Angel Blood

24- Angel's Escape

I stare at the dripping faucet in front of me, something large and welling expanding in my chest.

Drip. Drip.

I reach forward, trying to tug the knob tighter to no avail. The light trickle of water refuses to cease. The sensation slowly crawls up my sternum and into my throat, nearly cutting off my airway.

Drip. Drip.

I stare at the little puddle until it's the only thought consuming my head. Until the thought of—

I shake the mention of him from my mind. I can't. Even the sound of his name makes me want to fall apart.

"Hey," a soft voice murmurs behind me.

I startle, throwing my head up to look in the mirror in front of me. At first I don't even recognize myself; not with the mascara stained cheeks, the dark strands falling around my face haphazardly from my ponytail, the unnaturally wide eyes.

Amber leans against one of the bathroom stalls, crossing her arms over her cleavage. "You okay?"

I mean to laugh dryly but all that emerges from my throat is a half-hysterical sounding sob.

She grimaces. "He's always been like this, you know."

I shake my head. God, I don't want to talk about him anymore. I'm not sure how long it'll take until the mention of his existence causes me to break.

How could I have been so stupid? All those soft touches, those gentle looks...for what, some pussy? For Christ's sake, he's an incubus. Why would I have thought anything less?

"I don't want to talk about it," I say, dabbing the streaks of black from my cheeks. "Especially not with you."

"Calli," she says slowly like she's trying not to show that the taste of my name on her tongue is excruciatingly unpleasant. "Do you remember what I once told you?"

I shrug a shoulder even as the words rise in my brain. "You told me he's going to fuck me. That after he's going to kill me."

She nods slowly.

I expel a breath, the cool iciness of fear crawling up my chest. I always assumed it was words fueled by jealousy but what if she's right?

"I can help," she says, striding into the space next to me. "If you'll let me."

My eyes narrow. "Why would you want to do that?" If anything, I would have guessed she'd be the first one to cheer for Sin as he holds a gun to my head.

She pauses, then softly says, "He threw me away. So if letting you get away can cause him any kind of turmoil, then I will fight through heaven and hell in order to make it happen." She rubs her bare arms, raw emotion flitting over her face. For a brief second, she looks so broken, so defeated, but then the expression smoothes into cool indifference so quickly it makes me question if I imagined it.

"Okay," I whisper, pushing down the despair violently thrashing its head inside of me and straightening beside her. There will be time for mourning when this is all over. My mind needs to be clear if I'm going to attempt the impossible. "What's the plan?"

Her blood-red lips pull into a grim smile. She reaches into the top of her dress, pulling out something small and shoving it into my hand. I glance down as cold steel chills my fingers, realizing she's placed a small switchblade in my palm. "Run as fast as you possibly can and hope he doesn't catch you."

...

I wait for Amber to leave first. If everything goes as planned, she'll catch him long enough for me to slip by. Without Oliver or Theo around to keep an eye on me, it won't be nearly as difficult as usual.

I slip out of the door quietly, peeking hesitantly around the corner. Across the room, Amber and Sinclair stare each other down. The sight of him makes my heart squeeze so painfully that tears nearly spring to my eyes.

I shake the feeling as best as I can. Now's not the time to lose my chance for freedom over a man who can't keep his dick in his pants.

They seem to be arguing furiously, Sin's hands twitching at his side as if he's barely resisting the urge to wring her neck. I'm sure if he weren't surrounded by humans he'd do exactly that.

I take one last look at Sinclair. Studying the strong slope of his shoulders, the long dark hair pulled back at the nape of his neck, the corded muscles of his back through his shirt. My hands tingle with the memory of the silkiness of his raven strands and the brush of his olive skin against mine.

My lungs heave in a deep, aching breath. With one last glance, I dunk between people and start toward the door.

It doesn't take long to near the entrance. My stomach churns, heart pumping in my chest. A part of me can't comprehend how I've even made it this far.

My fingers tighten around the small blade as I push forward. I'm almost there now. So, so close.

A cold touch winds itself around my wrist. It's not painfully tight but it's urgent enough to tell me that they don't plan to let me go any time soon.

I gasp, whipping around and expecting to meet a set of furious grey eyes. To my surprise, a soft set of hazel ones squint at me with baffled surprise.

"Calli-girl?" Theo says, taking in the terrified expression on my face with a bemused frown. "Where are you going?"

"Let me go," I whisper, tugging at the vise around my wrist. Across the room, Sinclair's face is a terrifying slash of rage as Amber shrinks in front of him. Their words are coming to a close and I'm running out of time.

"Calli?" Theo says again as he tries to tug me closer.

I don't think as my free arm arches toward him, blade thirsty for blood. He curses as it rips through the flesh of his forearm, embedding the full length into the meat of his arm.

I stumble back as he lets me go, staring at him with wide eyes as he pulls the knife free, an alarming amount of crimson spilling from the gash.

He gazes back at me with shocked eyes. As far as I know, Theo isn't an upper-level demon—he hurts and bleeds and dies just as I do. I just stabbed the fuck out of him and judging from the strong flow of red trickling from his wound, possibly nicked an artery.

I swallow thickly, feeling eerily numb as I spin on my heels and push toward the door.

The exit is only a few feet away yet it feels like the longest sprint of my life. People startle as I push through them, their leers lingering upon me as I pass. I don't blame them. I look half-crazed and my hand is coated with a thin layer of Theo's blood.

Lungs straining, I emerge through the doorway, the refreshing chill of nighttime air brushing over the skin of my face. I don't take any time to celebrate or even reminisce over the fact I haven't basked in fresh air in weeks—I do exactly as Amber instructs. I push myself forward until my legs burn with effort and pray he doesn't catch me.