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Senior year.
The thoughts swarmed in my head as I started the engine of my new Shelby GT Convertible. I grinned and glanced at Julia as the engine growled around us. Reaching over, I unlocked the top, pressing the button on the dashboard that lowered the roof. The bright morning sunshine crawled into the car with each inch the opening roof created, until the top folded neatly behind the back seat. I didn’t bother with the boot cover. I wasn’t going to leave the car open in the school parking lot. Not with the unpredictable weather in Florida.
“This car is so damn sweet,” Julia said and I revved the engine again.
“A-yup,” I agreed, falling back into my Maine drawl for a moment before flashing a quick glance over my shoulder and backing out of the driveway. “Noah’s going to shit,” I added and turned in the direction of my best friend’s house.
“You didn’t tell him you got a Mustang?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I told him I got an old junkyard car.”
Julia’s laughter rang through the car and I resisted the urge to pull the car over and plant a lip-lock on her. After all, she was the reason I opted to not go north and finish high school back in York. I figured the summer would come soon enough and we could make the trip home together.
Until then, I was stuck in Florida, living with Julia and her crazy relatives. Ever since the tornado struck, they’d been overly protective of both of us. When I turned eighteen and approached them about buying a car with part of my inheritance, you would have thought the world was on the brink of collapse, but they eventually calmed down and agreed to take me to one of the auto dealers in the area.
Most of the time, their doting annoyed me, but every now and again, I take a step back and see things from their point of view. Julia was their only living relative, and because they never had kids of their own, they wanted to protect her in every way possible, even from me.
We only mentioned Maine once and they dug their heels in, refusing to entertain the notion, even going so far as to hold Julia’s inheritance hostage. They couldn’t do a thing about mine, but they certainly could make Julia think twice.
“What are you thinking about?” Julia asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
I turned down Noah’s road and said, “Maine.”
“I miss Maine, too,” she said and I squeezed her hand, exchanging a quick glance before I focused on Noah’s driveway.
I swear; Noah’s eyes got as wide as the bottom of a soda can and his mouth formed that awed ‘o’ that made me break out in laughter. Julia was giggling in the front seat, clamping her hand over her mouth so her guffaws wouldn’t carry over the rev of the engine. I pulled into the driveway and threw the stick in neutral, carefully setting the brake before I lifted myself up to fold my arms on the top of the windshield.
“You like my piece of junkyard shit?” I asked and Julia swatted my leg.
Noah was nearly bobbing in place. Even at almost eighteen, he was still a bundle of energy, like he was forever thirteen.
“Holy shit, Ramsay. Is that the new GT?” he said, finally moving toward the car like an overly excited puppy.
“Yep,” I said and flashed a grin. “I figured it was about time we rode in style.”
“You’re flippin’ brilliant,” he nearly clapped his hands in glee and I chuckled, slipping back into the driver’s seat while he walked around to the passenger side.
Julia stepped out and pulled the seat down so Noah could slip in the back. For just a moment, I saw a flash of envy pass over his features, but it was gone just as quickly as he settled into the back seat.
“You can ride in the front on the way home,” Julia said to Noah, and he beamed. Leave it to her to read him just as easily as I could.
“This is a sweet ride,” he said, caressing the seats like he had never felt real leather before.
“That it is,” I said and backed out of the driveway. I stopped at the intersection of the main road waiting for a break in traffic. The blue sports car that pulled onto the road caught my attention, especially when it flanked my position and stopped. The familiarity of the car tickled the back of my mind and when the mirrored window lowered, all my good humor died. I stared at my father and the expression on his face nearly made me slam the gas pedal, consequences be damned.
Instead, I dropped my car into neutral and sent a glare in his direction. A visit from Death only meant one thing... trouble.
Julia’s hand gripped my wrist and I didn’t need to turn to see the fear in her eyes. I already felt it vibrating from her in waves. Noah was silent in the backseat, which was extremely unusual and I chanced a quick look over my shoulder. He wasn’t focused on my father, but something in the distance ahead.
I followed his gaze and my stomach dropped.
Leviathan.
I snapped my attention back to my father.
“What the...” I started and stopped myself before dropping the f-bomb.
“A handful of demons found a tear in the barrier between Purgatory and here,” he said like that explained everything. I gave him a shrug full of attitude, without the expletives going off in my head. “Leviathan followed. We need to help bring them back before all hell breaks loose.”
The terminology he used wasn’t lost on me, neither was the level of unease visible in his face.
“We?” I asked, choosing to focus on the plural as opposed to the situation.
“Yes. If WE don’t get them back to Purgatory and mend the tear in the barrier...” he clamped his mouth shut. The muscles in his jaw tightened and he closed his eyes for a second before continuing. “If we don’t fix this, the gates of heaven will open and a flood of angry angels will descend.” He met my gaze. “And Earth will become their battleground.”