Page 18 of Demon Hunger
Was Drevan crazy?! He was going to get me killed. Maybe I’d told himnoone too many times and he was ready to get rid of me.
After plunging halfway to the ground, Jophiel rose again, this time higher. Drevan followed closely. I kept an eye on him, wondering what deranged idea was zooming through his head. Suddenly, he flew upward and disappeared out of sight. I struggled to follow his progress, but Jophiel’s huge wings blotted everything.
Thoughts of my mother and siblings sailed uninvited into my brain.
Witchlights, I hope I see them again.
An abrupt movement caught my attention. I glanced in its direction and saw Drevan nosediving from the right. This time he’s going to impact me. He was going to try to snatch me from Jophiel’s hold. I braced myself and closed my eyes tightly.
“Have it your way, cousin,” Jophiel spat.
Instead of feeling Drevan’s impact against my body, I started plummeting toward the ground.
A scream got stuck in my throat as I tumbled downward, my arms and legs flailing. The sky was down, the earth was up, then they switched places. Thethumpof Drevan’s wings followed behind me.
“Lucia!” he screamed, his voice raw, desperate.
Somehow, I managed to turn my body so I was facing the ground. A building was directly below me, and I was going to crash into it. Thrusting my arms forward, I released a blast of telekinetic energy against the structure, barely slowing myself down just enough for Drevan to catch up with me.
His arms wrapped tightly around my waist, then he was lifting me higher, pressing me against his warmth, and whispering in my ear.
“You’re all right, moro mou. You’re all right.”
He flew, cradling me in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tightly.
“You shouldn’t be afraid. I got you. I would never let anything bad happen to you. Look around us. The stars are beautiful. You can see them from here. Don’t hide your face.”
I didn’t know when I’d started crying, but my tears were cold against my cheeks as I did as he said. The stars were, indeed, beautiful. There were thousands, millions of them. I’d never seen so many all at once.
“Moro mou,” Drevan repeated that word soothingly, delivering me from evil.
Ironic, that.
8
Drevanlandedgentlyontop of an old-looking building. Holding me tightly against his chest, he carried me to a service door, which opened all on its own. He continued down a narrow set of steps, and when we reached a narrow hall with a peeling railing and threadbare, though clean, carpet, he marched toward a paneled wooden door.
This one also opened on its own. We stepped in and what looked like over a hundred candles of different thicknesses and colors came to life with warm flame to reveal a small room with a bed pushed to the corner under a hazy window. Replete bookshelves occupied the rest of the space, save for a small desk. In fact, books were also piled on the floor and on the night table next to the bed.
His steps as he carried me to the bed were silent over the many layered rugs. Gently, he laid me down on my back, accommodating a pillow under my head and reaching for a thick knitted blanket to cover me. With his long, warm fingers, he pushed a strand of hair off my face and regarded me with deep concern.
“Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
I shook my head, then nodded.
I heard his teeth grind as he clenched them. From his reaction, I could tell he understood that I wasn’t all right, and that Jophielhadhurt me. Not physically, but I could feel the fear he’d caused, burrowing itself deep in my soul. How would I ever be able to go outside without constantly looking over my head, crouching like a panicked chipmunk?
“I’m going to kill him,” he declared coldly.
Shivers ran up my arms, and I pulled the covers tightly to my chest.
He shook his head as if to wipe away his declaration. “Would you like something to drink? Tea? Something stronger?”
I shook my head.
Slowly, as if giving me the chance to push him away, he lay down in the narrow space between me and the edge of the bed. He rested on his side and placed his head on the pillow.
At first, my body tensed all over, but as he did nothing more than look at me and breathe steadily, I started to relax. I stared at the ceiling, achingly aware of his gaze on me. He started humming a tune I didn’t recognize. It soothed me and soon my eyelids grew heavy until sleep took me away.
