Experiment in Terror 06.5 And With Madness Comes the Light by Karina Halle Page A

to Perry,” I
said.
    Roman gave me a grave look. “I am. I can see
she’s there, too. But you both must understand that I may have to
hurt Perry at some point.”
    Wait a dipshit minute here. I didn’t agree
to that .
    “What? No!” Ada protested for the both of
us. “You don’t hurt her. You hurt what’s in her.”
    Roman frowned, eying the both of us with
frustration, sticking the knife back in his pocket.
    “Sometimes you don’t have a choice,” he said
matter-of-factly.
    “Is that what happened with the last boy,
the one who died?” I found myself saying, the fury in my voice
surprising me.
    Roman’s eyes grew cold at what I said. Ah
shit. Stupid move, Dex. Way to insult the only man who can save
her.
    “I barely touched the boy,” he said,
pronouncing his words with deliberation. “He would have died
anyway. I did get the demon out and that’s what counts. Do you
think it’s easy to see that happen? He was only four. I had to move
towns; everyone was saying I did something wrong. But I didn’t. The
damage was already done when he came to me. It was too late.”
    Beneath his anger at me, I could feel the
regret and sorrow in his voice. I felt like shit for being so
callous. Tension cloaked us as I tried to think of something to
say. Luckily Bird came back into the room holding a large box which
he placed in front of Roman.
    He gave me and Ada a stern, shape-up-or-ship-out look. “If Roman seems cold, it’s
because he has to be. The medicine man can have no emotional
attachments to the person in question. He can have no fear. Evil
preys on fear. It feeds on emotions. Even love.”
    Roman started lifting things out of the box.
But I wasn’t interested in the contents. I was interested in Perry.
Because she was watching me. She was. Her head was lifted
and her eyes were on mine and I was drowning in their depths, not
caring if I’d ever come out of them, because, for once, they were
her eyes. She was still here. We had a fighting chance.
    Then, just like that, I lost her again.
    Bird and Roman brought out a small drum,
incense holders, little wooden bowls and bags of earth-colored
herbs and a bunch of dried plants. Roman looked up at Ada and I and
said, “We have to set up for the ceremony. You will have to leave
the room.”
    I shook my head. “I don’t think so.” Like
hell I was going to leave her now, not when she was so close to
coming back. What if my presence was helping her?
    Then again, what if my presence was making
her worse? I didn’t want to think about that one.
    Bird got up slowly and placed his hand on my
shoulder. “I know you care about her. But she’s not going anywhere
for now. We have to cleanse the room. Then you can come back
in.”
    Roman said something to Bird in the native
language and Bird nodded sharply before looking back me. “Please?
We must hurry.”
    I couldn’t argue with Bird. With a sigh, Ada
and I left the room together. We gave Perry one last look, trying
to tell her we’d be back to fight with her, before Bird closed the
door on us.
     
     
     

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
     
     
    We weren’t really sure where to go, what to
do. Ada leaned against the door, trying to hear what was going on
but I went down the hall and flopped down on Roman’s sagging couch,
the springs creaking under me. There was no way I could listen to
what was going on inside, without knowing exactly what it was. It
would be too painful to make my own conclusions in the dark. I
could only put what little faith I had left into Bird. I had to
hope for the best. I had to have hope, even when hope seemed
impossible, eaten away by the darkest monster.
    Eventually, Ada came over. She sat beside me
and put her head in her hands. I rubbed her back lightly, not sure
if there was even a point in trying to comfort her. I sure as hell
couldn’t be.
    “What does it sound like?” I asked.
    She shrugged. “Nothing too bad. I don’t hear
Perry, just Roman and Bird chanting some stuff.”
    I nodded,