“That’s what I said. I mean, really, I was stabbed. Can’t I get a free pass for a soap opera or two? What’s the world coming to?”
He laughed and nodded. The sunlight streaming through the window danced off his hair and his blue-green eyes twinkled. “I agree that you’ve earned a day or two off. It’s good to hear you joking, Milayna.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked, baffled by the look on his face. I’d learned to decipher most of his expressions, but his face held a new one. I had no idea what it meant.
He shrugged one shoulder.
He didn’t have time to give me an answer. The front door flew open, and I heard a boy’s voice yelling my name. “Milayna! I’m so gonna beat you today,” Benjamin yelled, running down the hall to the family room.
Chay looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Video games. I played with him so much yesterday that I saw aliens and meteors in my sleep. I swear at one point, I woke up and my fingers were twitching like I was pushing the buttons on the controller.”
“Chay!”
And that was all it took to get me off the hook. As soon as Ben saw Chay, he forgot all about his invalid sister.
“You wanna play with me?”
“I thought you were playing with Milayna?”
“Oh, she won’t care. Do you, Milayna?” Ben looked at me with big eyes.
“Nope. I’ll watch.” Actually, I slept most of the time. But every time I woke up, Chay was still playing with Ben and I’d let myself get sucked back into sleep.
“Don’t leave me,” I told Chay, my eyes heavy.
“I won’t,” he promised.
I bolted upright on the couch. It took me a minute to remember where I was. Chay was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the family room floor, playing Legos with Ben. My mom was cooking dinner in the kitchen, and my dad wasn’t home from work yet.
“What’s wrong?” Chay dropped his Lego tower and scooted to the couch.
Me standing in the kitchen. My back facing the person staring at me. I see myself through their eyes.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. My other arm wrapped protectively around my side.
Turning, I look at the person and smile.
“What’s wrong?” Chay asked again.
“Milayna?” I heard my mother call from the kitchen.
My smile fades. I double over. A look of shock registers on my face.
“Are you having a vision?” Chay’s voice.
I nodded and squeezed my eyes closed.
I look up. My face is white. I see the person’s reflection in the kitchen window. Jake. He looks down. Blood. I feel his excitement. The adrenaline running through his veins.
I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the vision. It was eerie seeing it through another person’s eyes… watching them kill me, feeling what they felt as they plunged a knife deep in my gut.
Jake raises his head. I see the reflection in the window. Chay.
I gasped, and the vision melted away.
“What’d you see?” Chay asked, lines creased his forehead.
I smoothed the blanket over my legs. “Nothing, just a lot of jumbled images.”
I’d had enough visions and nightmares to realize someone was definitely planning to kill me. What I couldn’t figure out was who. My money was on Jake. He had it in him to be a murderer. When he sided with Azazel, he lost all sense of right and wrong. But something bothered me about the visions. I smiled at my attacker. I’d never smile at Jake. He’d never be welcomed in my house… unless I changed. If I changed sides, then Jake and I would be working together, but that didn’t make sense either. Why would he try to kill me if I changed?
Another thing bothered me about the visions. Why did they always end with Chay’s face? I refused to believe he’d hurt me. But that didn’t change the fact that I saw him in nearly every vision or nightmare. He was the one constant.
***
The group came to visit Tuesday evening.
“Hey, you look better than the last time I saw you,” Drew drawled and leaned down to kiss my cheek.
“Gee, thanks.”
“Yeah, I think she just wants to skip school,” Jen said with a smile.
“You caught me. That’s exactly it.”
“Hey, Milayna.” Xavier bent down and grazed his lips over my forehead. It happened so fast I almost thought I’d imagined it, but then I looked at Chay’s stony expression and his jaw tightening and untightening, and knew I hadn’t. His hands made fists, relaxed, and then fisted again.
Uh-oh.
“Chay.” I moved my feet. “Sit by me.”
He walked over and sat down next to me. His eyes never left Xavier’s face.
After dinner, we talked and joked. Drew and Muriel played video games. Chay never left my side. Possessive.
“I’ve been doing some research,” Xavier said to no one in particular. “I think I’ve found some answers about who Azazel’s boss might be.”
“Yeah? Who?” Chay leaned forward.
“There’s a name that keeps coming up. Abaddon. From what I can ascertain, he’s called The Destroyer and makes Azazel look like a kitten. He’s also known as the King of the Abyss.”
“Well, it sounds like he’d be the type to kill first and ask questions later. But why is he after Milayna?” Chay ran his fingers through my hair.