Surrender the void, p.7
Surrender the Void, page 7
“This,” Kara said, gesturing at him, “this is…well, this…”
“Just tell ‘em, babes,” Keaton said, infusing his tone with as much encouragement as he could. “I’m your fiancé. Your betrothed. Your soon-to-be hubby.”
“What have you done, Kara?” Davidson asked. “You’re…engaged? Please tell me he’s joking.”
“Hey,” Keaton snapped, suddenly appearing in front of Davidson. He blew smoke in the dean’s face, not caring in the least that Davidson’s nose wrinkled with obvious distaste. If anything, Keaton reveled in it. “Does this face look like it’s joking, bub?”
“Kara,” the redhead said before clearing her throat. “Is this…is this who…?” She couldn’t get the words out.
Keaton wanted to laugh again. This was too much.
“Keaton,” she finally said. The sound of his name coming out of her mouth sent a thrill down his spine. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that someone was actually saying his name and that person happened to be a stone-cold fox. Regardless, he reveled in the sound, closing his eyes and soaking it up as much as he could.
“Keaton?” The slight girl burst out. “Keaton? As in…as in…the ghost from the crypt?”
“Who else would I be?” Keaton asked before taking a long drag of his cigarette and then flicking it at Davidson. Keaton let out a cackle when he saw the man flinch, trying to avoid it. “I swear, babes, your friends are on the stupid side, aren’t they?”
“What is going on here?” The redhead shook her head, almost like she was going to have an aneurysm. God, he hoped she did. He always wanted to see one live. “What were those…those things?”
“You tell us, Red,” Keaton asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re the one with my dagger.” He snapped his fingers and the dagger appeared from thin air, fitting into his hand like it belonged there.
“It doesn’t matter -”
“Oh, but it does,” he insisted, eyes slicing up to the redhead’s. His teeth clenched together, grating like nails on chalkboards. It was a sound he reveled in, especially since he knew how obnoxious it was. “Because I lost this a century ago when the Keepers captured me. And I’m wondering how a slip of a thing like you took it.”
“That’s not the concern here.” Davison somehow pushed himself up into a standing position. “Kara, what the hell is going on here?”
“Actually, Mr. Davidson,” the skinny one said. “I want to know what those things were, the ones on top of us. Those…those black things. The nothings. I don’t know.”
Kara fixed him with a stare.
“Don’t look at me, babes,” he said. “I don’t know what the fuck those things were. But I bet we ask your precious dean. I bet he knows what the fuck they were.”
“Now, wait a minute -”
“Do you?” Kara asked.
Keaton grinned even more.
“What?” Davidson looked at Kara, like he was shocked she would question him.
Good girl.
“Do you know what those things are, Davidson?” she asked. “I’ve never seen them before. And I definitely would have remembered learning about black ghouls trying to…I don’t even know what they were trying to get from us! Then Daphne over here has some sort of dagger that can kill them, and Keaton is saying the dagger belongs to him.” She cleared her throat, blood dripping down her forehead. “Do you know what those things were?”
Davidson looked like he was going to argue. Keaton almost wished he would have, if only to show Kara what a fucking fraud he was. Then, the bastard looked away.
“They’re souls of the damned,” he said. “Ghoul is a good way to think about it. They’re in control of the King of Hell himself. But also whoever raised them from the dead.”
“The dead?” the redhead asked.
“You mean, necromancy?” the skinny girl asked.
“I didn’t think that was possible,” Kara said.
“Yeah, well, no one did,” Davidson said. He fiddled with the sleeve of his shirt. “We were testing out a theory, and -”
“And it backfired,” Kara stated.
“Clearly,” Keaton put in. “Your whole fucking academy is destroyed. You let loose the damned?” He snorted. “Good luck getting those back. I doubt they’d want to go back to hell any time soon, if ever.”
“Well, you would know,” Davidson said with a sneer.
“Yeah, I would,” Keaton agreed.
“Why is he here?” Davidson asked, turning on Kara.
“I don’t think that’s relevant right now,” Kara said. “What’s relevant is that those ghouls are out there! We need to do something. We need to get them back before they hurt anyone else.” She snapped her attention to Davidson. “What are they after?”
“They feed on human souls,” he said.
“And you thought it was a good idea to just, I don’t know, experiment with them?” Kara shrieked. “Are you out of your mind?”
“I think you are the last person to be tossing stones,” Davidson said. “Why is Keaton here? Out of his crypt? What did you do?”
Keaton growled, shoulders hunching to his ears. He didn’t appreciate this jackass was talking to Kara, even if her shrieking got on his nerves. “Hey, bub, I saved your fucking skin,” he pointed out. “The least you could do is show me some goddamn respect.”
“Respect? You?” Davidson sneered. “How about I put you back into your crypt?”
Keaton grinned. “You can’t,” he said.
“Yes, I -”
Keaton took Kara’s shoulder and pushed her forward. “Tell him, honey,” he said.
Kara cleared her throat, shifting from side to side.
“Kara?” the redhead asked. “What is…what’s going on here?”
“I called him,” she said. “I called his name three times so he would save us.”
“And I did!” Keaton said, thrusting his finger in the air. “You know what that means, don’t you?” He threw his arm around Kara’s shoulder, bringing her in close. “We’re getting married!”
Find out what happens next in Book 2, June of 2022. Preorder Discover the Void here!
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, to my readers.
Lea, for your amazing edits and making this story the best it can be. Thank you for pushing me to make this better.
Sarag Paige for your beautiful, eye catching covers. I cannot stop staring.
My family - Frank, Kylee, Madisyn, Ely, Jacob, and Josh. Your love is the best thing that ever happened to me.
Isadora Brown, Surrender the Void
