She tilted her head to the side and considered what I said before answering, “Eh. Maybe.”
“Maybe? Grams, don’t you think it’s a little coincidental? He saves me from a demon the night before his business becomes an inferno?”
She bounced her index finger against her lips before she asked her next question. “Let me ask you something, Milayna. Who saved the man?”
“What?” I wrinkled my forehead.
“How did the man get rescued? Was there another person in the building with him?”
“No.” I skimmed my fingers over the couch.
“So how? Did someone see the fire?”
I picked at the hem of my shirt and cleared my throat. “What do you mean by see?”
“That’s what I thought. You had a vision. Right?”
“Yes.”
“And that vision saved the man.”
“Yes, but—”
“So isn’t it logical to assume if you hadn’t had the vision, your guy’s uncle would be dead?”
I sighed and squeezed my eyes with my thumb and index finger. “I don’t know. Maybe. Probably.”
“And you want to believe you caused the fire?” She tsked. “You saved his life. End of story.” She flicked her hand in the air like she was sweeping the whole mess away.
“But if he hadn’t done what he had, it never would have happened.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged and twisted her lips. “But if you had given up your power, he’d definitely be dead.”
I let out a breath and nodded. “So you won’t help me?”
“There’s only one way to get rid of your demi-angel status.”
“How?” I leaned forward, my forearms on my thighs.
“Give it to Azazel. I won’t help you do that, Milayna. I’ll do anything for you, you know that, but I won’t stand by and watch you sign away your soul.”
***
I stood by the front door with my mom Monday morning, waiting for Muriel to pick me up for school. “Muriel and I haven’t talked since Friday night at the game,” I told her as we watched Muriel pull into the driveway.
“Really? You two are always talking or texting. What’s up?”
“I don’t know.” Muriel honked her horn. I gave my mom a quick kiss. “See you later.”
“Milayna?”
I stopped and turned toward my mom. “Yeah?”
“I love you.” Her eyes were glassy, like she was trying to hold back tears.
I smiled at her. “I love you, too, Mom. I’ll see you tonight.”
I ran down the driveway to Muriel’s car and slipped into the passenger’s seat, pulling the door closed behind me. “Hey! How was your weekend?” Muriel asked as I buckled my seatbelt.
“Fine. You do anything?”
“My mom and I had a girls’ day out on Saturday.” Muriel told me all about her day out with her mom in mind-numbing detail: how they got their hair done, their nails done, and went clothes shopping at the mall. “We bought out the entire place,” she gushed. I only half listened. My mind was on chemistry and who would be there.
I got to class before Chay. I sat at our assigned station and waited, although I didn’t particularly want to see him. The final bell rang and class started, but Chay didn’t show. I knew he was at school. His car was in the student parking lot when Muriel and I drove in. The huge, yellow beacon in the middle of a sea of drab clunkers and muted sedans was kind of hard to miss.
Class seemed to last forever. I wasn’t able to complete my lab for the day because I never finished my homework. After Chay had left on Sunday, he was all I could think about. I’d hoped he’d done the homework so we could do the lab. Since I couldn’t do the in-class portion of the assignment without the homework, the instructor gave me the option of making up the lab after school the next day or taking a zero. I took the zero. I didn’t care. I had bigger things to worry about—like demons and other hellish things.
When the bell finally rang and the torture of chemistry was over, I bolted out of the classroom. That was when I saw him. He stood across the hall in front of the door, hip leaning against the wall and his thumb hooked through a belt loop on his low-riding jeans. He looked amazing, and my heart stuttered in my chest.
“Skipping class?” I asked with an arched brow.
“Only the ones with hostile classmates.”
I snorted a laugh. “Whatever.”
He followed me to calculus. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him watching me. I didn’t stop, and I didn’t talk to him. I walked straight to class and to my seat. He didn’t follow me in.
Muriel came in a few seconds before the bell rang. “Where’s Chay?”
I rolled my eyes and blew out a breath. “How should I know?”
“I saw him in the hall.” Muriel looked back at the door.
“He’s skipping.” I doodled on the tabletop. “He skipped chem class, too.”
“Really? Why?” Muriel looked at me with her eyebrows raised.
“He’s mad at me,” I said quietly.
“Pssh.” She waved him off. “He’s always mad about something.”
“Yeah. What’d you buy at the mall?”