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“We’re all in. Let’s go,” Chris said.
“What about the meeting—” Claudia started, but Lucas cut her off.
“I’ll talk to Michael. I think we can delay it by a day if necessary.”
“Great.” I stood up. “How soon can we head out? Do we need to book tickets? What’s the—”
“Two hours.” Lucas pulled out his phone. “We’ll take my plane. We can be in LA by this afternoon.”
The chokehold around my chest started to ease. This was good. We had the start of a plan. Something that we could actually do. A demon expert to talk to. It wasn’t a ton, but it was a start. “I’m going to shower and grab a bag in case we’re there overnight. Then I’m heading to the library. Going to do a quick search and grab anything I can on Astaroth for the plane ride. Meet in the parking lot?”
“Sure,” Lucas said. “Everyone be there in an hour.”
I let out a long breath. “Great.”
“I’ll head to the library, too. Get a head start on research,” Adrian said.
“Awesome. Thanks.” We all got up from the table, heading off to get ready for our sudden trip to Los Angeles.
It was funny how much my life had changed since I’d been there last. That city wasn’t home anymore, yet I felt a sense of comfort and relief about going back.
Yes, what was happening now wasn’t good, but a lot of bad things had happened and we’d come out of them kind of okay. And if this girl couldn’t help us, then I’d find another way. Someone else. Something else. But I wasn’t going to stop. Not while I had enough air to breathe.
Astaroth hadn’t known what he was signing up for when he attached himself to me. That motherfucker was getting sent back where he belonged, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to be joining him.
Nine
By the time we landed at the Los Angeles International Airport, I was ready to get something concrete done. We’d each brought a stack of books with us but found a whole bunch of nothing in them. Sure there was info on who Astaroth was—Great Duke of Hell, blah blah blah. Evil Trinity, blah blah blah. But the overarching theme was if you saw him, run or else you’d die. Painfully. Miserably. And him knowing who you were meant death.
It was safe to say that he knew me. I was pretty cool with the running part, but once he had enough power to cross the barrier between hell and earth, I was screwed. And I was still pretty much screwed even if he couldn’t cross it. The demon had already managed to suck me into his world. He’d killed Muraco to do that.
The clock was ticking, and I couldn’t run forever if he was tied to me.
If Astaroth won, he’d have the power to open a giant portal to Hell and demons would overrun the mortal plane. My death would fuel the end of the world.
Fun times.
As I stepped out of the plane, the sun hit my face. I grabbed my sunglasses from where they were hanging on my shirt collar, and slipped them on. “Seventy-two and sunny.” I moaned. “There’s so much wrong with this city, but man, the weather’s awesome. I’ve missed it.”
“The smell is what bothers me the most,” Lucas grumbled from behind me as I started down the stairs to the tarmac.
“What is that? I never smelled it before, but I’m assuming it’s because my nose is so much better now…” Exhaust and sweat and dirt and garbage—so much garbage—all rolled into one indescribable aroma.
“Eu de big city,” Chris said.
“Paris didn’t smell this bad.” It was bad, but not quite so revolting.
“Paris isn’t in a valley,” Dastien said.
“Ah. Right.” It made sense. The smog was so bad that I usually couldn’t even see the mountains, but a good rain or the Santa Ana winds would roll in and clear it out. Those were the days I used to look forward to. I could really see how pretty LA was then.
An SUV was waiting for us with a driver. Is he Were? I asked Dastien.
No. This driver will take us to the lobby of the private terminal. But the driver there will be a Were. Lucas wouldn’t want to be driven by anyone else.
From the local pack?
Nah. LA is too crowded for a pack. We like space. But there are a few Weres who have made home here.
