Happy Thursday! Enjoy the chapter!

xoxo

-Sierra <3

I kept looking in the rearview mirror as I drove, hoping that the car with the creepy woman in it would be gone. Each time, I was disappointed. She also kept getting closer and closer, not following the guidelines of a safe following distance at all. 

"Get off my ass," I muttered.

"Just speed up," Asmodeus responded.

"I'm already going ten miles per hour above the speed limit," I responded. I probably sounded snippy but that creepy woman was worrying me. She hadn't really even batted an eye when Asmodeus had gone from a giant snake to a mountain lion, and then to a kitten. Most humans would have screamed and run away, or called the cops, or both. But she had just stood there, staring. And it definitely didn't take the amount of time she had been standing there just to fill up a gas tank. Nothing added up. She hadn't acted like a human, so she probably wasn't one. The only other thing I could think of was that she was a demon. But then why would she wait and follow us instead of just attacking us? It didn't make sense. None of it did. 

We drove for another couple of miles until I couldn't stand it anymore. I pulled over. I half expected the other car to pull in behind us, but it didn't. The woman drove right past without so much as a backward glance. I had never been so relieved to be wrong in my entire life. I pulled back onto the road and kept driving. There was a car coming towards us. As the other car came closer, I realized they were on the wrong side of the road. I also noticed that it was the same car that had been following us. I should have found a way to shake that woman. I don't know how I could have possibly done that on a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere, but now I was locked in a game of chicken with a woman who was most likely not human. I pressed on the gas hoping that I could bluff my way through. The other car didn't slow down. If I didn't get out of the way we were going to crash. Of course Alex chose that moment to wake up.

"Where are we?" he asked groggily. 

"A few miles from where you stopped. Luna was just about to get us killed," Asmodeus responded.

"What?" Alex said, suddenly alert. 

"Woman. Gas station. Following us. Game of chicken," I managed to get out. I heard Alex sit up and then gasp. The car was maybe fifty yards away. Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Nope. I swerved. I tried to keep the car on the road, but I didn't have much luck. Typical, I know. The car went off the road. I yanked on the wheel, which was apparently the wrong thing to do. One of the wheels caught in a hole and we went airborne. Alex and I screamed, Asmodeus let out a stream of yelled curses that I don't think I'll repeat. The car came crashing back to Earth, landing upside-down with a jolt. The air was knocked out of me, but I didn't feel too hurt, all things considered. 

"Alex?" I called. My voice was hoarse. There was dust everywhere. Nobody responded. "Alex?" I repeated, my breath quickening. Someone groaned. "Alex is that you? Are you okay?" 

"Define okay," he moaned. I let out a sigh of relief, which hurt a lot more than it should have. I probably had some bruised or broken ribs. The airbags hadn't gone off. 

"Can you move?" I asked. 

"Yeah, but I think I broke my arm." I tried to turn my head and look at him, but yelped in pain instead.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm gonna try to get out of the car. As?" I wasn't worried about the demon. He could change shape at will.

"Ah someone finally remembered little old me." As predicted, the response came from outside of the car.

"Just get me out of here," I said. I struggled to open the door, and found that it was stuck. I waited patiently, and then the door was ripped away from the car by a bear with bright red eyes. The bear then became human and he reached a hand out to me. I took it and stifled a scream as he dragged me from the wreck. I lay panting on the ground for a moment before sitting up with a groan. Then a thought hit me. "The book," I said in alarm. 

"Relax. I've got it," Asmodeus responded. He was currently appraising the wrecked car, seemingly looking for a way to remove Alex. I sighed in relief. Asmodeus suddenly took a very quick step backward.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Shh," he responded harshly.

"Don't shush me," I said in outrage.

"Will you shut up? There's something here," he said in exasperation. 

"What is it?" I asked.

"I would figure it out if you would stop talking." I stopped talking. Asmodeus cocked his head to the side, as if he was listening for something. My thoughts drifted to the woman who had run us off the road. It's not like that had been an accident, meaning she would end up over here, probably to steal the book. That's the only thing I could think of that she could possibly want. Asmodeus hissed suddenly as if he were still a cat. "Filthy abominations," he growled.

"That's not very nice is it?" Someone said. It wasn't the voice I was expecting. A man stepped into view, seemingly materializing from nowhere. He had brown hair, the color of fertilizer, and his eyes matched. He wasn't a demon. Then again, what did I really know about demons?

"You and your kind do not belong on this Earth," Asmodeus hissed. I had never seen him so angry. 

"And you do? Please. Your kind created us, and yet you say that we are the monsters," the man said calmly. Asmodeus bared his teeth at him. The man just smirked slightly at Asmodeus's discomfort and anger. 

"What do you want with us?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady. The man seemed to notice me for the first time. He inhaled deeply and something in his eyes glinted. He licked his lips.

"I've never tasted pure magic before," he mused. "The legends say it's...exquisite." I didn't like the way he was looking at me, like I was a piece of meat. Asmodeus stepped in front of me, something that had me breathing a sigh of relief and cursing myself for feeling relieved. I did not need him to step in front of me. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I was about to look behind me, to check on Alex, when Asmodeus spoke in my mind.

Don't. I glared at his back.

I have to make sure he's okay, I argued. 

They don't realize that he is here yet. You're scent is overpowering his. He could still walk away from this. My expression turned worried. His tone made it fairly obvious that the two of us would not be walking away, which didn't make any sense. It was us, a demon and a magician, against some creep, and the woman who had run us off the road, although I hadn't seen her yet. I was become more and more sure by the second that this foe was not a demon. His eyes were normal, and he just didn't seem like a demon. It was hard to describe, but it was like I could feel it in my bones. However, I was also certain that he wasn't human. The silence began to stretch to uncomfortable lengths.

"We'll just be going now," I said, backing up. I backed into something and turned around in surprise. The woman had been silently standing there for god knows how long. She had dirty blonde hair in a bob. She was pale, and her eyes were a murky shade of green, like a swamp. She bared her fangs at me. Wait. Fangs? I looked at her teeth, hoping I had imagined it, but I was disappointed. All of her teeth were sharpened to points, like a shark's, but they were also thin and longer than normal. I yelped and leapt back towards where Asmodeus was still locked in a staring contest with the other one. 

"What are you?" I breathed. 

"Vampires," Asmodeus responded, venom lacing his voice. 

"Vampires aren't real," I protested. I know, how naïve of me to think that demons were the only kind of supernatural creature that existed. The two...vampires...laughed. They sounded like hyenas. 

"It doesn't matter whether you believe or not. You'll soon be much too dead to care," the woman purred. "Can we kill her now Michael? I so long to taste her blood. She smells fantastic."

"Patience Emmaline. I think it best if we savor her, don't you?" The man, Michael, sounded absurdly gleeful about that prospect. Emmaline sighed, but I could hear the smile in it. 

"If you touch her, I will end you and your entire nest," Asmodeus threatened, but there was something in his voice that made it clear he was making an empty threat. I wondered briefly what would happen to him if I died. Would he be forced back into his literary prison? I tried to think of any spell that could get us out of this but all of the spells in that book required words, and some required blood, or hair, or other items. The only spell I had memorized was the first one I tried. Light. That wouldn't do anything except maybe buy us some time, but it was all I had. I wondered briefly if Alex was okay. At least he was smart enough to stay quiet. My fingers twitched in anticipation as I gathered all the magic I could muster. A soft ball of light wouldn't do anything. It was daytime, so they probably wouldn't even be able to see it. I needed something stronger.

Ready? I silently asked As.

As long as I get to kill these...things...I will always be ready, he responded. I wondered why he hated them so much, aside from the obvious I mean. He seemed like he had a very deep and personal loathing for them.

"Lux," I whispered, feeling my magic surge up. 

"What was that, girl?" Emmaline said from behind me. I kept my fist closed, containing the light as best I could, but some was beginning to shine through my fingers. 

"What are you doing?" Michael asked, eyes narrowed. I closed my eyes and brought my hand up above my head, palm open. Light seared my eyelids and I heard someone scream in pain. Then a thought struck me. Even if we could get away, there was no way we could get Alex out of there. That momentary distraction was my downfall. I fell as a searing pain traveled through my whole body, originating in my shoulder. I fell to the ground with a cry of pain. The light abruptly faded and I opened my eyes. Stars danced there, but through my disorientation I managed to make out two forms rolling around on the ground. One was Asmodeus, currently on top of Michael. I was yanked to my feet. I struggled, but the grip was one of iron on my upper arm. The pain from my shoulder was causing me to slouch down and I was sure that if Emmaline wasn't holding me up, I would still be on the ground. 

"Oh demon prince," Emmaline sang triumphantly. 

"As," I rasped. He went still, and keeping one hand on Michael's throat, turned his head to look at us. His eyes took in the situation, and they seemed to grow a little brighter. 

"Now be good little demon and get up," Emmaline ordered. Asmodeus hesitated for a moment, and then did what she said. I was about to try the light spell again, but Emmaline seemed to read my thoughts.

"Don't even think about it. I will break your neck faster than you can say a single word," she hissed in my ear. I swallowed, but stayed silent. She seemed to take that as compliance. Asmodeus stood to the side. I could practically see the thoughts racing through his head, trying desperately to come up with some way out of this, but I knew there wasn't one. I don't know what happened next, because the pain in my shoulder from the bite combined with my aching ribs became too much. In other words, I, very heroically of course, passed out.