“I’m not worried.” His tone was truly unconcerned. “The powers I exerted last night may have caught the attention of some, but it wasn’t powerful enough to be traced to me. It can only be traced back to me if I was walking around with that same amount of power. Since I’m a Dimmed Demon that got rid of the majority of my powers last night, even if someone tried to track me down, they would not be able to find me. I also don’t plan on using anymore of my powers on this trip so it’s all taken care of.” A bitter smile curved on his lips. “For all intents and purposes, I’m nothing but human right now.”
Relief coursed into my psyche.
“You must feel miserable to not be able to use your powers,” I murmured lightly, finally feeling at ease with his answer.
Eclipse grinned, expelling the somber and serious mood he was in. In a graceful movement that was reminiscent of a tiger preparing to attack its prey, he got up from his seat and slid into mine. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into a warm embrace.
“That’s why you should endeavor to make my stay here a bit more bearable,” he crooned gently, grazing his lips over my cheek. “How about a small peck to make it all better?”
“So you can pounce on me in a semi-empty train?” I retorted, displaying pure survival instincts by squirming out of his hold. I was trying to stay alive on this trip. Dying from an orgasm was not going to be the death of me. “I don’t think so.”
A warm chuckle flowed from him as he pressed his back against the red velvet seat. The muscles under his dark gray dress shirt rippled subtly when he did this. His amused smile then changed into an impressed one.
“You’re not afraid, Teacup?” he prompted with intrigue, his eyes appraising my calm demeanor. “That was a pretty crazy night.”
“I am,” I admitted, staring outside to catch sight of some grayish black fog move over the green countryside, “but I think I’m in shock more. Everything still feels surreal.”
“From what the baby Demons told me, you were quite the hero last night. Saving your fellow humans and battling Demons all by yourself.” A low laugh reverberated off the train walls. “And here I thought you were going to be the damsel in distress.” He laughed his head off when another thought tickled his mind. “I can’t believe you were carrying holy water in your bathrobe the entire time. You are such an adorably paranoid human.”
“Did you think I was going to walk around empty-handed after being cornered by Lyna in the maze?” I countered defensively. I might be a powerless human being, but that didn’t mean I planned on going down without a fight. “After that incident, I stocked up on as much holy water as I could. Paranoid or not, it came in handy when I needed it.” My eyes sharpened when I recalled the image of Preppy Glasses abandoning me in my time of need. “I can’t believe those couples though. That bastard—well, actually all of them—left me when I risked my life to save them.”
“Did you really expect them to risk their lives for you?” Eclipse inquired critically. His mocking tone indicated that he wasn’t the least bit surprised by this cowardly act. “Didn’t you learn anything from God’s relationship with all of you? Humans are the creatures with the highest disappointment rate of all. Trusting a human to be selfless is like trusting a starving lion to not eat you—it is not within their nature.”
“What happened to you anyway?” I asked him instead, steering the conversation away from the shortcomings of the human race and onto his own shortcoming. “You were missing the entire night. When I did see you, you slept like you were dead. Did they put a sleeping spell over you or something?”
An intrigued brow arched. “If you saw me sleeping, then it must mean that you walked into the bathroom when I was in the bathtub . . . completely and utterly naked.” An enticing light gleamed in his brown eyes, sending jolts of warm electricity to surge throughout my body. Suddenly, the black jeans and pink jacket I had on felt too suffocating against my skin. “Did you see anything you liked, Teacup?”
“I didn’t look,” I said slowly, remembering how stiff I was when I walked in. It took all my self-control to only pay attention to his upper body as opposed to his lower body in that tub. I was lucky that it was extremely steamy in there. I couldn’t see anything even if I wanted to.
“You didn’t look?” he asked incredulously. His offended eyes peered at me like I had visited Paris and didn’t see the iconic Eiffel Tower. His seductive charms metamorphosed into a confused one. “You had the very entity that embodies masculine virility, sexual fantasies, and unbridled lust lying there, unconscious and naked, yours for the taking . . . and you didn’t take advantage of me by looking and seeing what’s so extravagant about me?”
“No,” I answered stoically, feigning disinterest. Although my insides were bursting with need for him, I refused to outwardly show it. “My first vision of a naked man will be of my future husband, not the Demon of Lust who gives me nosebleeds and nearly killed me by making blood pour from my eyes.”
Something that I had never seen lit up in his eyes at my words: jealousy.
“Ah yes, that future husband thing again?” His eyes turned critical. “Don’t you get tired of chasing after something so impossible? How’d that thing with your last future husband work out for you, Teacup? What was his name again? DonKi Kong? Did you guys ever go out on a second date?”
I gasped internally at the venom in his words. Who did he think he was? How dare he bring up that shady DonKi?
“How about you stop going off topic and answer the original question?” I prompted dryly.
“Which was what exactly?” he asked just as dryly, his patience with me wearing thin. “My newfound aggravation with you and your hypothetical future husband seemed to have clouded my memory.”
“Where were you last night?” I incited again.
“I didn’t smoke the entire day,” he finally revealed in an exasperated tone.
“So?”
He smirked, folding his arms over his chest. “I’ve told you before that smoking calms me down. I was busy being pissed off at your car so I didn’t smoke the entire day. Because of this, I was very agitated and stressed out. By the time I got into that bathtub, I was exhausted. I was knocked out in the tub for a while as my body recuperated from the day we had. When I woke up and saw you were gone, I ran my ass out and tried to find you. I went right to the vending machines and kitchen because I figured the only thing you’d leave the room for was food.”
My face reddened into the hue of a tomato. Unaware of the embarrassment coloring my cheeks, he spurred on.
“When I couldn’t find you in either place, I knew something was wrong. It didn’t take me long to realize that the place must have had a veil over it. It wasn’t until I used my own powers to override the veil that I was able to find where they were holding you.” He shrugged carelessly. “You know the rest of the story from there.”
“You’re really not afraid of what happened at the inn?” I continued to ask. For whatever reason, I was really affected by what San said. I couldn’t fathom Eclipse not sharing that concern. “You’re really not concerned about the things San said?”
“I wasn’t fazed by it last night,” he began with a sigh, getting serious now, “but after having some time to mull over it, I’m having second thoughts.”
My instincts were right. I was correct to be concerned. “Why are you having second thoughts?”
“Because of the veil he placed over you,” he shared warily. “The force field he wrapped around the room prevented someone from seeking who they wanted to seek. Does that type of veil not sound familiar to you?”
An upsurge of knowledge flooded over my senses. “Isn’t that the same veil you and your Elders placed over me?”
He nodded. “Veils are very complicated things to cast. Only an extremely powerful entity would know how to cast such a spell. Even I’m learning how to do it. San is a strong Demon, but he should not have possessed the power to cast such a spell—not unless his Creator is a very powerful
Demon and not unless his Creator was able to give San a portion of that power.”
A sardonic smile played on Eclipse’s lips. “I do not doubt that there are Demons planning to overthrow the monarchy. Things like that happen everyday. What’s interesting about this particular group is the capabilities they have, namely the ability to execute a complicated veil that is far beyond their understanding. In any case, I am not entirely worried. Whoever or whatever is behind the event at the inn no longer concerns us. Since we killed everyone at the inn, I’m sure we lost them.”
I nodded, prepared to ask something else when I noticed that the grayish black fog I observed earlier was now moving closer to the train.
“Doesn’t that look really creepy?” I asked unthinkingly, my eyes transfixed on the fog that appeared sorely out of place, even under the ashen and gloomy sky.
“What?” Eclipse asked with disinterest.
I pointed. The black fog was coming closer and closer to the train. “Look at all that fog coming in.”
From beside me, Eclipse averted his attention to the window. I could feel his gaze follow my finger and rest on the black fog that surrounded the train tracks. Suddenly, his whole body stiffened in vigilance.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, uncertainty seizing my shaking body.
Without answering my question, he whipped around in his seat. His watchful eyes charted the expanse of the train.
“Do you hear that?” he asked, his voice hardening with alertness.
I listened.
Nothing.
No rustling, no clattering, no voices, no music, and no sign of life. All I could hear was the beating of my own worried heart.
“No,” I whispered, the color draining from my face.
“Exactly,” he replied. “It’s too quiet.”
“Eclipse?” I called hesitantly, my body freezing up in utter fear. I felt like I was in some horror movie where an axe murderer was going to pop out at any second.
“Stay here,” he ordered distractedly, moving away from me.
With the agility of an animal, he propelled quietly from his seat. Every part of his body on high alert, he gradually made his way down the hall, edging to the corner to keep from being seen. He continued to walk silently down towards the next section of the train. Once his feet stepped on the motion detector, the dividing door slid open, allowing him passage into the next zone.
Creak.
Creak.
Creak.
Feeling my heart in my throat, I watched him with anticipation. We were both so quiet that the only sounds that could be heard was the creaking sound of the train running over the tracks, lurching us back and forth as it made its curvy turns. My unblinking eyes shadowed his movements. I watched him stick his head out into the next room. Just as he moved away from my vantage point, I saw something else from my peripheral vision that nearly had my soul jumping out of my body.
Whooooooosh!
An enormous cloud of black smoke swept past my window with the velocity of a speeding bullet, flying in the direction Eclipse was headed in. Panic overriding my senses, I jumped out of my seat and clutched a hand over my palpitating heart. I was trying to register the shock in my frenzied mind when I caught sight of Eclipse running back towards me at full speed.
Alarm colored his face when he reached me.
“Eclipse!” I stuttered, fearfully pointing at the window. “Ther-there’s a black smoke that just flew—!”
“They’re all dead.”
I stopped mid-sentence and gaped at him in elevated horror. “What?”
“Everyone on the train is dead. The black smokes are Demons. There are Demons on the train,” he explained urgently. “We have to run. We have to go now!”
“What?!” I screamed, registering that we were stuck on a train filled with Demons. You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to deduce that they were either here for me or Eclipse. Since we had become two peas in a pod, we were screwed either way.
“Use your powers and kill them,” I commanded desperately, my voice rising to a shriek. What would possess him to think that we could outrun Demons? And on a moving train for that matter? Why couldn’t he make things simpler for us and do what he did last night?
“I can’t,” he said tautly. Mortification flushed on his usually arrogant face. With pained effort, he laboriously added, “I ran out of my powers.”
I gawked at him with dubious eyes. “I thought you said you can’t use your powers because you didn’t want to run the chance of having it traced back to you? I thought it was voluntary that you weren’t planning to use your powers?”
“No.” He gave me an unsettling smile that was lined with bitterness for his state in life. “I was embarrassed, so I lied. The truth is that I literally ran out of my powers. I used the very last of it on the ticket attendant. I’m barely a Demon right now.”
I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I digested the meaning behind his words. “You’re human right now?”
“Nearly,” he amended with a stiff and weak smile. “I’m 99% human right now.”
All the nerves in my body went into full panic mode at the confirmation that my all-powerful Guardian Demon was now as powerless as I was.
Shit.
Holy shit.
“Eclipse,” I prompted, trying to impress on him the dire predicament we were in. “We’re on a moving train and we’re both humans right now attempting to fight against Demons. Do you not see how suicidal this is? What do you suggest we do to survive?”
He offered a halfhearted shrug at my query. “Do you know how to fight?”
“No,” I responded with a squeak.
Eclipse gave me an apologetic smile that would’ve melted my heart—that was if my heart wasn’t about to fall out of my ass in fear.
“Well, you will learn today. Show me what you got when you faced a room filled with Demons, Teacup. Now run!”
“I have holy water and salt in my backpack!” I shouted before Eclipse was able to pull me away with him.
At my words, Eclipse paused mid-run, whipped around, and ran to our backpacks. He was an inch away from latching onto our backpacks when a powerful force thundered through the train, causing Eclipse to go flying back.
Crack!
Akin to being hit by an oncoming semi-truck, Eclipse’s body flew towards the window on the other side of the train at full force, battering into it with brutality. The menacing sound of skin and bones colliding with glass filled my ears, shocking me into motion. I hurried to Eclipse as the window splintered into several different roots of impact. As the thundering sound subsided, Eclipse fell down onto the table with a resounding thud!
“Crap. Crap. Crap,” I voiced, helping him sit up on the nearly demolished table.
Sucking in a sharp hiss, Eclipse locked his eyes with me.
The expression in his eyes said it all: he was stunned. I didn’t imagine the Prince of Hell had ever been knocked around in his life. This was certainly not something he was accustomed to. With a cursed groan, he jumped off the table and shook off the excess pain. Injured or not, there were still Demons that we had to outrun, and Eclipse was never one to be subservient to pain.
“Let’s go.”
We were getting ready to take off when I felt my nerves turn rigid. A cold draft entered the room, indicating to my human body that something evil had entered my life.
Demons.
My first encounter with these Demons was about to begin.
“They’re here,” I whispered fearfully, my eyes glued on the mechanical dividing door across from us.
Boom!
The mechanical door burst open, sending shards of metal flying in our direction. Eclipse and I ducked down in time before anything could spear through us. Once we determined that the coast was clear of flying objects, we stood back up, staring cautiously at the entryway that was filled with smoke from the destruction.
On cue, as the smoke began to dissolve into the air, six “men” appe
ared in the train car across from us.
They were tall, fit, and dressed in impeccable Italian black suits. Their faces were tattooed with intricate, black symmetrical curves and lines that covered the expanse of their faces and bald heads. These Demons couldn’t have looked more like savages in civilian’s clothing.
The leader of the group stood several inches taller than the rest. Whereas the other five Demons wore black ties, he wore a blood red one. With every advancing step he took, the remaining five shadowed closely behind him. It was difficult to surmise their age, as the intricate tattoos over their faces did well to detract from their facial features. The Demons looked like they ranged from late twenties to early thirties. However, since they were immortal Demons, I heavily doubted they were that young.
“Now, now. I wouldn’t recommend doing anything foolish, kids,” Red Tie taunted as the train continued at full speed, his accent hinting that he was of British descent. He appraised our stance, noticing that we were about to run. “You cannot get far now that we’re here.”
Their obsidian dark eyes locked with mine.
A sadistic grin outlined Red Tie’s thin lips as all six walked over to us. The leader’s next statement sent chills throughout my entire body.
“We’ve been looking all over for you, Grace.” He smirked when he saw our eyes enlarge in shock. “You didn’t think that San would let it get lost that he had secured the most coveted soul of the new millennium, did you?” He chuckled as the color drained from my face. “What did you think that pail of water in the middle of the room was for?” He pompously kicked what sounded like a dead body out of his way before embarking onto our section of the train. “That was his phone call to us. We got word that he had somehow stumbled upon the infamous six-year-old murderer.”
Dark fury stirred in his eyes.
“Unfortunately, San’s call to us was disconnected after we found out that he had you in his possession. When we went to find you at the inn, it came to our attention that you had escaped. Luckily for us, the scent for such a coveted soul like yours does not dissipate like other souls.”