by Avril Sabine
“West.” Blake answered. “Second exit off the highway.”
Alyssa watched out the rear window until they turned off the highway. Even then she regularly had to check they weren’t being followed. When she started to turn again, Blake reached out and placed his hand against her face so she couldn’t turn.
“Relax, Allie Cat.”
“I can’t. He wanted to catch us so badly, I could almost taste it.” She frowned. “That sounds demented.”
“No more than the rest of it. Put your head on my shoulder and sleep. You look wrecked.”
“Or there’s always my shoulder. I bet it’s more comfortable than his.” Riley grinned as he patted the spot he offered.
Alyssa smiled slightly. She leaned against Blake, her eyes only half open. “Just for a minute. Then I have to ring Erin.” She yawned. Her eyes shut involuntarily. When next she opened them, the vehicle was stopped. She sat up and looked around. Only Blake was in the vehicle with her.
“Hey, sleepyhead.”
“Why didn’t you wake me? I had to ring Erin.”
“Riley rang her.”
“How long are we stopping here for?”
“Just long enough to get fuel.”
“You weren’t going to tell me?”
“We’re only going another couple of k’s up the road. We’ll stop there for breakfast.”
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Alyssa grabbed her backpack and hopped out. She looked around until she saw a restroom sign and headed for it. By the time she made it back, they were waiting for her. Blake stood by the open door, a cup of coffee in his hands.
“If you’d woken me when you first stopped, I wouldn’t have held you up.”
“Did you hear anyone complain, Allie Cat?”
“Not yet.”
“Did you get out of the wrong side of bed, Allie?” Riley grinned at her as she climbed into the vehicle.
“She’s hungry,” Alex said.
“Argh.” Alyssa stared straight ahead. She wished she sat at a window so she could look out it and pretend none of them existed.
* * *
They stopped again at midday and set up camp at a roadside stop. It was well treed with signs welcoming people to camp for forty-eight hours. Riley had a campfire going and a billy heating while Alex set up the tent. Alyssa helped Scarlett collect firewood. She glanced around and wondered where Blake had disappeared.
“Did you see where Blake went?”
“No.”
Alyssa stared at Scarlett. “You don’t like me much, do you?”
“It doesn’t matter if I do or don’t. I have a job to do and I’ll do it.”
“Why don’t you like me?”
“I never said I disliked you.”
“Forget it. I’m going to see if I can find Blake.” Alyssa turned towards the camp. She spun to face Scarlett when she spoke.
“How many of them do you need dangling after you?” Scarlett’s eyes blazed, one hand planted firmly on her hip, the other clutching firewood.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Alyssa’s chin came up, her own anger starting to rise.
“Yeah right! You have my brother following you around like a puppy and now you’re stalking my cousin. Leave them alone!”
“Alex?” Her anger evaporated instantly.
“Don’t try and tell me you had no idea. You know exactly how appealing you are to males. And you use makeup to improve that appeal. How about you stop throwing yourself at them all the time.”
“In case you didn’t realise there’s a demon after me.”
“I don’t see you throwing yourself at me.”
“With how welcoming you are? I’d probably risk frostbite.”
Scarlett momentarily closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were devoid of emotion. “I refuse to get into a name calling match with you. Fine, you’re right, I don’t like you, but I will protect you from Retribution. I’ve sworn an oath to protect humanity from demons and my personal feelings don’t come into it. But stay away from Alex and Blake.”
“What? No warning me off Riley?”
“He can take care of himself. But you don’t kick a man when he’s down. So leave the other two alone.”
“Or what?”
“No threats. Just leave them alone. They’re putting their lives at risk for you. Have the decency not to rip their hearts out while they’re at it.” Scarlett spun and stalked away.
Alyssa fought the urge to call her back and apologise. I haven’t done anything wrong, she told herself. Her eyes were drawn to the campfire Scarlett strode towards. Alex sat by himself and stared into the flames. Riley made himself a cup of tea and Blake was nowhere to be seen.
She made her way over to the fire and dropped the handful of firewood. “Has anyone seen Blake?”
“Yeah, he-” Riley began, only to be cut off by Scarlett’s glare.
“Never mind. I’ll have a look myself,” Alyssa said.
“Allie.” Riley put another cup in front of him and started to make a coffee.
“What?”
“You might want to take this to him.” He stirred the drink before he handed it to her. “That way.” He pointed out the direction and ignored the noise Scarlett made. “Try not to get lost. Four hours and we leave.”
Alyssa found Blake sitting on a fallen log. She silently handed him the coffee and sat beside him. Other than a thank you, he remained quiet. Alyssa glanced over at him. He continued to sip his drink and stare in front of him.
Alyssa waved a fly away that tried to settle on her. “What are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“About?” Alyssa had almost given up on an answer, when Blake turned to look at her.
“What do you want me to say, Allie Cat? That I was thinking about you?”
Alyssa ignored the rush of anger his words brought. Instead, she forced a smile to her lips. “Well in that case, were you thinking or fantasising?”
Blake continued to look at her for another minute before his lips curved into a smile. “Allie Cat. What am I going to do with you?” He shook his head slowly.
“I can give you some ideas.”
“I’ll just bet you can. Behave. Come on, it’s probably safer if we went back to the camp, siren.”
“I’m not a siren.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you could see yourself through my eyes.”
“Really?”
“No need to look pleased with yourself. I’m an expert at resisting temptation.” Alyssa frowned and Blake laughed when he saw it. “Come on, Allie Cat.” He held out his hand, which Alyssa willingly took.
Chapter Twenty
Alyssa tucked the card with the Lord’s Prayer on it into her book. She only had a few chapters left to read. She stared thoughtfully at the front cover. She tried to stretch, but there wasn’t much room when you were pressed between two large males. Alex was on one side of her, sleeping, while Blake was on the other. Scarlett drove and Riley sat in the front passenger seat using the small laptop. Alyssa smiled as she listened to him mutter about poor coverage.
She frowned down at the book and then sighed. The one problem with reading Patrick’s book was he expected the reader to have a religious background. She didn’t even know the proper name for the wafer. Well, she did now, but only because she’d asked Alex what Patrick was talking about in one of the earlier chapters.
“Spit it out, Allie Cat,” Blake said softly.
Startled, she glanced up at him. She looked down at the book and opened to the start of the chapter she’d just read. She handed it to Blake.
After a quick glance, Blake handed the book back to her. “What do you need to know?”
“Is it possible?”
Blake sighed. “Maybe you should be asking a different question.”
“Like?”
“Ask yourself if you can face your strongest desires and deny them.”
“No!” Scarlett said from the front of the vehicle. “We aren’t goi
ng to bind the demon.”
“Wrong chapter Scarlett. She’s thinking of tempting him,” Blake said.
“She’ll never be able to hold him.”
“I think I’m a better judge of that then you, Scarlett.” Alyssa fought the anger Scarlett’s words called up.
“Okay, then tell me, if you were faced by the one thing you wanted above everything else, would you be able to turn it down. Actually, if you were offered every single thing you ever wanted, would you be able to turn them all down?” Scarlett glanced at her in the rear view mirror.
“Would you be able to, Scarlett?”
Scarlett nodded. “That’s part of our training. We get to face a minor demon of temptation. Fail that and you don’t become a hunter.”
“Allie Cat, we’re not talking a minor demon here. His power’ll enhance your desires. You could step right out of sanctuary and into his lying arms. He’d give you all you ever wanted. You just wouldn’t live long enough to enjoy it for more than a few minutes.”
“But if we can stop him from leaving and telling Nathan where we are, the night won’t be so difficult.”
“She has a point,” Riley said.
“Of course she has a point. It doesn’t mean she’ll be able to cope with it,” Scarlett said.
“That’d simplify matters for you then,” Alyssa said.
“Enough!” Blake looked between Scarlett and Alyssa. “The discussion is ended until we reach the next sanctuary.”
“I-”
“Allie Cat.” Blake interrupted her.
Alyssa looked away from him to find Alex was now awake and watching her. She leaned her head back and stared at the roof lining of the vehicle. She only hoped the next stop wasn’t too far away. She had to get away from them all for a minute.
It was another half an hour before they pulled up at a service station in the next town. They refuelled the vehicle, used the restrooms and grabbed some take-away before they piled in the vehicle and drove to the church on the outskirts of the town. It was a small timber church that was nearly a hundred years old.
Scarlet pulled on the park brake. “I’ll see the caretaker about the key Uncle Joe arranged for us to have.”
“Take Riley and Alex with you,” Blake said.
There was a moment of silence where they all stared at each other before silently climbing out of the vehicle to leave Alyssa and Blake alone.
“I hate it when you all do that.”
“What, Allie Cat?”
“Like there’s a silent conversation happening and I’m not part of it.”
“We know each other very well. Too well sometimes. It can be as much of a curse as a blessing.”
“Blake, I want to keep Retribution here tonight. Are you going to help me?”
“Straight to the point. That’s what I like about you, Allie.”
“Are you going to help me?”
“What sort of help are you looking for?”
“I don’t know. What sort of help can you give me?”
“Not a great deal. You’ll be facing most of it alone. Physical restraint won’t help if you invite the demon to have your soul in exchange for all he promises.”
“I’ve thought about what he could offer.”
“And?”
“My strongest desires would be you and Nathan.”
“Thanks, Allie Cat,” Blake said dryly.
Alyssa smiled. “Nathan’s death and you… well, just you.”
“No need to spell it out.”
“You could help me and then I’d only have one desire to battle.”
Blake grinned. “Nice try, Allie Cat.”
Alyssa became serious. “How hard is it, Blake?”
He took her hand and held it between both of his. His eyes met hers, all humour gone. “One of the hardest things you’ll ever do. Providing the blood’ll be the easy part. It’s surviving the temptations that’ll make you want to fling yourself on the demon’s mercy. But they don’t have any.”
“Will you stay by my side through it?”
Blake closed his eyes for a second. “If you need me to.”
“Blake if-”
“I’ll stay with you. But don’t let me down, Allie Cat. I won’t be able to stand by and watch if you give yourself to the demon.”
“What happened?” She rested her hand on his demon mark.
Blake shook his head. “Not now. Maybe later. But definitely not tonight. Come on. Looks like they got the key. Let’s check our accommodations before it grows dark.”
Riley threw the key to Blake once they were out of the vehicle. “It has the same electrical system it had when it was first built nearly a century ago.”
Alyssa frowned. “No electricity?”
He held up his other hand to show the four candles he’d been given. He grinned. “Don’t look like it’s the end of the world.”
“I’m beginning to hate the dark.” Alyssa glanced over to the last rays of the sun lighting the horizon.
“Give me a minute, Allie Cat. Let me see what the church is like before you make any firm decisions.”
Alyssa nodded and watched as Blake walked alone to the church. She turned back to the other three to see Riley and Scarlett nodding to something Alex had said.
“What’s going on?” Alyssa asked Alex as Riley and Scarlett moved away.
“Alyssa, we can manage without you risking yourself like this.”
“If I can keep the demon here tonight, we can start heading towards home and find somewhere closer to set up and wait out the month. That’s what you really want, isn’t it? To let the month pass so those who called him have to deal with him?”
“What I really want is a way to send the demon back to where he came from, but he’s too powerful for us to do that. The four of us have no tie to him and no way of gaining one.” Alex hesitated. “What if you can’t manage to resist temptation?”
“Have some faith in me.”
“I thought you don’t believe in faith?”
“Then we’re screwed, because I’m not sitting around letting you all stand in front of me when I should be in the front line. This is my problem. My mistake. I have to take responsibility for it where I can. If Blake tells me that church over there’s a strong sanctuary,” she pointed at it, “I’ll face the demon tonight.”
Alex reached into his backpack and pulled out a knife in an ill-fitting leather sheath. “Then you might like to have this.”
Alyssa stared at the knife Nathan had used to make her bleed. She took a step back and looked up at Alex.
“It’s yours now. You made it yours when you used it on the demon. And I had Father Joe bless it. It’s pure again.”
Alyssa hesitantly reached out and took it. She put it in her backpack. “Not quite what I was asking for when I said I wanted a blessed sword, but I guess we’re getting closer.”
Alex smiled fleetingly. “Just make sure you take care of yourself. Blake isn’t the only one who’d be devastated if we were to lose you to the demon.”
“Alex, if I had a brother-”
“Please, Alyssa. I’m not dense.”
Alyssa felt her cheeks grow hot. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just make sure you survive the night. I don’t want to have nightmares similar to Blake’s.” He shook his head when Alyssa opened her mouth. “And don’t ask me about it. It’s Blake’s story to tell. Besides, I don’t know all of it. I arrived too late to help.” He looked past Alyssa and she turned to see what captured his attention.
She smiled when she saw Blake walk towards them. He didn’t return her smile. That was answer enough for her. And for Alex who placed a hand on her shoulder and clasped it lightly before he moved away to leave them alone.
Blake took both her hands and stared intently at her. “Be very sure, Allie Cat. Some mistakes can never be rectified.”
She stared back at him. She thought carefully over all she’d read and all she’d been told. “I’m sure.”
“T
hen I guess we need to do some preparations. Have you got your prayer card?”
Alyssa rolled her eyes. “I wish you’d all stop trying to arm me with a prayer.”
Blake shook his head. “You worry me, Allie Cat. A gun might be good against flesh and blood, but a prayer is a dangerous weapon to a demon. Especially the Lord’s Prayer since you don’t have to believe a single word for it to work.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Alyssa stared at the small bowl of blood sitting in the open doorway of the church. The knife lay beside it. Her hand brushed over the new bandaid near the faint pink line from the last cut. She had no idea how she was going to explain them, but they made it look like she had serious issues.
A candle sat on either side of the door and cast leaping shadows around her. She looked up at the stars as they played hide and seek in the clouds, surprised at how normal everything seemed. Crickets chirped in the background, a soft breeze blew away the heat of the day and a few lights dotted the handful of houses that made up the town.
The metallic smell of blood seemed to grow stronger. Alyssa glanced up as Blake came to stand beside her. He sat, the warmth of his body pressed against her right side. He put his arm around her and drew her close. His arm rested along hers where it lay on her drawn up knees. Alyssa could feel the tension in him. She stared at the demon mark on the arm that lay on hers. The smell of blood seemed to fill the air.
“He’s close, isn’t he?”
Blake’s arm tightened on her. “Yes.”
Alyssa swallowed, her eyes closing momentarily. “How far away?”
“Minutes.” Silence fell between them. “You don’t have to go through with this. I can cover the blood and we can join the others near the altar.”
Alyssa turned her head. The candle flames caused shadows to leap across Blake’s face and twin flames shone in his eyes. “I need to do this. I can do this.”
“Make sure you get through this night in one piece. We have a date when all this is over.”
Alyssa smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.” The smile evaporated as the breeze picked up and the candles leapt high until they thinned to nothingness. The darkness crept in around them. Alyssa reluctantly turned her head to stare into the night. She shuddered as she smelt the scent that haunted her nightmares. The mixture of bushfires, metal and rotten eggs. She couldn’t see him clearly. His was a dark shadow amongst the other lighter shadows. And then she could see his eyes. Mesmerising pools of hell.
