“Don’t come down!” I screamed.
In a swift move I crossed the room, stabbing the other spirit that had left Jay to join the attack on Patti. With a loud snap, it was gone.
Jay jumped back, appearing terrified when his eyes landed on the sword. The two other whisperers finally looked up, like two oblivious birds of prey torn unwillingly from their fresh meal.
They wore twin expressions of realization, then shrieked inhuman sounds, high and grating, a shrill whistle that only demons and their children could hear.
I yelled, “Move!” to Jay, who obeyed without question as my arm began an arc through the air. The light sliced into the first spirit and narrowly missed the second as it dove backward through the wall to the backyard.
I could hear Kaidan running down the stairs now.
“Crap!” I sprinted for the back door and threw it open, racing outside. I glimpsed the demon whisperer as it flew into the trees, out of sight. Away.
No!
In the absence of danger, the sword’s light faded into nothing, leaving my hand and arm cold and numb.
I was in trouble now. Big trouble. Because that spirit was on its way to rat me out to all the Dukes and whispering Legionnaires. They’d know about the Sword of Righteousness. I wanted to freak out, but there was no time for that. Running on legs that were still buzzing with adrenaline, I found Jay and Kaidan crouched next to Patti, who had propped herself against the couch. Her face was pale and damp with sweat.
I fell on my knees next to Patti and took her in my arms. She held on to me, weakly.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
“I don’t know what happened. I felt so sick and scared . . . and . . .” She shuddered, and I held her tighter.
“Who was here?” Kaidan asked.
The sight of him crouched there with wild eyes made me realize how fast everything had taken place. His hair was soaking wet and he had water droplets on his chest and shoulders.
“I have no idea,” Jay said, thoroughly freaked out. “It was so weird, dude. And you should have seen Anna! What is that thing?” He pointed to the hilt, which I still clutched. “It was all lit up. She moved so fast. I’ve never seen anyone move like that!”
It hadn’t felt fast to me. It had felt horrifically slow, like a nightmare.
Kaidan crouched next to me, all coiled tension, taking my face in his hands. “What happened?”
“Three whisperers were on Jay. Two on Patti. One was trying to possess her.” Patti’s shaking hand flew to her mouth and she made a strangled sound of disgust. I kept going. “I killed four of them . . . but one got away.”
“One got away . . . ,” he whispered.
We stared hard at one another as the danger pressed down on us. Kaidan stood, shoving his hands through his hair, and paced to the wall. He leaned against it with both palms, whispering at first, “Shite. Shite, Anna . . . ,” then yelling and punching a hole through the wall.
Jay stood as if ready to calm Kaidan, but Patti grabbed his hand.
“It’s okay,” she told Jay. “They need to go.”
“You all should go somewhere, too,” I told her. Inside I trembled. I’d put them in danger. “I saw one earlier in the kitchen. I thought I was imagining it, but it must’ve been a whisperer. It saw us hugging. You two need to go into hiding. Just keep moving. Don’t stay in one place more than a night.”
I helped her to her feet. She and Jay ran upstairs to pack their bags. I turned and found Kai leaning his back against the wall, the palms of his hands pushing against his eyes.
“Kai.”
He dropped his hands and stood, looking at me with the same kind of fear that had filled his eyes the night of the summit in New York City. Fear for me.
“I don’t think they know you’re here,” I said. “That’s to our advantage.”
He thought about that, nodding.
We needed to move fast. “You’re not on the suspicion list, so you can stay in the know. We’ll go our separate ways and—”
“No.” Kai’s hard voice carried an end-of-discussion ring to it. “I stay with you.”
Oh, no. His attitude was grim and unyielding. I wanted to stay with him, too, but it wasn’t smart.
“As soon as they catch you with me, they’ll know you’re on my side and you’ll be an immediate target, too. Think this through—”
“We stay together.” His steely eyes warned me not to argue. I’d never seen him more dead set on something. I knew he’d follow me if he had to.
I sighed and looked away. “Okay. Let’s get our stuff and get out of here.”
He softened a fraction with relief.
We grabbed our bags. Jay gave me a quick hug as Patti embraced Kaidan.
“Please be careful,” I whispered to Patti.
“You don’t worry about me.” She talked fast, her voice shaking as she took my face in her hands. “Just remember you can do anything you put your heart to. I’d do anything for you, Anna. I’d fight this battle for you if I could.”
Patti and I squeezed each other equally hard.