Page 76 of My Road Trip with a Vampire: Season One

“And you’re too weak to do anything to me.”

My flashlight flickers in my hand, and the demon appears beside me.

“I could take you to hell with me. I’m sure they’ve been saving you a spot,” she says, trailing a finger down my cheek. My stomach turns like I’ve eaten spoiled fish.

Darling growls and lets out the most vicious bark I’ve ever heard from her.

The demon smiles. I see the wheels turning in her head. I’m usually not worried for Darling’s safety, but I don’t know what to expect anymore.

Dennis scoops my ghost pup up from the floor and backs away.

“I think Mom’s got this,” he says, cradling her.

“Yeah, I’ve got this.” I flash my eyes back to the demon. “You are nothing without the souls you eat. There’s no space for you here. The veil is calling you back.”

I see the thread that divides this life from the next. There’s dead air and static behind that curtain. Moans of pain are muffled by the thin material. That’s what awaits her.

I can tell she sees it too. She backs up for the door, but she stops, frozen to the spot.

Saltdoeswork on demons. Noted.

“There’s nowhere to run.”

Her flesh melts away as the curtain waves without any breeze behind it. Her teeth chatter and bite at nothing.

“Time to go back to whatever hell you came from!”

I close my eyes and imagine the space swallowing her whole. Decayed hands and skeletal fingers reach for her, dragging her into the pit behind the veil.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” she says, her voice deepening into a monstrous growl. I toe the edge of the dark space, but something pulls me away.

I'm jolted back to the room, my back pressed against Dennis. He pulls me to him with his free hand, and Darling wriggles beside me. I lean my head back against his chest and take comfort in the familiar silence of his non-beating heart.

“Holy shit, Bea. You really did that.”

“I guess I did.”

He spins me around and hugs me.

“You saved me.”

“Ugh. Don’t make it weird. I only saved you from yourself.”

“Thank you. I mean it.”

His genuine gratitude makes the moment feel too real. It’s hard to breathe.

“It’s almost sunrise. We should get out of here,” I say.

We step apart, and he places Darling on the floor before grabbing the music box.

“Let’s burn this thing real quick, then we’re going to head back to our hotel room.”

Heat spreads through my low body at the thought.

“What should we do there?”

“First, I’m going to lick you the way I’ve wanted to all night.” He moves in close again. “Then I'm going to ask you how you know so much about Agnes.”