Runaway Devil

Kara

Alec and I had been traveling for weeks. We jumped from one target to the next, our poor Subaru took us as far as she could. That was two cars ago. We switched cars after hitting a couple of targets, we had to keep moving and stay hidden. Every handful of days we'd crawl to a shitty motel and sleep for, maximum, five hours. Then it’s back to work.

After the way I handled the first group of demons, I understood that I needed to respect Alec’s role in all this more. I reminded myself that I was grateful for his help, regardless of his intentions. I suggested we go hunt down all demons and angels spread out all over the country. And within two days we were on the road. If that isn’t a ride or die, I don’t know what is. We had become a team, and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, we worked well together.

As I drove us to, yet another, one of Alec’s connections, I rolled my neck. Even if I had washed all the blood from my skin and clothes, I still felt like I was covered in it. We were living and breathing death these days. When I came to live amongst the humans, I figuratively packed my sword and shield away. What started it all was my unwillingness to fight a war that wasn’t mine. It may have been selfish but after years of watching the disregard for my brothers’ and sisters’ lives, I was done. I needed out, and I got it. But now I was waging my own war, fighting for my own survival. And I was tired.

The admission of my fatigue made it worse. I felt my eyelids get heavier and my shoulders slouch under the weight of my situation. We had gone from Arkansas to Amarillo, Texas. Then bounced around New Mexico and Arizona. Texas was by far the most agitating state to drive through. It never ended. As soon as you think you’re getting close to crossing its border, there’s more Texas. Alec laughed at me when I expressed my frustrations. I didn’t care that all the cars around me could hear my yelling, I didn’t find it funny. I was huffing and puffing in the driver’s seat, and Alec was just having the time of his life watching my agitation. Not long after I lost it, he took over the driving for a while.

We rolled into the parking lot, this motel was bigger than the previous ones. It had multiple buildings and looked cleaner, more put together. I parked and let out a relieved sigh.

“Hank’s a nice guy, I’ve known him for years,” Alec said as we grabbed our bags from the back. We had decided on a 2008 silver Chevy Impala as our most recent car. “His office is right here,” Alec went ahead to check us in and I hung back. I always let Alec handle the logistics, I had no patience for it. And besides, he was better with people.

I stood outside the glass doors and watched as Alec greeted the older man. He was heavyset, with acne scars sprinkled over his face, and his white hair hidden beneath a truckers hat. But knowing how angels aged, Alec probably had him beat. I called Balan and waited for him to land on my shoulder. I looked around the parking lot and surveyed the area. It was quiet, secluded, and nondescript. I could see why Alec liked it here.

“So, that’s her?” Hank asked. That caught my attention and I listened more closely.

“Yep,” Alec was shelling out the cash for a night’s stay. But I could feel Hank’s stare. I didn’t feel predatory energy, just curious, but it was off-putting nonetheless. Subtlety was obviously not one of his strong suits.

“She’s a lot prettier than I imagined,” Hank said. Someone had filled hank in on the situation, he knew I was the one they were all talking about. But was it Alec or had Hank housed others on their journeys? I tucked the question away for further investigation later.

“You still have that truck?” Alec paid Hank’s comment no mind as if he hadn’t said anything at all. That snapped him out of it. Balan landed heavily on my shoulder and I silently told him to practice his landing. He was going to put a permanent dent in my shoulder if he kept diving as he did.

“Yeah, she’s out back. No one’s touched her.”

“She still runs?” Alec handed him the cash and picked his bag back up.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve been taking good care of her.”

“Thanks, Hank, we’ll be out of here by tomorrow morning,” Alec said.

“Don’t you wanna stay for breakfast?” I pushed through the doors and approached the front desk. Alec looked like he was about to politely decline, but I beat him to the punch.

“We would love to join you for breakfast,” I said with a pleasant smile. I held my hand out and Hank shook it with a blush coloring his cheeks. “Kara.” I would take breakfast as an opportunity to get to know Hank and his place in all this. He struck me as a storytelling man, so I would inevitably learn more about Alec in the process.

“Hank, ma’am,” he said with a goofy smile.

Hank handed Alec our room key and he took it with a tight smile. I gave Hank one more bright smile and a flirty wave. He grinned at me and waved back with a weak wrist. Alec lead me down the hall, around the corner, all the way to the end. The hallway lights flickered and the smell of the Fabrezed carpets hung in the air. Alec opened the door and froze.

I couldn’t see around him, the oaf filled the doorframe. “What?” I asked quietly. He cleared his throat and awkwardly entered, but didn’t put his bag down. I followed cautiously, expecting to see a person within. But all I found was a king-sized bed. Up until this point, we had found motels with two twin-sized beds, or with a couch in the room. And in the evenings we couldn’t find a place to stay, we would sleep in the car, or ditch the car and fly to the next destination.

I turned the bedside lamp on and set my bag on the bed. Balan hopped from my shoulder to the bed, bouncing around on it, like he was testing the mattress. Alec watched me with a raised brow, a silent question on his face. I responded with my own look. “I’ll go talk to Hank—” he started saying.

“No,” I said. After a few awkward moments, he closed his mouth and set his bag on the floor. “Don’t bother Hank, it’s not like we can’t make this work.”

“What, like one of us sleeps over the covers, and the other under them?” He smirked at the idea. “What are we? Fifteen?”

I rolled my eyes and picked my bag back up. “No, I can go sleep in the car—” I was just passing him to leave when he grabbed my arm. His fingers wrapped completely around my bicep.

“No, you’re not sleeping in the car, Kara.” I stared up at him for a handful of seconds before conceding.

“Fine,” I said, walking back to the other side of the bed. “But I get under the covers since you’re already a furnace.” Alec grinned at me and said something about taking a shower.

I sat on the windowsill, smoking with the window cracked when Alec turned the shower off. I scratched Balan’s head and watched him lean into my hand.

"I miss my hound,” I said silently. He whined in his throat and I got the sense that he missed being a hound. He got free range of the sky now, but I knew how much he liked running by my side, our feet pounding on the earth. Maybe I could change him back, just for a little while. The AC unit sitting in the other half of the window kicked on automatically, sensing an increase in the room temperature. It rumbled to life just after Alec walked out of the bathroom. The steam from his shower flooded into the room, making it feel like a greenhouse.

I found myself staring. He had his towel wrapped around his hips with water dripping down his naked chest. “She’s all yours,” he said, not even looking at me. I got up and gulped, putting my cigarette out on the windowpane. I made my way to the bathroom, I was almost there, just a few more steps. But he turned, seemingly to grab something from his bag, and we were face to face. Well, more like face to chest.

I let out a gasp of breath, he probably could feel it on his skin. I caught a few water droplets dripping down towards his towel, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I found myself jealous of them, wishing they were my tongue. It had been far too long since I was touched or touched another. My mind was clouded. My face heated and my heart hammered in my chest. My eyes flicked back up to his face. He was staring at me, and I felt like I got caught doing something I knew was wrong.

“Kara,” I made a pathetic sound in my throat as a response. “The shower’s open,” he said, but his eyes saying something else. I made another small sound and ducked into the bathroom. I slammed the door closed and braced my hands on the sink. I looked into the fogged mirror, slowing my breath down. I wiped the mirror with my palm and revealed a blushing, flustered school girl.

The water didn’t need to warm, it was still scalding from Alec’s shower. I scrubbed the dust of travel from my skin, and some blood that I had missed from the last little detour. I stood under the water and let it beat down on my skin. In the steamy heat of the bathroom, I could feel the weight of my recent choices.

I left my home and set out on this crazy, murderous campaign. I was hunting down assassins, bounty hunters, and sellswords in the human realm. I had moments of savage bloodlust, and I knew I enjoyed it, it felt good in my soul. But I also had to take into account the toll it took on me. I don’t want to slip back into being a cold-blooded soldier. Before I could wallow anymore, I felt a tickle at the edge of my mind.

"Karau? I think it’s time to get out of the shower,” Alec said. I froze. He was listening the whole time? ”No, you’re just loud when you’re distracted.” I wasn’t masking my thoughts, I held my head in my hands, embarrassed on multiple levels.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a rough towel. I walked straight to my bag without looking at Alec. I slipped a t-shirt and a pair of underwear on. Balan was nowhere to be seen.

"He went to grab a snack," Alec tilted his head towards the open window. I glanced at him and noticed the book in his hands for the first time.

"When did you get that?"

"I grabbed it a couple towns over," he said. "I can't deny how stimulating our interactions are, Kara. But sometimes I like to read before I go to sleep." I scoffed and grabbed a cigarette, sitting back down on the windowsill. I had just grabbed a match when Alec made a sound in his throat. I looked at him, and he was standing up from the bed and walking towards me.

With a raised brow I lowered my lit match. Alec stood in front of me, shirtless, with a pair of sweatpants hanging dangerously low on his hips. His hair had dried remarkably fast, I supposed that was due to his talent with fire. His body temperature was always strikingly high. Even now, as he stood before me, I could feel it coming off him in waves. I looked up at him and found his expression hard to read.

His forehead was puckered and his jaw clenched. He brought his palm up, with a small flame lazily billowing in his hand. I looked from him to the fire, not realizing my match had gone out between my fingers. I hadn't even felt it. I leaned forward and inhaled. I took a deep drag from my cigarette and blew it out the corner of my mouth, out the window.

"You've started doing that," he said. He was so close and so quiet, his voice seemed to caress my skin.

"Doing what?" I whispered as if I didn't trust my voice.

"Blowing the smoke away from me," He was looking at me so closely, we only got this close when we were working, when it was necessary. An ache spread through my body. He smelled so good, and he was so warm. My primal longing took me by surprise.

"I didn't know if it bothered you," I said, but once the words left my mouth, I felt stupid. I sounded like a little girl, trying not to upset him. I closed my mouth, scared of what might come out next. He chuckled and shook his head. I felt the color rise in my face once again. He was making fun of me.

"I like it," he leaned in closer and took a drag, growling with the exhale. My eyes hooded and a bolt of sexual tension shot through my stomach. I felt my lips part and stared at his. "You're so loud," He said without moving his lips. Having his mind rub against mine added a layer of intimacy I didn't know I needed.

His lips pulled at the corners, his smile sultry, and I wanted nothing more than to feel it burn my skin. My wish was his command, he heard me loud and clear. His lips collided with my own in a moment of pure, unadulterated heat.