Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(36)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“Are you sure?”

My eyes shot up to his. “What?”

“Maybe the scroll was here but a demon took it.”

I hadn’t thought of that. There were so many possibilities and all of them made sense. “I don’t know anymore,” I said, rubbing at my head.

The only thing I did know was that things were about to get a lot worse.

*

Riley was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall when I entered the room. I was carrying Sam’s wet T-shirt that I scrubbed in the shower and then rung out. I draped it over the back of my desk chair to dry. I would throw it in the washing machine tomorrow. I still wasn’t sure if it could be saved.

“I thought you left.”

Riley shrugged. “Figured I would hang out a while in case any other demons came back.”

“Did you get rid of the body parts?” I asked, looking at the window.

“No. I left them out there. What will Gran say?” He gasped, putting a hand to his chest.

“Whatever.” I laughed. I was actually kind of glad he’d come back. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was kind of scared.

“They’re gone,” he said. “I’m getting good at cleaning up bodies.”

Everything inside me fell at the mention of Colin.

“Don’t go getting all depressed now. It’s over,” Riley said, guessing the direction of my thoughts.

I went around the room, picking up, making sure there was no leftover blood from the demon, and we lapsed into a comfortable silence. Suddenly, I began to feel self-conscious at having a boy in my room who wasn’t Sam.

“You know I love Sam, right?”

“I know who you belong to,” Riley said, with nothing in his voice to tell me what he was thinking.

“Why did you agree to help Sam?” I sank down on the foot of my bed.

“I was bored.” He shrugged.

“Liar.”

He sighed. “I thought you didn’t care as long as you got what you wanted.”

“That’s not true,” I said. His words stung, especially when I decided he was right.

Riley chuckled. It was a warm, rich sound. “Want me to check under the bed for monsters?”

I shook my head even though I wanted to say yes.

His smile widened and he crawled forward to look. Dark hair fell onto his forehead when he leaned down. “All clear.”

I let out a breath. “Look, I know that I’ve been kind of… focused on getting Sam out of there, but I do care about your reasons for helping. I care about you.”

“Don’t.”

“Why?”

“I’m not like Sam,” he said quietly.

“I know. No one is like Sam. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

“He wouldn’t say that.” Riley shook his head.

“Why is that?”

“He’s seen me at my worst.” I felt a pang in my heart for Sam, trying to fit into a group where he never belonged. “I made his life very hard.”

“You’re making up for it now.”

He shrugged. “It’s not always that easy. Things aren’t just black and white. Sometimes the only choice you can make isn’t the best one.”

I stared at him as his words really sank into me. I finally understood why I liked him. He got it. He just put into words the feelings I had been struggling with lately. Sometimes the path you’re on makes sudden turns. Should you turn with them or keep going straight because that’s how you originally started? “Sometimes on the path to good, you have to be bad?” I mused.

“Or maybe sometimes you need to offset the bad you do with something good.” Riley’s smile was lightning fast and his teeth were a flash of light against the darkened room.

“Is that what Sam is for you? A chance to make up for the bad you’ve done?”

He sighed. “Something like that.”

I could tell he was done talking. I’m actually surprised he said as much as he did. But still, I was certain I’d barely scratched the surface of Riley Stone. I yawned, long and loud.

“Get some sleep. I’ll make sure no more monsters get you tonight.”

“Sleep’s not an option.”

He raised an eyebrow. I got up and began cleaning up the broken light bulb beside the bed.

“Never?”

“You saw what happened the last time I went to sleep.”

“Do you ever sleep?”

“Not much since Sam left.”

“He kept the Dream Walker out of your head?”

“Yeah, he did. We thought he broke the thread Beelzebub left in here.” I tapped my forehead. “But turns out there was more than one.”

“How’d he keep him away?”

I paused. “He slept with me.”

“It’ll be rough, but I can take one for the team.”

I laughed, but then I remembered that my mother had just died and I shouldn’t laugh. “Not like that. Beelzebub couldn’t get in my head when he was in the bed with me.”

Riley got up and prowled over to the bed. He lifted the hem of his shirt and wagged his eyebrows. I shook my head and scowled. He shrugged and let go, leaving the shirt in place. I watched as he kicked off his shoes and lay down on the bed. “I hope you aren’t a cover hog.”

“We can’t sleep together.”

“Why?”

“It isn’t right.” I would feel like I was betraying Sam.

He rolled his eyes. “Come on. I’m not going to cop a feel. If I want some of that I’ll go get some. The ladies love me.” He made kissing sounds with his lips and rubbed his chest with his hands.

“I’ll just bet they do,” I muttered. “Poor things have no idea what’s coming.” I still stood awkwardly beside the bed, wondering what to do. I was so tired that the idea of getting just a couple hours of restful sleep was enticing. Yet, how could I sleep with someone who wasn’t Sam?

“Heven.” The tone in which he said my name called me out of my internal debate. For once, he was serious. “You don’t really have a choice. You need some sleep. You look like shit and tomorrow isn’t going to be easy.”

I blinked back tears. He was right. If I wanted to be strong enough to spend a day making funeral arrangements for my mother and then go into hell, I needed to be clearheaded.

“Fine,” I said, slinging back the covers. “But only because I have to.” I climbed in and lay down on my side, putting my back to him.