Roth raised a finger—his middle finger—silencing him. “You know, I could make you go home and end your miserable life. Or better yet, walk right outside and throw yourself in front of the truck that collects garbage like you. After all, Hell has had its eyes on you for quite some time.”
I experienced a moral conflict at that moment. Either I let Roth manipulate the pedophile into offing himself or I stopped him—because, pervert or not, Roth would be stripping the man of his free will.
Crap. This was a tough decision.
“I’m not going to do either of those things,” Roth said, surprising me. “But I am going to mess you up. Royally.”
My relief was short-lived.
“I’m going to take away the thing you love most in this world—food.” Roth smiled beatifically. At the moment, he looked more like an angel than a demon—a mind-numbing beauty that couldn’t be trusted. “Every doughnut you see will look like it’s sprinkled with a heavenly dose of maggots. Every pizza will remind you of your dead father’s face. Hamburgers? Forget ’em. They’ll taste like rotten meat. And milk shakes? Soured. Oh. And those jars of chocolate cake icing you hide from your wife? Filled with roaches.”
A thin line of drool escaped McKenzie’s gaping mouth, dropping down his chin.
“Now go away before I change my mind.” Roth waved his hand, dismissing the man.
Stiffly, McKenzie turned around and went back into his office, a strange wet spot spreading down his leg.
“Uh...is he going to remember any of that?” I stepped away from Roth, clutching my bag close to my body. God, this demon’s abilities were astronomical. I didn’t know whether I was more frightened or impressed.
“Only that food is his worst nightmare now. Seemed kind of fitting, don’t you think?”
I raised a brow. “How did you know all of that?”
Roth shrugged, the light fading from his eyes. “We’re attuned to all things evil.”
“That’s not much of an explanation.”
“Didn’t intend for it to be.” He took my hand again. “Now let’s get back to business. We’ve got a zombie to check out.”
I bit my lip, weighing my options. I was already way too late to join class and there was a zombie in my school, which I should check out for Abbot’s sake. But Roth was a demon—a demon who followed me to school.
Roth sighed beside me. “Look. You do realize I can’t really make you do anything you don’t want to do, right?”
I peeked up at him. “What do you mean?”
His stare turned incredulous. “Do you know anything about what you are?” He searched my face, gaining the answer to his question. “You aren’t susceptible to demon persuasion. Just like I can’t sway a demon or a Warden to do something they don’t want.”
“Oh.” How I was supposed to know that was beyond me. It wasn’t as if there was a demon operation manual or something. “So why do you want me to check out the zombie thing? Shouldn’t the idea of a zombie running amok in a high school be a good thing for you?”
Roth shrugged. “I’m bored.”
Irritated, I tried to pull my hand free. “Can you ever give a straight answer?”
Something flashed in his eyes. “Okay. You want the truth? I’m here because of you. Yes, you heard that right. And don’t ask me why, because we don’t have time right now and you wouldn’t believe me anyway. You’re part Warden and if you get bitten by the zombie, then you will get infected. Maybe not completely batshit crazy like humans, but crazy enough to make my job harder.”
My heart rate quadrupled. “Why—why are you here because of me?”
“For the love of all unholy things, why must you be so difficult? I apologized for calling you a prude. I’ll even apologize for yesterday. I scared you. I threw your cell in a toilet. See, I was raised in Hell. You could say I’m socially awkward.”
Awkward was not one of the descriptions that came to mind for him. He had a sort of fluid grace that was otherworldly and predatory. “This is weird, even for me,” I admitted.
“But better than gym class, right?”
Most things were better than gym class. “I want to know why your being here has anything to do with me.”
“Like I said, you wouldn’t believe me.” When I held my ground, he said something too low and quick for me to understand. I wasn’t even sure it was English, but it sounded like a curse. “I’m not here to hurt you, okay? I’m the very last thing you should be worried about.”
Taken aback by that, I could only stare as realization smacked me upside the head. For some reason—I didn’t know why—I...I believed him. Maybe it had to do with the fact that if Roth wanted to harm me, he could’ve done so by now. Or maybe I was just incredibly stupid and had a death wish. And the idea of going to gym class did suck.
I sighed. “Okay, but you have to tell me why you’re here when we’re done.”
Roth nodded.
My gaze dropped to our clasped hands. Warmth had traveled up my arm, and I really didn’t trust that feeling. “And you don’t need to hold my hand.”
“But what if I get scared?”
“Seriously?”
Several seconds passed and then he released my hand. Scratching his chin, he shrugged. “Okay. It’s a deal, but if you want to hold my hand later, you’re out of luck.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
Roth slipped his hands into the pockets of his black jeans as he rocked back on his heels. “Are you happy now? Can we go?”
“All right,” I said. “Fine.”
He shot me a wide smile, flashing two perfectly placed dimples I hadn’t seen before. He looked almost normal when he smiled like that, but the perfection of his face still seemed unreal.
I tore my gaze from him, walking forward. “Where is it again?”
“The boiler room in the basement. And it’s probably going to smell worse down there.”
I’d forgotten about the smell somehow. “So you guys keep track of other demons and stuff?”
Roth nodded as he shouldered the double doors open. “Yes.”
I caught the door before it slammed shut, easing it closed. “And you let them infect humans even though it’s against the rules?”
Heading down the steps, he glanced back. He was humming under his breath, a song that was faintly familiar. “Yes.”
I followed him, gripping the rail with damp fingers. Something felt as if it was nesting in my stomach. “The Alphas forbid that kind of stuff. You’re only allowed—”
“I know. We’re only allowed to nudge humans, but never outright manipulate, infect and/or kill, and blah, blah. Free will is bullshit.” He laughed and jumped off the step, landing nimbly on the cement. “We’re demons. Rules kind of only apply to us when we want them to.”
“Free will isn’t bullshit, Roth.”
He stopped suddenly in front of me and our eyes locked. “Say it again.”
I frowned. “Say what?”
“My name.”
“Roth...?”
The dimples appeared again. “Did you know that was the first time you’ve used my name? I’ve decided I quite like hearing you say it. But back to my point—free will is bullshit. No one really has free will.”
I couldn’t look away. “That’s not true. We all have it.”
Roth came up a step, towering over me. I wanted to back down, but I forced myself to stand still. “You have no idea,” he said, eyes glinting like chips of tawny jewels. “None of us do. Especially not the Wardens or the demons. We all have orders, ones that we must obey. In the end, we always do what we’re told. The idea of free will is a joke.”
I felt sorry for him if he truly believed that. “I make choices every day—my choices. If you have no free will, then what kind of purpose would you even have in life?”
“What kind of purpose does a demon have? Hmm?” He tapped his chin with the tip of his finger. “Should I coerce a politician to turn dirty or should I save a kitten from a tree today? Wait. I’m a demon. I’m going to—”
“You don’t have to be sarcastic.”
“I’m not. I’m just giving you an example of how we are who we are—what we’re born to be. Our paths are clearly laid out in front of us. There is no changing that. No free will.”
“That’s your opinion.”
He held my gaze for a few more seconds and then smiled. “Come on.” He spun around, hurrying down another flight of stairs.
It took me a few seconds to make my legs move. “I’m not anything like you.”
Roth laughed in that rough, deep way again.
A brief, satisfying image of me kicking him down the stairs flashed before me. He was humming again, and I was too annoyed with him to ask what the song was.
The school was old and several stories tall, but it had been remodeled a few years ago. The stairwells were a sign of its true age. Old brick walls crumbled into a red-and-white dust that covered the steps.
We stopped in front of a rusted gray door that said Employees Only. The smell was enough to kill my appetite for the rest of the day. Roth glanced at me, seeming unaffected by the rankness.
“So...can you really tell if someone is going to Hell?” I asked, stalling. I might hurl if he opened the door.
“Pretty much,” he responded. “Usually it runs in the family. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Kind of cliché.” I wrinkled my nose as the stink increased the closer we got.
“Most clichés are true.” He jiggled the doorknob. “Locked.”
“Oh. Darn.” I tugged on the chain and fiddled with the ring. “I guess we—” I heard gears grinding and metal give way. I glanced down at Roth’s hand as he pulled open the door. “Wow.”
“Told you I have many talents,” he said, glancing down at the ring. “Interesting piece of jewelry you have there.”
I dropped it back under my cardigan, smoothing my hands over my jeans. “Yeah, I guess so.”
He turned back to the door, slowly pushing it open. “Oh. Wow. He’s definitely down here.”
Flickering lights and the worst smell north of Hell greeted us. I clapped a hand over my nose and mouth, the mixture of decomposition and sulfur triggering my gag reflex. I’d rather take a shower in the moldy school stalls than go into this place.
Roth entered first, holding the door open with his booted foot. “Don’t wimp out on me.”
I let the door slam this time, because the idea of touching anything down here grossed me out. “How do you think he got in?”
“Don’t know.”
“Why do you think he’s here?”
“Don’t know.”
“Real helpful,” I muttered.
Large metal cabinets full of God knows what cramped the corridor we traveled and the heat dampened my brow with a fine sheet of sweat. The overhead light swayed in the breezeless room, casting shadows across vacant workbenches and tools scattered across the floor. We squeezed past a stack of old chalkboards, more white than green.
“I think this is a bad idea,” I whispered, fighting the urge to latch on to the back of Roth’s shirt.
“And your point is?” Roth pushed open another door leading to a dark room where heavy machinery droned. The door banged into a stack of cardboard boxes.
Out of the darkness, a skeleton fell across the doorway, arms and legs flailing in the damp, musty air. The eye sockets were empty and sightless, jaw hanging open in a silent scream. I let out a hoarse shriek, jumping back.
“It’s not real.” Roth picked up the skeleton and examined it. “It’s what they use in your biology classes. See.” He wiggled an off-white bony arm at me. “Totally fake.”
My heart didn’t agree, but I could see the metal bolts holding the arm bones together. “Oh, sweet baby Jesus...”
Grinning, Roth tossed the skeleton aside. I winced as it bounced, bones clattering when it hit whatever Roth had thrown it at.
And then something growled.
I froze.
Roth flipped on the overhead light. “Whoops,” he murmured.
It stood in front of the boiler, a fake arm bone in its blackened hand and the rest of the skeleton lying at its feet. Thin wisps of air wriggled out of the patchy skin like brown worms. Areas of its face were missing flesh. A strip on the cheek flapped against the purplish lips, and what skin remained hung from the bones, heavily creased and resembling dried-out beef jerky. It also wore a suit that had most definitely seen better days—days that didn’t involve seeping bodily fluids.
Behind the boiler, the only window in the room was broken. That explained how it had gotten into school, but gave us no clue about why it was here.
Roth let out a low whistle.
The zombie’s eyes moved to Roth and kept on moving. At least one did. It went right out the eye socket, flying through the air, splattering across the muck-covered floor.
“Oh! Oh, no. No. I didn’t sign up for this!” I clamped my hand over my mouth, gagging. “I’m not going near that thing.”
Roth stepped forward, eyeing the mess on the floor as if fascinated. “That was pretty gross.”
I felt exposed standing in the doorway by myself. Inching closer to Roth, I kept my gaze on the zombie. I’d never seen one in such bad condition. God knows it had to have chomped on people by now, but the Wardens should’ve been notified through their contacts.
My movement drew the zombie’s one good eye. “You,” it gurgled.
I stopped. They could talk? Guess George Romero missed out on that. “Me?”
“Hey. Don’t look at her. Look at me,” ordered Roth, his voice heavy with authority.
It struggled to get its mouth to work right. “You...needs...”
“Um...why is it staring at me?” I gripped the strap on my back until my knuckles hurt.
“Maybe it thinks you’re pretty,” Roth quipped, stepping back as a rat ran in front of him.
I shot him a hateful look.
The zombie lurched, its left foot sliding forward. I stepped back, bumping into more boxes. “Roth...?”
With slow, purposeful movements, the zombie winged the skeleton arm at Roth’s head. Bones in the zombie’s body cracked and splintered. Pus leaked out the tear in its jacket.
Roth snatched the arm out of the air, face incredulous. “Did you just throw this at my head? My head? Are you insane?”
It lumbered at me, groaning incoherent words.
“Roth!” I screeched, dodging the stinky arm. “This was a terrible idea!”
“You have to rub it in?”
I reached behind me, grabbing a box. I threw it at the zombie, hitting it on the side of the face. An ear fell off, landing on its shoulder. “Yes! Do something!”
Roth crept up behind it, wielding the skeletal limb like a baseball bat. “I’m trying to.”
“What are you doing?” I darted to the side as it reached for me. “Don’t you have any evil powers of darkness or something?”
“Evil powers of darkness? None I can use here without bringing the whole school down on us.”
This seemed ridiculous. “Can’t you come up with a better plan?”
Roth scoffed. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. Feed it to Bambi or something!”
“What?” Roth lowered the arm, his expression dumbfounded. “Bambi would get indigestion eating something that rotten.”
“Roth! I swear to God, I’m—” My sneaker slipped on the gunk and my leg went right out from underneath me. I hit the dirty, wet cement with a loud oof. Sprawled out on the floor, I held up my slimy hands. “I’m going to barf. Seriously.”
“Move out of the way!” yelled Roth.
My head jerked up as he swung the makeshift weapon. I scrambled