Emanare (Destined, #1) (26 page)

Evrik used his strength to pull Ann out of the smorgasbord of trash and stared into her cold, vacant eyes, repeating his mental instructions to find the sewer and, hopefully, the entrance to the tunnel. Ann became sidetracked about every twenty feet, causing Evrik to have to redirect her again and again. Ann’s normally bouncing red curls smashed flatly around her head and her eyes appeared dead. There was no sign of life, or of Ann, in them—only two empty black holes.

“Did you bring the elixir?” Sam asked Alea.

“I brought a few, but yes, as soon as we find the entrance I’ll exorcise the demon.” Alea touched Sam’s arm lovingly. “Ann will be okay.”

“What exactly happens when you remove the animal-demon from Strawberry Shortcake?” Vicky asked, happily walking between Chase and Draylan. 

“Ann won’t remember anything that happened after the demon took control of her,” Alea explained. “I brought another elixir to destroy the demon after I remove him from her body.”

Vicky eyed Draylan. “So what are you doing after this?”

“What?” Draylan grumbled. “I don’t get it.”

“She’s asking you out, Dray,” Malachi translated.

“I don’t date humans,” he responded with his nose turned up.

Ignoring Draylan’s bluntness, Vicky locked her arm through his. “Evrik dates humans.”

“I’m not Evrik,” he barked, unwinding his arm.

Evrik took Sam’s hand in his. They tuned out the dysfunctional episode of
Love Connection
between Vicky and Draylan.

“Are you ready to confront Cale?” he asked.

“I’m ready to get Lauren back.” Sam looked at Evrik. “But I’m not ready to leave you.” Evrik mirrored her forlorn expression. She exhaled. “Now everything is so complicated. I didn’t know you for days, and now I'm remembering how I feel about you. And Chase,” Sam hesitated. “Evrik, I—I had feelings for him. I understand if you hate me, but you have to understand, I didn’t know either of you.”

“I could never hate you,” he assured her, holding her hand tighter. “Sam, I haven’t pushed you to choose."

“I know. I just felt that it was only fair for me to tell you the truth, since I won’t be here for much longer. I can’t commit to anyone right now, not when I’m just going to hurt you when I leave.” Sam sniffled, holding back the floodgates. Here they were about to go up against a demon, and all she could think about was leaving Evrik and Chase. She wondered if angels felt pain. She knew angelings did. At the moment, her heart ached.

Ann suddenly dove to the ground, sniffing excitedly. She flung herself upward, scrambling back and forth next to the pathway leading to the library. She whipped her head back and forth and spit shot from her mouth, spraying a shower of saliva everywhere.

“I think she’s found something,” Chase said.

 And there it was, behind a grouping of bushes—a sewer drain. Ann clawed at the grate; her black eyes flickered with excitement as if the demon inside her knew it was the way home. Either that, or she could smell the all-you-can-eat buffet of rodents below.

“Oh—enough with the grunting and drooling already. Alea, can you please use the elixir? I’m gonna be sick.” Vicky tucked herself behind Draylan.

“Not yet—let’s wait until we’re in the tunnel. I don’t want to release this demon on an open campus,” Alea said.

Evrik helped Draylan remove the grate. Ann tried to leap into the sewer. Chase held her back.

“There’s a ladder leading down,” Malachi said.

“I’ll go first,” Sam volunteered.

“No, you’re not,” Chase argued.

“Move over.” Sam pushed Chase to the side.

“Bro, you just got schooled by a girl.” Draylan laughed.

“You’re not going first.” Evrik stepped in front of her.

Sam squared off with Evrik. “This is my fight. I’m. Going. First. Period!” Without giving Evrik time to argue, Sam brushed past him and climbed down the rusty iron ladder. Her feet landed in a two-inch puddle of water. The sewer smelled like stale, stagnant water and mildewed concrete, making it difficult to breathe in the dank air. Her pupils expanded, trying to adjust to the darkness. The campus light cast a dull glow down the drain, but only blackness hung in all directions.

Everyone took turns climbing down the ladder. Vicky grumbled the whole way down—something about a fresh manicure and dirt. At the base of the ladder, she refused to step down into the water in her new BCBG boots. So Draylan yanked her off the ladder. Sam was baffled by Vicky’s choice of attire; she knew they were going into a tunnel through a sewer drain. Sam glanced down at her Pumas, happy she’d chosen comfortable shoes. She had no idea how far they would have to walk.

“I can’t see a thing,” Vicky complained, stumbling over the rocks, a crushed soda can, and other debris she couldn’t make out in the dark.

“I can see fine,” Draylan said, grabbing her arm. “I’ll lead you.”

“Are you forgetting I can read your mind,” she snapped at him.

“Nope.”

No longer in the faint light of the sewer drain, Sam searched blindly with her hands extended in front of her. The nocturnal beings behind her propelled her forward. She felt someone’s hand touch her back, guiding her, but she had no idea who it was—Evrik or Chase.

“How far are we going?” Vicky grumbled.

“This tunnel should take us straight to 29
^th
and Sisson. That’s where I saw them,” Alea answered. “But they could be anywhere down here.”

“Super,” Vicky quipped.

A low predatory hiss rattled in Ann’s chest, accelerating to a snarl and then to an echoing full-out growl. Ann pitched forward, knocking into Sam and hurling her into the wall with a
thud
. Ann landed in a crouched position, something squirming clutched tightly in her hands.

“It looks like she’s found a rat.” Draylan snickered.

Sam peeled herself from the cool concrete and staggered through everyone, searching for Alea. “Where are you?”

“Who are you looking for?” Malachi asked.

 “Alea.”

“I’m right here, sweetie.” Alea materialized next to Sam.

“Can you please get the demon out of Ann now? I don’t ever want to have to tell her she ate a rat.”

“Then I’ll tell her,” Vicky volunteered.

“Don’t you dare,” Sam said sharply. “She’d be mortified.”

Alea jerked her bag off her shoulder and fished around for her elixir. “Here it is.” She threw her arms out. “Everyone stand back.”

Sam stumbled back into someone. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her up—then she smelled his crazy-sexy cologne. Her heart tightened. Everything about Evrik’s arms around her felt right and perfect, like all the evenings she had gone to bed curled up within his large body and all the mornings she’d opened her eyes to his beautiful face. She’d peer into warm green eyes and comb her fingers through his slept-on wild chestnut hair.

Ann shoved a chubby rat tail into her mouth. Sam gagged and turned her head away.

Alea threw the elixir down in front of Ann. The glass bottle splashed into the water, shattering glass pieces onto the concrete floor. Ann’s black eyes grew wide. She dropped onto the floor and flopped over onto her back, floundering in the shallow water. Alea and Malachi knelt down next to her and held her shaking body.

As Sam watched Ann convulse through a horrifying seizure, she realized she could see, as if someone had plugged in a night light or lit a match.

 
“Sam, you’re glowing,” Chase said.

She could see Chase now, on the other side of Draylan and Vicky. Her hands and her face were the only skin exposed, but Chase was right—she was glowing. Her body provided light for her to see.

“Wow, Sam—you’re exquisite. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Alea said, looking up from below Sam.

Ann stopped flailing. She lay motionless in the water. Alea moved away from Ann and rummaged around in her bag again, brandishing another bottle. Everyone stared at Ann, then Alea, and back to Ann again. The
porcus
demon rose from Ann’s chest outlined in a wave of dense fog, the contour of a transparent ghost departing from her body. The figuration swirled into demon form, thickening as it levitated. Malachi threw Ann over his shoulder, jumping back before the demon took full form.

And there he was—beady eyes, scrunched face, black spiky patchwork hair—just like in the photo Sam had seen earlier that day. The
porcus
demon crouched in a fighting stance, snarling and growling as Ann had done moments before. Alea threw the elixir at him. After seconds of deafening shrieks, he disappeared into a mist of vapor, back where he belonged—hell.

Ann lay limp, slung over Malachi’s shoulder. “She’s okay, Sam,” he assured her. “I can feel her breathing. Her body’s been through a lot.”

With her own personal night light and her powerful friends behind her, Sam continued forward. She was ready to face Cale.

The tunnel was eerily quiet except for the sound of their feet sloshing through the constant puddles. The sound of skittering rodents fell faint under their heavy breathing. Every so often Sam heard a passing car overhead. She had no idea how far they had walked. They were heading south, toward Baltimore City. They weren’t under Tolbert anymore.

Alea removed three bottles of water from her bag. “Is anyone thirsty?” She offered a bottle to Sam and Evrik, Malachi and Draylan, and Chase and Vicky.

Vicky accepted first. “Thanks.” She took a sip and offered some to Chase. He shook his head. “Like you haven’t tasted my spit before.”

“Chi?” Alea handed a bottle to Malachi.

“Thanks. Let’s stop for a minute,” Malachi suggested. “I want to see if I can get Ann to drink some water.”

“Dude, she’s totally passed out,” Draylan said. He swiped the bottle of water out of Vicky’s hand, and tilting it back, gulped until the plastic crumbled in his hand.

“Sure, have some,” Vicky sneered. “It’s about time we stopped. My feet are killing me.” Everyone looked down at her three-inch heels and ignored her.

“Dray, hold Ann upright so I can drip the water into her mouth,” Malachi ordered.

“If she tries to bite me—” Draylan responded.

“She’s not going to bite you. The demon’s gone,” Alea said. “Now support her head.”

Evrik and Chase helped Draylan hold Ann’s limp body upright so Malachi could pry her mouth open and slowly pour the water in. He massaged her throat to help the water ease down her esophagus. Ann’s lips were chapped and her mouth was visibly parched. A small amount of water dribbled over her lip, washing away any trace of the rat’s blood.

“Look over there,” Chase said. “There’s another ladder.”

“That must be another entrance to the tunnel,” Sam said.

Chase removed his hand from the back of Ann’s neck, giving the slack to Draylan. “I’ll check out where we are.” He splashed down the tunnel until he reached the ladder. “I hear cars. I think we’re under a main road.”

“It feels like we’ve been walking forever,” Vicky complained again.

“We’re under York Road in Rodgers Forge,” Chase yelled down, jumping back down into the water. “We have a ways to go if we’re going to make it to 29
^th
and Sisson any time soon.”

“Then we should hurry,” Evrik said.

Sam heard her shirt rip along her shoulder blades. Before she could reach back to feel the extent of the rip, it felt like Evrik had picked her up and started to run. He had his arm wrapped around her waist, but she held herself up. Her wing bumps tickled, fingers strumming the little feathers with quick, light strokes. Sam turned her head to see what was tickling her. The air. Her wing bumps were bigger, maybe a foot long, and covered with beautiful pale pink feathers.