by S. A. Moss
When he was about three feet from me, I forced my body into motion, trying to slip around him—just as he tried to walk around me. The end result was that we both veered to the same side, and I ended up stepping right into his path again. We both side-stepped again, and he chuckled.
Leaning in, he winked and whispered, “Thanks for the dance.”
A shiver zipped up my spine. I knew the sound of his voice, but somehow it sounded completely different when he was speaking to me, so close I could feel the warmth of his breath on my ear. I liked it. Way, way too much.
Then he gently grasped my shoulders and moved me to the left while he stepped to my right. He shot me a smile, his gaze lingering on me as I quickly gathered the remainder of my scattered wits and fled down the hall.
I shouldn’t have looked back, but I did. Alex had stepped up to the desk and was talking to the woman. I saw her shake her head, and he leaned over the desk to look at her computer. Then I saw her point in my direction.
Oh crap.
Alex turned in my direction. He wasn’t smiling now, but he did look extremely confused. Before he could catch my eye, I darted around a corner. Barely checking to make sure the coast was clear, I faded out quickly.
A moment later, Alex rounded the corner after me. I stepped out of his way as he walked in a circle, taking in the hallway from all directions. He looked around again, then shook his head. “What the hell?”
I scrubbed my hands down my face.
Hopefully, Arcadius would never find out about this, or I’d be spending the rest of my days in the Wild.
18
Alex was allowed to go back to work much quicker than I’d expected. Apparently, as long as no little fists were aimed at his crotch, teaching martial arts to a bunch of ten-year-olds wasn’t that dangerous of an activity. The doctor gave him the go-ahead to go back to teaching just a couple of weeks after Alex was released from the hospital.
While he was recovering, Evelyn came by almost every evening to hang out with him. They’d binge watch crappy old movies, and I’d fold myself into “my” corner of the couch and watch with them.
His cat, who I found out was named Otis, still hated me; worse, he also seemed to be able to sense exactly where I was even when I was faded out. Movie nights usually consisted of him camping out on Evelyn’s lap and glaring in my general direction.
Alex had Googled my name the day he got home from the hospital, but thanks to the generally unexciting life I’d lived, nothing really came up in his search. There was one news site with a two-sentence fatality report about my death, but Alex skipped over that one. Why would he suspect that the girl following him was dead?
I knew there had been a spate of news articles about me when I was little, since my case was a little unusual—abandoned kids were sadly not that uncommon, but when both parents up and disappeared into thin air, it drew a bit more attention. But that had been so long ago now that the articles never showed up in his search. I knew he wanted to find out more about his mysterious benefactor, but I hoped he’d lose interest when his internet searches turned up nothing.
I’d been practicing the tricks Owen had taught me, especially shield work and fading in and out in the blink of an eye. There was a mostly empty storage area in the basement of Alex’s building, and I snuck down there almost every night to run drills.
There had been no other Fallen attacks that I knew of, but I was careful not to get lulled into a false sense of security. Alex had been mostly at home while he recovered, and even though it was hard to imagine someone breaking into his apartment to attack him, I had to consider it a real possibility.
The Seer had assigned me to protect Alex. The Fallen had attacked him. What was it about this guy that drew supernaturals like moths to flame?
Despite my promise to Arcadius, I still hadn’t completely given up hope of finding out what happened to my parents. I couldn’t just abandon them, could I? And knowing what I did now, I was even more worried about the picture I’d found.
If my dad was involved with Boss Man somehow, he was probably unwittingly surrounded by demons—and as far as I was concerned, that meant he was in grave danger. I couldn’t bring myself to leave Alex though, so for now I was just carrying my dad’s picture in my back pocket, unsure what else to do.
On Alex’s first day back at work, he stopped at—where else—Myron’s Hot Dogs. I walked by his side as he headed to the studio, grinning to myself as I watched him polish off the hot dog in two gigantic bites. His gait was strong and steady, and he didn’t seem to be favoring his right side at all anymore.
Seth, who’d also come by to hang out several times while Alex was recovering, looked up as we entered.
“Well, well, well! Look who decided to get off his lazy ass and get back to work!” he teased. “Ready to take me on again?”
“It’d finally be a fair fight, at least,” Alex joked back, whipping out his left hand to tap a light punch on Seth’s shoulder.
Seth twisted away, but was too slow to avoid the punch. He grimaced good-naturedly. “I gave you that one.”
“Sure you did.”
The two of them set up the room as kids began to filter in. A few of the mothers made a point to linger and ask Alex how he was recovering, using the excuse of fretting over his wound to run their hands down his stomach.
Good lord, ladies, back off! He’s not a piece of meat!
It took most of my self-control not to send a blast of energy their way. I’d like to pretend my annoyance was just because they were making fools of themselves, but something that felt disturbingly like jealousy burned in my chest.
I’d dated a couple of guys in high school and college, but never anything serious. I had a hard time letting people into my protective bubble, trusting that they wouldn’t turn around and leave as soon as I got attached. Better to not let the attachment form in the first place, I’d always thought.
But somehow, against all of my better judgment, I’d gotten attached to Alex.
And he couldn’t even see me.
Ugh. Guess my love life is pretty much dead in the water.
When class started, Alex took the lead, directing the kids from the front of the room while Seth walked around correcting stances or holding up his hand as a target for someone to punch. I grinned as I watched them. It was fun watching these two guys who could inarguably kick most people’s asses teach little kids the basics of throwing a punch.
I’d just settled into my favorite spot in the corner when a movement at the front of the room caught my eye. A man stood just inside the door, his gaze on the class. Had he opened the door? How had I missed that? Then I caught the aura glowing around his body, and I knew why I hadn’t noticed him until now. He definitely hadn’t opened the door. He’d walked right through it.
He turned toward me, and a familiar pig-like face watched me intently. He looked the same as the demon that had been hanging out with Boss Man the day Alex had been attacked. I honestly couldn’t tell if it was the exact same one, but that was sort of irrelevant. What really mattered was that one of the Fallen was here, in a classroom full of kids and two men—one of whom was directly under my protection.
His beady eyes watched me as I rose slowly to my feet.
Oh shit. I was so not ready for this. All the practicing I’d done over the past weeks seemed suddenly vague and theoretical. I knew how to do a growing array of cool tricks. But how to use them in an actual fight? Yeah, I’d had a lot less practice in that.
Doing my best to keep my nerves hidden, I approached him cautiously. Maybe, just maybe, I could avoid fighting with him—or at the very least bring the fight outside where fewer humans were likely to get hurt.
“Camille Prentice.”
I reeled. He knew my name. I didn’t know how that was possible, but there was no way it was good.
“What do you want?” I could hear Seth and Alex joking with the kids behind me, but tuned them out as I stopped several feet from the demon.
/> “I’ve been looking for you. Imagine what a surprise it was to hear that the same day I see you lurking around my master, two wraiths get attacked by someone who matches your description.”
“They attacked first,” I said resolutely.
“No matter. At least they gave me an idea where to find you. I have a message from my master.”
“Boss Man?”
His pig face twisted in confusion for a second, then he grinned, showing off more of his long tusks. “Is that what you call him? I believe he will be quiet amused by that.”
“What’s the message?” I tried to edge closer to the door as I asked, hoping to draw him outside.
“Stop.”
I froze. “What?”
“That’s the message. He wants you to stop. Stop poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Leave the past in the past and focus on protecting your little human.”
My jaw dropped. This was about my parents. It had to be.
Anger welled up inside me. This ugly-ass demon thought he could just walk in here and order me to stop? Never mind that I had sort of given up my search the last couple weeks. His threat only made me want to keep digging and digging until I found answers that made sense.
Fists clenching, I stepped up to his face. “That’s his message, huh?” My voice was soft and threatening. I barely recognized it. “Well, you can tell Boss Man, or whatever you call him, thanks but no thanks. He might’ve been able to keep the truth from me when I was alive, and even get me killed in the process, but I think he’ll find that I’m a little harder to get rid of these days.”
His snout-like nose wrinkled derisively. “That is your choice?”
“Yeah. That’s my choice.” I’d lost track of my goal of luring him outside the building. I could barely see or think past the red haze clouding my vision. I’d spent years searching for my parents, and to know that their whereabouts had been deliberately concealed from me—by some extremely creepy wraith/human mob boss no less—made me furious.
He shrugged. “Too bad.”
Certain he was about to attack me, I tensed.
19
I was half right. He did attack, but instead of aiming at me, he pivoted and shot a blast towards the kids practicing a punch/kick combination.
Noooo!
Before I could even think, I threw myself in front of the blast. I tried to call a shield at the same time, but I wasn’t fast enough. I absorbed the full force of the energy blast and was hurled across the room. My body bounced and rolled to a stop like a rag doll.
I groaned. Okay, that had hurt. I was starting to understand that I experienced physical sensations as a fraction of what they would’ve been like if I’d been human—so this hit, if I’d been alive, would’ve likely pulverized me.
Shaking my head, I stood unsteadily, trying to reorient myself. The demon had advanced further into the room and held his hands out, about to send another blast toward the class. I threw one at him quickly, careful to avoid the kids.
Sadly, he didn’t fly off his feet like I had. In fact, he barely moved, but at least I had his attention focused on me now. Before he could respond, I hit him again. This one forced him back a step.
Growling, he threw out his hands. A blast even stronger than the first plowed toward me. Again, my shield came too late.
Dammit. My shielding skills needed some serious work.
This time I was tossed so far I flew through the window and landed in the street. A car barreled toward me and I scrambled to my feet, fighting a sudden sickening déjà vu. Before I could move out of the way, the car reached me—and passed right through me.
Nausea washed over me. I didn’t feel this the same way I felt the blows from the demon’s blasts, but my brain refused to fully process the sweep of images that flew by as the car drove through me.
When the car passed a split second later, I shook my head and staggered out of the street, peering through the window of the studio. Inside, the demon was stalking toward the class, raising his hands to attack again.
Oh, hell no.
I sprinted toward the building, diving headfirst through the window and throwing myself toward the demon. I caught him around the waist, the force of my blow bringing us both down.
Snarling, he rolled over, pinning me beneath him. As the students obliviously practiced throwing punches next to us, the demon mirrored their actions. His meaty fist flew toward my face, and I panicked. I sent a blast of energy at him—and this time it really worked. He was thrown off me, landing a few feet away.
I scrambled to my feet, but now he wasn’t messing around. He raised his hands toward the class again, and there wasn’t time for me to block. Instead, I launched myself at him again, hitting his arm and sending his shot careening off course. It missed any human targets, but plowed into the back wall, blowing a hole in the plaster.
Several kids screamed.
Alex and Seth ducked and looked back toward the wall.
“What the hell, dude?” Seth started toward the back as the kids clustered around Alex.
The demon grabbed both of my wrists in a vice grip, dragging them behind my back. This had the effect of bringing my body closer to his as his arms wrapped around me in a sick approximation of a hug.
His tusks glinted as he snarled. “Do you want more, girl? I promise you, if you don’t give me what I want, someone will get hurt.”
I gritted my teeth. I knew what I was about to do was probably stupid on a number of levels, but I had no choice.
I faded in, becoming simultaneously incorporeal to the demon and visible to the humans. Alex’s gaze immediately snapped to me, and his jaw dropped. But I didn’t have time to worry about that now. Instead, I used the chance to slip out of the demon’s grasp and step back before quickly fading out again.
The demon looked up from his empty hands, shock on his face. Ha, weren’t expecting that, were you, you ugly jerk!
Before he recovered from the shock, I leapt forward, aiming a kick at his stomach.
And that was my big mistake.
We were in a mixed martial arts studio, so maybe that was why I suddenly developed delusions that I was some great fighter.
I wasn’t.
My foot made contact with the demon’s midsection, and several things seemed to happen at once. First, he grabbed my ankle with both hands, yanking me off my feet and slamming my body into the ground like a sack of rocks. Second, Alex ran across the room toward us, his eyes fixed on the last place he’d seen me. And third, the demon pinned me down with a heavy foot to my chest while holding out a hand toward Alex’s head, now only a foot away.
The demon looked down at me. “At this distance, I could snap his neck with one hit. Time to think very hard, girly.”
I swallowed. I could try to blast the pig-demon, but there was almost no chance I’d hit him before he hit Alex. I hated to back down, especially after his use of the unbelievably patronizing word “girly.” But if I thought about this logically, I couldn’t see any scenario in which I actually won this fight. A truce was the best I could hope for.
Biting back my disappointment, I nodded my head slowly.
“What’s that?” He grinned evilly.
“I’ll stop. I’ll stop trying to find out anything about your boss—master—whatever he is.”
His triumphant smile made me want to scramble up and fight him all over again even if it meant getting my ass handed to me… again.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it? Just be sure you remember what happens when you go poking your nose in places where it doesn’t belong.”
He gave me a final kick—because he was a giant dick and apparently couldn’t help himself—then turned and stalked through the window. I curled up on my side and closed my eyes for a second. Every blow that he’d landed had hurt more than anything had since the day I’d died.
That had not gone well.
“Damn, dude! Do you think this building is structurally sound? There’s a hole in the friggin’ wall!
” Seth sounded more excited than afraid as he stepped through the empty space where a wall had once been. I opened my eyes and sat up slowly. Most of the kids had abandoned their cluster in the corner and were creeping forward to investigate the damaged wall.
“Don’t swear in front of the kids,” Alex murmured absently, his gaze still fixed on the space where I had been. “Did you see that?” he asked, raising his voice a little.
“Did I see it?? Um, yeah dude! A chunk of the wall blew up!”
“No.” Alex shook his head. “Did you see… her?”
But Seth wasn’t listening anymore. He was busy coming up with a theory about how explosives had been hidden in the wall and making predictions about what else they’d find in the walls.
Alex’s hand drifted through the air like he was trying to catch cobwebs. His expression was dazed. But it was his next words that made my chest constrict.
“Camille… Prentice.”
20
We’d barely made it back to Alex’s apartment when Sada arrived.
I wasn’t surprised to see her. The Council had found out about the last demon attack pretty quickly, so it made sense that they’d get wind of this one too—especially since this one had caused a bit more of a scene than the first.
Once the shock faded a bit, Alex had called 911, and the police had shown up. Parents had been called to pick up the kids early; Alex and Seth had had to stick around for a bit to give a statement before being released too.
Alex had been quiet on the way home. Not that he normally talked to himself or anything, but now all his energy was directed inward instead of outward like usual. I could practically see the gears turning in his head, trying to put all the pieces together. He’d seen me four times now. I remembered each encounter vividly, and I was starting to realize he did too.
Alex had just shut the door behind him when Sada walked through it. She had a grim look, and when he headed to the bathroom to shower she sat down on the couch and gestured for me to join her. I sank onto the couch, suddenly exhausted all over.
