Free The Immortals by S. M. Schmitz

but pray.
    “Who are you?” she asked weakly. He had none of the distinctive marks of a demon and no odor. He must be human.
    “Doesn’t matter. Sleep now, Anna. Your job on Earth is done.”
    And Anna fell back to sleep.

Chapter 8
     
     
    As night fell and long after Colin’s voice had turned rough and hoarse, he was finally pulled from the forest. He was exhausted and weak and wasn’t even sure who was dragging him away from here – away from the place where Anna had disappeared. He knew he tried to fight him, but he was too weak now. He wasn’t brought back to his apartment though, and it wasn’t until he was sitting on Dylan’s sofa that he really understood it had been Dylan who finally got him into his car and drove him away from those woods. It was Dylan who handed him a bottle of water and a plate of food, but Colin couldn’t eat. He sipped at the water, but stared blankly at the wall in front of him.
    Dylan waited for a while before asking him what Colin knew would eventually come. “You knew she was missing. How?”
    Colin just shook his head, not because he still felt obligated to keep their secrets for them, not after today, but he just couldn’t bring himself to talk about her. He was pretty sure it would kill him, and she was still missing. Whatever had happened to her … this had broken their agreement. All deals were off as far as Colin was concerned.
    “Colin, I want to help you. I want to help Anna. But you’ve got to level with me. I’ve been watching you both for the past two months, and I’ve always thought there’s something … weird about you two. Beyond how good you both are at this job. If you need help now, then let me help.” Dylan’s eyes, so dark they were almost black, were full of a sad compassion, and Colin wanted to tell him. He wanted to tell him everything. But he couldn’t. He did want his help though, so he figured half-truths were better than stubborn silence.
    “We’ve worked together a long time. We sensed something odd was happening here and were trying to be careful. We didn’t want to risk being recognized as the partners these assholes were most likely looking for.”
    Dylan arched an eyebrow at him. “A long time? Dude, you’re both like, what? Twenty-five?”
    “Twenty-six,” Colin corrected. “Some of us start younger than others.”
    “Guess so.” Dylan sighed and collapsed back into his chair. “Funny. Why is it everyone’s heard of you, but no one knew you worked with a partner?”
    Colin kept staring at the same empty spot on the wall, fingering the bottle of water in his hands. He didn’t know how to answer this question honestly. Not even with half-truths. “Anna never wanted people to know about her. Not many people travel around working like we do, and as far as we know, we’re the only partners who do. It would make us awfully conspicuous. We try to hide as much as we can from others.”
    Dylan was watching him carefully, and Colin knew he was too smart to be fooled into thinking this was all there was to it. “None of this tells me how you knew she was missing. How far away were we? We must have been at least a quarter of a mile away.”
    Colin sighed, defeated. “We’re telepathic.”
    Dylan snorted then seemed to realize Colin was serious. “Oh.”
    Colin closed his eyes but only for a few seconds. “Can you drive me to a church?”
    He opened his eyes and studied Dylan, who was looking back at him quizzically. “Ok … any particular church?”
    “A Catholic one.”
    Dylan pulled himself out of the chair, groaning as he stood up again, sore from the exertion of chasing a ghost through the woods of south Louisiana all day. “There’s one not too far from here. If it’s open. Don’t they keep churches locked now?”
    “Yeah, but I’m not waiting for a priest.”
    Colin walked out of Dylan’s apartment first and waited by his car. Dylan finally caught up to him, shaking his head, muttering something about gratitude