Seduced by Lies by Alex Lux Read Free Book Online Page B

crazy enough to walk out here this late? Besides us, of course.
    Bushes rustled a few feet away from us. Branches snapped.
    And then I saw something in the woods. Eyes. Red, glowing, demon eyes.
    Billy dropped his gun and screamed, then turned and ran.
    I moved to follow, my heart pounding in my chest. Under the influence of the moon, with fear filling my veins, my wolf tried to break through. My body convulsed, tried to change. Got stuck.
    I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. I collapsed to my knees groaning in pain.
    Not now. Please not now.
    More rustling.
    The demon, or whatever it was, drew closer. A growl rumbled through the woods, and I hadn’t been the one to growl.
    Curtis had followed Billy, catching up to him in split second, but stopped and dashed back when he saw me fall.
    “No!” I screamed, more afraid for him than myself. “Go! Run, Curtis. Run!”
    He didn't listen, trying to lift me up by the arm. The thing in the woods closed in, and I saw something that looked like a wolf, but stood on hind legs like a man, covered in fur with long, sharp claws, glowing eyes and a snout full of sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight. My Little Red Riding Hood analogy no longer seemed so funny.
    I pushed my wolf to shift and felt my bones and body realigning as the pain ended and my power poured into me. "Run," I yelled, getting ahead of Curtis. "Run!"
    The beast turned its attention to him. And charged. And before I could leap to save Curtis, before he could dash away, the beast attacked, biting into him. I heard flesh rip apart. I heard a howl, and the beast disappeared into the night.
    I ran over to Curtis, shifting back to human. He lay on the ground, shivering despite the warm night. His shoulder bled, his shirt and skin torn where the beast had bitten.
    Billy leaned against a tree, staring at us wide-eyed. He pointed his finger at me. “You’re one of them. You’re a demon, too. I saw you turn into one of them.”
    I looked over to Billy, my stomach filling with dread. “I can explain. I’m not the same as what you saw.”
    But Billy didn’t wait to hear my explanation. He ran off into the woods, leaving his shotgun behind but carrying my secret with him.

T EN
     
A Broken Voice
     
D RAKE
     

     
     
    Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,

    A broken voice, an' his whole function suiting

    With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing,

    — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
     
     
    THE DAY HAD taken its toll on me and my psyche. I sat under the weeping willow, whose forlorn song whispered to me. It had become my favorite meditation spot, though I knew Sam and Lucy both came out here often, their hearts heavy with the loss of their teacher, Mr. Krevner. He’d been presumed dead but was discovered near a secret research facility run by the organization responsible for our powers. They’d experimented on him until he’d turned into a tree. It sounded crazy, even now, but Sam had mind linked with him before the forest he’d been living in was burned down, leaving only his seed—which resulted in this tree.
    Maybe it held the soul of Mr. K, maybe it had something else entirely, but we all knew this tree was more than just a tree.
    Still, it gave me a place to release my mind and let go of the emotions that had attached themselves to me today, overwhelming me.
    When the vision filled my mind, my heart rate spiked, sweat pouring down my face as terror filled me.
    Teeth, dripping with blood. Claws, long, sharp and deadly. And eyes, red eyes glowing with evil. I felt the pain of someone, saw the world slip away into nothing.
    I stood on shaking legs, running back to the mansion as Rose’s car pulled up by the front door.
    She got out, fear pulsing through her, and ran around to the other side to help Curtis.
    I reached her in time to ease her burden, helping Curtis stand and walk into the mansion. He was sweating, his skin too pale and tinged in red. “We have to get Dr. Susie and Father Patrick.