Page 55 of Demon Rejected

12

Scarlett

The rest of the day passed in a blur. I found myself later that night alone in a room in the SN HQ in Las Vegas. My feet hurt, my head hurt, everything ached and felt broken. Blue Eyes and Matt were both in Med Bay. Ziggy listened to me, and the new guy I called Blue Eyes was heavily guarded. There was something off about all this.

Grayson was not an ordinary dealer. Even after brushing my teeth a few times, I still couldn’t shake the taste his blood left on my tongue. I had tasted blood before, rabbit, dear, even the occasional wild boar. But it tasted nothing like that thick, cold, disgusting thing that spilled in my mouth as I killed Grayson. Did I kill him? I wasn’t sure about that either because it felt as if he was something else, as if that body he was inhabiting was already dead.

Okay, I watched too many horror movies.

I looked at myself in the large mirror, allowing the day to move in front of me like a movie. Grayson knew who and what I was. He said that Gina, the woman who raised me and I believed was my mother, the woman who beat me and called me a Demon was not.

SN considered this mission a success. I wasn’t so sure. Was I the target?

As I watched my body in the mirror, bruises disappeared and more significant cuts started to close. I stepped into the shower and allowed the hot water to wash away the fears and the grime. Everything. My mind tried to process what Grayson said. Maybe others knew about me, too. Maybe I am just putting all the people I care about in danger just by being around them.

My phone was on my nightstand. They brought it back from the apartment I initially had. There were five messages from Cello. My eyes hurt. I couldn’t text, so I called her. At the first ring, she picked up a clear sign she held her phone in her hand.

“Oh my God, Scarlett. I was so worried. Please tell me you’re okay. I asked about you, and then I annoyed my dad until he told me that you’re on a classified mission. I almost died of worry. I ate two ice cream containers. Are you okay?"

“Hi, Cello." My voice sounded tired and weak. “Slow down, girl. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone anything. Sorry."

“I understand. I’m just so worried, Scarlett. You’re my best friend, my sister. But, damn, I’ll die if anything happens to you."

“I’m a big wolf. Woof.”

This was a little inside joke I had with Cello. She laughed and woofed back.

“Tell me about the guys I saw you kissing last night.”

All Cello needed to be distracted was a good topic she could expand on. She started telling me about the guys, and how hot it was to dance and kiss both, and that they landed in bed, all three of them. Cello didn’t stop at giving me graphic details, and I giggled, imagining how it would feel to be with Matt and Kyle and Ziggy all at the same time. And maybe Blue Eyes, too.

I’m greedy, so greedy.

I wrapped my long, red hair in a towel and kept giggling and listening to Cello. It moved me that I meant so much to her. I never meant much to anyone before and knowing that she cared warmed my heart.

I fell asleep only to wake up to a new dream of fire. In my dream, I was a little girl again. Afraid someone was hunting me. But I wasn’t in the trailer. Instead, I was a forest, and a warm hand held mine. The fire did not belong to me. It was hers. It belonged to my mother. The warmth surrounding us was not scary. I knew the flames, and I knew the wolf that ran around us, killing enemies who wanted to capture us. Her arms wrapped around me. She said something I didn’t understand or couldn’t hear because the fighting around us was so loud. The faces that tried to get through the wall of fire were unfamiliar to me. The only thing that I recognized was the scent, the stench. Not even the purity of the fire could mask the weird, stinking, sweet nuance of the demonic smell.

It was demonic. Was my magic, my fire magic, demonic too?

I woke up startled, unable to accept my dream. Sparky was awake and watching me.

“Hey girl, we’re crazy, right?"

I wore a soft white bathrobe and nothing else. I got up and opened the small closet. My small bag was in there, thank God. A pair of jeans and a skin-tight t-shirt did the trick. I kind of knew where Med Bay was on the thirteenth floor. Halfway dressed, I found my way to the elevator and pressed the calling button. The Las Vegas HQ feels like a fancy hotel. I hoped at 3 AM I wouldn't meet many people.

As the door to the elevator opened, Ziggy stepped out. He looked tired. Deep dark rings appeared under his eyes.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” His body was so close to mine. I could feel the heat radiating from him. “I… I wanted to check on you." Ziggy whispered. His voice sounded as tired as his face looked.

“It’s 3 AM."

“And still you’re awake." His hand touched my forearm. His fingers felt feather-light.

“I’m not sure why I’m here. I was hoping that you wanted to have a drink."

“Bad habit. I try to give up on it."