thorn 00

thorn 00
“You… have… a nice one… to save.”
It was my turn to almost trip. I righted us and laughed. “Are you seriously checking me out while we’re running for our lives?”
“No,” he fired back quickly, bringing out another laugh from me. Him admitting that he liked how I looked was something to explore another time—when we weren’t running to save ourselves.
After a while, I asked, “How we doing?”
“They’re closing in, but we’re still far enough away.”
“Okay,” I clipped. It was good having Alex watching them because all I had to do was concentrate on getting us to the city. Fuck. As we drew close, I caught the bustling city and also the sentries who stood surrounding the place.
There were too many. We couldn’t take them all on.
They spotted us. A roar erupted through the thick, warm air. Stopping, I placed Alex on his feet.
“What?” he said, then looked to where I was. I heard his gulp as they raced toward us.
We were surrounded.
“Time to use my magic?” Alex asked.
A snort dropped from my lips unexpectedly. “Yeah. Can you get us in there?”
“I can. We’ll just have to see if we’ll be detected afterward.”
They grew closer.
“Let’s do it.”
Alex’s power rose. His eyes changed to purple, the shade glowing, the air chilling, and yet he waited.
“What are you doing?” I asked anxiously. They were nearly upon us.
“Hold on to me,” he said, his voice thicker, deeper.
I wrapped my arms around his waist just as a blast shot out of him and slid over the desert. I witnessed the surrounding army fall to the ground just before light shone around us, and that same feeling of being transported took over me.
I opened my eyes to see we now stood in a small, darkened room. The light under the door shone enough for me to make out we were in a broom closet. “Are you okay?” I asked when Alex stumbled forward after I released him.
“Just weakened a little. Give me a moment. I’ll be okay.”
“What did you do to them?”
“Put them to sleep. I’m not sure how long they’ll stay like that.”
My hands slid from his arms up to his shoulders. He lifted his head and blinked up at me. “Alex, there were thousands out there.”
He nodded. “I know. I could kill them, but it could have knocked me out. A sleeping spell was easier.”
The power he held inside of him was amazing.
I tugged him toward me and kissed him hard. He moaned under my lips, and I found his tongue to play with my own. Pulling back, I said, “You saved us.”
He stared up at me in a bit of a daze. “Don’t say that yet. I’m not sure where I’ve landed us. I just made sure it was a room no one was in.” Smiling, I kissed him again. He gently pushed on my chest and muttered, “If you keep doing that, my weakness will continue.”
I laughed, and he covered my mouth. Grabbing his hand, I pulled it down to whisper, “I’ll go out and scope the area—”
“No. Just give me a moment and we’ll go together.”
“All right.” I pulled him against me again and twisted enough to sit us in the cramped area with him between my legs. He didn’t even fight it. He rested back against me and breathed deeply. He sounded asleep, but I knew better. He’d still be alert; he was just trying to gain some energy back.
“Couple more minutes,” he mumbled.
“Sure,” I whispered.
Laughter and then music started outside the room.
Christ, where the fuck were we and would we have to fight our way out? We needed to find out where Lucifer was. He’d be our best chance to get out of there. Hopefully.
Right then, I wasn’t too sure of anything, and I didn’t like the thought of Alex having to use his reserves of power. It could harm him more than help.
Usually, I wouldn’t let worry seep into my veins, but fuck, with Alex there it did. He was family. He was ours, and I didn’t want him to risk himself more. Absently, I massaged the back of his neck since his head was turned into my shoulder.
“We could wait until their party stops,” I suggested. “They could be drinking and pass out by the end of it.”
“No. They’ll sense us soon. I’m blocking our scents and power from them, but I won’t be able—”
“Fuck, you shouldn’t be doing it. You’re trying to get energy back, not waste it.”
He chuckled low. “It’s not a waste, and it’s easy to do.” Groaning, he started to move away until I pulled him back. “We have to make a move now. My magic is already building.”
“Alex.”
He turned in my arms and smiled. “Trust me.”
I searched his eyes. Already they looked livelier. “I do.”
“Good.” He pecked my lips, blushed for doing so, and then quickly stood. “We’ll go out there. I’ll block our powers, and hopefully they’ll think we’re new demons or something so we can get out.” He wouldn’t meet my gaze now. I’d deal with that later, make sure he knew I wanted his lips on mine any time, or else I wouldn’t have kissed him before.
“Sounds like a plan.”
He nodded, opened the door, and stepped out. I followed quickly. My body buzzed, and I saw we were in some type of living room before I caught his “Motherfuck—” He froze as all eyes were on us. Out of the corner of his mouth, he said, “Seems they blocked my block and knew exactly what we are.”
Of fucking course the demons didn’t allow anyone to goddamn hide.
They stood from the couches, from the stools at the bench, from the table where they’d sat playing poker. They all stood smiling like they’d just won the lottery.
Only we were their winnings.
The front door in front of us burst open. I stood in a fighting stance while Alex called his power up. The sunlight blinded us for a moment, and I blinked rapidly.
A long, loud noise sounded throughout the room. The demons, to my utter fucking shock, sank to their knees.
Alex gasped. I swung my gaze back to the doorway, and my mouth dropped open. I couldn’t believe it.