Soulstice Read Online Free Page B

hands in her own. “No. The monster did it. It did it because it was cruel, because it hated the
     things you loved.” Reggie took a breath. “The monster that was inside you—it was a Vour. Like from the book I read you. They
     were real, and I was stupid enough to let one get to you. I’m so sorry, Henry, so sorry.”
    They both cried, and seeing Henry’s tears relieved Reggie. She was sad, but heartened. Tears were human and a Vour could never
     cry.
    “I didn’t want to hurt him. Billy.”
    “I know.”
    “I had all these awful things in my head, and then on the playground he said I was weird and creepy, and everyone was scared
     of me, and he called me a freak. And then, it was like, I knew he was right. I
am
a freak—a monster. I just wanted him to stop, I didn’t want him to tell anyone.”
    “But it wasn’t you!”
    Henry had stopped crying, and now he stared straight ahead, thoughtful and unseeing.
    “Sometimes I feel it. Like it’s in me. It isn’t in my mind anymore, but still…”
    “The monster is gone. I watched it die.” Reggie wiped her eyes. “You loved Squeak,” she said. “You love Dad. And you love
     Mom, even though she hurt us and left us to grow up without her. You
love
, Henry. That is something a Vour can’t ever do.”
    Henry’s eyes closed, and his breathing became quiet and calm. Reggie stayed close to him and listened as he drifted off to
     sleep.
    “I love you, Reggie.”
    “I love you, too.”
    She kissed his forehead, then walked to the door and shut off the light. As she looked back at him lying peacefully in bed,
     she thought of her vision from the morning and began to tremble. Yes, she had watched the monster die, or so she thought,
     but she was still afraid that the Vour was somewhere inside her brother, lurking, waiting to take him back.

   4   
    The interrogation room wasn’t like the ones Aaron had seen so many times on his mom’s favorite crime shows. There was no mirrored
     pane of one-way glass. No good cop teamed up with a bad cop to break him down. He sat alone in a gray room, listening to a
     leaky pipe drip incessantly from the ceiling behind him. A tripod-mounted camcorder stood watch from across the table.
    Occasionally, the woman who had brought him in peered through the door’s barred window. She was taller than average and thin,
     with blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a black suit and sharp-heeled boots that clicked on the tiled floor
     when she walked. She was stylish, and she was badass, but her skin was almost gray, and every one of her facial features was
     pointy and grim; when she looked at Aaron, he was reminded of an eagle searching for prey.
    On the ride in from Cutter’s Wedge, she’d told him that her name was Detective Gale, and she was taking him to the police
     station in Wennemack—but that was all. She ignored him when he asked for his parents.
    They’d kept him here by himself, in an isolated part of the precinct, for what seemed like hours. Aaron worked silently through
     scenarios in his head and tried to stay calm.
    If Quinn’s body had been found, surely he’d know by now. But with only circumstantial evidence, it was unlikely that any formal
     charge would be filed against him. He used this knowledge to keep panic at bay. And one crucial fact comforted him in this
     mess: the police had not brought Reggie in with him. Aaron planned to keep her out of it.
    Drip. Drip. Drip
went the leak behind him.
    Finally, the door squeaked open and Detective Gale walked in. She set down her briefcase and clicked on the camcorder. A red
     light flashed as she trained the lens on Aaron.
    “I have some questions for you,” Gale said.
    “Where are my parents? And I want a lawyer.”
    “We’re just talking here. Relax. You’ll get your phone call when we’re done. How well did you know Quinn Waters?”
    “Not very,” Aaron replied. “Superstar. Geek. Our species don’t really mix.”
    “But you did favors