Page 119 of Hellbound

Slow, deep breath.

“I don’t know what came over me, thinking I’d survived something that killed such an experienced diver.”

“It’s your superiority complex,” Greg said as he took another swig of his beer. “Makes you a real cunt sometimes. Just ’cause you went to college doesn’t mean you’re smart. Falk had some fancy degree, too. He was brave as shit, but stupid.”

“You guys were friends.”

Greg nodded. “Yep. We had each other’s backs.”

Marian’s phone lit up again.

TORI:

TRUTH.

Again, Marian’s eyes locked on Greg.

“And you never broke that trust, did you?”

Greg arched his neck. Marian saw the suspicion in his eyes as he spat back.

“Of course not. What the fuck are you getting at here?”

But Marian’s eyes were on her phone now, unblinking as she willed the answers out of the ether as she spoke.

“What about me? Have you ever put a knife in my back, Greg?”

“The fuck?” He scowled. “No.”

He rose from the couch, feet planted wide as he barked at her. “You iced me out, remember? After all I did for you. What happened to Falk was an accident, and whatever you think I did to you is in your head. Like this Remnant bullshit. If it weren’t for me, you’d still be digging food out of grocery store dumpsters, so a little fucking gratitude would be nice.”

Her heart missed a beat when the next message came through.

TORI:

LIES. LIES LIES LIES.

Marian grabbed her phone and stood up, voice cold and steady.

“And what if I don’t have any for you? What if, instead, I broke your TV and called you a liar?”

Greg laughed. “I’d call you a crazy little shitbird.”

Marian turned away to pick up the gold, big-titted fake academy award on the coffee table and threw it into the television. The screen shattered as Greg roared.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

She spun easily on her heels, the smooth tile floors providing no resistance as Marian stalked toward Greg.

“Thought you were going to call me a crazy little shitbird?”

Greg’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes dilating as he took a step back for every one of Marian’s steps forward. Her phone buzzed in her hand, but she couldn’t look; she only saw the man cowering from her.

Darkness lashed at the edge of her vision as heat gathered in her wrist. She didn’t need to look at it to know the shadows had arrived and coiled around her arm like ribbons. Greg’s frightened face was all the proof she needed. Weight accumulated in her hand effortlessly for once as wildfire razed her thoughts.

But from the fire came clarity.

Greg went from indignant and raging to whimpering in seconds. He backed into the wall, beer bottle shattering on the floor in a puddle of foam and brown glass.