Nash leaned inside to unlatch the seat beltwhat kind of drunk remembers to buckle up?but he couldnt fit between his friend and the steering wheel, which had been shoved way too close to Dougs chest. Kay, could you get the belt?
I sighed and crawled across his lap, wedging my torso between the wheel and his chest as I felt around for the button. Scared the shit out of me he mumbled into the hair that had fallen over my ear. He was just there, outta nowhere!
Shut up, Doug, I snapped, seriously considering leaving him in the car until the cops arrived. Youre drunk. When I had the belt unlatched, I backed out of the linebackers lap and he exhaled right into my face.
Shut up, Doug, I snapped, seriously considering leaving him in the car until the cops arrived. Youre drunk. When I had the belt unlatched, I backed out of the linebackers lap and he exhaled right into my face.
I froze, one hand braced against his thigh, and that sick feeling in my stomach became a full-body cramp. Ice-cold fingers of horror clenched my heart and shot through my veins. Emma was right. Doug hadnt been drinking.
Somehow, Eastlake High Schools completely human first-string linebacker had gotten his big, dumb hands on the most dangerous controlled substance in the Netherworld.
Doug Fuller absolutely reeked of Demons Breath.
2
ARE YOU SURE? Nash whispered, brows drawn low as, behind him, a big man in a grease-stained coat hooked the front of my smashed car up to the huge chain dangling from the back of his tow truck.
Yes. Im sure. Hed already asked me four times. Id only had two brief whiffs of Demons Breath a month earlier, but that bittersweet, biting tangmore like an aftertaste than a true scentwas emblazoned on my brain, along with other memorial gems like the feel of nylon straps lashing me to a narrow hospital bed.
Where would he even get it? I murmured, zipping the jacket Nash had gotten for me as a motor rumbled to life on the street and the big chain was wound tighter, raising the front of my poor car off the ground.
I dont know. Nash wrapped his arms around me from behind, cocooning me in a familiar warmth.
Humans cant cross into the Netherworld and hellions cant cross into ours, I murmured, thinking out loud while no one else was close enough to hear me. So there has to be some way to get Demons Breath into the human world without bringing the hellion who provided it. Because the name was a very literal description: Demons Breath was the toxic exhalation of a hellion, a very powerful drug in the Netherworld. And evidently a hell of a high in our world, too.
But Demons Breath could rot the soul of a reaper who held it in his lungs for too long. Did the same hold true for humans? Had Doug breathed enough of it to damage his soul? How had he gotten it in the first place?
Im gonna take a look around, I whispered, and Nash shook his head.
No! He stepped closer to me, so everyone else would think he was comforting me over the loss of my car. You cant cross over. Hellions dont like to lose, and Avaris going to be out for your soul for the rest of your life, Kaylee.
Because Id escaped with mine when wed crossed over to reclaim the Page sisters souls.
Im just going to peek. Like looking through a window into the Netherworld, instead of actually walking through the door. And anyway, Avari wont be there. I frowned. Here. Or whatever. At Scott Carters party.
The Netherworld was like a warped mirror image of our own world. The two were connected at certain points, wherever the bleed-through of human energy was strong enough to anchor the Netherworld to ours, like a toothpick through layers of a sandwich.
Kaylee, I dont think
I cut him off with a glance. I didnt have time to argue.
Just stand in front of me so no one can see me. Itll only take a second.
When he hesitated, I stepped behind him and closed my eyes. And I remembered death.
I thought back to the first time it had happenedat least, the first time I rememberedforcing myself to relive the horror. The certainty that the poor kid in the wheelchair was going to die. That dark knowledge that only I had. The shadows that churned around him. Through him.
The memory of death was enough, fortunately, and the scream began to build deep in my throat. A female bean sidhes wail heralds death and can suspend the deceaseds soul long enough for a male bean sidhe to redirect it. But my wail would also let meand any other bean sidhe near enough to hear mesee into the Netherworld. To cross into it, if we wanted to.
But I had no desire to go to the Netherworld. Ever again.
I held the scream back, trapping it in my throat and in my heart so that Nash heard only a thin ribbon of sound, and no one else would hear a thing.
Nash took my hand, but I could barely feel the warmth of his fingers around mine. I opened my eyes and gasped. Scott Carters street had been enveloped by a thin gray film, like a storm cloud had settled to the ground. My world was still therepolice, tow trucks, an ambulance, and a small crowd of onlookers.
But beneath thatdeeper than thatwas the Netherworld.
A field of olive-colored razor wheat swayed in a breeze I knew would be cold, if I could have felt it, the brittle stalks tinkling like wind chimes as they brushed together. The sky was dark purple streaked with greens and blues like bruises on the face of the world.
It was both beautiful and terrifying. And blessedly empty. No hellions. No fiends. No creatures waiting to eat us or to breathe toxic breath on Doug Fuller, even if wed found some kind of hole in the barrier between worlds.
Okay, its clear. Let it go, Nash whispered, and I swallowed my scream.
The gray began to clear and the wrong colors faded, leaving only the upper-class suburban neighborhood, somehow less intimidating to me now that Id seen what lay beneath. The Netherworld version of Scotts neighborhood looked just like mine.
I wrapped my arms around Nash, discomforted by the glimpse of a world that had once tried to swallow us both whole. However he got it, it didnt come straight from the source, I said, then I let go of Nash to face the real world.
Only a few braveand soberpartyers had stayed once word got out that the police were on their way, and the stragglers were gathered around Scott on his front lawn, watching the cleanup from a safe distance. The cops knew thered been a party, and they obviously knew Scott had been drinking. But so long as he stayed in his own yard and didnt try to get behind the wheel, they were clearly willing to look the other way, thanks to his elite address and his fathers considerable influence in the community.
Emma wouldnt be so lucky. She and Sophie had taken refuge four doors down, in Laura Bells living room. LauraSophies best friend and fellow dancerhad only let Emma in because Nash used the male bean sidhes vocal Influence to convince her.
But just in case, wed sent Tod to watch out for Emma. Invisibly, of course.
Nashs arms tightened around me as a uniformed policeman clomped across the street toward us. Miss he glanced at the notebook in his hands Cavanaugh, are you sure you dont need a ride?
I have one, thanks. I let him think Nash was my ride so I wouldnt have to mention Emma or her car.
The cop glanced at Nash, and my heart fell into my stomach. Hed finished his one drink hours earlier, but suddenly I was afraid the cop would make him walk the line or breathe into something. But when Nash didnt flinch beneath the appraisal, the cops gaze found me again.
You want me to call your parents?
I hesitated, trying to look like I was seriously considering that option. Then I shook my head decisively. Um, no thanks. I waved my cell for him to see. Ill call my dad.
He shrugged. Theyre hauling your car to the body shop on Third, and the guys there should have an estimate for you in a couple of days. But personally, I think an angry word from your lawyer could get this Fuller kids parents to buy you a new one. He looks like he can afford it the cop shot a contemptuous glance over one shoulder and Im willing to bet a years pay that kids baked hotter than an apple pie. Theyre taking him to Arlington Memorial, so make sure your lawyer gets a look at his blood-test results.
I hesitated, trying to look like I was seriously considering that option. Then I shook my head decisively. Um, no thanks. I waved my cell for him to see. Ill call my dad.
He shrugged. Theyre hauling your car to the body shop on Third, and the guys there should have an estimate for you in a couple of days. But personally, I think an angry word from your lawyer could get this Fuller kids parents to buy you a new one. He looks like he can afford it the cop shot a contemptuous glance over one shoulder and Im willing to bet a years pay that kids baked hotter than an apple pie. Theyre taking him to Arlington Memorial, so make sure your lawyer gets a look at his blood-test results.
I nodded, numb, and the cop glanced at Nash over my head. Get her home safely.
Nashs chin brushed the back of my head as he nodded, and when the cop was out of hearing range, I twisted to find Nashs irises swirling languidly with none of the urgent fear skittering through me.
Do you think the blood test will show anything?
No way. Nash shook his head firmly. Theres not a human lab built that can detect a Netherworld substance, and that cop lacks the necessary equipment to do it himself. He tapped my nose and smiled reassuringly, and for a moment, I felt like a supernatural bloodhound. You ready to go?
I guess. I stared as the tow truck pulled away with my car, and a second one backed slowly toward Dougs Mustang.
Doug sat on the floor of the ambulance, legs dangling over the edge, and as I watched, another officer held out a small electronic device with a mouthpiece on one end. Doug blew into the breathalyzer, and the cop glanced at the reading, then smacked the device on the palm of his hand. Like it wasnt working.
It probably showed at least one beer, but nowhere near enough to account for his current state. Nash was right; neither humans nor technology could detect Demons Breath. I wasnt sure whether to be happy about that, or scared out of my mind.