“But. . .”
“No buts,” I replied sharply. “Be quiet and get ready to run.” I knew she wanted to say something else but I gave her no chance.
I pushed through the exit and the alarm went off. I laughed at the irony. The blast of fresh air in my face made me hopeful. I just needed to get him as far from the student center as I could. If we got a good head start, maybe we could outrun him. Maybe.
I let go of Myrtle, shut the exit door and bent the lock. That wouldn’t stop him, but it might buy us a few minutes. . .or seconds. “We have to run,” I told her.
“What about your car?” She pointed to the parking lot.
“Screw the car,” I said tersely. “Stay behind me so my tail wind will pull you along faster.”
She nodded.
He was getting closer. The insane part of me wanted to stay and confront him, but thankfully my instincts were better than that. Confronting him on campus could be deadly for a lot of innocent people. The air around me grew warmer and the breeze smelled of sunshine and cinnamon. Who knew impending death would smell so good.
I frantically shoved Myrtle behind me. “Run,” I shouted.
We did.
We flew through the fields surrounding the campus at speeds of about two hundred miles an hour. We were headed for our house. I needed weapons or the baby Demons if I was going to have a chance with the Angel. My magic was strong, but I didn’t trust it enough to protect both myself and Myrtle. This was the last day I would travel without the baby Demons or a sword in my backpack. Ever.
For a brief moment I debated if I was wrong to have left the school. Would the students have been safer if I stayed? Neither Angels nor Demons were supposed to harm mortals. I said a quick prayer to Satan that in my haste to escape I hadn’t mistakenly set up innocents for death. Of course if I didn't haul some major ass Myrtle and I would be facing a permanent death.
I briefly glanced back to check on Myrtle and my world exploded. I ran head first into a granite mountain. The impact of our bodies in motion at over two hundred miles an hour meeting an immovable object was devastating. We went flying, tumbling and rolling over each other and landed in a tangled bloody mess on the ground.
“Damn it to Hell,” I moaned as I held my head. Fireworks detonated inside my brain. With much effort, I pried my body off of Myrtle’s. She looked bad but she was breathing. Her head was still attached so she wasn’t dead, but she was out cold and her shoulder was grotesquely dislocated.
I sucked in a sharp breath, ignored my own pain, and moved closer to my little friend. If I could pop her shoulder back in while she was unconscious I’d save her a world of pain later. Her pale skin was almost white and all I wanted to do was sit back and cry. I smoothed her bloody hair back from her face and kissed her forehead.
“You’ll be okay, baby,” I promised her. She looked so fragile and small. “I’ll take care of you.” I was going to kill that fucking Angel when I saw him again. I smile-grimaced when I realized how delighted Hayden would be with my emerging foul mouth.
The sound was so gross when I popped her shoulder back I almost hurled. Thank Lucifer she was passed out. Now I just needed to pick her up and run. I had no idea where the Angel was, but I knew time was not on my side. Where in the Hell did a granite mountain come from? There were no mountains in Eden, Kentucky. Not to mention, in all my twenty-one years, I’d never crashed into anything.
Something wet and slobbery licked my neck.
“Steve? What are you doing out here?” I whispered. My voice hurt and getting air in my lungs was a challenge.
Steve walked around me and pushed her cool wet nose into my face. She looked down at Myrtle and whimpered.
“It’s okay,” I tried to comfort her. “She’ll be fine. We’re Demons, we heal.” I knew she didn’t understand a word, but she seemed happy with my explanation and gave me another big sloppy wet one. “Steve, you have to go. Somebody is after me. I’ll just die if you get hurt again. Go,” I shouted the best I could. I tried to do a mean voice and give her the evil eye. “Go, you bad dog-wolf. Go away!” She stood there like an idiot and wagged her big tail.
“Shit,” I muttered. Now I was responsible for Steve too.
My neck ached and my body burned, but when life was at stake, those tended to be minor problems. I gingerly turned my head to swear at the mountain that took me out. . .but my litany of expletives got caught in my throat. At that exact moment I went into shock. I knew this for a fact—because I started to laugh. Uncontrollably.
There was a mountain but it wasn’t granite. It was flesh and blood, looked like a male supermodel and wanted to kill me.