I jabbed her in the side, blocked a hit from her, and kicked her legs out from under her. She fell on the ground with a very unladylike grunt, blood spurting out her mouth.
There was no time to think, or even feel, only to react. To protect. To defend. Shayla was a dirty fighter. She pulled hair, bit, scratched. Anything that inflicted pain, the more the better. She reminded me of Jake that way. He was a dirty fighter. And that night was no different, although it was by far an all new low, even for him.
“Milayna. Milayna!” I heard a child’s voice call. I recognized it immediately.
“Benjamin?”
I turned to see Jake run from the house carrying Benjamin. My mother ran after him. I searched the jostling bodies for my father. He was involved in a fight of his own with a much younger and faster demi-demon.
I searched quickly for Chay. He was holding his own against Rod and Steven—no help.
I ran in a diagonal line aiming for an area just before Jake; I knew I’d never catch him if I chased him from behind. My only hope was to cut him off. I pumped my arms and ran as fast as I could push my body. When I was just feet away, I launched myself toward him, knocking into him with enough force that he dropped Benjamin. I saw my mom scoop him into her arms just before Jake hit me so hard across the face that I saw stars… and then nothing at all.
***
I felt the cold first. Then I heard the scuffling.
“Milayna,” my mom called softly.
I tried to open my eyes. One opened painfully. I thought I’d opened them both, but the other stayed closed. I tried again. Still, only one eye opened. I reached up to touch it, but my mom took my hand in hers.
“It’s swollen shut.” She patted my hand.
I tried to sit up. “Benjamin?”
“He’s fine. A little shaken up is all.” My mom pushed me back into the couch.
“Jake?”
“They took off right after he…” Her voice cracked, and she turned her head. A tear rolled down her cheek. My dad laid his hand over her shoulder, massaging it. “Right after he hit you, the police came,” she managed to answer before she started crying.
“Are you alright?” Xavier asked from across the room.
“Yeah. Comes with the job.” I smiled. “Ow.” I touched my fingers to my face, gently probing the area. “He got me good, huh?”
“I hope your favorite color is purple,” Drew said with a small laugh.
I sat up. The room tilted under me. Things started to spin around me. They whizzed by so fast that colors bled into each other. It looked like a giant kaleidoscope. “Whoa, I think I’d better lay back down.”
“Okay, you’ve all seen she’s okay. Now everyone needs to leave,” my dad announced.
Muriel, Jen, and Drew said goodbye. Muriel promised to call the next day. “I won’t text. You probably won’t be able to see the screen on your cell phone with that shiner,” she teased. I groaned.
Xavier stood back like he was afraid to get too close. “I’ll talk with you tomorrow, Milayna. Check on how your feeling.”
“Okay. Bye, Xavier.”
Chay was the last to leave. I noticed my parents had made themselves scarce. He walked over to the couch and knelt beside it, gently brushing a stray curl behind my ear. He smiled. “You look like hell, Milayna.”
Geez, you don’t. Even after a fight, you look amazing.
“Thanks. I feel like I’ve been there.” I tried to sit up again. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he pushed me down. He didn’t have to push hard. At that moment, I had less strength than a wet noodle.
“Chay?”
“Hmm.” He was playing with my hair.
“Why Ben?”
His hand stilled for a second before he started twirling the piece of my hair around his finger again. “I don’t know.” He stood. “I guess I should get outta here before your dad kicks me out. Stay out of trouble, Milayna.”
“Yeah.”
Chay turned toward the door, but he didn’t move. He stood with his back to me for what seemed like an eternity before turning and bending down. He grazed his lips over mine. It took all my willpower not to reach out to grab him and hold him to me.
“You didn’t turn away,” he said when he lifted his head, reminding me that I had when Xavier tried to kiss me.
“You have me at a disadvantage,” I said coolly.
He smiled and stood. “You’ve always had me at one.” He walked out the back door.
Well, hell. What was that supposed to mean?
19
Flowers
A shrill ringing pulled me out of my peaceful cocoon where my eye and head didn’t throb, there were no demons chasing me, I’d never heard the name Azazel, and Chay was still madly in love with me. I wanted to stay in that place.
Too bad we didn’t always get what we wanted.
My eyes still closed—I could only open one, anyway—I fumbled across my bedside table for my cell phone.
“What?” I mumbled into the phone when I finally found the answer button.
“Geez, you sound grumpy,” Muriel said.
“Someone just woke me up.”
“It’s after eleven. You should be up by now.”
“I got the crap kicked outta me last night. I think that gives me an excuse.”