Seized: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Thrice Cursed Mage Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

arm being black back at the diner, which made me wonder just what she knew about me?
    The sirens sounded so close. I was pretty sure there was no way we’d get out of here before the cops showed up, but then again, there was a burning tank behind us. Maybe they’d stop to inspect that? I would.
    “Good. I’m glad you’re fine,” she said, giving me a strange look of annoyance before jogging past me and hopping into the shotgun seat of the van as it roared to life.
    “Guess you’re in back with us,” Marvin said as Wendy reached out to help me into the back of the van with one bloody hand.
    “Guess so,” I muttered, wondering not for the first time if I should just run away. I couldn’t of course. If I did, who knew what Vassago would do? Still, there was no way this would end well. For one thing, I knew nothing about the weird nuns who had attacked us, and worse still, my party members seemed several donuts shy of a dozen.
    “Guess so,” Marvin muttered in a mocking tone as I took Wendy’s hand and let her help me inside. As soon as I had cleared the threshold, Wendy slammed the door shut behind me, and Vitaly took off in a screech of rubber. I wasn’t sure if stealing the nuns’ van was a good idea, but then again, staying here to wait for the cops to find us seemed like a way worse one.
     

Chapter 4
    “So who were those guys?” I asked, glancing at the bloody cheerleader sitting cross-legged on the floor of the blacked out van. I wasn’t sure why she wasn’t in one of the chairs since there was more than enough room for all of us, but then again, she hadn’t even wiped the blood off her face.
    “They were girls,” Marvin said, flashing me a lascivious grin. “I’m sort of sad we couldn’t bring some of the bodies with us, if you know what I mean.”
    “I don’t, actually,” I said, staring at the doll blank-faced. I wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but I’d long since learned that the best way to shut up a jackass was by forcing them into a corner. “What would you do with them?”
    “He’d do nothing because he’s as well hung as a ken doll,” Wendy said, looking up from the ground and making eye contact with me. I wasn’t sure what it was in her eyes, but something about them made me feel cold. I’d seen eyes like that before. They were the kind of eyes that looked right through you because they found you so inconsequential you didn’t matter one iota.
    “That won’t always be the case, sis,” Marvin said right before Wendy shoved him under the seat next to her.
    “That should keep him quiet,” she said, turning her empty gaze back on me.
    “One can only hope,” I said, staring at her as she scratched at her cheek with one bloody fingernail. “What’s his deal, anyway?”
    “His deal is that he’s a stupid doll,” Wendy said, shrugging her shoulders. “He’s really quite nice in person.”
    “I guess, I’ll take your word for it,” I said, shaking my head. Part of me wanted to delve into what she really meant by the statement, but I ignored that part of me. It wasn’t terribly important to the here and now. I had bigger questions if I wanted to get out of this alive. “Who were those nuns? You called them the Sisters of the Black Flame?”
    “Yeah,” Wendy said, leaning back and putting her palms on the floor of the car so her tiny breasts pressed out against her tight uniform. “They’re an unholy order who serve the demon running this state. Why do you think so many bad things happen in New York?” She sighed through her teeth. “Beleth isn’t like the other demons. She doesn’t pick Cursed like you to do her bidding. Instead she uses nuns to enforce her position. She’s done it ever since the late eighteen-hundreds.”
    “So the nuns work for her?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. I wasn’t sure who Beleth was. I guess I really needed to read up on my demon lore, but something about the idea twisted up my stomach. The idea of researching