“Oh, don’t worry, I’m emotionally stunted too. There’s no way we can be well-rounded individuals after everything we’ve seen andendured.”
Jolie was at a friend’s house when Hell broke open. It had taken her two days to return home where she’d discovered the bodies of her nanny and two younger sisters. She didn’t know what had become of her parents. She’d once told me she hoped theyweredead.
“But then, this life and the emotionally stunted who rock it are the new normal now,” she continued. “There’s no going back to those somewhat well-rounded human beings I’m told once existed in thisworld.”
“No, there’s not. Are they going to hate me if something develops between Corson and me?” I whispered and waved at the Wilders who were mostly sitting on the floor orsleepingnow.
“Some won’t like it and I’m not sure how Randy will take it. You’re like a daughter to him, but he’ll adapt too. Working and living with the demons is the way of things for us now. Most have accepted that. The ones who haven’t will die if they decide they’d prefer to be on their own. It might be a little rough in the beginning for you, but whathasn’tbeen?”
“Notmuch.”
“If this is something you want, if this is something you can handle, then goforit.”
“I know, I know, life is short, we could all be dead tomorrow,” I said what she’d often quotedtome.
The amusement vanished from her face as she stared at me. “If we were guaranteed another thousand years, I’d still tell you to go for it, Wren. There is so much unhappiness in this world that we must take happiness wherever we can find it.” She slapped her knees and hopped up. “And don’t forget, I’ll be here if you need me foranything.”
Before I could reply, she stepped off the bleacher and strolled across the gym toward where Chet dispersed the food. He handed pieces of jerky out to her and a chunk of what I knew had to be stalebread.
I pondered her words as I watched her. Most of the people here had also slept with a demon, she’d said. I had no idea how Randy would react if he were still alive and discovered me in some relationship with a demon, but most of those in this room wouldn’t hate me. A weight I hadn’t realized was bearing down on my shoulders lifted, leaving me feeling lighter than I’d felt inyears.
I wouldn’t have to choose between Corson and everything I’d known for most ofmylife.
When Chet turned toward me, I realized everyone else had received their meals, and it was now my turn. Removing my flashlight from the front pocket of my backpack, I tucked my bag under my seat, and rose. I was keenly aware of Corson’s eyes following me as I walked across the gym to claim mydinner.
“Hey, Wren,” Chet greeted as he handed me two pieces of jerky. “Bread’s gone, but I do have a fewpeapods.”
“No, we’ll save them for tomorrow,” Ireplied.
Taking a bite of my jerky, I surveyed the people gathered in the gym. No one had complained about having to sleep on the hard floor with their thin blankets. The forest floor offered softer bedding, but this was nowhere near the worst place any of us hadslept.
However, this might be one of the most dangerous places we’d ever slept with its size and multiple entrances and exits, but there was no help for that. There were numerous guards posted, and Caim and Raphael were outside the school keeping watch. They would be able to spot any threats coming toward us. This school was the safest we’d get tonight. Tomorrow, we would come up with anewplan.
Turning away from the people and demons settling on the floor, I made my way to the double doors leading toward the hallway beyond. The two demons in front of them stepped aside to let me pass. I pushed open one of the doors and stepped out. The two demons standing there nodded to me before resuming theirguard.
Walking away from them, I strolled down the hall of closed classroom doors. We’d explored the whole building to make sure it was clear of enemies before settling in for the night, yet I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I did another walk-through. Two more demons stood guard at the end of the hall, but this was where the guardsstopped.
I didn’t say anything to them as I stared at the closed, double doors leading out of the school before looking toward the auditorium across from me, and then the stairs on my left. I didn’t bother with the auditorium as I turned and ascended to the secondfloor.
ChapterThirty-Five
Wren
Pulling the flashlight out of my back pocket, I clicked it on and kept its small beam aimed at the floor. Solar powered, and a gift from Randy soon after we’d met, the flashlight had managed to survive with me. I dreaded the day when I clicked the switch on and no beamgreetedme.
At the top of the stairs, I stared at the closed classroom doors interspersed with the rusting lockers that lined the hall between them. We’d shut every classroom door after checking them for anything hiding within. They all remained closed now. Most of the locks on the lockers were broken, probably by someone searching forsupplies.
Stopping before one of the lockers, I lifted the metal handle and peered into the empty locker. I’d never made it to high school and never had a locker. My elementary school did have cubbies for us to store our things in, or at least I think that’s what we’d called them. My memories of the small space with my name in pink lettering over it were fuzzy, but I knew I’d placed my lunch box in something every day to keepitsafe.
I’d taken such joy in my metal lunchbox with the Care Bears, or was it Transformers, on it? Maybe I’d had both. Back then, getting a new lunchbox every year had been very important to me. Now, I’d toss that box aside for one bite of the cupcakes or sweet treat my mom always stashed inside. Like my dad, my sweet tooth had been insatiable, and no lunch or dinner was complete withoutdessert.
The batter for those oatmeal cookies was the last sweet treat I could remember eating. I was certain I’d stumbled across some candy bars or something over the years, but I didn’t recall what they’d tasted like. However, I could still taste that batter on my tongue as clearly as the jerky Iswallowed.
Now the only treat I had was a six-four demon with an attitude and the ability to make a woman scream inecstasy.
My pulse quickened at the memory of Corson’s body moving over mine. I closed the door on the locker as if that could shut out the way Corson had felt inside me. I gritted my teeth against the memory as I strolled onto the nextlocker.
Opening the locker, my breath caught when I saw the textbooks stashed within. Chemistry, Calculus, and Sociology were written onto the spines facing me. I ran my finger over the brown Chemistry binding. When the cover broke apart, I realized the book had been bound inpaper.
