Free Legions by Karice Bolton Page A

taking a deep breath just to concentrate. She
was the woman from my dreams. Everyone behind the counter waved at
her as if she was a regular. With a sharp and sudden movement the
creature turned her head to look over at us. She was beautiful,
obviously a great façade. The demon was dressed in a dark grey wool
coat and black faded jeans. She had an emerald colored scarf tied
simply around her neck, and she looked very polished. When I looked
in her eyes, I knew she recognized us immediately, and as if not to
miss a beat she nodded at us and turned her attention to the
workers behind the counter. There was a dark shadow following her.
There was no rest with these beings around. I wanted to tear her
apart. I wanted her to suffer like I was.
    “Is Athen alright?” They
all asked at once.
    My heart plummeted to my
toes, and I felt as if no air would go out or come in from my
lungs. I thought someone literally punched me in the stomach. I
braced the chair for support, but it gave me none. How could Athen
be involved with someone like her. How could they get to him so
quickly? Was this part of the plan or just a coincidence? I was
beginning to believe there were no coincidences however. Arie
reached over and grabbed my knee.
    “Yeah, surprisingly so.
Typical Athen, wanted me to meet him over at the hospital with a
Caramel Macchiato as if he didn’t just get hit by a car. Told me it
was a tap at most.” Her drawl floated through the air alongside her
laughter.
    My skin crawled at the
thought of her mentioning his name. How dare she speak about Athen
as if she actually knew him or loved him. I felt the anger brewing
inside of me far more than I had before. I knew if I just looked in
her eyes one more time I’d not be able to resist the temptation
building inside of me. Cyril and Arie saw what was happening and
quickly acted. Cyril grabbed my coffee, and Arie pulled me out of
the chair so we could get to the car before I made a scene that
would jeopardize everything and then some.
    We made it to the car
without incident, but I was shaking intensely and was so nauseous
that I needed to lay down in the backseat. The coolness of the
leather helped calm my nerves immediately. It shocked me back into
reality, which at this point I wasn’t really sure what that
meant.
    “Let me guess, this hasn’t
happened before.” I blurted out.
    “Not that I know of.” Arie
began situating my hair so she could slide in next to
me.
    “I think we need to do this
sooner than later. Actually, I don’t think, I know.” I began
letting the anger build into its normal productivity. My mind was
zipping all over, playing as many scenarios as possible, weighing
the different outcomes, and constantly pushing out the jealousy
that was attempting to cast itself in all of my
thoughts.
    “What if they…” My voice
trailed off. There was no way I could utter the words.
    “They haven’t.”
    “We don’t know
that.”
    “Yeah, we do. Don’t think
like that. Athen never lost hope in you.”
    “Well, was there a demon
always trying to get with me?”
    “That one time.”
    “Uh, yeah, but I was
already with you guys, and you knew to expect it. This is
completely different. Thanks for trying to make me feel better
though.” I rolled my eyes.
    “We can tell it helped.”
Cyril quipped.
    “Come on let’s go home and
figure out a plan B.”
    ***
    None of us had appetites,
but Arie took care of us and made sure we at least downed some soup
while we devised our plan of attack. There was no longer the
leisure of waiting until we were sure he was ready. The situation
was now such that we had to get to him before they did, regardless
of whether he recognized me or not. We had to ensure that he was on
our side, and when it happened it happened. We had to protect him.
This plan was going to make it excruciatingly painful for me.
Everything about it was constantly playing with my emotions. It was
as if I had to be alongside of him, and he knew nothing about