The air left his lungs. All the reasons why he had to leave her the way he did seemed so important back then. And theywere still important. It was more important than anything else. He’d done it for her safety.
But she didn’t know that.
She didn’t know what had happened. She didn’t know about the curse that hung over him. She didn’t know why he told her they couldn’t have children, at least not ones that he fathered. She wasn’t a mind reader; she knew nothing about why he did what he did.
“Kira. Please. I know I hurt you, and I’m so sorry, but—”
He stopped, a shiver running down his spine. The dark energy from that day on the beach was back. He leapt to his feet, grabbing Kira’s arm. He pushed her behind him, close to the tree again, as he scanned their surroundings.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, shoving at his shoulders. “Get away from—”
She cut off with a gasp. Joshua tensed, twisting to look in the same direction. Shadows slithered above them, weaving in and out of the cedar’s branches. A demon. And this time, Kira saw it too.
Chapter 15 - Kira
The shards of darkness merged together, forming a long, muscular shape that resembled a snake. Unlike the other demon Kira had seen, this one had a glimmer to it, like the sun was catching off scales and reflecting back. It was dark as night but seemed to have substance to it, unlike the flat black demons she’d seen before.
Two glittering gold fangs expanded in the darkness, and a deep, growling hiss filled the air. Joshua grabbed her and whipped her around, putting himself between her and the demon. It lunged. Kira cried out, her hands instinctively lifting. The protective webbing burst between her fingertips, ballooning out to wrap around Joshua. The demon smashed into it as Joshua swung his fist. He caught the demon at the side of its head and sent it flying back into the tree.
Joshua’s arms wrapped around her before she had more chance to react. In a moment, he’d slung her over his back and shifted to his wolf form. She clung to him, fingers digging into his fur as he raced away. Kira looked back. Glimpses through the branches showed the golden cage she’d made was still in place, pinning the demon in place. It slashed at the ribbons of magic until the golden strands started to snap one by one.
Then the forest swallowed up the tree, the demon, and the cage. Kira shifted herself, trying to see if the demon was returning, but there was too much foliage in the way. The movement jostled her and Joshua both, and she tipped, nearly falling off. Joshua shifted himself, getting her back into place, then growled lightly.
Kira buried her face into his fur and did her best to stay still after that.
It was a demon. He wasn’t overreacting that day on the beach. The demon was coming after her. Worse—even this time, she hadn’t sensed anything. It wasn’t until Joshua had reacted to the demon’s presence that she’d seen it. If he hadn’t been here, it would have gotten her. In the past, she had sensed the dark energy. But this demon? Nothing.
So how did Joshua sense it when she couldn’t?
***
As soon as they were back in town, Joshua dropped Kira off at Gwen’s house. He pressed his head into her stomach when she tried to go to the car and huffed lightly, his tail swishing.
“You’ll go directly to the town hall and warn everyone?” Kira asked anxiously, twisting her hands. She needed to call Chelsey.
Joshua nodded once, then sprang away. He looked back once to make sure she was still on the porch before he sped away. After that, she went inside to tell Gwen what happened and call Chelsey to warn her to stay within the town limits. By nightfall, the whole town was on alert. Various special ops teams began to scour the island again, with Joshua among them.
Feeling guilty about not believing him about the demon on the beach, and wanting to help out as much as she could, Kira moved her stuff back to Joshua’s place. She spent long hours with Chelsey working on various potions, mostly of the healing variety. When Joshua came home, he thanked her for the dinner she’d made, took his plate, and went to his room.
Kira’s heart sank. She’d really fucked up, hadn’t she?
***
There was no sign of demon activity over the rest of the weekend. On Monday morning, Kira, Gwen, and Chelsey were at the ferry. Rafael and Michael stood by while Gwen put a protective net around it. Chelsey had only planned to come home for the weekend, and she was eager to return to school. Kira wished she wouldn’t go, afraid that the demons would follow her to the mainland.
“They haven’t attacked me yet,” Chesley said, hugging Kira. Though she tried to sound confident, her voice wavered.
“You can always stay. You can email your professors and tell them that you have a family emergency,” Kira suggested.
Chelsey shook her head. “I don’t want to stay.”
The admission was soft. Kira winced, but she released her sister, trying to smile. If only she had known that Chelsey didn’t want to stay on the island before she married Joshua.But would that have even stopped me?
“Take care of yourself,” Kira told her.
“You, too.” Chelsey hugged her one last time before trotting onto the ferry.
Just as the boat started to pull out, dark shapes surged through the water. Dozens of them in varying sizes, twisting and darting like the pieces that converged into the snake at the cedar tree. The golden net shimmered, intact as the passengers screamed and the ferry rocked.
