Chasing Angel (A Divisa Novel, Book 3)

by Weil, J. L.

  “Chase,” I said with more force and pushed against his chest.

  He hovered over me, locked on my face. I watched as he wrestled with the demon, both fighting for what they wanted. Me. That was thrilling and frightening. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit scared he wouldn’t stop. There was also a secret part of me that was exhilarated that his demon wanted me, that I could drive the darkest part of Chase mad with desire. But I also had the power to reach through the roaring demon and bring back the guy I loved.

  His eyes slowly began to clear, silver melting through the gold. It was astonishing, mesmerizing, like Chase himself. “Angel,” he said in a gruff voice, thick with lust. He dropped his head into my neck and nuzzled butterfly kisses against my skin.

  I knew that I didn’t have it in me to say no a second, or was it a third time? He was usually the one with self-control, not me. I was a hussy when it came to Chase.

  Again I questioned why I had stopped.

  A beat later, it finally sunk in, and I felt the change in his body. He froze before pulling away from me. Rolling to the other side of the bed with closed eyes, he shoved his hands into his hair. I lay where I was, trying to calm my accelerated heart rate.

  “What just happened?” he asked in a gruff voice.

  “Umm. I figured you could tell me.”

  “Did I hurt you?” his voice was tight.

  I turned to my side, leaning on my elbow, and looked down at his guilt-ridden face. “Of course not. You never hurt me.”

  He released a gush of air, still staring at the ceiling. “I just…I lost it.”

  I wished he would look at me. “I know. Even when you are not yourself, I’m still safe.”

  “There is always the chance that I could...”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so and I think deep down, you know it too.”

  What he said next had the hairs on my neck standing up. “I had this dream…”

  “Oh my God.” I bolted upright. “So did I. It was so real.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Let me guess. I had the starring role.”

  “No, actually it was Jensen Ackles.” I couldn’t resist.

  “Who?” he asked, a flash of murder springing to his eyes.

  I rolled mine. “Don’t you ever watch TV? Supernatural…”

  He blinked.

  “Never mind. Of course it was about you, jerk.”

  This time, a light of cockiness gleamed in his demon-free eyes. “We were totally getting it on, weren’t we?”

  I fumbled with my grey sheet. “That’s one way of putting it.”

  A deep heave escaped from his chest. “I don’t remember anything after that. I don’t even remember waking up or coming over here.”

  I blew out a breath. “Yeah, I kind of figured that part out when I noticed you creepily lurking in my doorway with your demon eyes.”

  He moved like lightning, pinning my hands above my head. I found myself lying flat underneath him. “You liked it,” he said with a jaw-dropping smirk.

  Gulp. “I’m not dead.”

  His hands loosened into more of a caress on my wrists. “Something tells me that our little bond is trying to push us to complete the triforce.”

  My lips curled. Every time I heard “triforce”, I couldn’t help but think of The Legend of Zelda. Chase was my Link, always rescuing me. I was positive he would have no clue what I was talking about.

  He looked at me funny. “Why are you smirking?”

  “No reason. So what are we going to do if it is the bond? It’s not like I can lock you out of my room.”

  “True.”

  A hint of worry wove itself inside my belly, and I knew it was partly his emotions.

  “You’ll have to handcuff me at night,” he added.

  I gave him a droll look. It was too late to be joking about handcuffs. “Are you going to take this seriously? ‘Cuz if not, I’m going to bed.”

  “Don’t get your pink panties ruffled. Of course I am taking it seriously, when something messes with my life, I always take it serious.” And I believed him. A cold glint of ice hardened his eyes, and that voice I loved darkened. “We’ll worry about it tomorrow. He kissed the tip of my nose. “Sleep tight, Angel Eyes. Don’t let the demons bite.”

  I screwed up my face. “Funny.”

  “By the way, you have the cutest bedhead.”

  I threw a pillow at him, completely missing because he was already gone. I smashed my face into the pillow and let out a muffled scream of frustration.

  Sleep was not capable after that.

  Chapter 5

  Every time I saw the black demon marks at my hip, I was enthralled. My mom still hadn’t seen them, but I knew it was only a matter of time. I could only hide them for so long. One slip and my butt would be toast. What I needed was a really good cover story, a believable one, or a great fake ID. Me getting an underage tattoo was something she would at least understand.

  After I received the second mark, heartbond, the ancient swirls laced up my side. There was a light pulse of life in the ink, and lately I’ve felt something stronger, darker pulsing. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew it was no good. I was learning that nothing good ever came from the unexplainable.

  Lifting my gaze from the strange but beautiful markings, I stared into dark blue eyes that were almost unrecognizable to me. It gave me goose bumps to see them shift from light to dark, every shade of blue possible. I pulled down one of my eyelids to get a closer look and make sure I wasn’t growing any weird alien veins.

  God, I was letting Emma get to me.

  My second week of school with the combat-freak wasn’t any less horrid than the first. And so the pattern went week after week. She was really pushing my buttons, yet there was still a part of me that felt sympathy for her, and it was a weakness that kept me from lashing out. I was still human, with those nasty human emotions.

  Maybe I should try to compel myself—make me feel less.

  I reminded myself over and over every day that she had just lost her dad. If it had been my mom, I would have gone Freddy Krueger on whoever was responsible. I was pretty sure that was how Emma felt about Chase and me. She was just taunting us right before she went in for the final deathblow, and I hated being a waiting duck.

  However, Emma wasn’t my only current problem at hand. That would have been just too darn simple.

  I was afraid to sleep, or maybe I wanted to sleep too much. It was all confusing.

  Every time I closed my eyes, I saw these visions, these steamier than McSteamy dreams of Chase. And each time I awoke with my hip on fire. I wasn’t sure what he had done differently, but Chase hadn’t ended up in my room since that first night. There might have been a little bit of disappointment swimming inside me each time I opened my eyes alone.

  It was not only the dreams that alarmed me, but the burning demon mark.

  Satisfied that I didn’t have some kind of zombie infection growing in my eye sockets, I tugged my shirt down and belly flopped onto my bed. Chase had been suckered into Christmas shopping with Lexi. Better him than me. I could hardly believe that the holidays were quickly approaching right around the bend, and I still didn’t have the foggiest clue what I was going to get a half-demon.

  It hardly felt like Christmas.

  Maybe because I wasn’t used to all the white powdery stuff that still dusted the ground, or the cold air that made my snot freeze.

  It wasn’t pretty.

  With Chase not around, I didn’t know what to do with myself, and then I remembered—I’m a gamergirl. As long as I had my Xbox, I was never bored. Leaning over the side of the bed, I snatched the remote control from the floor.

  Yeah, I was that lazy.

  The little circular button in the middle lit up in a green X. Before the dashboard could come up, I was distracted by a sound. Thanks to my newly developed super hearing, I heard things I normally wouldn’t be able to, but it took concentration. It was nowhere near as cool as Chase�
��s, more like enhanced hearing. Noise like the TV or music muffled the distance I could hear. I had no sooner turned on my Xbox when, I heard the slamming of a door at my lovely neighbors’—only neighbor.

  Like a total peeping Tom, I rolled off the bed and peeked through my curtains, expecting to see Chase or Lexi back early. I should have known that there was a better chance of a zombie invasion than there was of Lexi returning early from shopping.

  It was Travis.

  I hesitated for just a fraction of a second, and then I was scrambling off my bed. Thank the good Lord I’d gotten dressed today. Well, if you considered what I was wearing clothes. No doubt Lexi would have condemned me to the fashion police on the spot, but I definitely wasn’t interested in winning a beauty crown.

  I stepped into a pair of Uggs and was out the door. The cold air hit me first, knocking my breath back, but I didn’t let it slow me down. Travis was unbearably fast when he wanted to be, and I had elephant feet. There was no way I could catch him if he didn’t want to be found.

  When he went into the forest, I groaned.

  You think I would have learned my lesson, but I wasn’t sure when I would get another chance to corner Travis alone. Corner might not have been the right word, but I had attempted to seek him out a dozen times over the last few weeks. All I’d gotten was ignored calls, dismissed texts, and the door in my face. He had even gone as far as unfriending me on Xbox.

  That was low.

  And since Chase was never far, it seemed like a golden opportunity—one I couldn’t pass up, not even for my abjuration of the forbidden woods. So I sucked it up and stepped into the place filled with nothing but bad memories.

  When Chase wanted to blow off steam, he sought the fields. Travis apparently found his solace in the haunted forest filled with scary-butt-ugly hellhounds.

  Freaking fabulous.

  I much preferred Chase’s choice of solace. If Travis ever talked to me again, I was going to have to lecture him about his stupidity.

  Tall black walnut trees crowded me on either side of the woods, giving it the most ethereal feel. I was starting to regret my spur of the moment decision to follow Travis and demand he listen to me. Up ahead, the deep blue of nightfall approached, providing less and less light. I kept my eyes glued to him, knowing in one blink I could lose the half-demon.

  Actually, now that I thought about, I wondered why he hadn’t tried to ditch me. I wanted to shout his name but was afraid of what else might be haunting these woods. All the animal tracks in the snow made me very nervous. I tried to ignore the tingles that burned stronger at my hip the deeper I went.

  He was just in my sights, so I took off running, closing the distance between us. All I needed was a few minutes of his time to explain the brilliant plan I had schemed all by my lonesome. Mentally, I patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. Chase was going to brain me, but it turned out, Chase was the least of my worries.

  The forest was freakishly silent around me, with just the clomping of my boots on the sloshing ground. When I was a few yards away, I called his name. “Travis, wait. Just give me five minutes.” Then you can go back to ignoring me, I silently added. Leaning a hand on a nearby tree trunk, I tried to catch my breath.

  His back was to me, and he stiffened at the sound of my voice. Cocking his head to the side, he reminded me of the Predator with a ghost of a smiled curled upon his lips. I knew that he wasn’t Travis, but by the time I figured it out, he spun around with fiery amber eyes.

  Oh crap.

  I kicked myself for being so careless and letting my desperate need to make things right overshadow my cautiousness. Of course Travis had run off because he had lost control. Hadn’t Travis’s savage and compulsive demon been a problem lately. A big problem?

  He would never hurt me, right?

  Just then I wasn’t so certain. I guess somewhere along the line, I’d forgotten how truly dangerous they could really be. Normally, their anger wasn’t directed at me, and it was a frightening situation to find myself trapped in.

  Running—useless. Screaming—pointless. Fighting—yeah right.

  I was out of options as I backed up a step or two. “Travis?” My voice quivered.

  There was a low purr in the back of his throat as he advanced, snow crunching underfoot. His sneer grew as if he was enjoying my fear. “You shouldn’t have come. I’m not fit for company.” His movements were catlike, stealthy and stalking.

  Shit. You’re telling me.

  “I want to help,” I rushed to try to reason with his demon. “I know you’re hurting. Let me try to fix it.”

  He laughed a horrible laugh. It made my stomach turn upside down. “You already are.”

  I gave him a confused look.

  His dark blond hair fell over his forehead as he circled me. “Let me fill in the blanks. I’m going to hurt Chase where it counts.”

  Oh for crying out loud. Did everyone have to seek revenge on Chase through me? “This is crazy, Travis.” I wiped my sweaty palms on the back of my jeans. It was a cold sweat.

  He lunged.

  It was basic instinct. I ran. I screamed. And I fought as he tackled me to the ground.

  I landed on my shoulder and white-hot pain lanced down my arm. His strength was shocking, brutally, even though I knew he was ridiculously fast and inhumanly strong. One-handed he pinned my wrists to keep me from striking out. They throbbed under his capture, and I stared as little puffs of cold air wheezed out my lungs.

  “Travis, don’t do this,” I pleaded.

  With his other hand he covered my mouth, silencing my screams of protest. “Don’t scream. You’ll wake the beasts,” he warned in a biting command.

  I think I already had. Travis was definitely a beast. I felt my whole body tighten.

  No. No. No. This was not happening.

  My mind wasn’t able to wrap around the fact that Travis was hurting me. Travis. The same guy I spent hours upon hours playing video games with and pulling all-nighters during a game release. I couldn’t keep my wits afloat as a rush of thoughts flooded me.

  The flesh on my back scraped raw as I struggled to break free, twisting my head back and forth. My heart pounded in my chest, demanding oxygen. His eyes were blazing, illuminating the dark cover of the purple shadowy trees. “He stole my life from me.”

  Anger poured through me, and I pushed aside my fear. That wasn’t true. It wasn’t Chase who stole anything. It was Eric and his ludicrous ideas. He had to know that. Suddenly, it became clear that I needed to make him see that.

  I absolutely hated feeling helpless and defenseless. It sucked. Forgetting that this was Travis, I twisted, trying to kick my legs loose, but nothing I did seemed to budge him. My cries were muffled under his hand, but it didn’t stop me from trying to be heard. With some unfound strength, I bucked under his crushing weight. He was so much bigger than my small frame, but I managed to free one of my hands.

  For one stunned second, I just lay there, unsure what I was going to do to get myself out of this situation. I knew that by now Chase would have felt my panic and would be on his way. But he had to find me. And at this rate, Travis might suffocate me or something equally as harsh. Totally not part of the plan. I started causing a ruckus again. My flailing hand stumbled over the icy ground until it came in contact with something solid, a rock under the freezing snow. I grabbed it as if it was my lifeline.

  In an arch, my arm swung at Travis with the stone in my hand. I had no idea exactly what I thought I was going to do, but I continued to be a pain in his ass. We were both dumbfounded when I actually hit him on the side of the head. A gash immediately split open, pouring sticky red goo. The rock tumbled from my fingers.

  Inside, my heart had gone numb, but the numbness didn’t last long. Travis shook me—viciously. My brain rattled and pain stung my eyes, gathering with tears. I was desperate to see his charming aqua eyes, not the glower of his demon, to break through to my friend.

  But I was beginning to think it was hopeless.<
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  Blood trickled down the side of my cheek. Tiny flashes of blue danced behind my eyes. “I can make her forget,” I said between clamped teeth, welcoming the pain. It meant I was still alive, yet for how long? I knew my body would heal quicker, but at what point would the damage be too much?

  He stopped and stared at me.

  Then I heard a familiar growl behind us. It was music to my ears. I never questioned how he found me. I was just eternally grateful he had, and it hadn’t been too late. Travis was lifted off me and flung through the air. Just as soon as Travis hit the ground, feet first, he crouched, snarling. Chase was in front of me, putting himself between me and danger. Typical. But it was a welcomed sight. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved. I took a moment, staring at the sky to inhale the crisp winter air and enjoy the ability to breathe again.

  But it didn’t last long. “What took you so long?” Travis asked, in a voice that lacked his carefree charisma.

  Chase snarled with bared teeth. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I knew they were glowing like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween night. “You’ve reached a new low, cuz.”

  “No thanks to you.” Travis glowered just as I pushed myself into a sitting position.

  A bolt of guilt stabbed me in the gut, and I knew that it was Chase feeling hordes of regret. “I can’t change the past. I did what I had to do to protect my family,” he defended.

  Travis snorted. “Are you sure about that? Because from where I stand, you were only thinking about yourself.”

  Chase shook his head. “That was a real dick move, attacking Angel, and you know it.”

  Travis shrugged. “Maybe, but you have to know that I don’t care about shit anymore.”

  Remorse spread across Chase’s face. “You leave me with no choice.”

  “I am going to take away the very thing you love most in this world. Then you will know what true pain feels like,” Travis hissed.

  Umm, wrong answer.

  Chase went apocalyptic.

  The two of them flashed in and out of focus, gliding across the forest floor. When they collided it sounded like thunder shaking the ground. I winced, my nails digging into the cold ground to steady myself. Regardless of what had just gone down between Travis and me, it broke my heart to see them fighting. I knew that it hurt Chase more than he was willing to admit.