⊹ Book 2 of the Aldergrove Duology ⊹
{ONC 2023 Shortlister}
Desperate to see his dead mate again, Sebastien makes a deal with the Devil. But the price he has to pay is much more complicated than simply handing over his soul.
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⤠ ≻ ◈ ≺ ⤟
The room was empty. There was no sign of the phantom, and the bodies Sebastien saw around the altar last night were gone, too. He waved his hand and lit the torches with blue flames, lighting up the room, and that was when the ground rumbled.
From the cracks in the concrete ceiling, the phantom's smoke crept into the room, and when the creature started forming, the hitchhiker whimpered and started freaking out.
"M-monster!" he cried, trying to back off.
Sebastien grabbed his arm before he could. "Stay right where you are, dude."
"Evil! Terror!" the hitchhiker shrieked.
"It's okay!" Caleb insisted, trying to get him to calm down. "This is what's gonna help you be free."
"No! No free!" he panicked.
Sebastien didn't have the energy to deal with this. With a deep sigh, he abruptly smacked the back of the guy's head with enough force to concuss him, and when he became dazed and groaned quietly, he fell back, and Caleb caught him in his arms before he hit the floor.
"Did you really have to do that?" Caleb complained as he stood there with his arms around the hitchhiker's chest, holding him like he was some sort of overgrown baby.
"It was either that or try to get him to stop running away while we get ready to do this."
The phantom then snickered excitedly. "Feed...feed me!"
"Yeah, yeah. We'll get to that," Sebastien said as he approached the smoky apparition. "First of all, I wanna make perfectly clear that this is a one-time thing. I won't be sticking around to feed you on a daily basis."
It shook the part of its body that appeared to be its face. "No...no, only one feed. One feed is all it takes."
"Right, right. I—" He stopped himself as he looked back at the hitchhiker. He frowned and looked at the phantom. "One feed for what?"
"One feed...you get to ask questions."
Sebastien pondered for a moment. The phantom residing at Aldergrove Academy had never been deceiving; he didn't know any phantom that had malicious intent. It just wasn't how their kind worked, so the sudden feeling of uncertainty he was struck with must be a result of his worry regarding Lord Caedis' contract. He couldn't let that interfere with this.
He took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. So...you're not gonna get the show I promised. He was the only guy I could grab, so—"
