Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

I was still freaked out by the demon’s change in personality when Reed Taylor came to pick me up. On a motorcycle, nonetheless. He roared to a stop in front of my house and pulled off his helmet. I couldn’t feel the invisible presence anywhere, and that might not be such a bad thing.

“It’s me,” he said helpfully.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

I eyed the bike. I was standing there in a filmy, light blue skirt and top. Ethereal looking, even. He was so killing my mystical vibe.

“Do I, uh, need to come in and . . . meet your brother or something?”

I’d filled Reed Taylor in on the phone earlier. “Come pick me up, and oh yeah, I live with my brother. And be sure to kick the demons in the face when you come. In the face.”

Okay, so maybe I made that last part up.

I blew my hair out of my eyes. “Nah, he’s my brother, not my warden. Besides, if you really want to say hi, you can wave from here. Most likely he’s peering at us discreetly through the kitchen blinds.”

Reed Taylor tucked his helmet under his arm and waved a bit wildly toward the kitchen. I saw the tell-tale movement of the blinds as my brother slunk away from them. Typical.

“So,” I said, chewing on my index fingernail. I can’t help it; it’s a bad habit. There are always worse things I can be doing. “What’s the plan, Stan?”

“The plan is that you get on this bike. And hold on tightly to ole’ Reed because we are going to tear all around this town. Ready, baby?”

It is to my credit that I didn’t laugh. Sure, I had to bite my lip. And I made a strangled sound that sounded like I was choking. But I kept the laughter at bay.

“If I had known,” I said, “I would have worn jeans.” Not only for modesty’s sake but also because Reed Taylor looked like he had just rolled out of bed ten minutes ago. After sleeping for about twenty years. And a shave would have been nice. Oh well.

“You look fine. Now will you please get on the bike? You don’t need to be afraid. Motorcycles can be quite safe if you’re a good driver, and I am a very good driver.”

He revved the engine in what he hoped was an intimidating manner.

“You think I’m scared of your bike?” I asked sweetly.

“There’s no reason to be,” he said, still revving.

“But there’s only one helmet.”

“You can use mine,” he said graciously. “I’ll go without. It’s important the lady always be protected.”

Good heavens. I smiled flirtatiously at Reed. “I forgot something in the garage. Do you mind waiting just a second?” I batted my eyes. Gosh, I’m good.

“Sure,” Reed Taylor said. He brushed his terrible hair back with his hand.

When I walked out of the garage, he gawked at me.

“Let’s go,” I said, pulling my own motorcycle helmet over my head.

“Where did you get that?” he asked me. His wide eyes were gorgeous.

“Dude, I never ride without a helmet. Are you crazy?” I swung my leg easily over the bike, wrapped my arms around his stomach. “I’ve been riding since I was a kid. Know what else?”

“What?”

“My bike’s a lot bigger than yours.”

Reed Taylor yanked his helmet onto his head and took off. The force of it made me tighten my arms around him even more. And I couldn’t stop laughing.

Except there is a downside to a full-face motorcycle helmet, and that is every sound you make is amplified like crazy. After my laughter finally quieted down into almost hiccupy sobs and then snorting smirks, I had a monster of a headache. It sounded like the very demons of hell had been cackling manically in my ears. But nope, it was just me.

“So where are we going?” I shouted at Reed Taylor. My amplified voice nearly made my eyes cross.

“No idea,” he called back over his shoulder. “How about wherever the wind takes us?”

“Ah, so you’re a free spirit,” I yelled and promptly decided I was finished talking. My voice was driving me insane. Funny, I’d had dates tell me that before. Losers.

Reed Taylor was laughing, and I decided to lean against him and enjoy the ride. I hadn’t been behind another rider in years. I used to ride with my father, but he’d had one of his episodes once, and we’d crashed. He came out of it okay, but I broke my leg a pretty good one, and he had sold the bike after that. For about five years. Then he’d bought a new one, and we’d gone tearing around again. It was in our blood.

And it was nice. I liked the feel of Reed Taylor, and I loved the feel of the bike. I closed my eyes, and there were no demons, no invisible presences, nothing I didn’t want to see. It was heaven.

Until an hour later and I was starving. I mean, seriously, howlingly starving. Reed Taylor’s shoulders were starting to look delicious.

“When are we going to eat?” I asked him. He flicked his eyes to mine in his rearview mirror.

“Hey, Luna, I thought you were sleeping back there.”

I nearly was. “Of course not. Do you think I’m crazy? Feed me!”

Reed looked around. “You know, I don’t really know where we are. I just kind of drove up the coast for a bit.”

Normally, this is the type of behavior that I would applaud, but I was dying. I could feel my skin burning high up on my cheeks, a sure sign I was going to go ballistic without food. And Reed Taylor seemed like such a nice guy. It would be a shame to see him go. Just then, a blue sign caught my eye.

“Pull over here,” I shouted and pointed. The motorcycle slowed down, and Reed sprayed gravel as he stopped short. I hopped off the bike.

“You know this place?” he asked me, yanking his helmet off. His hair was an absolute mess. I liked this guy better and better.

“Know the owner. You’ll like it.”

I tugged my helmet off and hung it on his handlebar. Then I set about to the business of fluffing my hair.

“All right, let’s go,” I said and pulled Reed Taylor by the hand.

“I wouldn’t go in there right now,” a demon said to me. He was leaning casually on the doorjamb, his robes fluttering around him like black wings.

I ignored him and kicked open the wooden door.

“You’ll regret it,” he called after me. I muttered something not very nice under my breath.

“What’s that?” Reed Taylor asked me.

“Nothing. Two,” I said to the girl at the front and dragged my date to an extremely tall table. I hopped up on my stool, and he climbed onto his.

“Diet Coke,” I demanded before the waiter asked, and then I tented my fingers together patiently while Reed Taylor ordered lemonade. Hmmm. Refreshing.

“I don’t drink anymore,” he explained while the waiter ran off to get our drinks. He looked almost embarrassed to tell me, but he was doing it anyway. I liked that.

“I told you, you don’t have to explain yourself to me,” I said, but I was pleased. He could tell.

He looked around. “What kind of hole in the wall is this?” The paint on the walls was blue at one point, but most of it had chipped off and faded by now. There was an old fishing net tossed haphazardly over our table like a tablecloth. Reed Taylor tried to extract his fork from it, but it wasn’t working. It was tangled in there pretty well.

“This is the best fish and chips place you’ll find, Reed Taylor. And it’s dirt cheap. Even more importantly, it’s quick,” I said just as the waiter rushed up. He set down our drinks and whipped out his pad and paper. He ducked into himself like he was trying to hide from me. For good reason.

“Hey, Owen, where’s your hat?” I asked him. He scowled and pulled a paper diving helmet out of his apron. After carefully putting it on, he scrawled down our order, did a little nautical dance because we had ordered the special (why else would I order the special?), and zipped away.

“You liked giving that guy a hard time,” Reed Taylor accused.

“I dated his brother for a bit,” I explained, but my attention wasn’t on Reed Taylor. It was on the demon following our waiter around. The way it was moving, it wasn’t right.

“So did you like his brother?” Asked like he didn’t even care. And maybe he didn’t.

“Not especially.” My body was very still.

“What’s wrong?”

I didn’t answer. The demon had gone from a drifting, ramshackle gait to a hurried, quick one. He had matched it directly up to Owen’s.

“Luna?”

“This isn’t right,” I mumbled under my breath. Reed Taylor turned around to see. Frustrated, he turned back.

“There isn’t anything there.”

The demon had inched closer to the waiter. He was only half a foot away.

Realization slowly dawned.

“No!” I said, jumping off of my stool so quickly that it fell over. The few customers in the place started.

“Luna, what’s going on?”

I heard Reed Taylor yelling after me, but I didn’t stop. I leapt over my chair and ran as fast as I could toward the waiter. I felt a quick draining of energy, and the demon was reaching a suddenly much more tangible hand toward the boy’s shoulder.

“Owen!” I screamed, and the waiter turned to stare at me in shock. “Owen, look out!”

I crashed into Owen a second before the demon did. The force of my body knocked him flat to the floor, and his trays went flying. The demon’s hand landed hard between my shoulder blades, and I arched my back from the freezing pain.

It was agony.

I felt the will of the demon as it tried to burrow deep inside of my skin and my soul. Its fingers were tapered at the ends, sharp, and it pushed through my skin like pins, trying desperately to drive down to the very core.

“Uninvited,” I gasped out. “Uninvited.”

The demon panted, its face right beside my ear. “You took him from me,” it hissed and pushed harder into my body. I could feel tendrils of it, waxy and cold, sliding across the protective top layer of my soul. It wanted in. It wanted in so desperately that I could taste it. It made me taste it. I twisted up onto my tiptoes, my body spasming.

“Let me in, Luna. Your soul for his. Fair trade.”

Owen scooted away on the ground, his face terrified. He was much younger when I had seen him last. An awkward little high school punk who didn’t fit in anywhere, didn’t have anybody but his brother. I felt my eyes narrow.

“You will not touch him,” I spit out, and I twisted around to face the demon. Its red eyes sparked, but I knew it was wearing out too.

“You fight, Luna.” Its smugness ticked me off.

“Better believe I fight,” I said and then I let it explode out of me.

That’s the way to put it. All of the rage, all of my loathing for the darkness I’m bombarded with, all of my despair came shooting out through my skin. I could feel it. More importantly, the demon felt it. It was being forced to solidify against its will. It withdrew its fingers a fraction of a centimeter out from between my shoulder blades and howled.

“Keep screaming,” I yelled and let the power continue to flow.

“Stop,” it gasped out. Its eyes were burning a brighter red. I had to act fast.

I slammed my forehead into its face. Something crunched, teeth or nose, I didn’t have time to think about it. The demon’s cry was shrill and agonized. It made my blood burn.

I yanked myself away, ripping its gripping fingers from the blazing pain in my back. The scream that came out of my own throat was almost as harsh.

“Luna?” Reed Taylor called my name tentatively.

“Stay back!” I barked at him. “You don’t want to become a target.”

“A target for what?” he asked, but I hissed as the broken demon snapped toward Reed Taylor like a leather belt in the hands of an abusive lover.

“Don’t touch him!” I growled and elbowed the demon in the jaw. It tried to dematerialize, but I pushed more of my anger and energy into it, holding it fast in its solidity. “No, you don’t. No hiding.” I elbowed it again, aiming toward its smashed face. It threw its hands over its face, and I elbowed it in the stomach.

“Just let me have the boy,” it moaned.

“Never.”

The demon spit something up, something dark and phlegmy and disgustingly alive. It mewed and crawled across the floor with wet, stubby legs. I was killing it, I knew.

“Please,” it begged. “Please don’t.”

“I’m strong enough to defeat you,” I snarled.

The demon bent itself in half backward and shrieked. It was a horrible sound. The mewling thing tried to scramble away, but I stepped on it, impaling it on my high heel. Its cry echoed the demon’s.

“You are destroyed,” I cried and pushed my clawed hands through the demon’s body. My hands felt like cold fire. The demon looked at me with utter contempt.

“I know you, Luna Masterson,” it said. Its voice was surprisingly calm. “They want you, and I shall deliver you.” The pain between my shoulder blades ramped up, nearly drove me mad. I felt my teeth clench in terror.

“I mark you,” it said and vanished.

I took a deep breath and realized I was panting right there in the middle of the fish and chips place. Every eye was on me. Owen was still on the floor, nearly incoherent with panic.

“Tell your brother hi,” I said to him, my hand on my ribs. I felt like I had just run a marathon.

“W-will do,” he promised. He dropped his head to the floor and closed his eyes.

I turned around, and Reed Taylor was staring at me. I tried to smooth my hair down with my hand.

“Uh, so that was . . . um,” I started, but suddenly, the ground began to rumble under my feet. I felt the feeling of dread begin to prick at my skin.

“Oh no,” I whispered and ran to Reed Taylor. His pupils were slightly dilated.

“What’s going on?” he asked me.

Well, drat. This wasn’t how I meant to do this, but there just wasn’t time. I cupped Reed Taylor’s face in my hands and looked him directly in the eyes.

“Listen to me, Reed Taylor, and listen well. I see demons. They’re everywhere, and now we’re in trouble. We have to get out of here. Do you understand?”

“Demons?” he asked dreamily. The ground shook violently, and blackness began to gather in the corner of the restaurant. A glass of water tipped over and shattered on the floor.

My heart nearly failed me.

“Reed Taylor!” I barked. He jerked like I had hit him. This ticked me off. “Give me your keys! Now!”

He fished the keys from his pocket, and I ripped them out of his hand. “Your bike! Go!” We ran outside to his bike, and I hopped on, threw his helmet back to him. I could hear a sick snarling coming from inside the door. I started the bike, yanked my helmet down over my head.

“Hold on!” I shouted and was nearly crushed by his arms. Well, good. He’ll have to hold on tight with the driving I have planned.

I screeched off, the bike roaring beneath us. Darkness swirled around us on the left and the right. I knew if I looked up, I would see no stars.

“Where are we going?” Reed shouted. I checked his eyes in the rearview mirror. They were completely wild.

“Home,” I answered and coaxed more speed out of his bike.

I only hoped we made it there.