And I want to see how I fare… what side I end up fighting for.
“What are you thinking?” Chay studied my face.
“Hmm?”
“Your brows are furrowed, and the corners of your mouth are turned down.” He rubbed his thumb across my bottom lip. The motion sent a tingling sensation through my body, and my lips parted.
Lifting my chin, he gazed into my eyes. He dipped his head and tentatively touched his lips to mine. When I fisted my hand in his T-shirt and pulled him closer, his mouth moved over mine with more intensity. His tongue slid across the seam of my lips, and I opened for him. The tips of our tongues touched, and I sighed in pure bliss at the feel of him. He dropped one hand to my hip and cupped the other around my neck.
“Look at the lovebirds,” Shayla said, walking up the driveway.
“Damn it,” Chay said, pulling away. He ran his hand through his hair. “Will I ever get to kiss you without someone interrupting?”
I smiled, but it died cold when I looked at Shayla. Wearing a black hoodie and standing next to Lily, she wore an arrogant smile. I looked at her hands—painted nails. I immediately felt guilty for suspecting Muriel.
“Ladies,” Chay said.
“Chay.” Lily walked to him and tried to wedge herself between us.
“Shayla, I thought you were stronger than this. Although, I should have known. You might be stronger than Lily, but you definitely aren’t smarter.” Chay wrapped his arm around my waist, cutting off Lily’s attempts to separate us. I gave her a smug smile.
“I’m smart enough to know when to cut my losses.” Shayla glanced at me before appraising Chay. “You should listen to his side of things.”
“Shayla? What are you thinking?” I looked at her, dumbfounded.
Someone barreled through the gate from my backyard, knocking into my shoulder. I turned, expecting to see a grotesque gray face.
“Jake. How’d you get back there?” I rubbed the welt forming on my arm.
“Jumped the fence. Steven and Jeff are on their way,” he said, looking at Shayla and Lily.
“How’d you—?”
“I called him,” Muriel interrupted. She and Drew walked up behind Shayla and Lily.
I looked toward Muriel and saw Steven walk toward Shayla and Lily through my front yard. Jeff came from the opposite side, creating a circle around them.
“Just go. You two make me sick.” I waved Shayla and Lily away with a flick of my hand, turning from them.
“We have a message for you,” Shayla called.
“What?” I stopped with my back to them.
“Azazel is growing tired. This isn’t going to end well for you, Milayna. You might as well switch now before it’s too late. Or too late for the ones you love.”
I looked over my shoulder at Shayla. “I’m not changing sides. I’m not a traitor. Tell Azazel that his warnings don’t scare me, especially coming from the two of you.”
“What about us?” A group of people pushed through and gathered around Lily and Shayla. All dressed in black hoodies—demi-demons. They looked like the same bunch from the football game. I started counting. Twelve of them and eight of us. Not the greatest odds.
“What about you?” Chay asked.
“Milayna, change. Make things easier on yourself and just end this now,” one said.
“No. Thanks for askin’, though.”
Then it happened. I wasn’t sure who threw the first punch, or maybe it was a kick, it didn’t matter. Fists were flying, legs were kicking, and blood was dripping. There wasn’t time to think, only react.
A girl who stood about a head taller than me, and looked like she should be on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine, rushed me. I panicked.
“Oh shit,” I muttered, just before she barreled into me. My back hit the garage door—hard. The breath whooshed out of me, and it took a second for me to recover. That was all she needed. She kneed me in the gut, and I had the stupid thought that at least it wasn’t my face.
Pain radiated out from my center to all parts of my body. Burning, breath-stealing, mind-numbing, pissing-me-off pain.
I had to get her off me. She was pinning me against the garage, giving me very little room to maneuver. My foot came down hard on her instep and her grip on me loosened. I took advantage of the distraction and elbowed her in the jaw. She stumbled backward from the force, and I moved away from the garage. Now I was in my element. I could get the leverage I needed to defend myself.
My martial arts training was extensive. My first instinct was to go all out and kick some ass, but I held back. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to defend myself and the rest of the group.
I saw Jen trying to ward off two of the demi-demons. I ran to help her, kicking one guy in the side, before moving to his front and kneeing him in the crotch.
“Don’t. Hit. Girls,” I bit out as he fell to the ground.
As quick as the fight began, it ended. The demi-demons took off down the street and the group filed into my house.
I stood in the driveway, watching the other group run down the road. Drew grabbed me under the arm and dragged me into the house with the rest of our group.
“What happened?” I panted. “Why’d they leave?”
“What, you want to keep fighting?” Jake asked with a laugh.
“No, but they took off so fast… we’re done?”
“Someone called the police. That’s how these fights generally end. Someone sees a bunch of teenagers throwing punches and they call the cops.” Jake shrugged.
“Don’t worry, they’ll be back,” Chay said. I looked across the room where he sat.
“You’re hurt,” I said more to myself than him.
“Nah.” He wiped the blood from a cut over his eye with the back of his hand. “It’ll be fine.”
“I’ll get the first aid kit. Muriel, will you get some ice?” She didn’t answer. I looked around the room. “Where’d she go?”
“I dunno. I was kinda busy. I didn’t take attendance.” Jeff threw a Coke across the room to Jake.
“Huh.” I shook my head and tried to remember if she was there when the fight started.
Jen interrupted my thoughts. “I’ll get the ice, Milayna. And stop Jeff from using the Coke as missiles.”
“Thanks. I’ll be right back.” Running upstairs to the bathroom, I grabbed the little first aid kit my mom kept there. I replayed the night in my head.
Was Muriel there? Yes, she called Jake. But I don’t remember seeing her after the fight started. Maybe she left and called the police. But why isn’t she here now? Why do I feel this way? It’s Muriel. We’re like sisters. I know her. It’s fine. She’s fine.
I jogged down the stairs and lay the kit on the table. Jake took a peroxide pad and wiped it over a gash on his leg. I took some gauze pads, a cleansing wipe that wouldn’t sting his eyes, and some butterfly bandages to Chay.
“Let me clean your cut.” I expected him to tell me he could do it himself. I was surprised when he moved closer to me in the chair, lifting his head so I could clean the blood from his face.
I stood between his legs and wiped the cloth over the cut, dried the area with the gauze, and got a bandage ready. Chay rested his hands on my hips, and my hand stopped in midair. It sent chills up and down my body, and although my gut hurt where I’d been kicked, it warmed and fluttered.
I cleared my throat and forced myself to focus. Pressing one piece of tape on one side of the cut, I felt his thumbs graze the skin under my sweatshirt. I sucked in a breath. Goose bumps immediately spread over my body. My hands shook, and I didn’t think I’d get the second bandage on with his thumbs caressing my bare skin.
“Uh, there.”
“Thanks.” He stood and looked down at me. His fingers gripped the waistband of my jeans, and he pulled me closer. For a second, we just stared at each other, and then he tilted his head to the side and lowered it to mine.
I stepped back. Not because I didn’t want
him to kiss me. Oh, I did. In the worst way. But I didn’t want an audience. I turned and looked around the room to see who noticed. It was empty.
“They went out to deal with the hobgoblins.” He pulled me gently to him. I took a step, falling into him. He put his hands on my waist to steady me before sliding his hands up my sides and cupping my face. Angling my face upward, he lowered his lips and brushed them gently over mine. Just a caress. My eyes fluttered closed, blocking out everything but him—the feel of his mouth on mine, his tongue sliding along mine, his taste, the way his muscles flexed under my hands. I was wrapped in a whirlwind of Chay. Nothing registered except him.
He lifted his head and looked at me. “Finally. A kiss that wasn’t interrupted.”
“Do it again,” I whispered.
He smiled and lowered his mouth. His lips touched mine softly, his tongue swept over my lips, and I parted them. His tongue dipped into my mouth, and I moaned. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I ran my fingers through his silky hair. I felt a trembling inside. More than just a fluttering or butterflies. No, this was deep within me. Electrical currents ran up and down my spine, and my fingers tingled where I touched him. I’d never felt anything so… beautiful.
He grabbed my hips and yanked me against him, closer, and then closer still, until every inch of me touched him. His lips moved from my lips to my neck, and I gasped at the sensation. A vase of flowers lifted from a table, flew across the room, and shattered against the floor. We broke apart, shocked.
“Whoa.” He looked at me. “Telekinesis?”
“I don’t know,” I said, breathless. I pulled him back to me. “It was ugly anyway. Don’t stop.”
Chay grazed his lips up the side of my neck. He kissed the hollow behind my ear before sucking gently on my earlobe. I sucked in a breath, breathing his name. Squeezing his biceps, I could feel the muscles under my hands flexing as he moved his hands over my shoulders and delved his fingers into my hair. He pulled it gently, guiding my head back and exposing my throat, kissing and nipping at my skin.
I let my hands move over his shoulders and down the hard planes of his chest to his waist. I hesitated briefly at his waistband before gliding my hands under the hem of his sweatshirt. He stiffened, raising his head, and his eyes locked on mine. I ran my fingernails lightly over his skin. My heart felt like it had wings fluttering in my chest when goose bumps covered his skin under my touch.
Chay ground out a curse and pulled my lips to his, kissing me hard and deep. His lips moved over mine fiercely. My hands moved from his chest to his back. He let one hand glide from my hair, over my shoulder and down my side. When he reached the hem of my sweatshirt, he slipped his hand beneath and ran his fingers along my spine.
He swallowed the moans that his touch pulled from me. My breathing was quick and shallow; his kisses went on forever. I felt like I was suffocating. I couldn’t get a breath. My chest burned, and my head started to swim. My fingers curled into his chest, and I thought that if I suffocated from kissing Chay, it was surely the best way to die.
“Well, they’re gone.” Jake stomped into the kitchen like a moose. “Whoops.” He looked between Chay and me with a grin. “I’ll tell the others we gotta go. You two just… well… yeah.” He backed out of the door, closing it hard behind him.
“I should go, too.” Chay held my hands in his, looking at them. Then he kissed the palms one at a time. I moved my hands from his and cupped his face, pulling him to me. It didn’t take much effort. He came willingly. Standing on my tiptoes, I kissed him.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said when I pulled my lips from his.
“Yeah. ‘Bye, Milayna.”
“‘Bye.”
Three weeks, four days until my birthday.
So, I had demons who wanted to drag me to Hell where their leader could suck the life out of me. And somehow, Chay managed to overshadow that tiny detail when we’d had our first uninterrupted, mind-blowing, goose bump-inducing, toe-curling kiss. Possibly the best first kiss in the history of first kisses. At least in my history of kisses. Which, admittedly, wasn’t a lot of history, but still, it was a pretty damn awesome kiss.
I dreaded seeing him in chemistry class. Sitting next to him, smelling him, knowing I couldn’t tackle him and spend the rest of the day kissing him. Of course, we’d both need some Carmex when the day was done, but a small price to pay.
He slid into his seat next to me just before the bell rang. “Hey.” He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on my mouth. When he pulled back, my fingers touched my bottom lip.
Oh, holy Hell’s bells, he just kissed me in front of everyone! Ha!
He gazed into my eyes. “Milayna. Move your hand.” I let my fingers fall away from my mouth, and he replaced them with his lips. This time, the kiss wasn’t so gentle. I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck and curled my fingers in his hair.
When he pulled back, my breath came in pants and my heart pounded so hard it hurt. “Hi.” My voice came out breathy and soft, and Chay gave me a half grin. So cocky.
I sighed and wished it were a lab day so we could spend the hour talking, but there wasn’t one scheduled. Chay reached under the table and threaded his fingers with mine as we waited for the teacher to begin his lecture. When he didn’t, I looked up and my heart lurched. It was the next best thing to having a lab—it was movie day!
As soon as the movie started playing, Chay and I scooted our chairs as close as possible and whispered throughout the entire DVD.
“Well, I hope none of that is on the next exam.” I shoved my things in my bag when class ended.
Chay chuckled. “Yeah. That’d definitely suck.” He glanced at me, and one side of his mouth tipped in a grin. “But so worth it.”
“You can be charming when you want to be.” I kissed him quickly before we walked toward calculus.
***
I’d barely gotten in the door that afternoon after school when my phone rang.
“Hey, Muriel.” I held the phone between my cheek and shoulder, lugging my school things upstairs. “I meant to ask you earlier. Where’d you take off to last night after the fight with the asshat demi-demons?” I threw my bag on the floor inside my bedroom.
“I was there.”
“I saw you at first, but you disappeared. You didn’t come inside with everyone else.”
“Yeah, I ran home to let my parents know everyone was okay. I was going to come back across the street and stay with you guys, but a hot shower and my comfy yoga pants were screaming my name.” I heard the microwave ding through the phone.
“Well, after the fight, everyone went outside to deal with the goblins except Chay and me. And he kissed me.”
“Oooh, nice.”
“Yeah, it was great. He was great. It was our first real kiss. I mean, he’d been trying for a couple of days, but something always interrupted us. This was the first real, uninterrupted, full contact, pure bliss kiss.” I flopped on my bed.
“Wow,” she said around a mouthful of whatever she was eating. Knowing Muriel, it was probably a cheese quesadilla. “Not to take the focus off Chay’s kissing prowess, but the reason I called was to tell you the goblins are in your backyard.”
“Great.” I pinched my forehead between my thumb and fingers. “Just what I need. I’ll talk to you later.” Ending the call, I braced myself to face the red imps.
I grabbed a jacket and went outside to see what the little creatures from Hell wanted. Of course, I got the same answer they always gave.
“We want to play,” the friendly one said, swinging from my mom’s clothesline.
“But this time, it isn’t going to be fun,” Scarface warned.
“Uh-oh, no fun, no fun,” the other chanted in its high-pitched, screeching voice. “No fun, no fun.”
Scarface held up a stumpy, red finger. The tip was on fire.
My stomach clenched.
Oh crap. The real fun is starting.
My head started to pound, and my visio
n faded in and out. My only thought was that I couldn’t have a vision. Not when they were there. Not when I was alone.
“I’m here, Milayna,” Muriel said behind me. She placed her hand on my shoulder.
Thank God for Muriel. I needed someone to watch my back. I was going to have a vision. If the pounding in my head was any indication, it was going to be a big one.
My sight flickered in and out. It was like a television alternating between a picture and static. I couldn’t see the vision, and I couldn’t hear it either. I made myself relax and concentrate, willing it to show me something.
“What’s going on?” Chay. I’d recognize his voice anywhere. He must have sensed danger. That caused sweat to bead on my forehead and the back of my neck. If Chay sensed danger, this wasn’t one of their ordinary trips to pull up my mom’s flowers.
“I think they’re trying to force a vision,” Muriel said.
“Fire,” the friendly one said. Scarface stood still, holding his finger out for us to see.
Fire. Big wheel bike. Lawn mower. Gas cans.
“He’s going to set my garage on fire,” I whispered.
Scarface held out his finger and a fireball shot from the tip, hitting the side of our detached garage. A second fireball flew through the air. The garage went up in flames.
Fire trucks. Sirens.
“I’ll call the fire department.” Muriel started toward the house.
“No! Not yet,” I yelled. “The vision isn’t gone.”
A man. Burning. Falling beam.
I could see it all. I could smell the smoke, the burning flesh of the firefighter trapped under the beam. I squeezed my eyes closed, willing the vision to leave. It was horrible. The man’s skin blistered and bubbled as the flames ran up his arms and to his face, turning the skin red and then black as it peeled away from the bone.
“They’re here,” Chay said.
Muriel turned to Chay. “Who?”
“Demi-demons.”
“Chay.” I grabbed his arm. “There are gas cans in my garage.”
“Where?”
“In the far right corner.” I wrapped my arms around my waist. My head was pounding in sync with my heart and my teeth were chattering.
Why are my teeth chattering? Does that happen when you’re in shock? Or just freaked out? Or scared?
Chay ran to the garage and pulled open the door. The air spurred the fire, and flames darted out in front of him.