Page 55 of Burn for the Devil
Footsteps sounded behind me and when I went to turn, my upper arm was grabbed. An unfamiliar voice hissed in my ear, “Get in the car.”
Twisting my neck, I gazed up at Ammar. “What are you... how are you here?” He gently pushed his knee into the back of my leg, herding me into the vehicle. I watched the driver head around the car and heard John’s protests outside the window after Ammar pulled the door shut.
“I need information from you,” Ammar started while the car pulled away from the curb. “I couldn’t ask you in there, please forgive me.”
He didn’t seem to mean me any immediate harm, but this was unacceptable. “There are other ways of getting information from me. Why are you doing this?” I almost hadn’t recognized him at first since he’d cleaned himself up and put on a suit. “How did you get here?”
Ammar chuckled. “This isn’t my favorite place, but your boyfriend is a tad protective of you and I needed a way to speak with you.”
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I snapped, my irritation over being spirited away rapidly rising.
“Your prince believes differently, I’m sure.”
Ignoring the nickname, I said, “Well here I am. What do you want?”
“Where is the crystal ball?”
My gaze snapped to his. Ramone had said I made myself a target, I just didn’t picture this man whom I hadn’t thought of as being a real person, to be one to target me here. I wasn’t sure what I’d thought he’d been, I just hadn’t thought about him at all.
And I now understood why John had a different driver tonight. The sick realization that he’d maybe cooperated with my detention hollowed my stomach.
“I don’t have it.”
Ammar licked his lower lip and sat back against the seat. “The last place it was felt was in your home.”
“That doesn’t mean I have it.” The car accelerated up an exit ramp, bringing us onto the highway. “Where are you taking me?”
“What did you see in the glass?”
Swiveling in my seat so I faced him, I said, “How is that any of your business?”
Ammar rubbed his chin. “You fail to realize how serious this is. Ramone’s actions have set off a chain of events that are not in his favor, or yours.” He paused when I glanced down. “You know something,” he remarked.
“I know things aren’t as they appear.” I was tempted to mention my yearlong imprisonment, courtesy of Ramone, but I didn’t divulge. Whether my loyalty was misguided or not, it didn’t feel like it’d be wise to mention that detail. “I do know some things, likely not as many as I should. I can assure you that I do not have the crystal ball.”
“What do you think you know?” Ammar turned his head as if he were gazing out the window. The reflection in the glass showed he was still watching me.
“I know there’s a such thing as magic. And that people can move between worlds, or dimensions. I’m not sure what to call it.” I shook my head; I was still trying to wrap my head around all my new experiences. “I’m going to assume you have magic as well?”
“I do. And I’m going to assume you are not telling me everything you know. You’re aware that’s not wise, correct?”
“Are you threatening me?” His eyes glowed faintly, a light-yellow ring shining around his irises, reminding me of Ramone’s glowing green eyes. “Are you going to hurt me?”
“There’s no need to threaten you, you’re a human with the prince of darkness claiming you. You’re already dead.” Ammar gave me a mirthless smile.
Ramone’s proclamation that he’d kill me echoed in my mind and I knew I’d find no help from this man. “Are you suggesting he’s not human?”
Ammar laughed. “It wasn’t a suggestion.”
A chill ran up my spine. “Then what is he? What are you?”
“He’s the devil,” Ammar muttered, pushing a button that slid the partition down. “Take that exit and drop her off at the curb.”
The driver did as instructed, leaving me on the side of the road yelling after the car. Stunned, I stood there for a few minutes as if the vehicle would turn around and pick me back up. It didn’t.
Shivering, I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and called a car service while I walked to a gas station in the distance. I’d heard the word “devil” in reference to Ramone multiple times now and it left me with my head buzzing.It couldn’t be a literal devil, right?
The side of the road was littered with cups, liquor bottles, and fast-food wrappers and the contents of the grass between the road and the trees were no better. Tall, dry weeds cut a perilous path alongside me that my heels would be unable to navigate.