“They seem to like the snow.” They made snowballs and threw them into the air.
“Yeah. I don’t imagine they have much of it where they come from.”
I giggled. “Nope, probably not.”
Wrapped in a thick quilt, Chay and I swayed on the deck swing and talked while the hobgoblins entertained themselves. It was over an hour before they were ready to tell us why they were there.
“We want to see it, too,” Friendly said in his high-pitched voice. He sounded like a little girl. I thought about chasing him down. It would be fun to put him in frilly dresses and tie bows in his hair.
Chay elbowed me in the side.
“What?”
“Your ring. Show me,” Friendly said again.
I hesitated. If they knew about my ring, it meant Azazel was watching us. I held my hand up and showed him.
“It’s pretty.” He smiled and reached out with one sausage-like finger to touch it.
I pulled my hand back before he could touch me. “Thank you.”
“Too bad it’ll be wasted,” Scarface grumbled.
“What do you mean?” Chay stretched his arm out in front of me and nudged me behind his shoulder.
“He’s here for her. It won’t be long now.”
“Who? Azazel?”
“No! I told you already it isn’t Azazel,” Scarface snapped. “This one has more power than Azazel. He’s here for you, Milayna. Your time is running short.”
Images flashed before my eyes. I saw myself in the vision. I was talking to someone, like I’d seen in my vision at school. And like before, I couldn’t hear what I was saying, but I was talking fast, my hands gesturing quickly around me before I held them out in front of me. It looked like I was trying to hold someone back, keep them away.
Then the vision changed. I was seeing myself through someone else’s eyes. They looked down. I could see a knife in their hand. No, a dagger, like the one I had. The only thing that could kill demons. They lifted their arm above me, the dagger pointing toward me. I saw a soundless scream on my lips just before the dagger plunged downward.
“Oh!” I stood so quickly Chay had to hold on to the swing to keep from falling off.
“What’s the matter?” Chay asked. “A vision?”
“Yeah.” It was gone. I didn’t see where the knife went, but if the vision was any indication… it had gone into me.
I looked at Scarface. He smirked at me before disappearing back to the underworld where he belonged.
4
Threats
“I can’t believe he gave you a ring!” Muriel squealed when I showed her Monday morning. “Have you set a date yet? I think spring, right after graduation—”
“It’s not an engagement ring, Muriel. It’s a promise ring.” I moved to the side of the hall so a boy could pass.
“Yeah, a promise to get engaged,” she said, following me.
I rolled my eyes. “No, just a promise to be… I don’t know… committed. Think of it as a commitment ring.” I was trying to get her mind off weddings because I so wasn’t ready for that yet. I didn’t even know what college I wanted to go to or what I was going to major in. No, a wedding was not what I needed.
“Well, whatever it is, he has good taste. It’s really pretty, Milayna.”
“Yeah, it is,” Xavier said, stopping next to us in the hall. “Too bad.”
Muriel raised an eyebrow. I shrugged in answer. I had no idea what he meant, and I didn’t care. I was flying high, still reeling from the magic of Saturday night. Xavier and his seat kicking weren’t going to spoil it.
I looked over my shoulder at him. “What’s too bad?”
He shrugged. “You’re officially off the market.”
“I was never on the market.”
“Hmm.” He passed me and leaned against the classroom’s door frame.
“I’ll see you in calc.” Muriel left with a wave in my direction, but I had a feeling it was more for Xavier than it was for me. She was officially a member of the Xavier fan club, as were most girls at school.
I walked into my classroom and sat down. I felt him kick my seat. When I didn’t turn around, he kicked it twice.
“I know you can feel that.” He gave my seat another kick to make his point.
“Yeah, and it bugs the crap outta me.”
He laughed. He had a great laugh, and I cursed myself for noticing. I wasn’t supposed to notice things like that about other guys. He kicked the bottom of my seat again.
“What?” I snapped so loud that most of the class turned and looked at us.
“So when’s the wedding?” Xavier leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. His broad chest pushed out toward me. His T-shirt strained over his body, showing enough for everyone to get a good idea of the awesomeness that lay beneath. My mouth went dry.
“There isn’t one. It isn’t an engagement ring.”
“Looks like one.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “It’s not.”
“So there’s still hope,” His lips twitched into a small grin.
I sighed and looked at him. “Hope for what?”
“Me.”
“Nope. You’re fresh outta hope,” I turned my back to him.
I looked up and saw Chay standing next to the table, staring at Xavier. His blue-green eyes swirled with anger.