With a blind grab, I notched another object in the sling and let it fly. This time, the shadows pulled back before I could hit them. They whipped around the car, aiming for the tires. Adrian's swerve kept them from reaching their goal, but it slammed me against the door and knocked my foot from the pedal.
The car slowed at once. I reached in my lap, but the projectiles were now gone, scattered somewhere on the floor. Adrian was half on top of me, keeping the car on the road but also keeping me from getting more projectiles from my pockets. Above us, Demetrius drew his shadows inward, winding up for a final, fatal strike, all the while smiling at me with his mouth still stained from his blood.
With nothing else to use, I ripped the necklace from my throat. As those deadly shadows descended, I balled the large diamond into the notch on the sling and hurled it at the demon.
Demetrius yanked his shadows around him like a shield. The diamond necklace disappeared inside that darkness, and for a heart-stopping second, nothing happened. Then the shadows exploded into wisps of smoke and an agonized roar reverberated through the night, so loud that it shook the ground beneath us.
Adrian shoved his leg past mine to hit the gas pedal. The car shot forward, flinging me against the seat. Once more, blood clouded my vision from my freely running head wounds, but I saw a body drop out of the sky behind us, and when it landed on the road, it didn't move.
I turned around, grinning at Adrian even though I was racked with pain and also pretty sure I was about to pass out.
"Best birthday present ever," I managed to croak.
Something large and winged rushed toward us from the opposite end of the road. Fear had me feeling around for something to hurl at it, until I saw its red, glowing eyes.
Brutus's victorious swoop around our car was the last thing I saw before I passed out from relief, or blood loss, or both.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE SMELL OF fresh-brewed coffee woke me. I inhaled, fantasizing about a cup with lots of sugar and cream, when I remembered what had happened right before I lost consciousness.
"Adrian," I gasped as I opened my eyes.
My sister's face came into focus. Jasmine's forehead was creased with worry, but at that, it cleared and she flashed me a strained, if rueful, smile.
"If he's the first thing you think of, then that means you're back to your old self."
I sat up, my hand going instinctively to my head. No bandages or slashes, so I'd been healed. Had he?
"Is he okay?" I asked, looking around, but Jasmine and I were the only ones in the bus's bedroom.
"He's fine now," she said, to my great relief. "Although he was half-dead when Brutus flew the two of you back to us. Took all the manna we had on the bus to heal both of you."
I sat up, and when the room seemed to tilt, that's when I realized that my wounds might be healed, but I wasn't all the way recovered. "That was smart, sending Brutus ahead of you. I passed out right after he got there, and I don't know if Adrian could've managed to drive to you in his condition."
"Probably not," Jasmine said. Then she laughed, though it sounded more choked than amused. "Guess I can't hate Adrian anymore, considering that he took a bullet and what looked like a hell of a beating in order to get you out of that realm."
"I hope you do stop," I said, holding her stare. "You don't need to like him, but he hasn't done anything to earn your hatred."
She ran a hand through the white streak in her hair. "He has by being one of them."
"A Judian?" I sighed. "He can't help that any more than I can help being the last Davidian."
"Not that," she said. "A demon. I don't care if he is technically human, he's just like them. They're also totally ruthless except when it comes to whatever they care about, and if they want something, they'll stomp over anyone and everything to get it, too."
It was so close to the concern I'd felt when Adrian drove away from those stranded motorists without a backward glance that I simply stared at her for a moment. Could she be right? No, I decided, shoving those fears away. She can't be.
"Circumstances have forced Adrian to be single-minded and ruthless. They've forced me to be that way sometimes, too," I said, conviction growing as I thought about the people I'd had to leave behind in the realm. I hadn't wanted to; I'd had no choice. Neither had Adrian, most of the time. That didn't mean either of us were heartless to the point of resembling demons. Jasmine just didn't understand.
Jasmine let out a ragged breath. "Maybe I shouldn't be judging Adrian. I've done awful things, too."