Page 74 of Hellbound

The whole situation infuriated her. Her warped conscience awakened and howled.

This is wrong and you know it.

She unclenched her jaw with a click and channeled her stress elsewhere, chewing her thumbnail as she paced along the length of the dresser while Tori wallowed. The traveler’s head drooped between her shoulders, her body radiating exhaustion as she cast her eyes to the floor.

“So, what’s your plan?” Marian said at last.

“Bold of you to assume I have a plan,” came Tori’s miserable reply as she reached down to pick up her crumpled can. “I can afford one more night here, then I’ll figure out what comes next.”

One more night.

If there really was a Gifted bloodhound on Tori’s tail, Marian needed to walk out that door right now and get as far away as possible. Maybe call Vale and loop him in. The thought of adding more demons to the chaos seemed like a bad idea, but Vale had promised her protection. This seemed like as good a time as any to use it.

You still don’t know what you owe him. What if he’s set up a trap of his own for you?

The notion sounded preposterous after all he’d done to help her, even if his motives were selfish ones. But Verinne had proven she’d been baiting Marian with kindness. What if Vale’s strategy was the same, and he was simply better at it than the female demon?

“Give me a minute,” Marian mumbled as she drifted into the bathroom, kicking discarded towels out of her way in search of space to think. Automatically, she pulled out her phone and discovered another text from Abe. She started to type a response.

“Please shut the door if you’re going to pee,” Tori called through the doorway as Marian stood in front of the sink, typing.

“I’m not pissing, I’m texting Abe,” Marian called back.

The old mattress coils screeched. Tori bolted into the bathroom and braced a hand on the door frame. She reached in and ripped the phone out of Marian’s hand. “Who’s Abe?”

Marian’s innards clenched at the question and the look of apprehension on Tori’s face. It made Marian momentarily forget that she was supposed to be angry at the traveler. “Your coworker at the Evergreen Cafe.” Why did Marian feel as though she’d made a mistake? “Give me my phone.”

Tori took a sharp step backward, holding the phone out of reach. “I don’t know anyone named Abe.”

Marian’s face fell. “But he gave me your book.” Which she’d completely forgotten to bring with her.

The more she spoke of Abe, the more insane she felt. Marian’s words sounded bizarre in her own ears.

Tori fired back. “An architectural book?”

Marian nodded. “There was a receipt inside with your name on it. He said you guys were friends.”

“Of course he did,” Tori hissed. Her brown eyes blazed as they bored into Marian’s. “Did he touch you?”

Marian’s hand twinged as she shuffled through her memories. She looked back to that moment on the sidewalk outside the Evergreen. Abe had handed her a book. Their fingers brushed, but just for a second. Marian gulped. “I … yeah, but barely.”

“What did you text him just now?”

“I—” Marian stammered. The wheels in her head seized, like something was blocking her from examining what she’d done, hiding her own words from her.

Oh shit.

“Shit.” Tori echoed Marian’s thoughts as she shoved her phone back in her pocket. “Read it.”

Marian tore her eyes away from Tori and forced herself to think past the mental blockade. Brick by brick, she tore down the wall as she typed in her passcode and opened the text chain with Abe. Her blood ran cold when she read what she’d written and found she had no memory of typing any of it. But the proof was right there.

She let him know when she left her house. She gave him her bus route. She sent him coordinates.

Marian sucked in a ragged breath, suddenly lightheaded.

“He knows where we are. I told him.” Why would she do something like that? And why didn’t she remember doing it? “That’s not me. I’d never text stuff like this to a total stranger.”

Tori looked like she was about to puke. “I believe you. It’s not your fault.”