Half an hour later he pulled up to Jericho’s Emporium. I got out, realizing then that I didn’t have money to pay for the fare or the driver’s tip. But as soon as I slammed the passenger side door shut, the taxi took off.
I guess Leanne had paid for it too. I’d need to thank her when I saw her next.
The streets of Douglas were utterly abandoned. It was late at night, but in the past there’d always been people milling about. I eyed the streets nervously before I realized that I was the most dangerous thing out here.
I walked up to the store both excited and nervous about what came next. Jericho would have more answers for me, but that was not the only reason I was here. Over fifteen years ago my mother had bought me my salvation in the form of a quill, and she paid for it with her life. I was finally here to collect.
But as soon as my hand curled around the doorknob, power blasted me back. I flew through the air. My teeth clicked together painfully when I crashed into the street. My body skidded along the rough asphalt, tearing open skin like tissue paper. Blood seeped onto the ground, and I heard the telltale sizzle of it burning. In a few short seconds a demon would rise from the ground, a demon who’d know exactly where I was.
If these creatures knew who and what Jericho was, then celestial quill or no, the devil would figure out what I was up to.
I’d need to kill the creatures, but if I did so, it would still look suspicious.
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.
Just damned. Period.
This needed to be fast. I turned my attention back to the building. Now that I stopped to really pay attention, I could sense the enchantments. The place was steeped with them. I probed them with my power only to be met with ironclad resistance. Unlike the Politia and Peel Academy, these weren’t the kind my magic could break.
“Jericho!” I shouted. “Let me in!”
Nothing stirred. I couldn’t sense the man even now. Perhaps he legitimately wasn’t there. I still needed that quill.
Consort, what are you doing here?
Well, crap.
I could hear the beat of wings in the distance.
What. Are. You. Doing. Here?
I ignored the voice. I didn’t dare think about my plans.
Jericho is the enemy.
So he did know who and what Jericho was, and he knew that he owned this shop.
He’s your enemy, I clarified.
That was the wrong answer, he said ominously, his voice curling itself around me.
I realized then that he hadn’t known that I was here seeking out Jericho’s help. I could’ve been here to destroy him.
But now the devil knew that wasn’t the case.
Double crap.
The wingbeats sounded closer. I glanced above me.
A mistake.
Three demons descended from the sky, heading right for yours truly. Another had just finished forming where I’d last spilled blood.
I turned back to the building. “Jericho!” I shouted. “Let me in!”
Nothing.
“Jericho!” I came all this way, and he wasn’t even here.
Me and my terrible luck.
The demons grabbed me then, their claws digging into my skin. I threw my power out, knocking them off.
Four demons coming for me not even a minute after I spoke with the devil? That wasn’t a coincidence. This was the devil’s doing.
The four regrouped and began circling me. Before I could so much as devise a strategy to take them out, I heard the slick sound of swords unsheathing.
I rotated just as the demon at my back shrieked. Twin blades glinted in the moonlight. Then they were gone, and the demon’s body slid apart. A second later it dissolved completely.
I’d barely made sense of this first death when I heard the growls and shrieks of the others. Their attacker’s form was a blur, but I didn’t need to make out his shape to know just who it was.
The last of the demons melted away to smoke, and behind them Andre stood, breathing heavily.
He lowered his swords to his sides. “Soulmate,” he said, “I’m fine chasing you, but you have to let me catch you a time or two.” He said this all playfully enough, but the hardness in his eyes told a different story.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
Shit, shit, shit.
He shouldn’t be here, and I shouldn’t be talking with him. Dangerous enough to be two-timing the devil. But to be near him at all after the devil’s warning …
In one smooth movement Andre slid his swords back into their sheaths. “Leanne told me you’d be here.” He sauntered forward. “She also told me you were avoiding me.”
That narc.
“Are you, soulmate?” He peered down at me.
I couldn’t lie to him. “Yes,” I said softly, the word catching in my throat.
“Christo.” He looked away, running an agitated hand through his hair. “Why?” he asked, glancing back at me. He tried to mask the hurt in his voice, and had we not once shared a bond, I might’ve missed it. But I knew him almost as well as he knew himself. Andre was having a rare moment of insecurity.
My throat worked. It took several seconds to gain control of my emotions enough to speak. “Because the devil threatened to kill you.”