Heart's Redemption (MxM)

Chapter 12 ~ Sam

"You know, this could be a good thing," Ian says. "With no demons to worry about, you can take your time—decide what you really want to do."

We're sitting on a bench outside Toni's garage. Next to me on the right, a vending machine hums loudly, but otherwise the only sounds are Toni's mumbled chanting as she spreads lines of some kind of powder around her shop, and the intermittent whoosh of cars passing on the road beyond. It's a warm day, and Ian bought us each a bottle of water from the machine. He's sipping his, and mine sits unopened between us, sweating condensation in the warm air.

I look over at him, squinting against the late morning light.

He's leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees, auburn hair shining red in the sun. The muscles of his powerful shoulders are visible through his shirt, and I'd like to lean against his broad back and fall asleep there, breathing his scent and soaking up the comfort of his living warmth.

"What do you mean, 'what I really want to do'?" I ask, turning away from him to watch Toni work. Now she's got a little bag on a string she's swinging around as she walks.

Ian lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "You know. I mean, you don't really have relatives in Alaska, do you? If you don't have to run from Karin anymore, you don't need to stick with me. You can go anywhere."

I chew my bottom lip. "I can't tell lies, you know," I say. "It's a demon thing. Some of us have a reputation for being liars, but actually everything we say is true. It's just that humans are really good at hearing what they want to hear, and bad at asking the right questions."

"So what, you've really got family waiting for you up there?" he asks.

I glance at him. "I never said I did. I said I had relatives. My mom's ancestors were from Alaska, so I've got relatives up there somewhere. Just really distant ones."

"Tricky little shit," Ian says, but he's smiling. Then his expression gets serious again. "Anyway, I just think that you oughtta think about other options. It's not that I don't want you with me. It's just...I think you'd be better off with someone like Toni—someone who can protect you and keep you safe. If you have a choice besides me, you should take it."

I feel a little spark of alarm at his words. "You're forgetting the pact," I say quickly. "I can't leave you until we complete it."

"Sam..." he runs his fingers through his hair a few times. "I guess we can talk about it later, once this is done." He gets up and wanders away towards his truck. Carlos did a good job patching it up, apparently, and he's been over to admire the repair work several times already.

Carlos joins him now, and soon they're absorbed in an easy conversation about trucks and cars and things, and I'm left to entertain myself. I try to read a few automotive magazines to see if I can learn something about the subject, thinking maybe it will give me something to talk about with Ian later, but all I learn is that it bores me silly.

Finally, Toni finishes her preparations and joins me by the bench. "You ready for this?" she asks.

"I think so. It's not like I have to do anything, right? Bait just waits for something to come and get it."

She continues to watch me for a moment, so intently that I can't help feeling self-conscious.

"What?" I ask.

She tilts her head a little to the side. "You're just...unexpected," she answers. "When I first saw you, I was ready for a fight. You've got this huge demonic aura—" she holds her hands out, about three feet to either side of me. "—that makes me think you're some kind of monster, and then it turns out you're...something else. I'm still trying to figure you out."

"You and me both," I say, looking back towards where Carlos is showing Ian something in his truck's engine.

Carlos leans close, purposefully brushing his arm against Ian's, and I feel my face getting warm with indignation. At least Ian isn't encouraging him. Although, I reflect, there's no reason he shouldn't. I'm the one who forced the pact on him, interrupted his life, and almost got him shot. If not for me, he'd be happily on his way to Alaska right now and not waiting for demons to show up at an exorcist's auto shop.

"You and Ian...You're...friends?" Toni asks.

I shrug. "I hope so. We just met, and I've never actually had a friend before, so I guess I don't really know. But I think it's starting to feel that way."

"Hmm," she grunts. 

"What?"

"Nothing. I guess I'm just...surprised. It almost makes me feel bad for you."

"Gee, thanks," I mumble. Maybe Toni's a crack exorcist and a great mechanic, but her people skills kinda suck. 

I close my eyes and lean my head against the side of the building at my back, feeling the warm sun on my face. The air is almost still and a little stifling, until a pleasantly chilly breeze drafts over my skin. Then it turns downright icy and my eyes snap open.

There's no mistaking that feeling. Something's here, and it's close.

I can't see it exactly, but I can sense its presence, and I can tell it's something dark. "Toni," I grab for her sleeve.

"I sense it, too," she says, tracking something with her eyes. "It's big."

I nod. "But it's incorporeal. What's it planning to do?"

The answer to my question becomes obvious a moment later.

Carlos straightens suddenly, turns, bends down, and picks up a large wrench out of his tool kit. As he turns back, I see a mass of black tentacles where his face should be.

"IAN!" I scream in warning as Carlos raises the wrench for a skull-crushing blow. Ian turns, sees me pointing, and turns back just in time to dodge enough that the wrench lands on his shoulder and not his head. Still, I hear something crack and he cries out in pain and falls to his knees. Carlos raises the wrench again, but Ian ducks and rolls to the side, holding his right arm against his chest.

Without thinking, I run towards him.

Toni's faster. She sprints past me, knocking into me as she does and sending me sprawling in the gravel. I wince as it shreds my knees and palms, but scramble up again, thinking to help her restrain Carlos somehow so she can exorcise him and trap the demon.

Instead, I get to my feet just in time to see her kick Ian in the head.