Sandeen had left and demons had found them. But he hung back.
“Your angel bodyguards can’t protect you.” A dark laugh left the human a moment before a long, ragged groan. The man crumpled. The demon must’ve vacated him.
“We’ve gotta check on Harlowe.” Sierra ran to the pickup and came out with the phone and the picture clutched in her hand. She went for the van that was cockeyed on the curb. The engine wasn’t running.
“Sierra.”
“Boone. Hurry.”
“Can Harlowe really be hurt?” Angel fire. Dismemberment. She hadn’t mentioned a fender bender, which wasn’t nearly as bad as what had happened to the red car.
Sierra stopped at the driver’s side of the van. “She’ll . . .” She rubbed her head. “She’ll heal.”
“We have to check on the driver of the other car.” And get Sierra to the doctor, but she wasn’t going to go willingly while others were in danger.
“Right. The human.” She chewed on her lip as they both sprinted to the car. He was desperate to ask her how she was feeling, to beg her to stop so he could look her over, but she wasn’t going to slow down, and they had to get out of here after checking the human.
The driver of the car couldn’t have been more than nineteen. He hadn’t been wearing his seat belt. The airbag of the car had slammed him into the seat and he’d probably hit his head on the door’s window. Blood dripped from his nose and he was moaning. At least he was breathing.
“Is he—” Boone couldn’t bring himself to say just human. They’d been in an accident in the middle of the day. Anyone who was home would be coming out to check on them, call 911, or film it. None of those scenarios was good.
“No,” she answered knowing what he meant. “It’s gone.”
“We have to go.” He didn’t know if his pickup would run. The back end was dented, but the front bumper was on the ground. The best vehicle out of the three was the delivery van with its wonky but still-attached front bumper.
Sierra came to the same conclusion and they ran for it. “We have to ditch this as soon as possible.”
She dove through the open driver’s door and scrambled into the passenger seat. He jumped into the driver’s seat. The keys were in the ignition. Shutting the door, he fired up the engine.
“I don’t know where the fuck to go,” he admitted as he backed onto the street and whipped around so he could go back the way they’d come. He’d circle around the block, hope to miss any police on their way, and head . . . somewhere.
“It’s Vegas,” she replied. “It’s easy to lose yourself here.”
The small motel was the kind where Sierra didn’t want to question the stain in the carpet. The older woman who’d checked them in had sworn they’d been free of bedbugs for three years and counting.
She sat cross-legged at the edge of the bed. Boone had stripped the comforter from the top. The sheets weren’t exactly pristine, but they were an even shade of not-quite-white and relatively stain-free with only one cigarette burn in the corner.
It was the best they could afford on the cash they’d been given. Boone had parked the delivery van at the farthest edge of a grocery store after he’d dropped her off a block away. She’d had to convince him to do it. He’d hated being even ten feet from her side, but the distance might keep her face off of security cameras. Evading the human police would be easier than evading the underworld.
She’d stood just outside an accountant’s office and checked the phone. Harlowe hadn’t tried to contact her. After he met back up with her, Boone had used his debit card to withdraw his max cash limit. Andy had likely learned who he was by now and was probably using his connections to find out everything about him. He could even be tracking Boone’s finances. But they’d needed money.
Boone had prepaid for one night. They’d find another place tomorrow night after figuring a way to get across town. Both of them hated stopping in one place for so long, but their resources were limited.
The owner had ordered them a pizza. Boone had paid her extra to do it, saying they were stranded in town and his phone had quit holding a charge. Sierra had done her best to look road-weary and haggard. It was coming naturally by now. Since the phone