Free The Lariat (Finding Justus Series) by Ashley Dotson Page B

tricks. He would want to know about everything else too. I didn’t know if it would endanger him further, but what if…
    What if he’s already beaten me to him?
    What if Samael has already hurt him? Or Ava? Or Orrin?
    I made tomato and avocado sandwiches for both of us, my hands shaking with fear and rage. I melted two spoons and the plastic container before I finished lunch.
    She will have to know. Cyrus’ words from yesterday still gnawed at me. My daemon didn’t like it. It was not a creature open for display. It thrived on secrecy and solitude. Friendship and understanding were not big on its priority list. Nevertheless, Samael was now after Ben. This was the second time she had come under attack from a daemon. Whether by choice or fate, she is part of your life , Cyrus said, she will have to know .
    I rounded the corner carrying two plates. Ben was on the couch staring at her lap top. Her face was slack. She blinked rapidly trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
    “What?” I wondered aloud.
    “I downloaded the Montrose photos from my camera’s SD card.” Her hand shook as she swiped her fingers over the screen and enlarged the slideshow, “Look at them. Tell me I’m not crazy.”
    I stared at a black and white photo of a window sill on the ground floor. Streams of light filtered through the dust motes.
    “It’s very pretty. I like the way the light catches the particles in the air.”
    “No, no, look in the corner.” She pointed and enlarged it further, “Do you see that face?”
    “It’s just dark patches, or dust on the lens. I don’t know.”
    “Then why is it in every photo?” She swiped through ten more photos, the face growing darker and more prominent as they moved closer to the last photo.
    She skipped though all of them and I saw the proof on every frame. Then there was the thirteenth floor. I watched as the entire horrific accident on the thirteenth floor through the lens of Ben’s camera. Her photo down the elevator shaft revealed an almost human figure reaching out.
    Samael.
    “I knew that place was haunted. This changes my senior project entirely,” she said, the excitement evident in her voice.
    She continued swiping quickly through the last of the photos, ones she deemed were the best yet. She wanted to put some kind of supernatural spin on them. She loved how they got more and more eerie as they progressed to the last swipe. Until she came across the last one.
    The photo of me.
    My wings glowed faintly from the light filtering thought the window behind me, hanging like a curtain covering the ugliness of the floor and the broken stairs below.
    My eyes were a bit too red, like the picture had already gone one round on Photoshop. My tattoo glittered in the low light. My hand was extended out to where Ben stood, still clicking away. It too glowed, the tips of my fingers were burning red with unleashed fire. I remember that moment. My daemon and I were both ready to fight, ready to fly away of the imminent threat.
    “Wow,” Ben whispered, “Look. At. You. How the hell did that happen?” Her eyes slid over to search my face. “This is more than just a ghost. Whatever is in there affected us both, but this. The photo is completely altered. You look amazing. And those wings. I can’t believe you did this. When did you have the time to edit this photo?”
    “Thanks. I think, but I didn’t mess with the photo.” Her words only mildly insulting, and she missed it entirely. She was too caught up in the image of me looking very much like my worst nightmare.
    Ben scoffed and waved away my response. She jumped up from the couch a bit too quickly and began to sway.
    “Slow down, Ben. It’s my job to keep you here and from doing too much.”
    “But you don’t understand. This photo…”
    “Don’t you have to have my permission to use my photograph?”
    She sulked, “Well, yeah, but…”
    “Well, I don’t want you to use it. It’s hideous.”
    “It’s