Amelia says I'm sensing something outside, a threat. No. The problem is that I'm not sensing something. The souls of all the little forest critters are gone. Just gone. Like there's nothing alive within a fifty mile radius. A sudden extinction or mass exodus. It's so quiet that it's almost hurting my ears. There are always souls around: human, animal, sometimes even certain plants. But right now, nothing. Am I losing my demon abilities? No, that's impossible. Something else is going on here, and I don't like it.
With the demon blade in hand, I crouch down just inside the cabin window and peek outside into the twilight dimmed woods surrounding us. The natural shadows created by the flora would frighten a human, or at least make them wary, but I can see through it all. All it is is lack of light. There's nothing hidden in the darkness. At least not right now.
I begin to feel my body responding naturally to the possible threat; my eyes turning pure black allowing me to see things humans could only dream of, my muscles tense and harden preparing for attack, my ears begin to pick up heart beats, breaths, and even ants crawling around on the porch step. Then I feel the blade seem to meld with my arm, becoming a living part of me. Of course, it's not physically becoming my arm, but the essence is there meshing with mine.
Whatever's out there, or not out there, had better be good because I just had an angel in my arms a moment ago, and it was hands down the greatest experience of my existence. She may be sick and injured, but she was there. And she wasn't running away like the rest. She was like holding the warmth of the sun in my hands. A sun that would never set.
I don't see or hear or sense anything outside the cabin so I stand up, hold a finger up to the girls, and quietly head outside. It's dusk, but my eyes allow me to see perfectly in the dim light. They're even better in the dark. The instant I step off the porch, I know something's wrong. Seriously wrong. I can sense Jeremy, or some unknown vampire. Maybe it's him or not, but there's something else, too. Something masking him. Whatever it is isn't very near him otherwise I wouldn't be sensing him at all. It's distant but not at a safe one.
I don't like this. I don't like not knowing what's going on. I'm the demon here; the master of evil creatures. And I can't put my finger on this one. All I can do is hope that whatever it is passes us by, perhaps giving us a cursory glance and realizing the fight isn't worth the spoils. Evil beings don't think that way, though. If they sense a soul as bright and pure as Jocelyn's, it's like a moth to a flame. Insatiable.
I head back in, keeping my eyes closed for a moment so as not to frighten Jocelyn. Cora and Amelia have seen my dead eyes a million times. They're used to it. But seeing something like that for the first time; no iris, no sclera, just black, is terrifying to everyone. I sheathe the demon blade and open my eyes once it's safe again. Cora and Amelia have their guns out and ready, no fear evident anywhere on them. I almost smile. I love my teammate's bravery in the face of almost certain death.
Jocelyn, on the other hand, is shivering as she huddles in Cora's arms. This could be the fever or fear or maybe a little of both, but I don't like it. And I'm finding that I don't like being separated from her, either. It's an odd feeling but one I could see myself definitely getting used to.
I approach the three women, and Jocelyn reaches out for me. She literally raises her arms as if to embrace me. This completely catches me off-guard. I'm not used to people actually wanting me near them. Usually their instincts tell them to back away, subconsciously sensing the danger I present, but for whatever reason Jocelyn wants me with her. Far be it from me to refuse her.
Cora releases an annoyed huff but releases the weakened woman to me, and I instantly feel whole again as I sit down behind her with her locked in the circle of my arms. I'm calmed, relaxed, at peace. I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. This warrior who once provided death and destruction for the prince of darkness is now the happiest he's ever been in his existence, and that's saying something.
"How are you holding up?" I whisper as she leans back onto my chest.
"What was outside?" she breathes.
"Nothing. Just a false alarm." I look up and share a wary look with Cora. She knows there are no false alarms with me. There's something out there, but nothing I can do anything about right now.
"Let's get this process over with, shall we?" Amelia asks, holstering her gun and rolling up her sleeves.
I hold Jocelyn a little tighter and wrap her hands around mine. "I'm not going to lie," I say. "This is going to hurt like a bitch, but you can squeeze the hell out of my hands all you need. You won't hurt me, okay?"
"Why is it going to hurt?" she asks, her voice trembling. "Isn't healing painless?"
"At its normal pace, yes," Amelia explains. "But when I force the body to heal instantly, it doesn't like it. These things are meant to take time. Nerve endings that are broken don't like to be touched again until they're ready. I'm about to touch them and they're nowhere near ready. Immune systems want to destroy viruses and bacteria their own way, the way mother nature wants them to. So when I go in there and force the fighting cells out of the way, they don't like that either."
Cora brings a clean and dry wash cloth over from her backpack. "I'm going to put this in your mouth. Bite down hard when it hurts. You. Cannot. Scream. Got it?" she explains. Jocelyn nods her head. "We don't need to broadcast our location any more than we already have."
She holds the washcloth out and Jocelyn bites down on it. I've seen Amelia and Drew do this a thousand times and it's never bothered me, but this time, with Jocelyn, I can honestly say I'm quickly turning into a supernatural wreck. An angel like Jocelyn isn't supposed to feel pain. Hell, a demon's not supposed to be able to touch an angel either, but I could swear that's what I'm doing right now as I hold this precious woman in my arms.
Amelia places her hands on Jocelyn's shins and we wait. All Amelia has to do is find the injuries or illness and it'll begin. God, I hate this.
Jocelyn's body suddenly arches in my arms and I have to wrap them completely around her to keep her from jumping off the floor. Her eyes are squeezed shut. She's trying so hard not to scream. I want to cry for her, but demons can't cry. I bury my nose in her hair and inhale deeply. I know she hasn't bathed in days, maybe weeks, but that's not what I smell. It's her soul, and it's like warm, home baked cookies. I begin whispering comforting, supportive words into her ear, but I don't know if she can hear me.
Every second is excrutiating for her. Minute by minute passes as she squeezes the shit out of my hands. I'm quite thankful right now that I can't be physically harmed by humans or I'd probably need Amelia's help after this. My bones are like steel, however, not bending a bit. My skin like an impenetrable bulletproof vest. And I have no blood to bleed even if she managed to scratch through it. Jesus, I'm like the perfect teddy bear for her: comforting, soft, warm, providing security from the proverbial darkness. That thought makes me internally groan. My bad boy side is slipping away.
Within twenty minutes, I can already tell the effects of Amelia's work. Jocelyn is breathing easier; there are less crackles in her lungs than before...when she's actually breathing. She seems to be breathing in spurts, the pain making her mind forget it's most basic reflexes.
"Keep breathing, Jocelyn," I say. "It'll help with the pain. I swear." And I love to hear the sounds of your life: your heart beat, your breath, your blood wooshing through your veins. It's like a perfect symphony to my ears.
I've coached victims through this before but usually only in an emergency. Like I said, people in general try to avoid me. Normally it's Cora or Drew or anyone else for that matter, but Jocelyn wanted me, and this makes me feel more powerful than the devil himself.
An hour later, her body has finally adjusted to the pain a little, and she melts into my arms, exhausted. I've never felt so needed, so human in my entire existence. This woman is depending on me to get her through this, and I guess I'm doing a good job. Cora's no longer hovering over me waiting for me to screw up. She's off breaking open hot packs to wrap in Jocelyn's blankets overnight. If the weather forecast is to be believed, the temperature's going to plummet into the mid 20s and this silly excuse for a cabin won't provide any shelter for that.
"You know you'll have to let her go when it's time to set a perimeter," Cora states quietly so as to not disturb Jocelyn who I think may be finally drifting off regardless of the fact that Amelia is still working her way through her body.
"Yes, I realize that. Thank you for stating the obvious, Cora." I throw her an ungrateful stare and she grins right back. "I figure you and I will head outside and walk the clearing while Amelia and Jocelyn sleep it off. Hopefully Amelia will have this done tonight, and we can head out in the morning."
Cora nods her head and pops open another hot pack. She tucks it into the blanket and then stops what she's doing, looking over at me. "What's going on with this?" She sweeps her hand from me to Jocelyn and back.
I know what she's getting at, but I really don't feel like discussing this with Cora right now or at all. So I play dumb and shrug. "Don't know."
She's silent for a moment maybe pondering whether I'm telling the truth or not, but then her next words send a shiver of such strength through me that I have no choice but to react to it. "Don't you dare start anything with her, Az."
I feel a snarl begin to build, but then Jocelyn shifts slightly in my arms, burying her head into my chest, and I sigh like a pathetic school girl after the hot varsity quarterback just looked in her direction. "What happens between me and Jocelyn is none of your damn business, Cora." My whisper is harsh but soft enough that it doesn't disturb my angel.
She snorts and clicks on a pen light so she can see where she's going to get to Jocelyn and cover her up. A regular flashlight is way too bright. Covert is the objective here. At least we're lucky I'm a demon and just my presence can give us a small amount of supernatural cloaking ability. It's more difficult for other less honorable entities to notice us.
Wait...
Cora leans down to cover Jocelyn with the blanket, and I reach out, snatching her arm. She freezes, her eyes instantly on mine. Her brow furrows as she gently drops the blanket over Jocelyn's body.
"What's up?" she whispers.
"Let's go outside," I say. "And bring your gear. All of it."
I slowly and carefully remove myself from under Jocelyn causing a small moan to slip from her lips. It manages to leach through my bulletproof skin and squishes my nonexistent heart into pieces. I suddenly want so badly to bend down and kiss her forehead. Why, I don't know, but the need is there. I've been in love before, but it's never felt like this. This can't possibly be the L word. I've only just met her today. Lust. That's all it is. I am the demon playboy after all, and she's definitely my type of woman. I ignore the urge to brush my lips across her forehead, however. There's something bigger and much more dangerous that I need to worry about now.
Cora follows me out the front door, and we stand in the middle of the completely black clearing around the cabin, the only light being the millions of stars overhead. Not even the moon has the guts to come out tonight. Cora slides on her night vision glasses and looks at me.
"It's no longer Jeremy we need to worry about," I say, still unnerved by the lack of animal souls in the area surrounding us. But at least I now know why.
Cora's eyes leave mine to sweep the area. She unsnaps the holster on her Glock. "What's out there, Az?"
"I now know why Zane couldn't track Jeremy and why I haven't been able to sense him as he gets closer. It's the same way Jeremy hasn't discovered us yet." I swallow deeply trying to rid myself of the knot of anxiety building in my throat.
"Jeremy's travelling with a demon."