by Wendy Knight
That meant a lot to me and I wasn't going to give up on them.
Humans can't hurt ghosts. But demons? Demons can. I heard Elizabeth scream and swung around to see an asuwang holding her by the throat, its claws slowly digging into her soul, cutting off the life force. The thing about dying by the hand of a demon is if they take your soul, you don't get to go straight to the afterlife. Best scenario is they wear you like a shield against the sun. Next best case was you get taken to their sea-witch, and she uses you to make a giant, impenetrable shell for herself, and if we're fast enough, we can cut you free before the sun hits you and melts you into an impenetrable shield—but not until she decides to leave her lair and attack the surface. Worst case is you're kept in a cage until the sea witch wanted to invade land and kill everything, and then you're worn as a shell on her back until the sun melts you into an impenetrable shield. It isn't until she dies that you finally get to go to hell. No more chances at redemption. And for Elizabeth, who had been offered redemption but turned it down to stay and fight for something she believed in—that just wasn't fair.
Hell didn't look so bad compared to that.
I leaped over the crumbling, bloody body before me, jamming my sword into its back and jerking the blade out as I landed hard on the other side. I used my swords as scissors on the next demon blocking my way, slicing through its neck. But I didn't have time to watch it fall. I spun around it like a football running back and fought my way closer to Elizabeth. The demons seemed determined to keep me away, blocking my path every step of the way. I screamed, the sound reverberating through the deserted beach. The asuwangs trembled and collapsed, writhing on the ground. My throat was hoarse, so much that it felt like it was on fire. I only had one scream like that in every moon cycle, so I tried to save them for emergencies.
Elizabeth was in trouble. This was an emergency.
I whirled through the collapsed bodies as my ghosts fell on them with their swords, tearing them to bits. I got to Elizabeth and chopped at the hand still somehow tangled in her throat until the arm fell away alone. Sheathing my swords, I dug the claws out of her neck, wincing at the rubbery scaliness of them.
Ick. Ick. Ick.
She gasped as I finally pulled them free, like she was gasping for air but I knew she didn't breathe. Behind me, the asuwangs were pulling themselves to their feet, moving in stunned slowness. I jerked back toward her. "Are you okay? Should I call Death?"
Her eyes widened and she shook her head vehemently. "I am fine, Navi."
I scanned her wounds, but I could hear the asuwangs howling. There wasn't time to baby her. "Okay. Just stay away from them, okay? Heal first." Thankfully, when the moon was up, they healed as fast as I did.
"Navi!" One of my army yelled and I spun on my heel, already unsheathing Kali and Golly as I turned. I thrust them out and into the face of a demon just rising from its crouch. The moon was setting. If they have a soul to shield them, they could shift into other forms when the moon set.
And my ghosts would get sent back to their cages when the moon set.
And I would lose my powers when the moon set.
"Hurry!" I cried. I spied Elizabeth running down the beach, so at least she was out of harm's way. My ghosts redoubled their efforts, racing against the moon. I swung my blades down, felt them slice through the rubbery skin, and jerked them free before spinning on the next demon threatening to impale me with its claws.
Because if that happened, it would eat me.
That would be unpleasant.
Faster. I had to move faster. I flew through the motions, dancing out of danger, whirling back in, jabbing, thrusting. Trying to save the souls in danger. It would be so awesome if someone could figure out how to make our blades start on fire. Then we could blaze right through these stupid monsters. But my mom didn't know how to do anything like that and I'd never met another Agent besides her. Someone should start a chat room for Agents. That would be super helpful.
"Navi!"
Crap. I'd gone too far into my own head, and the asuwang knocked me flying, pouncing on top of me as I hit the sand on my back. I squealed as its teeth reached for my face, hot drool scalding my skin.
And then it screamed and arched away enough that I could get my blades up and into its skin. I could see Robert, one of my ghosts, over its shoulder, jerking his own swords free.
The thing collapsed on me, its last breath rattling in its chest. "Get off, get off, get off!" I screeched, shoving it hard until I could wriggle out from under it.
The rest of the demons were dead, except for two that wouldn't last more than a couple of seconds, given that my entire army had focused their attention on them.
"That was close. I guess they wanted to remind us that this isn't supposed to be so easy," I panted.
Robert nodded solemnly, watching the fight. "If this keeps up, we're going to need a bigger army. We lost three tonight."
"Oh no," I murmured. "Who?"
"Don. Serena. Christopher."
The last two I could understand. They weren't my most enthusiastic fighters. But Don had been. My heart ached.
"Navi!" Elizabeth screamed, racing down the beach, nothing more than a white blur. "They've made it through. They're past the city streets and already shifting!"
"Oh no, indeed," Robert said. He took off toward Elizabeth. I risked a glanced at the moon, already fading in the early morning light. I had only a few minutes with my powers before they were gone, too. If we could keep the escaped demons from making it back to their sea witch, we could kill them and save the souls.
"Don't let them past!" I yelled to my army. Not a problem, since the remaining demons they were fighting were already dead. Pulling off my heels, I left them in the sand and sprinted after Robert.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Alec
I didn't have to work the next day. Which was good because I'd spent the night staring at my ceiling, re-living every single second of the day before. Every kiss. Every word. Navi was mine again.
All was right with the world.
I heard Bryson come in, stumble around, crash into things, and maybe fall over a few times. Drunk, again. Although this time, I didn't blame him. I'd be drunk, too, if I'd just lost Navi.
I'd fallen hard and fast. It was terrifying—so terrifying—but nothing in me seemed to care. I would gladly face that fear. Josh would tell me I was stupid. He'd tell me we didn't know each other and he'd tell me I couldn't possibly fall in love with her after one day.
And then I'd tell him I could if I'd never fallen out of love with her.
And he would tell me it wasn't possible. He'd tell me we had hated each other in high school. He'd tell me I'd hated her after high school. He'd tell me I'd dated thirty different girls since her. But he didn't know about my trip to Alaska. He didn't know about Navi's picture in my nightstand drawer. He didn't know she was only one thought away, day or night, always.
And he never would. Because I was a guy, and guys don't think like that. Or at least, we aren't supposed to.
It didn't stop me, though.
I wasn't sleeping anyway, so I rolled over and grabbed my phone. "Text me when you're home, k?"
She didn't respond, so I lay there worrying for the next couple of hours. I was finally drifting off to sleep when my phone beeped. "I'm home. This better not wake you up or I'll feel bad."
Maybe a little, but I wasn't gonna tell her that. "Not asleep. Need you here."
My heart pounded. She'd say no. I knew she would. Or she just wouldn't respond, like the night before. But then she did respond. "I'm exhausted. And messy. Sleep is calling me."
I swallowed. If sleep was all she wanted, I could do that. If it meant having her head on my chest again, I'd take it. "Come here. We'll just sleep. I promise."
The way my palms were sweating, you'd think I was asking for a lot more than her lying next to me all night. I had to attempt to breathe about fifteen times before I actually succeeded. And she still didn't respond.
I gave up, hating the acid of disappointment in my stomach. I wanted her here. I wanted her with me. I dropped my phone on the table and rolled onto my back to resume staring at the ceiling. She must have fallen asleep.
There was a knock at the door.
It was timid and so quiet I barely heard it. Bryson snorted from the other room. It couldn't be her, could it? She'd just barely told me she was home, and I hadn't heard a car pull up. But who else would be here at four-thirty in the morning? I leaped out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts, nearly killed myself in my rush out of my room, and tripped over an unconscious roommate in the middle of the hallway. "Dammit, Bryson!" I muttered as I hopped to the door and swung it open.
"Hi." She waved and bit her lip. Her hair was a tangled mess, like she'd been fighting with the wind. Her cheeks were bright pink and her clothes were covered in sand. I didn't care.
I pulled her inside and shut the door behind her. "Hi." I tugged her closer to me, sliding one hand up her neck as I lowered my mouth to hers. Heat seared me as our lips met and I could feel my entire body react instantly. She sucked in a breath, her hands clutching into fists against my chest. "Alec," she whispered.
"What the hell, Alec? I didn't think you were a big enough ass to rub it in my face," Bryson mumbled from the floor. I must have woke him up when I tripped over him.
Navi's eyes widened and she stumbled backward away from me, smacking into the door. "I didn't realize you were er… up…" Her voice trailed off as she stared at him lying on the floor.
"I wasn't," he said.
"Let's get you to bed, should we?" She brushed past me, scooping to help Bryson up.
"I don't want help. I want to lay here and make you miserable."
She smiled brightly and hauled him to his feet. For such a little thing, she was surprisingly strong. "No you don't. You want a nice soft bed to sleep off the nasty hangover you're going to have tomorrow."
I watched, more than a little jealous, as she looped his arm around her neck and led him to his room. I thought I caught a glimpse of bruising along one side of her jaw and the back of her neck, but it was hard to see as she moved away. She disappeared inside and I heard the bed creak. I didn't trust him at all—it would be just like him to attack her again. He'd probably pulled her down on top of him. Growling under my breath, I followed them in, but she was standing above him, pulling the comforter up to his chin.
"Just in time. The sun's about to rise," she murmured as she pulled his curtains shut.
"And you've been up all night." I came in and took her hand. "You need to sleep. With me."
Her eyes shot open and I chuckled, leading her out and into my room. "Just sleep, Angel. With your head on my chest."
"Okay," she whispered. Before she could chicken out, I slid under the covers and held out my hand, motioning her with my fingers. She hesitated, biting her lip, and then toed off her shoes. "You can't sleep in that." I raised an eyebrow and she looked down at her dirty, ragged outfit.
"Oh."
"There's a shirt hanging on the closet door. You can sleep in that if you want." I couldn't even put into words how much I wanted to see her in my shirt.
She picked it up and looked at me, so freaking adorable in her nervousness that I was on the verge of losing whatever was left of my heart. "Yeah, that one."
She nodded quickly and disappeared into the bathroom. Less than a minute later she reappeared, hurried to the light switch and snapped it off before I could even get more than a glimpse of her long, tan legs. I could barely see her through the shadows as she scurried over to the bed. "I'm nervous."
"I promise, I won't even touch you if you don't want me to." Although it would take a herculean effort to keep my hands off her all night.
"That's not what I want," she said quietly as the bed sagged lightly under her weight. I pulled the blankets up over her, every molecule in my body hyper-aware that she was in my bed and lying very close to me.
And then she snuggled closer.
It was possible I was about to go into cardiac arrest as her leg slid over my thigh and she curled herself around me. And finally, finally, she laid her head on my chest.
So she could hear my heart.
I'm sure she was very impressed with my coolness.
"Sleep, Angel." I kissed the top of her head and slowly trailed my hand up and down her spine, drawing pictures on her back until her breath evened, and each breath she took drew delicious shivers across my bare skin.
At least one of us was going to get some sleep.
The smell of bacon woke me. I had no idea what time it was, but judging by the way the light was trying to blind me through the window, it was late afternoon. I went to roll over so I could see the clock, and remembered Navi.
She was curled on her side with her back to me, still sound asleep. The bruising I thought I'd seen the night before was gone, so it must have been a trick of the light. I remembered her being a fast healer, but even Navi couldn't recover that fast.
I finally leaned around her to see the clock. Two p.m. We'd slept for seven hours straight… and some crazy person was making breakfast in my kitchen at lunch time. Navi, though, was still sound asleep, making scared little noises while she dreamed. So I wasn't the only one who had nightmares… although last night, with her in my arms, the nightmares hadn't come. Lying back down on the pillow, I slid my arm around her waist and settled closer to her. Bacon be damned. I wasn't getting out of this bed.
Pounding on my door seemed to insist otherwise. "What, Bryson?" I growled. Navi groaned and stretched and rolled over to bury her face in my chest. I tightened my arms around her.
"Breakfast is ready," Bryson yelled back, way too loud for my small apartment.
"Then eat it," I snapped.
Navi smiled, eyes still closed. "Be nice," she murmured. Seconds later, she was back to sleep, breathing against my chest in my shirt, her legs tangled with mine.
I leaned on my elbow and watched her sleep, finally giving in and letting myself trace the curves of her face with my fingertip. Her eyelashes fluttered and finally opened, those dark, dark brown eyes hitting me before she smiled sleepily. "Hey."
"Hey." I leaned forward and kissed her nose. "Did you sleep well?"
She nodded and smothered a yawn. "You?"
"Yep." I smoothed a stray curl away from her face. "You're beautiful in the morning."
She twisted to see behind her to the clock. "It isn't morning." With a teasing grin, she rolled back to me.
I caught her before she could bury her face again. I kissed her the way I'd dreamed all night of kissing her, slowly lowering her back against the pillows. She moaned as I parted her lips with my tongue and delved inside. I wanted more. A hell of a lot more, but I couldn't ask for it. Not yet.
This had to last. I couldn't go back to the way things were without her. Which meant I had to be very, very careful.
But the fear of scaring her away didn't make me a saint, and when she slid her arms around my neck, I shifted so more of my weight was against her. Her heart hammered against her rib cage, so loud I could hear it.
Oh wait. That was my heart I could hear.
Or was it Bryson, banging on my door?
Navi jerked away from me as the door swung open and Bryson came in. "What the hell, Bryson?" I growled. Lately, he made me want to growl a lot.
"Breakfast is ready." The look he gave me was so blasted innocent, it had to be fake.
"And you're in here because…?"
Navi sighed and curled closer, burying her head against me and closing her eyes.
"I didn't want your breakfast to get cold." He held his hands out like he could possibly placate me right now. "It's a peace offering. For last night."
"That was very sweet of you, Bryson. We'll be right out." Navi's voice was muffled, and I was hoping I'd misheard her. But Bryson left and she threw the covers off, rolling out of bed.
Apparently I'd heard correctly.
"I have to get home an
yway. I have a paper to write today." She looked as crushed as I felt with those ten or so words. I grabbed her tattooed wrist and pulled her back to the bed. She smiled, kneeling on the edge.
"Stay here with me. I'll write your paper for you."
She arched one perfect eyebrow. "Somehow, that doesn't seem like the best idea. Or the most ethical."
Her hair was a wild mess of tangled curls around her face, and she had no makeup on. Wearing only my shirt. And I swear in that second she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life. "Stay with me today," I said again. When she looked like she might object, I added, "I have blueprints I need to go over. I can do that while you write." And then I gave her my best puppy dog eyes.
She laughed, leaning forward on her hands and knees to kiss me. "Fine. But—" she hesitated, looking up like she could see through the wall. I ran my fingers through the silky curls falling around us. "We need to go to my house. It's too hard on him having us here."
Bryson. Of course. "Okay. I'll follow you over."
"Actually… Can I have a ride?" She looked away, biting the inside of her cheek. I frowned. I knew that look. She'd always been a terrible liar. "I had a friend drop me off last night. My car is at home."
Something was up, but I couldn't see how it mattered. Maybe she'd wrecked her car the night before and was embarrassed to tell me. That would explain the disheveled clothes and hair and the bruises.
Except there was definitely no bruising today.
"Of course I can take you home," I said slowly. Shaking it off, I sat up. "After breakfast?"
"I hope you guys are hungry." Bryson was way too chipper. If he was going to act like this every time Navi was here, we were going to have to do some serious rearranging.
"Starving." Navi gave him a bright smile as she came out of my room, fully dressed in her clothes from the night before. "It looks great, Bryson."
"My grandma was one of the best cooks in Tennessee. She taught me everything she knew. And for the record, Alec can't cook at all." Bryson glared at me.