Read Online Crimson Christmas by Rain Oxford - Free Book Online Page A

Devon’s mouth.
    “So I’ve heard,” Devon said calmly, turning his head
towards the sound of the malevolent voice. The stench of gas was giving him a
major headache and his muscles were cramping from his arms being contorted for
hours. “I take it they didn’t have your little box?”
    “Not on them, but I know one of you has it somewhere.
I bet one of those kids took it. They’re always taking things that don’t belong
to them.”
    “Says the man responsible for stealing toys in order
to force people to buy from you. For that matter, why build toys if you so
obviously hate kids? And what does your brother have to do with it?”
    “Children waste their youth on frivolous things and
they’re always so messy. My brother adores them. I am done with him; he will
die when the children do.”
    “Well, you’re obviously a man without issues. I
suppose adulthood was too much for you, so you’re trying to stop your own aging
by taking the liveliness of children.” Devon was hit in the face with a book
hard enough to leave a ringing in his ears, but he was expecting the blow. “Why
do you need the box anyway if you already have the kids?”
    “You fool. The children are in the box!”
    “Ah. So your little ghoul has to steal back the box
before Christmas. Let me guess. You have until the stroke of midnight? I know
it’s not at dawn because that’s a different type of magic altogether. So you
have, what? Three hours left?”
    Silence… “How do you know that?”
    Devon stood from the chair with a sigh, letting the
cut strips of tape fall to the floor. He took the blindfold off and faced his
assailant. Unfortunately, it was too dark to actually see his opponent.
    “How…”
    “You are a terrible captor.” He let his instincts
guide his aim and struck Sylvester in the face. Before Sylvester could get out
of the way, Devon grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed him
face-first into the wall. “You took my gun and left a knife in my pocket. You
took my ring and left my healing charm around my neck. But your biggest
mistake— that’s the funny part— was that you made a circle out of chalk and
then poured gasoline over it.” He slammed Sylvester into the wall again before
letting go.
    “You’re too late anyway,” Sylvester said. “Your
friends are going to die any minute now.”
    “Yeah, yeah. Your little pet is on his way there
now.”
    “No one can control him except me.”
    “That’s what I’m counting on.” Devon had been aware
of his influence over minds for as long as he could remember, but it wasn’t
until he attended Quintessence that he learned how powerful his ability was. He
wrapped his magic around Sylvester’s mind and seized complete control within an
instant. Sylvester would stop breathing if that was what Devon demanded.
    Instead, he forced Sylvester’s will to summon the
beast back. Devon was able to do this without delving into the toymaker’s
memories thanks to many hours of practice with his uncle. Once he felt a
response, he turned his focus on Sylvester.
    “How do I save the kids?”
    “You die.”
    Devon grabbed Sylvester by the hair and slammed the
toymaker’s face into a hard, wooden support beam. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.
Want to try again?”
    “They’re in the box!” Sylvester yelled. His sinister
voice was more nasally with his panic and pain. Well, that and his broken nose.
    “Yes, and I want them out of the box. You said the
box was small, so I know you have some kind of magic to make them fit. How do I
get them out?”
    “You die. The children are in a place very far from
here, in a cell that absorbs their magic and life energy. The only way out is
through the salominius. You open it here and it becomes a portal to the
dimension where the children are.”
    “Did you just say it’s a transdimensional box? As in,
the box is bigger on the inside?”
    “Yes, and it was never supposed to be opened. I will
get the salominius back and destroy it