Darkness Falling by Emma L. Adams

Author:Emma L. Adams [Adams, Emma L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BA
Published: 2016-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Ultimatum

Hayley, it turned out, was just as surprised as Layla to find that any of us had survived. She came into the meeting room alone, which struck me as suspicious. I hadn’t seen any of the other venators around, either.

“They’re at the London HQ,” she said. “We’re working together to take down Mephistopheles. The damage he did on the bridge… the team are working to cover it up.”

“Great,” said Claudia, sarcasm dripping form her voice. “So they’ll intervene when the fighting’s over, but not when our friends are getting killed?”

“None of us knew anything was wrong,” said Hayley defensively. “He communicated with you?”

“He used Howard’s phone,” I explained.

We should have told them. But we’d had no time, and the Venantium couldn’t have made the slightest difference. Once Mephistopheles set his sights on someone, they were dead.

“He told us to come to the bridge if we wanted to save Howard. But… he’s possessing him, and now he’s taken our other friend with him.”

“Your people are the ones who stirred him up,” Claudia growled. “That’s what Layla said, anyway.”

Layla stiffened, looking at Hayley.

“Hey, don’t drag Layla into this again,” said Cyrus. “She couldn’t have known he’d do something that stupid. That’s on us. We all know what Howard’s like.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you told him something about his parents.” Claudia still glared at Hayley. “Right?”

“It wasn’t my decision,” said Hayley, running a hand through her hair. “God knows I’ve got enough to deal with already. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Lloyd—Howard’s father–passed away from a sickness in prison two years ago. His wife suffers from an undiagnosed mental illness. My colleagues refused them the help they needed.”

A horrified silence filled the room.

“I claim responsibility for it,” said Hayley, “but I wasn’t in charge of the cells, and no one can deny that the two of them used illegal magic.”

“What did they even do?” said Claudia, in horror struck tones.

Hayley drew in a deep breath. “They conspired to murder a senior member of the Venantium. They were caught in the middle of a demon-summoning spell. They fought back with demonic magic, and were restrained. The Inner Circle themselves had to get involved in order to restrain them, and it was decided that Howard shouldn’t be told the truth.”

More silence. Ripples of shock coursed through the room. I couldn’t even wrap my head around the idea. Maybe it was for the best that Howard had never found out…

Stop that. You don’t know he’s really dead.

The gaping hole inside me threatened to drag me in again.

“That’s…” Cyrus’s voice sounded distant, as though coming from the other side of a glass wall. “That’s still not your decision.”

“You asked for the truth. I gave it to you.” She sighed, running a hand through her dishevelled hair. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days. “I’m sorry. Believe me. But you should know that stopping Mephistopheles and Lucifer is imperative right now. Mephistopheles sent a warning to us, too.”

“He did?” I said, staring at her.

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