Dark Descent: The Arondight Codex - Book One by R Nicole (best books to read all time TXT) 📗

Wilder smiled triumphantly and pulled the T-shirt over his head. “You heard her, Purples. Let’s go.”

“Why do you care?” I asked as we stepped out of the training area and into the hallway. “You just wanted to dump me here and not deal with me, remember?”

“First rule in life, Scarlett, is don’t trust anyone.”

“Not even your own kind?”

“Our kind.”

I snorted. “You think I’m a fancy pants Natural? Impossible.”

“It’s not out of the realm of possibilities,” he stated.

I wasn’t up for a debate over how weird I was, so I fell silent as he guided me through the warren of hallways and rooms. The Sanctum must be massive, but it was oddly devoid of activity.

When we reached the infirmary, I glanced through the windows and spotted Jackson. The whole room was open and lined with beds dormitory style, and medical equipment was scattered here and there. At the far end, a curtain had been drawn around one bed, and what I assumed were nurses flitted back and forth. None of them were paying much attention to my best friend at all. Was he just a routine case, or was it something more sinister? Prejudice? Maybe.

“Was it the same demon as Blond Tips?” I asked.

Wilder frowned. “Who?”

“The guy from the pub. Was it the same demon who possessed Jackson?”

“Both were Infernals, but it’s impossible to tell if it was the same one. They all look the same.”

I glanced through the door, beginning to get really worried about what happened next.

“So I figured out this isn’t a hallucination,” I said.

“Took you long enough.”

I bit my tongue and shook my head. “It’s clear I’m not welcome because I’m different,” I went on, crossing my arms over my chest. “I can see the way people have been looking at me and it’s only been five bloody minutes.”

“I know,” Wilder murmured. “I get it.”

I glanced up at him and was surprised to see how troubled he looked. Romy had mentioned something about Wilder being different from everyone else, but something told me not to ask about it. Not yet, anyway.

“They want to test me,” I said. “What does that mean?”

“Greer wants to see if you have any Light,” he explained. “You weren’t supposed to use my arondight blade, and you’re immune to alteration. You’re an anomaly, Purples, and they want to understand why.”

“Or work out what side I’m on.”

“I didn’t want to say it like that, but yes. It’s a real possibility.”

“I’m not a demon,” I stated, bristling with annoyance. “I’m not some secret weapon here to destroy you all from the inside.”

Wilder tensed and lowered his gaze. “Not knowingly.”

I snorted, seriously offended.

“That’s what they want to figure out, Scarlett.”

Then why show me everything? Was it all one giant ruse? If I was naïve and life hadn’t taught me that all people were awful when it came to the crunch, I would’ve blindly accepted all of this. Acceptance and lack of questioning was the kiss of death in my book. One way or another, everyone had a motive. The only exception to that was Jackson. He was good, kind, honest… and nothing like these Naturals.

“I can’t trust anyone,” I whispered.

I fully expected Wilder to tell me I could trust him, and part of me wanted him to, but all he did was grasp my shoulders and turn me towards the door. “You better go see your boyfriend.”

“He’s not…” I sighed.

“You better tell him that then.” Wilder shoved me and I practically stumbled into the infirmary.

Heads swivelled as the door slammed behind me and my cheeks heated.

“Scarlett!”

Spotting Jackson’s waving hand, I scurried across the infirmary, shying away from the unwanted attention.

“Hey,” I said, dragging a chair to the side of his bed. It made an awful scraping sound and everyone turned—again—and glared as I arranged myself.

“Hey,” Jackson said with a weak smile. He looked paler than usual, and a little grey around the edges. He was propped up in bed and had those little round white stickers on his chest with coloured wires running out of them. The machine next to his bed displayed some numbers and a graph that looked like a heartbeat, but it was irregular.

“They said that squiggly line is my soul,” he said as I squinted at the readings. “Messed up, isn’t it?”

“This whole thing is crazy,” I agreed. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit warmed up.”

“An eloquent way of putting it.” I smiled, suddenly shy in front of the one person I trusted the most. Wilder had pushed me off balance again and it was infuriating.

“I’ve heard a lot of crazy stuff,” he said, glancing across the room. “They said I was possessed by a demon. Scarlett, that’s some weird shit, but I’m missing time like I blacked out. Just like you did…”

“It’s cool,” I reassured him. “I wasn’t possessed. My story is, well… different. What do you remember?”

“I don’t remember, that’s the point.” He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “I was walking in the front door of our flat, then I woke up here. It was weird as hell. That rather unapproachable doctor told me I’d been possessed by a demon and after that, I seriously thought I was in an asylum. I still don’t know what to believe, but I’ve got a mad sore throat. I didn’t do anything weird, did I?”

“Um…” I shook off the image of his possessed body trying to grasp his you know what. “No, you didn’t do anything.”

“Scarlett… Am I…”

“Unfortunately, everything they told you is true. Demons, demon hunters, possession.” I made a face, then proceeded to fill him in on everything that’d happened to me in the last two days. I left nothing out, even explaining the significance of the ugly troll doll and the missing time I’d experienced, even the encounter with the creepy spider-like demon on the tube.

“That explains why you were talking to yourself,” Jackson said, resting his head back on the pillow. “And why you ran off at breakfast.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” He glanced around and