Demons at Deadnight (2011), page 21
I pointed a shaky finger. “Stop it.”
Ayden grabbed Australia’s bicep. “Remember, Matthias. Coma.”
Pain etched deep across Matthias’ handsome features, for a moment making him appear young and vulnerable. He shook Ayden off.
“Like I could forget,” he scratched out. The black faded. The room lightened. The eyes he lifted to me were a silvery blue tinged with sad. “No one’s going to hurt you.”
“She can see your eyes change,” Jayden whispered. “Fascinating.”
“That’s not normal,” Logan said.
“Yeah, right.” Like their eyes changing color, and the weird and scary things that happened when they did, was normal. “Leave. Now.” I backed up, bumped into a cabinet, reached behind for another weapon, and came up brandishing Oron’s Thomas the Train toy. The fact that it squeaked in my jittery hand lost me a few intimidation points.
Blake held up the knife.
“Nice touch, but I think it was this little baby that got your ‘point’ across. Going all ninja.” Blake mimed a few karate moves. “Very impressive for a little chicklet. How’d you do that?”
Jayden spoke in an even tone. “Aurora, you need to decelerate your breathing.”
“I’m trying.”
“If you hyperventilate you run the risk of fainting.”
“I said I’m working on it.”
Logan cleared his throat. “Would you like a bag?”
“I know mouth-to-mouth.”
Ayden whacked Blake on the shoulder.
“Thanks, but I’d rather you throw water on me.”
“Don’t know what you’re missing, babe.”
“With any luck.”
“Give her the knife.” We all looked at Matthias who, when no one moved, snatched the knife from Blake, flipped it in his hand and offered it to me, handle first. “Take it. You’ll feel better.”
Helsing growled and jumped down to thread through my ankles with condescending nonchalance and the occasional hiss. He was enjoying this way too much. My fingers touched the smooth handle, ready to react if Matthias lunged, but he backed off as soon as I had the knife.
Hands raised, Ayden said, “We’ll leave if you want—”
“I want.”
Ayden gritted a tight smile. “We didn’t think you should be alone. You still need protection.”
“From you.” I pointed the knife at Tristan. “What’d you do to me? How could you send me to that…place?”
Tristan’s face crumpled with guilt. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
Freckles stood out against his suddenly ashen skin. He ran his hands so hard through his blond hair I expected bald spots.
“I don’t know. It was an accident. Nothing like that’s ever happened.”
“Lucky me.” My stomach threatened to pitch its minimal contents.
“Wait.” Ayden looked confused. “What place? You were in the hospital the whole time. We made sure it was safe.”
They all nodded.
“Safe?” I barked a cold laugh. “Hospital? Oh, that’s a riot. That House of Horrors almost killed me!”
“Aurora,” Ayden stepped toward me, hand outstretched but stopped when I raised the knife. He pulled a deep breath, lips thinned as he pressed them together. “I swear. We all kept watch at the hospital round-the-clock. No demons. No danger. How the coma happened,” he lifted his shoulders, “we have no idea, but after that we did everything to protect you until you woke up. That’s all we’re trying to do now.”
Jayden cocked his head. “What do you think we did? Did something happen we’re unaware of?”
I rubbed the tender spot where the ghoulie had sliced my arm and studied every face. Each one appeared genuinely puzzled. Could they seriously be that clueless? If they honestly didn’t know about the coma, then maybe—
My brain started to hurt. I rubbed my forehead with a rickety hand.
“It’s nothing.” I needed to talk to Gloria. “I’m not feeling well so—”
“Of course.” Jayden waved a hand through the air as if trying to cut the tension. “You need sustenance. We can talk over lunch. Gentlemen, let us retrieve the food while Aurora finishes,” he narrowed disapproving eyes on my ice cream, “breakfast.”
In a blink, Blake snatched me up and plopped me in a chair at the breakfast table. Ayden put the ice cream—more of a milkshake at this point—on the table with a clear directive to “Eat.” Jayden brought a glass of water. Logan, after banging through cabinets and drawers, produced a brown paper bag.
Ayden tucked his jacket around my shoulders and interrupted Logan’s demo on how to use the bag to usher them all into the hall telling me, “I’ll be right back.”
Shadowed by an imperious Helsing, they disappeared down the hall. Done playing along, I set the knife on the table, tipped the ice cream container to my lips for a quick swig, and made my move.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Mental note, pajamas and bare feet make lousy escape attire. Slinking toward the back gate past the wildflower display, I stubbed my toe on a sprinkler.
Were they trying to kill me? Matthias seemed likely. I didn’t buy the new act. Was it really just the Jocelyn thing? Seemed petty. Matthias mastered malicious, so petty wasn’t a stretch. But sending me to that wretched place to be eaten alive? Overkill. No pun intended. Assuming they knew. Which was still up in the air. And if I wasn’t supposed to go into a coma or hitch a horror train to the Waiting World, what was supposed to happen?
Jumbled in a murky tide, my thoughts swirled with secrets, half-truths and outright lies. Not that I didn’t have my own, but these guys were dangerous. Trying to kill me. Did I mention that? The painkillers were fuzzing my brain. I glanced over my shoulder and unlatched the gate.
He grabbed me. Who? I didn’t know. Painkillers. Brain. Fuzzy. Remember?
I swung an awkward punch which somehow connected with his jaw. Ow!
Jayden—yeah, it’s always the ones you least expect—grunted in surprise but clapped a hand over my mouth and pulled me through. The gate thumped shut.
I swallowed against my heart crawling up my throat. Hesitant, Jayden removed his hand and drew back. My eyes darted for an escape.
“Your anxiety is understandable but misplaced. The only beings which intend you harm are awaiting your exit from your house unprotected, affording them the opportunity for mayhem and murder.”
“You guys are doing fine with the mayhem and murder routine.”
“I realize the idea of being in a coma is frightening, but your vitals remained robust throughout. You were never in any physical danger.”
“No physical danger?” I practically spit my contempt. “You guys are idiots.”
“You seem to keep implying—” Jayden shook his head. “What am I missing?”
Maybe they’d stop trying to kill me if they knew I was the Divinicus, but then I’d have a whole other set of problems with them and the Mandatum. I raked a hand through my curls, fingers entangling in the knots. My day was spiraling into a dark pit before I’d gotten the chance to brush my hair. Swell. I needed a phone.
“Nothing,” I snapped and moved toward the gate. Jayden’s flip-flops slapped behind me.
He grabbed my arm. “Your protection is our goal.”
His touch bit cold daggers in my heart. Fury spidered out through my body and took over before my brain filtered the rage. I whirled, slammed my palms into his chest. A light flashed where I connected and he flew back—I mean flew back—and landed skidding on his behind.
I heard a savage voice, low, brittle as thin ice say, “Sure, by kidnapping me, keeping me prisoner, using me. You think I’ll let you take me away from my family, make them suffer, make me suffer? Oh, no. They. Love. Me.” Something thumped my chest to emphasize the last word. “And I won’t let you destroy us. I didn’t ask for this. I don’t want to find them. You hunt demons. You give your life for your precious society. I. Won’t. I’m warning you. Back off!”
The last two words were spat with venom, then the person quit talking. I realized it was me. Jayden hadn’t moved except for his eyes. They got really, really big.
Suddenly out of breath, I struggled for air. Hands clawing my chest, I fell to my knees, wheezing. An arm went around me. Something brown touched my face.
“Breathe into this.” Jayden’s usual unflappable calm was, well, flappy. “My apologies. I never meant to frighten you. Admittedly, emotions aren’t my strong suit. I’ve been insensitive. Please, compose yourself. Your blood pressure is escalating to potentially dangerous levels.”
How he knew that, I didn’t know. What I did know? My hands had a faint glow. Crap. I tucked them under my sweaty armpits and breathed into the bag.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” I muffled into the crinkling paper.
“No. You looked…strange and you hit me with an unreasonable amount of force. And why do you fear kidnapping? I’m definitely missing something.”
I pushed up, glad to see my hands back to normal.
“Adrenaline rush.”
“But—” He looked past me and yanked his hair back with one hand, swearing under his breath.
I spun, expecting the worst—as in, something coming to kill me. Scooped up in a powerful embrace, I yelped and threw my arms around Blake’s thick neck. He spun, the fence nearly taking my head off, before heading into the yard.
“Blake,” Jayden snapped. “Be careful. Her condition is delicate.”
“Calm down, logic boy.”
“Put me down.”
“Patience, milady. We’ve got a surprise.”
The surprise stunned me enough to stop my squirming—and the useless thumps to Blake’s chest—and I breathed, “Wow.”
Spread out in a luscious display the lawn boasted an elaborate feast. Offerings of ribs, chicken, a multitude of salads and side dishes, mountains of brightly colored fruit, baskets of breads, and numerous delectable desserts were arranged on glittering crystal and china laid out on red checkerboard blankets. Bottles of sparkling apple cider chilled in sweating silver champagne buckets. Tall vases embraced flowers I recognized from Mom’s garden. I knew she wouldn’t mind contributing to this visual, as stunning as a Renaissance still-life masterpiece with real-life aromas that erupted my stomach into ferocious growls.
“Your mom said you hadn’t been eating much,” Ayden said. “We thought this might help.”
They all looked anxious except Matthias who was on the far deck concentrating on…hand-sewing something?
“So,” Blake set me down, “can we stay?”
I eyed the mouth-watering cornucopia. “The food can.”
“Aurora—” Ayden began.
“Don’t Aurora me! You’re the ones who put me in a coma and sent me—”
“In my defense,” Blake put a meaty paw to his chest, “I had nothing to do with that. It was all Tristan.”
“By accident!” Tristan yelled from back porch. “I’m sorry! Really—”
“I swear he’s never done that before,” Ayden spoke over Tristan. “We aren’t trying to hurt you. I know it doesn’t look like it, but—”
“The big, bad demon hunters just suck at protecting people. Really, that’s the story you want to sell?”
“It’s the only one that’s true,” Logan said.
“—really, really, really sorry!” Tristan finished.
A phone rang. Blake pulled one of our home phones off his belt and checked the caller ID.
“It’s her mom.” He tossed the phone to Logan.
“I don’t want it!”
Jayden and Tristan where next on the hot potato list, and finally Ayden, who after a brief second held it out to me. “Please. Give us a chance.”
I snatched the phone, pausing through two more rings before I connected.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Aurora? We just heard the boys went to see you.”
“Yeah, they’re here.”
She covered the phone and muffled something. I assumed to Dad. Then, “Is everything alright? If you’re not up to it, have them leave. Immediately. Or we could come home right now.”
I surveyed the group. Man, they really mastered the puppy-dog eyes. Gloria trusted these yahoos. Gloria, who’d saved me from the Waiting World that they’d sent me to. What if she was wrong? But if she was truly the only one protecting my family from the monsters and she quit—
“Honey? You there? Okay, we’re coming home.”
“No, Mom.” I sighed. Risking another trip to the Waiting World was a small price to pay for my family’s safety. “I’m fine. You guys have fun. We’re good here.”
Tension eased.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Clyde, she said it’s fine. What? Really?” Mom huffed. “Your dad wants to know if ‘fine’ is code for ‘please come home, I’m being held hostage by hormonal maniacs.’” Pause. “And if said hormonal maniacs are listening he wants them to know he will cut off vital body parts and watch them bleed out a slow and torturous death then bury said body parts on different continents throughout the world so he will never be brought to justice and will revel in their excruciating demise for the rest of his life because they had the nerve to cause his daughter any discomfort whatsoever.”
I grinned. “Mom, Dad didn’t say that.”
“I may have ad-libbed that last part. But he did ask about the hormonal maniacs.”
“You’re a bloodthirsty woman.”
“You have no idea.”
I laughed. “I’m good. No code.”
Mom sighed. “Okay, but don’t overdo. We won’t be late. Call if you need us. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I hung up and planted hands on my hips. “But if Tristan even looks at me the wrong way, especially with that purply crap, I will end him.”
“Deal.” Tristan slapped a hand over his eyes.
“And Matthias has to go.”
“Fine.” Matthias gathered his sewing paraphernalia.
“No!” The rest of the boys chorused.
“Yes,” I said, surprised to be echoed by Matthias.
“Wait,” Ayden said. “He didn’t know that would happen any more than we did. If he had, he would’ve cut off his own head trying to protect you from that.”
“Oh, please.” I almost gagged.
“I’m dead serious.” Ayden’s intense look backed up his words. “He—”
“Shut it!” Matthias spat the words with fury, but panic saturated his glare. “She wants me gone, I’m gone. End of discussion.”
Logan rushed to block Matthias’ escape and said, “You can’t leave like this. Stay positive. That’s Persuasion one-oh-one.”
“Avoid Matthias,” I said. “That’s Survival one-oh-one.”
“Matthias,” Ayden said, “Tell her—”
“No bloody way!”
Ayden shot him an exasperated look. “—that you’re sorry.”
Matthias blinked. “Oh. Right.” For several moments he studied the grass growing. When he finally lifted his eyes to mine, they were devoid of emotion. “Sorry. I didn’t know. I’d never have had Tristan put you into a coma. You have my word it won’t happen again.”
I chewed on my lip, weighing his sincerity, which was hard because I could read absolutely nothing in his face. It was like anything remotely human had shut down. Not sad. Not happy. Not angry. Just nothing.
“How can I trust your word?”
Something finally flickered in Matthias’ eyes—something painful—but it was gone in a flash. “You’re right. You can’t.” He whirled and shouldered past Logan.
“Aurora,” Ayden pleaded.
I stared at Matthias’ back, rapidly retreating, almost fleeing.
“Hey, Australia.”
He stiffened to a halt without turning.
“You can stay.”
He faced me with that frightenly neutral expression—seriously, I was almost missing those icy glares—and deadpanned, “Yippie ki-yay.”
I gritted my teeth. If I ended up regretting this, at least I’d die happy knowing Mom would enjoy an around-the-world tour. With his body parts.
“But I have a few conditions.”
A muscle twitched in the Aussie’s jaw. “Anything you say.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Who plays croquet? The Laheys play croquet.
“It makes me feel like British royalty from another century,” was Mom’s excuse. I had to admit, the colorful display looked pretty against our vibrant green grass.
“I say.” Dad would puff himself up and use a lame British accent. “Would you fancy a game, Lady Lahey?” Then he’d bow and kiss Mom’s hand. She’d pretend to be flustered, overwhelmed by his attentions. Sometimes we’d play the whole game with all of us using British accents, or at least our silly versions. I know. We’re dorks.
But so were these guys.
Logan’s shot missed. “Cheater,” he said.
“Loser,” Blake laughed then ducked when Logan’s mallet swung at his head. They started dueling, using mallets as swords, and actually looked…proficient.
Blake took a hit when he stopped to ogle the landscape. “You know, some of these plants aren’t even supposed to grow in this climate.”
Lying across red-checkerboard cloth on my full stomach, elbows propped, chin in hands, I gave him a dubious look. “What’s with you and flowers?”
“I love the Earth.” Blake spun full circle with his mallet outstretched. Logan back-flipped over it. “And all she has to offer.”
I pushed hair off my face. “Mom’s got the green thumb.”
“She’s got more than that. What’s her secret?”
“No one knows.”
“Awesome.”
On the deck fifty feet away—I know because I had the boys measure—Matthias kept his head down and silently continued to…sew. He had to stay where I could see him but remain at a safe distance, and no funny business.
The rest of us ate on the blankets, Ayden refilling my plate if a smidge of empty real estate opened up. Crazy demon hunting stories with lines that included, “Don’t blame me, we all thought hellhounds liked Milk Bones,” and “Hey, who knew Cheez-Wiz would make the gnome explode?” had me laughing.
