Cursed Demon Kissed 2 Page 0,5

shoulder, "They must be moving towards the baggage claim. No big. Ignore them. I'm watching. Nothing is gonna hurt us." She flashed a smile at me and pulled at my arm again. Her reassurance didn't subdue my apprehension, but we walked on anyway.

After grabbing our bags, she walked away from the baggage claim saying, "A car should be waiting for us out front. Come on."

I didn't move. She stopped and looked back at me. I spoke softly, gesturing for her to come closer. When she did, I said, "Something isn't right. Look around you, Shan. They're everywhere." And they were. Men and women stood around not doing anything. They were not getting baggage, not waiting for someone, not hugging people hello, not talking on their cell phones, not looking like lost tourists...but they were clearly waiting for something. And there were so many of them. We were surrounded. They'd encircled us while Shannon grabbed the bags and I got a luggage cart. Damn it! Who were they? Shannon's eyes scanned the crowd, but she said nothing. "Oh, geeze, Shan. Tell me you see them?"

She nodded. "I see them." Her voice was faint. Something felt wrong. Wrong with her. Wrong with here. She recognized the expression on my face. Her fingers shot out and wrapped tightly around my arm. "Just walk Ivy. They don't trust you. If you run, God knows what'll happen."

"Holy shit!" I screeched. "You knew?" My brow pinched tightly as I shook off her grip and stepped back. "They're Martis, aren't they?" When she didn't answer, I leaned in and spat the words inches from her face, "Aren't they. Damn it, Shannon! What did you do? What did you do!" My fight or flight response reared up and I was having trouble controlling it. Blood pumped through my body at a rapid speed. The sound of my heartbeat echoed in my ears, as I watched them closing in on me. When I tore my arm free from Shannon's grip, the Martis swarmed.

Shock slowed me down, making several long seconds feel like minutes. Jaw hanging slack; I stared at Shannon, unable to believe what she did. I was surrounded by Martis. She led me straight to them. And, these Martis didn't know me. They didn't fight with me, and watch me slashing down Valefar after Valefar with rage. They didn't see me close the portal to the Underworld with Eric's help. For all I knew, they were here to kill me. I stared at Shannon in disbelief. Her green eyes were wide. Her mouth opened offering an explanation that I didn't wait around to hear. The noise in the terminal faded until all I could hear was the lub-dub of my heart.

My finger rubbed my ruby ring, as I considered using my Valefar powers to get out of there. The Martis didn't know that I channeled my dark powers through the ruby stone in my ring. They didn't know that I had to because I wasn't a full Valefar. Collin never used a ruby to use his powers, but I had to. Rubies could contain dark magic, and that was exactly what I did with mine. I called the dark powers into the stone. The angel blood that flowed through my veins wouldn't allow the dark powers to flow directly through me, so Collin taught me to channel them through the red stone.

While dark magic was innate for the Valefar, it wasn't for me. I needed that ring. And I wasn't about to blow my secret so the Martis could take it from me. No, I'd wait until the axe dropped to use those powers - until there was no way out, and it was my only option.

Without another thought, I took off, running as fast as I could. I narrowly passed through two Martis and ran out the door. Warm air blasted my face. I didn't know where I was or where to run. There was no time to decide. Martis pursued me like I was an escaped convict. Shannon chased after me, yelling for me to stop. But I didn't. One foot slammed in front of the other. A car almost clipped me when I ran out into traffic and the light changed. The Martis were forced to wait or find another way around. A parking garage was dead ahead. I ran for it, hoping to get lost in the shadows and escape before anyone could find me.

The cars were packed into the tiny spaces like sardines.