able to save him if I get there in time.”
I hesitate, giving myself a moment. “No. He’s already dead. He’s been dead a long time.”
MJ’s face clouds with confusion. “How do you know?”
If I tell him now or sixty years from now, he will never understand.
“Because it was Justin.”
MJ pulls away. Crimson eyes stare at me. “That monster? You almost died inside him? I can’t believe he almost took you away from me again! He’ll pay for this!” His hands ball into fists.
“Stop!” I say. “Justin didn’t do this to me. This was a vision of what was done to him. He’s the victim here, not me.”
MJ’s body shakes with rage. “Don’t you dare feel sorry for him! He threatened your friends and family. He killed Ben. He nearly killed you. He is a demon.”
Loss and guilt ripple through me. “I hear what you’re saying,” I reply. “I know you’re right. But after seeing where Justin came from, his life . . . I can’t help thinking that maybe, somehow, things could have been different. Maybe Justin wouldn’t have done what he did if he was given another chance. And why did he go to Hell, anyway? What he lived was Hell.”
MJ’s crimson eyes intensify, becoming a deep blood red. “He’s where he belongs. What doesn’t make sense is why that demon would possess you just to show you a vision of another demon that almost killed you two days ago.”
“She said it was because I needed to understand both sides, but I think it goes deeper than that.”
“What do you think it meant, then?”
I shake my head as so many ideas are swimming in there. “Maybe it’s related to Justin—about how he wasn’t always evil. Maybe demons as a whole. Maybe more demons were like him. Or maybe it’s about me and my ability to restore their emotions. Or maybe it’s some combination. I don’t know yet. What I do know is that I’m sick and tired of almost dying for the truth.”
MJ turns away, but not before I see guilt flash across his face. “I thought I was protecting you by not telling you everything. But you were right last night. I should have told you about Duane and the targets. I should have told you a lot of things. Starting now, I’m going to.”
I don’t want to talk about last night. Not yet. It’s as much my fault as it is his.
“She watches me, MJ,” I say, redirecting the conversation. “The demon.”
His eyes widen with questions. Before he can say anything, I keep going.
“She and someone she calls her master watch my life from Hell. She’s sent her soul into me a few times when I’ve been in trouble. She claims it’s all for my protection. I want to believe her. But after what she did today and the things she told me last night . . . I’m not sure what to believe anymore.”
MJ moves in front of me, taking my hands in his. Again he holds his essence back, allowing me to just feel him—his calloused, strong hands.
“Believe this,” he says. “Believe in us.”
I stare into his hazel eyes. There is still so much about him that’s in the dark. He can say the same about me. But no matter what, we keep ending up here—together. And when we’re like this, the insane world suddenly doesn’t seem so crazy.
“I believe in us, MJ. I trust you.” I inhale. “Which is why I have to tell you something else. Something that will change everything.”
He leans closer and places a hand on my cheek. “There is nothing you can say that will change how I feel about you.”
I grimace, knowing that’s not true. I close my eyes, readying myself to tell MJ the truth. Suddenly her words pour out of me. “The killer is coming for me, but I do not know why. I just know.”
“No.” He wraps his arms around me gently, but his voice is firm. “I’ve checked. The targets are very specific, and while you have some things in common with them, you don’t have . . . everything.”
“It does not matter,” I say, hating that it’s not my voice, wishing I could stop this and tell him the full truth. But her words just keep coming. “I do not know why, but it just does not. Trust me. If you do not trust me, then you will truly know what it is like to lose me, and it would be your fault.”