“Oh, no, no, no.” Micah’s hand clasped my upper arm.
My vision dimmed.
“Take this!” Keisha said to Micah.
Two seconds later, Micah lowered a short sword over the demon’s wrist, cutting its hand off in front of my face. The demon screamed and I gaped. Micah took advantage of that moment and swerved the car, sending the demon flying off the car.
I unlatched the demon’s claws from around my neck and yelped as I threw it out the window.
Keisha pushed the last demons from the top of the car with her sword. “Demons and fire gone.”
Micah kept driving on I-78 south.
“Are you okay?” he asked, stealing glances at me.
“Yeah. Yeah.” I leaned back in the seat, feeling as if I had been through a war. Well, this was somewhat like it. I touched my neck where the demon’s claws had sunk in. I brought my hand back and stared at it. Blood. Not much, but there was blood. I hid my hand before Micah could see it. “Just pay attention to the road.”
The slashes didn’t hurt much yet. I knew the shock would soon wear off, and then they would probably hurt. Until then, I could pretend I was fine.
I glanced back at Manhattan. The island had transformed into a giant mountain of fire. It reached the sky and lit the world with orange lights.
My eyes watered.
My classmates, my teachers, my residence, my colleagues, my job, my scholarship, everything I owned burned with the island.
At least Raisa was with me—shrunken and trembling in the backseat, but alive.
Keisha rested her elbows on the back of my seat and looked at me. “Are you okay?”
Wiping my tears, I nodded and faced forward.
Without looking at me, Micah reached over and took my hand in his, entwining his fingers with mine. Under normal circumstances, I would have yelled at him for being such a Casanova, but right now … right now, I welcomed the comfort. I rested our hands over my thigh and squeezed.
I let my eyes wander. The chaos was a normal level here. Destroyed roads and buildings, a couple of bats here and there, but no fire, no Omi.
“So, what do we do now?” Keisha asked. “Just drive south and that’s it?”
“At the moment, the only thing that matters is to get as far from New York as we can.” Micah let go of my hand and shifted gears. He didn’t return his hand to me and disappointment burned in my chest.
“Did you have friends or family in New York?” I asked in a gentle tone. This wasn’t an easy subject.
“No,” she said. “I’m from the Chicago area. I came with the exhibition.”
“Exhibition?” Micah asked.
“Yeah, the ancient weapons exhibition at the university gallery.”
“Speaking of which, where did you learn how to use those weapons?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I never had any training.”
One of Micah’s eyebrows rose. “You just knew what to do with them then?”
“I know it sounds crazy, believe me, I think it is, but it’s the truth. I just took them and used them.”
Regaining a bit of herself, Raisa took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “She was kind of badass back there.”
“Hmm.” Micah returned to his attention to the road.
“I have a question. That guy, on the dark cloud …” Keisha paused and shook her head. “I still think I hallucinated him. Anyway, he was talking about a woman. A girl.” She turned to me. “Was he talking about you, Nadine?”
Micah looked at me, and I was sure his hard expression meant: don’t tell her anything.
“I don’t know,” I said, not too happy about lying.
A pop song started playing, saving me from having to say more.
“It’s my phone,” I said, looking around. “Where’s my tote?”
“Here,” Raisa said. She handed it to me.
I grabbed the phone from inside my bag and glanced at the screen. My eyes watered again. “Hi, Mom,” I answered.
“Oh, good Lord, please tell me you’re okay. Please, tell me you were able to leave the city.”
“I did. I’m out of the city.” She whispered a thank you, and I heard her sobs. “Mom, I’m okay. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she mumbled through sobs. “This is just a relieved cry.”
Micah’s cell phone rang, and I tried to ignore it.
“Is there anything like that happening there?” I guessed I knew the answer, but I had to confirm it.
“No, dear. Only New York City.” She cleared her throat, probably trying to rein in the tears. “You’re coming home, right?”
I hadn’t thought much about that yet. If I went home, I could attract demons there. However, I did want to see my family. “Yes,” I said, not sure if I was telling the truth or not, but it was the answer she wanted to hear.
“Good, good.”
We talked nonsense for about two more minutes, then my sister called her and she had to go. By then, Micah was off the phone too.
We all remained in silence for about ten minutes, until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Who was it?”
He glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. “Jealous, darling?”
I stilled. “You wish.”
Keisha laughed. “See what I mean? You two act like a couple. In the middle of a break-up or a fight, but still a couple.”
Micah winked at me, and I rolled my eyes.
“Hey, wait. Was there anything between you two?” Raisa asked, sounding more composed, more like herself. “I always thought your thing was with Victor.”
“Who is Victor?” Keisha asked.
Micah lost the amused expression. “A nobody.”
Raisa told Keisha all about Victor, Micah, and me. Everything she knew about, which wasn’t much. Not wanting to hear even a simpler version of that mess again, I tuned them out.
“You’re not gonna tell me where we’re going?” I asked Micah, crossing my arms.
His knuckles turned white around the wheel. “You’ll see.”
7
After almost two hours of nonstop driving at a high speed, Micah exited the interstate and took us down a side road. At first I thought he was searching for a motel, but there was nothing out here. No buildings, no hotels, no gas stations. It was just the broken road, the dying trees, the darkness, and us.
When he turned onto a dirt road, I began to worry.
“Please, tell me where we’re going.”
He was tense. I could see it in his strained neck, the way his jaw popped and his hand tightened around the steering wheel. More than that, I could feel it.
He didn’t answer at first, and I thought he wouldn’t.
“We’re here,” he said.
The tires made a crunching noise, rolling over dirt and rocks as Micah slowed the car to a stop in a clearing.
“What’s here?” Keisha asked the question on my mind.
Without answering, Micah exited the car. I opened my door, and before I was completely out, he was by my side. Rok flew into the clearing and perched on a low branch, well in sight. I smiled at the bird, though my smile vanished when I looked up at Micah. He was staring at me, his eyes … worried? Micah was worried? No. It couldn’t be. I must have misread it.
He averted his eyes and clenched his fists.
I followed his gaze and almost fell back.
Ceris and Victor appeared from behind the trees.