Runaway Devil
29

I had been tracking Karau for weeks. I slept in trees, ate wild animals, and avoided humans as much as possible. Their sent was sickly and reminded me too much of prey. The nights were cold, my human skin was thinner and more fragile than my true skin.

In the evenings, I found a tall enough tree to sleep without being disturbed, climbed it, and hunkered down for the night. I would look up at the human's stars and think of my Karau. Knowing her she would be looking at the same stars. In Hell, she was constantly looking at the skies. I could sense the longing in her, the wings which adorned her back would twitch and with a solemn look of resignation, she would come back to us.

When the breeze would blow through the treetops, rustling dying leaves around me, all I wanted my Karau next to me. I wanted to feel her body heat, her softness in my calloused hands. The hollowness in my chest would spur me forward. On the nights I couldn't sleep, which was almost all of them, I continued my search.

Slowly I felt more and more like a wild animal, my desperation gripping me tighter with each passing day. I would reach out with my mind, looking and finding nothing. She was still too far. I needed to put myself in her shoes. Where would she go? How would she get there? She had Balan with her, I would need to account for her traveling with an animal. She wouldn't use too much of her energy here, it would attract too much attention.

Where would a demon be expected to go in the human realm? Somewhere hot, somewhere like Hell. Possibly somewhere barren. The desert. But Karau wasn't stupid, she would go somewhere cool, and pick discomfort to be safe.

I knew that I was somewhere in the midwest of the united states, she would be north. I just didn't know how far north, she could be in Canada for I knew. I growled under my breath and decided to sweep the entire northern border. In this human body, I wouldn't make any progress on foot. I could fly at night, which would cover most of the distance. But if I wanted to move during the day I would need human transportation. I rubbed my hand down my face and growled again.

The walk to work was mostly silent. I was lost in my thoughts, trying to find a solution to the influx of supernatural creatures getting closer and closer to my location. Alec's phone broke the tumultuous silence, startling me more than I would've liked to admit.

He picked up on the third ring, not missing a single step. "Yes, Buck?" His voice was harsh, all business and no fun. I listened carefully. He had my full attention.

The voice on the other side was muffled, but I could tell it was a male. He sounded agitated and impatient. Alec waited until he was done being dramatic and then began to speak. "Where have you been so far?" he paused for a moment, listening. "What?"

His confusion amused me, a small smile tugging at my lips. His brows furrowed and his eyes sharpened. "The big one? This is the United States, dipshit, everything is big," his face relaxed into mild annoyance. "You mean Texas?" I held my chuckle back. "Well, she's going to want to be somewhere hot, right? So keep moving south. I'm right behind you, keep moving, I'm sure you'll come across something." He hung up without a goodbye and rolled his eyes. "Fucking dumbass."

"So, who's Buck?" I kept my voice steady, not letting him see my extreme interest. I had no idea he had contact with others.

"A coworker. I'm thinking that if I can keep them away, I don't have to share the bounty." He gave me a side-eye and smirked. I raised my brow at him and it was my turn to roll my eyes. "They'll be calling more, not all of them are as stupid as Buck. We all have our connections, and we're all interconnected." I absorbed that information and let it simmer. I needed to make a move and quickly. I couldn't just sit around and wait for another one to try and kill me, or worse.

The shop came into view and I groaned deep in my chest. A police cruiser sat in front of it. They were like lice, they were everywhere and a bitch to get rid of. Thankfully the goons who were talking to Stitch weren't the same ones from the school, that would have been a bullet in the foot.

I caught a shock of red from the corner of my eye and found Bethany gesturing wildly at us from around the back of the building. I didn't fight my smile this time. I couldn't help but miss her a little, even if I would never admit it. I pulled Alec towards the back, sneaking in without having to move past the fuzz. Beth corralled us into the building and kicked the brick doorstop out of the door's frame. Her red headscarf wrapped around her thick black hair, only allowing some tendrils free. She pulled me forward, into her office and Alec followed.

"What the fuck is going on? What did you do?" I opened my mouth to respond but closed it once I noticed she wasn't going to stop talking. "The police are asking about Dante. This was the last place he was seen, you know? And he was seen with— guess who?— you." She was out of breath and flushed. "Their warehouse burned down the other week. I haven't seen you since you showed up at your apartment looking like you live in the goddamn woods. So I'll say again, what the fuck is going on?" She breathed heavily through her nose, her mouth pulled into a tight line, and her eyes wide, fully focused on me. I opened my mouth again and found no words. I didn't have a cover story, I knew that if I lied I would contradict what I had already told her. I was backed into a corner with nothing at the ready.

I looked at Alec for help. He stood in the corner, his arms crossed, looking mean. He looked back at me with apathetic eyes. "Okaaaay... umm, so the thing is," I had absolutely nothing. She still looked at me expectantly. "I got into some trouble with Dante. I challenged him directly, and you know how that doesn't fly with them," She nodded. "Well, they kind of wanted to kill me. It took them a while to get to me. They're not very good at it quite yet."

"They tried to kill you?!" I shushed her and lunged forward, covering her mouth with my palm.

"Stop yelling, for fuck's sake," I looked at the closed door and back at her wide, makeup lined eyes. "Yes, they tried to kill me. But they fucked it up, big time. They burned the warehouse down, with themselves inside." I gauged her reaction, waiting silently then tentatively moving my hand away from her mouth. I sat on her stool and waited for another outburst. She was quiet, just stood there with a blank expression, blinking at me.

"So you ran. You ran home, where we were waiting for you. You had grime and blood and whatever the fuck else on you," She nodded to herself as she was speaking as if putting the pieces, of the narrative she was fabricating, together. I glanced at Alec and nodded with her. She took a deep breath and sat for another excruciating thirty seconds. "You know what we need to do now, right?" I said nothing, worried she was going to go to the police. Her eyes were still wide but the fear had leaked from them. "We need to party."

Not the answer I was expecting, but certainly a pleasant alternative.

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