He jerked away from her pinch with a deadly scowl. “Thank god for that. I’m scared I’ll catch one of your skanky diseases.”
She tsked then said, “You wish you were that lucky.”
“It’s time to go,” I said, my voice coming out rough. I wasn’t sure if it was because their friction made me uncomfortable or because I was too aware of Emma keeping her distance from me.
When exited to the parking lot, Travis was still insisting that since Emma got to retrieve things from her home, he should get to do the same.
“Seriously, she gets what she wants because she lies to you and has a pretty face? How is that fair?”
He couldn’t see me send my eyes toward the heavens in silent prayer. Long had I been told of the great Propheros that would save the world, but never in my dreams did I imagine the Propheros to be so whiny.
“We will acquire new clothes for you on the way,” I said. “For now, we will go to one of my safe houses. It is a farther distance than I would like but security is imperative. I have objects there to help rejuvenate my magic, so we can travel to the Temple.” I didn’t bring up the fact I’d never had to ‘recharge’ my magic before. However, in a truly safe place I could delve into my deep meditations without fear of Travis or Emma being under attack. It was the best way I knew to train my will.
“What exactly is a farther distance?” Travis asked.
“About eighteen hours.”
Emma said quietly, “Guess we’re road tripping it.”
Travis stopped in his tracks. “Eighteen hours? We are driving eighteen hours with a dude we just met to, what? Get away from some soul eater that wants to kill us?”
“Travis,” Emma said in warning while adjusting the strap of her bag over the shoulder of her heavy black coat with the white, fur-lined hood.
“Hey, I know. Okay? I was there too,” he said, then shook his head. “But this is ludicrous. Maybe it was all in our heads. This can’t be real, and I am not going along with this.” He pointed his finger at the ground, taking his stand once more.
The urge to rub at the pressure building at the bridge of my nose was overwhelming, but I resisted. “Travis, as hard as this is to believe, you are an important figure of prophecy and I need to keep you safe. Now that the soul eater has spotted you, the dark will send more agents to come for you. They won’t stop until you are dead.”
Travis snorted and crossed his arms.
It is the great and terrible thing about belief. It is so powerful it can overcome what you have witnessed with your very eyes. Most people poured their belief into protecting whatever reality they knew, and soul eaters were not a part of Travis’s reality.
Emma came closer and put her hand on me, her voice carried a strange tone. “Calan, what’s that?”
I was about to ask her to specify when I heard it too. It was the unmistakable sound of flapping wings. Except these wings were not that of a bird. The time between flapping told me the wings were far larger than any fowl I knew of in these parts.
Travis was oblivious. “Seriously, prove to me you’re magic and all this is real, or I’m leaving.”
“Oh my god,” Emma said under her breath as she saw them too. Three of dark shapes descended from the sky, one dive-bombing straight for Travis
I leaped onto Travis, smashing him into the ground just as the knobby hands reached out to get him.
“What is wrong with you, man?” Travis sputtered. I rolled off him and jumped to my feet.
“Stay down,” I commanded. Emma was already on the ground, having ducked before I jumped on Travis.
I ran the few paces to the Jeep, threw open the back door, and grabbed my long sword before running back to Emma and Travis. Another demon flew straight toward Emma. I sprinted across the frosty asphalt in time to hack off the outstretched arms just as it closed its fingers around her hair.
“What in all that is holy are those?” Travis screamed when he finally got a look at what was attacking us. Their dull green flesh spanned out into a wingspan of six feet. Their bodies resembled that of a human baby’s except their arms and legs were much longer, with knobby joints, spindly hands, and pointed ears. Their faces were permanently set into evil grins which displayed sharp teeth. They drooled something black and viscous.
“They are the Crib. Now crawl under the jeep.” I ordered.
Travis scrabbled to his feet but a Crib swooped down and grabbed Travis from behind, jerking him off the ground. The Crib flew up and away with a screaming, flailing Travis. My heart stalled. The whites of his eyes cried out for me to help as the massive wings flapped, flying him away, and out of my reach.
Despair threatened to swallow me whole. Without the Propheros, the world was lost.
CHAPTER NINE
No. I was trained to not feed the doubtful thoughts which leave one impotent and helpless. To do so would be turning against the Light. I would not fail the gods in this life.
