"Well, that's a start. If he's not dead, bloodwill fix anything that happens to a vampire."
Though my legs wobbled, and I had to put a hand onMayhem's back for stability, I made it over to Mal's side. He was stillsprawled on his stomach, his wavy hair obscuring his face. He wasn't breathing,but that was normal.
"Hey, Mal?"
I knelt next to the vampire and hesitantly touched hisshoulder.
"Mal?"
He twitched, but I didn't jump back fast enough, andbefore I could comprehend that I was no longer on my feet, Mal had me pinnedbetween him and the ground, eyes black, teeth bared, a low growl vibratingthrough me.
Or maybe that was Mayhem. The hellhound didn'tinterfere, but he was clearly ready to.
"Mal," I gasped out.
He blinked a few times, eyes clearing.
"Chris. I'm sorry." His grip on my armssoftened and he leaned back, looking me over. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine. You?" I wasn't, but I didn'twant him to think he had hurt me just now.
"Head is killing me, but I'll be all right beforelong. Did I miss the rest of the fight?"
I forced a smile. "Yeah, slacker."
He helped me up then looked around before frowning. "Where'sSabian?"
"Uh." I waved my hand helplessly and burstinto tears.
Mal tightened his jaw, before pulling me against hischest and let me cry while Aaron filled him in on the particulars.
"He's not dead," Mal said gently. "There'sthat at least."
"Yeah," I agreed through choked sob.
"We can get him back, you know."
I nodded. That we could simply summon him back hadoccurred to me. I wasn't sure if I was ready to go down that road or not, butthere was hope. We would figure something out.
"Chris, we need to retrieve that book, make surethere's nothing else dangerous for the police to have, and get out of here. CanI hand you off to Aaron while I take care of this?"
"Yeah, mate. You're right. Sorry." I wipedat my eyes and rubbed my sleeve along my face, just now noticing the jacket wasbasically shredded. It had saved me again. I almost burst into tears again atthe loss, but I managed to remind myself it was just clothing. It could bereplaced, Sabian couldn't.
I stood with Aaron while Mal checked on the occultist–shewas dead–and swept the room for anything we needed to take with us. He grabbeda couple of things before making a quick check of the rest of the house andpronouncing it as clear as he could manage without a much more detailedexploration.
Then we trudged wearily back out into the desert. Heused his vampire speed to rush ahead and get the car, and by the time we met upagain, I was dragging my feet so badly I was tempted to ask Aaron to carry me.I wasn't sure if he felt any better than I did, but he wasn't acting like hewas in bad shape.
Still, Mal got me into the passenger seat. Mayhemshifted back to his tiny form and curled up on my lap, and Aaron got in theback. He put his hand on my shoulder and I rested my cheek against it while Maldrove, grateful for the comfort.
I drifted in and out of sleep. The magical blast ofenergy I'd used to push the demon prince back to hell had really wiped me out. Ididn't want to sleep, afraid I would dream, and I kept jerking myself awake.
Mal pulled into the driveway, and was at my doorbefore I could climb out. He opened it, undid my seatbelt, and lifted me out.
I tried to protest that I could walk but he smotheredmy objections with a gentle kiss.
Aaron opened the door, and we all went inside. Thehouse felt empty without Sabian.
"Do you want anything to eat? Or do you just wantto go to bed?" Mal asked.
"I...I don't want to dream," I admitted,feeling ridiculous, but I didn't want to be alone in my head right now.
Mal nodded. "Let's get you something to drinkthen."
We went into the living room and Mal set me gentlydown on the couch.
Turns out, Mal knew how to make hot chocolate fromscratch and that shit was better than whiskey to knock me out into a dreamlesssleep.
Chapter 20
Price
"So they're gone?" Darius asked the next day.
Mal and Aaron had contacted him after I'd finallyfallen asleep.
He and Deputy McClellan sat on my couch, while I wascurled up in the armchair, Mayhem warming my lap. Aaron had gone to work, butMal was still here.
"Yeah, mate. They're all gone." I evenmanaged to keep my voice relatively normal. I didn't want Darius to know whatall we had done to banish the demon prince and defeat the occultist, so I didn'tmake an issue of his callous attitude.
If he had taken a look at my fractured aura, he wouldhave known how much of a fight it had been, however he didn't seem to havenoticed. That was also probably just as well. I'd recover, but it was going totake a little time. Ezra had burned through my energy pretty badly. It had beennecessary, but even thinking about shifting into the headspace that allowed meto see all the pretty, and occasionally not so pretty, colors surroundingpeople made my head hurt.
It would also be a while before I could even thinkabout trying to contact Ezra or Sabian. Mal probably could have done it, but Istill wasn't really sure how we should proceed. I missed Sabian, a lot. I knewhe'd be okay. He was most certainly in Ezra's good graces and I imagined Ezrahad gained considerable standing when we had defeated our rival.
I didn't even know for sure if Sabian would want to besummoned back. I suspected he wanted to return, but I didn't know. It surprisedme how much I missed Ezra, too. I did not want to be possessed again, but Icertainly wouldn't mind seeing him again, as fucked up as that was. Exorcistdrooling over a demonic prince. Smart, Price...real smart. Lusting after anincubus was bad enough.
I did feel really alone in my head though, and thatwas tweaking me out.
"You're not going to summon Sabian back, are you?"He frowned.
"Why would I do that?"
Mal was standing in the kitchen area, leaning
