I paused to let it sink in.
“With Aaron it was different. It started out innocent enough, then that same carnal urge took over. I wanted his soul too. When he willed himself to me, there was nothing but silence. Dad said that the claim creates a bond between a demon and a mortal. If anything tries to hurt him, I guess I will know.” I sighed and looked at Adam. He was just staring at me, with no expression really on his face.
“So, what happens when the contract is broken?”
“With Wesley, it felt like my world was shattering. I had this pain in my heart. It even stopped beating for a while. It was like he took all the life out of me.” I closed my eyes for a second. “Dad said that with Aaron it would probably be different since there aren’t any binding feelings.”
“Maybe not on your end, but that boy is head over heels for you,” Adam said, frowning. “How do you feel about him?”
“I like him. I enjoy being around him. I just don’t love him. I’m not saying that one day I won’t, but right now all I want is Wesley.”
A pained look spread across Adam’s face. Even saying those words aloud made me wonder if I was telling the truth.
“It all seems very complicated,” Adam said, at last, looking up at the ceiling. I glanced at him, puzzled, then brushed it off.
“If anything happened to him though, I don’t know what I would do,” I confided.
“To Wesley or Aaron?”
“Either of them, I guess.”
Adam rolled away from me. “Well, I have to be up early so that I can meet my dad,” he said.
I touched his back before getting up to shut off the light. I lay there for a few moments in the dark looking up at the ceiling. Why did things seem like they were different all of a sudden? I rolled onto my side towards the wall. Then I felt the bed beside me move, and Adam’s arm came around my waist as it had done the last few nights.
“Good night, Dawn,” he whispered. He said something else, but I couldn’t make it out.
“Good night, Adam,” I answered as sleep took hold.
****
“Dawn, I need you to open your eyes.” The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place it at first. It sounded weak and strained. I looked through the darkness, and slowly Wesley stepped into view.
“Wesley!” I exclaimed, running toward him. I touched his face, his shoulders, his chest, any place that my hands could find.
“Dawn, I don’t have much time. She’s with her mother right now, so I have a few moments.”
He touched my face. His skin was so cold; it sent chills up my spine. He looked so sick, his skin was pale, his blue eyes were gray, and his lips were a fading pink. He was clearly not well.
“What has she done to you?” I demanded, fighting back the tears.
“I’m dying, Dawn,” he said, turning his head, and showing me two pinprick marks on the side of his neck.
“No!” I gasped. “I’ll get you out of there.”
“Don’t worry about me. As long as you are safe, I have done my job.” He ran his fingers down the side of my face.
“I do worry about you,” I said, my heart breaking just looking at him.
“I worry about you too. She’s just about completed her recruiting. I’ve tried to hold her off the best I can, but sometimes the visions come when she’s right there, and I cannot fudge my way out of them.” He sighed. “I have done everything I can to keep you safe. It was my fault she wanted you anyway. If I had never fallen in love with you none of this would be going on.”
“Don’t say that. I wouldn’t change anything about you and me. I will save you, Wesley.” I couldn’t fight the tears anymore, and they were running down my cheeks.
“John grows more and more suspicious of me. However, he will not let things go until you are his. He seems to think that you are going to be what sets him free from her. I have seen his future, and you are nowhere in it.” He coughed, and a bit of blood came out of the corner of his mouth.
“Where are you?” I asked, wiping it away.
“We are about a hundred miles outside of Albuquerque. Been here for the last week.” He coughed again. “I have to go, Dawn. This is draining me more than you can imagine. If I can get the strength again, I will find you.” He kissed my forehead and disappeared into the darkness.
****
I shot up crying, the sobs ripping my body in two. Adam threw his arms around me and rocked me back and forth, telling me that it was all going to be okay.
“He knows he’s dying.” I sobbed into Adam’s shoulder.
“Where are they?” he asked me as he rubbed my back.
“He said about a hundred miles outside of Albuquerque,” I said as the sobs slowly subsided.
“What the heck is there in New Mexico besides desert?” Adam pondered. Then he pushed me back and looked earnestly into my face. “That’s it!” he exclaimed, jumping off the bed and racing into the living room.
I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed to follow him. When I entered the room, he was sitting next to Shawn and talking as fast as his lips would allow.
“She’s following the Rio Grande. There are parks and towns all along it. Those little towns would be perfect territory for her to do her recruiting, and the mountains are ideal for hiding in and doing her training. I’m guessing she must be between Mesa and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Probably made a stop in the mountain forests around Lincoln, where it’s cool, and there are large areas of open land.”
“How
