Page 33 of Demon Queen
I didn’t scream, no, because I’d been in the process of taking a breath, so I just gasped. He wrapped his arms and legs around me and spread his wings the split-second before we hit the asphalt and died, bringing us up in a glide away from the warehouse and demons, and into the dark night.
For three blocks, I stayed like a petrified log with the young demon wrapped around me, and then his wings gave out, and we went down, hitting some garbage cans before rolling across the pavement.
I stumbled to my feet and then dragged the downed demon out of the road before the oncoming truck made a pancake out of him.
“Are you okay?” I asked breathlessly, leaning over him and grabbing his shoulders while his eyes fluttered.
They opened and he stared at me, his eyes brighter than ever as he grinned, showing fanged canines. “I can’t believe that actually worked.”
I sighed and dropped him then staggered over as the whole dizzying flight caught up to me. I grabbed a sign post with my stomach churning while Mixl went through the garbage cans until he came back with a pair of men’s boots that were at least four sizes too big for me.
“So you don’t cut your soft baby feet on the glass,” he said helpfully.
“Thanks,” I said, staring at those shoes for a long time before I sighed and slipped my bare feet into them. I mean, I’d eaten a demon. Was this the time to be squeamish about foot bacteria? I shuddered and started walking as fast as I could in hopefully the right direction with the demon darting around me like a fish in shallow water. He was interested in everything, exhaust ducts, sewer grates, piles of rubble, and old paper towels. I just hoped he didn’t cut himself and need a tetanus shot. Did demons get lockjaw?
I definitely had blisters on my feet by the time we got to the street with Tom’s movie theater. It was dark, the sign out, because he was probably at Gloria’s house asleep. That was fine. I just needed to get to the top floor where he kept his books and things. I went around the building, down the back alley and then looked up at the fire ladder where it’d broken off so close to the roof.
“What are we doing?” Mixl whispered right in my ear, making me jump and whirl around while my heart raced.
His grin was the most irritating thing in the world, but I found myself smiling back at him. “I’m going to break in. I used to climb the brick wall when I was a teenager. I probably still remember how to do it.” Was that optimism or blatant untruth? Not really a question there.
I took off the boots and started feeling around for a handhold.
“Come on,” Mixl said, already halfway up the wall. I looked up as he leapt up and caught himself with his claws against the wall so easily. And he was a young demon? Scary. Dorian could probably just run through the wall if he got a good speed. I slipped and barely grabbed a narrow windowsill. I was maybe three feet off the ground. That was the bathroom, right? Maybe it was unlocked. I clearly wasn’t going to be scaling up the entire side of the building at the rate I was going.
I worked on it, but it wasn’t budging. I sighed heavily, pulled back my arm and smashed my elbow through the window. Ow. So much ow.
“What are you doing?” Mixl hissed while he shunted the glass out of the frame and then boosted me through the window. I was still stunned from my stupidity while my arm throbbed. Brain damage. Being bitten by a vampire, or having her hold my head like that had given me brain damage. And then Roberta. That explained the eating a demon thing I also wasn’t thinking about. Brain damage. I wasn’t insane, just mentally impaired.
“Why are you laughing?” Mixl whispered while he came out of a stall with a long trail of toilet paper coming after him.
“I’m not…” I snickered. “Laughing.” But if I was, it was because he looked so funny with a tail of toilet paper.
He shook his head and started wrapping it around my arm. “You’re going to get yourself killed, and then Drigo will kill everyone and then…” He gasped and crouched, grabbing a large piece of glass that he held up while he stared at the doorway like he heard something.
I stopped laughing. Hm. I guess I had been laughing. Weird.
The door opened and in leapt Tom, knives in his hands and a cold gleam in his eye. He threw a knife at Mixl, but the demon blocked it with his piece of glass. He returned the throw, whichTom sidestepped, then finally looked at me and my toilet paper wrapped arm.
“Sandra? What are you doing?” the cadaver-like figure asked, frowning at me, and the mess I’d made.
It was like being fourteen again. Oh the shame. “I broke your window. Sorry. I’ll pay for it, I just couldn’t climb the building after all. I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“And your shoes? You’re standing in glass. How bad’s your arm? Do you need stitches?” He sighed heavily. “You’d better come upstairs. What’s the demon supposed to be doing?”
Mixl puffed up his chest. “I’m her bodyguard.”
“You’re clearly doing a stellar job.”
Mixl made a face at Tom then darted through the window, throwing the boots through, one of which hit Tom in the head. He grunted and then put the boot down so I could step into it. “You’re clearly living your best life,” he muttered while Mixl climbed back in, looking heroic, because he’d remembered boots to protect my baby feet.
“Thanks. You too. Why are you here?”
“You broke a window. I had an alarm on that window.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry.”
He shrugged. “You’ll pay for it. You’re a very responsible soul. Let’s move this party upstairs.” He studied my arm again for a second, shook his head, and then walked with me up the narrow stairs to the small apartment next to the movie room.
