Milayna (10 page)

“There’s a hierarchy in the demon world,” Shayla told me. “First, hobgoblins. They’re the lowest and least deadly form of demons. They’ll cause a lot of trouble for you, though.”

“How?” I leaned toward her.

“They’ll create problems, and you’ll have to intervene. When you’re having a vision, you’re the most vulnerable. So the hobgoblins try to force you into visions by creating things for you to deal with.”

“So they intentionally put people in dangerous situations?” The concept didn’t surprise me, I supposed. What worried me was how much I’d play a part in it. Was I going to be the reason they’d create dangerous situations? And would I be strong enough to do what needed to be done? Would my visions tell me what to do? Where to go? What if I couldn’t save the people? Then it’d be my fault.

“That’s what evil does every day. It doesn’t matter how many demi-angels fight to protect innocent humans, there’ll always be evil to fight back. Sometimes, we’ll win,” Drew shook his head and looked down, “and sometimes, we won’t.”

Shayla cleared her throat and continued, “Then there are the Evils. They are demi-angels that have flipped sides. They started out demi-angels like us, but Azazel was able to convince them to join forces with him. Their sole purpose is to get you to join Azazel. They aren’t able to do much more than help the other demons. Azazel absorbs most of their power.” Shayla popped a French fry into her mouth.

“After the Evils are the demi-demons,” Jen said, her hands fisting. “They’re half human like us, but their other parent is a fallen angel—a demon angel. An Irin. Their angel parent chose to give up immortality and live on earth, but instead of serving good, they serve Azazel. They have the same powers we do. This level starts getting dangerous. They are able to fight us on an even playing field. Whatever we can do, they can match. If you are caught alone with a group of demi-demons, it’s very likely they could drag you straight to Azazel.” Jen shuddered. “You definitely need to watch your ass around them.”

I watched Jen as she explained the demi-demons to me. When she’d finished, I asked, “How will I know who they are, the Evils and demi-demons? Do they wear some kind of mark, a rune or tattoo?”

“You won’t,” Chay said quietly from the corner of the room where he sat watching the rest of the group. “They look like any other person, just like we do. Now are you finally starting to get it through your thick skull why you have to be more careful?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I think I’m starting to get it,” I said quietly.

It isn’t simple like in movies or on television. The good guys don’t wear white and the bad guys black. We don’t know who our enemies are until they decide to show themselves, and that’s kinda scaring the hell out of me… or into me, whatever.

“After the demi-demons are your standard-issue demons. They’re strong, ugly, and can inflict more damage than any other demon, except Azazel himself,” Jake said around a mouth full of burger. “You do not want to meet one of those bad boys alone.”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t want to meet any of them,” I said.

“Yeah, none of us do,” Drew murmured, “but unfortunately, we have. Well, all except Azazel. None of us have seen him.” Drew was a nice guy, soft-spoken and very polite. With his wavy, brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes, he was good-looking, too, and judging by how often he stared at her, he had a thing for Muriel. I wondered if she knew and made a mental note to tell her after everyone went home.

“You’ve seen them before?” My eyes swung to Muriel. I couldn’t believe she’d been doing something so dangerous, and I had no idea.

Muriel put her hand up, palm facing me. “Just a few times. Another group of demis lost a lot of their group to Azazel. He converted too many, and they needed extra help. They’d sent for help when our group was small and needed it. So we went.”

I puffed out my checks and blew out a breath to calm myself. Licking my lips, I looked around at everyone’s faces. “Okay, now I know about the demons. What else is there?” I pushed my plate away from me. I’d only taken one bite of my burger and ate few fries. My stomach was churning thinking of all the dangers we faced.

This seems like we’re fighting a losing battle. There’s so many of them and just ten of us… not the best odds.

“Hello?” Jake waved his hand in front of my face. “Earth calling Milayna. Are you gonna eat your burger?” I shook my head, and he grabbed my plate, digging into the burger like he hadn’t just eaten two.

“Are you okay? You kinda zoned out there for a minute.” Muriel looked at me. The skin between her eyebrows wrinkled.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just tryin’ to let everything soak in, that’s all.” I tried to smile, but I wasn’t sure I pulled it off.

“Basically, it boils down to this,” Steven said, spinning his Coke can in circles on the table. “Azazel wants you to become one of his Evils, and he’s gonna do anything and use anybody to get to you. You equal power for him. A lot of power. And he wants it.”

“And if he doesn’t get it?” Every muscle in my body tensed, waiting for the answer. I was like a rubber band that was pulled back and ready to be shot across the room.

“He’ll kill you,” Chay said, tossing his half-eaten burger on his plate.

Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’m really not amenable with that option.

“He wants your power or he wants you dead. What he doesn’t want is you completing your transformation on your birthday,” Muriel added. “Now that the hobgoblins have been around, the next demon you can expect to see is an Evil. One of us turned bad. You won’t know who it is, and you won’t know when you’ll see them. That’s why our parents want us to stay in pairs, or larger, at all times. Azazel wants you bad, Milayna. You’re a big target. It wouldn’t surprise me if he skipped over the Evils and went straight for the demi-demons.”

I stood up and started clearing the table of the empty burger wrappers and fry boxes. Shoving them into the garbage can, I grabbed the sanitizing wipes to scrub the ketchup that had oozed onto the table. My hands shook and my insides felt like Jell-O, wobbling all out of place. I was scared, confused, and overwhelmed. I didn’t want to hear anymore, so I played Molly Maid to distract myself. I’d just have to learn on the fly, because the more they talked, the more I panicked. I was polishing the water faucet when Muriel ushered everyone out of the kitchen.

The other group members went into the living room and sprawled out on the floor, playing video games and joking around to blow off steam. I sat at the dining table and watched, drumming my fingers on the table. It felt like my fear was pressing down on me. I couldn’t get up, I couldn’t talk, all I did was sit and think—something I didn’t want to do. Seeing I was upset, my dad shooed the group out of the house about an hour later. I stood at the door, saying goodbye as they left.

“See ya, boss lady.” Lily gave me a tight smile and brushed by me. She hadn’t said anything to me all night. She sat in the corner with her arms folded over her chest and listened, never saying anything. But her tone told me she was ticked about something.

“‘Bye,” I answered quietly and watched her walk to her car.

Chay was the last to leave. He stood at the door, his eyes boring into mine. “So now that you know the types of demons you’ll be dealing with, do you feel better?”

“No.” I shook my head and wondered why standing so close to him seemed to steal the breath from my lungs.

“Good. As soon as you start feeling comfortable, that’s when you’ll find yourself in a situation that will send you straight to Hell or get you killed.” He nodded once, slipped into his U of M hoodie, and walked out of the door without another word.

He sure has a way with words.

They’re chasing me. I’m alone. It’s dark outside. None of the houses on the block have their lights on. I run home. The door is locked. I reach for my key, but it isn’t in my pocket.

I run across the street to Muriel’s. Pounding on the door, I scream for her to let me in. No one answers.

I dart around a group of demons and through my backyard. Chay. I don’t know which house is his. I find the only one in the neighborhood with lights on and pound on the door with both fists.

“Help me,” I scream.

The demons advance. I can smell the sulfur and see their gray skin as they enter the pool of light created by a street lamp just a few feet away.

The door opens. I fall inside and hit the floor with a grunt. Scrambling away from the door, I kick it closed.

“Thank you.” My breath comes out in pants, my chest heaving so hard it hurts. Like someone is squeezing the air out of me.

“I told you not to get too comfortable.” I look up and see his blue-green eyes. He stares back at me. It’s cold, hard. Chay opens the door and the demons walk inside, grotesque smiles pulled across their yellow, dagger-like teeth.

I bolted upright with a scream, my breathing heavy and heart racing. Pushing my sweaty hair off my face, I took two deep breaths to calm myself, kicked to free my legs of the sheets twisted around them, and crawled out of bed.

Standing at the bathroom sink, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was soaked with sweat; the red waves hung limp around my face. My green eyes were dull and had dark smudges under them. They were swollen and bloodshot from crying in my sleep.

“Milayna,” my mother called. “Are you okay?”

I jumped when I heard her voice and then rolled my eyes.

Stop being so jumpy. It’s just Mom. Big baby.

Sticking my head out of the bathroom door, I answered, “Just a nightmare, Mom.”

“Evils. Demi-demons. Chay said I wouldn’t know who they were. Why does my subconscious mind think it’s him?” I whispered in the empty room.

***

Five weeks, one day until my birthday.

I rolled out of bed an hour before my alarm went off. It didn’t really matter. After the nightmare, I hadn’t gone back to sleep. And when the one thing you didn’t want to do was think, lying in bed in a dark room all alone was not the best place to be.

I walked across the street to meet Muriel. We were riding to school together because of the whole buddy system thing. Demis had to be in pairs or larger. So Muriel drove, which she did normally, and it suited me just fine. She had a nice sporty car. I couldn’t tell you what it was, other than it was blue, about twenty years newer, and definitely cleaner than my truck.

“You look horrible,” Muriel said as soon as she saw me.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, and you’re a freakin’ supermodel.”

“What’s up? And don’t tell me
nothing
. Even if I didn’t know you, I could tell something’s the matter. So spill.”

“Just couldn’t sleep last night. All the talk of demons and Azazel got to me.” I wrapped the hem of my T-shirt around my finger.

She must’ve sensed I didn’t want to talk about it, because she changed the subject to more exciting news—school gossip. We caught up on everything that happened over the weekend on the short drive to the school.

Muriel and I grabbed our books out of our lockers. I turned to go to my first class when she grabbed my arm. “It’ll work out, Milayna.”

“Yeah.” I forced a smile. “It’ll be fine.”

I walked into AP chemistry, dropped my books on the table, laid my cheek against them, and closed my eyes. After my nightmare, I couldn’t sleep. I was tired with a killer headache, not the greatest combo. I took two painkillers before I left for school, but my headache just laughed at them and pounded harder. It felt like I had one of those toy monkeys that play the cymbals inside my skull. We had a lab to do that day in class or I would have slept through it.

I got three hours of sleep last night. Yeah, today’s the day I need to be playing around with dangerous chemicals. I hope the school is up-to-date on their insurance.

I didn’t pay attention to who was coming and going. Boyfriends walked girlfriends to the door. Friends gossiped. People filed in and out of the room. I tried to ignore them.

Just a few minutes of sleep. That’s all I need.

A large book bag slammed on the table next to me, and I jumped up in my chair, stifling a scream.

“I told you not to get too comfortable.”

What the crap? Who let him in here and why is his bag on my table?

“What are you doing here?” I glared at him.

“Getting ready for class. Same as you, I suspect,” Chay answered, unperturbed. He opened his bag, pulled out a mechanical pencil, and clicked it a few times.

I turned in my seat to face him, smacking the table in front of him.
“You’re not in this class. Since when are you in this class?”

“Since now.” He pulled out the gigantic chemistry book we were forced to lug around all day. “We’re lab partners.”

Oh, hell to the freakin’ no! Put that book back in your pack and go away. Lab partners? I might just blow the school up just to get away from you.

“What?” I looked wide-eyed at him. “I don’t have a lab partner.”

“Do I need to use smaller words?” He looked sideways at me.

“Why are you here, and why are you my lab partner?” I bit out through clenched teeth.

“This is the only class you don’t share with one of the group. You need someone here. There’s at least two people in here you should be watching. I noticed them the first few seconds I was here. You aren’t paying attention, Milayna.”

Why does it have to be him? Why can’t Muriel transfer? Or Jake? Anyone but him.

“Oh, really? Who?” I folded my arms across my chest.

“Girl in the pink sweatshirt. She doesn’t want anyone to notice, but she keeps looking over here.” He flicked his eyes in her directions.

“She’s not looking at me. She has a thing for the guy that sits in front of me.” I turned and looked at her. Her eyes followed every movement the guy in front of me made. I bit my lip to keep from giggling. He was being ridiculous.

“Second, Robbie Reynolds. He’s been staring at you since I walked in. Now, he’s scowling. He either has a thing for you, or he’s picturing dragging you to Hell.”

“I’ve known him since kindergarten. He’s fine.” I looked over my shoulder. Robbie was looking at me. The tips of his prominent ears turned red when he realized he’d been caught staring. I waved my hand once. “Hey, Robbie. What do you think of this class, huh?” I made a face because everyone hated this instructor.

“The class wouldn’t be so bad if we had a teacher who actually knew something and did more than assign every damn problem in the book as homework.” He flipped the cover of his book.

I nodded, turned around, and glared at Chay.

“Doesn’t matter.” Chay shrugged a shoulder. “You need to be aware at all times. How many times do we have to warn you before it gets through?”

“Geez, you’re an ass.”

He laughed, and I jumped at the sound. I didn’t think he’d laughed since I met him. I wasn’t sure he was capable.

Why did I like the sound of it? Like fine silk sliding over rough rock. It sent warm waves down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and did a little dance. I wondered what I could do to make him do it again.

“I’ve been called worse.”

“Why? You’re so charming.” I rolled my eyes.

He laughed again. “You look like hell, Milayna.”

Evidently, I just have to insult him and he’ll laugh. Okay, I can do that. Because I totally want to hear that sound again.

“There’s that charm I was referring to.” I flipped my book open and pretended to be enthralled with the lab we’d be doing.

“Nightmare?”

I nodded, not looking at him. I was supposed to be the daughter of this big shot Iri council member. Supposed to be a big-deal demi-angel—whatever that was—and I was scared of a nightmare. Worse, he knew it. And if he knew, everyone else probably did too. So they’d see me as a failure—weak and unfit to be a demi-angel.

He cleared his throat and leaned close to me. His mouth near my ear, he said, “We all have them, you know.”

I looked at him. His expression was soft, his eyes liquid—the blue and green seemed to swirl together. The instructor started class, but I held Chay’s gaze a few seconds longer before I gave him a small smile and turned to face the front.

My heart rate had nearly doubled and I felt light-headed from breathing too quickly, but looking into his eyes… I didn’t see the smartass, know-it-all Chay I thought I knew. I saw someone else. Someone who understood. Who knew what I was going through. Someone who maybe even cared. I saw, for just a second, behind his mask. And what I saw there was magical.

After the instructor explained the lab exercise we’d complete in mind-numbing detail, going over the safety procedures and warnings at least five times, Chay and I started to work on the assignment. Heads close together, we consulted the lab form, measured, mixed, and recorded our results. I could smell his cologne, fresh and clean, like the outdoors. His warm breath skimmed the side of my face and sent chills down my spine.

What is wrong with me? I don’t even like him.

But when we both reached out to turn the page in the book we were sharing, our hands grazed and electrical currents zinged up my arms. I jerked my hand back, glad I wore long sleeves so he couldn’t see the goose bumps that dotted my skin.

I’m losing it. This is messed up. I can’t fall for him. I’m in love with Jake. Besides, there are probably rules about DAs dating each other.

When the torture of chemistry was over, I grabbed my book, shoved it in my messenger bag, and slung the strap over my shoulder. I hurried to the door, embarrassing myself by stumbling over the leg of my chair.

“Milayna.”

I sighed. I just spent an hour with him. What did he want now? “What?” I looked at him over my shoulder.

“Wait for me. I’ll walk you to class.”

“It’s okay. Muriel’s meeting me.”
And I need a breather from you.

“Safety in numbers and all that shit.” He didn’t look up from putting his book in his bag.

“Fine.” I let my bag fall from my shoulder, and it hit the floor with a thud. “Hurry up.”

The corner of his lips tipped up.

Muriel arched a brow when Chay and I walked into the hall together.

“Yeah.” I nodded my head toward Chay. “We have chemistry together now. Isn’t that fantastic?” I rolled my eyes.

Muriel looked between me, who no doubt looked irritated, and Chay, who looked amused. She shrugged and walked between us to calculus.

The rest of the day went smoothly. Thankfully, Chay didn’t make any more surprise appearances in my classes.

***

I sat at the kitchen table, eating a sandwich and talking with Muriel on the phone, when the vision hit. My stomach clenched; I gagged on my sandwich, ran to the sink, and spat it out.

“Milayna?”

“I have to go. I’ll call you when it’s over.”

Who is it? No one is here for me to protect. Oh, geez, maybe it’s a neighbor. Or the red rugrats are coming. Then what do I do?

“I’ll be right there.” She slammed the phone in my ear.

My stomach roiled, and my mouth was filled with the rancid taste of stomach acid. My breathing came in gasps, like I was running. My head and heart pounded in time with each other like a pair of drums. The sound bounced through my head.

I heard Muriel come in the back door just as the first of the vision appeared.

Mom’s building. She’s leaving work, walking to her car in the parking garage.

“Call my mom,” I said.

“What’s the number?”

I jumped when I heard Chay’s voice. “Speed dial two on my cell. On the table.” I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes and focused on the vision.