Chasing Angel (A Divisa Novel, Book 3)

by Weil, J. L.

  ~*~*~*~

  “So it’s just you and me today?” I asked, slipping into Chase’s sleek car and trying not to wince. My body had been pushed to the limit, and there was no part that didn’t ache.

  He nodded.

  Lexi had stayed home. Again. I was afraid if she missed any more school, she wouldn’t graduate, but no one wanted to push. She hadn’t so much as set a foot outside her bedroom, and a part of me couldn’t blame her. It was tough getting out of bed in the morning, except for me it was because my poor body was stiff. Lexi just wasn’t ready to resume her life. Sierra’s death had hit her hard.

  Sighing, I glanced up at the second floor of Winters’ house, feeling sympathy for my best friend. “You don’t have to go to school just for me,” I said, staring down at my hands. I knew how distracted he was, and the last thing on his mind was schoolwork, but he insisted that he’d been gone long enough, which meant my lessons for the time being were suspended. Shockingly, I was actually going to miss sparing with Emma. I was just starting to be able to hold my own for more than thirty seconds. Progress.

  “It’s fine. I need to get out of there for a while anyway.” He put the car in reverse, spitting up gravel in the process.

  “Have there been any new developments?” I asked, tiptoeing into dangerous territory.

  He shook his head. “We know that it was a demon from the kind of wounds her body sustained. She was supposed to be on her way home from town, but the police found her car abandoned on the side of the road not far from our house.”

  “Do you think she was coming to warn us?” The thought was shuddering.

  His fingers tightened on the wheel. “We’ll never know,” he said in a voice packed with remorse and anger.

  “You’re still sure it was him?” I probably should have zipped my lips, but the questions kept tumbling from my mouth uncontrollably. My thoughts were going off in multiple directions, and I hoped he didn’t think I was being insensitive.

  The vein in his neck popped. “My blood boils with assurance. It was him, and he wants me to know.”

  “What are we supposed to do?” I demanded, bordering on screaming. It was impossible to not feed off his emotions, which were now red with anger. “Just wait for the next person to die?” The more I mulled over Sierra’s death, the more I was positive that I had to do something. Quickly.

  The dilemma was, just what was I going to do? My sick fighting skills were not enough. Who was I kidding? My combat was sick alright, but not in a good way.

  His body went rigid as he threw the car in park. We had arrived at school. “Right now, keeping you safe is my priority. I don’t know what his end game is here, but he wants you and he is willing to play nasty to get you.” His silver eyes filled with inner conflict.

  “It is always “I, I, I” with you. What about we? You aren’t alone in this. There are people who care and would be willing to help if you just let them.”

  “And put them in danger?” he retaliated, raising his voice.

  Fudgesicles. This was not what I had in mind to start the morning.

  In his small car, it didn’t take much for our voices to start booming at each other. I hadn’t meant for it to get so out of hand or so heated, but maybe we both needed an outlet to blow off steam. “You are such a douchebag.”

  His eyes hardened like granite. “That’s hardly a newsflash, Angel Eyes.”

  I sunk in the seat, stewing in silence before I decided to go ahead and poke his eyes out. At least my tongue had finally stopped flapping.

  “We’re going to be late,” he snapped.

  I crossed my arms. “I don’t care.”

  “Suit yourself.” Then the car door slammed in my ear.

  Damn him. He was the only person in the world who could make me fly from worried to steaming mad.

  By the time I shuffled into chem class, we both had some time to cool off, but that didn’t mean he still didn’t have a chip the size of Pluto on his shoulder. He was as stubborn as they come. I slipped into my seat with him at my heels. Pretending to organize my desk, I felt him part my hair to one side and lean forward in his desk.

  “Truce,” he whispered in my ear.

  It was impossible to not shiver as his breath fanned my neck. Well, when he put it like that... I angled my head toward him. “Just don’t make a habit of being a douche.”

  He treated me to a small curl of his lips. “You drive a hard bargain.”

  Class promptly began. We were doing a study on how crystals formed while making rock candy. Exciting. All I really wanted to do was eat the stuff. Chase was the suckiest lab partner ever, and if today hadn’t been his first day back, I would have done a lot more than kick him under the table. “Look alive, Sparky. We got eyes on us,” I said, indicating our balding professor at the front of the class.

  Chase twirled a piece of purple candy on the spotted tabletop. “Sorry. This just seems so ridiculous. Plus, you are way better at this chemistry stuff than me.” He popped a piece of candy into his mouth, giving me a weak smirk.

  “Hey,” I protested, my blue eyes narrowing. “We needed that. I guess we can kiss our A goodbye.”

  “It tastes like glass,” he declared, spinning on the stool.

  I rolled my eyes. “That is not the point. I need to pass this class to graduate.”

  He reclined in his chair with his hands behind his head. “Don’t stress. I’ll compel you an A.”

  I took a quick peak around the room just to make sure no one heard him. “You will not,” I hissed.

  Brandy and Kailyn were at the table next to us, and while I was chewing Chase’s ear for being careless, the two of them snuck up behind me. “A-n-gel,” Brandy said, drawing out my name. “Are you coming with us this Saturday?”

  Chase raised his eyes.

  I was afraid to know what they had planned for Saturday and was tempted to decline right off the bat.

  Kailyn leaned a hip against the counter, giving Chase a pointed look with her deep brown eyes behind her oversized safety goggles. “Sorry, boyfriend. No boys.”

  Brandy twirled one of her curls around her finger, smacking her gum as she talked. “Girls’ night,” she sung.

  Ookay.

  I doubted our ideas of girls’ nights were remotely the same. They would be better off roping Lexi into tagging along with them. And that gave me an idea. “What does this girls’ night consist of?”

  I thought the two of them were going to burst out of their skins and start jumping up and down. They were erupting with uncontained glee. “We got tickets to see Luke Bryan.” Their announcement was followed by tiny squeals and stupid grins that lit up their faces.

  I scrunched my face. “Who?”

  That obviously wasn’t the proper response.

  Chase snickered.

  Brandy’s mouth dropped open.

  And Kailyn looked like I had just given birth to a one-eyed-one-horned-flying-purple-people-eater. I thought I had been in Spring Valley long enough to not get the outsider glares.

  Guess I was wrong.

  After a few awkward moments of me feeling like an idiot, Brandy wiggled off her safety goggles. “All right. Now you have to come. You haven’t lived until you have been to a country concert complete with tight jeans and buns of steel.”

  I grinned. “You had me a buns.”

  Brandy giggled.

  “Is it cool if I bring someone? A girl of course,” I added quickly as their eyes shifted to Chase who was giving me the, we-are-so-going-to-talk-later glower. I ignored him at the moment, because I was too afraid that Brandy and Kailyn were going to embrace me in a girl-power hug.

  “The more the merrier,” Kailyn said in delight. Her cheeriness was making me nauseous.

  Chase placed his hand on my elbow. “You and I need to have a one-on-one later.”

  “Is that code for something kinky?” I asked, hopeful.

  He snapped the goggles on my nose. “You’re lucky you look so adorable with those on.” />
  I lowered my gaze, unable to stop my eyes from being drawn to his lips. Even the slightest and most far-fetched things made me think about kissing him. It was sad really how much I thought about his mouth.

  “Be careful,” he whispered. “Your eyes are doing that color thing again.”

  I narrowed my stare. “I hope you break a tooth on that candy.”

  He chuckled dark and low, and I tried not to think how good that sounded.

  After school his threat was as solid as gold. If he had something on his mind, there was no way I was going to avoid hearing it, so I plopped my bootie on the couch and waited. I didn’t have to wait long.

  “Girls’ night is out of the question. It’s not even in the near vicinity,” he ordered with the door barely closed behind him.

  I chomped on the inside of my lip, because if I opened my mouth right this second, it wasn’t going to be pretty. I might even try one of this cool flip-him-on-his-back moves Emma had shown me. He knew I hated to be told what to do. Finally, it became too much. “What is your problem? I know you have a lot of stuff you are dealing with, but really?”

  He began burning holes in my carpet. “How about, it is the worse idea ever? There is a demon stalking you.”

  My eyes leaped across the family room, trying to keep up with him. Eventually, I huffed, giving up. “We are going to be surrounded by thousands of eyes. I doubt he is going to show up at a hillbilly concert.” I was betting Alastair had better taste than that.

  “That won’t stop him. It surely wouldn’t stop me.”

  Nothing stood in the pompous Chase Winters’s way. “Look, I get the concern, but I was thinking that it would be good for Lexi. I want to take her with me. She needs to snap out of it, step back into the world of the living, and what better way than a night out on the town?”

  He opened his mouth to protest then just stared at me. His mouth snapped shut, so I pounced, ready to seal the deal.

  I jumped to my feet. “She needs this, and I want my best friend back. Plus we haven’t heard from you-know-who in weeks.” I flattened my hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Heck, I might have even batted my lashes.

  “I am so going to regret this,” he grumbled, sweeping a piece of hair behind my ear.

  I grinned. “This will be good for her, I promise. She needs to move on.”

  “I know.”

  “Does this mean you are going to be creepily lurking in the parking lot?”

  He flashed me a quick smile. “You can count on it, and I might even bring back up.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  ~*~*~*~

  That night I had another one of my exotic dreams, but this time it took a nasty turn.

  Yep. Shit was going down.

  Chapter 17

  Chase’s lips were everywhere.

  By everywhere I meant everywhere. And I had a pretty amazing imagination, but this exceeded that. In this dream, I loved every second of it.

  A blue zing ignited in the air between us.

  I was spellbound, caught in the web of passion only Chase could spin.

  He framed my face with his hands, and my eyes fluttered open. As I peered at him from under my lashes, degree by slow degree the spell began to shatter. Staring into his immorally handsome face, I started to see him differently.

  Gold eyes turned black.

  His tan skin became pale.

  And Alastair was leering above.

  A shriek got wedged in my throat, and I felt myself suffocate on my own fear. Choking on oxygen, I struggled to calm the rising panic in my chest. My air passage was clear, but I still couldn’t breathe.

  A bony hand with long, discolored nails that were in dire need of a manicure ran over my face. “If you fight, it only gets worse, little one.” His voice slithered over my skin, slimy and grotesque.

  My hands instinctually went to my neck, and in my head I screamed Chase’s name, which only made the increasing pressure worse. Oh God. Was it possible to die in a dream? Because at this moment, I was sure I wouldn’t wake up again. I would die a terrible death in my head, never able to cry out, never to wake up.

  “The longer you fight me, the more I enjoy it,” he hissed. His true form and Chase’s flickered before my eyes. I could feel him losing hold on the illusion he put inside my dream.

  It occurred to me that he was in my head, screwing around in there and messing with my dreams, but it was so hard to break through the panic. My instincts wanted to resist, to continue to fight for a breath of air. But I couldn’t stop staring at his inhuman eyes and the souls that were trapped behind them.

  This wasn’t my first rodeo with a demon, and somehow as my gaze was fastened on him, I realized that I wasn’t alone. All those souls he had stolen gave me the push I needed to break the enchantment he had me sedated in.

  For all the lives he stole.

  For Chase.

  For my mom.

  For Sierra.

  I had it in me. It was there, just waiting to be tapped. I stopped thinking about the pain, about the lack of oxygen, and thought only of Chase. His stunning color-changing eyes. The curve of his sexy smirk. His dark and powerful strength.

  Our bond was going to save me, time and time again. The sooner Hell realized that, the better.

  Once I had a clear picture of him in my head, Alastair’s true form was substantial. His oily lips pulled back into a half leer. “I knew you had it in you.”

  “Go screw yourself,” I spat, short breathed.

  The sound of his laugh filled my head, rattling brain matter. “You were made for Hell. My son has served his purpose, and now you shall serve me.”

  With my senses returned, I was pissed. “Yeah, about that. I’m not ready to see the fiery pits of Hell just yet.”

  He was beginning to sound like a broken record. “How many more will get hurt? How many more will die, sweet Angel?”

  “What do you want from me?” I croaked. Vile anger burned inside me. Showed what little he knew about me, I was most definitely not sweet.

  One of his corpselike nails traced down the side of my flushed cheek, leaving a scratch in its wake. “I thought I made it clear, love.”

  His endearments were making me sick. “Apparently I’m a little daft in my dreams. Spell it out for me in layman’s terms.”

  “I. Want. You,” he said nice and slow, his eyes directly on mine.

  I flinched. “Why? What could you possibly want with me? I don’t have any life-altering powers. I can’t walk on water.” In my head I knew this wasn’t real, nothing but a dream, but it didn’t change that he was on top of me. His form burned like the sun—too hot for the touch. I began to sweat.

  “No. Those things would all be wasteful to me, but you are useful to me—very.”

  “I’m in love with your son.”

  His short laugh was haunting and tasted like an inferno on my face. “This has nothing to do with love. Something to chew on until next time.”

  I twisted my head, trying to put more space between his disgusting lips and me. If the black tongue touched me, I was going to lose my shit. “No offense, but I am hoping there won’t be a next time.”

  His face drew closer. “I can promise you,” he whispered in my ear. “If I don’t get what I want, you won’t like the consequences.” His voice began to trail off.

  I awoke with fear lodged in my throat and covered in a cold sweet. Greedily, I gulped the fragrant smell of my room, and then…my door burst open.

  Chase’s dark form was looming in the doorway. “I’m going to kill him.”

  I sat up, blinking. “Could it wait until later?” I asked, rubbing my hand on my arms. “Right now I don’t want to be alone.” Or fall asleep for that matter. The idea of seeing the demon every time I closed my eyes gave me chest pains.

  He was teetering on an invisible line between staying with me as I asked or ripping the higher-demon to shreds. That was if he could find him. I really hoped I won. “You had the dream, didn’t you?�
� he asked, shoving both hands into his hair.

  “The one where you turn into Alastair? Boy did I ever.”

  He zoomed to my side. “I told you he would appear sooner rather than later.”

  I picked at a snag in my blanket, pulling at the thread. “Can we save the I-told-you-so until after I stop shaking?”

  He captured my chin in his hand. “I’m not giving him what he wants.”

  I stayed silent, because I wasn’t sure that I could live with myself if someone else was hurt or died because Alastair wanted me. It didn’t seem right. My soul had already been darkened when I had died. Who was to say that each death I indirectly caused wouldn’t blacken it to the point of no redemption.

  “Do you hear me?” Chase asked, pinning me with a determined look. “You are not his.”

  Here it comes—the Neanderthal side. I kind of liked it, though. “I’m not planning on doing anything stupid, so you can just simmer down.”

  “Angel,” he warned. “Let’s get more specific. You are not going to do anything period. Not today. Not tomorrow. I will figure this out.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And what if you don’t? What then? I am just supposed to sit aside and watch the bodies fall around me? I can’t. I won’t.”

  He sat down on the side of the bed, bringing our gaze level. “That’s not what I am asking. I just need more time.”

  My arms wrapped around my belly. “I’m scared.”

  “Finally,” he exhaled. “You’ve come to your senses.”

  I socked him in the arm. “This is serious. That dream was no joke. He made it pretty clear that he wants me, and if he doesn’t get what he wants, other people will pay the price.”

  “I’m working on a theory,” he said.

  This was news to me. “You are?” I asked suspiciously. Apparently we were both working our own angles.

  He brushed back my hair. “There is no way I am letting him take what’s mine. Not without one explosive fight.” His voice got deceptively deep.

  We both cared too deeply and too recklessly about the other. Our relationship was so unhealthy, but I knew that I could not function every day without him. “I don’t want anything to happen to you either,” I said, twining our fingers together. Our hands sparked on contact. “You’re not immortal.”