Jess went into the bathroom; it was small and filthy, and she cringed when she turned on the tap and rust colored water filled the basin. She let it run until a clear torrent of liquid flowed. She studied her face in the mirror. She was not the girl she had once been, but after everything she’d faced, she felt stronger. She climbed onto the counter and leaned against the mirror to wait for Rory.
Only a few minutes had passed, since Justin left, when she heard the door of the hotel room open and shut. She hopped back onto the floor and wiped her face before she opened the bathroom door.
“Rory?” She entered the room prepared to be greeted by his amber eyes.
“Sorry, love. It’s just me.” Dawson was at the table enveloped in a peculiar serenity.
Initially she froze, and then glanced over her shoulder to see how far she was from the door and freedom.
“Don’t run. I’ll be on you before you make the decision.” He was calm, the anger she expected absent.
She knew his words were true. He’d tackled her before in a fraction of a second, and there was little hope of getting away. She hoped Rory waited on the other side of the door. She prayed that any minute, he would break it in and save her. “Where’s Justin?”
Dawson’s lip curled, and his nostrils flared. “He’s with some of my friends. He may be busy for a bit.”
She needed to get out. As she glanced at the window, she thought she might hurl herself through it. He followed her gaze and grinned. He knew it was a three-story drop to the concrete below, and jumping was a far gutsier move than Jess had in her.
“You know, it occurs to me that we have a few issues. Maybe you’re not the girl I thought you were.” He tapped his fingers on the table and chuckled at himself.
The mark on his throat was just a small indentation now. Jess replayed the sequence of events which had brought them to the moment and regretted that she hadn’t had the courage to see it through. He was on his feet before her, now. He lifted his hand and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “What am I going to do with you?”
Jess spun on her heel and bolted for the door. As promised, he was on top of her before she touched the knob. She felt him inhale against her neck. “I told you I’d catch you, little mouse.”
She flipped over beneath him and pulled her knees up to wedge them between his chest and her own. She gave one good shot at pushing him off, and then lay back on the floor exhausted. He seemed amused and jumped to his feet, allowing her to crawl for the door again. He watched as she reached for the handle. Just as her fingertips grazed the cold metal, he grabbed her feet and dragged her back across the carpet. The rug set her skin ablaze, and she shrieked, until he shoved his hand over her mouth.
“Shhh. Do you have to make this difficult?” his voice goaded.
All at once, she was in his arms, pressed against his chest, and shards of glass flew in all directions. The remains of the window cut her face and arms as they exited the building. Dawson glanced down and licked his lips. Jess could feel the anticipation in him, the arousal, as his body hardened against her.
They flew through the morning sky accelerating at hypersonic speeds, and she was dazed by anxiety. When the passing scenery slowed, she didn’t recognize the place. They were in a rock quarry surrounded by woods, and storm clouds rolled in overhead, turning the sky gray and black.
From at least twelve feet above the earth, Dawson dropped her causing her to land face first on the ground. She lifted her head and spit grit from her mouth as she marveled at the burning flesh on her knees and arms. When she regained her bearings, she rolled over in an attempt to alleviate the screaming scrapes on her skin.
Dawson landed next to her. “There your boys are.” He laughed and used his foot to roll her face back into the gravel. He held her there for several seconds, and Jess thought her lungs would explode. When he let up, she gasped for air, spitting rock once again from her cracked lips.
To her right, she could see a battered metal building. The roof was partially gone and the walls covered in rust and lichen. Justin was embroiled in a fight with a well-built blond beast. The demon was exposed, so its flesh hung on bone which was all too apparent to the naked eye. They were suspended above the building and from her place in the dirt and gravel she could see Justin’s glorious black wings.
Dawson grabbed a hand full of Jess’ hair and dragged her through the jagged rocks of the quarry. She groaned as blood poured down her legs.
“Shut up.” He no longer hid his distaste for her. Each time he gazed down at her his lip curled and his nostrils flared.
When Rory finished with the thing he’d cornered on the edge of the forest, he was immediately attacked by another. “Justin!” he yelled nodding in Jess’ direction.
Every tree in the forest shuddered with the sound of his voice. Justin’s attention was broken and he saw her splayed across the ground. Dawson’s hand was still wrapped in her hair and blood colored the rocks below her. The thing lunged at him, and with one hand Justin reached into its chest and tore away its heart finishing it.
“Justin, look what I’ve got.” Dawson yelled over his shoulder while he used the tip of his pointed boots to kick gravel in her face again.
She dodged his foot, taking the brunt of the blow to the back of the head. As Dawson spoke, Justin landed in front of him, and Jess tried to untwist herself to see him.
“Drop her.” He was less than five feet from them, but he didn’t approach. Jess could see fear and fury combining to color his face.
“Back off or I’ll snap her neck.” Dawson glanced down at Jess grinning.
Rory screamed somewhere in the distance, but Jess could no longer locate the sound of his voice. Dawson’s grip tightened on her hair, and he jerked her head so Justin could see her face. Jess could feel the blood as it trickled down her face and the rock embedded in her lips. She didn’t want him to see her injuries. She struggled to turn away, but Dawson jerked her head around, again.