Betrayal by Amy Meredith Read Free Book Online

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    Eve’s breath caught in her chest. Was there a new demon on the loose? Was it still around? The last thing they needed was to have Seth see her use her powers.
    Jess saw the blood a second later, and let out a shriek. Then another, high and shrill and horrible to hear. Her father burst out the front door. ‘Jess! What’s happened?’
    She pressed her fingers to her lips, unable to answer.
    ‘Over here,’ Eve told him. She walked across to the bushes, scanning the area for any sign that a demon was nearby. Luke remained at her side. So did Mr Meredith. Seth hung back with Jess. Eve could hear him murmuring reassurances as she crouched down on the balls of her feet to get a closer look. She began breathing through her mouth to avoid the familiar – way too familiar – metallic smell of fresh blood.
    ‘It looks like a cat,’ Jess’s dad said. He pushed a clump of the bushes aside. ‘Yeah, that’s what it is. I think it’s Pumpkin from down the street.’
    ‘His throat has been slit,’ Luke observed. His hand moved reflexively to his back, and Eve knew he was wishing he had the demon-killing sword strapped under his shirt the way he did when they were sure a demon was on the loose.
    ‘We saw a couple of squirrels that had been killed like that, out in the woods,’ Eve added, wishing she could reach over and close Pumpkin’s staring golden eyes. ‘Do you think something could have followed us back?’ she asked Luke, knowing he’d understand she meant a demon.
    ‘Pumpkin was dead when we got here,’ he reminded her. ‘That means whatever killed him was here before we showed up. It’s probably gone now.’ But Eve could see that the muscles in his jaw were tense, and his hands had curled into fists.
    ‘The poor thing must have been killed right near here,’ Mr Meredith said thoughtfully. ‘There wouldn’t be so much blood if he hadn’t. And you’re right about the wound, Luke. It looks like the throat was deliberately slit. Another animal couldn’t have done this. Someone stood right in front of the house and …’ His words trailed off and he shook his head. He released the clump of bush, and it sprang back into place. ‘I’m going to go get something to wrap him in.’
    Eve stood up, but she and Luke didn’t move. It was as if the blood had cast a spell on them. Neither could look away.
    ‘Why would this animal-killer risk coming so close to Jess’s house?’ Eve murmured. She didn’t want to say the word ‘demon’ aloud, not with Mr Meredith and Seth nearby. She shot a look over her shoulder at her friend. Seth had managed to calm Jess down, at least a little.
    ‘You said that Jess called Simon just before we left, right?’ Luke asked.
    ‘Pretty much,’ Eve said. ‘Maybe five minutes before.’
    ‘And he sounded angry,’ Luke continued.
    ‘Definitely, even though we didn’t understand what he actually said,’ Eve agreed. ‘You don’t think … Do you think he was angry enough to kill the cat? He could have thought he was Jess’s. Pumpkin wanders over here a lot.’ She was relieved that there was an explanation other than a demon in their town. But the idea that Simon could have done something so violent was almost as frightening.
    Luke sighed. ‘I don’t know. It’s something to think about,’ he said. ‘But there are the squirrels too. And I’m really starting to wonder what happened to those missing pets your mom told us about.’
    ‘I don’t understand it,’ Mr Meredith said when he returned with a towel. ‘Just this morning, I was golfing with a friend, and he said he’d seen a dead dog in the middle of the road when he was driving back into town last night. He mentioned it because the dog hadn’t been hit by a car. He said it looked like its throat had been cut with a knife.’

Chapter Four
     
    That night Eve sat propped up in her bed, wearing the Santa Cruz T-shirt Luke had given her. She loved sleeping in it; it was so oversized and comfy. And it