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“You think everything at home is okay?” Valerie asked as I opened the car door for her.
The light mood fizzled at the reminder of the darkness that shrouded our lives and I glanced at the dark sky. “No one called, so that’s a good sign.” I closed the door and scanned the parking lot before I slid into the driver’s seat.
Instead of starting the car, I sat contemplating if I could do what Steve did, now that I had the rest of the mojo fused in my blood.
“Try it,” she whispered.
I sighed, tempted. “Here isn’t the place.” I turned the car on and headed home. “I’ll try at home.” I didn’t need to explain why. Just the darkening of my mood was enough.
The question of whether we would ever be able to truly relax and enjoy life settled into my bones. “There’s got to be a way to get hell’s legions to back the fuck off.”
She burst out laughing. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”
Unfortunately, I agreed with her. I had too much information downloaded into my brain and just couldn’t abide by some of the mutants and monsters that existed. All of a sudden, what I really wanted to do with my life overwhelmed me. Instead of sitting by waiting to be attacked, it was my turn to hunt those motherfuckers and put them down.
“I think I should take up hunting.” I glanced at Valerie and her eyes widened.
“You can’t...”
“Yeah, I can. Damian ran all his life, look what that got him. It wasn’t until he chose to fight back that he won. It wasn’t the martyrdom that broke the cycle, it was the attack.” I refocused on the road. “I’m better suited to attack than look over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Valerie spouted at my epiphany.
“Seriously, think about it. Everything so far has been defensive maneuvering. It’s time to gear up and go on the offensive. Make the monsters run from us for a change.”
“Why? Why would you put yourself in that kind of situation?”
I knew she’d had run ins with some pretty evil assholes, and almost didn’t live to tell about it, but she didn’t see the beauty in the solution, nor did she get the real reason behind my epiphany. “Someone has to save those kids from a life of running and fear,” I said and refocused on the road in front of me, stopping at the next set of lights. “If Damian isn’t prepared to do it, I certainly am.”
“Why would you risk your life for someone else’s children?”
She really didn’t get the scope of what would happen to our world if Lucifer got his hands on Damian’s little girl. “Because saving Grace from Lucifer should be a priority for all of us.”
“And the boys?”
“Lucifer can’t build an army of trinities with them. At least not an army of his offspring, one that he can control. Naomi’s at risk too, but I have a feeling if he ever got hold of her, she’d destroy herself before she let him use her for his evil spawn. Besides, there’s something special about Grace. Something compelling that makes me want to put my life on the line for her.” I bit my lip and turned onto the highway, trying to pinpoint what it was that made the child stand out more than the other two. “It’s much more than just the consequences of Lucifer getting his slimy hands on her. It’s something deeper.” I glanced at Valerie. “You and Naomi have a hint of the same power, albeit much less intense.”
“You think it might be our angelic bloodline?”
“Maybe, but I don’t feel the same compulsion to protect Damian.”
We drove in silence over the Piscataqua River Bridge into Maine. “I’m not sure if it was Damian’s innocence or Naomi’s specialness, for lack of a more appropriate word, that drove Steve to take a stand with them.” Or if it was just his sense of justice combined with his tainted moral compass that drove it.
“Why did you?”
“I wasn’t going to let Steve stand alone against what was coming. He’s family.”
“Damian’s my family,” she said under her breath.
The last thing I wanted was another Sandy situation, even if it only involved a friend. “I guess that means we’ll have to call a truce then,” I muttered.
Valerie’s hand slid over mine and gave a little squeeze and I traded a glance with her and then looked down at my hand covered with hers. She removed her hand and the absence of her flesh against mine made me sigh. Shutting off access to my thoughts, I stared at the road ahead of me wondering how in the world I was going to continue playing this game when any time our skin touched it sparked a fire in my soul.