Chapter 18

Levi thoughtit was a clever idea to change cars again, so this time, he rented a sports Mercedes for us. It was more luxurious than the SUV, but it was smaller.

Couldn't the man rent something simpler? A car like this caught a lot of attention and that was exactly what we didn't need. But I didn't say anything, because even though he was acting charming and cocky, I could see it was a mask and he was irritated. Or maybe furious.

My mind came up with three hundred scenarios about why he could be furious, despite my efforts to forget about him for a few minutes at least.

One, he was still mad at me because of the bond and being forced to come and help me. I mean, why wouldn't he be? I certainly would. But in the last couple of days, I thought he wasn't as mad anymore … maybe something I said or did triggered the feelings again.

Two, I had felt turned on last night, which in turn made him turned on, since he felt what I felt, and that was why he slept with me. Because I wanted him to, and he couldn't help it. But the truth was, he hadn't wanted it and now despised me for it.

Three, I stepped on his toes, or elbowed his ribs, or something? I didn't know. Honestly, with how moody he was behaving, it could be anything, really.

The first leg of the drive was quiet and tense. I ignored Levi, turned to the window, and tried napping. But I couldn't. My mind was too agitated.

Last night, running from the nightclub, it had been crazy. This morning when leaving the hotel, I thought we would encounter a supernatural or a dozen, who were lurking around the town, still searching for us.

Thankfully, no one was waiting, and we left Las Vegas behind without any trouble.

Around one in the afternoon, we stopped for lunch at a diner outside Bakersfield. We were getting closer to San Francisco, and I was getting nervous.

Soon, I would be within walking distance from my wings.

I was afraid of my reaction when I saw them. I was afraid in what state I would find them. Were they part of a pretty display, or were they ripped feather by feather?

My heart lurched in pain.

Levi looked up from the menu. "What was that, sweetheart?"

Shit, he had felt it. I set my menu down and stared at him seated across the booth. "Just thinking about my wings."

"That's—"

The server appeared then and took our orders—two cheeseburgers, fries, and Cokes. Simple, fast. We wanted to get going as soon as possible.

When she was gone, Levi opened his mouth to say something, but his phone rang.

"Yes?" he answered it. He listened for a few seconds. "Get me his direct number. I'll call him myself." He turned it off and fumed at the screen.

"What is it?"

"Duncan's people said he's not interested in a wand."

I frowned. "I thought he wouldn't be. We'll need to think of something else."

Levi tilted his head and locked his baby blues on me. "If only we had something, an object, maybe a weapon, a powerful dagger or sword or stake. Maybe he would fall for that."

I averted my eyes.

I knew of such a weapon. I had hidden such a weapon, but no one other than Molraz and Rhodes knew that. Unless Rhodes had told Elysium that I had stolen it.

I grabbed the butter knife on the table. "Perhaps we can find a witch who can glamour this and infuse it with some power, enough to fool a demon."

He kept staring at me, so intent. "Witches can't glamour things, sweetheart. That's for fae."

I knew that, but I wouldn't correct it now, lest he thought I was hiding something.

The server came back with our food, and we ate in silence. Halfway through the meal, I remembered Levi was about to say something before we ordered our meal, and then we both forgot.

I was about to ask him what it was, when two guys entered the diner, staring at me. I couldn't pinpoint what exactly they were, but I was sure they weren't humans.

I stiffened.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Levi followed my gaze. "A half demon, and a lion shifter."

The duo sat three booths from us. The server came, they ordered coffee, and all the while, they kept shooting glances our way.

Could they have been at the nightclub last night? We were over four hours from Las Vegas, and it was another day. Those supernaturals had either forgotten about Levi and me, or they were still looking for us around Las Vegas.

They wouldn't be out here. Right?

Levi's phone rang again and he cursed under his breath. "Yes?" he answered with a bite.

Three seconds in and he stared at me, eyes narrowed. He kept listening to whoever was on the other line, and his gaze shifted to the supernatural duo, the ones who were still shooting daggers with their eyes.

"Understood," Levi said before putting his phone down.

He looked out the window, to a pickup truck that had parked in front of the diner, bringing in more supernaturals.

My stomach coiled. "What's going on?"

"Apparently, the angels went crazy," he said, his voice low. "They put out something like a wanted poster of you. Extremely high reward."

"What?" I squeaked.

I had never heard of anything like that before. It was insane!

Then my phone rang. I frowned, since only a handful of people had this number. It was Hazel. Surely, she had seen the "poster" and the reward. I ignored the call, but soon my phone vibrated with lots of messages.

"We need to get out of here," Levi said.

My frown deepened. Yeah, we had to, but I didn't have my powers. Other than fighting my way out, I was a sitting duck. "Lead the way," I mumbled, irritated with this shit.

Casually, Levi left a one-hundred-dollar bill on the table and stood up. I drank the last sip of my drink and stood with him. As we expected, the two supernaturals stood and the ones outside formed a wide semicircle in front of the front door.

Levi slipped his hand in mine. "Ready?" he asked, his voice low.

He lifted one hand and shadows jutted out from all corners, enveloping the diner in darkness. Levi pulled me down and we rushed to the kitchen—I went with him, because I couldn't see anything, but perhaps he could; after all, this was his magic.

We crossed the kitchen—the scent of grease thick in the air—and exited through the back. The shadows covered most of the building and some of the parking lot, but when we finally stepped through the dark cloud into a gravel space in the back, four supernaturals were waiting for us.

"You didn't think it would be easy, right?" one of them asked. From what I could tell, he was a lesser demon. His companions were two vampires, and a shifter, not sure what kind.

"Where's the fun in easy?" Levi asked, his tone as charming as ever.

He sent out a wave of darkfire. The two vampires zoomed out of range, but the magic hit the demon and the shifter. They went down but didn't stay down. Levi kept assailing them with his magic. The lesser demon threw his darkfire at Levi, and the shifter shifted into a lion and lunged.

I turned to the side, with the idea of trying to get the car, any car, so we could get away from him, but faced the two vampires.

"Sweet, sweet angel," one of them said.

Shit.

I brought my fists up, but they were too fast for me. They played with me as if I was nothing. I punched, jabbed, and kicked air, while they zoomed around me and karate-chopped my back, my neck, and my stomach, taking the air away.

Dizzy, I fell to my knees. One vampire caught my hair and pulled my head back, exposing my throat, while the other loomed over me, licking his lips.

"I bet her blood tastes sweet."

"We shouldn't taste it. We have a reward to get."

"I won't bite her. I'll do this." He ran a nail over my neck. A slow stinging pain spread where he had touched. Then, he brought his fingers to his mouth and moaned. "Delicious."

"That's enough," a fae said as he approached us. I didn't know what kind he was, but he sounded like the boss.

I blinked, trying to focus enough to get my bearings. More supernaturals arrived and formed a semicircle around us. Levi had already killed the first two, but now he was busy with another handful of enemies.

"Just take her," the fae said.

No, they couldn't take me. If they took me, they would lock me in a room until the angels came for me, and as an almost human, I would have no way to escape.

I pushed to my feet, finally landed a good uppercut on the vampire, and a back kick on the other.

The fae moved his fingers and vines sprouted from under the gravel and wrapped around my legs and arms. "I'll enjoy this," he said. Then, he punched my gut and my chin.

I blacked out for a moment.

When I came to, I was too far gone, my head and my chest hurt, I couldn't breathe and could barely see, but I knew I was on the shoulder of one of the vampires, and they were taking me away.

Suddenly, a roar erupted in the air.

I forced myself to stay conscious, to find out what that was.

Levi, in his demon form, barreled into the supernaturals.

He picked up a car as if it weighed as much as a feather and threw it at three of them, enveloped three in his shadows and they seemed to be suffocating, and he flapped his wings and arched into the sky, landing right in front of us.

He shocked the fae and the vampires with his darkfire and caught me in his arms before I fell to the ground. Without wasting a second, Levi took off running to the woods.

"Hang on. I'll call for help," he said, his voice monstrous.

I blinked, trying to look at him. I could feel he was in his demon form, but it was still his scent, still his warmth. I rested my head on his shoulder. "Just hold on to me," I whispered.

Then, I fainted.