Runaway Devil

"What the fuck was that?"

"What do you mean?" I said, not looking at Alec as he drove. We were making our way west, closer to the center of the continent. The scenery was changing, becoming flat and broad. It was beautiful and Balan was enjoying flying above us.

"What do you mean, what do I mean? What. The fuck. Was that?" I didn't respond, even though I felt like a dramatic teenager who was rebelling. I didn't feel as though I owed him an explanation. The angels were his problem, and the demons were mine. And they were sent by the council, which meant they needed to be dealt with swiftly and effectively. Slowing down in order to keep him in the loop and make him feel like he's a part of the process was not on my priority list.

He gripped the steering wheel until the veins in his forearms bulged. I glanced at him in the corner of my eye and saw how close he was to losing it. "Karau," he took a deep breath. "What happened to needing to communicate?"

"That was before the council was involved."

"No, it wasn't," he shook his head with a sardonic smirk. "They were involved from the get-go. They were involved before you knew, you knowing doesn't change anything."

I shook my head and closed my eyes. He was right, and I knew that, but that didn't mean I was going to admit it. "I needed those demons dead as quickly as possible. And giving you a play by play wasn't in the equation."

He stayed quiet for, what seemed like, forever. His grip on the steering wheel hadn't loosened, and his eyes didn't soften either. Then he finally spoke and interrupted the tense silence. "You worked with a team in Hell, right?"

Something shot through my chest, sending a bolt to my stomach. I felt my face color and my whole body tense. The overwhelming need to punch him in the throat came over me. I silently dared him to finish his thought.

"How is that different than—" I stopped him dead in his mental tracks.

"Don't you fucking say another word. Do not bring my family into this. You have no right to talk about them, to even think about them. You never knew them, you've never seen them, you haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." I bit the words out at him, enunciating them sharply. He had struck a nerve and no amount of rational thought would change that. I was standing on the edge and he was threatening to shove me over.

His mouth was ajar, he had no idea what he just stumbled upon. He glanced at me and found my glaring eyes glowing at him. He tentatively reached out mentally to test the waters. I let him in, and all he found was burning hot fury. He nodded and backed off. He was smart enough to understand that I needed time to cool off. I needed quiet, mainly because I didn't want to hear his voice. He had scratched at a wound that wasn't healed yet. It was still raw and bloody, but without and precaution he just stabbed his fingers right into it. He needed to understand my boundaries and my boundaries with him. I gave the chance to learn.

"You should relax, the next target is in Monticello, Arkansas. We'll be there in about four hours." He spoke softly. He was trying to be respectful. I breathed out the tension and let my shoulders relax. I nodded and rested my head against the headrest. I closed my eyes, but sleep never came.

The truck stop was busy. It was around midday, all of the vacationers were stopping so their kids could use the bathroom and get snacks. Everyone's idea of the world was suspended on road trips. The snacks were special, your parents would let you have that treat from the candy rack, and god forbid the kids weren't glued to their phones. Everything was turned on its head when the family piles into the minivan.

I shoved my new pack of cigarettes and matches in my pocket. I was starting to prefer the taste of a match-lit cigarette, knowing that I wouldn't be asking for an Alec-lit cigarette anytime soon. I pushed open the door and sank back into our car without having looked at anyone the whole time I was in there.

Alec had finished gassing the car up and was waiting in the driver's seat. He glanced at my cigarettes without saying anything. I suddenly wondered if the smell bothered him, I knew that humans were sensitive to it. But the idea of asking him if my smoking bothered him was embarrassing. He pulled out of the rest stop and put us right back on the highway. It had been a long week, and being back on the highway, once again, just made it feel longer.

Not only did we decimate two targets, one of them being a group, but we had also only stopped to rest once. And we were on our way to the third.

"Is this one a group or loner?" I asked, cracking the window open.

"Another group, their energy is too loud for it to be an individual. But they're fuzzy, I can get a clear read on a few, but I think there's more." I nodded and placed a cigarette between my lips, balancing it carefully as I grabbed a match. Alec looked from the matches to me. I could see a question in his eye.

"What?"

"You've been letting me light it lately," He said. "Are you still mad?" He practiced speaking silently. He was getting better at it, every time he used our connection to communicate it made me feel ashamed. I was a demon and he was an angel. I should never have healed him, it was unheard of. It was rare enough amongst ourselves. A demon, in their entire lifetime, would heal one or two other demons. Those spots were reserved for chosen mates and their children. It was an unspoken rule and expectation. But in my short life, I had already healed two people, one of them an angel. But I knew, if I could go back, I wouldn't change anything. The idea of Alec being dead was worse than dealing with his angelic ass.

Not trusting my response, I silently exhaled out the window.