Page 53 of Demon's Desire

“We need to go,” I said as I ran. “Jackson just got to the park. He probably senses you, and he’ll sense that you’re leaving. We need to get back to the apartment now.”

“How did you do that?” Suldeargan asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

We were well out of sight of the playground now. My hope was that Abby would keep Jackson busy long enough to give us a good head start. The problem was, we didn’t have a car, and if Suldeargan tried flying, people would be able to see me.

“Mothers tend to be really, really nice,” I explained as I ran to the crosswalk. The light was seconds from turning, so I went ahead and ran across the road. Suldeargan had no trouble keeping up with me. If anything, I was probably slowing him down. “Do you know how to get back to the apartment?”

“Of course,” he assured me. “Keep going one more block, then we’ll take a left, then a right.”

“Okay, let’s hurry,” I urged, rushing down the sidewalk as fast as I could.

There were people there who all politely moved out of my way when they realized I was in a hurry. When we got to the next crosswalk, Suldeargan pulled me to the left, and I followed him as closely as I could.

“He’s probably looking for us already,” I warned, turning to look over my shoulder as we ran. I didn’t see his van, but I wasn’t sure how far out he could sense Suldeargan. “You said he can feel where you are. Can you feel him too?”

“I can.” He nodded. “My sense is weaker, but it gives me a bit of warning. He’s not too close. Not yet. Cars make it harder. They move so fast, I can’t keep up. By the time I realized he was at the park, it was too late.”

We turned right at the next crosswalk. The light didn’t tell us to go, but there were no cars at that second, so we took the chance.

“Soul, as soon as we see the apartment, I want you to fly to it,” I instructed. “Then you just phase through the wall or whatever. I mean it, the second.”

“You think I’m gonna leave you out here by your fucking self?” he hissed. “No way.”

“Jackson’s not after me!” I argued. “He’s after you! I’ll be fine!”

“If he’s smart enough that he figured out you’re hiding me, and he gets you alone, you become a target,” he growled. “That’s not fucking happening. When we get to the apartment, I’ll phase through the door and open it for you.”

I nodded, swallowing hard. I was starting to get a stitch in my side from all the running. But we crossed one more crosswalk, and then we were on our block. I could see the apartment.

“Shit! I can feel him, he’s coming!” Suldeargan said.

“We’re almost there!” Five buildings left. Four. Three. Two…. One…

I heard a car horn a couple of streets back. I tried to ignore it as Suldeargan let go of my hand and suddenly phased through the front door. He opened it for me and I darted inside, pulling it shut behind me so it locked. He started running up the stairs, but I stayed back for just a second. I saw Jackson’s beige van pull up and stop in the middle of the street right in front of our apartment.

I ran up the stairs after Suldeargan. When I got there, he had the door open. Even though Jackson couldn’t get into the building, I still slammed the door shut behind me and locked it as quickly as I could.

When we were both safe inside, I took a deep breath and slowly sank to the floor with my back against the door. I closed my eyes and suddenly realized my hands were trembling. When I opened my eyes, Suldeargan was kneeling in front of me. He grabbed my hands and cupped them in his, holding them steady.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, staring intently at our joined hands. “You could have told him where I was, and you would have been free from this.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know… I just… knew that wasn’t the right thing to do.”

“You saved my life,” he whispered, looking up into my eyes.

My breathing was finally starting to slow down to a normal rate, but my heart sped up when he looked at me like that, his red eyes glowing slightly.

“Um… You know that pain?” I asked. “How when you get too far away from me, it hurts you? Well, it hurts me too.”

He looked shocked. “It does?”

I nodded quickly.

“I… I had no idea,” he confessed. “I’ve never been bound to a human before. No one I know has either.”

“Well, now we know for sure how it works.” I smiled tiredly at him.

He returned my smile and pulled one of his hands away from mine, reaching out gently to cup my cheek. I felt myself blush when he did that.