their camping gear, annoyed by the way his lips moved as he
mouthed out each letter. Finally unable to take it any longer she
snapped, slamming her fist against the counter and successfully
startling the man and Leviathan who stood near the door
thumbing through a gun magazine.
“How long is it going to take you?! I’m not getting any younger
here!” She yelled. “Do you need me to do this for you? I could
have typed this an hour ago with my eyes closed!” She growled
then proceeded to climb over the counter in an attempt to get to
the antiquated computer. Leviathan sighed deeply, rushing over
to grab her around the waist and pull her from the shop and onto
the street.
“Are you certain you’re not some type of demon?” He asked her
in a harsh whisper and she glared up at him.
“Positive.” She half whispered half shouted and he rolled his
eyes, pointing her to a bench a little ways away before going to
collect the keys to the jeep and necessary paperwork. Moments
later he came out to retrieve her and instead of sitting on the
bench she stood kicking a trashcan as if it owed her money.
Grumbling quietly to himself about psychotic Hellmouths he
marched over to her, grabbed her by the arm then hauled her over
to the jeep.
“You have lost your mind.” He said, pulling open the passenger
side door and tossing the tiny woman inside to which she
protested with a loud yelp.
“My mind is perfectly fine!” She screamed and he rolled his eyes
as he climbed into the drivers seat. The gear they’d bought earlier
was already packed, taking up most of the trunk space and a bit
of the back seat. It had been a task just getting the cheap woman
to pay for the stuff without her flipping out and trying to attack
the poor saleswoman.
“No, it isn’t. What on earth has gotten into you?” He asked,
casting her a sideways glance as he started the engine and set off
northeast.
“Nothing’s gotten into me. Just forget it.” Her voice dropped as
she folded her arms over her chest and braced her foot against the
dashboard. They fell into an awkward silence that lasted almost
two hours before he sighed and pulled over to the side of the dirt
road they’d been travelling on. “What are you doing?” She asked
as he cut the engine and turned towards her in his seat.
“I don’t know where we’re going.” He said and she rolled her
eyes.
“How the hell do you not know where we’re going?” She asked
and he glared.
“Do I look like some form of demonic compass?”
“Then move over and let me drive.” She offered and he cocked a
brow.
“So you can run the car off the road with your road rage?” He
asked and she just stared at him for a moment.
“How do you even know what that is?!”
“It doesn’t matter I—” he cut himself off, holding up a hand to
silence her as he looked around, his eyes searching the darkness
that had fallen around them. Suddenly he cursed, turning to start
the engine and speed away from where they’d parked.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
“We were followed.” He said, his mouth set in a grim line. Kai’s
eyes widened as she turned to stare over her shoulder at the
headlights that followed them a little too close for comfort. It was
her turn to curse.
“Great, more demons that can drive.”
“Those aren’t demons.”
“So what are they? And how do we even know they’re following
us?” She asked and he shot an arm across her chest to brace her
as the unknown car rammed them from behind.
“Does that answer your question? They’re human; I picked up on
their thoughts as they got closer. They followed us from the
rental shop.” He stomped the gas pedal, picking up speed and
quickly putting distance between them. “Dammit. I should have
noticed them sooner.” He swore.
“It’s not your fault. What do they want?” She asked, quickly
snapping on her seat belt. Leviathan’s jaw tightened, a tic
working in his jaw as he refused to answer. “What? What is it?”
“It’s nothing, just hang on.” He ordered, turning the wheel hard
to the right and sending the jeep careening off the road and into
the desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. The car
wasted no time in following but Leviathan wasn’t worried,
quickly maneuvering around large rocks and small trees as he
drove them deeper and deeper into the brush. The car behind
them didn’t slow, it’s engine growling as it continued to gain on
the speeding jeep. Kailani felt useless, knowing there was
nothing she could do to help them escape. Sitting in the passenger
seat biting her nails wasn’t doing them any good either. Before
she could come up with some heroic plan to start heaving
camping gear out the window at them the jeep began to slow
before skidding to an abrupt halt.
“What’s going on?” She turned to stare out the front windshield,
her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach as a pair of
headlights flashed and nearly blinded them. A large flatbed truck
pulled to a stop in front of them at the same time the car tapped
their bumper. “Well fuck.”
“You can say that again.” Leviathan growled, his knuckles
turning white on the steering wheel as he gripped it tighter.
They’d planned this from the start and somehow knew he’d leave
the main road in an attempt to escape. Together they watched the
heavyset man from the car rental shop jump out of his truck and
head towards them. He flicked on a penlight and aimed it through
Leviathan’s window before tapping the glass.
“Get out of the jeep.” He demanded and the demon hesitated for
a full second.
“Kailani, stay in the car. If I tell you to get out of here drive away
as fast as you can and don’t look back.” He ordered in a low
whisper, which only made her panic. She grabbed his arm as he
reached for the door handle.
“You’re not seriously thinking of going out there?!”
“I’ll be fine.” He said reassuringly, grabbing her knee and
squeezing gently before unlocking his door and stepping out.
Kailani scrambled to lock the door behind him, watching his back
as three more men joined the first from the car in back. This was
not looking good.
“Where are the keys?” The man asked and Leviathan cocked a
brow, opening his hands to show that they were empty.
“In the car where they belong.” He looked over his shoulder at
the three others who came closer, specifically at the one in the
middle who carried a bat. “So this is your game? Renting cars to
young female tourists then tracking them down and
what…beating them to death so you can take the vehicles back?
Sounds like a fool proof plan.” He chuckled much to his dismay.
“Except, you weren’t expecting this one to have a male
companion. At least not one as big as me? So you thought you’d
take a chance and pursue us anyway. That’s what you’re
thinking, right?” The man didn’t answer; instead he reached into
the back of his low riding jeans and pulled a gun from its holster.
“And here I thought this only happened in westerns.”
“Shut up. Get your bitch and your shit out of the jeep and we’ll
think about not tying you up and leaving you for the wild animals
to eat.” Leviathan grinned.
“I can’t do that.” He said, suddenly going completely still as his
senses picked up on a new threat. He cursed inwardly, he
couldn’t win for loosing. “And you picked the wrong night to
pick on tourists.” He said under his breath and the man cocked
his gun.
“You yanks just don’t know how to take the easy way out.” He
made a jerky motion with the barrel of his gun, which Leviathan
didn’t see, but Kai actually caught.
“Leviathan look out!” she screamed as one of the men behind
him snatched a large knife out of an ankle holster and leapt
towards Leviathan. The demon twisted out of the way, narrowly
avoiding having the knife buried in his spine and taking it in the
shoulder blade instead. He roared in pain at the exact same time a
deafening screech rent the air. The humans covered their ears,
cowering as they searched the darkness around them for the
source of the sound. Leviathan, enraged from the knife wound
grabbed the man who’d stabbed him and punched him hard
enough to dislocate his jaw. The man from the shop lifted his gun
and pulled the trigger, squeezing off one shot before a large
shadow rushed towards him, separating to reveal a gray skinned
demon that sank it’s teeth into his shoulder. The man went down
struggling, his gun scattering uselessly to the ground a few feet
away. The others saw the carnage, watching their friend being
ripped to shreds and attempted to turn tail and run but the other
demons descended on them, their claws and teeth splitting their
flesh and sending blood splattering everywhere. Leviathan
watched with mild amusement until the first demon whipped its
head away from its prey, spraying blood as it tore large chunks
from the mans corpse. It’s eyes glowed a dull red as it roared,
leaping towards Leviathan who caught it about the shoulders, the
two of them hitting the car hard as he struggled to keep its
snapping jaws away from his face.
Chapter Seven
Kailani watched in horror as the demon circled Leviathan,
joined by three others that leapt and sank their serrated teeth into
his flesh. He released an answering growl, grunting as he fought
to rip them off. Again she felt useless, unable to lift even a finger
to aid him. But what could she do? Aside from being a
Hellmouth she was only mortal with nothing special about her.
Frantically she took in her surroundings, searching for something
she could use against them, anything that could draw their
attention or lure them away. As if her prayers had been answered
her eyes landed on a gleaming piece of metal a few feet in front
of the jeep. It was the gun the man had pulled on Leviathan,
laying just inches from his partially devoured corpse. Her mind
rushed as the pessimistic side of her told her there was nothing
she could do, that she’d never make it to the gun, yet at the same
time she couldn’t just sit there and do nothing! The car rocked as
Leviathan was repeatedly thrown into it; the demons were
relentless in their assault, their teeth slicing into his body like
razor blades. His grunts and growls went straight to her stomach
until she was ill. He was protecting her; he had been from the
very beginning. A fear of failing aside she couldn’t just let him
die while she stayed safe in the car! Kailani took a deep breath,
calming herself as she unlocked her door. The metal whispered
quietly as she pushed it open, easing herself through the crack
and out onto the dried desert floor. She fell to her hands and
knees, crawling slowly towards the gun that shined in the glow of
the headlights. Her fingertips were inches away from the cool
metal when suddenly a scream rent the air. Her head whipped
towards Leviathan to see one of the demons mouths drop open,
it’s jaw dislocating as it prepared to rip off his head. With
adrenaline rushing through her she snatched up the gun, aimed
and fired.
Leviathan looked up in time to see a bullet speed past his
face. His eyes widened at Kailani as the demons scattered around
him, searching for their attacker.
“What the hell are you doing?!” He asked, watching her stick a
finger in her ear, squeeze her eyes shut and pull the trigger
several times with her other hand. He ducked and dodged the
bullets that flew his way, whizzing unnaturally close to his head.
The demons were no longer in sight but he could feel them
nearby, searching for an opening, a way in to attack. The gun
emptied, leaving only clicking noises behind as she continued to
pull the trigger. Leviathan watched her climb to her feet, dusting
off the back of her jeans with a smile on her face.
“I didn’t hit anything but at least I scared them away.”
“They’re not gone. Didn’t I tell you to stay in the car?”
“Yes you did but I couldn’t just let them eat you!” He shushed
her, adrenaline still pumping fast within him. For a second there
