by Jada Tarrant
After rushing to the door, some Doom Crew members stood in the way. Drew growled, as he needed to get to his child. “She'll be fine,” the shade said cooly, while the others exchanged concerned looks. The sight confused him. “Who are you?” Drew barked and the shade stepped back. “Sigil Numan,” he said firmly. Then hot anger settled in Drew's face. “i knew your dad, and he was a mean man. He deserved to die by Darkling Dragon's hand,” Drew said feverishly as the man looked rather surprised. “Now get out of my way.” With one hand, he punched the kid out with a materialistic wave of death magic. Scared to intervene, the rest of them parted ways to watch the nut case go save his daughter.
It was some kind of cellar bar, with music blasting all over the place. Then Drew locked his eyes on the angel in the back that was covering his daughter from view. Everything in his body trembled with rage as he forced his way through the crowd. “Move,” Drew said repeatedly, pushing people aside. A few became wide-eyed as he approached.
Drew not flickered his attention back to the angel, only to see his daughter as the angel went down. To his horror, there was a knife lodged in her side. The angel lowered himself to it and pushed it into his chest, collapsing. “Eeep,” she scried as the angel fell to the ground. He had never seen an angel seduce someone only to kill themselves afterward. All the color had drained from her eyes as she locked onto Drew with a cold stare. It made him run faster to her.
“I'm going to get you out of here,” he said, pressing his lips to her ear. “Hang on.” Putting her over his shoulder, she nearly felt like dead weight. The way her heard was slung back told him she was in shock. Then his gaze locked on the knife. How the hell do I get this thing out? It looked like the hilt of it was outside her back, while the blade was entirely inside her as it went through. The sigh made him worry more as he took her away.
CHAPTER 22
AUGUST 4TH, 2014
WHEELERSBURG, OHIO
~Dave~
“Dave,” someone shouted, rushing to the backroom. His head shot up at the sound of his name. “What's the matter?” he asked, getting out of his chair. “We need you at the young darkling's residence. Fast,” the man said as he seemed itching to go. With that, Dave teleported to the front door of the house as the smell of blood hit his nose. Is she dead?
After that, he pushed the door open to see have of his crew in the hallway. Someone was moaning very loudly in pain. “Get away!” she cried. A few people had backed off, but Hayes held her hand. “They need to pull that dagger out of you. Please understand that,” he said, squeezing her hand tighter. “Unless you want Usfer too.” The man must have seen him in the reflection of his eyes, so he approached.
The pain in the young woman's eyes made him queasy, and the blackness meant the demon was in control. Neither of them looked good to see on her, screaming in his head to do something. It made his heart ache as her eyes finally focused on him. “I trust him,” she said with a weak smile.
Then Hayes turned toward the angel. “I'll turn her onto her god side. I want you to pull the dagger out,” he said. Dave gulped, as he wasn't so sure of doing it. But instead he put on his bravado face and falsely smiled. “Got it,” Dave said, watching Hayes turn her over. The demon's cry only made his head hurt worse.
His whole body trembled once he saw the intrusion point. All the muscle there was tense and bruised. That would definitely take a while to heal. So he put his hand on the handle, careful to pull it out in one swift movement. A blood curdling cry escaped her lips as he backed away. Hayes smiled faintly. “Thank you,” he said as his voice faded in and out. “Dave, are you okay?” Everything in Dave's body began to seize up with panic as he clocked out the second he hit the ground.
-
~Drew~
Everyone appeared startled the moment Dave basically dropped dead. Drew knew it was coming. The sick look on the man's face told him he was worried. His face had went white the moment she screamed, and he was sure he saw stars dancing in the man's eyes. As Drew took care of his daughter, the others had hauled Dave away. The same thing would have probably happened to him if he did it. And he was thankful for Dave for doing it, even though it seemed to make him sick. He'd have to thank him later.
“Drew,” Jada whispered as she shook her head against his chest. He couldn't help but feel a warm fuzzy feeling knowing she was okay. “I'm here love,” he said, stroking her hair gently.
Two days passed since she had conked out from getting the dagger out. Sarson and Dave visited with medicine twice a day for her. It made him feel grateful for the little world he created under his fingertips. Every time he thought about it, the thought gave him warmth.
“She doing any better?” Dave asked as he kneeled beside the bed. “She's woken up twice today,” Drew said, eyeing her again. “Right now she's out so I'm guessing she's still in pain.” Dave nodded, then proceeded to put more ointment on the wound.
“It was probably too earlier for her to have a solo mission I admit,” Dave confessed. “But she needs to prove her independency soon. Especially since she'll be the new Doom Crew leader.”
At that moment, Drew's jaw dropped open, agape with shock. “You sure that's a good idea?” he asked. Reluctantly, Dave nodded. “The arch angel said I won't be here much longer, and the heavens have already foreseen that she'll see to the end of RAD. I don't know when I'll be leaving. But it'll be soon,” Dave said, letting his gaze drop to the floor. “Less than a year.”
Usually Drew would panic at these moments, but this time he decided to suck it up. “Well then. What's next?” he asked. For some reason, he got a very bad feeling about the answer.
“Another assignment,” Dave said as he rose to his feet. “A group one though, and you're included. Part of it is making a trip to Camden, New Jersey. Supposedly RAD is making allies, and that is one of their homes. We don't even know the name of the group yet. That's the main reason we're sending people out.”
The tone of his voice was shaky, which meant Dave was most likely uncertain of what would happen. “So when she's well we'll leave?” Drew asked, letting his concern show. Dave gave another small nod. “Yes you are,” he said and drew him in for a hug. Surprisingly, Drew felt comfort at the touch of his hand. “Make sure your daughter is safe. But remember, make sure to be involved as little as possible.” Somehow, Drew ended up nodding and smiled at his request. Dave was beaming at him. “I will see to it that she is well soon.” Then Dave got up and left.
-
“Fuck,” I said to myself as I propped myself up with my elbows and rubbed my eyelids. No one was on watch duty. Good. A bunch of people were beginning to get on her nerve, especially Drew. He was always at her side, sometimes even talking to himself.
'We should get up and see what's going on,' the demon said, curious. Along with that thought, she got up and headed toward the living room. Drew laid outstretched on the couch, knocked the hell out. 'Probably not a good idea to wake him,' the demon assured me as I touched his face. It was tense with worry, so I pulled my hand anyway. The demon was probably right. Besides, it looks like it's the first time he's slept in ages.
Knock, knock! My head snapped up at the sound as I noticed it was the front door. Dave was here.
“I see someone's feeling better,” he said with a whimsical smile. Then he looked down at her stomach and back to her face. “I'm sorry.”
“It's not your fault,” I say and he ushers me to sit down. “I know it wasn't, but I should have known you weren't ready yet,” Dave says looking at me tenderly. “But alias, you have another assignment. Not a solo mission either, since I seemed to make a grave mistake with that.”
For a moment, Dave broke off the talk with a sigh. It revved up my curiosity a few notches as I wondered what was on his mind. He grabbed my hand before he spoke again.
“RAD is making allies so we can't put the full blame on them. Camden, New Jersey. The city is filled with witches, warlocks, and shifters so there is a great deal of power there. It's probably
a clan or two, but otherwise we want to convince them not to get involved. No matter what kind of power RAD offers.”
My lips moved, but no words came out of my mouth. I wanted to make a comment so badly. What makes witches and warlocks more powerful? Dave's eyebrows jutted up at the thought. At least telepathy was a good way to talk when there are people around.
Thump, thump! A loud rumbling noise came from the living room. 'Drew's up,' the demon reminded me, then disappeared from my mind. Both Dave and I snapped our heads to see Drew in the doorway.
Drew cocked his head as he attempted to smile. But instead it went back to show the stress lining his face, slowly aging him. “You told her?” he asked Dave and he nodded. “Yes,” Dave said before looking back to her. “Two days until you all depart.” Then after that, he disappeared into thin air.
After that, my eyes settled onto Drew's face. He seemed to shudder at Dave's immediate disappearance. But instead of letting that worry me, I reached out and touched him. Drew kissed my hands softly before he pulled me into his arms. It almost sounded like he was going to cry.
Ignoring the press of Drew's eyes, I packed. The demon plaudit stated to ignore him, especially since he was fretting over himself. Demon, darkling,and all other names associated with it. Why couldn't we be just plain humans? Probably would be too boring in that life, but things do come around.
As if the silence was killing him, he turned around and pulled the suitcase out of my hands. I blinked as I assumed he had some fatherly speech to share. Drew inhaled deeply, and sat down on the suitcase only to fall on his ass. I laughed a little and the corner of his mouth twitched.
“Nice. I meant to do that,” Drew coughed, looking over to the kitchen. Nathan seemed to be sitting in there transfixed by something. Then in the moment's heat, Nathan noticed his dark glare. “Is it time?” Nathan called from the kitchen. “Yes,” Drew said, treacherous as can be. He noticed the bewildered look on my face as he was about to answer. “You have to claim some things. I made his contract short because he asked to.”
Without giving him another look, I shot right into the kitchen. The car, house, and bank titles laid out on the table. I let my eyes roam to Nathan's as I silently asked him if it was true. He nodded, pressing a pen into my hand. “Sign them. There's no use for it if I'm not here. It'll all go to waste. I promise,” Nathan said, brooding her head with his constant bickering. “Fine,” I growled, signing the car titles first. “I better not be collecting your debt either.” At that, he laughed and shook his head. “Nope,” he said as he looked at Drew. “You know what to do, send me to hell.”
CHAPTER 23
AUGUST 11TH, 2014
Getting Drew's and Sarson's ass out of bed felt difficult. Neither one of them budged, and we all had to be on the road soon. Nearly sighing, the demon pressed into their heads, giving them the hallucination that I had already left. Drew's eyes popped open immediately, only to narrow his eyes in on me.
“Wake up sleepy-heads,” the demon said, watching for any lively signs that they'd get up. “We have to be on the road in an hour.”
Understanding the issue, Drew pressed his fingers on the back of Sarson's skull and let loose some of his powers. Sarson screamed, making Drew and I cover our eras. Well, that's one hell of a way to wake up.
“Time to go,” Drew said to Sarson, who was giving him a death glare. They really had to play their kid games right now? There's no time.
“Fine,” Sarson said, getting a read on what we wanted. “I'll go get dressed.” And with that, he moved swiftly to the bathroom. 'There, that wasn't hard. Was it?' the demon snickered at him.
A brief silence followed until I heard Sarson click his tongue in defiance. “Shut it,” he said when he came out. From the looks of it, Drew was ready to go too. But right when I went to go swipe the keys Drew snatched him. Both the demon and I scowled at him in union.
“RAD knows your vehicle too well. It'll be best to stick with the Impala,” Drew explained, taking notice of my position. “It will be best to stay under the radar demon.” 'Ha ha, I wonder how long to figure out I've been control,' the demon said. It has been months since I've had a handle on things. The demon's concern was the fact that my inexperience could very much put us through hell.
-
~Drew~
Unmoved by the demon's stare, Drew hopped into the driver's seat giving her the cue to get in. She had slammed the door shut behind her as Sarson got in behind him.
“GPS-ing the location,” Sarson said as he pulled out his phone. Okay, first step done. “About nine hours according to the map.” Yeesh, that was not what Drew wanted to hear. Once he heard it on voice navigation, he knew it was time to go.
After driving for the past few hours, it was becoming hard to keep his eyes open to look at the road. That, and the fact that it was nighttime. He had only slept for about four hours. Hell, it made him wish he had slept a bit more as he gritted his teeth and eyed the highway ahead.
Looking over his shoulder, both Sarson and Jada were fast asleep. The highway had some weird turns, and the only thing to guide him was the GPS voice guidance on Sarson's phone. He picked it up to see how much longer it would take to get there. About six hours with heavy traffic, and that nearly put Drew in the mood to say 'Fuck it' and go back. Alias, there was a few members of Doom Crew driving behind him, disintegrating that option. With a sigh, all he saw were detour signs. Crap, this is going to be one long ride.
Finally, four hours later he made it into the inner circle of the city. A quick brush of wind onto his arms sent goosebumps all over his flesh. That was definitely the work of witches and warlocks magic. Next to him, Doom Crew had asked for him to roll his window down to listen.
“We'll worry about the task on hand tomorrow. There's a few low-key hotels not far from here,” one of them said, looking around. “Be careful.”
Jada finally woke up out of her snooze after a few people honked their horns. The sound irritated everyone, but Sarson still seemed to be fast asleep. “Are we there?” she yawned as she stretched. Hearing that, it only made Drew more tired.
“We are in Camden, New Jersey. But Doom Crew doesn't want to do anything until tomorrow. Our presence has to be unknown,” Drew said, eyeing her carefully. It appeared that she didn't want to agree with that decision. “Okay,” she said as she slumped back into the seat, defeated. “I wanted to figure out what was making that banging noise.”
At that remark, Drew raised a brow. What banging? All he could hear was people talking and deep down, a slow, thumping sound. Is that what she's hearing?
Then the pounding continued in his head as it begun to take his patience away. He wanted it to stop, or he would go find it and kill it off.
Thu-thump! Th-thump! It sounded like it was right next them when they were right across from an antique shop. To his surprise, Jada was staring too. They'd have to go in there, at least that's what he thought. His daughter even seemed interested as she looked at him for approval and within seconds he nodded. The impulse was too much to resist.
The 'OPEN' sign was lit up once him and his daughter approached the door. Something felt wrong when he turned the knob. But he took a breath and pushed it open. Nothing was here.
Taking a few steps inside, Jada followed in closely behind him. Click! They both turned as they saw the door had locked itself. At least they had Sarson outside in case if anything went wrong.
“Hello,” a voice said as people flanked out around them from the shadows. Crap. Drew grinded his teeth, ready to fight. “There will be no need for that. This is our safe place and you will not disturb. You will ask us nicely or leave. We've already shown RAD what we'd do to them.”
Considering the hostile tone, Drew became silent. The others appeared aware as they came inches closer. Neither Drew or Jada moved, but it seemed like she had a plan.
“I'd like to see what you did to RAD,” Jada said, nearly giggling to herself. “Can you show me?” Then the features in her face harde
ned as it seemed like she was in serious thought. A few of the people seemed to step back at the sight of it.
“Your dad needs to agree not to interfere,” the man said, looking over to the woman. “We'll show you what you need to know,” she said and extended her hand. Drew's eyes widened in fear as she approached them.
'Don't do it,' he said, only to have the words lodged in his throat. Some of their eyes glowed as the others began to chant.His body twisted and convulsed in pain at the enchantment. Forcing himself to blink, the world collapsed.
-
I don't know what was worse, seeing Drew spasm out on the floor or the fact that I took the woman's hand. She led me into another room, and the door shut itself behind me.
“Sit,” she said and pointed at the rug. As I did that, she sat on the floor in front of me. I stroked the carpet with my hand as it felt soft and comfortable. It didn't feel like it had any magic woven into it. Good.
The witch looked like she was about to laugh. “Of course. I wouldn't want to mess with the one that'll save us all,” she said admiringly, stroking my hair. “Now I'm going to share an old memory with you. A time before you were born.” At that, the hairs on my neck stood at attention. “Now stay still.” Then a huge burst of light flooded the room.
It was nighttime, and I heard a bunch of people whispering. Then I snapped my head up, seeing Dave, Ben, and someone else. What the hell is going on?
“The demons are practicing something very evil in there,” the man said, tapping the glass below. Both Ben and Dave agreed. “Gabriel knows what's going on. We just have to wait on his arch angel ass to get down here,” Dave said and Ben scowled at him. “Violent much?” he asked sarcastically and they all broke out into a fit of laughter.
Thump! They all looked up and I swore that my breath was torn away from me. The angel's wings looked like they were threaded with gold and silk as they appeared to be beautiful the more I stared at them. Other than that, he stood at six foot one, and had blond hair. His ivory complexion melted me a little.
