A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(58)
“Have you thought more about accepting the spirits and demon?”
“Is Terhal really a demon? You know, a full-on biblical demonic entity? A denizen of hell itself?”
“No, as much as he—although I know Terhal shows as a female to you now, so maybe ‘she’ is more appropriate—might like you to think that, she’s not really a demon. I’m not sure biblical demons actually exist in any form. Her species is called a drenik. I learned that when she let it slip. She doesn’t like to talk about herself much; she prefers to talk about what she’s going to do to ruin your life.”
“And she’s only evil? There’s no good there?”
“I don’t know originally, but I do know that after being forced out of her realm and trapped in a scroll, she isn’t keen on helping people. She likes to hurt them. Whether that’s a by-product of what happened to her, or if her species are all like that, or whether she’s just a psychopath, I don’t know. I know two things about her for certain: she cannot lie outright, and she will hurt people you love given a chance.”
“You know, I’d like to be able to say that this is all my father’s fault. That everything awful that has happened to me has something to do with him. But Tommy’s right, his evil isn’t an inheritance. I can’t blame him for everything, no matter how much I want to.”
“You want to talk about him?”
Layla was about to say no, then she paused. “I loved him. That’s why it hurt so much, that’s why it still hurts now. He betrayed my mom and me so he could go off and kill people. He enjoyed it. He kept a journal on each murder and handed them all over to the FBI when they came to our house. He kept hundreds of these journals in a lockup. My mother and I were questioned, and I didn’t quite understand what was happening. He never said sorry. He never told us why he did it. Not once.”
“You’re still afraid you’ll become him?”
Layla nodded. “Terrified. I know Tommy told me it doesn’t work like that, but a few hours of being told I’m not a psychopath doesn’t really compete with a decade of thinking I am.
“And then there’s Terhal. I want to punch his face in. I want to show him the anger inside of me, but then he shows me all of those things and it’s like I’m incapable of fighting back. I’m tougher than that, damn it. But he just makes me feel scared and alone, and . . . and like I felt the night the FBI or LOA or whoever busted into our home at three in the morning, and I hid under the bed because I thought the bad people my father told me about had come to get us. Terhal makes me feel like I’m that fourteen-year-old girl again, who had been taught to do all of these insane things to defend herself, but just ran and hid when push came to shove.”
“You were fourteen.”
“Yes, I know. And it’s the same feeling I had when Blake raised his hand to me. I froze. But then the last few times, when those thoughts bubbled out, I hurt people. And I liked it. I liked showing those bullies and thugs that they can’t scare me, that I’m stronger than them.” She rubbed her face with her palms and sighed. “My brain feels muddled.”
The door flung open, and Chloe and Diana came in.
“What’s going on?” Layla asked, when she saw the look of concern on both women’s faces.
“We’re leaving the hospital,” Chloe told her.
“And we’re going where exactly?” Layla asked, feeling the anger in her voice.
“I know you think I lied to you.”
“Think?” Layla interrupted. “You lied to me.”
Chloe nodded. “We need to get somewhere safe. Please.”
The group left the room and met Harry as they walked along the corridor.
“Hey, gang,” Harry said. He glanced between each of the three faces in front of him. “What happened?”
“Shit,” Chloe whispered. “Well, you’re here now, and frankly, if you don’t come with us, they’re going to come after you, so you might as well be in on the chat.”
Harry looked confused. “Who is them, and what are you talking about?”
“Turns out Chloe isn’t the person we thought she was,” Layla said.
“I’ll take Harry to the lift,” Diana said. “Make this quick.”
Chloe stopped and turned toward Layla. “Yes, I’ve been lying to you. I’ve known Tommy since I was twelve. His daughter Kase and I went to the same school. A few years ago, I went through a really hard time—my mother murdered my father and almost got me killed in the process. I wanted away from the life that I was getting sucked into, and so I moved to Southampton and was going to get my head straight. Tommy asked me if I’d look after you instead. He asked me to keep an eye on what you do, just be friendly and nice.
“I figured out where you went to the gym and what martial arts classes you took, and I joined them. I set up a coffee shop as a cover, which I didn’t exactly expect to become a hit, but you started going there and I went from being nice and keeping an eye on you to actually liking you.
“We grew close, and I now consider you one of my best friends. But for the entire time I’ve known you, yes, I’ve also worked for Tommy. I’m twenty years old and I’m not human. I’m an umbra, like you. I’ve been one for three years. Unfortunately, I ended up befriending you.”