Page 57 of Fallen Demon

He snarled and pressed my throat tighter.

I croaked, but managed to touch him, to place my hand against his chest.

It was like a bucket of freezing water.

Levi sprung back several feet, his eyes wide as he stared at me, then took in the scene around us. Only now, he recognized me. Only now, he saw what he had done.

With a flap of his wings, Levi jumped up and away, zooming across the sky. And I was left alone amid this bloody mess.

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I couldn’t stay there,but I didn’t want to go far in case Levi came around again.

I walked to the nearest bank of the Red River and washed the blood from my neck and shirt and shaking hands.

What the hell had happened? It was like Levi had snapped and the demon had taken over, even if only for minutes.

But in those minutes, he had killed our enemies.

And he had advanced at me as if I was one of them.

He had almost butchered me too.

I didn’t know what to think.

I sat on a rock a few feet from the water, and tried to think what to do. Should I wait for Levi? Before, he had stuck around and had come to help me when I needed him. What if this time he wasn’t around? What if he had really left?

How long should I wait for him?

And what if I waited for him only to have him attack me?

I shivered.

I took to the skies and went to the same town as before. I stopped at the gas station, where I charmed the young guy behind the counter to lend me his phone for a couple of minutes.

He was more than happy to oblige.

Thank goodness angels had good memories and I had learned most of my friends’ numbers without much effort.

I started dialing Thea and stopped. Drake had left the underworld in a rush, to stop that crazy Sarki witch, and he was probably busy now trying to save Aurora from her, and Thea would be right there along with them.

Instead, I called Tanner’s number.

“This better be good,” he answered, his tone flat.

“Tanner, it’s me, Ariella.”

“Oh, it is good. Where the hell are you?”

I told him—I had to ask the clerk the name of the town—and Tanner guaranteed I would have a warlock to open a portal for me in no time. Apparently, the others were still locked in the underworld and were having trouble coming back.

It hadn’t been my fault that I had left them all behind, but I was still sorry.

I waited by the gas station as instructed. Not ten minutes later, Boise walked out from the line of trees behind the pumps. He was friends with Aspen, and also worked directly with Keeran, the Warlock Lord.

“I’m here to take you to the underworld,” he said, all formal.

I nodded and followed him back into the forest. Without a word, he opened the portal and I stepped through. I thought I would arrive in Tanner’s throne room, but instead I was back at the underworld’s gate. Of course, normal portals didn’t work on the other side.

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