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A strange calmness settled on her face. Her dark eyes studied us for a long moment. I could tell the gears in her head were working hard. Maybe, just maybe, she’d figure it out.
Finally, with a toss of her shoulders, she turned back to tighten the saddle of the nearest roan. “I had to put a new saddle on her this morning,” she said over her shoulder. “She doesn’t like it and now she’s throwing a tantrum. I swear, that horse thinks she’s the queen of England.”
A little piece of me died inside. I was so sure there had been suspicion in Laramie’s eyes. But she’d brushed it off like a fly on a horse’s rump.
“That’s alright.” Mona backed away slowly from the jumpy horse. “It’s not that far of a run. I think I’ll keep my feet on the ground today.”
“Suit yourself.” Again, she shrugged, her back to us. “Be careful out there.”
Mona ran toward the manor. I could tell she was itching to get her hands on some of the weaponry she’d been eyeing for the last few days. Closets lined with bows, knives, swords, pistols, and an assortment of every kind of weapon were already thrown open in the lobby. Warriors dashed past us, grabbing their favorites. I spotted Raquel and Ashley testing the weight of a few of the daggers. They already had their favorite weapons strapped across their backs. Mona ignored them and went straight to the nearest rack.
“I always wondered what it would be like,” she mused softly to herself, “to slice a throat.”
I grimaced to myself. Certainly, she couldn’t be planning on fighting off her own kind. The only throats she would want to cut belonged to humans and Nephilim. The idea made me sick.
Holding up a sword with a long, thin blade, she watched the light blink off the wickedly sharp edge. Satisfied, she shoved it into a hilt and picked up a few other pieces.
“I thought you were done with fighting.” Gabe came up beside us, his shoulder touching mine.
I cried out in frustration at the brief contact. If only he could hear me.
“It’s where I grew up,” Mona said with a grim frown, looking up into his green eyes. “I still have friends there. Do you expect me to sit on the sidelines while they’re slaughtered?”
She was such a good liar. Not even missing a beat with her little sob story.
His eyebrows raised. “I just want you to be careful. It seems like every episode you have, that demon grows stronger.”
She sighed and ran a hand across her forehead. “Of course. You know I will.”
“I know.”
He pressed his lips to her head. My skin burned where he’d touched us.
It didn’t take Mona long to reach the edge of Hanna by foot. An army of Nephilim had already arrived and were in motion ahead of us, blurs among the pine trees. She paused just out of sight and hid between a large boulder and a stray spruce tree that had managed to eek out a living between the abundant pines.
The old church sat just a hundred yards away. Despite the fact that the goddess we’d worshiped for a century had turned out to be an evil demon that I’d sent back to Hell last summer, the church appeared in great repair. As if they’d resumed worship as usual, ignoring everything bad that had happened since I left town.
Despite my fears of walking into a disaster, there were no dead bodies scattered about. No hint of violence. Ferals had overrun the town, but it seemed as if the residents had held their own. Not surprising, really. Not with Granny at the forefront of their defensive operations.
A gunshot rang out. Mona’s eyes flicked to the window of the church, where the muzzle of a shotgun appeared. The glass had been shattered and in the shadows of the sanctuary, I could see several people milling about. They must’ve barricaded themselves inside. It was a good idea, but wouldn’t hold much longer. At least fifty ferals prowled outside the whitewashed walls of the church, inspecting the building for weaknesses.
What does Seth want with the people of Hanna? I mused.
The Nephilim were the ones standing in his way. Not the humans. He didn’t need to take them out.
“What good is any human to a demon?” Mona replied snarkily. She smoothed out the sides of her outrageous red tank top with the palms of her hands. “Just think about it.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant and she didn’t give me time to think about it. Pulling the sword from her belt, she swept out from behind the tree and sprinted for the church.
A team of Nephilim were already bearing down on the ferals. Ashley and Adam drew their weapons and lunged into battle. Mona’s eyes followed their movements as they slashed and struck down the first wave of demons, almost effortlessly. I couldn’t help but be impressed at their grace and efficiency. It was like a dance. Plunging a dagger into the heart of one demon, only to spin and meet the next incoming demon head on. My feet itched to join them, but Mona held us back.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, do you really think I’d let you in on the fun?” Mona muttered to herself with a little giggle. She turned ninety degrees to her right and began jogging down the tarred road in a direction I knew only too well.
I’d walked this road a million times. Could describe every inch of it with my eyes closed. Still, it felt alien now. Nothing like my childhood.
“Let’s see who’s home, shall we?”
Mona tread the familiar path toward Granny’s home. Blood curdling screams sounded behind us, but she didn’t skip a beat. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted three warriors to the right, overwhelmed by a dozen or so ferals. Still, she didn’t stop. It wasn’t until the run-down old house stood in front of us did she pause, tilting her head to one side and studying its decaying features.
