On Raven's Wings Read Online Free PDF Page B

me? Gross! What was that supposed to mean? For a hot guy he said all the wrong things. I couldn’t figure out how he’d gotten the player reputation. No girl would fall for this crap.
    “You smelled of hell. Sulfur. Just like you’re smelling right now. You smell it, don’t you? It’s different than fire. More potent. More dangerous.”
    I refused to tell him I’d smelled exactly that when the fire started. It was a coincidence. Or maybe a gas leak.
    “And you think I smell like this?” I finally looked at him. His blue eyes were glowing again, trained directly on me as if he were on his guard against a dangerous animal. “Are you high again?”
    “I don’t get high, Raven.” He sighed. “I’m the son of God. You can’t get much more of a natural high than that.”
    Again with the insanity. He was so high.
    “I’m on a mission, searching for the daughter of the devil. Yesterday in school, I thought you were it, but then last night after the concert when I was preparing to destroy you, I realized you had some kind of connection to God. I couldn’t do it. It was the same today after school. You emanated something so pure, so sweet. It took everything in me not to possess you fully in the car.”
    “Possess me fully? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is it your fancy way of saying you were ready to give up your virginity? And you’re telling me I remind you of the daughter of Satan. Thanks. That really turns me on.”
    “How do you explain the wings?” He looked at me pointedly.
    “The wings weren’t real. It was stress.”
    “Stress caused you to sprout hellish wings? And you think I’m nuts.” He nudged my shoulder playfully.
    Then I realized the truth. He’d seen the wings too. It wasn’t just me. My stomach dropped to my toes, and then sped up faster than an out-of-control elevator. I reached for the vomit bag the EMTs had given me and promptly lost my lunch.
    Ian rubbed my back with one hand and held my hair back from my forehead with the other. It was kind of sweet, even though he was certifiable.
    “I’m not the daughter of Satan. I’ve spent my entire life in Catholic school. I received the sacraments. I dipped my hand in holy water a zillion times. I went to confession. Wouldn’t I have burnt up by now?” I wiped my mouth on the blanket and took a sip of water from a bottle on the ground next to me.
    Ian shrugged. “Maybe you’re just a normal demon and not the daughter of Satan, but you’re marked by the devil. It’s in your scent.”
    “Well, any scent I have is covered up by puke now.”
    He laughed. “It’s not that simple. What’s strange is that sometimes I can smell it on you and sometimes I can’t. You’re doing something to block it. But only occasionally. Like I said before, you’re an enigma.”
    “Ask your dad. Maybe he can fill you in.” I couldn’t believe I was playing along with his stupid fantasies. It had to be the smoke inhalation. Maybe I needed oxygen if I was starting to believe Ian.
    Ian shook his head. “God has more important things to do than this. He tasked me with finding Satan’s daughter. If I fail, the world loses.”
    “What’s more important than that?” I asked, confused.
    “We can’t stop the end of the world, according to scripture.”
    “Then why bother?” Years of religious education flooded back. People were always convinced the world was about to end. Some said this December was it because of the Mayan calendar.
    “We can’t sit back and do nothing. If there’s even the smallest chance I can slay the demon before she ignites Armageddon, then I have to try.”
    “You want to slay me?” I asked. “Just a couple hours ago you wanted to do something a little different to me. I’m pretty sure I’m not the one you’re looking for. Look at my dad over there.” I pointed to the frumpy computer programmer flailing his hands in the air. “Does he look like the devil to you?”
    “Are you sure he’s your biological