Page 5 of Broken Moon

“So you all thought…what? You’dsummon a demon and he’d go after her ex and take him out of the picture?” Myvoice steadily rose so that by the end of the sentence, I was nearly shouting.“And you were willing to give up your soul for that?”

Ready or not, I began draggingher on, impatient and just a little pissed off. The amount of stupidity in somepeople was mind boggling.

“I didn’t know the ritual wouldmean giving up my soul,” she said, calmly. “And we hadn’t really been trying tosummon ademondemon.”

I widened my eyes. “You weretrying to summon a horse demon? A paper demon? A human demon?”

“A wish demon. For the gift ofblood, a demon could appear and give us—Jessie, really—twenty-four hours ofpower over another. She was going to change her ex’s mind. Make him go far awayand forget her and her child.” She picked her way over the ground and fellsilent, thinking, maybe, or waiting for me to speak.

Honestly, I didn’t know what tosay, so I said nothing. I knew desperate people could do desperate things, andI was touched by the girl’s need to look for hope in something she felt was so hopeless.

We left the woods, finally, andbegan walking down the side of the highway. I kept well away from the road,because with the strange things that had been happening tonight, chances weregood we’d get hit by a semi.

“We’ll be at my place in twentyminutes,” I said gruffly. “Can you make it, or do you want me to call forsomeone to come pick us up?”

“I’m fine walking with you,”she said immediately. “I’m happy this finally happened.”

I frowned. “What?”

Now it was her turn to sigh. “Youwon’t want to hear this, but I’ve dreamed about you for weeks now. It’s nocoincidence that you found me in the woods tonight. I was there for you. I waswaiting for you.” Her eyes, when she peered up at me, seemed about a thousandyears old. “I dreamed this night.”

I looked heavenward. “So you’retelling me you’re a pie-baking psychic?”

She shrugged, something she didoften. It was a funny little mannerism where she lifted one shoulderpractically to her ear and held it there for a few seconds before letting itfall. “I have dreams. My dreams show me things.”

“And why would your dreams showyou me?”

“I don’t know. But there’s areason.” There was utter belief in her eyes.

I didn’t want to believe her,but I couldn’t deny I was just a little spooked. It had been one insane night.I rolled my shoulders, trying to loosen the tension my constant pain caused. Iled her through the same dark field I ran across every time I left the city forthe woods. The cluster of huge, hulking warehouses stood silent and dark,waiting for the workers to arrive in the morning and make them a little lesssinister.

The sounds of the city, dim atfirst, exploded suddenly as I stepped past a certain point. It was always thatway.

“Welcome back,” I said tomyself, as I always did.

Lucille didn’t say another worduntil after we’d walked three blocks to my little row home and were climbingthe steps to the front door.

“In my dreams,” she saidabruptly, “you were screaming. You were…not the same, and you were screaming.You were in unbearable pain, and I could not help you.” She rubbed her eyes,almost angrily. “I could feel your agony, but I couldn’t help you. I couldn’tdo anything. I never can.”

I looked at her. “It was just adream,” I said quietly.

“Was it?” she asked, just asquietly. “Ifeltit, Kaitlyn.”

I shoved my key into the lockand then pushed open the door. “Come in. I’ll get you something to drink beforeI drive you home.”

“Aren’t you going to sayanything?” She reached out to squeeze my arm. “Kait.”

Again, she shortened my namelike she was an old friend instead of someone I bought baked goods from, and itbugged me a little. I pulled away from her. “Bathroom is down the hall. Youwant coffee, diet soda, or water?”

“Water, thanks,” she said.“I’ll just go clean off some of this blood.” She hesitated. “Kait…I saw thedemon cut you. I saw the blood. How come you’re not hurt?”

For a second I stood frozen, mymouth open. I’d forgotten he’d sliced me with the blade I now claimed. My shirtwas neatly cut, but when I pulled the fabric away from what should have been anexcruciating wound, all I found was a long scratch amidst all the blood.

“You’re not human, are you?”she asked, then gave that already familiar shrug. “Of course you’re not human.I have psychic dreams—at least sometimes. I watched a sad little group of kidscall a demon, and then I saw a girl burst from the darkness to fight it andsave my life.” She laughed, then began to cry. “What is happening?”

I felt a spark of pity. Forsomeone who probably hadn’t even known demons and nonhumans existed yesterday,tonight would be a definite shock to her system. “Go get cleaned up,” I said,but gently. “I’ll get your water, then I need to drop you off so I can takecare of those demon-summoning sons of bitches.”

“Can I stay the rest of thenight here?” She stared at the floor as she asked the question. “You don’t knowme that well, and for all you know I’ll steal your stuff and burn your housedown, but…I really don’t want to go home. I can’t go home. Not right now.”