Eye of the Storm by Emmie Mears Page A

distance to where Saturn and Mira should be, but it feels like thirty years.
    Time stretches out around me.  
    When I reach the spot, I skid to a halt. The bodies here are more than half demon, but I smell fresh blood. Shade blood. It has to be Saturn's, even though Miles was with them too. It wasn't Miles I heard scream in my mind.
    And there's another person's blood across the windshield of a nearby Jeep. That's Mira's.
    I feel faint, and I reach out to support myself on the side mirror of a Cadillac that's missing its driver's side door. It's not a lot of blood, but it is her blood. Even though it's impossible, it almost smells like vanilla. Or maybe it's just that her scent lingers. Either way, I try to calm the skittering panic in my mind.  
    I comb the immediate area, around each bumper terrified I'm going to come face to face with Saturn's or Mira's bodies.  
    "They're not here," I say after a couple minutes. Evis and Asher come around the curve of the road, and neither of them seem overly out of breath.  
    "What happened?" Asher demands.  
    I realize that to her, it just looked like I took off running. I'm not sure if Evis heard what I did.  
    "I heard Saturn scream," I say, scanning the area around us for any sign of activity.  
    Asher doesn't ask, just sets to work on the spot that Mira's group missed. I feel the minutes ticking away as she bustles about, but I know she needs to do it. I can't leave her — running away just now was stupid of me.  
    Because I don't know what else to do, I pace around the scene.  
    Whatever happened here, they managed to take down a large number of demons. I count twelve slummoths or so — it's hard to say considering Saturn and Miles took them apart. By the Jeep there's a small pile of harkasts, and through Sol's eyes I see the swiftly-fading pink glow of a jeeling.  
    We're not far from a ramp. I know we're supposed to report straight back to the Summit, but I don't care.
    The moment Asher finishes her work and pulls the zipper shut on her backpack, I move.
    I set off, following the scent of Mira and Saturn's blood, the others close behind me.
    Much as I want to run, I hold back the urge.
    My restraint doesn't pass through to Luna and Sol. They range ahead, staying in my sight. It alleviates some of the frustration that seems to pull me back like a thick rubber band.  
    If the trail continues, it means they're still alive.  
    Instead of veering back toward the Summit, the blood scent heads north, away from safety.
    "They were pursued," Asher   says from behind me.  
    I nod. My neck and shoulders feel tight, like I've got a barbell braced on them.  
    Even now that we're off the highway and the wards are set for our section, I feel like we're trapped in a tunnel.  
    It's smart of them to move north instead of toward the Summit and the campus full of refugees, but I can't tell yet if they moved this way by choice or necessity.
    I hate the silence of the city right now. The animals seem to have completely fled, and the lack of buzzing and chirping and flapping drains the atmosphere of life. It's like the glimpse into hell I got through Luna's mind. No natural sound. I wonder if the trees themselves would flee given the chance.
    Half a mile up the road, the trail fizzles and stops. There's a pair of corpses in the middle of the road, one on top of the other. They smell like early rot and like Mira and Saturn. Past them, there's no trace of my friends.
    At first I think I'm imagining it, but I run back and forth across Albion Street, trying to catch even a hint of them. The way Saturn screamed, he has to be bleeding like crazy.  
    I fight the urge to shriek into the air.  
    We're only a block from Nashville General Hospital. Grimly, I hurry in the direction of the entrance. Sol and Luna skirt the building with me, and we meet back with Asher and Evis at the deserted Emergency Room.  
    "They didn't come this way," I say flatly.  
    "We should go back to the Summit."