Chapter 74
AMELIA
Walker stirred in bed, stretched, and opened his eyes. He then saw me and smiled.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” He was so calm as if nothing happened to us today, he almost got us all roasted alive.
“What do you remember?”
“Alpha?” His gaze shifted to Ryden, joining me before his bed. He looked confused, bouncing his gaze between Ryden, me, and then to the guys behind us. He sat on the bed and looked at himself and the entire room. “What’s going on? What happened? What happened to me?”
“What’s the last thing you remember, Walker? This is very important.” My voice came out harsh and strong.
“Why are you angry with me?” He looked taken aback and still confused. “Wait. What do I remember?” He stared at us one by one and his eyes widened as if he finally got us something. “Oh, Goddess. Alpha, I thought he’d kill you.”
“You remember about the challenge?”
“Yes. Yes.” He looked at me. “Oh, Goddess. Are you okay? How did you escape? How’s everyone?”
“So the last thing you remember was at the alpha challenge?” Zarah also came close while Ren and Theia stayed behind.
“Yes. After they took Amelia and put her in the van, I went with Alec. We arrived at the mansion and then they started packing. Then he took me with him to the basement—”
“You saw the basement? I thought you told us no one is allowed down there. How do I know we can still trust you and believe every word you say?”
“Amelia,” Zarah called my name. “This is the Walker you knew, not under the influence of the wraith.”
“Oh, shit.” Panicking, he looked at himself, and his hands, and patted his face. “I remember now. How am I still alive?”
“You tell us.”
He blinked at me and looked at Ryden as if asking for help to explain.
“I told her already about the plan,” Ryden said.
“You were meant to spy on us. The wraith didn’t hurt you because the command is to use your body and blend in. You made us believe that you’re still the Walker we knew,” Zarah explained which made him more confused.
“Guys, Alec knows everything about everyone.”
Everyone sighed in dismay.
“Shit.”
“That’s the Walker I know.” Ryden chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. “Welcome back, Walker.”
“I-I can’t,” he hesitated. “If that thing was inside me, maybe I could hurt one of you. Maybe I’m still under its control.”
“No, Walker. You’re off the wraiths. It was my fault that I did not scan you for dark entities. I scanned you for a device, that’s why it came out nothing.”
“I’m so thirsty.” He swallowed. “Can I have water?”
As much as I wanted to burn him alive, I needed the information he had. I poured water into a glass and offered it to him. “Drink. Then talk.”
“Thank you, Amelia. I was worried what they would do to you, but I was also confident you would make it out alive.” He drank the water empty and swallowed hard as if he had just taken something bitter. “Why does it taste like crushed medicine?”
“It’s supposed to burn your throat if you’re still controlled by a wraith,” Zarah explained. “Tell us about what you found out. You said something about Alec having a book and running for governor.”
“He has The Shadow Book, as he calls it, but running for politics?” He snorted. “Hell no.”
“Is he clean?” Sebastien came.
“Yes, my love.”
“Starts from the beginning,” Sebastien implied. “Whatever he said two days ago was not him talking. Forget about it. That’s Alec, he controls the wraiths, and that was what he wanted us to know.”
“Yeah. Forget whatever I said before,” Walker pointed it out. “I don’t even know what I was talking about, but I was sure my cover wasn’t blown before it happened.”
“Maybe not, but you became useful to him, that’s why he used you to get to us.” I heard a little relief in Ryden’s voice.
“Then maybe this place isn’t safe for all of you. We should get out of here.” He threw away the blanket, ready to get off the bed.
“Relax, the place is safe, for now,” Zarah said.
“Okay. For the past few days, he was mistrustful. I could feel he didn’t trust me. He didn’t include me in the plan, whatever they did in the living room. I was always under watch. When I asked them where they were going? They were leaving at that time, Nora and Alec. He told me, I have an assignment for you.” He shrugged. “So I said okay. Then he asked me to draw Alpha’s house.”
“Why he didn’t just ask Nora?” I asked out of spite.
“She has never been to my house.”
My brow arched. Deep inside, I felt like I just won the lottery. “Really?”
Ryden briefly looked at me then focused back to Walker.
“After that, he asked me about the sword. So I told him about what happened to Emil because I wanted to gain his trust, just like how Alpha told me to. They stole the sword and attacked Alpha and Luna. Before the guy Ray Douglas could get away, someone got into him. I didn’t know who.” He looked at Ryden. “I couldn’t tell Alec that he was dead back at the mansion. I was afraid Alec would suspect me. And I got this feeling that someone was helping us.”
“Why did you say that?”
He sighed. “Remember those dead werewolves and another man whom Amelia charged with murder? I think it’s done by the same person.”
“So you meant to say there’s a vigilante killing wraiths?”
“I don’t know, Amelia.” He glanced at Alpha. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. What else?”
“Before the challenge, he told me about his plan. He had a panic room where he placed the book and his wife.”
“Wait. Wait. What?” I asked in shock. Goosebumps erupted on my skin, and I had to hug myself as it felt so much intense.
Ren and Theia went to the other side of the bed.
“The moment I went down the basement, there was so much darkness in there that I’ve never encountered before, even Cyrius,” Zarah said, and we got the same vibe down there. “This one is different, and it’s not only after someone’s life. It’s after someone’s soul, too. Please, continue.”
“Um. He said that he and his wife went to an auction. He has a thing with antiquities and magical artifacts. He bought an antique jar, which contained a great demon, duke something, he called it Basim, Mathen, Mathin? Something like that.”
“A Duke of hell?”
“What the hell?” I stared at Sebastien with my mouth gaped open. “Duke of Hell? Like hell hell below us?” I pointed at the floor.
“Yes, Lucifer’s hell,” Sebastien confirmed.
“Well, shit. This is getting better and better.” Ryden shook and scratched his head, unable to believe what we were dealing with here.
“And it’s worse, guys. He was supposed to use keep it as his collection.”
“Is it a jar or vase?”
“It looks like a Chinese— Yeah, yeah. It’s a red, maroon vase with symbols in it. I can draw it down later. The jar tipped off during transport, according to him because he didn’t trust the cargo. So it broke down.”
“No. He was lying,” Sebastien said. “A vase that contains great demon wouldn’t just break down. It is sealed with great magic. He knew how to break the magic and released it.”
“I agree, love. He did it on purpose.”
“Yeah. It makes sense. Why would someone buy a vase of demon as a decoration?” Ren said.
“Let me guess, it entered his wife.”
“No. If he said was true, the demon chose his wife’s body and took the only person he loved. Until now, his wife is the vessel.”
“He said his wife was sick,” Ryden said.
“She was. Then he found the Shadow Book, but the spell wouldn’t work because there were missing ingredients. I admired his love for his wife, though.”
“Maybe, but bullshit. He let this happen because of love? He’s an evil.”
Ryden stared at me. “Don’t give me that look.” I glared back.“He spent a hundred million dollars to find the book. There’s one thing that can ward off wraiths. He called them legions.”
“Sphalerites?”
“Yes. A pure orange gemstone. Nora wore one.”
“Yeah. If the demon is what I think it is, it has thirty legions,” Sebastien affirmed.
“Why in the fucking hell did he purchase Demon in the first place? Is he out of his damn mind?” I felt the anger coming from Ryden, and he didn’t even care he cursed before Sebastien.
“His superior complex is what kills him,” Sebastien said. “So how does he control the legions?”
“He doesn’t. His wife asks if it gets hungry. Opened the containment to release a few legions to kill people. That’s what keeps his wife alive or else, it would kill the vessel or host.”
“So what are the missing ingredients?”
Walker looked at me. “The real sword and her.”