“Good thing the cops are on their way.” Eliza tips her head, able to hear the sirens before I do, though with the high-pitched beeping of the security alarm still going off, it’s hard to hear anything else around us.
The girl Abby is helping inches toward her friend on the ground. Tears are running down her face, and she looks confused as hell. Rightly so, of course.
“Tina?” the friend asks timidly, shaking her head. “I don’t know what happened.” She looks back at Abby and wipes tears off her cheek, smearing blood across her skin in the process.
“You should stay back before your friend wakes up and gets all stabby again,” Eliza says bluntly, and I elbow her.
“I…I don’t understand.” She looks from Eliza to me. “Did you see what happened?” Wincing, she cradles her hand against her chest.
“No,” I lie. “I heard the glass break and came across the street to see if anyone was hurt.” Please don’t have a security camera, I silently plead, looking at the store. I still don’t think anyone would come to the conclusion that I used magic to blast away the glass…right?
“She didn’t want to go out tonight,” she whimpers. “But I begged her.”
“It’s not your fault.” Red and blue flashing lights illuminate the sidewalk. “Fuck,” I grumble. I wasn’t expecting the police so soon. I mean, it’s great they responded this fast, but I needed more time to try and figure out how the hell I can save this girl from War’s grip.
“Go,” Melinda mouths. “I got this.”
Nodding, I let Eliza drag me back across the street and stop on the corner, blending in with the rest of the annoying spectators. The fire department is the first to arrive, and I lose sight of Abby when the truck pulls up along the storefront.
“How long is that sleep-spell going to hold?” Eliza asks.
“Hours, unless I wake her up.”
“Can you do that from across the street? If you want to try and help this woman, wake her up before they think she overdosed and give her something for it.”
“That’s, um, that’s really logical.” We walk a few paces down the street so I can get a good view of Tina on the ground. I wait until a burly fireman is almost to her before I wake her up. She gets to her feet, looking confused, and then screams when she realizes her hand is bleeding. She starts screaming that someone did it to her and that the fireman who’s trying to help is going to kill her. More emergency response vehicles show up, obscuring my view and making it impossible to hear what she’s saying.
“I can’t see my sister.”
“Stay here,” Eliza tells me. “I’ll check on her. Stay. Here.”
“I will,” I promise, nodding my head. Eliza looks me in the eye for half a beat and then zooms across the street, going around an ambulance and out of sight.
Taking a step back, I blend into my surroundings and wait, each second ticking by slow as ever. A familiar feeling tugs at my heart, and I turn just in time to see Lucas coming to a stop after running with vampire speed to me.
“Tell me you’re okay,” he says, both hands landing on my arms. He looks me up and down and inhales, smelling for my blood.
“I’m perfectly okay. Though I did kind of blow up that window.”
“There’s a good explanation for that, I’m sure.”
“I’m going to say so.” I step in close to him. “How did you know I was here?”
“I followed the sirens.” Lucas looks at the police cars. “There’s always a chance you’re wherever the trouble is.”
I give him a look but don’t disagree. “I saw War.”
“The Horseman War?” He holds onto me tighter, as if that will keep me safe. It makes me feel safe, at the very least.
“Yes. I think he was on some sort of astral plane because no one else could see him, and I think he was almost surprised I could see him. He only responded when I yelled at him in Enochian.”
Lucas looks at me, dark blue eyes zeroing in on mine. “You yelled at one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?”
I shrug. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Told you…that’s my motto.”
“And then what happened?”
“I tried to hit him with magic, but it went through him and broke the window. Oh, and I think Paimon sent a demon after me, and there’s a chance I trapped it in the mirror in the ladies’ room at The Taproom.”
Lucas opens his mouth only to shut it again. Brows slowly furrowing, he pulls me to him. “I’m never letting you out of the house again.” He hugs me but quickly lets go, running his hands down my arms and then resting them on my stomach. “You seem—”