Milayna's Angel (31 page)

Demons. Glowing pit. Ben.

The images zipped through my mind. I barely
had time to focus on them.

Bloody hands. Chay.

I looked up when I heard Muriel call my name,
and I saw the rest of the group looking at me. “Huh?”

“What did you see?”

“Oh.” I waved my hand in the air. “Nothing.
I’m just tired.”

The rest of the people around the table
seemed to believe my excuse. But when my gaze flitted to Chay, his
mouth was turned down slightly at the corners. He knew I was lying.
The question was, did he know what I was seeing?

Blood covering Chay’s hands. Demon arms
around Benjamin.

***

As soon as it was dark, they lined up in
front of Muriel’s house.

“They’re here,” she said quietly. Drew placed
a protective arm around her waist, pulling her to him for a quick
kiss.

“Great,” Jen said under her breath. “I was
hoping Edward was just trying to scare you.”

I stared out the window at the five Evils and
four demi-demons standing on the sidewalk. “Me too.”

Six of us and nine of them. Why are the odds
never on our side?

Chay walked to me. “Do you have it?” he
asked.

“Yes.” I pulled up my pant leg and unsnapped
the knife sheath I wore around my ankle. Taking the dagger out of
the leather pouch, I weighed it in the palm of my hand. It fit my
grip perfectly, like it was made for me.

Xavier looked over my shoulder. “What is
it?”

“A kick-ass, demon-killing dagger,” I said
with a smile.

Xavier stepped in front of me and looked at
the dagger lying in the palm of my hand. “Where’d you get it?”

“Jake.”

“He gave it to you?”

“Hardly,” I said with a laugh. “I took it
from him. It just flew right out of his hand and into mine.” Chay
chuckled at my joke. Xavier looked confused.

“Milayna is the only one of us that’s figured
out how to harness the telekinetic power we are all supposed to
have,” Drew grumbled with a frown. He’d been practicing, trying to
learn how to use his power since he’d turned eighteen and learned
he possessed it.

“No luck, huh, Drew?” Chay asked with a
grin.

Drew grunted something in answer. I couldn’t
understand what and probably didn’t want to.

“How’d you do it?” Xavier took a step closer
to me to get a better look at the dagger. Chay pushed off the wall
he’d been leaning against.

“I don’t have a clue. I haven’t been able to
do it since my birthday, the night I saw Azazel.”

“Maybe because you haven’t had a need to,”
Chay said.

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“So tell me about the knife.” Xavier reached
for it. My fingers closed around the handle.

“First rule, I don’t give it up for anyone.
No offense, but when demons are trying to kill you, you get a
little protective of your only defense against them.”

Xavier dropped his hand with a tight smile.
“Sure.”

“Besides, you should know the angel legend.”
I looked up at him. “A dagger made from the coals of Hell. The only
known weapon able to kill a demon.”

Xavier’s eyes flitted to the dagger, to me,
and then back again. “I didn’t pay much attention to any of the old
legends.”

“You didn’t pay attention to what would kill
your vicious enemy?” Chay asked, sarcasm lacing his words.

Xavier shrugged a shoulder. “It sure is
beautiful considering it’s from the bowels of Hell.”

“Yes, it is.” I slipped it back in the
leather sheath around my ankle. “So, should we get the party
started or wait and see if they’re just going to spend the night
staring at us?”

Muriel crossed her arms in front of her,
rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “I don’t really want to go
out there if I don’t have to.”

Considering none of us wanted to fight, it
was an easy decision. We popped in a DVD, made popcorn, and settled
around the television to watch a movie and wait them out. It lasted
about forty-five minutes—just when the dang movie was getting
good—before we heard from them.

“You can’t sit in there all night,” Jake
yelled.

I sighed. “I knew they wouldn’t just leave.
I’m surprised they didn’t just come up and ring the doorbell.”

Chay chuckled. “That’d be something Jake
would do.”

I walked to the door and pulled it open. Two
red noses were pressed against the glass of the storm door. “I
wondered where they were.” I pushed it open. Their fat, red bodies
fell backward. Their butts scooting across the porch floor left a
trail in the light dusting of snow.

“Milayna!” Friendly exclaimed. “We wondered
when you’d come out to play.”

“Nice house,” Scarface said with a scowl.

“I suppose I have you to thank for that,” I
said. The grumpy hobgoblin had fingers that shot fireballs. A fact
we found out firsthand just months earlier.

“Nope. That was Aba—”

“Shh! Don’t say his name,” the other goblin
said, wide-eyed.

“Hmph. That was him,” Scarface muttered.

Chay looked over my shoulder. “Why are you
two so scared of Abaddon?”

Both goblins took a step backward as if
Abaddon were going to strike Chay down where he stood for daring to
utter his name.

“Because he’s scary,” Friendly said.

Chay threw some popcorn in his mouth and
shrugged. “That clears it up.”

“Getting bored out here. Stop playing with
the little demons and come outside and play with us,” Jake
called.

“I called the police,” my aunt said quietly.
“There’s no need to go out there.”

“Thank goodness.” We all sighed.

Minutes later, the police showed. The red and
blue bubblegum lights on top of the car swirled in the darkness,
casting their faces in eerie shadows, making them look as evil as
they were. A blip of the siren sent them scattering in all
directions.

“I guess that’s our cue to leave too,” Xavier
said.

“Yeah, it’s getting late,” I agreed.

“Walk me to the door, Milayna?”

I hesitated. Xavier raised his eyebrows in
question. “Sure.” I walked beside him to the front door. Everyone
else made their way into the kitchen, cleaning up the popcorn bowls
and pop cans.

“So…” Xavier rocked back on his heels, his
hands in his pockets. “You’re back with Chay.”

“Why do you think that?”

He reached out and hooked his finger around
the chain I wore, pulling it out from under my T-shirt. The gold
band glittered when the light hit it. “I don’t know too many girls
that still wear their ex-boyfriend’s ring.”

“Oh.”

“The funny thing is, he didn’t touch you all
night. So either you’re back together and he’s all of a sudden
become shy about public displays of affection, or you’re not back
together but something has happened that makes you think you’ll be
getting back together.”

“We aren’t back together,” I said quietly,
wondering how much of our conversation Chay was listening to.

“Then something happened.”

“No. I’m just not giving up yet.”

“And where does that leave me?” Xavier let
the chain fall against my chest. I quickly pushed it under my
shirt.

“The same place you’ve always been. A
friend.”

“Ah. I thought that’d be your answer.”

“I never said—”

“I know. You said we weren’t really dating,
but you sure kissed me like we were.”

I felt a flaming hot blush sear my
cheeks.

Geez, I hope Chay didn’t hear that.

“Xavier…” I sighed, squeezing my forehead
with one hand. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to say. He was
right.

“Don’t worry, Milayna. I knew if Chay gave
any indication he wanted you back, you’d go. But just so you know,
I’m not giving up either.” He leaned down and quickly grazed his
lips over mine before walking out the door.

I turned toward the kitchen and saw Chay
staring at me, his face impassive.

“Chay, it happened—”

“Don’t bother, Milayna.” He brushed past me
and stormed out the door, breaking into a run toward his house.

Crap, crap, crap. I’ve so screwed this
up.

I ran my hand over the chain until I found
the gold band hanging from it. I rolled it between my fingers.

How’d I make such a colossal mess out of
everything? Of course, if I want to get pissy, I could blame it on
Chay. He’s the one who broke up with me in the first place. But it
isn’t entirely his fault. I was teetering on the fence. I can’t
have it both ways. Either I walk away from Chay and commit to
Xavier or I sit around and wait for Chay to make up his mind and
figure out what he wants. I can’t have it both ways. It isn’t fair
to any of us, especially Xavier.

“Choices, choices,” Muriel said softly. She
wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her chin on my
shoulder. “It’d be so much easier if guys came with
instructions.”

“Or we could read their minds.”

“Yeah, that too.” She kissed me on the cheek.
“It’s gonna work out.”

“With which one?”

Muriel shrugged “I wish I had the answer for
you.”

“Me too.”

I just wish I knew who I wanted it to work
out with. And if he wanted to kill me or not.

24

Wednesday and Thursday nights, I had the same
dream. Or maybe they were visions coming to me in my sleep. It
didn’t really matter what I called them.

This dream was different from dreams and
visions I’d had. This time I could see my attacker. I watched him
walk toward me. He smiled. Even in my vision, I could feel my heart
dance at the sight of him. Love, and maybe a little lust, filled
me, and I felt my lips curve into a smile. He was gorgeous. Sexy.
Smart and funny. Almost perfect. Except for the one thing he dreamt
of doing—was going to do. He held out his arms to me and I walked
into them willingly, even though I knew he was as dangerous as the
demons in Hell. Maybe more so, because even though I knew I
shouldn’t trust him, I did.

I breathed in his scent. Clean and outdoorsy.
I weaved my fingers through his silky hair, my other hand massaging
his shoulder. He tensed under my touch.

“I’m sorry, Milayna,” he whispered against my
ear, his breath fanning against my neck, wisps of hair tickling my
skin. He placed a kiss on the hollow behind my ear.

He pulled back and looked into my eyes. A
hand on each shoulder, he gently pushed me until my back was
against the wall. His hands glided over my skin softly, gently
making their way to my neck.

I dropped my hand from his hair, pushing on
his chest and trying to wiggle free. His hands encircled my neck,
his thumbs pressing painfully into my throat, squeezing. My head
began to pound from the lack of oxygen, and my chest burned. The
sound of blood rushing behind my ears was deafening.

Adrenaline surged through my bloodstream, and
I hit and clawed at his hands and arms. I kicked at him, trying to
break free of his grasp. His hold tightened. Stars floated in front
of my eyes. The edges of the room began to darken. The darkness
grew until everything but his face was blotted out.

“I love you, Milayna,” he murmured, gripping
my neck harder still.

The last thing I saw before the blackness
blanketed me was Chay’s blue-green eyes looking into mine as he
squeezed the life out of my body, watching me die.

I woke up with a scream, Muriel by my side
calling my name.

“Sorry.” I covered my face with my hands.

“Milayna!” My mom burst through the bedroom
door, my dad right behind her.

“I’m fine. It was just a nightmare.”

“This makes one every night this week,”
Muriel told them, and I shot her a dirty glare. They didn’t need to
know the nightmares were as bad as they were. They had enough to
deal with without me adding to their stress.

“Milayna, why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not that big of deal, Mom. Everyone has
nightmares.”

“Still, you should have said something. I’ll
call Jen’s dad in the morning and ask him to drop something by to
help you sleep.”

Jen’s dad was a doctor. He was also married
to an angel, so he knew firsthand what we were dealing with.

“I don’t want anything, Mom. I’m fine.” I
didn’t tell her that a sleeping pill would only make the nightmares
worse. Staying asleep would let the dream play over and over again.
I might not be getting a full night’s sleep because of the dreams,
but at least I could wake up and end them. “If it’s okay, I think
I’ll sleep on the couch from now on, though. I don’t want to keep
waking Muriel.”

“You’re not bothering me. You’ll stay in my
room. Do you want to talk about your nightmare?” Muriel asked after
my parents went back to bed, and we were lying in her darkened
bedroom.

“It’s just the same old stuff. Demons and the
pit of Hell, people trying to kill me, you know, standard teenage
problems,” I said with a laugh.

“Who do you see?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

She shifted in bed to see me better. “In your
dream. Who’s trying to kill you?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s funny because you keep calling out
the same name every night.”

“Really? Whose name?”

“Chay. You need to be careful. Your
subconscious is trying to tell you something. Listen to it.”

“Do you know something I don’t?”

“Yeah. Chay is going to try to kill you,” she
said.

***

Friday, our group sat around a table in the
school cafeteria during lunch. Chay leaned back in his chair, his
legs stretched out in front of him. “Have you had anymore visions?
Any of the person trying to kill you?” He poked at his lunch with a
plastic fork. Muriel’s head turned toward me.

“Yes.”

His fork stilled for a beat before he
continued spearing an unrecognizable lump of mush on his tray.
“And? Have you seen the person’s face?”