Chapter Thirteen: Message From Matt

"Two people are dead!" Julia scowled, pushing away her tray and trying to sit up straight in her hospital bed. She had a dislocated shoulder, her right arm was in a sling, and she had been struggling to eat a decent breakfast when Matt came breezing in for a visit. "Aren't you worried about going on trial for murder?"

"Are you gonna finish that French toast?" Matt didn't look like a powerful warlock who could summon demons at will. He sauntered into the stuffy hospital room like a high school quarterback on the morning after a big game. Julia felt like hurling her breakfast tray right into his grinning face. But her arm hurt. And when Matt sat down on the side of the bed, she got a good look at the bruises on his face and the shadows under his eyes.

"You killed Caroline," Julia said softly. She understood what the ugly bruises meant, what Matt had gone through to save her life. But being tough and crazy Matt, he picked up a knife and fork and began to eat as though nothing was wrong. "You killed Ben Carlson. That . . . that thing with the long claws and the horns that just appeared and swallowed them up . . . that was you!"

"Horned God," Matt mumbled, talking with his mouth full. "He's been in the family for centuries. It's kind of like he's a part of me. Usually I can control the all-devouring hunger, but this time . . ."

"So you're the last Dunwich," Julia said softly. Matt was directly descended from Silas Dunwich. But the old witch-hunter had lied. He'd cruelly persecuted the young women who danced before the Horned God. But it was his own foul magic that bewitched them!

"Yeah, but don't spread it around." Matt poured himself a glass of orange juice. "I changed my name when I joined the Marines."

"So Caroline wasn't the only person with a secret past." Julia frowned as her companion poured a glass of juice for her as well. "Matt, I understand that the Horned God saved my life last night. But how are we going to explain those two dead bodies?"

"Don't need to." Matt was cutting up the rest of the French Toast into neat little squares. He stabbed some with his fork and lifted it up for Julia to eat. "The flames destroyed the evidence. As far as the law is concerned, Elsie Flanagan died over a hundred years ago. Ben Carlson disappeared a few months back, after being disbarred for medical malpractice in Boston. The State Police found a whole bunch of pills he stole, probably to sell. It seems Dr. Ben got in with the wrong crowd of bikers, and then vanished."

"Oh, right. The bikers!" Julia opened her mouth and obediently swallowed the French Toast. She didn't remember much about the DYMC (Dead Yankees Motorcycle Club), but she suspected they knew all of Matt's unholy secrets. "So what happens now?"

"Now you go back to college," Matt told her. "Where you belong!"

"College can wait," Julia said roughly. "I've uncovered a lot, but there's still so much I don't know about Dunwich Manor. My friend Henrietta . . . I mean, Professor Bradford is counting on me!"

"Open up," Matt said. He fed her some more French Toast, and let her swallow before he continued. "Henrietta's not coming back, Julia. The professor is dead. And she wasn't your friend. She was working for Ben and Caroline all along."

"You mean she knew what they wanted to do to me?" Julia could hardly believe the story Matt unfolded while she finished her meal. But it made sense. The greedy professor had joined forces with the hate-crazed fanatic who'd fed on the young for generations, both of them seeking the secret of eternal life.

"In a way I almost feel sorry for her." Julia remembered Henrietta telling her how lonely life was for a scholar. It was easy to see how Ben and Caroline took advantage of that.

"I don't," Matt told her. "She was feeding on you. They all were."

Julia cocked her head. "All right, but what about you Mr. Dunwich? Are you afraid the Horned God is going to consume me in a fiery embrace one dark night? Is that why you're in such a hurry to send me back to school?"

"I want you to stay," Matt admitted. "But I also want you to go. Damn it, this place is evil! It's cursed, and unholy, just like me."

"Why not let me be the judge of that?" Julia asked gently. "Try treating me like an adult, Matt. Nobody likes mixed messages."

"Here's a message for you." Matt leaned over and kissed Julia full on the lips. Just then someone knocked loudly on the door.