A Demon's Gate by Emilia Hartley

Author:Emilia Hartley [Hartley, Emilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-19T16:00:00+00:00

18

VI

My stomach growled fiercely. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten.

I rolled off the couch and padded into the kitchen. The room seemed…off. I didn’t know how to explain it, though. Everything was right. It was all how I remembered, the fridge to my left covered in magnets and take-out menus. Ahead of me, my French Bulldog utensil holder sat proudly.

At the counter, I tapped my fingertip against the ceramic bulldog’s nose.

What was I doing in here again?

I peered around. I was in the kitchen. Something seemed off, though I couldn’t place it. I couldn’t remember why I’d come in here, either. Was I really getting that old? I stepped through a doorway and forgot what I was doing?

Shaking myself, I went back to the couch and dug through the cushions to find my phone. More often than not, I lost it in between the cushions. This time, however, I couldn’t find it anywhere. There was no sign of my phone.

Maybe I’d left it in the kitchen.

All it took was a handful of steps before my mind emptied again. I could almost hear the sound of it flushing. What had I been about to do? The bright kitchen with my fridge covered in the best take-out menus…

I’d…had that same thought not too long ago. It clung to me like a cat desperate for attention. I couldn’t touch it and pull it back to me no matter how hard I tried.

“What the fuck?” I ran a hand through my hair.

At least, I could curse. That was oddly comforting. I’d half-expected a comedic bleep and a laugh track to mercilessly play in the background. This wasn’t a comedy, though.

Inhaling, I closed my eyes and turned inward. The little flame inside me burned, a constant that would never fail me. I turned the heat up and let the fire fill my body. It met with resistance.

I scowled as the fire licked around another arcana inside me. This arcana didn’t belong to me. It was an alien presence. And so, like I’d done with the infection inside Morgan, I turned the heat up and up and up until the floor around me darkened and singed. The fire licked at my insides.

It was hard to imagine that this would kill me someday. This fire, my fire, would destroy me from the inside out if I didn’t give into Fate’s plans for me.

Seemed kind of unfair, but all right. Fate could be a stuck-up butthead if it wanted to be. I didn’t have to listen to it, though. I could chart my own course, even if that course meant my own demise. At least, it would be on my terms.

I doubted anyone expected any different from me.

I would miss my friends, though. Mountain hikes with Addie. Late night B-horror movies with Ness and Cerri. Sabotaging Ryder’s attempts to grill.

Most of all, I would miss Morgan.

Maybe I should tell him how I felt.

The fire burned brighter at the thought of Morgan Callahan. The blaze pulled inward, compressing into my core where it glowed like a florescent lightbulb.

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