Chapter 11 #2
The door wasn’t fully shut when I got to the apartment, so I slowly pushed it open, spotting Mila and Ekaterina on the couch bundled under a pile of fuzzy blankets. It looked like Katya had been crying, but she was laughing now.
“How are you doing?” I asked as I kicked off my boots then went towards the girls.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I assume you talked to Vanya.” She sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve. I nodded and sat next to her on the couch, me on one side and Mila on the other. Her cheeks were stained with mascara tear tracks, her nose pink from crying.
“We have peach rings,” Mila offered, holding out a giant package, the plastic crinkling. I plucked one of the gummy pieces out of the bag and popped it in my mouth.
“I’m trying to figure out how to schedule this appointment,” Katya explained, tilting her almost-dead phone towards me. “While we watch New Moon.”
“Oh, fuck yeah. Team Jacob.”
“My girl!” Katya exclaimed, her eyes brightening. I could see Mila throwing a fit behind her.
“Oh, my God. Please spare me,” Mila groaned dramatically. “I need to get Vanya back in here so it’s even again.”
“He’s team Edward?” I asked.
“He’s going to be tonight.”
I looked at Katya, and we burst out laughing when our eyes met.
“Jesus Christ.” Mila was rolling her eyes.
“Mila! Shut up.” I set my hand on Katya’s knee over the fuzzy blanket, still giggling slightly. “If I can help you with anything, please let me know.”
She nodded gratefully.
“You can help us eat the peach rings,” Mila said, offering the bag again. “I need to prove to Vanya that it was worth getting such a huge bag of them.”
“Okay, yes,” I agreed. It was a ridiculously large bag. Like a bulk amount of peach rings. Several pounds worth. “I can do that.”
Katya took the bag on her lap, then unpaused the movie.
We all took turns grabbing chewy peach rings from the bag, eating them until we felt sick.
When Ivan came back inside, he made some microwave popcorn and turned the rest of the lights off, before joining us on the couch.
I moved over to sit by Mila, letting him cuddle with Katya.
My phone buzzed the moment I got comfortable.
Micah
I’m outside
I stared at the screen, eyes wide, then checked—again—to see if my location was shared with him. It wasn’t. What the hell? Casting a quick glance over at the rest of the people on the couch to make sure no one was paying any attention to me, I twisted my body to hide my phone screen.
Me
What?
Micah
Come down
Me
Where are you?
Micah
In the parking lot of the apartment complex you’re inside right now
Me
How did you find me?
Unblinking, I waited for Micah to start typing.
He didn’t. I shut my phone off and stuffed it down in the pile of fuzzy blankets, resigning to ignore him.
My stomach was all tied in knots, though.
Mila offered me more peach rings, but I declined.
I was going to vomit if I ate anything else right now.
The movie played on.
Even though I was trying to pretend otherwise, I was waiting to feel my phone vibrate with Micah’s response. But as the minutes ticked forward, I started to fear that wasn’t going to happen. I could hardly pay any attention to the movie now.
Irritated, I dug around for my phone again and turned it on.
No notifications.
Me
Hello? Are you still here?
No response.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” I said, not waiting for any acknowledgment before I hopped off the couch and speed walked to the bathroom. With the door shut and locked, I slid down to sit on the laminate flooring, my head in my hands.
Another check of my phone, another confirmation that Micah had not answered me.
Why?
WHY?
I’m going fucking insane. I’m losing my mind.
I stood up and slammed my palm on the handle for the faucet, cold water jetting out into the sink.
My face was pale in the mirror as I put my wrists under the cool stream.
For a second, I almost contemplated sneaking outside and walking straight into the forest, as deep as I could get, until I was entirely lost. Then I’d be alone and defenseless, and Aamon could kill me—or whatever he wanted to do.
Mason suffocating me was something I’d become somewhat accustomed to. Micah joining him, though, was messing with my head.
Better than him hating me.
I tapped out another message to him and sent it, then waited two minutes. He wasn’t replying to me, and I had a feeling he was still waiting outside, refusing to respond so I’d feel uneasy and come to him. It was working.
No reassurance for me until I listened to him.
I left the bathroom, my lie waiting on the tip of my tongue.
“Mason’s here,” I whispered to Mila, setting my hand on her shoulder. “I have to go.”
“Oh, okay.” She twisted to look at me over the back of the couch. “Why doesn’t he let you be here anymore? I’m starting to hate him.”
“It’s complicated. Everything will be back to normal soon, though. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She nodded and squeezed my hand. “Okay. Love you.”
“Love you.”
I waved to Ivan and Katya as I slipped out of the apartment—and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Micah standing right outside on the stair landing, leaning against the railing.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked in a harsh whisper. Micah grabbed my wrist to make me walk with him.
“Until Aamon’s dead, you stay with me. I thought you understood that.”
“How fucking long is it going to take to kill him?” My voice rose in volume. “I want to live my life! And how did you even find me?”
“You’re so careless with your safety,” Micah said in a low tone, guiding me to the passenger door of his Audi. “I hate it. I fucking hate it, Dakota. I need you to be okay.”
His eyes latched onto mine, sincere but angry—and I felt guilty for it.
“Why?”
“Why?” He swallowed, glanced away from me for an instant, then looked back. “Why do I need you to be okay?”
“Yes.”
“Is it not obvious to you?”
“Not really.”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
“Micah,” I protested. “That’s stupid.”
“I don’t want to tell you like this. Get in the car.”
“You’re being so fucking cryptic. And you still won’t tell me how you even found me.”
“Because I followed you, from the minute you snuck out of my house. Did you honestly think I didn’t know you were going to do that?” He lowered his head, leaning his face closer to mine. “You can’t lie to me. I’m not stupid, as much as you clearly want to believe otherwise.”
“I don’t—”
“Get in the car.” He gestured to the open door again.
“You followed me?”
“Yes. And it concerns me that you didn’t notice that.”
My brows pushed together. “You obviously didn’t want me to see you.”
“Do you think Aamon is going to give you time to see him and prepare before he breaks your fucking neck? You saw him at your trailer because that was the first time he ever noticed you. He wanted to see you, wanted to figure out who you were. But trust me, he’s about as good at hunting as you’d expect an angel-demon hybrid to be. So don’t do this shit again.”
“Why did you let me leave?”
His eyes darkened with more anger, his grip on my arm tightening. “You’re mad I let you do things, and also mad when I don’t let you do them. What do you want? Would you have preferred I stop you the second you walked out my back door, so you’d never see your friend?”
“Whatever.” I wrenched myself out of his grip and climbed into the passenger seat. He had a point. I wasn’t being consistent—but was I ever consistent? No. Neither was he.
Micah shut the door and went to his side of the car.
“It’s taking longer than I thought to kill him because he’s especially motivated to stay alive right now,” Micah explained, not looking at me. It was quiet in the car. No music, and the noise of the engine was low. “Mason can’t find him.”
“Okay.” I crossed my arms. “How does he usually find demons, then?”
“He only finds them because they’re killing angels, and he can track the scent of the ichor or necrichor. But if Aamon’s smart, he’s not messing with that stuff right now. He knows what Mason wants to do.”
“I don’t understand any of this.”
“It’s not straightforward,” Micah sighed. “It won’t be hard to kill him if Mason and I are both prepared, but it’s fucking impossible to find him in a place where we can do it.”
He put the car in gear and drove us back to his house.