Age of Demons

Chapter 28 - Ashlyn

Detroit Safe House

The sun was out again, and its heat rained down on my body, an extra layer of warmth. It had been getting colder the past month, a call to fall's arrival. But today definitely felt like summer. I believed it to be a sign that I was making the right choice. That this was my purpose here. That things were going to be all right.

"Hey, Ash, quit sun tanning," Mara called.

My face had been lifted toward the sun, but at Mara's taunt, I realized my team had already started moving to the border.

This was my seventh day out on the field. I was gaining confidence in my abilities. I had vanquished just over fifty demons in one week, with the help of my team, of course. They had a couple scores on their own, too, and I'd quadrupled their efforts. Des was a little better than me at it though. He was a pro. He moved like the demons, and they could barely touch him before he was on them, forcing them out of oblivion. I wondered if he had done this before.

I had gotten more familiar with my teammates. At first, they were wary of me—unsure. But after I had proved myself, we started growing close. Mara made sure to fight side-by-side with me. Kole always joked around with me. Vince was just as stoic as usual, but he always greeted me in the mornings and fist-bumped me after every win. Corin was usually off in his head, or else always laser-focused when out in the field; we didn't get to talk much. Tia had definitely opened up a little more to me, though. She was quieter than me, so I was surprised when she admitted her parents had died when she was my age too.

The team was definitely its own family. Almost like what I had with Leyla and Jace... and maybe Des. I still didn't know what to think of him. He was usually quiet during the expeditions, barking out a couple orders every now and then, which annoyed Mara to no end. Despite his kill record, most of my teammates gravitated toward me rather than Des. He treated them more like soldiers under his care rather than actual teammates, and I knew Mara disliked him because of that.

Today, as we marched out onto the battlefield, it was Tia by my side. She clutched her gun like a lifeline. Her eyes were round, and she surveyed everything around her. She was usually silent the whole time we were out, attentive to the danger that lurked, but today she was oddly much more tense than usual.

"You okay?" I asked her.

Her face, paler than even mine, tilted up at me. She quickly looked off to the side. "I don't know... I just have this feeling like something isn't right."

I frowned. "The sun is out."

Tia shook her head. "It's probably just my nerves."

Tia's mention of her nerves had me thinking of my own. The first couple of days out there, I almost couldn't handle it. I had a panic attack the second day, and Mara had to half-carry me back inside the safe house boundary. It was embarrassing; I felt like I had let my whole team down. So the next day, I shoved my panic down. I blocked it as best as I could and didn't hyperventilate—even when I was pinned down by a demon at one point. The next couple of days after that were much better. I was facing my fears. I still had a heavy boulder sitting in the pit of my stomach, and my arms shook the whole time I was out there, but every time I obliterated a demon, I felt stronger.

"Everyone ready?" Vince's voice yanked me back to the present. We had reached the end of protection. Just beyond was the graveyard and the open field. A couple abandoned buildings stretched out into the horizon.

Everyone lifted their guns—expect for Des and me. We edged forward. So far, everything looked clear. It was unsettling. Usually there were demons lining up, ready for a taste of us. But today, there wasn't one in sight. Yet. My gut twisted.