For whatever reason, this little thing protected me from demons. Maybe it didn’t completely protect me from Cain, but compared to the others, he was the least of the dangers, even if he did want to kill me.
I stepped inside.
Tara and my mother huddled on the couch. Both of their faces tipped upward at the sound of the door opening.
“Oh, thank God,” Mom yelled as she jumped to her feet and grabbed me in a hug before I could even shut the door. “I thought...” She sniffled, clutching my head against her chest. “I was so afraid you’d disappeared, too.”
Like dad.She didn’t need to say the words, but I could sense them in her thoughts.
“I’m fine.” I broke free from her hug and inspected her face. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
Mom wiped her eyes and sniffed, giving a tremulous smile of relief.
Tara crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. “Where in the hellwereyou? I called and called your phone, and then everyone else I could think of, to see if you’d hitched a ride.”
“I-I...” Needing a moment, I sped to the door, shut it, locked the deadbolt and then the knob.Oh, I was just whisked away by a demon and then found out the guy I’d started falling for only wants to drag me to hell so he can become a demon, too. That’s all.“I’m sorry.”
“Do you know how terrified we were, Phoebe?” Tara laid a hand on my shoulder, and I turned toward her. “After the incident with Brian, I thought the worst. One minute, he and Cain were having words, the next moment the three of you had disappeared like you’d never been there in the first place.” Letting out a long sigh, she gathered me into a hug. “I don’t know what the fuck was in that punch,” she whispered, “but a terrible fist fight broke out after you ghosted me. Several people were hurt and had to be taken to the hospital.”
She straightened then glanced at my mom, who stood a few feet back, then focused on me, her eyebrows raised, as if sayingI didn’t tell her the whole story.
Not wanting my mom to worry either, I forced a chuckle. “I had to get out of there, all those people, you know? And Cain”—is a lying, no-good jerk who fits right in with his demon monster friends—“offered to walk with me around the campus park. I guess we lost track of time.”
Mom and Tara’s gazes flitted over my disheveled dress then landed on my neck.
The circle—where Malachi’s power had held my throat at the masquerade—still stung a bit.
I raised a hand and rubbed the skin with my fingertips. A thin bump ringed my neck.Just a superficial burn.
Clearing my throat, desperate to throw off their attention, I blurted the first thing to come into my head. “Mom, I wanna go to church with you on Sunday, if that’s okay. I know it’s been a while...and I...uh...” I nibbled my bottom lip. “I shouldn’t have stopped going.” The thought of surrounding myself with people who didn’t want to kill me and steal my soul appealed to me more than ever.
“Of course.” Her eyebrows rose, and she grasped my fingers, as if reassuring herself I physically stood here, then she inspected my face. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” I squeezed her fingers gently. “I miss going to Sunday services.”
And I might need the big guy’s help because I have a few demons after me.I choked on a giggle and let out a sigh, ready to fall into my bed and sleep for twenty years.
