Page 89 of Haunted Hearts

“That sounds like fun, count me in.” Alok jumps over the back of the couch and lands beside me. His piercing eyes are filled with excitement.

“Who said you were involved?”

He smiles. “It’s like you said, though. Whatever she wants.”

“I won’t disagree.” I sigh. “So what are we going to do about Gregor?”

“I can pull the air from his lungs and you tie him down with your vines. Easy.” He responds, unflinching.

“This isn’t war, Alok. We haven’t done something like that in a long time.”

“It’s not like it will kill him. At most it will incapacitate him temporarily.”

It might be our best shot.

“Okay, that’s what we’ll do. But we’ll need to wear him down first.”

“Happily,” he responds, smiling.

CHAPTER 28 CADE

I grab my bag and charge into my room, tossing it on the floor, and begin looking through my drawers, searching for the anxiety medication I keep in case I need it. I know it’s here somewhere.

Why the fuck is Kai acting like he’s the one in charge? It’s his fault Calli is gone in the first place.

Fucker.

I slam the drawer shut in frustration.

“Fuck!”

Pull it the fuck together. People are relying on you, Calli needs you.

Frustration builds as I replay the last few days. It wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t… I made the mistake of not being honest, I know that now. I won’t do it again… I just have to calm the fuck down.

I sit on my bed and close my eyes, dropping my head. I turn my head and glance at my duffel next to my door, the grimoire tucked neatly in it.

My brows pull together.

I stare at the large black zipper, knowing the evil it contains, when I begin to hear a faint whispering. As if being called to something. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard it. A nostalgic sound, immediately unlocking a memory I had forgotten. I knew it was familiar.

I’ve heard this before, when I was a boy—it was only ever whenever I went into my father’s office. I hated that book. But he always had it on a stand, placed on top of the mantel. He would tell me stories. I remember being afraid and how he would always comfort me, telling me I had nothing to be scared of.

But anytime I would wander in there alone, the grimoire would make that sound. The same one I hear now.

“What do you want…”

I move mechanically, pushing the duffel bag opening to the side. The withered, dark cover is almost taunting me. The whispers begin to grow more rapid, the room feeling as if it’s gotten darker.

“Cade,” the rich voice whispers softly.

A small sensation blooms in my chest, my fingers moving without permission. I have the urge to open it. The whispers sound in my mind, demanding I use it. I pull it from the metal safe inside the duffel, my hands trace over the rough texture of the spine. Beckoning me. My finger moves over the tattered pages as they slip gently between the pages.

“What do you want from me?” I whisper.

“Nothing. I just wanted to apologize.” Kai’s voice startles me.

My body tenses as I look between him and the book, confused.