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CHAPTER 44
I frowned, putting the bag of bread to one side and shuffling over on the bed until I was sat next to him. His fingers were still absent-mindedly tracing the perfectly-neat script on the page.
'I don't get it,' I said. 'Why didn't Saul kill her? I mean, she gave him some pretty shit news, to be fair. If she'd told him he would be victorious, I could understand. But she basically told him he was fucked and that he was going to lose the battle. Why did he let her live?''Because she was kind to him,' Ethan said. 'She could see he was completely terrified and she offered him comfort in his darkest hour. He might have been her enemy, but she knew that he had been manipulated by the Angels, like so many others. Ironic really that the man they sent to destroy the line of the Endorians, was the one who helped beget it.'My eyes widened. 'Wait, do you mean...'Ethan chuckled. 'Yeah. Saul and his three sons died in battle the next day, but his daughter – a daughterRelated chapters
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 45
'You think I'm crazy, don't you?' he said.I was still staring at the vial. I couldn't look at him. Not yet. Not while an eternity rested in the palm of my hand.He chuckled, the sound forcing my gaze to meet his.'Maybe I am,' he said with a sniff, cuffing his nose with the back of his hand. 'You barely know me. I mean, you know more about me than anyone else ever has, but I guess that doesn't really matter. Not in human terms anyway. To you I must be this crazy bloke who's turned your world upside down and who's now asking to you stay with him for as long as we can stay alive. I wouldn't say yes if I was you.'His face was guarded, his tone too matter-of-fact, like he'd flipped a switch labelled Stop Being A Soft Bastard, but I could still see something in his eyes, a touch of hurt maybe? I hoped not. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. I didn't know what the Hell I wanted, but I knew I didn't want that.'I'm not saying no...''But you're not
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 46
I carried the two tiny cups of espresso back to the table, sliding in beside Ethan so I could see through the window. In the distance, the spires of the Duomo rose high above the Piazza, the sky behind it a tranquil clear-blue backdrop contrasting with the crowded chaos below.'Can I ask you something?' I said, wincing as the hot coffee scalded my lips.'If I say no, you're still going to ask me anyway, right?''Of course.' I shrugged, putting the cup back down on the miniature saucer and taking a deep breath. I knew how this was going to sound before I even opened my mouth, but I knew I had to say it. I had to know. 'The last time you broke into the Vaults,' I said. 'When you hid the Gospel there. Who helped you break in?'Ethan said nothing for a moment, his eyes not leaving mine as he took a sip of his coffee.I swallowed. 'I mean, you said yourself that you need a maledicti to get in and keep the Erelim distracted. So, who was she? The one that helped yo
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 47
Take a pill, take a pill.Swallow it down. Let it stick in your throat. Let it take you to where the snow chills your toes. Where the birds swoop low.Take a drink, take a drink.Let it burn on your tongue. Ignite a forest fire in your stomach. Let the embers dull your senses. Make you numb.Take the needle.Let your flesh devour it. Your veins consume it. Let it hold you under the surface. Drown out the noise.Yes, drown it all out. Swallow it all and just drown .It's better that way, she says.She's right. And I hate her for it.Deep in the darkness, I dreamt of her.Maggie.Her hair was ash-grey. Her face, once a canvas for someone who had been pretty in her youth, was like plaster dust, pale and flaking. Her body had been pushed inside the living room wall of our old council flat, until just her head and arms were still visible. She reached for me and as I watched, the print of the gaudy floral wallpaper cre
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 48
He was tall and lithe, dressed all in black, with cargo-trousers, black heavy lace-up boots and a black crew-neck vest top that showed off his well-toned arms. Around both wrists he wore matching hematite chain bracelets and his glossy, black hair was tied back in a Samurai-style topknot. His face was thin and angular, but handsome, and he carried himself in a way that demanded attention as he strode confidently towards where Juliette stood.As he reached Juliette, she dropped her hands to his shoulders and pressed her mouth against his. He accepted the kiss, I noticed, with a small hint of disdain and he pulled back almost instantly, dismissing her attentiveness with a glance at me over her shoulder. She spoke in a hushed tone into his ear, flourishing it with a coquettish giggle and looking back towards me as if she had just told him some fabulously-funny joke. His face, however, remained impassive. Stepping around her, he approached me, stopping just a couple of metres away,
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 49
The atmosphere inside the hall crackled with an electric tension that prickled over my skin and sent my heart racing, as if I'd just spent the night off my face partying at one of Davey's gigs.Ethan straightened up, rolling back his shoulders, and by his side, his fists were clenching and unclenching - that sure sign he was squaring up for a fight.Nobody had moved since the moment he'd appeared.The demon army surrounded him, their arms outstretched and ready to attack, and yet their stance and the expression on their faces seemed to tell a different story. If the tension was coming from anyone, it was coming from them, not from the one demon who stood alone, outnumbered, flanked on all sides by his enemy. The nervous energy coursing through the air was so palpable, I could feel it building, becoming this monstrous thing that was threatening to consume everything. I waited, my eyes wide, my throat burning, and as the seconds ticked by, I realised I was waiting for t
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 50
'Which, of course, you can do,' said Blake. 'After Helel has done what we require of him. I take it you have the book?'Oscar sniffed long and hard, swallowing down whatever shit he'd been storing inside his nostrils. 'Yeah, I've got it,' he grumbled, thrusting the holdall into Blake's eager hands, before looking down at Ethan, his expression almost apologetic. 'Sorry, lad, I really am, but I told you a long time ago that you couldn't hide from this.'Ethan glared at him, the full weight of his stare feeling like a shroud of ice that chilled my skin, even though it was directed solely at the demon who had double-crossed him.'I should have known,' he said, his tone laced with venom. 'Tell me, Berith, how long did it take you to betray your friends once Blake had wormed his way into your soul? When their bodies were still warm, or did you wait until they had turned to dust?''That hurts, Ethan, that hurts me right here.' Oscar thumped his fist against his chest. '
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 51
'Wait!' she warned, pulling him closer. 'Be wise, Azazel. Whatever has been done can be undone.''How, Juliette? The Gospel is useless to us without the witch's words.' The muscles in Blake's arm tensed as he wrenched it from her grasp, clearly exerting a great deal of self-control to stop himself from beating Ethan senseless. He thrust his fists into his sides.Juliette flicked through the pages herself, her eyes shrewd as she looked at each page in turn, running her fingers over the now-wordless paper. Pursing her lips, she raised her head to look in Oscar's direction. The rogue Demon, I noticed, had gone very red in the face, which had never been a good sign if you'd had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of his Vesuvius-like temper.'Did you have a hand in this, Berith?' Juliette accused.Oscar's eyes hardened. 'You fucking what? I brought that book to you myself. Do you honestly think I'd hand it over if I knew it had been tampered with?''Then h
Her Worst Nightmare CHAPTER 52
Snowflakes were falling onto my face.The chill of each minute crystal felt good on my skin, like dancing in a brief, downpour of rain after enduring the sticky heat of a scorching summers day. I tilted my head back, so I could catch more of the snow on my face, eyes closed and smiling as it caressed my lids with the gentlest of icy kisses.'You feel better now?' Mr. Tumnus said, close by.I nodded, my eyes still closed. 'Yes. Thank you, Mr. Tumnus. I feel much better indeed. There's something so wonderful about the snowfall, don't you think?'Mr. Tumnus said nothing for a moment, and when he did, there was such a sad inflection to his tone, that it made me open my eyes and search him out, because I hated to think of Tumnus feeling sad.'I have grown accustomed to the harsh bite of winter, daughter of Eve,' he said. 'But I do so long for the summer. I think I would very much like to feel the softness of grass under my hooves, and dance in the warm glow of th
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