Page 46 of Run Like the Devil

A hand sat on top of mine, squeezing gently. “You should turn it off. You’re not alone here, but the phone may prove useful later.”

He was right, which annoyed me all the more. Still, I did as he said, forcing myself to hold the button on the side and power down the phone. It plunged us back into the darkness, and I tried to ignore the way my heart sped, the way I searched through the black around me as if my eyes might adjust and find something out there.

I could see no details, though. No matter how long I sat in the darkness, I couldn’t see a damned thing.

“We can’t just sit here forever,” Hale said.

“You don’t get to have an opinion,” Tyrus said, the venom in his voice obvious.

So much for them getting along anymore…

“We’ll deal with that shit later,” Hale pressed. “For right now, we need to work together. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s even fucking colder in here. The longer we wait here, the better the chance that we won’t have the power or energy to get out.”

When he said that, for the first time, I noticed how right he was. It had been cold before, but it was nothing compared to right now. The chill seeped past my clothes, past my skin, down to my bones.

I shivered in response, but even that didn’t help.

Tyrus moved, and I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing onto him, a fear that if I let go of him for even a moment, we’d end up separated and I’d be lost in this darkness alone.

He shifted his hand and laced his fingers with mine, helping to pull me to my feet. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

Sure, I was embarrassed as fuck at my pathetic display, but shame was a far cry better than the sheer panic if I lost him.

“Because we can’t see, we need to remain together.”

I took a deep breath, trying to clear the cobwebs from my head.

You are a Demon Lord. Get your shit together! You took down a Demon Lord, faced off against an angel, and aren’t afraid to get naked with some of the most dangerous men around. You will not be defeated by a little darkness!

My little pep talk helped, reminding me of exactly what a bad bitch I really was.

Or so I thought until my foot caught something on the ground—a fucking pebble that was out to get me—and I pitched forward. Tyrus didn’t let go of my hand, though, just as he’d promised, and it kept me from hitting the ground.

So much for being a badass, huh?

“Is this some sort of trap?” I asked to smother the embarrassment.

“Maybe,” Tyrus acknowledged. “Maybe it’s a way to separate people from the Path? If a person were alone, this sort of darkness and quiet could easily drive them insane.”

I thought back to what I knew from the book we’d brought. “I don’t think people normally travel the Path in groups. Every person I found in the records was on their own.”

“People willing to risk this, who take on such a dangerous task, are unlikely to be ones to travel with others.”

“Lucky us,” Hale muttered, though his voice made me frown. He was farther away than he’d been the last time.

“Don’t get lost,” I called out to him.

“I won’t. Your feet are like fucking horse hooves, and I could hear the steps a mile off.”

“Rude, especially when I’m trying to help you. Besides, I can tell you’re farther away. It’s possible that the silence here is messing with sounds. Come here.” I held my hand out, before realizing he couldn’t see that. “You should hold my hand, too.”

“I’m not a fucking kid who’s going to get lost.” He didn’t seem to come any closer.

“Don’t touch her,” Tyrus snarled, his voice coming out even more dangerous in the dark.

“Wasn’t fucking planning on it.”

“Stop it, you two,” I chided them. “We’ll deal with this bullshit after we get out, but you both know that we’re safer together. If we get separated, we’ll waste time and energy trying to find one another. So get over here, Hale, and stop arguing with me.”

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