Page 86 of To Ashes and Dust
The same scream pealed out in the night air, followed closely by a plea for help. My throat tightened, my heart nearly stopping.
It was Kat’s voice.
32
CASSIE
“Cas!”
Damien’s voice echoed off the walls, but I ignored him, my body moving on its own. Instinct overrode rational thought as I ducked into an alley—searching, listening for any possible sounds of darklings, of the creature, of Kat. I don’t think I’d ever run as fast as I did, Damien and the others not far behind me. There had been no other scream, no other sound.
Please, God no.
Not Kat. I couldn’t lose her, couldn’t imagine anything happening to her. When had we last spoken, like actually spoken? When had I last seen her face? When had I last told her how much I loved her?
“Cas!” Damien’s voice reached me, closer now, but I didn’t stop.
I rounded a corner to find her on the ground. The creature stood over her, snarling at the darklings who prowled nearby. My heart sank as I grew closer. Her eyes were closed, and blood coated the side of her head. The demon we’d just fought lowered its head to her, its powerful jaws spreading as it inched toward her face.
Oh my God, it was going to eat her!
“No!” I shot out my hand, and the moment the creature’s head snapped in my direction, flames erupted from my fingertips. The flames shot through the air, avoiding Kat and slamming into the creature. It smashed into the nearby wall, its screech piercing the night air as I incinerated it.
Barrett and Zephyr flew past me, attacking the few darklings lingering nearby.
Damien stopped at my side, eyes wide as he watched. I didn’t let up, pouring everything I had into the fire, all sense leaving me as I imagined the worst.
The creature’s head shot up, its screech never-ending, and finally, its body dispersed into nothing. My hands fell, the fire dying out as Barrett and Zephyr made quick work of the darklings. My knees shook, heart slamming against my ribs so harshly, I winced, clutching my chest.
Damien braced me. “Cas? What’s wrong?”
I didn’t respond, his words distant in my ear. Was she? Please no, not her. I tore from Damien’s grasp, running for her. “Kat!”
I fell to my knees at her side, chest heaving as I looked her over. She was a mess, blood seeping from a wound in her coppery hair, clothes torn and filthy. I searched her frantically as Barrett, Zephyr, and Damien approached. She was breathing, her chest moving softly beneath her shirt, but had she been bitten?
“Kat!”
Zephyr hesitated beside me. “Was she—”
“I don’t know!” I shouted. He didn’t move, didn’t get any closer.
I moved her shirt, checked her neck, her arms, her legs. My vision blurred, tears rolling down my cheeks as I tried to find some proof that I hadn’t just lost her to the darklings, that she wasn’t going to turn into one of them.
“Cas,” Damien said calmly, easing down to his knees. “It doesn’t look like she was bitten.”
My hands shook as I checked her head.
“We need to get her to a hospital,” Zephyr said, his tone calm.
“Please, Damien,” I sobbed, lifting my gaze to him, unable to say anything more.
Damien nodded to Barrett and Zephyr before he scooped Kat into his arms.
The monitor’s beep filled the dark hospital room. Kat rested peacefully beneath the blankets, IVs hooked up to her arm. The nurses had cleaned her up, dirt and blood no longer tarnishing her beautiful face. Damien stood at my side, tracing comforting circles against my back as he quietly spoke with the other patrols on the phone.
We’d changed out of our Elythian leathers into normal clothes before arriving. I’d been so frantic, he had to stop me before I rushed into the ER to call for help, wrapped head to toe in black leather and weapons, covered in the black, oily blood from the darklings I’d slain.
“Let me know if any more of those things make an appearance,” Damien said, and hung up before sliding his phone into his pocket.
