by JL Weil
Her fist connected with the side of my chin, and I groaned, the pain in my shoulder lancing through my arm. The impact from the little hunter was no joke. Emma was no joke. The weight of her hit was packed with deep hurt, betrayal, anger, and a bunch of other intense feelings.
If anyone else had laid a hand on me, they would’ve ended up in the hospital or a body bag. Everyone had a breaking point, and Emma had just reached beyond hers, but underneath all her hatred and anger was gut-retching sadness. It was that knowledge that kept me from retaliating, an ingrained instinct.
“I hate you!” she yelled, taking another swing at my face.
This time, I twisted my head to the side as her clenched fist sailed past my cheek. “Join the club,” I said, and for once I didn’t have the urge to kick her ass.
“You are despicable,” she spat, pounding a fist on my chest.
Did she expect me to argue?
I contemplated that thought for a whole two seconds when a gleaming ruby blade caught my eye. Emma had whipped it from behind her back, no surprise. Some girls slept with stuffed animals or their favorite blanket. Emma fell asleep with a blade clutched in both hands.
Dammit.
The knife she held at my throat sizzled against my flesh, burning what was going to be a bitch of a mark. She gave me no choice. I drew the line at being sliced and diced. A few punches here and there—fine, but as soon as the knives came out, so did the demon. Anyway, she had gotten more than a few good shots at me.
A growl erupted between my teeth at the same time I bucked, dumping her on the floor. Flying to my feet, I hovered over her, reluctant to take my eyes off her. “I get that you’re upset, but let’s talk about this.”
Reddish-gold pieces of her hair had fallen messily out of her ponytail, frazzled and disarrayed. Emerald daggers glared up at me. “Let’s not and say we did.”
Cute and juvenile. And neither of those things described Emma.
Succumbing was not an option. Things were about to get messy, and I couldn’t have been more thankful we were alone. Travis, Lexi, and Angel would have just complicated matters. It was best that Emma and I settle the score, just the two of us.
I gave a nonchalant one-shoulder shrug. “Have it your way.”
She lunged. I dodged. And so the dance went. It was one we were both familiar with and had done on many occasions. Never actually swinging, I blocked her swipes as they carved through the air. By the third jab, my hand whacked her forearm, causing her to lose her grip on the dagger. In sweet music to my ears, I heard the metal clatter to the ground.
But the loss of her dagger didn’t slow down the machine. Emma didn’t need a weapon to be dangerous, kind of like me, but without all the perks of being part demon.
When the struggle ended and I had her hands trapped behind her back, the fight vacated her body. In its place, the hurt finally surfaced. Sharp angles of her face tightened as she tried to keep a hold on her emotions. Those Irish green eyes fought back tears. Emma was one tough chick—I’d give her that.
“I guess this means you got your memories back,” I breathed, uncertain what my next move should be. If she started crying, I might book it. A total dick move, but tears made me want to skedaddle.
She sucked up a sniffle, pulling against my hold. “Damn right I did.”
I glanced down at my shirt, frowning. Tiny nicks covered the front. “Let me guess. You’re going to try to kill me, like old times.”
“Blah, blah, blah. I was thinking we could ditch the song and dance and get straight to the good stuff.”
A knot pulsed in my chest. “There’s more?” I asked sarcastically, tightening my grip on her arms.
She ground her teeth in frustration, both from the anger and the grief of wounds that had reopened with the return of her memories.
“How about we talk about this like two rational adults without anyone losing a limb?” I proposed.
“What is there to talk about? You killed my father.”
She had me there.
“Right.” I had nothing, but I could see that for someone who didn’t want to talk, she had a mouthful to say.
Yet her comeback was interrupted by the front door squeaking open. Emma strung together so many swear words that I was impressed. I added a few of my own when I saw who was standing in the doorway, gaping.
“What the hell is going on here?” Travis boomed.
“Chase?” Angel said.
Lexi stood with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot with a look that said I was in trouble, and the shitting thing was Emma started it.
“I know this looks bad, but there is a very good explanation why I have Emma pinned like a wrestler.”
Travis scowled. “Oh goodie. You have thirty seconds.”
“She remembers. Everything, okay.” That should give a new outlook to the otherwise uncomfortable situation.
Angel looked from me to Emma. “Do you want me to—?”
Emma had been surprisingly stagnant since our unexpected guests—well, until Angel had suggested she use her powers of persuasion. Then she started bucking like a bull on steroids. “Keep your Obi One Kenobi crap away from me, or so help me, I’ll cut off his balls,” she threatened.
Well, that sounds pleasant.
Everyone in the room knew I could finish Emma before she was able to snatch her blade and get anywhere near my family jewels.
“Chase, don’t,” Travis pleaded.
Déjà vu.
“I don’t need your help, Travis,” Emma snapped.
“Thank God I didn’t bring Colin over. This would have been awkward to explain,” Lexi mumbled.
I decided to make an executive decision and prayed it wouldn’t come back to ninja chop my junk. Letting go of Emma, I released her into Travis’s clutches. “She’s all yours, cuz,” I said.
Travis scrambled to keep a firm grip on the feisty package I had tossed his way. The situation wasn’t funny, but my lips twitched, unable to help it. The picture of Travis fighting to get the upper hand as Emma struggled to get free was priceless.
Emma flipped me off. “This isn’t over yet, Winters,” she snarled.
I looked at her, really looked at her for the first time since she’d pounced on me, and what I saw reflecting back in her eyes surprised me. I expected to see hate and disgust, the normal looks I got from her. There was definitely a glare of uncontained anger, but there was also so much confusion pooling in her bright eyes.
“It never is.” Intertwining my hand with Angel’s, I escorted her back outside, thinking it might be a good idea to give Travis and Emma some time to themselves. Better him than me. “I need air and you’re coming with me.”
Shockingly, Angel didn’t utter a peep. No complaint. No argument. “Do you think the house will still be standing?”
I gave a quick glance over my shoulder just in time to see Travis lift Emma off her feet. Lexi darted outside as Emma kicked the door shut, barely avoiding a massive splinter to the face. “Probably not,” I conceded. “Come on. Let’s go. I need food.”
“How can you think of food at a time like this?” she asked, our arms swinging with the wind.
“Easy. I’m starving, and I’m pretty sure my demon is starting to snack on my liver.” I had been rudely denied a meal by my most recent rendezvous with the little hunter.
There was a small sandwich café on campus, nothing fancy and within walking distance. Ideal when you were traveling on foot at human speeds. The bell over the door jingled as we walked in. Immediately, we were hit with the smell of freshly baked bread, making my taste buds drool. Angel gave the place a onceover.
The cashier behind the counter smiled friendly but cautiously at us as she waited for our order. Angel and I rattled off items from the menu and then proceeded down the aisle to wait for our food.
I carried our tray piled with sandwiches as we went on the hunt for a corner booth. Quiet and secluded, just the way I liked my life.
Who was I kidding?
> The walls were covered with sports memorable—framed pictures, signed jerseys, and beer bottle cap art—a real classy joint. I slid the navy blue tray onto the tabletop, slipping into the cushiony booth. There was a huge tear on my side of the seat that rubbed against my ass, highly uncomfortable, but the temptation of food overruled. I dug in, taking a monster-sized bite that required some serious chomping.
Angel leaned across the table. “So, what did you find out?”
I unwrapped my second sandwich and replied, “That Emma is a psychopath.”
Angel’s eyes did a complete circle. “Chase,” she groaned. “That’s not what I meant. Your top-secret plan? Remember?”
Crap. With all the excitement and my rumbling belly, I’d completely forgotten about my visit with Professor Rivers. “Oh, right.” I put down the half-eaten sandwich and wiped the breadcrumbs from the side of my mouth. “I hate disappointing you, but nothing concrete. I’m still working out the kinks.”
She picked at her sandwich, pulling off tiny pieces and popping them into her mouth. “Translation. We don’t have jack.”
I arched my brow ever so slightly, smirking. “More or less.”
“So, we still have more questions than answers.”
“I guess that is one way to look at it.”
“We need answers. Real answers,” she said determinedly.
I couldn’t argue with that. “And we’ll get them.”
“When? Before it’s too late?” she gulped.
Her worries were justified, and that lit a fire inside me. Failure wasn’t an option, not when the stakes were this high.
I finished her uneaten turkey sub, and we headed out. Walking aimlessly, we rounded the castle-like building that was designated for history and followed along the sidewalk toward home in no real hurry.
Angel sipped on her to-go cup of Coke, ice sloshing together. “Okay, since your plan was a bust, it is only fair that I get a shot.”
I kicked a rock with the tip of my sneaker and watched it embed itself halfway through a tree trunk. “Sure. Have at it.”
“Promise you won’t get freaked out?”
“Well, now I’m freaked out.”
“Chase! What do you have to lose? It’s worth a shot.”
“Fine. I promise.” Seriously, what could she possibly do that I hadn’t already thought of? But I would humor her. It couldn’t hurt.
I was wrong.
Her methods were on a completely different spectrum—literally.
Chapter 17
She grabbed my hand, leading me off the sidewalk and away from the streetlights that had just recently kicked on. Humoring her, I went willing. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised that we ended up at the cusp of a forest. Unwinding her fingers from mine, she backed up, putting a few feet of space between us, the woods to her left. “I’ve never really done this before, but whatever happens, don’t do anything stupid,” she warned, tilting her head.
Right. If you have to start off with “don’t do anything stupid,” then, in my mind, you were setting me up to fail. But, I was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt. Folding my arms, I leaned all my weight on one foot and waited for the magic to happen.
Setting her cup on the grass, she chewed on her lip, rubbing her palms on the sides of her hip-hugging jean shorts. Concentration lined her forehead, crinkling around her eyes. She was going to give us both a migraine if she focused any harder. I was just about to intervene when, out of nowhere a reddish-yellow glow began to materialize, flickering like lightning bugs on a dark starry night. Mystified, I watched as a radiance of sunlight surrounded her. If I wasn’t dumbstruck, I would have been hypnotized. Whatever she was doing, it was making the mark at my hip burn, and unease shifted through me.
What in the world was she getting us into?
I felt each hair rise, starting from my neck and traveling down my body, standing up like a rabid porcupine. The demon inside me came roaring to the surface, my control slipping the brighter she lit up like a glowworm. I wasn’t the only one changing. Angel’s eyes began to glimmer an iridescent blue, and I held my breath, afraid to see a shard of red.
Unfortunately, something else drew my attention. There was a deafening thunder, and the impact shook the ground.
Jesus.
I dug my toes into the ground, prepared to dart across the few feet that separated us. Another pulse of light, and then Angel… Oh God.
Everything happened so fast. Seconds had past, and in that short time, Angel had managed to do the impossible. Stupefied, I stood there, trying to get a grip on the situation and figure out what my next move should be. The demon wanted to kick ass—its response to everything. I ran my hands through my hair as I fought from giving the angry guy what he wanted—a fight. My feet were spread out firm on the ground.
Angel shot me a triumphant smile, which quickly fell. “Chase? You said you wouldn’t freak out.”
“I’m not,” I growled, unconvincingly. What had she thought my reaction would be? Did she think we would sit around a campfire singing “Kumbaya?”
Her hands went to her hips. “Your face is whiter than chalk.”
I closed my eyes and envisioned banging my head against the wall. Panic started to simmer inside me. “This is your solution?” I asked when I finally opened my eyes. We had both done some pretty dumb things in our lives, but this…
She started nibbling on her lip again, and I felt the wave of doubt slowly roll through her. “You told me to do something.”
My heart squeezed in a funny panic, building in my chest as my hands curled into fists against the side of my jeans. “Yeah, well, that didn’t include summoning my neurotic sperm bank from Hell.”
Alastair snickered, speaking for the first time since Angel had called him to Earth. “Thanks, son. I missed you, too.”
“Shut up!” Angel and I yelled in unison.
I would never acknowledge that this d-bag was my father. He had never been one, and was the worst father material a kid could think to ask for. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t have a father, and that was damn fine by me. Devin was better than any father figure I could hope for.
With an amused smirk, Alastair said, “Glad to see nothing up here has changed since my untimely and rather abrupt banishment. Which makes me wonder… Why am I here? Trouble in paradise already?” He tsked his slimy tongue.
Angel had brought him back in his full glorious demon form, grotesque and quite disturbing to the eyes. It almost made me wish he would find a human suit to wear. Knowing that I came from something that looked like a cross between the Predator and Hercules with pointy horns made my stomach turn.
All eyes shifted to Angel, who was shuffling her feet nervously. The glow around her had disbanded. We all wanted to know the same thing. What in the hell had she been thinking? “Yes, Angel. Do tell,” I said, crossing my arms.
She seared me with a death glare, and then turned that killer glower on Daddy Dearest. Better him than me. “I need to ask you some questions.”
The higher-demon lifted a brow, if you could call whatever that thing was above his eye a brow. “That’s it? I hate to admit that I’m a little disappointed. Here I thought you had some great scheme up your sleeve and needed advice.”
She shot him a look of impatience. “Don’t make me send you back.”
“As you wish. Shoot, my dear.”
A low rumble sounded at the back of my throat, and my muscles tensed. If he even breathed the wrong way, he was burnt toast.
Angel rolled her eyes. “What did you do to me?”
He laughed. “You need to be a little more specific, doll. I’m many things, but a mind reader, sadly isn’t one of them.” He stepped out from the covering of the trees and into the open clearing like he had the time in the world. I hoped to God Angel knew how to keep him on a leash—a very, very short leash. “You know, it’s not too late to ditch my son and rule with me.”
Fire snapped inside me. I wanted to rip the ribs
from his chest and was seconds away from acting on the urge. He was too close to Angel. Actually, it wouldn’t have mattered if he were in another state. Alastair on Earth was too close.
“In the underworld?” she snorted. “No thanks. I can’t stand the heat.”
I chuckled, but it came out as more of a roar of warning.
The demon slithered over the ground, circling us. “It is hard to believe that my son has found someone to put up with his bullcrap. I never thought I’d see the day.”
I bet he hadn’t, considering he’d done everything possible to take my life, and when he’d failed, he tried to take the most important person in the world from me. And failed again.
“Just answer the damn question,” Angel barked.
Alastair grinned. “Ah. There’s that spark I love.” He tapped the end of his chin with the tip of his long black nail. “You’re a magnet for misfortune, love.”
“Tell us something we don’t know,” I mumbled under my breath.
He laughed harshly, the ball of his Adam’s apple bouncing. “The shit you don’t know would incinerate your overinflated head, son. For starters, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”
Everything tightened inside me, a mixture of disgust and rage. “How about we stick to Angel and leave me out of the equation? What is up with her spacing out like she is dazed and confused? Not to mention the nosebleeds?”
His black, glossy eyes narrowed. We finally might have gotten his attention. “Hmm, that’s not good.”
“Thanks for stating the obvious, Captain Dickhead,” I sneered, a bug up my butt.
Alastair appeared in front of us, a severe frown on his dark lips. “I have to say I was more than a little surprised that you were able to summon me. That is no easy feat for a human. Even for a keystone it takes practice.” There was an awkward pause. “And by the look on your face, someone’s been out in the backyard honing her demon beckoning skills. Hmm, interesting.”
“Do you know what’s wrong with me or not?” Angel emphasized, a well-played dig at his intelligence. I couldn’t have been prouder.