Keegan paid the check with a platinum card he never expected to use again and hurried to the door where Echo tapped her foot against the floor.
“All set?” she asked.
“No.” He shook his head when he envisioned himself strapping on six-shooters.
She opened the door and paused. “Follow my lead.”
He hesitated a moment, then gathered the courage to look at the demons, hoping that Echo was mistaken about them.
She wasn’t.
In synchrony, the demons pushed off their leaning posts and, keeping to their side of the street, walked with her.
As he had thought, the demons seemed more interested in Echo, probably because she stood between them and his heart. Or maybe – since she knew them – maybe they held a grudge against her and this was payback. This situation just kept getting worse and worse.
Gritting his teeth, Keegan speed-walked to catch up and took his place alongside her nearest the street, as any gentleman would. “They’re following,” he said, keeping them in his peripheral vision.
“I see that."
He wondered how Echo could stay calm. “Can you be killed?”
She looked at him like she couldn’t believe he asked. “Of course, I can. I feel pain, too.”
He needed to hear that. Uh-huh. All that stood between him and death was this skinny female. Lord have mercy on his soul, wherever it was.
“They’re crossing the street.” She grasped his elbow and directed him into a narrow pathway between two buildings.
Keegan didn’t like the feel of this. For one, confined places suffocated him. For another, there was little room for movement. How did Echo intend to kick demon ass if she couldn’t swing her leg?
Resolutely, he looked to the end of the tunnel-like passageway and thought the path emptied into a parking lot. A parking lot meant cars, and cars meant people, which meant an exit. Finally, a light. He shot his fingers through his hair. God. Light at the end of the tunnel? He must have lost all sense along with his soul.
“If the demons overpower me, I want you to run. Don’t look back. Put as much space between yourself and them. Don’t worry, I’ll find you.”
He didn’t like that, either. “How?”
“I'll follow the scent of your fear.” She winked.
He ignored the insult and concentrated on her optimism, refusing to let the thought linger in his mind that the demons might kill her. There would be a contingency plan in that event, he was sure. God wouldn't leave him hanging, would He? No, He wouldn’t.