Free The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen Page A

couldn’t see through his BS. Evidently, it wasn’t until he started pressuring her to hand over the stuff in the lockbox that she told him to get lost.
    Melanie said in a hushed voice, “Sasha’s mother was deported back to Russia, and Sasha wasn’t allowed to go with her, so we’re stuck with her until—”
    “That’s enough,” Tim said. “It’s no one’s business why Sasha is with us, and we’re not stuck with her. She’s our guest. Family. Back off.”
    Melanie smiled at Mr. Bruno. “As I was saying, that’s why Sasha is staying with us. She has no other family.”
    “Family is all around,” Mr. Bruno said. “The world is our family. Friends are our family. Don’t you feel friends are one of life’s most important elements, Sasha?”
    “Yes,” she murmured, trying desperately not to look at him, not to meet his eyes.
    Tim said, “We’re out of rolls,” and Melanie hopped up to fetch more. Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Brett and Chris were on their way.
    Incredibly, Sasha was glad. Anything to take Mr. Bruno’s focus off of her. Every muscle in her body was tensed, ready to catapult her out of her chair, away from this scary man. “Hey, Mr. Bruno!” Brett was clearly glad to see his teacher.
    Chris was less vocal. “Hey,” he said, jerking his chin up before he focused on the table. Sitting down, he reached for a baked potato.
    Tim ate another roll.
    Sasha watched Melanie deliver a fat, juicy steak to Brett’s plate. He cut into it and scowled. “It’s too done, Mom. You know I hate my meat too done.” He speared it with his fork and tossed it to the floor.
    Staring, Sasha was shocked.
    Melanie went to the stove and clucked while she set about preparing another steak, occasionally mumbling apologies. Un-freaking-believable! After Brett’s second steak went under Mr. Bruno appeared unaffected by the tension and ugly words, continuing to eat as if nothing was wrong. Brett devoured his dinner, also oblivious. Chris didn’t eat all of his food before he shoved back from the table, got up, and left.
    Sasha hurriedly finished the rest of her peas, then scooted her chair back and excused herself.
    “Melanie,” Mr. Bruno said, “surely you can find something more for her to eat? We can’t have our new student fainting from hunger, can we?”
    “Would you like some flaxseed cereal?” Melanie offered, halfheartedly.
    Yeah, and maybe a side of dirt to go with it. “No, thank you.”
    “It was a great pleasure to meet you, Sasha, and I look forward to getting to know you better. I take special pride in my friendships with my students. It’s the whole reason I organized the Ravens.”
    . . . but deliver us from evil.
    She ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time to the landing, then down the hall to her room. She barely made it to the bathroom before she lost the peas, his voice repeating in her head. Ravens. Ravens. Ravens.
     
    ---
    She had strange dreams that night, one about food—tables and tables of delicious food that disappeared before she could touch it—and one about her mother, knee-deep in snow, wandering around, looking for a place to hide from giant Russian soldiers. Then she dreamed about the Ravens, the cold, smelly warehouse, and the stoning. She relived every second, up until the last thing she remembered—when she prayed to God for help, to save her. After that, the dream became strangely hazy and discordant, like so many dreams that make no sense. The Ravens suddenly froze in place and only Alex remained, threatening her, about to kill her, until he disappeared and there was someone else, a dark, evil figure whose words were indistinguishable, but strangely calming. She wanted to wake up, but dreamed on, and her fear morphed into anticipation, as if something amazing was about to happen.
    Just about the time she was enjoying the dream, weird as it was, she woke with a start and squeaked in alarm because someone was standing next to her bed, a looming shadow in