Page 12 of The Final Deal

Robbie digs his heels into the dry clay. “Where the hell are you takin’ me?”

Based on the way he drags behind, yanks me so hard that I stumble, and the growing terror in his bright blue eyes… he already knows.

Chapter 5

Answer

–Coldcasket

“Ty didn’t go home quietly,”I admit in a hushed voice. “Shit went down, and something came back up that shouldn’t have.”

Robbie taking a moment to process that information is the only hesitation I need to get him moving again, leading him closer to the creek.

“I swear to fucking God, if you’re saying what I think…”

I silently guide us farther away from the safety of the house and deeper into the woods where the devil hides—where he’s always been hiding, lying in wait for the day I’d come to him.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Robbie questions in a furious, quiet whisper, as if he’s scared to summon anything with the sound of his voice and not his footsteps thundering like a freaking elephant.

Mesquite trees loom all around, spindly skeletal demons waiting for us to turn our attention elsewhere and drag us to hell. Clusters of cactus dot the path, and now I’m disappointed I didn’t think to kick Ty into one.

A peculiar pattern in the grass makes me double take. The dead blades are broken and flattened in a path no wider than I am—the path Ty dragged me down. A few feet further, and the shrubs and trees clear.

The bridge stands resurrected over the creek, a simple design built out of graying mesquite wood that leads to our neighbor’s land, which is blocked off by a wall of trees. They were smart to let things grow over so much until the creek is unreachable; I wonder if my parents have kept up this path all these years, or if it’s been maintained by some other nefarious person.

Robbie grips my arm until my flesh pales and whispers, “What the fuck is going on?”

“Ty dragged me out here the night he left,” I say quietly. “And… and the devil was waiting for me. He forced me to make a deal, or else he was gonna kill me.”

“So why the fuck are we out here now?” he shrieks in a hushed voice.

I blink the burning sensation from my eyes. “I need to convince him that making me partner with Ty to keep NYB going past New Year’s is a bad idea.”

A heated glare paints my big brother’s fury with a new glower. “That fuckhead is weaseling his way into NYB? Why?”

“To get back at me for choosing Zak and Adrian over him.” I study his sharp blue eyes that could burn the world down. “I just wanted you to know in case shit goes down. But donotlet the twins or anyone else know; I’m gonna figure this out and fucking kill Ty before the news gets out.”

Robbie’s jaw tics. “Are you sure about keeping this secret from them? They fuckin’hateTy.”

“That’s exactly why they can’t know. If they get a whiff of him around, if I can’t undo this and we’re stuck with Ty until the business closes…” The thought has bile threatening to spill frommy gut. “Then we’re done.” I wrench my arm from his death grip. “I just need everyone to play their part. So keep on the lookout.”

“Steph!” he hisses sharply.

I stalk toward the bridge, searching the trees, the scrub, the dry creek bed, for any telltale signs of anyone camping or having been out here.

Iknowhe’s here.

Shadows of trees playing across the ground give me pause, and ice knifes my heart.

Robbie might have short nails, but they dig deep into my flesh as he grapples my arm and forces me to stop in my tracks. He’s a few shades paler than normal as his wide eyes focus on something in the distance. “Is that him?”

A strong hand slaps my shoulder and drags me backward.

I recoil, startled, but Robbie and I both are hauled away from the creek instantaneously. My heart skips a beat until I recognize the skull and snake tattoo on a tanned forearm and the salt and pepper hair.

Dad silently tows us away from the creek and the bridge, all the way back to the house without saying a single word or making a sound beyond his footsteps. He bulldozes the door open and shoves us both inside; the first sound he makes is a loud huff, like he’s gasping for breath and exhaling sharply out of anger, as he locks the door.

Mom glares at us with pursed lips and crossed arms from the kitchen.

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