by A and E Kirk
The only road in or out of the country club was sparsely lit with way-too-spaced-out streetlights and a little moonlight from the half-crescent hanging in the sky. Seth finally realized his peril, and his wails served as a kind of sonar in the dark.
Razor Rick glanced back, panting hard. “I will kill the child!”
“Why do you think I’m chasing you!” I said. “Drop the child!”
He gave an aggravated growl and picked up the pace, keeping to the road as it started to bend around a dense thicket of trees. I smiled and ducked into the forest. The road was full of S curves, so a quick detour through the foliage would lead me back to the street and in front of the demon.
The boots did surprising well on the soft, damp earth. Bushes scratched my legs, branches snagged my dress, but things were going as planned. I could see the monster through the trees on my right as he came round the bend.
Awesome. I would easily beat him. I burst out from the last line of bushes and onto the pavement several feet in front of Razor Rick.
“Ha!” I smiled, feeling pretty darn proud of myself.
And that’s when I got hit by the car.
CHAPTER 7
I’d seen a blinding light in my peripheral, which had given me a nano-second to jump up and out of the way. At least that was the plan, but it didn’t work out. Exactly. If it’d been a regular car, maybe, but this was a large van so my leap didn’t do the job of getting me up and over enough, so the edge of the hood clipped my legs.
I thudded hard onto the hood, skidded, felt metal dent. I rolled up the windshield, registering the slight give as glass crackled, then tumbled over the roof, clawing for purchase, anything to stop the momentum. Found nothing.
Except the street.
The hard impact punched out what little air remained in my lungs. The asphalt bit and tore at my skin. It took me a second to realize I’d stopped moving, it was just my head that continued spinning. White fairy-like orbs dotted my vision, and there was blood. Not sure what part of my body was leaking, but I smelled copper, and in various places my skin was slick with more than sweat.
The black van left two trails of burning rubber as it fishtailed to a stop. I didn’t recognize it. Admittedly, I didn’t know every car in town, I mean, Gossamer Falls wasn’t that small. Plus, my vision was more wonky-tonky than twenty-twenty at the moment, after being hit with a very large blunt object.
Seth screamed.
“Silence!” the hellion snapped. “No, not you! Where is the extraction team?!”
In the glare of the headlights, the demon jumped off the pavement and into the sloping woods. I slapped my bloody hands into the ground and pushed up. Adrenaline beat back every pain that tried to rear its ugly, whiny head. And it was going to be ugly.
Behind me, I heard the van’s doors open then slam shut. I didn’t have time to deal with the drama, so I followed the demon, but lost sight of him in the dark and was panting too hard to hear Seth’s cries.
But it didn’t matter now that my Divinicus tracking was hitting the mark better. I didn’t have the demon’s exact location yet, but I knew the direction he was taking. I’m not sure how long I ran before the trees started to thin and just ahead the moonlight glowed on the pristine grey-green knolls of the golf course. The paved paths for the golf carts were lit with ground lights, but I took a direct route through the grass and sand traps and around ponds, because the demon and Seth were almost to the boathouse down on the lake.
I slowed when I reached the building and eased cautiously around the corner. Lamps flickered unsettling shadows on the rocking boats. Mist rolled in off the water to slither over the creaky docks. There was no sign of the demon or Seth.
With my head still ringing and eyes still stinging, I was definitely rattled. I blinked a few times, doing my best to clear my head and vision. My mental demon tracking was still blurry, but I felt him. He was close. He was—
A knife pressed against my throat.
Oh, goody. He was right here. Tag. I’m it.
CHAPTER 8
“Remain still,” a deep voice whispered softly in my ear. “Please.”
How polite. But I didn’t need the prompting. Turns out the feel of a sharp, cold blade against my neck makes me freeze in place. Who knew?
An arm slid around my ribs, holding me against a large body. Male. Strong by the feel of him. Hard. Unyielding.
His voice remained raspy and low, a vague whisper. “This will all be over soon.”
Without moving my head, I dropped my eyes. The arm around me was covered in black material and the hands sheathed in black leather gloves. The side of his face pressed against mine. It felt scratchy, and I realized he was wearing a black ski mask on his head. The kind that only has openings for the eyes and mouth.
Yeah, the scary kind that killers used.
Not good.
This wasn’t Razor Rick. His accomplice? A demon too? Probably not. He smelled too good.
It was subtle. I only noticed it because we were so close, him about to kill me and all, but it was the kind of aroma that made you close your eyes, smack your lips, and sigh a satisfied, “Mmmmm.” It was a clean scent, but also, sexy. The kind of sexy that makes women blush with not-so-clean thoughts.
Not that I was. Terror still overrode the libido, but I could appreciate the effort. “Amazing cologne,” I said. “What’s it called?”
A laugh rumbled low in the assassin’s chest. It didn’t make so much of a sound, but rather rippled a ticklish sensation up my back.
“Why, thank you, darlin’,” he said, speaking louder this time so I could hear the heavy southern drawl. His head moved, angling closer to the side of mine, pressing into my hair. “I could say the same to y’all.”
I broke out my own version of the sweet southern belle accent. “Kind sir, you flatter me.” I would’ve batted my eyelashes, but he couldn’t see them from that angle, so why bother. Then I switched back to my regular voice. “But seriously, what is it?” As I spoke, I made a show of sniffing and then turned my head as if trying to get a better whiff. “I’d really like to know because—”
That's when I felt his body relax just enough. I stopped talking and made my move.
CHAPTER 9
I thumped an elbow into his gut. It felt like hitting a wall, because even semi-relaxed, that much muscle didn’t go down easy. But his hold loosened, albeit only slightly, just enough to allow me room to turn and sink my teeth into the skin above his wrist. The black fabric was thin, reminding me of what athletes would wear. Or ninjas.
I bit down hard.
He sucked a sharp intake of breath, and although he didn’t exactly let go, suddenly I wasn’t biting anything. I grabbed his arm that held the knife, twisted it up and over my head, bringing my body around to face him, and pulled with all I had.
I’m no lightweight, but he had me by a lot of poundage, so when I yanked, he acted like a tree and didn’t leave. Didn’t budge at all.
Which was okay. I’d kind of figured as much. I let the grab-twist-pull move jettison my body toward him. At the same time, I brought my knee up and when I slammed it into him, my knee hit home, so to speak. Directly into the guy’s sweet spot, as Dad liked to call it.
I let go and stumbled back. The guy doubled over almost immediately, and as he did, through the openings of the ski mask, I caught a flash of very dark, smoky grey-green eyes. They seemed more amused than angry, which was scary.
My neck stung, and my fingers instinctively touched the spot. Wet. Sticky. When I pulled my hand away, I saw blood.
Nothing gushing, though. The knife had just nicked the skin in the struggle.
I heard metal clang to the ground, and a guttural noise from the sexy scented assassin just as a figure came around the corner. Different build, tall but thin, he was also dressed in all-black including a ski mask, gloves, and boots. He took in the scene. I saw teeth as he glanced at his buddy.
There was laughter in his voice as he spoke. “Honcho, my man,
you are slipping.”
Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t—
The knife that had been at my throat so recently currently lay at my feet, something dark stained upon it. Ah. My blood. Without thinking too hard—or at all—about what I was doing, I picked up the blade and threw it.
My aim was spot on. Silver metal glinted in the moonlight as it rotated directly toward assassin number two’s head. Directly between his eyes.
And I suddenly wanted the knife back. Murdering someone in cold blood? Sure he’d tried to kill me, but—
Oh, wait. He hadn’t.
He walked toward me. He had to see the knife coming, but there was no reaction in his eyes or body language. Then, at the last second, in an almost lazy move, one shoulder swung to the side, and his entire upper body leaned backwards.
The knife sailed past him.
Or it would have. If he hadn’t caught it.
He made it look as easy as grabbing a cereal box off a grocery store shelf, and in the blink of an eye, the handle of the knife was in his hand. He righted his posture and kept walking toward me as he flipped the blade in a well-practiced motion. Like he knew what he was doing. He appeared completely unfazed. Amused, even.
“You may be slipping, Honcho, but I ain’t.”
Uh-oh. These guys were enjoying the violence way too much.
I quickly reverted to my favorite ninja move.
Run!
And since there were two of them, better run twice as fast. Crazy, but it made sense in my head at the time.
I banked left and circled around the boathouse, trying to decide what to do. I really wanted to get the heck out of there, but Seth was in the demon’s clutches. So I needed to reach the boathouse’s second level, because a better view from higher ground could give me a chance to locate the boy among the many boats that were arranged around the maze of docks.
A squeal stopped me dead in my tracks. I turned toward the frantic pitter-patter of footsteps and saw Seth sprinting as fast as he could on his little legs, heading down one of the longest docks out into the lake.
“Seth!” I rushed after him.
Had Razor Rick let him go? Fine by me. Let the demons abort and head for the hills. I glanced back. No sign of the ski mask guys. Yay for small favors.
I raced past boats, my feet pounding on the weathered planks of the dock. Seth reached the end, skidded to a stop, and turned.
“Seth,” I said, slowing down to I wouldn’t terrify him further. “It’s okay. I’m going to take you to your mom and dad.” I kept saying comforting things in a soothing voice, but Seth’s eyes just got bigger and more frightened.
He started whimpering and backing away, shaking his head, and getting dangerously close to the edge. Then, with a final squeal, he turned and jumped.
I lunged. His feet hit the water as my stomach hit the dock. I skidded and caught the collar of his shirt with one hand and a dock post with the other, which saved me from going in with him. With one determined effort I yanked Seth up and onto the dock, then stood and held his shivering, wet body tight so he wouldn’t try the stunt again.
“Seth, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I kn-know,” he said, lip quivering.
“Then why did you jump in the lake?”
He moved his lips very close to my ear and whispered, “To get away from the monsters.” Then he pointed a trembling finger behind us.
A chill wriggled up my spine.
I closed my eyes. A vision filled the back of my lids, and I could see clearly now. I saw myself. More specifically, my back, red hair billowing in the wind. I was holding Seth, and he was pointing at…me? No. Seth was pointing at what was behind me. Behind us. What I saw in my vision was from a different perspective. A demon’s point of view, which meant…
My chest tightened. I turned around. Slowly. A little more than halfway down the dock, looking all kinds of smug, stood Razor Rick.
CHAPTER 10
Crap.
Razor Rick must’ve been hiding in one of the boats, and I’d passed him in my haste. He’d used the child to trick me into cornering myself. I just loved it when demons outsmarted me.
To make it a real party, the fashionably coordinated killers were back, standing several yards behind Razor Rick. The knife was gone. Good news. But there was bad news. They had guns drawn.
Pointed at me and Seth.
My fingers tingled, and power began coursing through my body. Didn’t know how my blasty power worked on bullets. The last time I stopped one, I’d had to jump into the Waiting World. Wasn’t looking forward to that again, but it beat being dead, and I wanted to send this demon, and now his way-too-amused minions, back to Hell and away from this town and the people in it.
I slowly lifted Seth onto the deck of a big boat moored next to us. “Seth, go lock yourself in the bathroom or a closet and don’t come out no matter what. Got it?” He glanced fearfully down the dock, then nodded and scurried below deck.
Out of the demon’s grotesque mouth came a horrific gurgly sound, which I realized, when his head fell back and his shoulders shook, was his version of a laugh. It was more gross than terrifying, but then he raised his taloned hands and a black sludge swirled in front of them. It twirled like the rolling dark clouds of a storm and headed for me.
Just then, the guys with the guns shifted their stance and steadied their sights.
I stepped toward my enemies, feeling white light electrify between my fingers. But before I could raise my hands, a sudden, piercing cold stabbed my chest. A bright light blinded me as gunfire erupted. Glass shattered, trailed by a loud, roaring wind and a great sucking sound. The dock bucked and rolled beneath my feet. I heard the sloshing of water as boats heaved and grinded against the docks and each other.
My power shut down, but the wind and sound roared on and on, the light searing through my closed lids. Then it all suddenly shut down, leaving behind a deafening silence. There was only moonlight glittering on the lake. The boats still rocked, but the water’s swells were settling. The windows of the boathouse had all shattered, and shards of glass rained down, plinking against the boats and plopping in the water.
What the heck was that? Didn’t think it was my power. I hadn’t felt the rush, or the heat. More of a frigid, biting chill. Was it the demon and his black sludge?
I wasn’t glowing. I was alone. If it had been the demon, there was no sign of him or his black-suited minions now, and all Divinicus connection was gone. I’d lost him.
I closed my eyes and tried to taste that feeling of dread, of evil lurking on the fringes. Nothing. I started to call to Seth when there was a whooshing sound in the boathouse, and through the broken windows, a flash of yellow light built to a bright orange glow.
It was silent for two breaths.
Then…ka-boom! The boathouse exploded. The blast sent me flying off the docks.
CHAPTER 11
Luna was putting dishes away when I limped into the kitchen. Without turning around, she said, “Awesome. You’re home early, which means I’ll win the bet.”
Then she took one look at me, and her jaw dropped. I had a moment of blessed silence before she doubled over and howled with uncontrollable laughter. There were tears and honking noises and snot out of her nose and every time she tried to talk, she choked up and laughed some more.
Could I really blame her?
I’d crawled out of the freezing cold lake no more physically harmed than when I went in. My appearance, however, was no longer salvageable. Drenched from head to toe, makeup dripping off my face, dress in shreds, and as if all that bodily mayhem wasn't bad enough, I was also missing one sassy ankle boot.
I was sass-less.
The Hex Boys had found me carrying Seth down the dock. After Tristan erased all demonic horrors from the little guy’s memories, Matthias had delivered him to Coach and his wife. Sheriff Payne had arrived amid a multitude of fire trucks and ambulances, and said, “Boys, Aurora, for future reference, this definitely q
ualifies as ‘in over your heads.’”
Well, thank you, Sheriff Obvious.
But I didn’t sass him, me being sass-less and all.
He’d listened to the story. No one had any answers for the demons’ illusion techniques, but I could tell they all found it more than a little worrisome. The sheriff firmly overrode Ayden’s insistence that he and I could somehow continue on with our “normal” date and ordered a cruiser to take me home, where I currently enjoyed my warm welcome from my loving sister.
Lucian came into the kitchen with Oron on his hip, saw me, and shortly the twins were both pointing and laughing, hanging on to each other for support.
“You win.” Luna pulled some cash out of her pocket. “You bet the date would be an absolute disaster. I cannot argue. Here is your prize, brother.” She slapped the money into his hand and gave him a bow. “It was worth every penny.”
Mom walked in and froze. Blood drained from her face as her hand fluttered to her chest. “Oh, my God, Aurora. Sheriff Payne warned me, but…”
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” I said, wishing that were true.
She wrapped me in a hug and sent Luna and Lucian upstairs to give the little ones their baths.
“You need a shower. Maybe two.” She pulled long bits of seaweed –lakeweed?— from my hair. “I’ll make you some tea to take with you. Your skin is like ice.” I noticed her hands shaking as she went about brewing the cup. “So the sheriff said it was a toxic leak of some sort. Chemical fumes making people sick, act strange. Causing fires and explosions.”
“Yep.” That was the story. “I don’t know the details. They’re still investigating, but Ayden and I were outside taking a walk by the lake when the boathouse blew up. I took a tumble down the hill and into the water and voila!” I made a gesture from head to toe. “I was never in any real danger. Just a few cuts and bruises.” More or less.
