Beyond (23 page)

My mind wiped the danger
away as I thought of one thing—love.
Gamma ’
s love radiate d in my heart, filling my soul with sere nity .
I could see myself glow ing . It was so bright that it blinded me , and finally I was able to shut my eyes at my will.
Next thing I knew, so meone enclosed me and I was out of the chair .

“
Claudia, wake up.
”

G
roggy and weak, my eyes slowly opened to find myself in Austin ’
s arm s .
“
Austin , y ou ’
re late, ”
I mumbled, safe in his arms, and I gripped him tightly with all of me.
“
The dark shadows we re here .
I think I made them go away.
”

“
I ’
m sorry. I know. You lit up like a candle .
”

“
Uhhh…
.
”

“
But an attractive one, ”
he winked.
“
Never saw a more beautiful candle than you.
”

I blushed, but I
was sure my face was already flushed from my light.
“
It makes me feels so weak.
”

“
It drains your energy. Don ’
t do it when there is no one around to help, but I understand why you felt the need. I should have been here sooner.
”
He embraced me like he hadn ’
t seen me in months and let out a heavy sigh.
“
When we were in Paradisus, they didn ’
t go near you. I found out from Katherine that they are actually afraid of you. They can only appear through your dreams , when you are more in a human state of mind. You are sleeping a lot less , so that is a good sign. Maybe you should be sleeping with me?
”
He grin ned slyly.

“
Hmmm…I ’
ll take my chances.
”

“
Why? Are you afraid you ’
ll try to take advantage of me like you did at the night club?
”

“
What?
No, ”
I blushed again and changed t he subject.
“
Where were you?
”

There was a moment of silence and I didn
’
t know if he was going to answer my question.
“
Trying to spen d the day not think ing of you, ”
he replied finally with a subdued look .

He didn
’
t give me a chance to reply, but there was nothing I could say anyway , because in a way , I was doing the same thing .

“
Let ’
s go home. My car is just outside.
”

“
We ’
re taking the car?
”

“
The night is still young , my sheltered one. L
et ’
s take a drive.
”

S
t ill in his hold, h e carried me out the door.
A b lack blanket of darkness cover ed the land, and not even the golden crescent moon could be seen .
The air was still and not a sound echoed through the neighborhood.
I looked behind me , feeling disturbed that the shadows were in Gamma ’
s house , and Austin ’
s words echoed through my head ; They are afraid of you and can enter through your dreams when you are in a human state of mind .

We drove in silence for a while
. Austin hadn ’
t breathed a word. Occasionally I would turn to say somethi ng, but decided to keep my mouth closed when I saw the discontented expression on his face.
As I tapped my feet, trying to think of something to say, he continue d to look straight ahead. After a while t he silence was driving me nuts so I gave in.

“
So, what did you do today?
”
I asked .

“
Nothing.
”

I was taken
a back by his sharp tone.
“
What ’
s up with you?
”
I asked with the same rude tone.

“
Why were you at Gamma ’
s house?
”

“
Did I do something wrong? Why are you asking me that question? I ’
m a big girl.
”

“
Apparent you ’
re not.
”

“
What?!
What do you mean by that?
”

“
You need to be more responsible and not go anywhere by yourself.
You could ’
ve gotten killed back there.
Angels and demons are looking for you.
What if I didn ’
t come?
”

“
Then I would glow like a candle for a while longer, burn out and then go home.
”

“
This isn ’
t funny.
”
The car picked up speed.
He was furious and drove like he was.

“
I ’
m not trying to be funny.
And I ’
ll go again , with or without your permission next time .
”
I crossed my arms, then jer ked back when he swer ved the car to the other la ne.
“
Since you ’
re questioning me, why won ’
t you tell me what you were doing today?
”
I asked again.

He flashed his eyes
at the rear view mirror, swerved ba ck to the other la ne , and picked up spee d. Curious to see how fast he was driving, I looked at the speed ometer .
I was surprised to see we were going eighty miles per hour .
“
Why are you driving so fast?
”

Too
pre occupied with something, he answered the question I had asked before.
“
I was with Delilah .
”

“
Oh.
”
Something strange hit me at the pit of my stomach, like I had eaten something bad.
But I already knew he was with her , so why did it feel worse when the words came from him?

Austin continued after a pause. I wondered if
he was trying to see how I would react —h e was sneaky t hat way.
“
Katherine found some venators . We were helping them get settled.
”
He pushed the gas peddle harder, zooming faster than before.

“
Are you trying to kill us?
”
I yelled, hanging onto the dashboard.

His eyes darted
at the rear mirror again and swerved in and ou t of several lines. T
he drivers adjacent to us honked their horn s in anger .

“
I ’
m serious. Slow down, ”
I scolded.
“
Actually , I need you to turn around. I forgot my purse at Gamma ’
s house. Speaking of which, why do you have my credit cards?
”

Austin ignored me
, and that irritated the heck out of me. He was too busy focusing on driving faster, but I was going to get his attention one way or another.
“
Austin!
”

“
We ’
re being followed. Hang on.
”

Sure enough
, when I pee red at the side mirror, several huge black truck s were right on our tail.
The faster he drove, the faster they followed. It was a good thing it was late at night and there were less civilian cars .
The heav il y tinted front windows made it difficult to see who the driver s w ere . One thin g was for sure …
there were now three vehicles after us.
They position ed themselves o ne on each side of us and tried to jam us in the middle, but Austin braked hard and they collided. Even after the collision, they still continued.

“
Red light, ”
I yelled, but Austin punched it. So did the car behind us.
We missed hitting a civilian ’
s car, but the car chasing us was hit . It tumbl ed several times and crashed through a building structure.

“
Another red light, ”
I yelled again, closing my eyes.

“
Don ’
t worry. I ’
m a good driver.
”
H
e jerked to the left and a black van tha t wasn ’
t there before slammed in to Austin ’
s side.

“
Dam n, m y car.
Nobody touches my car, ”
he groaned with exasperation .

Au
stin skidded sharply to the right . T
he car made a screeching sound as we got on the freeway .
He drove lik e a pro —then again I expect ed nothing less from him —but whoever was after us was just as skilled. They had to be some kind of demon s ; or could they be angels that Austin had told me about? As we sped along the highway, there were a lot more civilian motor ists up a head.

“
Austin, ”
I called, worried for those people.

“
I kn o w, I know.
”
He suddenly turned right and we took a dive off the freeway , plunging down the equivalent of several stories .
Even with the seatbelt on, I bumped m y head on the rooftop from the harsh impact.
Austin looked at me and pl aced his hand on my head , h is silent way of apologizing and maki n g sure I was okay. The pursuers didn ’
t stop , so Austin dro ve like crazy again. We drove over miles on train tracks, in and out of parked trains.

“
Do you know where we ’
re going?
”
I asked , panicking , holding on for dear life.

“
Nope .
”
Austin didn ’
t sound worried or frazzled like I would be if I were the driver. Instead, besides being aggravated from being followed, he seemed to be enjoying this ride.
I wondered if it was testosterone that got him all excited, driving like he was having the time of his life. After all, when d id one get a chance to drive th at fast?

Suddenly, we heard a loud thump on top
of the car.
“
We have company. Hold on tight.
”
He swerved the car sharply to the left, to the right, every way possible to shake th e thing off, but whatever it was clung to the car .

The thing started
pounding, harder by the second, making a big dent.
Frantically, I looked at Austin.
Then it s hand penetrated the roof and grab bed me by my shirt.
“
Ahhh!
”
I screamed from the top of my lung s .

Austin gripped it
s arm tightly with his right hand and the thing let go , obviously in pain.

“
Get off my car, ”
Austin said through his gritted teeth .
With the push of a button, t he roof opened like the lid on a sardine can.
A g us t of strong wind w hipped my hair and made me gasp in short breath s . T
he being was pulled to the top of the win dshield of the car behind us , along with the roof of Austin ’
s car, crushing it . It emitted a loud, high pitched squeal of pain.

A second later, t
he car skid ded from the impact as the being f ell beneath the front tires, only to get rolled over.
The two cars , on e on each side , co ntinued to follow us just as fast, hitting us from both sides. Hearing the screeching sound from metal contacting metal , Austin groaned.
From the speed and the unpaved bumpy road, it felt like a roller coaster ride, but nothing prepared me for what was ahead.

“
Tur n back. We ’
ll fall of the cliff, ”
I said. Surprisingly, I was calm.
Were the demons stupid? Could they not see the cliff ahead?

“
Cool .
That ’
s perfect.
Hold on!
”

“
Austin….nooo!
”
I screamed . The car veered off the cliff with the front bumper pointing down, free falling as my stomach went the opposite direction. The only thing holding me locked inside was my seat beat, but not for long .
Everything happened so fast.
With the sound of a click, I was now in Austin ’
s hold and in the air .
I could see car s falling below me.
J
ust as the tunnel of smoke and fire engulfed us , we spiraled up and away.
I could see the massive black smoke and blistering fire from the collision and explosion.