I laid my hand on his heart, feeling every breath he took. Admitting the turmoil swirling inside him had been hard.
“If I already didn’t have a one-way ticket to Hell, I am positive that this relief I feel would send me straight there. If—if I had lost you…I don’t—”
I put my finger to his lips, silencing him. “I’m okay. We’re okay.
Chapter 16
To say that my winter break sucked major poo was a complete understatement. But that was to be expected when a girl you knew was slaughtered. Chase and I hardly saw each other after that night, but when you had a standup guy for a boyfriend, it was a sure bet that he would be there to help everyone through the tough times.
He spent most of the days offering a hand to Sierra’s distraught parents. I am not sure if he told them who Chase and I suspected had really killed Sierra. Sure the police were calling it a murder, but we knew it was so much more. No one outside his circle would have believed us anyway. Telling the authorities that a demon killed our friend just sounded bad.
The few times that I had seen him just confirmed what I felt.
Chase was a basket case inside.
He was brimming with so much anger and guilt it physically poured off him. I knew it was only a matter of time. With the right push, he would lose the lid he had containing all that pent-up emotion. Harboring so much hate was bound to backfire sometime.
It was pretty scary, because I knew just how horrible it would be when he unleashed—a demon blizzard. For now, all I could do was hope he would be able to work through losing a lifelong friend. And if he let me, I would be there to shelter some of the pain.
The first week back was the absolute worst. Walking the halls at Hall High was like being at a funeral. It was no secret that Sierra was hard to get along with, had terrorized and frightened most of the school, but her death still shook the small town. It wasn’t so much that she had died, but that she had been murdered. And brutally murdered at that.
The whole town went on lockdown. Parents kept their children at home, and Spring Valley turned into a ghost town. As long as there was a murderer loose, doors were bolted, people stayed home, and the whole town was on edge. If they only knew how dangerous and deadly the murderer really was. No locked door and no amount of hibernation was going to stop Alastair if he wanted you.
The town had no idea who they were up against, and truthfully neither did I.
I think the hardest part in all of this was I could feel Chase drifting from me. At first I just thought he needed space, time to heal, but as the days slipped by and turned to weeks, I began to worry. And it wasn’t just his distance. His emotions were a turbulent cluster of chaos. Up, down, and all around, he made my head spin. I was the only person seasick on land. The problem at hand was, I didn’t know how much longer I could handle our emotional bond in its current state.
Most days it was easier to just shut them out, but that took more effort than I had.
During these periods of days without Chase, I came to the conclusion that I was the weakest link. I had no formal training like everyone else. That was about to change.
Chase already had too much on his plate, and honestly, he probably would have said no. Too dangerous. You have me, what do you need to fight for? I could hear him say. Neither of us had the energy to spare in a round of Chase vs. Angel. So I came to the conclusion, the only person I could ask was my dear Emma.
I must be desperate.
And a little nutty.
“Emma, wait up.” I caught her between classes. Chase and Lexi hadn’t returned to school, which left the unsteady Emma as my watchdog. Desperate times, desperate measures, but in this case, it worked in my favor.
“What do you need little demonziod?”
She’d pay for the name calling later, after I got what I wanted. “Just a small favor.”
“Is it going to make your boyfriend angry?”
I nibbled on my lip, contemplating on how to answer. “Probably.”
“I’m in.”
Just like that. No questions asked. “Good. Can we go to your house after school?” I must be insane willing to walk into the Deen’s house. I had visions of torture rooms and padded cells.
She paused. “Wow. This must be a big deal. You’re willing to go into the lion’s den, huh? Impressed.”
I rolled my eyes. “My life is kind of important.”
Emma was intrigued. “After school. I’ll meet you at your locker. And then you can tell me what this is all about.”
Oh boy. What did I do? I was about to get butt kicked, willingly by a hunter. My muscles were going to hate me.
I waited until we were both situated inside her car, cruising toward the exit. “I want you to train me to fight.”
Her foot slipped on the pedal and the car jerked, throwing her strawberry hair in her eyes. “What?”
I said the words slower the second time. “I want you to teach me how to defend myself against demons.”
“That’s what I thought you said. You were right. Chase is definitely not going to like this.”