Dead End: Midnight Hollow by Penn Cassidy (free novel 24 TXT) 📗

“You guys are sadistic.” Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but grin.

“Yeah, but that’s a part of our irresistible charm, right? That’s why you love us so much,” said Michael.

I paused, setting down my brush and faced them both, the smile dropping from my face as my eyes flitted between them. “Nothing’s changed, right? After what I did out there, I’d understand it if—”

“You’re fucking insane if you think super cool necromancy powers are enough to make us run away, October,” Jason assured me.

Michael nodded. “It was pretty sexy actually, the way your eyes went all white… Never knew I had an X-men fetish.” His eyes looked dazed as a smile blossomed on his face, accompanying sinister thoughts.

God, I loved them and their fuckery.

I smacked him on the arm. “Shut up! My eyes weren’t really white, were they?”

They glanced at each other before nodding in tandem.

“Holy shit, I really am a freak…” A hysterical laugh fell from my lips before I could reign it in. “Fuck, I wish my dad was here to teach me about all this. Don’t witches in movies get like a family grimoire or something? Like a how to guide? Necromancy 101: For Dummies isn’t gonna cut it if I have to deal with people like the mayor in the future.”

“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself,” Jason said, taking my shoulders in his strong grip. "Let’s just worry about getting rid of one psycho warlock before we go on a witch hunt.”

“I resent that,” Michael mumbled, but he was grinning.

“I’m glad I have one of you in my corner.”

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and when Michael opened it, both Norman and Freddy were on the other side. They let themselves in through the steam.

“Looks like a party in here,” Freddy said with a pout. I hated when he gave me those puppy eyes, because I. Would. Give. Him. Anything.

I rolled my eyes, but Norman took me in his arms for a comforting hug that was slightly cold as he whispered, “You good?”

I nodded into his hard chest. “I am now.” I breathed in his familiar scent and felt all my muscles relax. Pulling back, I looked at the four of them and said, “Why are we all crammed in my tiny bathroom?”

Freddy grinned. “I don’t know, I kinda like the intimacy we’ve established in this room right now.” He wiggled his eyebrows like the weirdo he is.

My cheeks flamed, because I suddenly realized both Freddy and Norman had super smelling abilities and were probably scenting all the shower hanky panky we just had.

“Aw, don’t be embarrassed,” Norman chuckled seductively in my ear, making me feel like I just took a shot of espresso. He woke me up in more ways than one with that voice. Curse my nether region for being a hungry bitch and craving good dick.

“We’re just jealous and giving you shit. Let’s talk in the room. There’s a few things we need to discuss before we deal with Ichabod.” That sobered me right up, the thought making me face the reality that I really did have to make a decision.

Dread pooled in my gut at the thought of facing the man who killed my parents, but I knew it had to be done, and in a way that meant something. Ichabod was a powerful warlock, and he hated mortals with a passion. The guy was fucked in the head. I knew the guys might have an issue with the solution I’d come up with, but I just felt like it was the right way to handle this. It’s what my parents would want, and I wouldn’t stoop down to Ichabod’s level.

We piled onto my bed, and the guys waited and listened as I told them my grand plan. I fidgeted under all of their attention, but I reveled in the waves of overwhelming love and support I could feel emanating from each of them. Fuck, I fucking loved these sexy, scary men. They really were mine, weren’t they?

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Norman asked. His stare was serious and penetrating. I could hear a calm worry in his voice.

I nodded. “I know it sounds risky, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Calvin, does it?” Jason asked, hissing Cal’s name through clenched teeth, but he continued to gently slide his fingers through my hair as he glanced out the window.

“He helped me,” I defended. “He went against his own father to save me…and to stop him from desecrating my mother’s grave.”

“He kidnapped you,” Michael muttered darkly, his jaw tightening as he fisted the sheets. “Are we supposed to just let that slide?”

“Yes,” I said with finality. “We’ll let it slide. I’m not saying what he did was right, but he was put in an impossible position. In the end, he chose to do what was right. I have a feeling he’ll be punishing himself for a while.”

A long while probably, and I was afraid any chance he once had with Maddie was long gone. But you just never knew what the future might hold.

“This is insane, you know that, right?” Maddie mumbled as we stood in front of the blank wall at the end of the upstairs hallway.

We were all here—the aunties, my guys, Jessica, Maddie, Baen, Calvin, and even that creepy little marionette dummy, Roger. We stood in a half circle by the blank wall, listening to the sporadic knocking. The aunties were holding Ichabod between them with a binding spell. His limbs were plastered to his side, and he could only move his mouth, which he used to smile smugly at me.

“What are you going to do, little necromancer?” he asked. “Send me to a hell realm?”

“Don’t tempt us,” Freddy growled.

Ichabod just laughed, but then glanced at his son. “I should have seen it coming, Calvin. I should have known you’d be too weak to be useful.