The minions started to babble excitedly and I decided immediately I would not learn their names. Henceforth they would be Thing One, Thing Two, Thing Three and Thing Four. Now that a truce had been born, I wasn’t sure what to do. I pushed my Alpo around with my fork and tried to make sense of the Things’ conversation. Two words stopped me cold.
“Angels and Demons,” Thing One gushed to all the other Things.
“I’m sorry,” I interrupted. “What did you say?”
“Angels and Demons.” Thing One’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree—
not that I’d ever had one.
“The theme of the Fall dance, silly!” she giggled.
“We’re the dance committee.” Thing Two grabbed my hand and squeezed it as if we were best buds. “And now you are too!”
Her excitement was like a rash. What had I been thinking? It was better when they hated me. I extracted my hand and put it in my lap. However, this could be fascinating and until I had to go kill a bunch of evil immortal asswipes this might be a good diversion. I’d have great stories for Stella when I was allowed to see her again.
Shit. Another piece of the puzzle clicked. Grandpa said I needed to dance. Did the Angel Demon dance fulfill that part of my destiny? Considering the fact it would be filled with innocent humans, I prayed to my father and uncle that this was not the case. I briefly closed my eyes and decided that I was definitely going to be part of the dance committee. If anything was to go down at the dance, as least I would have been in the planning stages and would know the lay of the land. . .or the gymnasium. Also, I promised myself that I would do everything in my power not to turn the Things into mutes. Hard, but doable.
“What kind of Angels and Demons?” I asked.
“Are there more than one kind?” Thing Three was alarmed and confused.
“I don’t know,” I quickly said. “I was just wondering how this all works.”
“Ohhhh,” Thing Four squealed. “It’s beyond awesome. Half of the gym will be Heaven and half will be Hell.” She whispered the word Hell like it was a swear word. I almost slapped her. “Everyone will dress like a Demon or an Angel. I’m going as a Demon,” she announced proudly. The other Things gave her a round of applause. Were they for real?
“What are you wearing?” I was starting to enjoy myself immensely, although I felt Lucy’s stare. I glanced over and she looked away. My paranoia was getting ridiculous.
Thing Four, oblivious to anyone but herself, went on. “I have a red dress. I’m pairing it with horns and fangs and blood dripping all over me,” she explained. “My dress is hot, it shows a ton of cleavage. Then I’m going to decapitate a couple old dolls, cover them in blood and tie them to my legs. You know, so they drag on the floor.”
I was beyond speechless. I wanted to laugh, but a bigger part of me wanted to magic up some huge cold sores all over her mouth.
“Don’t you think,” Lucy chimed in dryly. “That it might be difficult to dance with dead babies attached to your feet?”
“Oooo.” Thing Four puzzled it out, completely missing the irony in her leader’s snarky tone. “You’re right. I’ll tie them to my arms.”
Lucy rolled her eyes and then turned them on me. “What do you think a Demon looks like, Dixie?”
“I wouldn’t know,” I told her, wondering what evil I’d committed to deserve this group’s friendship.
“I’m going as an Angel,” Thing One volunteered. “I’m wearing a white bustier, hot pants and boots with ripped black fishnets.”
“Very Miley Cyrus,” Thing Three observed. “What about a halo and wings?” Thing Three, the dry heaver, asked while applying way too much lip gloss.
“Totally,” Thing One gasped, “I would never forget those. I want my wings to look like Dixie’s necklace.”
All eyes shot to my neck. Instinctively I covered my beautiful golden feather. These idiots didn’t deserve to look at it.
“God,” Thing Three said enviously through gobs of lip gloss. “Where did someone like you get something like that?”
“Walmart,” Myrtle said from behind me as she drew the attention to herself and away from my neck. “Are you going to ask her if it’s real and how much it cost next?” she snapped.
“Um, no, sorry,” Thing Three said, duly chastised by my skunk pranking fake cousin.
“Where have you been?” Lucy asked Myrtle as she wedged her little Demon body between me and a Thing.
“Having sex in the science lab closet with Timmy,” she said. She gingerly pushed my tray of animal chow away from her line of vision.
“TMI, Myrtle. TMI.” Lucy laughed and shook her head.
Myrtle shrugged and grinned. “Whatever. It was awesome. You should all try it sometime.”
The Things nodded in unison, hanging on her every word.
“I have to agree with Lucy on this one,” I groaned. “Definitely too much information.”
“You’re just jealous.” She shoved me. I shoved her back.
“Girls, girls,” Lucy spoke in an excited whisper. “Ten o’clock. Total hottie checking out our table.”
“Oh my God,” one of the Things said. They were becoming interchangeable. “Who is he?”
“He’s new,” Lucy whispered loudly.
I didn’t look. I’d have to turn completely around and that would be obnoxious.
“He’s not scoping our table,” Thing Three hissed. “He’s scoping Dixie.”
“Like every other guy at school,” Thing Two added under her breath.
“Shhh.” Lucy readjusted herself to get a better view. “She’s right.” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “Mr. Sex-on-a-Stick is burning holes in your back.”
“Whatever,” Myrtle said. “Dixie’s got a boyfriend and he’s hotter than sin.” She nudged me to make sure I got the Hell reference. Hades, she was an idiot.
“If he’s hotter than this guy,” Lucy challenged, “I’ll eat an entire vat of the Alpo they serve here.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. I was kind of starting to like her.
“He’s walking this way,” Thing Three screeched, frantically smearing on more lip gloss.
“Oh my God.” Thing Two was near tears. “He is.” She began fluffing her hair.
What in the Hell was I doing? These girls were freaks. Lucy seemed okay, even interesting, but why was she hanging out with these imbeciles?
The feeling of spiders skittering down my spine halted my inner diatribe on stupid girls. Something was very wrong. I glanced at Myrtle to see if she noticed. She seemed tense. I needed to turn and scan the lunchroom. My stomach clenched and serious unease rippled through me. Were Rogue Demons in my college cafeteria? The Things were busy primping, unaware of impending danger, but Lucy’s eyes were on me.
“You okay?” she asked, concerned.
“Yep.” I smiled, which I was sure came out like a pained grimace. I slowly turned around to see what was freaking me out.
There he was. All six foot something of him. Eyes like midnight and hair as dark as mine, with beauty that made my heart skip. A warning voice whispered in my head and fear knotted up inside me. From across the cafeteria his eyes locked on mine and the world stopped for a moment. My breath left my lungs and an icy chill crawled through my veins. I was shaking. He was coming for me.
His scent was not human and it was definitely not Demon, which could only mean one thing.
I grabbed Myrtle’s arm in a grip that would have crushed a mortal.
“We have to go.” I hissed. I was panicked.
“What?” Lucy sensed my unease.
“Myrtle has. . .an orthodontist appointment. Now.” I was dizzy. Surely he wouldn’t try to kill me in a room full of mortals. I had to get the Hell out before innocent people started dying.
I dragged Myrtle behind me and moved as fast as I could away from him. I spotted an emergency exit in the far left corner. My fingers started to spark and it took supreme effort not to run with Demon speed. Without seeing him, I felt him pick up his pace. I was so not ready to die today.
“What’s happening?” Myrtle gasped as I yanked her along.
“An Angel,” I muttered through clenched teeth as I tried to avoid knocking all my classmates to the floor in my haste to escape. “An Angel is coming after me and I have to draw him away from here so the humans don't die.”
“But. . .”
“No buts,” I replied sharply. “Be quiet and get ready to run.” I knew she wanted to say something else but I gave her no chance.
I pushed through the exit and the alarm went off. I laughed at the irony. The blast of fresh air in my face made me hopeful. I just needed to get him as far from the student center as I could. If we got a good head start, maybe we could outrun him. Maybe.
I let go of Myrtle, shut the exit door and bent the lock. That wouldn’t stop him, but it might buy us a few minutes. . .or seconds. “We have to run,” I told her.
“What about your car?” She pointed to the parking lot.
“Screw the car,” I said tersely. “Stay behind me so my tail wind will pull you along faster.”
She nodded.
He was getting closer. The insane part of me wanted to stay and confront him, but thankfully my instincts were better than that. Confronting him on campus could be deadly for a lot of innocent people. The air around me grew warmer and the breeze smelled of sunshine and cinnamon. Who knew impending death would smell so good.
I frantically shoved Myrtle behind me. “Run,” I shouted.
We did.
We flew through the fields surrounding the campus at speeds of about two hundred miles an hour. We were headed for our house. I needed weapons or the baby Demons if I was going to have a chance with the Angel. My magic was strong, but I didn’t trust it enough to protect both myself and Myrtle. This was the last day I would travel without the baby Demons or a sword in my backpack. Ever.
For a brief moment I debated if I was wrong to have left the school. Would the students have been safer if I stayed? Neither Angels nor Demons were supposed to harm mortals. I said a quick prayer to Satan that in my haste to escape I hadn’t mistakenly set up innocents for death. Of course if I didn't haul some major ass Myrtle and I would be facing a permanent death.
I briefly glanced back to check on Myrtle and my world exploded. I ran head first into a granite mountain. The impact of our bodies in motion at over two hundred miles an hour meeting an immovable object was devastating. We went flying, tumbling and rolling over each other and landed in a tangled bloody mess on the ground.
“Damn it to Hell,” I moaned as I held my head. Fireworks detonated inside my brain. With much effort, I pried my body off of Myrtle’s. She looked bad but she was breathing. Her head was still attached so she wasn’t dead, but she was out cold and her shoulder was grotesquely dislocated.
I sucked in a sharp breath, ignored my own pain, and moved closer to my little friend. If I could pop her shoulder back in while she was unconscious I’d save her a world of pain later. Her pale skin was almost white and all I wanted to do was sit back and cry. I smoothed her bloody hair back from her face and kissed her forehead.
“You’ll be okay, baby,” I promised her. She looked so fragile and small. “I’ll take care of you.” I was going to kill that fucking Angel when I saw him again. I smile-grimaced when I realized how delighted Hayden would be with my emerging foul mouth.
The sound was so gross when I popped her shoulder back I almost hurled. Thank Lucifer she was passed out. Now I just needed to pick her up and run. I had no idea where the Angel was, but I knew time was not on my side. Where in the Hell did a granite mountain come from? There were no mountains in Eden, Kentucky. Not to mention, in all my twenty-one years, I’d never crashed into anything.
Something wet and slobbery licked my neck.
“Steve? What are you doing out here?” I whispered. My voice hurt and getting air in my lungs was a challenge.
Steve walked around me and pushed her cool wet nose into my face. She looked down at Myrtle and whimpered.
“It’s okay,” I tried to comfort her. “She’ll be fine. We’re Demons, we heal.” I knew she didn’t understand a word, but she seemed happy with my explanation and gave me another big sloppy wet one. “Steve, you have to go. Somebody is after me. I’ll just die if you get hurt again. Go,” I shouted the best I could. I tried to do a mean voice and give her the evil eye. “Go, you bad dog-wolf. Go away!” She stood there like an idiot and wagged her big tail.
“Shit,” I muttered. Now I was responsible for Steve too.
My neck ached and my body burned, but when life was at stake, those tended to be minor problems. I gingerly turned my head to swear at the mountain that took me out. . .but my litany of expletives got caught in my throat. At that exact moment I went into shock. I knew this for a fact—because I started to laugh. Uncontrollably.
There was a mountain but it wasn’t granite. It was flesh and blood, looked like a male supermodel and wanted to kill me.
Chapter 25
“Hello Dixie.” His voice was smooth and silky. Hypnotic. The term “voice of an Angel” now made sense.
I refused to speak. I stared warily and moved my injured body so I blocked him from Myrtle and Steve.
“Your friend will be fine,” he said. His stance was neutral, legs slightly spread and arms at his sides. He carried no weapon, but that meant nothing. He could have all sorts of things hidden in his clothes.
“Yeah,” I snapped. “Until you kill us.”
He laughed. Not chuckled. . .laughed. Hard. What kind of psycho asshole was he? And why did he have to be so pretty? It was distracting.
“What is wrong with you?” My anger eclipsed my fear. I was in no shape to take on the Angel, but my mouth clearly didn’t get the memo.
I needed to freeze him, but my body was so damaged from the impact of the crash all my magic was focused on healing myself. Maybe if I could keep his gorgeous murdering ass talking I could heal enough to render him helpless. It wasn’t great, but it was the best I could do in a bad situation.
“You’re even more beautiful than described,” the Angel commented.
“By who?”
“Some people.” He smiled seductively. My pulse raced and I looked away.
What in the Hell was wrong with me? Had I lost my freakin’ mind? My impulse was to flirt with the Angel who was here to destroy me. Not to mention I already had a soul mate who was equally as beautiful as the Angel standing before me and didn’t want to kill me. Talking. . .I had to keep him talking.