fact, it was very, very bad. This meant she was going to die...and die rather soon.
Unless I was dead wrong.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was reading people incorrectly. Maybe I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about.
No. I had seen Billy’s impending death—his horrible, horrible death—as he had brushed up against me at his home. True, I couldn’t know for sure if Liz Turner was going to die, unless I touched her, which wasn’t going to happen with this thick piece of glass between us. And, unfortunately, I wasn’t a vampire who could punch my way through it. But I could make an educated guess. And my guess suggested that she was going to die...within days, if not hours.
Holy shit.
A moment later, she reached for the red phone receiver hanging on the partition that separated her from the prisoner in the booth next door. I was already holding my own red phone receiver. I was proactive like that.
“ Hi,” I said.
“ Who the hell are you?” Liz asked.
“ My name’s Allison Lopez.”
“ Who are you?”
“ I’m a friend of your dad’s,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed, and as they did so, something flashed behind them, something red and menacing. “He’s never talked about you before.”
“I’m a new friend.”
Liz Turner was twenty-four. She had her whole life ahead of her. She had, in fact, everything to live for. She lived a comfortable life in Santa Monica. So, why had she killed a shopkeeper? I was beginning to have my suspicions why, but I needed to confirm them. Liz was cute in a plain way. She had big, round eyes with naturally long lashes. She spoke with a faint English accent.
Those same round eyes were now widening...her pupils were shrinking to pinpricks. Red flared just behind her pupils. I doubted that others could see the red, but I saw it, and that was all that mattered. “Father is an unbeliever,” she said.
“ In what?” I asked.
The red in her eyes flared. “In me.”
“And who are you?”
“ We are many.”
“ You speak of yourself in the plural, Liz?”
“ I am not Liz. Not now. Sometimes I permit her to return, but mostly, I do not. Soon, it will be time to destroy her. In this place, she is of no use to me.”
“ What are you?”
“ I am your worst nightmare.”
I almost smiled. In fact, I think I might have. “I’ve seen worse.”
The red in her eyes flared and the darkness around her swirled, faster and faster. Now, thick, black cords wove within her dark aura. They wove and swirled and tightened. These could have been a hundred black vipers. A thousand.
“ I want to speak to Liz,” I said firmly.
“ And I want to kill you, Allie.”
Hearing the entity speak my name was unsettling at best, but I refused to show it. “Where’s Liz?”
She looked at me for a long moment, and a slow smile spread over her face. “Waiting to die.”
“ You have possessed her.”
“ Never give the devil an opening.”
“ How did she give you an opening?” I asked.
“ You ask a lot of questions, witch.”
I had never spoken directly to a demon, although, at one point in my life, I, too, had been possessed. But that was another story. As I sat there, I summoned light energy to surround me. I felt it move over me and around me, and I saw it flare briefly in the eyes of Liz. She sat back a little.
“Stop it,” she said.
I decided that firmness was the best approach to dealing with a demon. “Answer me,” I said. “How did she let you in?”
“She had many openings, witch. Her guard was down, you could say.”
I knew that, in general, dark entities could not gain access to us without either an invitation...or if our psychic guard was down. There was some disagreement as to how exactly one’s psychic guard could be down, but some believed that extreme depression and drug and alcohol abuse were some ways that gave demons an invitation to possess a human.
“She was depressed?” I asked.
“ Wouldn’t you be?” she asked. “Living in that
Unless I was dead wrong.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was reading people incorrectly. Maybe I didn’t know what the hell I was talking about.
No. I had seen Billy’s impending death—his horrible, horrible death—as he had brushed up against me at his home. True, I couldn’t know for sure if Liz Turner was going to die, unless I touched her, which wasn’t going to happen with this thick piece of glass between us. And, unfortunately, I wasn’t a vampire who could punch my way through it. But I could make an educated guess. And my guess suggested that she was going to die...within days, if not hours.
Holy shit.
A moment later, she reached for the red phone receiver hanging on the partition that separated her from the prisoner in the booth next door. I was already holding my own red phone receiver. I was proactive like that.
“ Hi,” I said.
“ Who the hell are you?” Liz asked.
“ My name’s Allison Lopez.”
“ Who are you?”
“ I’m a friend of your dad’s,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed, and as they did so, something flashed behind them, something red and menacing. “He’s never talked about you before.”
“I’m a new friend.”
Liz Turner was twenty-four. She had her whole life ahead of her. She had, in fact, everything to live for. She lived a comfortable life in Santa Monica. So, why had she killed a shopkeeper? I was beginning to have my suspicions why, but I needed to confirm them. Liz was cute in a plain way. She had big, round eyes with naturally long lashes. She spoke with a faint English accent.
Those same round eyes were now widening...her pupils were shrinking to pinpricks. Red flared just behind her pupils. I doubted that others could see the red, but I saw it, and that was all that mattered. “Father is an unbeliever,” she said.
“ In what?” I asked.
The red in her eyes flared. “In me.”
“And who are you?”
“ We are many.”
“ You speak of yourself in the plural, Liz?”
“ I am not Liz. Not now. Sometimes I permit her to return, but mostly, I do not. Soon, it will be time to destroy her. In this place, she is of no use to me.”
“ What are you?”
“ I am your worst nightmare.”
I almost smiled. In fact, I think I might have. “I’ve seen worse.”
The red in her eyes flared and the darkness around her swirled, faster and faster. Now, thick, black cords wove within her dark aura. They wove and swirled and tightened. These could have been a hundred black vipers. A thousand.
“ I want to speak to Liz,” I said firmly.
“ And I want to kill you, Allie.”
Hearing the entity speak my name was unsettling at best, but I refused to show it. “Where’s Liz?”
She looked at me for a long moment, and a slow smile spread over her face. “Waiting to die.”
“ You have possessed her.”
“ Never give the devil an opening.”
“ How did she give you an opening?” I asked.
“ You ask a lot of questions, witch.”
I had never spoken directly to a demon, although, at one point in my life, I, too, had been possessed. But that was another story. As I sat there, I summoned light energy to surround me. I felt it move over me and around me, and I saw it flare briefly in the eyes of Liz. She sat back a little.
“Stop it,” she said.
I decided that firmness was the best approach to dealing with a demon. “Answer me,” I said. “How did she let you in?”
“She had many openings, witch. Her guard was down, you could say.”
I knew that, in general, dark entities could not gain access to us without either an invitation...or if our psychic guard was down. There was some disagreement as to how exactly one’s psychic guard could be down, but some believed that extreme depression and drug and alcohol abuse were some ways that gave demons an invitation to possess a human.
“She was depressed?” I asked.
“ Wouldn’t you be?” she asked. “Living in that
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