Watcher in the Darkness, Book 3: Imprisoned

Chapter 33

Sunlight peeked through the clouds, but the rain had covered everything in a slick film. It was pure terror that kept me surefooted as I leapt from rooftop, to fire escape, to busy sidewalk. Even taking the most direct route to Kingdom Come, I couldn't seem to move fast enough. Not only that, it felt like the distance had tripled.

I had no hope of arriving in time.

Finding Karen's window on the massive cathedral turned out to be easy. Even from the sidewalk, a neon waterfall of jasmine flowed from the broken glass. I leapt onto the second story ledge, then climbed the rest of the way. Soon, I was sitting in the exact same spot Justine had occupied not fifteen minutes earlier.

I expected to find Karen's body, and maybe Justine still feeding from it. What I saw was Khalid sprawled out on Karen's bed, with Karen draped over him like a blanket. Dressed in a pair of silky black pajama bottoms and nothing else, he ran his fingers through her hair. I wanted to punch the look of contentment off his face.

But...Karen was alive. Relief turned my limbs to jelly, right before my mouth went on autopilot. "What the Infernal fuck?"

Karen jumped, startled, then turned her face into Khalid's chest. Khalid had no shame whatsoever as he said, "Here to break more of my windows? I expect compensation for that."

The sight of them together was like tiny spiders on the back of my neck. Who knows what I would've walked into if I'd been even five minutes later. Worse, there was no way in hell Khalid could've boiled himself in holy water and bleach since fucking Aliese the Whore. I watched, helpless, as the taint of that woman soaked into Karen's skin.

When I could speak without throwing up in my mouth, I said, "Karen, are you okay?"

Karen slid off of Khalid to lay on the bed next to him. "I'm fine, Toby. What are you doing here?"

Khalid sat up. "Welcome back, Tobias. By all means, come in out of the rain."

I gave him a deadpan look. He didn't need to know I'd almost accepted his invitation out of habit. "You're hilarious. Where's Justine?"

"I honestly can't say. Silly us, we assumed you were here to see Karen." What the hell was that supposed to mean? "If there's nothing else, we're kind of the middle of something."

"I can see that. Karen, come on. We need to go."

Karen didn't move. Her voice was soft, and she couldn't look me in the eye as she said, "I'm not going with you, Toby."

"Ever," Khalid finished. "She's not going with you, ever. You need to go away and leave her alone."

I jerked my chin toward Karen. "Let me hear that from her."

"You need to go, Toby," Karen said. I know I didn't imagine the waver in her voice. "I can't help you. There's nothing I can do against a revenant."

I mulled over her words. "Is that so? Neat trick. How did you get your voice to come out of her mouth like that? Is that an Infernal thing, or can you possess more than one person at a time?"

Karen rolled out of the bed then took a few steps in my direction. The look on her face was heartbreaking, but she was smart enough to stay out of arm's reach. "Toby, that's enough. Lord Ahriman is right. The primal energies needed to form a revenant are like the ones that cause tornadoes in the middle of hurricanes. What am I supposed to do against something like that? How do I know she won't try to take back my soul if I get too close to her?"

Khalid put his hands on Karen's shoulders; therefore, she didn't see the smug look on his face. "Are you kidding?" I said. "The real question here is who else can do anything? No one. Only you stand a chance against Justine."