Page 110 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

Solar examined it, his eyebrows knitting together as he probably wondered if the piece was legit. Suddenly, there was a vibrating sound coming from Solar. It was his phone. Panic etched his expression. I figured it must be Richie calling, wondering why his crony hadn’t contacted him yet.

Casting Sage’s jacket aside, Solar slid the vessel into his own jacket pocket, then focused his blue eyes on us as a deliberating expression fell over his features.

Shit!He was contemplating whether or not to kill us.

Time to get the hell out of here!

The moment Solar’s trigger finger began to squeeze. I batted my hand in his direction, releasing a bolt of telekinetic energy that slammed into the gun and sent it flying across the room. Solar gasped in panic, and Sage started to tackle him, but I snatched the tail of his shirt and pulled him back at the same time that I thrust my free hand toward the door and flung it open.

“Run!” I screamed.

To my relief, Sage listened and rushed through the door right behind me as I made a beeline for the sedan. We jumped in. I shifted the car into reverse and made our getaway. Solar appeared at the corner, gun in hand. I thought he would shoot, but he just watched us leave.

We were several blocks away before I parked the car, leaned over the wheel, and squeezed my eyes shut, willing my heart to slow down. Sitting next to me, Sage breathed in and out noticeably. After several long minutes, I straightened and glanced over his way. Our gazes met.

“Do you need a new pair of pants?” I asked, my voice trembling as I nervously laughed.

Sage huffed. “Only if you do.”

We both laughed without real amusement.

“What now?” he asked.

I shrugged. Drevan had said he would—

A figure suddenly appeared in front of the car, blocking the headlights. Sage and I startled, then slumped in relief when we realized it was Khargon. She came around and tapped on my window. I rolled it down.

“Not bad,” she said. “Though, your escape was a bit graceless.”

“I was going to rough him up a bit,” Sage said, “but Lucia didn’t let me.”

The demon shrugged as if she didn’t think that would’ve been much better. “Drevan made sure someone gave Richie a call informing him of Solar’s indiscretion. Richie heard from one of his other cronies that Solar let it slip that tomorrow he would be sipping cocktails in Fiji.”

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

Khargon put up a finger as if sayingwait a minute, then cocked her head to one side as if listening. After a minute, she turned back to us.

“Drevan says Solar is heading toward his mother’s.” Khargon pulled a face as if she couldn’t find any sense in that. “Why would he do that?”

“Maybe he wants to say goodbye before he disappears forever,” I ventured. I could understand that desire. I had a family, and if Solar was planning to go away for good, he’d probably gotten sentimental and wanted to see them one last time.

“Maybe,” Khargon said. “Whatever the case, get your asses there. Now!”

37

WestarteddrivingtowardRebecca Hudson’s apartment as Khargon had instructed us to do before she disappeared into thin air.

The light at the corner turned red.

“What the hell?” Sage said, throwing his hands up in the air. “It’s like we're hitting every freaking red light.”

“Chill,” I chided him. He was making me nervous.

I stopped. There was no traffic, and I could probably run the thing without being caught, but better to be safe than sorry.

“What is taking so long? Where did the demon traffic magic go?” Sage complained, glancing left and right. “Just gun it. Let’s go!”

I hesitated.