Page 268 of Mayhem and Minnie

She rolls her eyes at me.

She doesn’t seem to understand how serious I am about this. I made a promise to myself and I’m going to keep it no matter what—I’m not going to die like that bastard Lucien and leave her alone.

No. Minnie is mine. I don’t care what I have to do to ensure we’ll always be together.

The song changes to a slower one and she places her head on my shoulder.

We move to the beat of the song just as our hearts beat in sync with one another.

Her body suddenly tenses, and she pulls back.

She frowns and looks right and left.

“What?”

She tilts her head to the side, her eyes narrowed.

“I sense something.”

“Sentinels? Soldiers?” I ask, already getting ready to make a run for it.

She shakes her head.

“Demons. Tens of them…” She trails off as she focuses on a point behind me. “They’re getting close.”

“Tens of them? Is that normal?”

“No. It’s entirely abnormal. Demons have their own hunting grounds and they don’t share. For this many to be in the same area, it can only mean one thing. Their master sent them here.”

I quickly sober up.

“They’re after you, aren’t they?”

She purses her lips.

“I don’t know. This has never happened before. And they don’t usually go after deities, unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Their master got wind that Aperite deities are hunting me and decided to hunt me first. A deity’s soul is an enormous source of energy. There’s no telling what a demon could do with that much energy. And if it were to get to a Son of Tenebreis…” She gulps down hard, her features shrouded in worry.

“How many demons can you fight at once?” I ask as I wade through the crowd, making my way back to where we left the van.

“If I use my full powers, I could take on maybe four, five depending on their level. But that would give away my location again.”

“Four or five? Didn’t you say you felt tens of them?”

Her lips flatten.

“High level too, from what I can tell.” She pauses. “They’re getting closer,” she whispers.

“We’ll get to the van in no time,” I add as I increase my pace.

We bump into people in our hurry, and some are not pleased about it, shouting curses at us as we try to make our way out of the crowd.

Minnie continues to look over my shoulder and study the crowd for any potential danger.

“Four are less than a hundred feet away. A couple behind them, too. And…” She pauses to concentrate. “Marlowe,” she whispers, her voice trembling. “There are three of them at the end of the block too. We’re surrounded.”

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