“You think you’re leaving me behind?” Isla asks incredulously.
“Oh, Iknowwe’re leaving you behind,” he answers, clearly misreading what type of woman he’s dealing with, “You’re safest here.”
“And if they come back?”
He pulls a small gun from theAetherand hands it to her, “Point and shoot. Then call us and we will come clean up the mess.”
She takes it from his outstretched hand, turning it in her own to get a feel for it, “You’re not going without me.”
“Look, Sweetheart-” he starts, the endearment a mistake I realize the second he utters it.
Her gun clicks, the weapon pointed right at him. “You’re notgoingwithout me,” she repeats.It’s no wonder she and Bel are best friends. No fucking sense of self-preservation.
He steps into it, letting the barrel brush his chest, whispering, “Do it.”
Unsure what to do, I look at Fritz for guidance, though I should know better. He’s pointing at them with one hand and blocking their view of his face with his other so that he can mouth:They’re gonna fuck.
Rolling my eyes and realizing that I will have to be the voice of reason, I snatch the firearm from Isla’s hand lest either of them do something foolish, “I think we all need to relax. Eamon, I understand you-” agonizing pain rips down my spine again. I double over, nearly falling to the ground.
“Shit, Cas,” I register Fritz running to stand beside me, reaching out a hand to keep me upright, “Fuck, they’re not even bothering with messages anymore? Just gouging across her back?”
Eamon barrels up, looking where Fritz holds my shirt up to reveal the massacre happening across my spine, “Listen to your instincts now, Caspian. What are they telling you to do?”
I bare my teeth, barely holding back the monster inside me, “Kill everyone standing between me and my girl.”
He nods noncommittally, “Yes, butwhereis that? You won’t find her looking like a little pretty boy, ya know.” Fritz muffles his laughter with a cough before Eamon continues, “Only the demon can find its host. Gimme your phone.”
Jaw clenched, I hand it to him. After a few taps, he hands it back, explaining, “Follow the call:the pain leads. Keep that,” he nods at the phone, “on you. Your location is on, so we’ll know where you’re going.”
I let myself transform into my true form, startling Isla. Not wasting any more time, I run out the door into the quickly falling night to go find my girl and rip apart anyone who gets in my way.
Almonds
Fritz
“Okay,” I ask Eamon, “so now what?”
“Now we watch which direction he starts running,” Eamon tells me, glancing between his screen and the city map.
Isla sits back on the couch with the gun she took back when Caspian was doubled over. She’s crafty; I’ll give her that. Fucking ballsy, too. I can’t think of a single other mortal who would have dared point a gun at one of us. And then that sick fucklikedit. His eyes were positively glowing at the prospect of her shooting him.
She’s still glowering at him, but unfortunately for her, in a room full of demons, there’s no hiding how much she enjoyed the exchange, too. He’s trying— and failing— to hide his smirk at her apparent state of…exhilaration.I’m sure as fuck not going to be the one to tell her we can scent it, though. I don’t think I’d survive being on the other end of her weaponry. There’s a darkness inside her that terrifies even me. But if she’s using that repressed fury to save our girl, I’ll stand behind her and cheer her on as much as she needs.
“And when we know where he’s headed?” Isla prods, giving him a chance to recant his earlier statement about her staying behind.
He barely looks her way for a moment before answering, “I will transport myself to the location he’s headed to and meet him there. The two of you will stay here in the off chance someone does come back.” I can see her gearing up for another argument, but he looks her straight in the eye and continues, “Isla. Please trust me. I know what I’m doing. I’ve seen how they operate. I know exactly how this is going to play out. Caspian is stumbling into a trap inside a fortress that you have no knowledge of. Are you prepared to get him out of it? Kill countless mortals, possibly even your family members, to do so?”
Shaking her head in defeat, she confesses, “I just want to save my friend.”
“And this is the best way to do that. You and Fritz holding down the fort here, as a team, is the best thing you can do for her. Okay?” he keeps their eyes locked together, nearly pleading with her to concede.A team, I can do that.I’m pretty sure he’s only leaving me here to keep Isla in line. Not ideal because, obviously, all I want is to go chase down the dickheads harming Bel. But the best thing I can do for her now is keep her friend safe, even if it means sitting out of the rescue.
“Okay,” Isla relents, holding her hands up before pointing at him and adding, “But if youevercall me Sweetheart again, I’ll shoot your dick off.”
He grins at her, eyes glittering with challenge and I think he might piss her off again and I’m gonna have to clean this sicko’s blood off Bel’s floor while we wait for her.I fucking hate cleaning. Especially demon blood. It’s so sticky and smells like burnt sugar.
Stopping them from fucking lighting each other on fire, I interject, “Which direction did he run off in?” He must have made some headway by now.
Eamon looks down at his phone again, “Went towards 7th, then south.” He looks down at the map and points his massive finger to the large circle towards the bottom of the map, “Those old storage units that were condemned six years ago.”
