“Afraid? Do you mean of hell and the hunters?”
“That and dying? Doesn’t it ever just get to you? That tomorrow might be the last day you live?” It was starting to really sink in how dangerous and precarious his life really was. He didn’t have the solid future most did. What kind of future was it always fighting for your life?
“Those aren’t things I’m afraid. I guess it would make more sense if I was, but those things, hell and hunters have always been a part of my life. I’ve never known anything different.”
Emma couldn’t help but feel sympathy. She thought about the human hunters who took it upon themselves to decide that all Divisa were a threat that needed to be extinguished. Emma knew how wrong they were.
Murders.
That was what they really were. Travis wasn’t just a demon. He was human also and deserved a chance as much as the rest of the world. She knew firsthand all the good inside Travis. In her eyes it outweighed the sliver of evil that lurched within. And even then he could control it when he set his mind to it.
He could beat it.
“What I fear most is losing you,” he admitted.
Well damn. That just softened her mounting anger. “Smooth, I’ll give you that,” she said, grinning. “But it still doesn’t change the amount of danger you face constantly.”
“Are you worried about me?” There was a hint of smugness in his tone.
“Possibly.” Duh. Of course she was worried. From what she understood, you never knew when an attack from the underworld was possible. The visuals she was getting were definitely not helping the situation either. That was what she got for having such an over-active imagination.
“You don’t need to worry,” he stressed. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“There is no way you can promise that,” she rebuked. “How can I not worry? There are things and people trying to kill you.”
“True, but this is all new to you. It’s normal to be wary of the unknown, but I’ve spent too much time with evil to not know what to expect. And that is advantage they don’t have. I understand you are afraid, and I can promise you that I won’t let anything happen to you.”
That she believed without hesitation. She still wasn’t entirely convinced that he was safe. And that was going to haunt her all night.
Tossing and turning, Emma couldn’t chase the nightmare that followed into her dreams. Somewhere along the lines of sleep her subconscious seemed to lose the borders of reality and dreams.
She found herself in the middle of a thick forest with Travis at her side. Sure it didn’t start out that bad, actually it was nice.
His smile.
His hand in hers.
His wicked eyes.
And just like that, in a split second his eyes were blazing a terrible yellow. Wicked indeed. Gone was any trace of the calming turquoise and replaced with a fiery fire.
The trees around her closed in, blanketed her in darkness as she begin to panic. The air was heavy and hard to breathe. She felt Travis warm hand squeeze hers in comfort. It offered little, but she knew that there was something out there in, luring in the towering trees. Just waiting, waiting to strike.
Emma expected to see a gruesome and horrid beast, like the hellhound that had pounced on her car that icy night. She was surveying the small area for searing crimson eyes and the low rumble of hell. The prickle at her neck indicated impending doom.
A fog of fear released from her lungs with each ragged breath. She felt Travis stiffen beside her, recognizing something her human senses hadn’t detected. Her body pumped with distress as she readied herself for an attack. The minutes past with a dead eerie silence that racked on her already frazzled nerves.
Before she what was happening, Travis threw himself in front of her, pushing her to the solid ground. An arrow whizzed through the air embedding itself in the center of Travis’s chest. Looking up at him, she screamed at the sight of the shimmering arrow’s head and his shirt swiftly filling with a dark red stain.
Wavering, his legs buckled as his knees hit the forest floor next to her. Scrambling to his side, she swiped at the tears now rolling down her white cheeks.
“Travis,” she sobbed.
His hands were pressed to his chest and covered with his own sticky blood. She knew that the arrow lodge in his heart was not a normal arrow. Just as she knew he wouldn’t live.
“Your safe,” he whispered in pain, like each word cost him dearly.
She put a finger to his lips, signally for him to keep quiet. He kissed her finger, and her heart shattered to smithereens. This couldn’t be happening, it couldn’t be real. Not Travis.
But when she looked back into his eyes, her heart lurched and her chest heaved in giant despair. The sea green eyes she loved were dead.