44. Erin
Chapter forty-four
Erin
The sun set as we neared the mountain summit, I peeked behind me and sent a silent thank you that I wasn’t afraid of heights. Derik on the other hand was greener than a tub of slime. Libby rubbed his back as they reached me. Derik stiffened at her touch and put a bit of space between them. Her face fell for a brief moment.
“Under different circumstances, this would be beautiful,” Libby said, laced with wonder…and regret.
“Yeah,” I sighed and faced the mountain once again. “How much further—” Muffled screams cut me off. I dropped to the ground, Derik and Libby followed suit. “Shit.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Derik whispered.
I smacked him on the back of the head. “Of course it doesn’t, Dummy.” I hissed.
I pushed out the sensation from earlier, the shimmering expanded behind my eyes as I pushed my feelers out for Demons. My brain whirled on overload from the influx of Demonic power. My sword chimed in first.
“Holy shit.”
No kidding. My head hurts like a bitch. What do I do?
I felt the stares from my sword and the presence with the angelic voice on me.
“I would hope you knew what to do, as you are The Key to all of this, Miss Snow.” My sword deadpanned.
Okay, yes. Charge in, slay the Demons, save the humans. I got that part. But is this the right spot? Are the humans here? And why the hell does everyone keep referring to me by ‘Miss Snow’? Can that stop, please for the love of all things holy?
“Fine. Focus, Erin. Sense for yourself.”
How?
“Focus.”
Aren’t you helpful?
I huffed, shutting my eyes. I dove deep within myself, beyond the flame, lightning, and the blob. My skin tingled and I found myself within the center of the summit. Surrounded by Demons of all shapes and sizes with humans, men and women, in their grasp. Thirteen. All thirteen were there. My chest welled with relief. I counted the Demons, and my hope deflated. We were vastly outnumbered.
I came back to myself, blinking my eyes open. “They’re here,” Derik moved to rush in, I clamped my hand down on his shoulder, keeping him in place. “They’re here. But we’re outnumbered. There’s over twenty Demons out there Derik. We’re royally fucked.”
He swore under his breath. My ears pricked at the sound of Libby tapping on her phone.
“Libby what the hell are you doing?” I hissed.
“I’m calling for backup. We have a few guys that stay on the outskirts, you met them when we originally went to Riverside.” I racked my brain trying to remember. I came up with jack squat.
“Fine,” there was no point in arguing. “How long until they get here?”
“Within an hour or two.”
Leaves crunched behind us. My body stiffened, alarms going off in my head.
A man’s voice scratched behind us, “Well, well, well. Would you look at who we have here? It seems, our Key has come out to play.”