Desolate (Desolation) Read Free Page B

Hell. The fact that he allowed me to go about my life without any word from him only added to my unease. In the two months since he’d taken Michael, I’d heard nothing. Father always had a plan, and I usually had a part to play. I shut the door and locked it before creeping across the living room and into the hallway. James’ bedroom door stood open a crack—his way of saying, Stop in, tell me you’re home . As bad as any normal girl’s human father and I loved him for it.
    “I’m home,” I whispered into the darkness of his room.
    “Good. Sweet dreams, princess,” James mumbled into his pillow.
    I closed his door and headed for my room and another restless sleep filled with dead friends and lost love.
     
     

 
     
     
    chapter five
     
    “Anything?” Miri asked, sliding into the seat across from me. We’d opted for lunch in the library, even though it wasn’t really allowed. Rain poured from the sky so the cemetery was out of the question again, and the cafeteria . . . Let’s just say a buzzing lunch room wasn’t the best place to discuss the coming Apocalypse. Plus, I still hadn’t gotten used to the press of noise and need that always surrounded a large group of humans, particularly teenagers.
    I shook my head sharply, unwrapping the veggie pita James had made me for lunch. His studies to be a chef at the culinary institute in Desert Peak were a definite plus considering I didn’t know the first thing about food preparation. Or pretty much anything else about human life.
    “Des.”
    I took a bite and I’m pretty sure my eyes rolled back in my head. “Mmm,” I mumbled around a mouthful of the most delicious sandwich I’d ever had.
    “Sheesh. He’s my boyfriend—how come you get all the good stuff?” Miri pulled out a peanut butter and jam sandwich from her skull-and-crossbone lunchbox. “At least it would be nice to have something new once in a while.”
    “I’ll be sure to let James know,” I said with a laugh. “Anyway, I stayed out till three and there was nothing . . . not even—”
    “Well, it’s coming. You’re going out again tonight, right?”
    I stopped, my sandwich poised halfway to my mouth. I set it back down. “The dream again?”
    “Again.” She peeled the crust off her sandwich which Connie—her housekeeper/maid/surrogate mom—always left on no matter how often Miri asked her not to.
    “The same?”
    “The—”
    A loud crash from the front of the library startled me and I jumped, the slim blade I kept in a holster around my upper thigh now in my hand before I’d finished standing and turning.
    A group of teens who called themselves The Chosen were closing in on Sister Mary Theresa, the potted fern she fussed over a tangle of green, dirt and pottery on the floor. The normally fierce nun shrank against the counter, trying to get as far away as possible from the evil that confronted her—because these kids and the demon who led them were evil.
    I slipped my blade back into place.
    “Try not to hurt anyone,” Miri said, her voice thick with grim acceptance. I’m sure my face looked like a thundercloud. I was tired of these wannabes. They had no idea what horror awaited them in Hell. Perhaps I should send them there .
    I knew they were innocent—relatively. The true fault lay with Eleon, the demon masquerading as their leader. A handsome teenage boy, Eleon twisted the truth until the humans practically begged for eternity in the cold wasteland of Hell.
    I marched to the front desk. Eleon turned slowly, his gaze easily finding mine past his crowd of groupies. In a flash I understood—he knew I was here. Knew I’d come to check out the disturbance. All of this—maybe even his entire little gang—was designed to get my attention. He smiled, his eyes cold, and radiated with want. I didn’t bother to smile back. I would never give him what he wanted—a coup. Eleon belonged to a very tiny faction in Hell that wanted to unseat Father and place someone—maybe