Dark Halo (An Angel Eyes Novel) by Shannon Dittemore Page B

Still, I could do it. I think I can. And if I can get away, I can come back with help. Unless the angels are too busy to answer their cell phones. Again.
    It’s entirely possible, even likely. Neither Canaan nor Helene has returned a single call or text Kaylee sent on the way here. There’s no guarantee they would be available now. And even then, I’m certain Damien sees more value in me than in Kaylee. He’s stupid like that.
    There has to be another way, but unlike Damien, I can’t think with Kaylee screaming. Her terror heightens mine, and it’s all I can do to keep moving. Damien knees me in the back, and I stumble forward.
    I can’t believe I let him catch me. If Canaan’s right, and he’s always right, my captive presence can only make things harder for Jake. Make his fight more painful, more costly. What would Damien do to me to make Jake cooperate? A tremor runs through my body, because I know exactly what he’d do. He’d do whatever it takes. Even now, with my hands trembling and anger at myself seeping from every pore, I wonder how much it would take to break me . Very little, I think. Any kind of pain inflicted on Kaylee or Jake, and I don’t know if I’m strong enough to allow that. Even for a higher call. Suddenly I’m willing to risk the fallout of trying to escape. Whatever the cost, I can’t be used against Jake. I won’t be an arrow in Damien’s quiver. And I won’t let them be used against me.
    But I’ve got to act now. The counter is just in front of us, andbeyond it a room swallowed in darkness. Who knows what I’m walking into?
    I throw myself to the left, losing a hunk of hair in the process. I actually think my scalp is bleeding, but adrenaline keeps me moving. There’s a table and four chairs between us now, but I don’t look back. There’s a side door here, an emergency exit sign glowing above it. Looks like a wheelchair ramp on the other side. I hear Damien yell, I hear Kaylee scream louder.
    I think she’s cheering me on.
    But my feet tangle in something and I fall toward the door, my palms smacking the bar and propelling the door open. The cold night air, thick with salt, rushes inside, making room for me out there. If only I were standing on my feet! I clamber as fast as I can, trying to get upright, but my lip is bleeding, my chin scraped, and for a moment all I see is stars.
    Behind me, something akin to war is breaking out. Kaylee’s not just yelling, she’s screaming like a feral cat. I hear open hands colliding with flesh, again and again. The demon curses and Kaylee yells. I turn for her, but she waves me away.
    “Get out of here, Elle. Go!”
    And then she’s screaming again. I want to go back for her. I have coincidenceowp0 to go back for her.
    “Brielle! Get out of here!”
    Agony tears through my chest at the thought of leaving her behind, but if I go back now everything will be so much worse. If I can get free of this building, maybe, just maybe, he’ll let Kaylee go and come after me. Maybe she can work magic with that phone of hers and find help.
    So many maybes, but I crawl out the door and roll off the handicap ramp. The fall is farther than I thought, and when Iland, it’s like the air is vacuumed from my lungs. Still, I keep moving. I stand, grass and mud on my face, dampening my knees. The fog is thicker now than it was before, but a blast of light strikes me in the face. And then it’s gone. Through the trees, I see the lighthouse silhouetted against the foggy night. In a move that is probably more symbolic than wise, I run toward it.
    And then I hear wings overhead. If I can hear him, experience says I can see him, but I don’t look. I just duck my head and run faster.
    “Please, God. Please, please, please.”
    In front of me, out from the fog, emerges a wooden bridge built to fill in a gap left by sliding rocks. It’s old, the wood peeling, trees invading it. Blood runs down my neck and chest. I spit it from my mouth, but still I run toward