The Devil, the Witch and the Whore (The Deal Book 1) Read online

  I stare at him, and I can't help noticing that he looks so much healthier than before. I know it's crazy to think that his cancer might have gone away entirely, but Sebastian's words are still ringing in my ears and I can't help wondering about the deal I made in order to save my father's life. It's not as if I can pretend there was any confusion. I know exactly what I did.

  “Nothing,” I tell him. “I'm just being dumb.”

  As he turns and heads back to the other officers, I make my way between the trees. The air is still warm from the fire, and some of the trees have small glowing patches on their trunks. There's more rain expected this evening, so the fire won't have a chance to start up again. Still, as I look around at the scorched earth that runs all the way to the horizon, I feel as if something dark is hanging over me, even if I know that there's no way I could have done anything other than save my father the other night.

  Deep down, though, I have this uncomfortable feeling in my gut.

  “You did the right thing, Ramsey.”

  Turning, I see Sebastian watching me from nearby, peering from behind a tree. He immediately steps back, out of view, only to suddenly peer at me from behind a different tree. There's no way he could have moved that fast.

  “Everything's right with the world,” his voice continues, even though this time his lips don't move. “Can't you tell? I got what I wanted, you're getting what you want, and nobody has to be afraid of that nasty witch breaking free from her prison.”

  As he speaks, I look around and realize that the voice actually seems to be coming from the wind as it blows through the few remaining trees.

  “There's a fresh start for everyone,” the voice continues as I turn back to look at his face. “What more could you want? Our deal -”

  “I never made a deal with you!” I hiss.

  “Oh, but you did, and you know it. I made you confirm that several times. Your father was absolutely right just now. When you think you don't know the truth about something, often you're simply refusing to listen to your instincts. Deep down, Ramsey, you know exactly when I threw that girl's corpse at you. I offered you a deal, to save your father's life in return for you leaving the witch alone, and you took it. If you ask me, you're a very lucky young lady.”

  “Go to hell!” I sneer, stepping toward him.

  “Would you like to undo your decision?” he asks, with his voice this time being blown from behind me. “You can try to find the witch again, even though I've hidden her away once more. And of course, in return, I shall have no choice but to take back everything I gave you.”

  He looks past me for a moment.

  Turning, I follow his gaze and see Dad talking to some of the deputies.

  “He seems like a good man,” Sebastian continues. “You should be proud of what you did to help him. Fret and worry if it makes you feel any better, but if you follow your father's advice and listen to your gut, you'll have to accept that you wouldn't have things any other way.”

  I watch Dad for a moment longer, before turning and finding that Sebastian is nowhere to be seen.

  “I didn't make a deal with you!” I say firmly, stepping between the nearest trees and looking around, still trying to spot him. “I just saved my father, that's all! That doesn't make me a bad person!”

  “We all choose our burdens,” his voice whispers, blowing away through the burned branches. “Be sure to carry yours with strength and pride.”

  The wind picks up for a moment, whistling between the burned trees and briefly sounding almost like a low, heavy laugh. When I look back over toward the police cruisers, I see that Dad and the deputies are struggling to keep their papers from getting blown away, although after a couple of seconds the breeze dies down again.

  “I didn't make a deal with the devil,” I whisper, even though I can feel a nagging sense of doubt in the pit of my stomach. “I just saved my father, I'm not -”

  Before I can finish, I hear a faint scratching sound nearby, and I turn just in time to see a large black crow hoping across the burned ground. The entire landscape has been devoid of animal life since the fire, and at first the sight of the crow makes me smile slightly. After a moment, however, I see that the bird has several small black stones balanced on its back and shoulders. The stones are wobbling as the crow hops along, and one or two of them even slip slightly, but they remain more or less in place.

  Suddenly the crow spreads its wings and flies away. I look up and watch as it soars high into the gray, rain-heavy sky. And I swear, not one of those stones falls from the crow's back.

  Coming Soon

  LIKE STONES ON A CROW'S BACK

  (THE DEAL BOOK 2)

  Also by Amy Cross

  B&B

  A girl on the run, hiding from a terrible crime.

  An old B&B in a snowy city.

  A hidden figure lurking in the streets, waiting for his next victim.

  When Bobbie takes a room at the rundown Castle Crown B&B, all she wants is to get some sleep and make a tough decision about her future. Unfortunately, the B&B's other guests won't give her any peace, and Bobbie soon realizes that she's stumbled into a world with its own rules. Who is the mysterious bandaged woman? Why is there a dead man in the bathtub? And is something deadly lurking in the basement?

  Before she can leave, however, Bobbie learns that the city of Canterbury is being terrorized by a mysterious figure. Every time snow comes, the Snowman claims another victim, leaving their blood sinking into the ice. If Bobbie leaves the B&B and ventures out into the empty streets, she risks becoming his next target. But if she stays, her soul might be claimed by something even more deadly.

  B&B is a horror story about a girl with a secret, and about a building with a past.

  Also by Amy Cross

  THE BODY AT AUERCLIFF

  “We'll bury her so deep, even her ghost will have a mouth full of dirt!”

  When Rebecca Wallace arrives at Auercliff to check on her aged aunt, she's in for a shock. Her aunt's mind is crumbling, and the old woman refuses to let Rebecca stay overnight. And just as she thinks she's starting to understand the truth, Rebecca makes a horrifying discovery in one of the house's many spare rooms.

  A dead body. A woman. Old and rotten. And her aunt insists she has no idea where it came from.

  The truth lies buried in the past. For generations, the occupants of Auercliff have been tormented by the repercussions of a horrific secret. And somehow everything seems to be centered upon the mausoleum in the house's ground, where every member of the family is entombed once they die.

  Whose body was left to rot in one of the house's rooms? Why have successive generations of the family been plagued by a persistent scratching sound? And what really happened to Rebecca many years ago, when she found herself locked inside the Auercliff mausoleum?

  The Body at Auercliff is a horror story about a family and a house, and about the refusal of the past to stay buried.

  Also by Amy Cross

  PERFECT LITTLE MONSTERS

  AND OTHER STORIES

  A husband waits until his wife and children are in bed, before inviting a dangerous man into their home...

  A girl keeps hold of her mother's necklace, as bloodied hands try to tear it from her grasp...

  A gun jams, even as its intended victim begs the universe to let her die...

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Amy Cross. Some of the stories take place in seemingly ordinary towns, whose inhabitants soon discover something truly shocking lurking beneath the veneer of peace and calm. Others show glimpses of vast, barbaric worlds where deadly forces gather to toy with humanity. All the stories in this collection peel back the face of a nightmare, revealing the horror that awaits. And in every one of the stories, some kind of monster lurks...

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories contains the new stories Perfect Little Monsters, I Hate You, Meat, Fifty Fifty and Stay Up Late, as well as a revised version of the previously-released
story The Scream. This book contains scenes of violence, as well as strong language.

  Also by Amy Cross

  ANNIE'S ROOM

  1945 and 2015. Seventy years apart, two girls named Annie move into the same room of the same remote house. Their stories are very different, but tragedy is about to bring them crashing together.

  Annie Riley has just broken both her legs. Unable to leave bed, she's holed up in her new room and completely reliant upon her family for company. She's also the first to notice a series of strange noises in the house, but her parents and brother think she's just letting her imagination run overtime. And then, one night, dark forces start to make their presence more keenly felt, leading to a horrific discovery...

  Seventy years ago, Annie Garrett lived in the same house with her parents. This Annie, however, was very different. Bitter and vindictive and hopelessly devoted to her father, she developed a passionate hatred for her mother. History records that Annie eventually disappeared while her parents were executed for her murder, but what really happened to Annie Garrett, and is her ghost still haunting the house to this day?

  Annie's Room is the story of two girls whose lives just happened to be thrown together by an unlikely set of circumstances, and of a potent evil that blossomed in one soul and then threatened to consume another.

  OTHER BOOKS

  BY AMY CROSS INCLUDE

  Horror

  The Body at Auercliff

  B&B

  The Bride of Ashbyrn House

  The Disappearance of Katie Wren

  The Horror of Devil's Root Lake

  The Haunting of Blackwych Grange

  Perfect Little Monsters and Other Stories

  Twisted Little Things and Other Stories

  The Printer From Hell

  The Farm

  The Nurse

  American Coven

  Annie's Room

  Eli's Town

  Asylum

  Meds (Asylum 2)

  The Night Girl

  Devil's Briar

  The Cabin

  After the Cabin

  Last Wrong Turn

  At the Edge of the Forest

  The Devil's Hand

  The Ghost of Shapley Hall

  The Death of Addie Gray

  A House in London

  The Blood House

  The Priest Hole (Nykolas Freeman book 1)

  Battlefield (Nykolas Freeman book 2)

  The Border

  The Lighthouse

  3AM

  Tenderling

  The Girl Clay

  The Prison

  Ward Z

  Fantasy / Horror

  Dark Season series 1, 2 & 3

  Grave Girl

  Graver Girl (Grave Girl 2)

  Ghosts

  The Library

  Thriller

  The Girl Who Never Came Back

  Other People's Bodies

  Dystopia / Science Fiction

  The Dog

  The Island (The Island book 1)

  Persona (The Island book 2)

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Epilogue