Midnight Ruling (26 page)

I let the thought drift to focus on what was important.

“What about this punishment?” It didn’t matter whether I had intentionally tried to sabotage Damien’s world or not. To him, I had committed a crime and the verdict was: Guilty.

I had seen what he did to the two men who were sacrificed to him.

His arm snaked up to the other side of my head, trapping his lips to my ear. His fingers curled into my hair and gripped it as if he thought I might jerk away.

If he were meaning to drive home the seriousness of what I’d done, he was doing a heck of a job.

His mouth tickled goosebumps up and down my right side. “Because of your ignorance, this is a warning. You’ve already changed things you shouldn’t have. Events have been set into motion. Events are out of place.”

“Events?” I asked.

“You created a loop when you woke the man. Your emotions in that moment will make him suffer.”

I let the words roll around in my head, scrutinizing them. “How do you know he will?”

What if I could stop it?

“Because I’ve already seen it. So have you.”

Damien’s cheek brushed against mine, cool and smooth, just before lips brushed the edge of mine, testing.

I stopped myself from the curious temptation to turn my head to meet his mouth. He was gorgeous, but to kiss him again would be a betrayal. It would be malice and…
wonderful?

“I need to ask.”

His breath tickled my jawline, but he didn’t speak.

Screw it.

My eyes rolled first to meet his, feeling the moment rising. He was so close my gaze reflected back to me.
Demon
, I thought,
just like me
. The thought pained me, but somehow I knew it was true. I knew that it ran through me, tainted me. How could I call myself a friend to the people who were trapped here?

I thought of Phoebe and how she was still there when she shouldn’t be. What would I do without her? Maybe I’d be dead instead of her. She’d stood in front of the doorway that pulled her in. If she hadn’t, I’d have been the one.

There was a spark in Damien’s dark eyes and a quirk to his crooked smile that made me aware that he’d expected this.

Something about his expecting it made me resist. It was like he’d planned it. As if these actions weren’t my own and he was tricking me. But I wanted to be here, didn’t I?

The thought made me feel offensive. Like I were the leper at the ball pretending to be a diva and he could out me.

At my mid-motion pause, Damien’s smug smile stayed in place. He didn’t move in to finish my erroneous start.

“Heh,” I breathed, realizing my glass pride was cracking. I was far too comfortable around him sometimes.

He chuckled, not sounding the least bit ashamed. The haunting sound echoed in my head long after I felt his grip loosen and the darkness fall in on me.

I stumbled at the sudden difference.

I was no longer in the darkness, and Damien wasn’t there.

My skin still tingled, and I found myself brushing my hair with my fingers, loosening the tangles in a nervous twitch.

In an instant, I was back in the center of the zoo. I stood in the archway of the
Mangy Monkeys
on the other side of the hotdog stand where Joel was pacing, his back to me.

Phoebe was on the bench, her injured leg extended in front of her as she watched Cody step toward the shiny red stand. Somehow, it looked shinier than before.

My gaze lingered on Phoebe before drifting to the Egyptian decor.
Of life and death
, I thought grimly.

Cooper lifted the lid where Phoebe had found the wieners. Peering inside, I realized he was speaking, but I couldn’t hear him. It was like the damn dreams all over again. Dreams where Phoebe hadn’t technically been alive.

Joel stood to the side, bulky arms crossed over his chest as he glared at Cody in his usual fashion. I didn’t think Joel had many pleasant expressions.

Opening my mouth, I tried to speak, finding that my voice was a rasp, barely audible.

How was I supposed to tell Phoebe? Wait…should I tell Phoebe?

I reached for my throat, feeling smooth skin without anything that might mar it.

I glanced down to see I was a solid form. I took a step forward, and my socked feet sent the dust up in a crazed flurry.

Looking up, I saw Cody reach into the hotdog stand when Joel shoved him to the side, shouting something.

This time, I could make out a distant noise that mimicked the movement of Joel’s lips, but I couldn’t quite make out the words.

Cody stumbled back, surprise drawn on his face.

He caught the side of the hotdog stand before falling back.

Phoebe flung her leg over the side of the bench. I could hear her say words, but it was almost like I was listening to her under water. “It’s not a competition. We can share, assholes.”

Taking another step forward, I neared the unsuspecting Phoebe.

Cody struggled to stand before he shoved his arms out in front of him and used his meagre body weight to drive the football player back.

Joel had his arm submersed in the hotdog stand when Cody ran into him. Though it didn’t throw Joel off balance, it surprised him. He reeled back, his hand slick from rummaging around in the compartment. He closed his hand into a fist and took a swing.

“Hey!” My voice paused Cody’s dodge.

He turned to see me just as the fist collided with his angular cheekbone.

Wincing at my unintentional diversion, I rushed forward, past Phoebe.

“Where have you been?” Phoebe demanded, though I didn’t have time to respond.

Cody had staggered away from Joel, clutching his cheek. He stopped the moment his back touched the bars of the cage, and he looked up. Rage flashed like I’d never seen before, especially in Cody Lewis’s eyes.

Joel was ready for it, poised with his fists up like a boxer.

Cody pushed himself away from the bars just as I stepped between them. Upon later contemplation, I realized that it wasn’t the smartest move. If Joel or Cody decided to close the gap, I would have been the prime target for that first punch.

Luckily, Joel had turned to the hotdog stand the moment his eyes locked with mine. Lowering his fists, he snorted, no longer finding Cody a threat. “There better be food in here,” he grumbled, submerging his arm once again into the darkened compartment.

I opened my mouth to protest. There was something about that hotdog stand I was supposed to remember. Biting my lower lip, I stared at the shiny edging. The memory tickled but wouldn’t jangle loose. The sides of the sparkling red hotdog stand had dust kicked up on it from our race into the center.

Something about the stand
, I thought.

Phoebe hobbled toward Cody and me. “What the hell? Are we ten again?” she snapped, glaring at Joel, mostly.

Either way it went, if this wasn’t the real Phoebe and just a copy brought back from the dead, she sure seemed the same.

“Cody, are you okay?” I asked softly.

His pride seemed shaken by my question, but he nodded.

“What happened?” I asked.

Joel opened the first compartment. Instead of reeling back like Phoebe and I had, he plucked a healthy hotdog bun from it.

Phoebe distracted me. “I was just going to get something to eat from the stand.”

Again, something nagged at me. I found myself staring at the dirt at our feet, searching for something. I wasn’t entire sure what, but it was important.

I touched my forehead with my fingertips.
It was right there!

Phoebe continued, unconcerned with my distraction. “Well, this jerk decided that he would get first dibs and then one thing led to another, Cody tried to help me, and
bam
.” She slapped her fist into her palm. The sharp slap jerked my attention back.

How would we get out of here with him tagging after the way he was? He would hinder before helping. Readying myself for several opening arguments, I never got to relay them when Joel began to scream.

Everyone jumped away. No one jumped to help him.

As if I were watching a movie, Joel jerked his arm free of the third compartment full of wieners. Colored water cascaded to his elbow as he held his hand in front of his face.

Joel screamed over and over, face twisting grotesquely with immense pain.

For a shocked second, I wasn’t sure what had happened until I realized the dark water was blood gushing from where Joel’s thumb used to be.

Gripping his injured hand, Joel collapsed to his knees.

Did I do this?
I thought in horror.

You created a loop when you woke the man. Your emotions in that moment will make him suffer.

Phoebe unglued first. She was gripping a strip of blue cloth, obviously prepared for her own leg. Instead, she dropped to her knees and grabbed for his hand. At first, I thought Joel was going to hit her. His eyes blazed as he pulled away, his screams diminishing to shocked whimpers, which were worse to listen to.

“Give her your hand, Joel!” I commanded, my voice sharp and strained. I took several uneven steps backward, clutching my stomach as the warmth writhed, and I struggled to contain it.

Cody stayed rooted in place, staring in wide-eyed disbelief.

Phoebe demanded that Joel hold still as she wrapped the white cloth around the spewing stump.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself not to flinch. Joel shuddered with each wrap of the tender wound. To his credit, he didn’t jerk away again. He kept his arm up, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

Blood rivered down Joel’s forearm and Phoebe’s hands. She gave a final tug to the knot, looking uncertain. “This won’t work for long,” she said.

The blue cloth was drenched, and I remembered the thumb that I had pulled from the stand earlier. My eyes darted to the dusty edge of the circle where I had thrown it, but it was gone.

Nausea clumped in the back of my throat. Fanning my face, I felt as if I was overheating, and I wasn’t sure if it was the Challenge or me.

Could the thumb have been Joel’s? I knew that time here wasn’t the same, but this was too much to think about. Damien said he knew I’d done this.

Did this mean that Joel had been punished before he’d even woken up in the Challenge? Or that what was going to happen could never be changed?

I gripped my stomach and doubled over, leaning against the bars of the nearest cage to keep upright.

All your fault
, the voice whispered.
This is all your fault, and they’ll realize it and hate you for it.

Joel’s glassy eyes stared at his missing digit. “I have to get it back,” he said. “Maybe they can reconnect it.”

“Who?” Phoebe demanded. “There aren’t any doctors hanging around. Hell, that thing should be cauterized…” She wiped her bloody hands on her shorts then realized what she’d done and grimaced.

Joel wobbled, seemingly drunk, and glanced back at the hotdog stand. “Cody, you get it out,” he growled through clenched teeth.

Cody paled at the demand.

Joel didn’t seem to notice as a string of curses pierced the air. Gripping his arm, he turned in circles, fear being sponged with each turn.

“Where did you go?” Phoebe asked me, interrupting Cody’s response.

Part of me wanted to tell her the truth, the other screamed to stay quiet. They were suspicious of me, and if I told them I had a demonic grandfather I doubted they would enjoy my company much more. The idea of demon blood sent an upchuck of hysteria. The idea that Mama Nell, the woman who’d sacrificed us—her own daughters—was worse.

“Damien…” I started. My mind fumbled for an excuse—anything to stop the madness from seeping through.

Nell had to have known we were her kids. She murdered one of her own children. The new thought made me stutter, and I had to look at Phoebe to keep my thoughts focused.

If I told them Damien thought I was cheating, they’d want to know why and how. I wasn’t sure how much of a lie I could feed them without screwing up. I glanced at Joel, who gripped his wrist, blood wet and shiny.

Flustered, I saw the shadow of unease cross Phoebe’s forest green eyes.
This dead girl’s eyes
, I thought.

Clearing my throat, I tried again. “Damien wanted…”

Joel shouted and moved back so quickly that I stopped. Hitting the bars behind him, Joel stared past Phoebe and me.

Twirling around, my hands up, I saw the source of Joel’s alarm.

Sitting beneath one of the archways was the tiger.

Swishing her tail, she uprooted the dusty earth in a cloud behind her.

If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn I saw amusement in her furry face. But I must just have perceived what I wanted to see.

Blinking away the confusion, I held up my hands to stop Joel. The last thing he needed was a racing heartbeat.

“He wanted me to bring her back.” I spit out the lie before I could stop myself. For Phoebe, I gestured to the tiger. In my desperation to find an excuse, it seemed that one fell in my lap.

“Bring her back from where? Where did she go?” Phoebe asked, glancing between the tigress and myself.

I looked at the tiger, but she just watched us. “She was supposed to follow us and didn’t. I was just told to keep an eye out for her.”

Phoebe frowned. “He made you disappear for that?”

I nodded. “I think she’s important to the Challenge.” The lump in my throat thickened, and I didn’t dare say more.

The tigress yawned, stretching her enormous jaws and revealing the dozens of sharp fangs.

“How?” Cody asked when the tiger closed her mouth. His body was poised to run.

“I don’t know,” I confessed, unable to think up an excuse on the spot. “But she did save me in the monkey cage when I was with Phoebe.” At least the last part was true.

Phoebe’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah, I fell, and they had me surrounded.” I explained how the tiger had chomped one of the leaping monkeys.

Joel was creeping forward, his body hunched around his bloody hand, which Phoebe motioned for him to keep elevated. His dark shirt was blotched with blood and sweat, but he did as he was told and asked, “How do we know that thing isn’t this Damien guy?”