Road to Hell by J. C. Diem Page B

I told her. “The demons got to her before I could. They cut her heart out.”
    She looked at me blankly. “What girl are you referring to?”
    “The one you sent me to find,” I explained. “She looked a lot like me. We were about the same age and had similar hair.”
    “I did not see a girl in my vision,” Sophia said uneasily.
    It was hard to say which of us was more disturbed by this. “Who did you see then?”
    Her gaze shifted to the latest addition to our group. “I did not see his face, but I believe Nathanael is the one you were supposed to encounter.”
    Nathanael shifted uneasily, but he didn’t speak.
    “How did you come into contact with the barrier?” Leo asked. “St Andrews Plaza is not close to any of the wards that surround the island.”
    “I panicked when I saw that the girl’s chest had been hacked open,” I said. My appetite fled when I pictured her mutilated corpse again. I pushed my cereal around with my spoon, avoiding their eyes. “I took off and saw the Brooklyn Bridge and headed towards it. I almost made it to the archways when I hit an invisible wall and was thrown backwards.”
    “Touching it must have set off an alarm,” Leo said. “Nathanael told us that four lower level demons were sent to investigate the disturbance.”
    “Another one arrived when I was in the midst of battle,” my guardian said. He flicked a glance at me. I interpreted it as a warning not to mention the bigger demon who I’d stabbed in the heart and had then somehow absorbed his spirit.
    Now that I knew he’d been watching over me, I belatedly realized something. “It was you who saved me when Bob’s car hit the tree,” I said. I remembered strong arms and wings wrapping around me. As had happened so many times before, I’d caught a glimpse of his inhumanly beautiful face before I’d passed out.
    “Yes,” he agreed. “I saved you then as I have done every time you have been in dire peril.”
    Brie’s lips twisted as if she’d tasted something bad. “It is not our duty to babysit humans. I cannot understand why you were set the task of watching over her.”
    “Violet will be the savior of the human race,” Sophia said with exaggerated patience. I had the feeling they’d already had this conversation several times. They’d probably been up all night arguing about me.
    “Why her?” the teen asked in distaste. “She cannot even fight. She has no skills at all as far as I can tell.”
    “Fate told me that I’ll learn the skills I need,” I said sullenly and the room went dead silent.
    “You have spoken to Fate?” Nathanael said in complete disbelief. I shrugged one shoulder and took a sip of tea. I didn’t really care if they believed me or not.
    “When?” Leo asked. “How?” His eyes shone in awe. “What did she look like?”
    “I saw her in a dream while I was travelling here by bus,” I explained. “She’s the same height and build as me, but she wore a black cloak with a hood that hid her face.” I suppressed a shiver at the memory of her dark hair reaching for me.
    “What did she say to you?” Sophia queried.
    “She said she chose me to be her champion and that I’m supposed to save the world. She showed me what would happen if I failed.”
    “What did she show you?” Leo asked.
    “Cities on fire and burned skeletons everywhere,” I replied bleakly. “I pretty much saw the same thing that Sophia did in her vision she had when I was born. The demons are going to overwhelm the entire planet and everyone is going to die.”
    “Why did Fate choose you?” Brie asked. Her arms were tightly folded and her body language told me that she thought Fate had picked the wrong person. I couldn’t help but agree with her.
    “I don’t know. She said I was different from everyone else, but she didn’t explain how.”
    “Fate uses us as she sees fit,” Nathanael said wearily. “She is not prone to explaining herself.”
    “You have had dealings with her in the past?”