Sugar skull girl had climbed the door of my stall and was sitting on it like a bird of prey. As far as I was concerned, she was lying through her extremely sharp teeth. She had no intention of taking me home. At least, no place I would consider home. Was she talking about Heath's home? Damn. It appeared I was screwed, and distracting her with conversation had become ineffective. 

I had to admit, the girl was pretty for a demon, just like Kelly. Her shiny yellow hair hung in a ponytail at her neck, and a petite set of horns protruded from her forehead, enhancing the freaky makeup she wore. The only features she hid from me were her eyes, which looked as pale as the moon behind those rose-colored glasses.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," she said. "The easy way is you sheathing that dagger and handing it over. The hard way might result in injury."

She held out her clawed hand, which looked just as lethal as my dagger. How easy would it be to kill her? Vincent should have given me better instructions. Would I have to stab her in the heart like a vampire? Did I have the balls to kill someone, even in self-defense? This demon didn't seem very threatening, although she was serious enough to knock my friend out cold.

"C'mon, Reese," demon girl pressed. "I may have more patience than Heath, but even I have my limits."

"Is Heath waiting for us? I don't want to see him. He needs to let me go."

She chuckled. "This isn't about Heath."

Oh, really?

"Then who? What's going on?" I struggled to hold the dagger steady while demon girl watched me panic, keeping her rosy, round eyes locked on me. Was she wary because an inexperienced idiot was in possession of dangerous weaponry?

"Heath told me you were a talkative little beastie, but we don't have time for chit chat. Back up."

As she spoke her command, demon girl jumped into my stall, forcing me between the toilet bowl and the wall. Quick as lightning, she swatted the dagger out of my hand and it landed on the floor just shy of Sylvie's head. She was fast, and before I knew it, her arm was wrapped around my waist and she was leaping for the air vent, swinging one-handed from the sharp edge.

"Get in," she commanded as she hoisted me up and into the crawl space. My fake wings caught on a screw and the Velcro strips gave way easily, peeling the wings off my bodice and nearly unsheathing my boobs in the process. I ducked into the confined space, but not before my head met with the wall of the duct. I bit out a curse as my anger brewed under the powerful emotion of fear, and I didn't try to stifle it. It might come in handy. Where did this demon come off calling me a beastie?

"Start crawling until I tell you otherwise." Demon girl followed me through the duct, closing the vent cover and tucking her wings tight against her back. She prodded my ass with her claws when I didn't immediately respond, which was totally unnecessary. Where else was I going to go? We followed the air duct, and every time we passed a vent, I was tempted to whistle for help. But there wasn't much a meager human could do against a demon, and if I got someone killed, I would have to live with that guilt. 

"Here we are," she said as we came to a vent at the far end of the duct. "Push that grate open. You should have no trouble getting down. There's a chair right below it."

I found it interesting that demon girl was concerned for my safety. Or was she trying to reduce the risk of having to carry me if I broke my leg? With a sharp whack from my fist, I popped the vent open and it swung away. True to her word, a chair had been pushed to the center of the room below the vent, and I dropped easily onto it.

The room I landed in was a glass-enclosed sunroom, lit only by flood lights on the other side of the windows. A pair of French doors led outside to my right, reflecting the silhouettes of a perfectly-sculpted garden. To my left, a single closed door led into the mansion. Which to choose...?

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" said demon girl as she jumped down and grabbed my arm. "C'mon, Reese. We have a long journey ahead of us."

Her claws dug into my skin as she hauled me out through the French doors and over a cobblestone path toward the garden. As I stumbled on the rough terrain, I thought of Sylvie lying unconscious in the bathroom. How long would it be before someone discovered her? And what about Vincent? Was he locked in a battle that could end his life? I whimpered when my body flooded with painful emotions, but demon girl didn't seem to notice, or maybe she didn't care. When we came to an open brick patio, she unfurled her wings, and I knew I only had a second to make my escape.

Wrenching my hand away from her grip, I bolted for the sculpted garden, hoping her current winged state would hinder her speed. I practically dove for a path flanked by thick hedges, focusing on remaining upright in my boots and ignoring her curses as she gave chase. Behind me, I heard her talons scraping the cobblestones like nails on a chalkboard, while ahead the hedges split in two, directing me to choose between right or left. I made a dash to the right, heading for the parking lot where I hoped to find people getting into their cars. Maybe my kidnapper would be discouraged by an audience.

I gasped when the sound of impossibly large wings startled me, and my stomach roiled as I was snatched unceremoniously by the armpits and yanked into the air.

"Oh, Reese. You really don't know anything, do you?" Demon girl's voice carried over my head as we took to the sky. I could tell we were rapidly gaining altitude, but I had scrunched my eyes closed as soon as we left the ground.

"I know enough," I said, although I wished I knew more, like how to fly so I could get away from this bossy bitch.

When we banked hard to the left, I risked a glance at the ground. The mansion was swiftly shrinking behind us and a dense forest took its place, snuffing out all light and signs of life, but I knew there was life below us. Growls and snarls echoed up from the trees as we flew above them. It was the sound of animals in the heat of battle, and it made my skin crawl with goosebumps. I knew what kind of animals were making those sounds.

"Please, I want to see what's happening down there," I said as I craned my neck to look up at demon girl. "Don't you want to know who's winning?"

"I have my orders." She said this as she glanced down at the trees, and her lips tightened into a grim line. She wanted to know as much as I did, but she wasn't budging from her flight path, probably under orders from her superiors. Maybe Heath. Did she have feelings for him? Perhaps, some female bonding was in order.

"Is that how it is, then? You detach emotionally so you're not affected by loss? Let me tell you from experience, it only makes things worse. What's your name?"

Demon girl sighed as she redirected her focus to the empty sky ahead. "Cara."

"Do you like Heath, Cara?"

"Of course. He is a member of my colony."

"That's not what I meant."

"Nice try, but I'm not interested in talking to you."

"Really? Is that because you're carrying me to my death?"

Silence.

"Okay, you don't have to tell me. But, can we make a quick pass over them and see what's happening? Please?"

More silence, and the sounds of battle faded the further away we traveled, but I could tell Cara had slowed her speed.

"I love Vincent." The words were out of my mouth before they even passed through my head, but I didn't regret speaking them. They were true. I loved Vincent, and his death would literally suck the life out of me. "Do you feel love, Cara?"

Cara's grip tightened around my shoulders and a low growl emanated from her throat. "Love is a dangerous distraction and only causes pain."

"Who says?"

Silence.

With my captor giving me the silent treatment, I realized there was only one thing left to do. Whistle. I screeched out my SOS, and Cara wasted no time shouting at me.

"Stop!"

I didn't stop.

"Reese! Stop!"

"Why should I? I'm doing what any normal person would do. Survival is a natural instinct."

"But you aren't a normal person, are you?"

Her reply had me hesitating as the reality hit me like a gust of arctic air. Yes, I was a gargoyle. A freak with wings and fangs. Too bad I still felt like a helpless human. "Neither are you, and I bet you would put up a helluva fight if you were being abducted."

Cara said nothing, but she didn't have to. She was probably coming to the same conclusion.

"Reese!"

The sound of Vincent's voice had my body sagging with relief, and I tried my damnedest to turn around as Cara secured me tighter. Through my peripherals, I glimpsed two winged men gaining altitude as they gave chase. One I assumed to be Vincent, and the other could have been Rizzo or a demon in pursuit. Whoever it was had his arm pressed against his chest as if nursing an injury.

"Dammit." Cara cursed as she increased her speed.

"Cara, please don't try to fight them. Just consider this an aborted mission and try again another day."

"Shut up! Just shut up," Cara ground out. "I won't get another chance. You don't know anything about demons, do you?"

"No, I don't. You won't be punished, will you? You won't be... killed?"

Cara's silence had my throat tightening. She may have been an enemy of the gollums, but she was no villain. She was following a villain's orders. Vincent easily caught up to us, and I bit back a gasp when I saw the amount of blood staining his face and body.

"Are you injured, Reese?" His question sounded ironic, since he was the one who had just come from battle.

"I'm fine."

Vincent quickly turned his focus to my abductor, so I didn't have a chance to read his expression, although I assumed he wasn't happy seeing me in the clutches of a demon.

"I'll take over from here," he said to Cara.

"Go to hell," came her reply.

"I think you're confusing me with someone else. If I can offer a suggestion, you might be better off joining your comrades as they mourn the loss of an asshole."

My stomach lurched at Vincent's announcement. Was Heath dead?

Cara turned an angry glare on Vincent, but I could tell by the way she bit her lip that she was hurt. "You're the asshole."

Vincent ignored her taunt and glanced behind him where the second winged man struggled to keep up. "You hanging in there, Rizzo?"

There was no response, which I took as a bad sign.

"Cara, please. Let me go so you can join your friends," I said. "Tell them I escaped after you were ambushed. I won't reveal what really happened. I'll say you put up a good fight."

"How do you know I'm not going to put up a fight?" Cara growled.

Vincent took immediate action, swiping at Cara's thigh with a lethal claw. She flinched and her grip briefly loosened on my arms as she cried out.

"There you go," Vincent said. "Proof that you put up a fight. Now, hand over Reese and fly off before I'm forced to give you more proof."

"Fuck you! Fuck all of you!" Cara swung my body upward as she opened her talons, and suddenly I was airborne.

"Shit!"

My curse came out strangled, but Vincent gave me little time to panic as he quickly snatched me one-handed by my crinoline skirt and tucked me into his chest. Without preamble, he dove for the ground where the lights of Albany's suburbs twinkled pleasantly, while behind me Cara's animalistic cries echoed as she retreated to the battlefield. I finally got a look at Rizzo as Vincent pulled up beside him, and what I saw made me cringe.

The winged Frenchman looked as pale as milk, and the arm he held against his chest was facing the wrong direction. Despite my desire to go back and rescue Sylvie, I held my tongue. I had a feeling our next stop was the hospital.

PLAYLIST SONG: Killing Strangers by Marilyn Manson