Menace.Chaos follows a demon’s wake.
Stifling my panic, I lock the museum’s doors and hurry down the block. When yellow tape cordons off the sidewalk, I take to the street. The pet shop’s windows are broken, and two men are being loaded into the back of police cars.
I stop when I see Carol.
Paramedics carry her out of the shop on a stretcher. There’s an oxygen mask pinned to her mouth. Her eyes are hooded as she takes deep, shuddering breaths.
I race toward them, sidestepping the taped barrier as useless words spew from my lips. “Is she okay?”
First Mr. Beck and now Carol. Last night, I could forget the cost of a demon visiting my town, but in the daylight…This shouldn’t have happened. Carol is innocent.
Sniffling, I calm a little when she glances at me as she’s loaded into the ambulance. A bruise forms on her neck. I lose sight of my friend when the ambulance doors shut.
A paramedic approaches me, pointing to the yellow tape. “Are you family?”
“N-no. I work nearby, but I visit Carol during lunch. I just saw her yesterday. Is she all right? Will she be all right?”
“Time will tell. Seems the attackers were more after the money in her register than anything else.”
“I have her daughter’s number. Do you need it?” I offer.
In a daze, I share Katie’s information as they secure Carol in the ambulance. They’re done, but I don’t budge, can’t budge.
By the time the ambulance is gone, I still haven’t moved, and the remaining policeman approaches me. “Miss, are you going to be okay?” he asks, pressing a water bottle into my hand. “Drink some water.”
“Where are they taking her?”
He eyes my cat carrier. “To the local hospital. Pets aren’t allowed.”
Then he’s gone as well, leaving me with the other onlookers. My chest constricts, holding in the sudden urge to sob.
I’m tangled in this chaos, well over my head, but I have Zuriel. No one else has protection like me, and they’re forced into this too. They’re up against otherworldly powers without knowing it, with no one to protect them, no one to guard them.
Adrial might be gone for now, but he’ll be back. Whether it’s today, tomorrow, or next month, he’ll be back.
My gaze wanders to the last of the wary onlookers. Some suspiciously glance back at me. Any one of them could be him. Taking a long swig from the water bottle, I walk to my car.
Mom and Dad are waiting for me when I get home.
Mom hugs me tight, as I shake in her arms. It’s easy to blame the trembling on everything my parents know, hiding the role I’ve played. And when I tell Mom it’ll be all right, I speak with a confidence I can’t justify, reassuring her I spent the night at an old friend’s house.
Knowing Adrial had been inside my parents’ house on more than one occasion, I hold my mom tighter.
Dad frowns, eyeing the bat house. He doesn’t object, hugging me instead, and I squeeze him back.
“Adrien’s gone,” I whisper to him.
He holds me at arm's length, appraising me. “Good riddance. Our town doesn’t need his business, not if he is followed by criminal bullshit.”
Swallowing, I nod several times, unbidden tears rising in the corner of my eyes, and I let them fall, unable to hide my relief that they’re here and they’re okay.
I shower and dress. I call Katie, letting her know I’m thinking of Carol. She was several years ahead of me in school and we’re not really friends. There are no updates on Carol’s condition, and my stomach twists, hearing her children in the background.
Settling on the couch, I watch Hallmark movies with Mom until the adrenaline wears off. Ginny and Oyster are standoffish with each other at first but reach a truce by midday. If Ginny sits in my lapandstays there, Oyster is pacified.
Every once in a while, we check the news. Besides the break-in at Carol’s store, nothing else happens in the town. The police have confirmed the attack was by two of the escaped criminals, both of whom are now in their holding. It says that the owner was assaulted though nothing more.
Mom orders delivery pizza, and I try phoning Hopkins again. I have a missed call from Ella, and I text to say I’ll call her back tomorrow.
