The Demon Inheritance

SEVENTEEN

Mary here with me feels much more real than the alternate reality I knew really existed. Her hands are cold in mine, but I can feel the warmth finally begin to drift from her skin. She is here with me, and I don't have to leave my beautiful family to be there. Her hand cups my slim chin, and my arms are around her as I pull her into a hard embrace.

"Mary... I miss you..." There is no way this is real in any sense. She feels so cold, like she was near to just collapsing from lack of body heat. Plus, I knew I was asleep. This wasn't a vision. This was a dream.

"Yeah... Thinking of you safe and sound really is just a dream, isn't it?" I hunch my back the slightest bit to be as tall as her, and bury my chin into her shoulder, pulling her into my chest. "What's happening to you right now? They're hurting you, aren't they?"

I didn't want to leave her side. If I left this dream, I would shift back into a reality without her. I didn't want to wake up... I never wanted to wake up...

"Wake up, Extant."

The first thing I felt was someone gently shaking my shoulder, and my shoulder suddenly aching from the position I had been sleeping in. I glanced over, recognizing my environment as the one of the truck we had taken. I was now in the middle between Carter and Oliver, with Oliver being in the driver's seat. My head was leaned against Oliver's shoulder, as if I was using the padded white jacket covering his shoulders as a pillow.

I yawned, pulling myself away from him. I would have probably hit him for letting me sleep on him, but I felt too hollow today. Stupid fucking dreams. At least I wasn't dreaming about my mother's death by my hands anymore... But which of the dreams would I rather have?

I looked at my Apotropaic. "Just a question, what exactly happened back at the time we took the truck? I was daydreaming..."

"Some cannibal family took two Apotropaics. Neither survived their wounds," said Oliver.

I lifted a brow. "You're acting pretty casual about all of this. Why?" What? Are you trying to be a soldier, Oliver? We're the only ones awake. You don't have to do that around me. Not that he knew better.

Oliver parked the truck, letting out a slow breath. "They felt no pain. Let me assure you. And since they just used vessels, Gan and Caleb are safe and sound, back in Croma. We won't summon them again. After all, maybe a slimmer group would be better for this mission. Besides, vessels take a lot of energy to create. They'd have to wait a while before being able to travel with us again, if we wanted them with us still."

I glanced outside of the windows to see that we were parked outside of a Western-style barbecue place, a bull next to a blurred jumble of letters lit up in neon colors. Then, my eyes made their way to our trunk, where everyone else was sitting either asleep or awake.

My eyebrows creased. "Damn. I slept in here the whole time without trading with anyone, didn't I?" I attempted to shrug off that guilt, but couldn't quite do that. Wow. For once, you feel bad about something that isn't murder. Thumbs up, Emma, you're slightly less of a bitch!

Oliver shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Croma is a desert, Emma. We live there. I think we will all be fine, under kinder elements. Besides, the Extants thought it was fun to sleep under the sky in the back. You should have seen the smiles on their faces!"

I rolled my eyes, but a gave a small smile, too. Mary would have loved to sit in the bed of the truck, and I would have loved to sit beside her. I twisted over to Carter, shook him awake, and unbuckled myself.

"If we eat a minimum amount," Oliver said, opening the driver's side door, "then we will save some of our money. Perhaps the Extants can split something cheap, and the Apotropaics can go without, since we don't exactly need to eat." He glanced in the back.