AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A minute. Maybe more,” Dastien said. “You weren’t breathing. I was about to start CPR.” Again. For the third time! He yelled through the bond.
Everything clicked at once. “Run! Now!” I leapt up. “Now!” I screamed as I jumped through the door and down the stairs. I didn’t wait to see if they were coming behind me. They would. None of my friends were dumb.
I swung the SUV’s door open so hard it bent backward. “Shit.”
“What the hell?” The driver yelled.
“Just get in!” Lucas was right behind me with Claudia on his back.
As I threw myself across the row of seats, I saw Dastien carrying Samantha. Good call. We could move much faster than she could.
Lucas slid Claudia down and into the car with one smooth move. Chris and Adrian jumped in after her. Next was Dastien and Samantha.
A roar rattled the windows of the tarot shop.
“Now, Lucas!” I screamed, but he was already jumping inside, bending the door as he moved.
As soon as he was in the car, the driver took off. “What the hell is that?”
The ground behind us shook. I couldn’t see Astaroth but I knew he was there.
A truck passed to the right of us and it lifted into the air, flipping end over end, sandwiching the car next to us.
“Don’t look back.” I slapped the back of the driver’s seat. “Just keep going. Fast.”
“You don’t gotta tell me twice,” the driver said as he swerved across the lanes.
Only the sound of breathing, honking horns, and skidding tires followed us for the next few minutes.
My heart was racing. My body felt hot. And my hands were shaking. Again. I’d almost died—We’d all almost died. If we’d been a second slower…
We weren’t. We got away. Dastien ran a hand down my back and then pulled me closer.
This time. But I’d failed. Not once or twice. But over and over. In my visions, I’d died so many times, and nothing we’d done had ever made a difference. The failure and fear hit me, and any last shred of hope I’d managed to hold onto was gone. “Fuck.”
I couldn’t stop the sobs that followed, even if my friends were in the car and I wanted to seem strong for them.
I wasn’t strong. I was trying to be, but there was no way out of this. Not one with a happy ending.
There will be a way. Just because you didn’t get all the answers doesn’t mean we should stop fighting.
We can’t stop, but we’re going to lose. You didn’t see—
I started crying harder. This was embarrassing. Humiliating. And to make it worse, I was going to die at Astaroth’s hands. And if that happened? Everyone was going to die. All of us. No one could live for long if this plane was ruled by demons.
The pressure and weight of trying to find some way to stop it from happening but knowing that I would fail…it was too much. I couldn’t breathe.
Chérie. Stop. You have to stop. His arms were wrapped tight around me and his forehead pressed against mine. Waves of calm and confidence came through the bond, but I couldn’t stop crying.
There was some grumbling and rustling as someone climbed over the seats. I felt Dastien’s confusion as Samantha plopped over the back of the seat, kicking my shoulder with her knee on the way. I tried to get out of her way, but the driver braked just at the wrong time and she flew the rest of the way over, hitting the floorboard in front of me with an umph.
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, but the tears were still falling. “You okay?” I managed to get out.
“Yeah. One sec.” She grabbed my ankle, and then closed her eyes.
A second later, it was like the fog had lifted. I could breathe again. The despair and self-doubt I’d been drowning in a second ago were gone. “How…”
“Astaroth’s good at making you feel like shit. A lot of demons can mess with emotion, and he’s a strong one. Plus, he’s got a hook embedded in your soul and he was just hella close and you have some of my blood in you. So, try to remember that. When I let go, those feelings will still be there. Ignore them. It’s not about you. It’s him making you feel that way. You have to separate yourself from it. Once he’s back on the other plane, it should ease up. Okay?”
