Fox Among the Demons

by Trudie Collins

  Fox among the Demons

  Trudie Collins

  Copyright © 2017 Trudie Collins

  All rights reserved.

  Also by Trudie Collins

  Diary of a journey through Hell

  Diary of a journey through Hell

  Diary of a Journey Through Hell - Kris's Story

  Tor's Quest

  The Guide

  The Maze

  The Bard

  The Pendant

  The Assassin

  The Beginning

  Vampire Hunters

  Vampire Hunters

  Greater Vampires

  Standalone

  Kwin

  Soul Eaters

  The Tor's Quest Saga

  Fox Among the Demons

  Sentinel

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By Trudie Collins

  Fox among the Demons

  Vampire

  Demons

  Invisibility

  Communicator

  Werewolves

  Introductions

  Demon Blood

  History Lessons

  Dryads

  Caught

  River Walking

  Splinter

  Kadar Wood

  Erotic Dreams

  Paul

  Decisions

  Flu

  Anniversary

  Birthday

  Declarations

  Lies

  Siren

  Line Dancing

  Memories

  Confrontation

  Witch

  Suicide

  Necromancy

  Poison

  Departure

  Father

  Spell Book

  Fairies

  Betrayal

  Emotionless

  Seer

  Reunion

  Hostage

  Threats

  Plans

  Rescue

  Ritual

  Resurrection

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  Also By Trudie Collins

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to Kirsty and Felicia. Thank you for reading my books and giving me the encouragement to keep writing.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to Pete, Julie, Wendy, Terry and Tony for their feedback

  Vampire

  Natasha tied the band around her long, light brown hair then released it, letting it snap into place. She was irritable, but had no idea why. As she usually did when she was in this type of mood, she decided to go for a run. The physical exercise would calm her down while letting her mind run free.

  She stepped out of her house and pulled the front door closed. Looking at the sky, she decided to take the shorter of her two favourite routes. It would still be light for another hour or so, but the dark clouds approaching threatened to bring rain with them and she didn’t want to get wet.

  She soon reached the smaller of the two lakes located near her home and opted to follow the track clock-wise. She took a deep breath, the scent of the nearby trees filling her nostrils. Enjoying the clean, fresh air, she slowed her pace.

  Though she was not far from civilisation, there were no sounds to disturb her, other than the steady, regular pounding of her feet on the track. She let her mind empty of all thoughts and felt her unease begin to evaporate. Only once she felt completely calm did she think about what could have caused her irritation.

  Reasonable day at work with no run-ins with her boss? Check. All of the urgent items on her ‘to do’ list accomplished? Check. The latest chapter of the book she was writing complete? Check. Her niece, Lucy, finished all of her homework and chores? Check. Lucy’s boyfriend not visiting that night? Check.

  She continued her mental list of things that could have put her in a bad mood, but came up blank. Nothing seemed to be wrong. She frowned. Why had she felt like she wanted to yell at someone? She was usually a calm person, only losing her temper when pushed to her limit, so what had happened today that could have annoyed her?

  Then an image of a calendar formed in her mind and she noticed the date. Oh. She stopped running. Today was her brother’s birthday. How could she have forgotten? She would have to light a candle for him later, once Lucy had gone to bed. She doubted her niece would remember it was her father’s birthday and she didn’t want to remind her; it had taken a long time for either of them to get over his death.

  Chiding herself for letting something so silly upset her, she began running once more. At least she had solved the mystery of what was wrong with her. Now all she had to do was figure out how to stop simple things like birthdays she could no longer celebrate affecting her so much.

  She was so distracted by her thoughts that she almost didn’t see the group of people in the distance as she rounded the corner. When they did catch her eye, she would have ignored them, but something about the scene seemed wrong. She slowed to a walk as she approached the group, taking in all of the details.

  The woman appeared to be in her mid-twenties, about Natasha’s own age. Her short hair was such a vivid red that it had to be dyed. She was holding something in her hand as she confronted a youth, who was being held by two men.

  Natasha’s eyes flicked between them. Both had short black hair, deep brown eyes and suntanned skin. It was impossible to ignore the family resemblance; they had to be brothers. They had the same shaped chin, high cheek bones and ears that were almost pointed. The younger must still have been a teenager, though only just, while the other one was a couple of years older.

  Natasha’s eyes drifted from the siblings to the boy they were holding. He couldn’t be more than fourteen and from the way he was struggling, the conversation he appeared to be having with the woman was not a friendly one.

  His skin was so pale it was almost white and he seemed frightened, though he was doing his best not to show it.

  One of the brothers moved one hand from where he was pinning the youth’s arm behind his back, leaving the other to maintain his hold on him, and punched him hard in the stomach. The boy doubled over before being jerked upright by those holding him.

  This made Natasha realise what about the scene was troubling her. She had a strong sense of right and wrong and three against one did not seem like a fair fight, especially when it was three adults confronting one child.

  Not knowing what she was getting herself into, she took a deep breath and walked up to them. “What is going on here?” she asked.

  The woman turned around, her eyes full of distain as she looked her up and down, assessing her.

  “None of your business,” she sneered.

  “I’m making it my business. Three against one isn’t fair. Leave the boy alone.”

  “You have no idea what you are talking about. Get out of here,” the youngest of the three aggressors said.

  “Bloody humans,” the other man said. “I told you we should have made ourselves invisible.” Something was strange about the way he spoke, but Natasha couldn’t put her finger on what.

  “What do you mean ‘humans’? What are you supposed to be if you’re not human?”

  Three pairs of eyes looked at her, the faces they were attached to showing shock.

  “How.....” the woman started to say, but didn’t know how to finish her sentence. Natasha had no idea what she had said to surprise them so much, but whatever it was it made the two men loosen their grip on their hostage as they stared at her.

  The boy took advantage and tried to shake them off, his movements bringing their attention back to him. They both tightened their grip.

  “Finish it,” the older on
e said. “Then we can deal with the human.”

  The woman raised her hand and Natasha noticed it held a wooden stake. She could not believe her eyes as she watched the woman stab the youth in the chest, directly into the heart.

  There was no blood. The stake clearly pierced the skin, but no red stain appeared on the boy’s white t-shirt. He looked down at the piece of wood sticking out of his chest, then raised his head to look at Natasha. She was sure she saw him smile before he vanished. One moment she was looking at a teenager who should have been bleeding to death, the next all she saw was the three attackers.

  She looked down and saw a pile of dust on the ground.

  It was at this point her instincts took over and she began to back away. She could not have seen what she thought she had. Nobody turns to dust when stabbed in the chest; at least not in real life.

  She took one more look at the three strangers, then turned and ran.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  “Where are you going?” Bolene asked her brother. He was a couple of years younger than her, which meant she was technically in charge. But only technically. The three siblings worked so well together, an official leader was not needed when they were out on a ‘kill’.

  “After her,” Komi replied, indicating with his head the direction Natasha had taken. “I want to know how she understood us.”

  For a moment Bolene considered telling him he couldn’t go, but he would ignore her so she didn’t bother to waste her breath. Besides, she too was curious about the young woman. Komi had been talking their own language when he had called her a human; there was no way she should have been able to understand what he had said.

  She nodded her head. “Be careful.”

  Komi grinned at her. “When am I ever not?” He turned away and sprinted down the path before she could reply.

  “All the time,” she muttered under her breath before turning to her youngest brother. “I suppose we should go home and report.”

  “Will he be alright on his own?” Trey asked. He didn’t like leaving his brother alone.

  “He’ll probably follow her to her house, chicken out of approaching, then head home. The way he rides his motorbike, he will probably get there before we do.”

  Trey assessed Bolene’s words and was forced to agree with her. While Komi usually had no problem approaching strange women, this time would be different. She had witnessed them killing a vampire and his brother would have no idea how to explain it without telling her the truth, which was something he would never do.

  “I’m driving,” he said, holding out his hand for the keys.

  “In your dreams,” Bolene said then headed over to where they had parked the car.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  Natasha shut the door behind her, then locked it. Lucy was out with friends, but had her own key so she could let herself in.

  She was breathing hard, and not just from the exertion of running. What she had seen had frightened her. What she thought she had seen, she quickly corrected herself.

  Moving away from the door, she walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge door and took out a bottle of water. Her hands were shaking as she removed the lid then drank deeply. She almost dropped the bottle when she heard the doorbell ring.

  “Get a grip on yourself,” she said as she replaced the lid and put the bottle on the counter. It was probably just a neighbour, or a door-to-door salesman. It couldn’t be a murderer, come to dispose of a witness; not in her neighbourhood.

  She opened the door and almost screamed. One of the attackers was standing on her doorstep. True, he hadn’t actually performed the killing, but he had helped.

  She stepped back and tried to close the door, but he put his foot in the way.

  “Please,” he said in a calm and gentle voice. “Let me explain what you saw. I’m not here to hurt you.”

  If he was lying, there wasn’t a lot she could do about it. He was taller and stronger than her; if he wanted to, he could easily overpower her.

  She looked at him closely. He was attractive, in a boy-next-door kind of way. The smile he was giving her was almost shy and he had dipped his head a little so he was looking up at her through his long eyelashes in a very appealing way.

  Natasha didn’t feel intimidated. Though his foot was preventing her from shutting the door, he gave the impression that he would remove it if she asked him to. She had no reason to trust this stranger, but she found herself doing so.

  “Go round the back,” she said. “The gate’s not locked.”

  He stepped back, allowing her to close the door. She made her way through the house to the patio door and looked out. The strange man moved fast. He was already there, leaning on her pool fence, looking at the water.

  She contemplated shutting the blinds and walking away, but she wanted to know why he was at her house and what she had really witnessed.

  Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door and entered her garden. He glanced up at her as she approached and watched her take a seat at the table on the deck.

  Taking this as an invitation, he gracefully sauntered over and took a seat opposite her. He spoke before she had chance to. “What do you know about us?”

  “Us? Who is us? You and your brother?”

  “And my sister.”

  Natasha didn’t react. She had not noticed the family resemblance to the girl, just the two brothers. Then again, the bright red hair had held her attention, preventing her from focusing on any other features.

  “What are you?” she asked. “Magicians? Illusionists?”

  “No. What you saw was real.”

  She stared at him. He had to be winding her up.

  “What you saw was a vampire being executed,” he continued.

  She had heard enough. She stood up, her chair scraping along the wooden boards. “If you just came here to make fun of me, you might as well leave.” She turned her back on him and walked toward the house.

  “Wait, please,” he said, rushing over to her. He grabbed her arm and swung her around so she was facing him. There was no smile on his face. “I’m not making fun of you. I’m telling you the truth.”

  He sounded sincere, but how could he be? Vampires didn’t exist. They were just a figment of the imagination, based on half-truths and urban legends.

  “Please, sit down,” he said and coaxed her back into her chair. He took the one opposite her once more. “I don’t expect you to believe me, but I am being honest with you. A number of creatures you believe are just fictional actually exist and my family and I hunt them down.”

  Natasha didn’t believe him. She couldn’t believe him. But she was curious as to how far he would go before he admitted he was lying.

  “Go on,” she said.

  “Vampires, werewolves, dryads, sirens, incubi, succubi. They are all real. They are the result of witches and wizards experimenting on people. The results of those experiments escaped through a doorway between your world and mine hundreds of years ago and ever since they have been increasing their numbers by infecting humans or breeding with them. Dedicated teams volunteer to spend time here, hunting them down and exterminating them.”

  Natasha looked at the man sitting opposite her. He was talking about things that could not possibly be true, but he looked so sincere she could not help herself. She burst out laughing.

  “I was wrong,” she said when she managed to get herself under control. “You’re not a magician, you’re a comedian.”

  He frowned at her, attempting to look insulted, but not quite pulling it off. Then he shrugged. “I didn’t expect you to believe me.”

  “So why did you try to feed me all that bullshit?” Natasha was surprised to find she was enjoying herself. It had been a long time since she had laughed with someone. Technically she was laughing at him, not with him, but who wanted to get technical?

  “Because it’s not bullshit
. I really do come from another world, another dimension.”

  Natasha struggled, but somehow she manged to not laugh again. “Why don’t you tell me all about it. What’s your world like?”

  Komi did just that, telling her everything about his homeland that he thought would interest her. His words flowed and she found herself mesmerised as she tried to picture the things he was describing. She had no idea how much time was passing until they were interrupted by someone knocking on the patio door.

  Natasha turned around and spotted her niece opening the door. She looked at her watch and her eyes widened in surprise. She had not realised it was so late. She was so caught up in listening to what this strange man was telling her that she had not noticed that the sun had set. Light from inside the house was streaming through the glass door, illuminating the undercover entertaining area, but further back, where the light couldn’t penetrate, it was pitch black.

  “Not interrupting I hope,” Lucy said as she stepped onto the deck and closed the door behind her.

  Natasha glanced at the man sitting opposite her and saw him giving Lucy the once over. He would be impressed with what he saw; most men were. She was a beautiful young woman and, being a typical seventeen year old, liked to flaunt the fact. Her long hair, dyed ash blonde, was currently tied back in a ponytail and the subtle makeup she was wearing hid the paleness of her skin. Her eyes were the most gorgeous colour of green Natasha had ever seen on a human and every time she looked closely at them, she felt tears form in her own eyes. Her brother’s eyes had been the same shade.

  “Lucy, this is...” Natasha started to say, then realised she didn’t know his name.

  “Komi,” the man said and rose to his feet. He held up his hand, palm outward, before turning it and moving it forward so Lucy could shake it. It was a strange gesture, as though he had suddenly remembered he was supposed to shake hands instead of whatever it was he was going to do. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Lucy said. Then she turned to face Natasha. “I’m going to shower then head off to bed. You two have fun.” The look she gave her aunt clearly said she suspected Komi was a potential love interest and that she wanted to know everything as soon as she and Natasha were alone.