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 number
s 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.
The parking garage is dark. I see our car. I smell damp cement and exhaust fumes.
“I’m here, Milayna,” I heard Muriel tell me.
My breathing grew faster. My heart beat so hard it hurt, and I rubbed my chest with my hand.
“Your mom is on the phone, Milayna,” Chay said quietly. I could barely hear him over the blood rushing behind my ears. “She wants to know what’s going on.”
“Has she left work?”
“No.”
“Tell her to call a cab. Don’t go into the parking garage. It’s dangerous.”
Sulfur. Coughing. Hobgoblins.
“Wait! It’s not her. The vision hasn’t changed.”
The smell of sulfur is stronger. Red high heels.
“Red high heels. Tell her to look for someone wearing red high heels… and… and… red nail polish. I see her fingers. She’s holding a black notebook. “
A force jerked me forward, and I screamed. Tears pushed behind my eyes. I tried to pull away, but it squeezed my wrist so hard it was painful. I tried to jerk away. But I couldn’t. I tried, I really tried, but it was too strong. Much stronger than me. So big, too. How could we do it? How could we win against something like that? I jerked again and again, but it held me easily.
A manhole cover moved to the side. The hole is open. A gray face… horns.
“Oh, shit, it’s disgusting,” I choked.
The wood-like horns curled back from its face and were so long they almost made a perfect circle on each side of the gray demon’s head. The smell of burning flesh wafted off its skin. Smoke and ash billowed around it. Its large, jutting bottom jaw didn’t align with the top and it couldn’t get its mouth to close all the way, so saliva and remnants of its last meal dripped from its mouth. Its large, gray forehead was bare but for three circles in the center. The circles were in a line. Their sides touched but did not overlap. A line with a slight curve extended from the center of the middle circle. It almost looked like the picture of a cherry on a Vegas slot machine.
Its unblinking, black eyes stared at me. A reflection bounced back to me. But it wasn’t me I saw reflected in its eyes. It was the woman in the parking garage. Her face was twisted in pain and horror. Her mouth was open as if she were trying to scream, but no sound came out.
A gray hand grabbed my other wrist and jerked me forward. I fell out of the chair, hitting the kitchen floor on all fours.
Dragging her toward the hole. The smell is unbearable—sulfur and burning flesh. Screaming. The hem of a black dress scraped across the asphalt, her knees bleeding.
“A black dress. Red high heels and red fingernails. Tell her to find that woman now!” I panted. I couldn’t catch my breath.
“She says it’s the secretary. She’s talking with her now. Has it changed?”
I couldn’t answer. A gray hand wrapped around the woman’s throat. I felt everything. Its hands burned into her skin, squeezing so hard that she couldn’t take a breath. It pulled her toward the hole.
I shook my head no.
“Take the secretary somewhere. Out for coffee or something, but take a cab,” Chay told my mother.
I couldn’t breathe. I clawed at the invisible hands clutching my throat.
“Chay, they’re here.” It was Muriel’s voice.
“Damn it!” He dropped the phone and ran out of the house.
I struggled to stay conscious. Stars floated in front of my eyes. The thing in my vision still held the woman by the neck. Her head and shoulders were in the hole.
It’s hot. The hole glows at the bottom. It squeezes harder and pulls her by the neck… down… down… down. The heat is unbearable.
And then my arms buckled, and I fell face-first on the tiled floor, gulping in air. My lungs burned. My throat felt like sandpaper, and the smell of sulfur still stung my nose.
“It’s over,” I whispered.
“Aunt Rachael, Milayna says it’s over. Okay, okay… Bye.” Muriel ended the call. She knelt down and looked at me. “Are you okay?”
I pulled myself up to a sitting position and nodded, but tears stung my eyes. “I could feel it, Muriel. It was choking her, and I could feel it. The smell of sulfur burned my nose, and I could see the, oh good Lord, I could see its face.”
“Hobgoblins?” Chay asked.
I shook my head. I hadn’t heard him come back into the house. He knelt next to me.
“Muriel, get her something to drink.” He looked at me. “Then who?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?” I whispered. The tears filling my eyes fell to my cheeks. I didn’t know what the monster was I’d seen. I just knew I didn’t want to see it again. Ever. Because as sure as I knew my own name, I knew that the creature was evil. It brought death.
Chay helped me up from the floor. He glided the pads of his thumbs over my cheeks and wiped away my tears. His touch was soft, and my heart stuttered. “They’re getting bad fast.”
It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t answer. I didn’t trust my voice. Chay’s hands still cupped my cheeks. I shivered.
“Let’s get you into the living room,” he murmured. He guided me to a big, overstuffed chair. I fell onto it and gripped the fluffy throw pillows. I pulled them over me like a shield. Chay knelt on the floor in front of me. With his hands resting on my knees, he studied my face. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
I looked over Chay’s shoulder and realized we weren’t alone. In fact, there were five others in the room. Muriel was there, handing me a cold Coke. Jake and Drew were walking through the back door. Jen and Shayla stood behind Chay, their faces worried.
“How’d you guys get here so fast?”
“Muriel started the call chain,” Jen answered. “We all live in the same subdivision. Demis tend to gravitate to one another, so it doesn’t take long to get to each other’s houses.”
“What happened?” someone asked. I couldn’t tell who.
“Oh. Uh, I had a vision.” I hated that my voice quivered, though I wasn’t sure if it had to do with the vision or the fact that Chay was still touching me.
“A bad one,” Muriel added.
“Well, at least
they’re gone. It wasn’t too difficult tonight.” Drew stood next to Muriel.
“Who?” No one answered me. “Who?”
“Demi-demons,” Jake answered, sitting on the beige-tiled floor next to the patio door.
“Demi-demons. In my backyard?” He nodded. “Oh.” I wasn’t sure how to respond. I wasn’t even sure why I was surprised. They’d told me what to expect.
“What’d you see in your vision?” Chay’s gaze held mine.
I shrugged a shoulder. “Probably some kind of hobgoblin like you said. I don’t know.”
Yeah, keep dreaming. There’s no way that thing was related to one of those crazy, red gnomes.
“What’d it look like?”
“Gray face, wrinkled skin. Two curling horns on its head. They looked like ram’s horns. Um, long, black fingernails.” I rubbed my neck. I could still feel it clutching me, its fingernails poking my flesh. “Black eyes.”
“It wasn’t a type of hobgoblin, Milayna. It was a demon.”
Four weeks, six days until my birthday.
The nightmares were getting worse. They kept me up most nights. I’d pace my room, waiting for something to happen. The closer my birthday drew, the more anxious everyone became. It scared me.
At six o’clock, I heard my mother moving around in the kitchen. I wandered downstairs and sat at the table, watching her make coffee.
“You look like you didn’t sleep at all last night,” she said.
“I don’t think I did.” I rubbed my hands up and down my face, inhaling the smell of the freshly brewed coffee. I’d always loved the smell. It reminded me of Saturday mornings, eating breakfast with my parents and little brother Ben. It was one of my favorite family traditions.
“You should let Doctor Preston give you something to help you sleep, Milayna.” My mom cupped my face and ran a finger over the dark purple smudge under my eye.
Doctor Preston was Jen’s father. He knew of our situation, since Jen’s mother was an angel. He’d offered to give me something to help with the nightmares. I didn’t want it.
“I can’t, Mom. What if something happened?”
“We’d be here. Muriel and Chay are close. The others don’t live that far away. You’d be protected.” My mom kissed my cheek and squeezed my face to hers before turning to the coffee maker to pour herself a cup.