A Demon’s Touch by Ella Jade

Chapter 30

Harper

Angelo took my face between his hands and claimed my mouth. My hands fell to my sides. If I could freeze this moment, I would. All I could do was stand there and let him kiss me one last time. When he broke our connection, I backed away because I couldn’t take anymore.

“Don’t be afraid of me,” he whispered.

“I’m not afraid of you.” My body trembled over the realization that this could be the last time I ever saw him. “I’m afraid for you.”

“You don’t have to be afraid. You’re safe now.” He tucked my hair behind my ear, his gaze lingering on my face before walking away like a soldier going into battle. “Goodbye, my love.”

I wanted to chase after him, but my legs refused to move. My voice couldn’t call out to him, even my tears had stopped. I must have been in shock.

Once he and David climbed into the SUV, Kiki ran through the gates. They abruptly shut behind her. She hugged me. “What the hell just happened?” She pulled me over to a bench and guided me to sit. “Demons? Really? I can hardly believe it.”

“I’m still in shock.” I hadn’t fully processed what Angelo was, but when I finally took the time to understand the enormity of this situation, I didn’t think I’d care that he was a demon. “None of this should be real, but the last few hours have been insane. Angelo strolls back into my life, only to be ripped out of it. He talks as if he’s not coming back.”

“David said it’s serious.” Kiki folded her hands in her lap. “It might have been easier if Angelo had turned out to be a serial killer.”

“At least then we’d know what we were up against.” I laughed because what else could I do? “I can’t lose him. No matter how screwed up any of this is. No matter that he’s created total havoc in my life, Angelo still stands by me. He protects and comforts me. He loves me.”

“And?”

“I love him.” I smacked my hand over my mouth. “I didn’t tell him. He said it to me, but I didn’t say it back.” What was wrong with me? “I should have fought harder for him to stay with me. I should have told him how I felt.”

“You’ll get the chance. We have to have faith.” She took in our surroundings. “We’re in the right place for that, right?”

“I’m not leaving anything up to faith.” I took out my phone and checked the tracking app. “I did it.”

“What did you do?”

“Look, it’s moving.” I pointed at the screen and showed Kiki the location of Angelo’s SUV.

“What is that?”

“Their SUV.” I jumped up from the bench and moved around in a small circle. “I don’t know how I found the nerve. It all happened so fast.”

“What happened so fast? How are you tracking them?”

“You know that app I made you get, so that if you were thrown in a ditch or something crazy like that happened?”

“Yes.” She rolled her eyes. “Do people really fall in ditches?”

“Stranger things have happened.”

“No shit.”

“I installed the tracker on Angelo’s phone tonight.”

“How did you do that?”

“He never locks his phone. After he revealed his secret, he went into the hall to talk to David while I was packing. He left his phone on the nightstand. I sent him the request to join, and then I grabbed his phone and accepted the invitation.” I still wasn’t sure why I had done it, but something told me I was going to lose him tonight, and I couldn’t let that happen. “I had to think of something. No matter what he is or what he’s done, I’m not losing him.”

“You put a tracker on the demon king? I love it!” She hopped up and hugged me. “That took some serious balls, sister.”

“Let’s hope those balls are as big as you say they are because now I have to go after him. I have to tell him I love him.”

“Oh? Maybe that’s not such a great idea. He’s going to do bad-ass demon stuff. Your stunt was ingenious, but it could get you killed.” She shook her head. “Girls put that tracker on their guy’s phone when they think he’s cheating, not when he’s fighting evil.”

“What if he gets killed, and I regret not going after him?” I was tired of being alone and scared. I never took chances until I met Angelo. Why should tonight be any different?

“I’ll support whatever you want.”

“He told me he’d protect me with his dying breath. If he dies, I don’t want to breathe when he can’t any longer.”

“Then there’s only one thing to do.”

“Go after him.” I checked my phone, making sure the SUV was still moving. “I won’t let him do this without me.”

“I won’t let you do this without me.” Kiki put her arm around my shoulders. “You’re not going alone.”

“I would never ask you to do something this dangerous.”

“You’re not asking me.” She hugged me. “You’re my sister.”

“I love you.”

“You better because I wouldn’t go chasing demons for just anyone.” She kissed my cheek. “I love you too.”

“I’ll get us a car.”

“The ride-share driver’s going to love us.”

* * *

Kikiand I found ourselves on a mountain side overlooking the ocean. The night grew cooler and the spray of the ocean misted the air. Darkness surrounded us at every turn, and there was no sign of Angelo.

“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Kiki asked.

“I’ve lost them on the tracker.” I held my phone in the air, trying to get service. “This was the last place they were but now they’ve stopped moving.”

“Angelo!” Kiki screamed as she walked around the other side of the mountain. “Are you here?”

I moved in the opposite direction, with my phone raised above my head while Kiki yelled out for Angelo. Maybe if I could find him before whoever he went to meet did, I could tell him I love him, and convince him to leave with me. I didn’t understand anything that was going on, but the look in his eyes, and the pain in his voice when he said goodbye left me uneasy. A knot formed in my stomach and a threatening vibe plague me since I last saw him.

“Perfect.” A handsome man, who bared a striking resemblance to Angelo, stepped out of the shadows.

I backed away but he was too fast for me. He grabbed me by the waist and smacked his hand over my mouth. “If you don’t scream or struggle, I’ll spare Kiki.”

I stared at him, silently pleading with him to leave my sister alone.

“That’s a good girl.” He removed his hand from my mouth. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Harper.”

“Who are you?”

“We’ve met before, informally but I didn’t introduce myself.”

“My dream.” I closed my eyes and thought for a minute. “First, you were old and then you changed. It was you.”

“Good memory.” He stroked my cheek with his searing fingers. “My son is a lucky man.”

“You’re Angelo’s father?” Why didn’t that put my mind at ease? “Koradon?”

“The one and only.”

“Where is he?”

“That’s an excellent question.” He glanced around. “I thought he’d be here by now.”

“What do you want with him?” My legs wobbled beneath me but he held me upright.

“Many things,” he said. “We’re just getting started.”

“Harper,” Kiki called out. “Where are you?”

He covered my mouth with his smoky-scented hand and shook his head. His fiery aroma filled the air between us. It should have been calming and familiar, but knowing it wasn’t Angelo who I smelled sickened me.

“Your sister was lucky last night at that club. They were going to grab you both and bring you to me. Kiki should be starting her new life as a sex slave right now, but my son got there before I could make that happen.”

My body tensed when I realized how dangerous this man was. If Angelo hadn’t intervened last night, Kiki would have been kidnapped. Now, by being here, I put her in peril again.

“We’re going to leave now.”

I tried to squirm out of his hold. I kicked at his legs but he lifted me up and carried me to the edge of the cliff.

“Harper!” Kiki screamed out.

I turned and looked into my sister’s eyes before the demon tossed me over his shoulder and carried me higher. It all happened so fast. The desperation rose in my gut when I realized how dire this situation was. I had now made this condition a lot worse than it could have been. By coming here, I provided Angelo’s father with the one thing that could bring Angelo to his knees.

Me.