The Wrath Walker (The Wrath Series Book 1) by Matthew Newson (moboreader txt) 📕

“It’s all true, babe,” Scott chimed in with his wheezily annoying voice. “It all went down the way Pastor Phillip said it did, and I knew after he killed Phillip, he was going to kill me next for the crime of us being together.”

Elizabeth was quiet for a moment and looked back and forth at us while she weighed everyone’s accusations.

“What about his claim you all were going to kill him?” Elizabeth asked.

“I can answer that one for you if I may,” Phillip said as he stood up. “It’s simply not true. We never had nor will we ever plan on sacrificing Brandon, and I don’t know where he got that idea from. I can’t even believe I’m repeating that ridiculous statement.”

“Yeah, that one seemed a little too farfetched even for me to believe,” Elizabeth said as she gave me a look that could kill. I too was familiar with that expression from her because I had seen it so often from her lately.

“You see, Elizabeth, we require someone who is pure in this regard for the sacrifice, and Brandon here has been too polluted by the world. I mean, you should have seen some of the techniques he used to collect evidence on cheating spouses. It was extremely immoral to say the least.”

“Wait, did you just...” was all Elizabeth was able to say before Scott punched her in the face, and pulled the gun from her hand.

“Elizabeth!” I shouted as she stumbled to the floor.

I was filled with a fury I had known all too well over the past several years. I immediately halted in my tracks as Scott had the gun in my face before I could charge him, and then he knelt and took the revolver from her waist that she had taken from me.

“What are you doing, Scott?” Elizabeth said with a sob. She was a fighter, but I knew she had all the fight ripped from her in that moment of betrayal from the man she thought was the love of her life.

“He played you, Lizzie. He’s the reason why the Amaras suspected me right away of killing Ron and Joey before word was able to get out. I suspect that he is also why every time you had an eyewitness or enough evidence to arrest one of the Amaras, it all suddenly disappeared. Scott warned them after you had innocently told him about it. I’m sure it was all under the guise of the age-old innocent question of how was your day, sweetheart. What I’m guessing he never told you is the part about how Phillip had been using the Amaras this entire time to pull the city into deep levels of gross sin to prepare it for tonight.”

Scott shrugged. “You got me, Brandon. Pillow talk. What can I say? Man, you really are a good detective. I bet you’re better than Elizabeth here, seeing how you were the only one who ever got a bad feeling from me.” Scott backed up, keeping both guns trained on us.

Elizabeth’s cheek was already bruising as the hurt turned to anger and filled her face, but I knew she was okay. She was one of the toughest people I knew, and I had seen her take a whole lot worse than a cheap sucker punch. But I was a little more concerned over her emotional state after Scott’s admitted betrayal. The worst part was he seemed genuinely pleased with himself over the charade and appeared relieved it was over.

“So, our relationship this whole time was fake. Just an act you put on, so you could pump me for information.”

“Yes, you were just a job to me and nothing more,” Scott said.

Elizabeth screamed out in hurt and rage and lunged forward to attack Scott. I was able to grab her in time, even with my hands cuffed. She fought as hard as she could against my grip.

“Elizabeth, stop, he’s going to shoot you if you attack him.”

“Let me go!” she shouted as Scoot stood a few feet away just smiling at us and doing nothing else. He didn’t try and move away or shoot either one of us. In fact, he wasn’t doing anything but standing there. I realized why Scott hadn’t shot her or why any of the other men hadn’t tried to attack her in spite of being the most wicked people I’d ever met.

“Let me go, Brandon! I can take care of myself,” Elizabeth yelled as she continued to try and pull away from me.

I forced my weight down and pulled back as hard as I could while the hand cuffs re-opened the cuts on my wrists from the zip-ties I had on earlier that day.

“Lizzie, stop and listen to me,” I yelled as her shoulder slammed into my chest, and she turned to look up at me in her rage.

“What are you doing? They are going to kill us! When did you become such a coward, I thought you liked fighting?”

“They’re not going to kill me, Lizzie. They only want to kill you. You are the pure justice-loving sacrifice they need to complete their evil plan.”

Her eyes widened with fear, and she slowly turned back to the men who all now stood in front of us.

“It’s true, Elizabeth. Well halfway true,” Phillip said. “You’re going to be sacrificed to night to our master for the promise of power he will bestow upon us for aiding him in his plans for total domination of the city. But we also fully intend to kill Brandon after it’s done with our newly earned abilities, as a way to test them out. After he’s dead, we’ll resurrect him so we can kill him multiple times until we have discovered the full range and scope of our newfound powers.”

“Sounds fun,” I said sarcastically. “If you’re going to kill me, you better leave me that way, because I will get my hands on all of you, and if not me then my friend