Free Tortured: Book Three of the Jason and Azazel Trilogy by V. J. Chambers

I'm always trying to have sex with you." He pulled
back. "But no, that's not why I snuck you out of your room tonight."  

"So why?" I said.

Jason started walking again. "It's not going to be easy for you to
hear," he said. "Especially if you're drunk."

" I'm not drunk," I said. "Or even if I am, I'm always
about this drunk, so it's not that big of a deal."  

He sighed. He just kept walking. I hurried to catch up. It didn't take long to
get to the old church. We went around to the side door. I expected Jason to
pick the lock, but it was already open. I shot him a look of confusion. He just
pulled me inside.

"I've already been in here tonight," he explained, shutting the door
behind us.

I gazed up at the stained glass. Tonight, it seemed as if it were watching me,
judging me, telling me that I was unworthy to set foot inside this building. I
shivered again, but this time it wasn't from the cold.  

Jason was looking at the floor, shifting nervously on his feet. "This
isn't going to be easy for you to hear," he said again.  

A mounting feeling of dread seemed to pour down through the stained glass
windows. "What?" I said again.

"It's Chance," said Jason.

"What happened to Chance?" I asked. Chance was all I had left. My
family was all dead, and if something had happened to Chance—

"Nothing happened to him," said Jason. "Not yet, anyway."

What did that mean?

Jason took my hand again. "Come with me." He led me through the back
of the old church and down some steps into its basement. The basement was
ancient, constructed from old stone. It smelled musty and alive somehow. Jason
found a light bulb, hanging on a chain, and turned it on. The light bulb swung
violently, casting moving shadows throughout the room. In the corner of the
basement, in the shifting light, I saw Chance. He was tied up and gagged. His
eyes were closed.  

"I knocked him out," said Jason.

I was shocked. I was appalled. "You did  
what
?"

"I told you this wasn't going to be easy for you to hear," said
Jason.

I went to Chance. Knelt by him. Touched
his face. There was a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. His
breathing was labored.

Jason yanked me away from Chance. "Don't go near him," he said.

"Jason, what have you done to my brother?" I demanded, struggling
against him.

"Hold still and listen to me," Jason said.  

I was angry. I was betrayed. Jason was what everyone said he was. He was evil.
He was trying to kill off my entire family. If it weren't for him, they'd all
still be alive. Jason had started this whole mess, running into my life out of
the woods.  

I held still. "I'm listening," I said. This needed to be good.

"I was using Chance's computer to do some homework," said Jason,
"and I found something."

"What?" I said.

"You know how you can set AOL Messenger to save your chat history in a
file in your documents?"

"You looked at his chat history?" I asked. "Why would you do
that?"

"I don't know," said Jason. "I was just suspicious. It seems
like it was too easy. Getting us into the Sol Solis. How did Chance have the ability to get us assigned roommates?"

"Jason, we made seventy zillion phone calls and filled out mounds of
paperwork to get into this school," I said. "It wasn't exactly
easy."

He shrugged. "Whatever. The point is that I looked at the chat history.
And I found out that he's in communication with the Satanists."

"What Satanists are there to even be in communication with?" I asked.
"Michaela Weem is dead. You shot her yourself. She's the one who
masterminded this whole thing."

"I don't know who it is," said Jason. "They use handles, and I
don't know his real name. But he and Chance are planning something. They're
planning to kill us both."

I shook my head. "No," I said. "I don't believe that."

"I read it," said Jason. "It was all right there. In black and white."

" No."

"Listen, you've got to face the facts. Your family can't be trusted.
You're all alone in this, just like I am. We can't trust