by Weil, J. L.
“That should offend me, shouldn’t it?”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Like I could ever offend you.”
“True.” He reclined back against the cushions, taking me with him. I laid my head on his shoulders. It was like a weight had been lifted off me. I needed to do this, get this off my chest so I could start to heal.
The steady beat of his heart was comforting. I placed my hand over it. “My dad was – is an alcoholic. It started with just a drink after work or on the weekends. The pressure at his job was building, and it was too much he said. Then it quickly turned to six, to twelve, to him not being able to stand to getting sick, passing out. My parents started fighting, scary fighting. Furniture was overturned, china was broken.”
“Did it ever get out of hand, did he ever–” I felt the muscles in his arm flex.
I shook my head. “No, never, but sometimes I thought he would. One night he didn’t come home, which was becoming more frequent. He had stopped at one of his favorite bars, and after a full night of boozing he got behind the wheel.”
I inhaled a deep breathe of his familiar scent. It filled me with security like I never felt before. “I don’t even know how he was able to find his car, let alone start it. A family of four was traveling home from a vacation.” My voice got heavy with emotion again. “He – he swerved into their lane hitting them head-on. None of them survived. None of them accept my dad.”
Why was it the drunk always lived?
Horseshit.
His hand stroked down my back encouraging me to finish, comforting me.
“He was sentenced to six years at the Arizona Penitentiary. It doesn’t seem long enough to me, and maybe this sounds coldhearted, but I am glad he’s gone. He is not the dad I loved anymore.”
“Sounds like you have some demons of your own Angel Eyes. They are safe with me,” he whispered against my hair.
Tilting my face up, I met his compassionate steamy eyes. Realizing, I trusted him wholly. Fascinated, I watched as his eyes topaz intermingled with stormy grey. “You’re eyes are doing that thing again,” I informed breathless.
His hands lingered at my waist, edging under my shirt. “I know, it means it’s time for me to go,” he said feebly. His voice was strained and sinful.
Tracing lazy circles at my hip, his fingers impishly played a dangerous game causing arrows of heat to shoot through my body.
“And if I don’t want you to go?” I proposed, shocked at my own forwardness.
His colored irises held mine for infinite minutes, keeping me suspended on some pivotal moment. He closed his eyes. “I would say that is just too bad.” He leaned in, catching my breath and kissed the tip of my nose.
I wasn’t about to let him get off that easy. It was starting to royally piss me off. Constantly he was building me up to something, dangling it just out of my reach. I weaved my fingers into his silky dark hair, keeping his head a breaths length away. I heard his sharp intake of surprise.
Score one for Angel.
I don’t know when I suddenly grew such boldness, but I was on my way to becoming a tramp.
Like I was in another body, I brushed my lips over his and uttered a helpless little sigh. I wanted his mouth more than I wanted oxygen. He made me feel everything I always longed to feel. Beautiful. Smart. Desirable.
That quick taste was like a fantasy. Wickedly delicious that left you aching for more.
He moved like lightning.
Before I could press my lips fully to his, he shot across the room. Without his body there to hold me up, I fell face down on the couch and not graceful like a swan either. Blowing the hair out of my eyes, I looked across the room at him and sent him a murderous glare. His hand was braced against the wall, and his eyes were an unearthly gold. There was nothing he could say or do that would diffuse the anger now simmering in me. All the passion I had been feeling was instantly turned to rage.
He bolted from the house like a blur of black.
I didn’t think I’d ever be able to look at the couch again without thinking of Chase, or having my cheeks flame pink.
Chapter 19
Friday night.
The crowd roared in the stands, stomping on the bleachers as the home team crossed the end zone for yet another glorious touchdown. Football here was really like a royal event. All the stops were pulled out. There was a parade down Main Street with trucks piled with students followed by the band. It was a real hoot. The town was literally decorated in school colors from banners to streamers to balloons.
Citizens of Spring Valley took football very seriously.
I dragged Lexi with me since I promised Brandy and Kailyn I would come watch them cheer at their first game. She was a much better sport than I was, looking all cutesy in her school colors of red and black. Ribbons tied in her bouncy blonde hair and makeup to match. It was super freaky that our school mascot was a red devil.
What were the odds?
Lexi and I had quite a laugh over that.
There was a little bite in the breeze. The first sign of the approaching fall. I have to admit that I was a little nervous and excited for my first snowy winter. I’d never actually had a white Christmas.
Snuggling in my hoodie, I couldn’t believe that I might possibly enjoy myself. I warmed my hands around a cup of hot cocoa and tried to look like I knew what was going on, cheering at the appropriate times.
The giant scoreboard blinked touchdown and our cheerleaders broke out in a series of high kicks before chanting their victory cheer. I smiled at Brandy and Kailyn feigning excitement as best as I could. This was so far off from playing video games.
“Hey Lions, Beware! The Devils have no fear, B-E-W-A-R-E. This will be, this will be, this will be the Devils Victory,” shouted a bunch of over-eager teenage girls in skirts that covered only half an ass cheek.
Brandy and Kailyn each did a perfect handspring and waved their red and black poms in the air. I might not be cheerleader material, but they really got the crowd in an uproar. The players huddled on the field, giving each other weird hand signs from the sidelines that ended in a unison clap. Very technical.
“You are enjoying yourself,” Lexi grinned beside me, flashing her adorable dimples.
I smiled back. “Who would have thought?”
She giggled. Lexi was one of the girls that had a sexy giggle, not an annoying one like most.
“So does this mean you will be going to homecoming?” she asked sneakily.
Nice try. “Don’t hold your breath.”
“Common on. New dress. New shoes. What more could a girl ask for?” she tried to persuade.
A date. And I definitely didn’t have one of those.
During halftime, Lexi’s little pink phone buzzed. I waved down at Brandy and Kailyn as they finished one of their skanky cheerleading routines. Lord knows, I would make the worst cheerleader. No matter that I was clumsy and uncoordinated; I just couldn’t fake being that cheerful.
The panic in Lexi’s voice caught my attention, and I started to listen in. Whatever had her upset, it didn’t sound good. She snapped her phone shut and said hurriedly, “We have to go. Chase said there is a demon in the area. Close. He thinks he might be at the game.”
Did that mean he was after Lexi?
My eyes automatically scanned the field like I knew what I was looking for.
Ha. As if I would be able to pick him out from the crowd of people, I could barely see the other side. I had one short interlude with a lower-demon and I instantly thought I was an expert.
Lexi grabbed her purse off the bleacher and started zigzagging her way down.
“Where’s Chase?” I yelled over the horde. A wave alarm for his safety rose up in me. It didn’t matter that he was some big, bad, half-demon.
“He is on his way here. Sierra called him. He is going to lead him away from here, hopefully,” she informed as we maneuvered between people.
We raced to the parking lot.
“I’ll meet you at my hou
se,” she instructed as we split up to find our cars.
I nodded my head and started weaving in and out the mass amount of cars until I came to my little white Fusion. Rummaging through my bag, my fingers slipped from nerves and it tumbled to the ground.
“Hell,” I muttered. Bending down I retrieved the bag, at the edge of a full blown freak out.
My keys were missing, and I swear, my heart fell out of my chest. I peered into the driver’s side window and sure enough there sat my keys in the ignition.
Only me.
“Okay, calm down,” I coaxed. There was no point in spazzing. I think my heart had stopped beating.
I’ll just call Chase. He was on his way. Problem solved.
If I last that long said that little voice in the back of my head.
I told that little voice to shove it.
Pulling out my phone, I dialed his number. It rang and rang and rang.
Voicemail.
I was going to kill him.
Trying to think rationally, I decided my best bet would be to head back into the crowd. I honestly didn’t think it would openly attack with so many prying eyes nearby. Lexi was safely on her way home and that was what mattered. I didn’t really give two flying pigs about Sierra, Hayden, or Craig. As far as I knew the half-demon was only interested in the Divisa.
I hoped.
Turning around, I headed back in the direction I’d come. The parking lot of the school wasn’t nearly as lit up as the football field, and it was deserted. My footsteps echoed in the spotty darkness, and my heartbeat roared in my ears.
A prickly sensation tickled my spine, and I looked over my shoulder, wanting to make sure I wasn’t being followed. My human eyes saw nothing. Putting a hand to my chest, I picked up my speed.
I felt like I was being stalked.
Another minute and I would be surrounded by people. I could hear the crowd rave in the stands.
The creepy feeling came back in ten folds. This time, I was certain something was following me. Rushing forward, I was relieved to see the field up ahead. I nearly broke out into a run.
The unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps sounded behind me. A chill skirted down the back of my neck, causing the tiny hairs to spike. All I could think was, I’m not going to make it.
Before my brain registered the thought, a scorching, brutal hand closed around my neck, razor sharp nails burrowing into my adrenaline pulsing veins. My heart thundered against my ribs as his grip tightened. He held me in the air, feet dangling from the ground. The oxygen my lungs desperately needed was cut off as his inferno breath roasted my neck. A sickening scent of burning flesh twisted my stomach.
“Don’t scream,” he warned, his voice growled in a foreboding command.
The next thing I knew, I was sailing through the air. I cried out as my body slammed into a nearby SUV. Metal crunched under the force of my hit, and I fell limply to the pavement. Teeny stars danced behind my eyes as I wavered toward a darkness at this point I have would surely welcome.
Rolling onto my back, I greedily ate up the air and had barely enough time to fill my deprived lungs when he was on top of me again. Pinned under an unbelievably awful truck of weight, my chest felt like it was going to cave.
I stared into pools of solid blackness and little gasps wheezed in and out of my barely functioning lungs. What had been the face of a man swiftly turned into a grossly depiction of nightmares as he shed his form. His ill grey skin was tougher than leather, rotting shark-like teeth spewed vile venom, and he grew in size, hovering over me.
“Human, we meet again. Tell me, where are they?” he ground, keeping my head locked in a death grasp. Finality resounded in his words. I wasn’t getting out of this alive.
‘I – I don’t know,” I croaked. My skin grated against rough gravel in blinding pain.
There was no question, apparently I had a death wish. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. Looking into those soulless pits of black, I spat into his face.
He threw his head back and howled loud and forceful. The ground shook underneath him from the power.
Ah shit. I’d done it now. It was probably the worse time to remember what Chase had said about the half-demons drawing out a human’s death for pleasure.
“Stupid girl,” he shrilled in a maddening voice. “I understand what the half-human sees in you.” His ashen finger traced my face in a hard line. Turning my head, I jerked it away from his repulsive touch. It only made him tighten his grip, forcing tears in my eyes. “He will come for you. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun while we wait.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” I choked out, my throat dry and burning.
He upturned his wicked mouth in a tormented grin. “You will fight until the end…I look forward to it.” Keeping his grasp on my head he locked his onyx eyes on mine, making it impossible to look away. I could taste a bitter metallic on my tongue. My own blood.
A sob escaped my lips as I felt the pressure of him inside me. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I assumed it was very bad. Then he locked something onto my chest, I felt it attach and pull. The essence of my life was being torn from my body. I could feel the darkness weaving around my heart and taking pieces of me. My very life energy was being sucked away, flowing freely from me to him.
He laughed at the frozen shock in my eyes. Purely evil and without an ounce of remorse, those hallow eyes lit with pleasure and happiness, if that was at all possible.
My body grew weaker, and my eyes tired, while his seemed brighter and energetic.
Shit.
Hope seemed like a faraway island I would never reach. “Chase.” His name was nothing but a whimper on my lips.
My ass had just been handed to me on a silver platter. This was it. The end.
I heard Chase before I saw him. Well he was mostly a blur. Slamming into the lesser-demon above me with the force of an asteroid, his battle cry exploded as they tumbled to the blacktop. Fists battered against flesh and bone over and over again. It was impossible to keep up with their movements. There was no telling who was thrashing who. He moved like Neo from the Matrix, on steroids.
The instinct to survive had taken over. Forcing my legs to obey, I scrambled to sit-up and pushed away from the fight. I propped against a nearby car, leaning heavily on it for support. My legs were wobbling, and my whole body was shaking.
All I could think was he had come. He found me. Chase was here, and I would be safe. My tense muscles relaxed as his rippled.
They rolled on the ground delivering blows that would kill a normal human. I had to bite my lip hard to keep from shouting and distracting him.
“You think you can save her half-breed?” the lesser-demon taunted.
“If I were you I would quit while you can,” Chase growled low. His dark hair beaded with perspiration, where as I broke out in a cold sweat from fear for him.
The demon licked his lips. “She’s tasty,” he said, laughing sickly.
Chase rammed him in the gut, taking them both to the hard pavement, and cutting off his demented laugh. The grunts and moans were almost like something from one of my games, inhuman and wolfish.
Just as quickly, the demon got the upper hand, and my blood turned to ice. Chase groaned as he took an enormous hit to the face, and his head snapped to the side. I sucked in a sharp breath at the stomach turning punch. Slowly he turned back wiping the blood from his mouth. His eyes seared a radiating yellow. It was the first time I might have truly feared him.
“I think I’m done playing games,” Chase hissed between clenched teeth.
He pulverized the demon into the ground, repetitively. Securing him with his weight and knees, Chase reached in his back pocket, golden eyes aglow, and pulled out a shining ruby dagger. Raising it over his head, he jammed it into the center of the lower-demon’s chest. Uttering, “It’s time to go home.”
The being from hell howled, and then promptly erupted into a million particles of raining ash. Breathing heavily,
Chase dropped to the concrete, head hung in exhaustion. Blood oozed from the cuts on his face and arms, dried and smudged in spots. He looked more like a warrior than a half-demon.
My warrior.
Chase was a badass.
Closing my eyes I heard my name in the faint distance.
“Angel…”
A part of me recognized it was Chase, but with the immediate threat gone I couldn’t have opened them if I wanted to. My throat felt like it had been filed with sandpaper, my body like it had been hit with a battering ram, and my ribs felt shattered. Overall, I was a mess.
A gentle hand cupped my face. “Angel Eyes…stay with me.” His voice sounded muffled and far away. I knew that I was sinking fast.
Blackness consumed me.
Chapter 20
“Angel,” he called softly.
With a jolt I jumped, panic in my eyes. Disorientated, I didn’t know exactly where I was. A bedroom was obvious. Staring up at the ceiling, I lifted a hand to my abrasive, sore, and swollen throat. I was going to be wearing turtlenecks for awhile, or my mom was going to have a shit-fit.
He sat on the other side of the bed, his shirt ripped, and his silver eyes loaded with concern.
This must be Chase’s room.
I blinked a few times trying to clear the dust from my fuzzy mind. How did I get here? Last I recalled, I was at the football game, in the parking lot.
Then the memories swamped back in a horrible, murky rush. The lower-demon, being bashed against the pavement, practically choked to death, and that thing doing something strange to me.
“Chase,” I whispered. My voice was unrecognizable to my own ears. I tried to sit up, and my head rocked like a tornado.
“Do you ever listen to anything I say,” he asked, sounding put out.
“Why would I start now?” I croaked.
“Do you remember what happened?”
I nodded, my head throbbing. “I think so. I’m just having a hard time believing it.”
“When Lexi called and said you weren’t there…” His words trailed off in agony.