Page 27 of Crimson Promises
The demon was talking, but I couldn’t piece together what he was saying. I focused on keeping my body limp and breathing shallow, wanting to lull him into a false sense of safety.
His footsteps faded and then got louder. He must be pacing while prattling on.
Straining against the vines securing my wrists, I felt around the ground, desperate to find something to use to defend myself. I wanted to kiss the earth when something sharp pricked my finger. My dagger. Holding the tip with one finger, I was able to snap one or two of the roots off, giving me enough space to angle it into the back of my waistband. The demon was circling back towards me.
Behemoth’s claws grazed my neck, continuing in a strange tongue even I was unfamiliar with. I had to force my body not to react to the touch of his blade to prevent my body from locking up and giving me away. While taunting me, Behemoth didn’t realize he accidentally cut more vines loose.
When claws scraped against my hairline, I twisted my wrist while keeping the rest of my arm ramrod straight.
This was my chance. Or else I wasn’t going to leave this forest alive.
I rammed my forehead against his translucent skull or whatever body part demons referred to that as.
The movement created enough space to free my arm from the loosened vines and grab hold of the spare dagger in my waistband. Behemoth’s eyes widened, and it windmilled his thrashing claws at me, aiming for my throat. I waited until he was close enough, the pads of my fingers clinging to the leather stitches of the knife’s hilt. I shoved the dagger into his stomach at an upward angle and turned it a full three hundred and sixty degrees before pulling it out. Behemoth doubled over, both taloned hands clutching his wound.
Its eyes rolled to the back of its head. White cue balls stared back at me in their place. Its body convulsed, foam frothing from the mouth. As I approached, the body erupted in flames and disappeared like it was never even there.
Demons in Arch Cape. Michael is going to have a conniption.
Things were about to get a heck of a lot more interesting.
I shoved a hand through my hair: my left eyelid felt glued together, and bruises began to bloom all over my body. Each step I took was a measured effort. Tomorrow, I would look brand new, thanks to my angelic blood. But right now, ithurt. I glanced back at the outline of Behemoth’s body. The grass was singed around its perimeter.
Now, I had to find Aurora, who was probably still swapping saliva with the angelfucker. My molars ground together. He better have kept her safe—or, at the very least, fully clothed.
How thefuckdid my night end up like this?
ChapterFive
Aurora
Ilay still on my bed, staring at the popcorn ceiling. Another nightmare had interrupted my sleep, and I still had three hours before my first class started. I groaned, dreading having to face the day after another restless night.
Threading my hands together, I stretched my body as I yawned. Truthfully, Ishouldbe productive and go for a run. But it was so dark and cold out there and so warm and cozy in the sheets.
The date with Riley had beenalright, I supposed. He said and did all the “right” things—picking me up, opening doors, hand on my back. We stuck to surface-level small talk about horoscopes and other cliches. I had hoped to get to know the real Riley, but he seemed more focused on nonstop PDA. At one point, I had to excuse myself to the bathroom just to get a breather from the guy. For someone so eager to go out with me, he didn’t exactly ask me much about myself.
There was one moment when we were sitting in the gazebo in the back after I told him I needed some air that showed a fracture of potential. He looked deep into my eyes, his thumb tracing circles on my hand, and asked, “How are you truly doing after the accident? That must have shaken you up.”
Flashbacks of a loud vibration and this awful screech—like metal twisting. Blood dripping somewhere from above my eye onto my lap. A beautiful boy with inky hair and green eyes. gray wings as soft as cashmere brushed my hair. Pain, confusion, and exhaustion had swirled within me. A piece of me wanted to confide what I saw, but a bigger part of me knew that Riley would have the same reaction as Dad and the nurse from the hospital. I pressed my lips together and gave the same rehearsed spiel.
“I’m doing okay, thanks for asking. Still a bit sore, getting better every day. Lucky to be alive, I guess…that moose came out of nowhere.” A bald lie. I wasn’t sore at all. My body showed almost no mark that there were even any injuries now. They just disappeared.
Glancing up at the blanket of stars, I bit my lip. My thoughts turned, not for the first time this week, to Remy and all those times I had an “occurrence” as a kid. I grew up compartmentalizing those incidences as a figment of my imagination. But now, I wasn’t so sure. It’s not as easy to dismiss your body healing itself when you’re an adult.
Since the accident, I had been replaying the events of that night—trying to piece together how that would even be possible. Trying to make sense of what IknewI saw. Because that shattered every construct of what I had been taught to believe was real.
“What are you thinking about?” Riley had prodded.
I wanted to answer a pair of brilliant green eyes. Instead, I said, “The stars just reminded me how small and insignificant we are in the world.”
“Uh-huh. There are so many things out there that we will never have answers to. I try and focus on what is happening down here, where my feet are planted.” He tugged on my hand. “Like you and I.” He leaned his head toward mine.
Moment of substance—gone.
He wasn’t a bad kisser, but it felt like all we were doing the entire evening. I turned my head to the side so his lips grazed my cheek. “I’m feeling a bit dizzy. I still get the odd spell from the accident,” I fibbed.“Would you mind taking me home?”
His mouth formed an ‘o’. It looked as if he was about to say something when a screech came from the thicket of trees behind us.
