“Is that seriously all you can think about?”
“What? Can you read minds now? Is it a new angeling ability of yours?”
“No.” She smacked Chase with the back of her hand. “Just concentrate on driving. No more girl-on-girl stuff.”
“Ouch—you’re not going to be able to do that anymore, with your newfound strength. It hurts.” Taking his eyes off the road, Chase looked over at Sam. “What are you doing?”
Sam slid her phone out of her pocket.
“Calling Evrik.”
“Why?” He focused back on the road, his face expressionless.
“I want to know if Alea has found Lauren.”
“With her ‘seeing’ elixir?” he said in a deflated tone.
“Are you worried that I won’t need you if I have them?” Sam put her hand on Chase’s free hand, resting on the gear shift. He moved his head back and forth slowly, without a glance in her direction.
“I need you,” Sam said. “You’re my best friend. Promise me that whatever happens to me, you will always remember that I do love you.” She spoke with great sincerity, from a place she had been suppressing. She was scared, and the thought of losing everyone she loved was unbelievably painful.
“Why are you talking like that?” Chase shouted.
“Because I’m changing. I’m not going to be here much longer.”
“Samantha—I’m not going to let you go that easily,” he demanded, grasping her hand tightly, as if holding on to her physically would keep her with him.
“You don’t have a choice. I don’t want to leave you, but I have to.”
“I love you,” he said.
“I know.”
“You don’t know. I can’t go on without you in my life,” he continued shouting, causing Sam to push back against the seat. She blinked back the tears that had started to form in her eyes.
“There’s always Vicky.” Sam forced a smile.
“Shut up. I—It’s not funny.” Chase’s words came out fractured and vulnerable.
“Sorry.” She immediately regretted her words.
“We’re here. I don’t want to talk about it any longer. It hurts too much. Let’s just go find Ann.” He sped into a parking spot and threw the gear into park.
Sam angled herself so she faced Chase. After moments of silence, he sighed deeply and turned to face her. His beautiful blue eyes welled with tears. In one blink, they would pour over his long blond lashes. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek. She held her breath, her heart galloping. She wanted so badly to turn her head and put her lips back on his, but it would be wrong. She loved Evrik. Not that losing herself completely in Chase would be so sinful. She only had weeks left on earth, if that. Who could blame her for following her instincts, her desires? She sighed loudly.
“What?” Chase whispered. She could feel his sweet breath on her cheek, making it even more difficult to pull away.
CHAPTER 26
Evrik slid a gray lightweight crew-neck sweater over his head. Sam had just called. She and Chase were on their way to McDonald’s to search for Ann. He donned his Movado watch and ran his hands through his hair. Sitting on the edge of the bed to slip on his shoes, he inhaled deeply, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. Evrik shook his head. Weeks, that’s all he had left with Sam, and that was the best-case scenario.
He knew Sam was special from the first moment he saw her on campus. Ever since that night at the fraternity party, Evrik had thought of nothing but her. She made it so easy for him to fall in love with her, and now he was about to lose the love of his life…and it was a very long life. Her relationship with Chase had never threatened him, even when she’d lost her memory, but he couldn’t compete with the archangels. As he had known from the moment he saw her, she was destined for greatness.
He was finished stepping aside so that she could regain her memories and sort through her feelings. He was no longer going to wait for her to call. He would regret being passive for the rest of his almost immortal life. Like angels, Lightwarriors were immortal—powerful beings set forth by the archangels to protect. The only difference was after Sam completed her transformation, she could never be killed; he could be killed. Demons were threatened by angels because of that very fact. Angels were powerful enough to preserve the virtuous, and evil could never harm them.
For the next few weeks, Sam was a target. He would be unable to protect her; it was her purity stage. She could not be influenced by magic, but he would do his best to support her.
Evrik breathed a sigh of relief. Sam wasn’t the average angeling. She was much more powerful, a Seraph. Unfortunately, he feared the Infernus knew this.
“Good, you’re still here.” Alea appeared in Evrik’s doorway.
“Do you need something? I’m getting ready to leave.”
“I found Lauren,” she said.
“Is she okay?” He feared her answer.
“Cale will be bringing her into an old railroad tunnel that runs under the city. I saw her under 29th and Sisson. I think he’s taking her to the Infernus.”
“How is he getting in and out of the tunnel?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I just saw the tunnel and a flash of the intersection of 29th and Sisson. That’s how I knew exactly which tunnel they were in, but the rail line runs up to Pennsylvania, even under Tolbert. I figured he probably entered the tunnel at Tolbert, since that’s where Lauren was most likely abducted, but I could be wrong.”
“When is this going to happen, Alea?”
“Tonight,” she answered.
Evrik rose from his bed. “I’ve got to go help Sam and Chase find Ann. I’ll be back. Get Malachi and Draylan and see what else you can find out about the tunnel.” Evrik grabbed his twill jacket and left his room.
***
Sam scanned the value meal sign in McDonald’s, remembering that she’d forgotten to eat lunch. She spotted the quarter pounder with cheese meal. Her belly growled. With Lauren’s disappearance, Sam was unable to think about anything but getting her roommate back. Now she just wanted to devour the picture of the greasy cheeseburger with fries and lots of ketchup.
Bringing Sam’s mind out of clog-your-arteries food land, Chase nudged her and nodded toward the back of the restaurant. Ann sat at the far booth eating what looked like her tenth cheeseburger. A pile of empty wrappers were scattered across the table.
“Does she usually eat that much? She must have a hell of a metabolism,” Chase mumbled.
“Of course not. Something’s seriously wrong with this picture.”
Ann unwrapped the cheeseburgers in breakneck time and shoveled them into her mouth, hardly chewing, and drooling all over herself. She pulled a stack of wrapped burgers off the seat next to her and started ravaging through the next batch. Sam quickly lost her appetite.
“Has she eaten all of those?” Sam spun around to see Evrik behind her.
“Yup,” Chase said.
“Wow.”
“Go ahead, Samantha, you’re her suitemate. Go over there and talk to her,” Chase prodded. “Just be careful. She might bite your arm off.”
Sensing Sam’s annoyance, Evrik made a suggestion. “Why don’t we all go over there? We need to talk her into going back to campus with us.”
“Okay, genius, how do you suppose we do that?” Chase put forward.
“Whatever we decide, we need to do it fast. It looks like she’s running out of cheeseburgers.” Sam thought for a moment. “Wait! Evrik, you can control her mind. Talk her into leaving with us. We have abilities, so let’s use them.”
“I guess it’s worth a try,” Chase grumbled.
“Do you have any better suggestions?” Sam eyed Chase. He shook his head. “Okay, then, let’s go. Evrik, get ready to work your magic, and fast.”
“Will do.” Evrik fell in step.
They moved cautiously over to Ann, who still hadn’t looked up from her now-fifteenth or so cheeseburger.
“Hi, Ann,” Sam said cautiously.
Ann grunted, not even a glance upward.
“I think you’ve had enough to eat. H—How about we go back home to the dorm?” Sam suggested shakily.
“No. Go away,” Ann spat. Chewed burger and wet bun pieces went flying.
“Uh—I’m going to be sick.” Chase threw his hand over his mouth. “Anytime with the mind control thing would be superb, bro.”
“She’s got to make eye contact,” Evrik whispered. “Sam, get her to look up.”
“Great,” Sam mumbled. She smoothed out her shirt and inhaled deeply in preparation for the uncomfortable exchange. “Ann, honey, would you like some fries to go with your cheeseburgers?” Ann’s head popped up. Sam leapt back. Ann glared at Sam, exposing her food-covered teeth.
“F-r-i-e-s,” she garbled as spit shot from her mouth.
Evrik made a quick motion, making Ann’s eyes jump to his. With their eyes locked, Evrik stared deeply into Ann’s mind, planting thoughts of returning to campus. A moment of silence passed. Ann dropped her half-eaten cheeseburger, slid out of the booth, and shuffled over to Evrik’s side.
The car ride was interesting. Between the burping, grunting and sniffing, they felt they were transporting a caged animal back to the zoo, not a college freshman back to her dorm. Evrik decided to leave his car at McDonald’s so there would be one more person in the car to help subdue Ann. Sam knew Evrik could keep her under control, physically and mentally.
“What the hell are we supposed to do with her?” Chase asked, trying to concentrate on the road.
“I don’t know.” Sam turned her head over her shoulder to speak with Evrik in the backseat. “Do you know what’s wrong with her?”
“It looks like she’s been possessed.” He pried Ann’s clawing fingers off his leg. “Alea said demons were able to gain access to Baltimore through an old railroad tunnel. It could have been any type of demon.”
“Does the tunnel run under Tolbert?” Sam asked.
“It runs under Rodgers Forge, Tolbert and up to PA, why?”
“When Chase and I went to her room to talk with Vicky, we found a map—”
“A crusty map,” Chase added.
“A crusty map,” Sam continued, “of Tolbert’s campus wedged into the coils of her mattress. Her mattress was ripped and on the floor, but that’s a whole other issue,” Sam brushed off. “Ann, or whatever she is now, was obviously reading it because it was stuck together with chocolate.”
“Was Vicky able to tell you anything about Ann’s thoughts?” Evrik rubbed his stubble along his jaw line with his fingers. With all of the excitement, Sam hadn’t noticed that he’d forgotten to shave. He looked hot with that 5 o’clock shadow. It aged him a few years.
“She said Ann kept thinking about a sewer. Does that make any sense?” Sam asked Evrik.
“It makes perfect sense,” Chase said. “She belongs in a sewer. She’s a dirty mess.”
“She’s your friend,” Sam scolded.
“She’s not my friend. Ann’s my friend,” Chase shot back.
“Alea saw Cale and Lauren in the tunnel,” Evrik said, interrupting Sam and Chase’s argument.
Sam’s eyes grew wide. “She did? When? Is Lauren beneath Baltimore right now?”
“Not yet. When Alea saw the street sign in her vision, it was dark outside.”
“Then we’ll go get her back,” Sam said.
“We don’t know how to enter the tunnel. Alea thinks Cale might be using an entrance in Tolbert,” Evrik said.
“How are we supposed to find an entrance to a tunnel in a small city?” Sam crossed her arms in frustration.
“Little Miss Piggy was looking at a map of the campus, so maybe the entrance is on campus,” Chase suggested.
“A sewer?” Sam asked.
“Could be,” Evrik said.
“Chase, where did you put that map?” Sam searched the front seat of his car.
“My pocket.” Chase lifted his butt off the seat and pulled a sticky, partly brown folded piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to Sam with two fingers. “Yuck.”
Sam studied the map, but there was nothing on it about any type of sewer or water runoff. The library was circled, but Vicky could have circled it; it was her map.
“If Ann has figured out where the entrance is, I can force her to lead us to it. I’ll just control her mind,” Evrik suggested.
“We’ll do it back in the room. Meanwhile, can you call Alea and see if she can create an elixir to get rid of whatever’s possessing Ann?”
“Sure.” Evrik nodded. “But we’ll have to wait to use the elixir until after she leads us to the tunnel.” With his quick reflexes, he snatched Ann’s jaw, clutching it between his fingers before she could bite him.
CHAPTER 27
Draylan tapped his pen on the book page, making a clicking sound with the side of his cheek. He rested the palm of his hand against his temple and balanced his elbow on the kitchen table. “I don’t see anything in this book about a demon that takes over a human’s body,” he said.
“Keep looking. This can’t have been the first time this has happened. I’m sure our ancestors would have recorded it,” Alea persisted.
“Agg—” He snorted in frustration.
“How were you even born a Lightwarrior? Our job is to keep the demons in the Infernus.” Alea’s face reddened. “There are obviously demons that have left the Infernus if they are possessing humans.”
“Is everything okay in here? Alea, you look angry.” Malachi entered the kitchen carrying his laptop under his arm.
“I’m not angry. I’m just frustrated. How were demons able to access our world through a tunnel and without our knowledge?” Alea said, pacing the floor. “I should have felt it. I knew when Cale entered Baltimore. Why didn’t I feel this other demon? I don’t know what, but something is really wrong.”
Draylan glanced over at Malachi and rolled his eyes. “She’s totally trippin’, dude. So they found a way in. We find them and kill them, what’s the big deal?” Draylan shrugged his shoulders and flipped the page. “More fun for us.”
“Dray—we’re doing this for Sam, too. Her roommate has been abducted by a demon and her suitemate has been possessed by one,” Malachi said. “Besides, Ann’s a human; we can’t just kill her.”
“I’ll help you find the demon for Sam,” Draylan said. “Anyway, I think I finally found something.” He slid the book over to Alea.
“This guy?” Alea asked, pointing to the demon in the book. “He’s a lower-level demon. He doesn’t have the power to take over a human’s mind.”
“Except when a higher-level demon helps him,” Draylan said.
Malachi joined them at the table.
“You said they found Ann eating twenty pounds of hamburger—and not neatly. I take it that’s not her normal behavior,” Draylan continued.
“No,” Alea replied. “Go on.”
“The porcus demon is a scavenger. It eats anything and everything. It’s very animal-like, with its drooling and growling. On his way through the tunnel, I’m sure he ate his fair share of rodents.”
“Ugh—” Alea grimaced.
Malachi leaned over the book. “Didn’t you say Ann was grunting and eating like a…”
“Pig,” Draylan said.
“That’s what Evrik told me when I talked to him,” Alea said.
“How did the porcus demon come to possess Ann? It’s like he crawled into her body. The porcus demon is a scavenger, not a ghost,” Malachi thought aloud.
Draylan put his palms out in defense. “You asked me to look for a demon that eats a lot, is animal-like, drools, grunts, and is totally messy. So she’s either been taken over by a porcus demon or a swine.”
Alea said, “We just have to figure out how. I know it has something to do with Cale. It can’t be a coincidence that Lauren was abducted by Cale, and Ann was possessed by a porcus demon all in a matter of twenty-four hours. Cale had something to do with Ann’s possession. I just know it.�
�� She rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers.
Malachi flipped his laptop open. “There has to be something online that can explain how a lower-level demon can possess a human, even with a higher-level demon’s help, as you suggested, Dray.”
Draylan agreed with a cocky smirk.
“If the porcus demon does have a connection to Cale, then there may be another reason Cale targeted Sam in the first place. He may be working for someone. What does Cale have to gain by killing Sam?” Malachi asked.
“He seduces woman,” Alea said.
“Exactly,” Malachi said. “The only reason he would kill her would be for someone else, someone more powerful than he is.” He flipped the book pages backward. “Right here.” He pointed. “Remember this passage said, The sanguis demon has been used to kill those who will reach immortal status. He has been ‘used to kill’ a predestined immortal, which means that someone sent him.”
Alea and Draylan shook their heads in agreement. Malachi pulled up the search engine on his computer. “It has to be a more powerful demon than Cale, a demon who doesn’t want Sam to change into an angel. What demon would go to this length to see angels destroyed?” Malachi looked over at Draylan. “Dray, keep checking the book. If predestined angels have been killed in the past, then a powerful demon would have been responsible. Look up the most powerful demons in the Infernus, starting with the royalty, and see if any of them have the ability to possess humans. Maybe we can at least find a connection between the porcus demon and the demon that helped him possess Ann. I would be willing to bet it’s the same demon that sent Cale after Sam.”
***
Sam dabbed the droplets of sweat off her forehead with her sleeve. Getting Ann from the car to the dorm was like taking a wild animal for a walk through campus. Evrik had to alter the perceptions of a handful of students along the way. Not only was Ann drooling and growling, she snapped at everyone they passed. Evrik and Chase had to practically drag her to the dorm to keep her from ripping the heads off of her fellow schoolmates.
Emanare (Destined, #1) Page 18
