“Don’t screw with me,” I bit out just before I kicked him in the side.
Demon. Demon. Demon.
I turned, my gaze searched frantically around the yard. Everyone was fighting. Chay was fighting a demi-demon. He had a cut above his eye; blood dripped down his face. Or maybe it was the same cut from the last fight. Who knew anymore?
Demon. Demon. Demon.
Something was wrong. My vision had changed. It wasn’t my mother I saw through the demon’s eyes. It was me.
It’s not real.
But I had a sick feeling deep in my gut. Something was wrong. I could smell sulfur. The glowing coming from the backyard told me the demons were coming.
Jake used my distraction to sweep me feet out from under me. I hit the ground hard. He fisted his hand, pulling his arm back. I readied myself for the block. Chay ran into him and hit him with a palm-heel strike to the side of the head.
I smiled. “I think I love you.”
“I know I love you.” He winked.
Our first declaration of love and it comes during a fight with demi-demons. Totally screwed up, but completely perfect.
Sulfur. The ground shuddered. I scooted away and stood. The dirt moved, shifting to form a pit. A yellow light shown from it, and heat radiated from it. I shuddered when I saw gray arms reach out. I reached down, taking out the dagger from the sheath on my ankle. My hands shook so badly that it took three tries for me to get the knife out of the sheath. My stomach felt full, like I’d swallowed a hand full of rocks. It weighed me down, and I couldn’t seem to move. I just stood in place and watched.
Demon. Demon. Demon.
Jake shoved me hard toward the pit. The smell of burning flesh and rotting meat filled the air. The demon reached for me. I held my breath, partly because I didn’t want to retch—although yakking on the demon did have its appeal—and partly because I was too scared to take a breath.
Here it goes. Please let us be right.
I used both hands and speared the demon’s gray arm with the dagger as it reached out of the pit. A scream pierced my ears, followed by a plume of black ash.
Wicked cool! Now we’re gettin’ somewhere.
A smile spread across my face. I wanted to jump up and down I was so excited, but I felt a hard push and stumbled toward the hole. I spread my legs wide, planting them on each side of the opening. Jake advanced on me. I pushed off on the balls of my feet, clearing the hole.
“Milayna, Milayna.” Jake walked around the hole and stood in front of me, keeping me from moving away from the pit. I readied myself for a blow. “You can end this. It doesn’t have to be this way. One word from you, and this all goes away.” His waved his hand around the yard, his voice silky smooth, like he hadn’t tried to beat me to a pulp minutes before. Or feed me to a demon. “Why are you fighting? Look around you. You’re all tired of the fight. There are more of us. We’ll win; it’s inevitable.”
“Listen, asswipe, did you not just see me kill that demon mo fo? I wouldn’t get too cocky about who the winner is going to be,” I yelled over the noise around us.
I wasn’t able to watch the pit behind me. Jake had meant to block my view and distract me. Unfortunately, I let him.
I smelled it, and I knew I was in trouble. The demon grabbed my hand from behind. I tried to wrench it free. Its skin was unnaturally hot against my flesh. My first instinct was to drop the dagger and fight it off me, but I forced myself to tighten my grip on the handle.
I took a swing at it. But trying to hit something standing behind you is difficult at best, and it easily deflected my blow, grabbing my other wrist and jerking my arm behind me. I screamed in pain. It forced the hand holding the dagger toward my throat. I tried to pull away, but the way the demon held me, I couldn’t get any leverage. I watched the blade inch closer and closer to my skin.
I’m dead. This is how it ends. Oh, God. I didn’t think I’d be this scared. Is it gonna hurt? Where’s my mom? Dad? Oh God, please don’t let Ben see.
Tears clouded my vision, and my muscles burned and trembled as I fought to push the knife away from my neck. I felt a prick on my throat; a trickle of warmth ran down my chest. The demon laughed, and Jake smirked.
DO something! Now!
I closed my eyes. “I control my pain.”
“What?” the demon hissed.
I moved my head to the side as far from the blade of the dagger as I could. Bending forward, I swung my head back. My head cracked against the side of the demon’s and the dagger sliced the other side of my neck. I couldn’t help the cry that escaped me.
The hit wasn’t very hard, but it surprised him enough that I was able to twist my hand and break his hold. I swung around and stabbed it in the side of the neck—my eyes locked on its cold, black orbs.
It howled in pain. I watched it turn to black ash and dissolve in the air. I could feel warm, sticky blood oozing down my neck and soaking into my collar.
The demi-demons and Evils scattered in the darkness. The earth shifted under my feet. I stood, drained of every molecule of energy, and watched the pit crumble in on itself until it was just an ugly, brown scab in a sea of lush, green grass.
We filed into the house to clean up. My mother darted from place to place, complaining about the police response time. “I called them when the whole thing started,” my mother complained, wiping the blood from Drew’s face.
“Some fighting teenagers aren’t high on their list when there are robberies and murders going on, Mom.”
“How bad is that cut?” Chay stood in front of me and cupped my chin, turning my head to the side so he could see the cut on my neck. “Deep?”
“Not very. It’s fine.” I tried to brush his hand away.
He grabbed some gauze and sterile water and cleaned the blood away. “I don’t think you need stitches. We’ll have to see if the bleeding stops.” He put a bandage over it and taped it in place. Chay cupped my chin in his hand and peered into my eyes. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” He placed a kiss on my forehead.
“I hurt everywhere.” I gave a small laugh. “But, no. Let me clean your cut.”
He had rubbed the blood with the back of his sleeve, smearing it over his face. Sitting down, he lifted his face to me. I rubbed it gently with a warm, wet cloth.
“It’s not too bad. Just a lot of blood and dirt mostly.” I put butterfly tape across it.
Chay wrapped his hands around my waist, his fingers tight against my skin. “I meant what I said.”
My hands stilled, and I looked into his blue-green eyes. I knew exactly what he meant. My mind centered on the five words he’d said, and warmth built in my chest. A slow, languid contentedness flowed through me. It was different from the jolts of sizzling current I felt when we kissed. But it felt right. It fit, like my body had been missing that piece of the puzzle. The hot stuff still bubbled just under the surface, but this new emotion was stronger, permanent. It took our relationship somewhere new. A better place. Love.
I twirled a lock of his hair around my finger and looked into his eyes. “It was kind of a weird time and place.”
“I know.” He nodded, and one side of his mouth twitched in a half grin. “But our relationship is built on weird. Even so, I meant it.”
I felt the sizzle run up my arm, through my chest, and reach out. The current connected to Chay and his emotions washed over me. I saw anger directed at Azazel. I saw rage directed at Jake—this time, I saw a memory to go with the emotion. It was me. The demon held me with the dagger at my throat; a trail of blood ran down my chest.
I saw protectiveness, caring, trust, longing, love—and there was another vision to go with his feelings. Me. The day he first met me. The day we had milkshakes at his uncle’s shop. Him watching me sleep in his lap at the zoo. Me laughing at something he said, him wiping my tears away after the woman died at the waterway. Memory after memory of me and the emotions he felt with each one.
Tears filled my eyes. It was almost too much. It fi
lled my heart. I knew I loved Chay. I knew it before that night. I couldn’t remember my life without him in it; he’d filled a void I hadn’t known existed. Without him, I was incomplete. But until that moment, seeing me through his eyes, I didn’t know how strongly he felt. And the realization gave me the most exquisite joy. But it scared me at the same time. How could I live with myself if he was ever hurt because of his feelings for me? I looked down and broke our connection.
I licked my lips and swiped at my eyes. “Me too. With everything in me,” I whispered.
He gripped the collar of my shirt and pulled me down to him. His kiss was whisper soft. So gentle. I opened my mouth to him and pressed myself closer, taking the kiss deeper. He groaned in my mouth. The people in the room faded. The memory of the fight and the circumstances that brought us to that point dissolved. We were just two people realizing how deep their feelings for each other ran.
“Get a room,” Drew drawled, walking by to grab a Coke.
“No. No, no. There’ll be no room getting,” my dad said, and I laughed against Chay’s lips.
Chay pulled back and grinned at me.
He’s mine. How did I get so lucky?
***
“Did you notice Muriel tonight?” Chay asked after everyone had left. We swayed on the swing on the back deck.
I picked at a piece of peeling nail polish. “When?” I knew what he was going to say. I didn’t want to hear it.
“During and after the fight.”
I dropped my hand and sighed. “I didn’t see her during,” I said. “I was a little busy.”
“I caught a glimpse of her. She was just watching. She didn’t fight. And when we came in, everyone had injuries except her.”
I looked at him. “What are you gettin’ at?” As soon as our gazes touched, the electrical cord sparked to life. I sucked in a breath. He was worried and scared for me. Fear was associated with Muriel, but in a different way. He was scared of her. Or of what she could do.
“I don’t know. I just think it’s odd, that’s all,” he said. He gave me a quick kiss—too quick—and our connection was broken. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” I touched my lips with my fingertips, my thoughts a million miles away.
“I’ll pick you up.”
Muriel didn’t fight? Is she going to turn? Has she turned? I didn’t get the same vibe off her that I did from Steven. But I don’t really know how to use this electrical vibe thingy yet, so who knows if I even did it right.
It’d have been a huge victory for Azazel if he got Muriel, my best friend and cousin, to work against me. Someone I’d never suspect, close to me. Someone I loved and trusted.
Chay’s warning rang in my ears. “You don’t know who you can trust.”
***
I had less than twenty-four hours. The next day was my birthday. One minute after one in the morning.
My mom offered to let me stay home from school, but I decided to go. I needed to be with Chay. And I wasn’t showing any fear. I was going to act like it was any other day. Besides, safety in numbers. Staying home alone wasn’t really an option.
Classes dragged on. Instructors babbled about inane subjects. Things I’d never use, even if I did live beyond my birthday. Who cared what x equaled? Or what ROI meant? I didn’t care about the gross national product or microeconomics. What I needed was someone to teach me how to get through the next twenty-four hours so I lived to see swim practice the next day.
I sat at the kitchen table after school. My parents were there. Chay sat next to me, holding my hand. His dad was there, and so was Uncle Rory. The entire group was there.
“We need a plan for tonight. It’ll be bad. There’s no doubt,” Mr. Roberts said.
“The church at the end of the street,” Jeff suggested. “It should offer some type of protection, more than she’s getting here. The demons have weakened it too much here.”
“I don’t know if a church will stop him.” Chay jammed his fingers through his hair. It was mussed and falling over his forehead from him running his fingers through it all day. I reached up and smoothed it back into place. His gaze found mine, and I let myself get pulled into the blue-green depths, hardly hearing what the others were planning around us.
“It’s as good a place as any,” my dad said. “You hide her there. We’ll stay here and try to keep them distracted long enough that her birth time passes before they realize where she is.” He shook his head and rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know. There are so many variables. Not all churches are protected. And some are more protected than others. I… I just don’t know.”
“There aren’t many options left. It’s a place away from here, but not too far that we can’t get to her if we need to. It’s a church. Chances are better that it’ll give Milayna more protection than she’ll have here. Surely, he and his demons can’t do too much damage there.” Mr. Roberts shrugged a shoulder. “At the very least, it’s a place he might not think to look. He’ll automatically expect her to be at one of our houses. He’s not omnipresent. He doesn’t know what we’re doing, planning, saying.” He ran a hand through his hair. He looked so much like Chay when he did that. “I don’t know, my friend. I wish I had all the answers for you.”
My dad frowned and nodded. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. That’s the plan, then.” He looked at my mom, and she gave him a quick nod.
“Then it’s settled. When it starts, Jeff and I will take Milayna to the church.” Muriel pulled her hair back and tied it in a messy bun.
I swung my head to look at the others. My dad was looking at the floor, his hand on his hip. He nodded his head.
Wait! Muriel?
“Okay.” My dad looked up.
No, no. I don’t trust her.
I turned to Chay. His expression told me he was thinking the same thing. He ran a finger down the side of my face and smiled. “Jeff will be with you.”
I nodded and tried to smile back. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like fear was wrapping around my throat like a scarf, squeezing tighter and tighter. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to lock myself in a closet with Chay and my family and just wait until it was over.
I want you to go. I trust you.
All there was left to do was wait.
Less than twenty-four hours until my birthday.
Waiting was the hard part. I wanted to be alone with Chay. I wanted to be with my parents and brother. I wasn’t sure who I wanted to be alone with the most. I did not want to be in a house full of people milling around, waiting for the fighting to start. But that was where I was.
Chay never left my side, not even to get something to drink. I was sure he would’ve sooner died of dehydration than leave me.
The clock became a ticking bomb. Every second counted down to the most important event in my life. Maybe the last event of my life. The sound of the constant tick, tick, tick reverberated through my skull until I thought I’d go crazy.
My hands were slick with sweat, and I had to let go of Chay’s hand several times to wipe them on the legs of my jeans. My heart was in my throat, and butterflies the size of trucks were spinning around in my stomach like a tornado of brightly colored wings. I was sure if I opened my mouth to speak, they’d fly out. So I kept quiet and waited.
It was getting dark, and the autumn chill rolled in. I went upstairs to change into warmer clothing. Chay, of course, followed. He waited silently outside my door until I finished.
“You’re still here?” I asked when I stepped into the hall.
He tilted his head, and his eyes roamed over my face before stopping on my eyes. “Where else would I be?”
“I thought you’d have run away screaming by now.” At his look of confusion, I tried to smile. “Haven’t you heard? Being my friend is bad for your health.”
“I thought I was more than a friend.” He gently pushed me backward into my bedroom.
“You are. So much more. Chay, I… I’m not sure how to say this, bu
t when I told you I loved you, it wasn’t exactly the truth.” I grabbed his hand that rested on my shoulder and kissed his palm. “What I feel for you has to be more than love. No one has ever made me feel like you.” Rolling my bottom lip between my teeth, I looked at the floor. I thought he’d say something, but he remained silent. I took a shuddering breath. “I just wanted to tell you how happy you’ve made me the last few weeks, you know… just in case.” My gaze swept up to meet his.
“Don’t.” His fist hit the doorjamb, and I flinched. “Just don’t.” He looked to the side, his jaw working. “You’re talking like you’re giving up. Don’t you dare give up, Milayna. Don’t. You. Dare.”
I shook my head. “I’m not. I’m not giving up!”
“Then don’t tell me any type of goodbye.” I wanted to tell him I wasn’t, but that was exactly what I’d been doing. So I nodded and squeezed his hand. “Good. Now that we have that settled, I want you to do something for me,” he murmured.
“Okay.”
He skimmed his hands up and down my arms before moving them up to cup my face. “I want you to hold on to something for me until this is over.”
“Chay, I’m probably not the best—” He let me go when I pulled away.
“I’ll want it back, so don’t get too attached. Take your sweatshirt off.”
“What?”
“Take your sweat—”
“I heard you, but there are people downstairs. Our parents are down there. I don’t think me and you playing striptease is gonna be their idea of appropriate behavior.”
He chuckled. “Just do it.”
I pulled off my sweatshirt and stood in just my bra, with my arms across my middle, shivering. My breath hitched in my throat when he reached behind his neck and pulled his sweatshirt over his head. My stomach did a weird sort of cartwheel and my heart, well, it wasn’t sure what to do.
Oh dear Lord, is he gonna take his clothes off, too? That’d be the best damn birthday present. Ever.
Disappointment flooded me. He wore a T-shirt underneath, but when he slipped out of his sweatshirt, it rose up and… wow… I was sure I forgot to breathe.
Damn, look at those abs. Can he be any more ripped? Breathe, I must remember to breathe. But, oh, is he screaming hawt. And if those jeans were any lower, I wouldn’t give a damn that my parents are downstairs.
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