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I twisted my hair into a double knot. It was long enough to stay, even without a rubber band or clip. Now, if only I could find my cell phone.
I circled, trying to spot it, but finally gave up. “Can you call my phone? I…”
Dastien had a curious look on his face. “Is that some sort of tribal alien on your shirt?”
I glanced down, and laughed. I guessed that’s what it looked like, but it was actually a logo of an EDM group I loved. “It’s actually a rabbit.”
“A rabbit?”
I put my hands on my hips. “You don’t know.”
He grinned. “No. But I love that you’re going to tell me about it.”
“Good. Because that’s totally what I’m going to do.” He threw something at me and I caught it. My cellphone. A few months ago, this would’ve been met with great celebration and more than a few pats on my back, but my reflexes had gotten so good, it was almost like cheating. “Thank you. Rabbit in the Moon is a DJ and live performance group. Axel found them when he was searching for info on Chinese folklore about a rabbit who lived on the moon and shared it with me. They don’t perform very much anymore, but I really dig Floori.d.a.” I grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the cabin. “We’ll listen to it during our run.”
“Can’t wait.”
I paused. “Did you really not know about Rabbit in the Moon or are you just trying to cheer me up by making me focus on something that’s not about demons sucking my soul to hell?”
He laughed. “You don’t have to ask. If you want to know, you have a very easy way to find out.”
I rolled my eyes and took a peek in his head. I didn’t have to search hard. He was pretty much thinking the answer at me without sending the words. You didn’t know! This was a first. Even though we had the same taste musically, his knowledge was way more extensive than mine. But you were trying to distract me.
Anything to get you to respond. I didn’t like how you checked out last night. It was like you weren’t even there. I’m trying to keep the mood light this morning, he said as we walked out of the cabin. That guy really messed with you.
I didn’t mean to check out that much. I just needed to process.
But you forget that you’ve got me. We’re a team. Astaroth doesn’t know who he’s chosen to mess with.
I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him down to my face. Thank you. I pressed my lips against his and for a second, truly lost myself in the heat of his kiss.
By the time we stopped kissing, I was out of breath. I pressed my head against his chest and he rubbed my back.
You have a lot of friends. Don’t count us out before the fig
ht’s even started.
I nodded. You’re right. I just have to get Claudia and Lucas here.
They’re probably already coming.
I hoped so, because Claudia hadn’t even returned one of my million phone calls.
As we walked, I started doing a basic search on Astaroth on my phone, trying to confirm everything Eli had said. Not that the internet would be totally accurate, but getting started made me feel a little less anxious.
The first page of the sites all said the same thing. Great Duke of Hell. Evil Trinity. Forty legions. But nothing more about who he was or more importantly—how to get rid of him. Permanently.
A search on demon ties plus Astaroth got me a ton of information about how to summon a demon, but I wanted to do whatever the opposite was of summoning Astaroth. Banish him? Kill him? I didn’t care. I just wanted him gone. “Do you think people actually try this garbage?” Messing around with demons was mega stupid.
“I’m sure they do.”
People were dumb. “This is getting me nowhere.”
“We’ll grab food and then hit the library. I’m sure there’s more in there about Astaroth than you can find on the web.”
“I hope so.” What I really needed was to talk to my cousin.
As we walked through the doors of the cafeteria, I pressed Claudia’s contact info. The buzzing ring was endless. Until finally, the buzzing stopped.
