A Demon Made Me Do It (20 page)

This is it. The end.

Kieron ignores the farmer’s warnings
not to move, and catches me as I fall.

“
Liora, what’s
happening…are you hurt?” His eyes fill with worried
confusion.

“
I’m so sorry, I’m so
sorry…please don’t hate me…please, Kieron, I’m
so
sorry…” I whimper.

“
I could never hate
you…Everything will be okay,” he whispers.

The last thing I feel is his grip
tightening around me; the last thing I see is the panic in his eyes
before everything goes black.

Chapter 11.
Lucky

Those eyes. Those beautiful, clear,
shimmering-blue eyes I want to lose myself in…are two inches from
mine.

Again.

Am I dreaming? I blink rapidly several
times. He’s still here, smiling down on me. But that’s not all—his
arms are wrapped around my body.

Again.

Is someone yelling?

I automatically smile back
at his sexy grin. I
am
awake. My instincts tell me we’re outside, but my eyes stay
locked on Kieron’s.

“
Hello,” he
whispers.

“
Hi.”

Then it registers. He’s
holding me in his arms as if
She’s
fallen and he’s caught her. Or as if I’ve
interrupted
their
private moment. A very
intimate
moment.

“
Did I come at a bad time?”
I ask, my blood stirring hot and fast. The pleasure of waking in
his arms mixes incompatibly with the knowledge that those arms were
first wrapped around
her
.

He cocks an eyebrow, but doesn’t
loosen his grip.

“
Actually, your timing is
perfect.” He dramatically swings me upright, his arm still
possessively around my waist as I glance around.

“
So, care to fill me in on
what’s going on? And why is that Sapie yelling?” I point to the old
man waving a silly gun at us.
Ugh, how
tacky. Guns are so pathetic. Toys for the feeble.

“
Long story. I’ll tell you
everything….”

“
I told you to be still and
hush up!” the old man screams frantically.

Giving Kieron a puzzled look, I gently
pull away from his embrace and walk toward the man. “Is he being
serious right now?”

Kieron laughs. “I’m afraid
so.”

“
I’ve called the police and
they’re comin’, and when they get here I’m gonna press charges and
make dang sure the two of you…”

“
Silence.”

The man freezes. I move closer and can
see the rage in his twisted expression. How desperately he wants to
yell at us. But of course, now he can’t. I narrow my eyes as I
examine the rifle pointed at us.

“
That could have hurt her,”
I say with displeasure.

Kieron just shrugs. “Nah, I would have
blasted it from him if he tried to use it.”

“
Why didn’t you just do
that in the first place?” I ask. “Why put her—us—at
risk?”

“
She was safe. I promise. I
couldn’t...” He pauses.

I spin around to face him.
“Couldn’t
what?”
Why does he look so guilty?

He sighs. “I couldn’t show
her…anything. I was still trying to figure out what was happening
with her…with us…” He actually stammers his words. My eyes narrow
again.

“
Kieron,
what
is going on?” My
anger is fueled by mounting jealousy. As pleasant as it was to
awaken in Kieron’s embrace, now I wonder exactly
what
it is I’ve
awakened
to
.

He sighs again. “It’s a long story.
And I have some questions of my own. Let’s get out of here and get
some drinks. My truck is back there…”

“
No. You go—I hate
automobiles. I’ll run.”

I finally notice what I’m
wearing and my heart sinks. With horror I examine the unfamiliar
garments. These are
his
clothes…
Did Kieron and
Liora
…
did they
actually…
?

“
I gave those to her to
wear earlier. She got wet and needed something dry,” he says,
answering my unspoken question.

I raise my eyes to his. The
way he speaks of
her
…I can hear the affection in his voice.

It sickens me.

“
Well, she may not have any
problems wearing clothes fit for an elephant, but no way am I
wearing this crap.”

Angrily, I pull off her hideous boots
and fling them far out of sight. Then I rip off the baggy
sweatpants and throw them at Kieron. He catches them and
smirks.

“
Mind if I have my
sweatshirt back, too?”

“
Gladly.”

I yank it off and throw it
in his face. What do I care if I’m wearing only a black bra and
boy-shorts? Much easier to move around in, and cooler, too. And I
want to get the hell out of here
right
now.

“
Please…Liora…” Kieron
realizes his mistake the second he makes it, but I don’t
care.

“
I’m
Lucky
, you half-witted moron. If you
want to see your little sweetheart, you’re gonna have to wait till
tomorrow.”

“
Lucky, I’m sorry. But
we
need
to
talk…”

I glare at Kieron, and then
shift my attention back to the crazed farmer. He deserves to die.
He threatened
her
life, which is the same as threatening mine. That alone
warrants his death.

I move closer to kill him,
but as I look into the eyes of the madman something stops me. I
feel something unexpected…
pity
. He’s scared. And very weak.
That’s why he has his rifle; it makes him feel stronger. He’s all
alone out here, unprotected and vulnerable.

I debate for a quick second. Then, I
flash my hand, releasing the controlled stream of electric fire.
Instantly, his weapon disintegrates into black ash.

“
I just did you a favor.
You would’ve probably shot your own balls off. Now go back inside
and forget you ever saw us.”

The man nods dumbly and retreats.
Kieron steps beside me. “That was very nice of you.”

Shaking my head, I give him one last
look of disgust. Wordlessly, I turn and sprint towards home as fast
as my demonic legs will fly.

******

“
Hello, dear.” Tatiana’s
smile greets me as I burst through the cabin door.

“
Do you know what she did
today…do you have
any
idea?” I yell and storm into her room to retrieve some
emergency Energy stash. I can’t wait for the Bar—I need to cool
down
now.

Tatiana follows me in. “I saw Liora
with the new demion. I admit, I was surprised to see her go off
with him like that. Although I guess I shouldn’t have
been…”

I stop and glare at her.
“You
knew
about
him?”

“
I saw him coming,
yes.”

“
Did you know that he
would
like
her?
That they would
hook up
?”

With a shaking hand I grab
the green bottle and take several deep gulps. Why am I
so angry
right now? And
Tatiana’s been in on it the whole time! Just what the hell is going
on around here these days!?

Tatiana goes to her cauldron. As soon
as she places her hands inside, cool smoke snakes forth.

“
The demion’s arrival was
foreseen, but his actions and role were uncertain. Being part human
gives him an unpredictable nature that demons do not have. His free
will changed the course of his path, and as a result, he and Liora
connected with each other.”

“
But what about
me
?” I spit out
angrily.

She looks at me with infuriating
serenity. “How you choose to connect with the new demion is
entirely up to you,” she says.

I finish drinking the
bottle and stalk from her room. I need a shower, and quick.
Kieron’s scent is
all over
me. Is it because she’d been wearing his clothes?
Or is it some other reason? What did they
do
today?

I don’t want to even think about
it.

I slam my bedroom door harder than I
mean to, and when I hear the sickening splinter of wood I know I’ve
shattered it. Great. Tatiana’s gonna love that. But one time she
fixed my entire bedroom when I’d accidentally destroyed the walls
practicing my fire charms. If she could restore a demolished room
with a little of her hocus-pocus, then fixing a tiny door will be a
breeze.

As I wait for the water to heat up, I
couldn’t be more repulsed by my reflection in the mirror. My hair
is a total rat’s nest and my makeup looks like it was applied by a
blind preschooler with epilepsy.

Fabulous.
Real classy, Liora. What the HELL does he see in
you?

After a hasty shower, I
scan through my wardrobe with an eagle’s eye, finally deciding on
purple, skintight leather pants and matching halter top lined with
silver studs. Slaying clothes. I braid my hair into a single plait
down the middle of my back, because I know I look beautiful with my
hair pulled away from my face. As I apply my favorite cherry red
lip gloss, I realize I’m getting upset for no reason. It’s
beyond
silly. Laughable,
really. Liora may have tried to sink her pathetic little claws into
Kieron today, but now it’s
my
turn.

I admire my reflection in the mirror.
She can’t compete with this. No way, no how.

“
Are you hunting tonight?”
Tatiana asks when I exit my room a few minutes later.

“
Most
definitely.”

“
Lucky, please sit down a
moment. I’d like to talk to you.”

“
Now, Tat? Can’t it wait? I
need to get going…”

“
It will be
brief.”

“
Is it about the bedroom
door? The thing practically broke on its own; I barely touched
it…”

“
No, although I would
really appreciate you showing some restraint while you are inside.
This is about last night…what happened with the
Altrumina.”

I had totally blocked that out, and
remembering it now floods me with fresh waves of nausea. My knees
buckle and I sit down on the couch.

“
It was no big deal. I
gotta go.” Ignoring my dizziness, I stand back up.

“
Do
not
lie to me, Lucky.” Tatiana’s eyes
are hard, and I know better than to mess with her when she means
business.

I sigh and sit back down.
“Okay, fine. It totally sucked. I was stupid and wasn’t paying
attention. One of them touched me, and I went all Alice in
Wonderland down the rabbit hole of horrors. It
completely
sucked ass, and I will
take great pleasure in ripping every Altrumina in the area to
shreds, if you’d be so kind as to point me in their
direction…”

“
What did you
see?”

“
Um, what?”

“
You heard me.”

“
I-I- don’t
really…remember..,” I stammer.

“
Lucky…” The warning in her
quiet voice is unmistakable.

“
Okay…okay…I saw them.
Michael, Kayla, me—my good pals, the Amazèa. I got to relive that
day all over again, as if I needed the reminder. Then I got to
watch Bones do what he does best. Who needs Pay-per-view when
you’ve got the Altrumina acid-trip porno channel? Then I ended up
in the Wasteland…you know, the super fun place where demons get
banished for eternity? That was a blast and a half. We should plan
our next family trip there; the views are something
else…”

“
Is that all?”

“
Yeah, well, as sad as I
was for my little party to end, unfortunately, someone insisted on
slaying my dear hosts. All good times must come to an end sometime,
I suppose.” This time when I stand up, I head toward the door. This
inquisition is over, whether she likes it or not.

Tatiana presses her lips together and
nods. “I’m glad you are okay.”

I pause with my hand on the doorknob.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I’ll be a lot better once I waste some
Altrumina…”

“
The few who survived the
night scattered far away. Your friend was quite menacing. I don’t
think they’ll be back anytime soon—”

“
Fine, whatever,” I say
cutting her off. I’m so not in the mood to think of Kieron’s
heroics right now. “Find me some others, then.”

“
There are some Chax demons
by the highway…”

“
Boring.”