Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“That’s what I hear,” I agreed. “How do you plan to protect yourself now that you’re free?”
“I’ve had nothing to do for a year but think,” Aggy said.
“And what did you come up with?”
“I want to start a coven. Or maybe a school. A school coven?” she said, rolling her eyes at herself. “I just think… if I can round us up and get us all in one place, we would be so powerful. Too powerful to fuck with. I mean, also a huge target, of course. But it seems safer than for us all to be out in the wild, fending for ourselves.”
“I actually think that’s a really good plan. With the way the world is going, you could probably have your pick of school or college campuses soon.”
“It’s been bad, huh?”
“Every day is another new ‘natural disaster.’ But now, the government isn’t really helping anymore. So everyone is fending for themselves. It’s about to get really violent soon. And then, of course, there are the demons and beasts.”
“Because things aren’t fun enough,” Aggy said with a head shake.
“Right?” I agreed, sighing.
“What’s your plan, long-term?” she asked.
“Honestly? I haven’t given it much thought. I was so focused on freeing Nemesis, hoping she would balance the scales. After that… I had no plan.”
“But you have a guy.”
“Yes. Sort of. Maybe.”
“Oh, the old ‘Yes, sort of, maybe.’”
“We haven’t had a lot of time to discuss things. We’ve been hard at work and… not working.”
“Oh, goddess; I miss not working. Well, when we find him, you two can have a nice little chat. You know the old ‘Are we going to hunker down through the apocalypse together or not?’ chat.”
“That old one,” I agreed, smiling. “It really does feel like the end of the world, doesn’t it?”
“Or, at least, the end of the world as we’ve always known it,” Aggy agreed, finally finished with her vending machine dinner and sliding down under the covers, already looking half-asleep.
Within two minutes, she was out cold.
I carefully climbed out of the bed, took a shower, changed, and started to clean up the room a bit.
Sure, the chances of anyone renting the place again when things were falling apart so quickly were slim, but that didn’t mean I had to become discourteous. Plus, it allowed me to channel my anxiety.
There was no stopping my swirling thoughts, the way my stomach was clenching at the idea of what Daemon might be enduring.
It was just a day.
Less, even.
Then we could find him, save him, and get the hell out of here.
That was the plan.
Until the door of the motel room flew off its hinges.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Nox
Aggy flew up in bed, magic crackling around her, the ear-piercing sound returning before she had even untangled from the blankets.
My own heart was hammering as my shadow danced around me, giving me the option to hide.
Maybe I would have.
But it all happened too quickly to react.
The door flew across the room, cracking into matchsticks against the wall a few feet to my side.
Then Daemon’s body was dropped down onto the ground just inside the door.
Bloody.
Bruised.
Unmoving.
Before I could even let the cry that was building in my chest out, another figure was moving into the room.
“Sister,” Nemesis said, her voice this deep, sultry sound I hadn’t been anticipating. She reminded me a lot of our mother, actually.
“Nemesis,” I greeted her.
“You freed me,” she said, her shadows dancing around her as if they were alive themselves. “I owed you a debt,” she said, waving down at Daemon. “So, I brought you your demon. I believe he is broken,” she said, casting a disinterested glance at him, then looking at me once more. “We’re even.”
With that, and nothing more, she was gone.
“Did she have to break the door?” Aggy grumbled, climbing off the bed as I flew at Daemon, pressing my hands to his chest, wanting to make sure he was still alive.
It didn’t matter that he’d told me he was immortal. This was a whole new world. Who knew what was possible?
And while he looked like he’d had a building fall on him, he was still alive.
“He’s a demon?” Aggy asked, kneeling down on Daemon’s other side, her hand moving out to touch Daemon’s horn.
“Yes.”
“Interesting,” she said. “He’s kind of hot for a demon.”
I didn’t know how she could tell with how broken he was.
“Demons are immortal, right?” she asked.
“Right. He should heal. He heals really quickly.”
So we dragged him onto the bed.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
But none of the cuts sealed shut. None of the bruises faded.
“So… what now?” Aggy asked.
“I think I need to get help.”
“Help from who?”
“I don’t know.” Arick? His demon friends? “But we need to do something. Help me get him in the car.”
With that, we tore the sheets off the bed with Daemon on them and dragged him to the car.