Half-Demon Huntress (Harlow's Demons Book 2)

by Jen Pretty

  “What do you want me to do?” he asked me.

  He was wearing all black today, but his short-sleeve shirt exposed his tattoos, making him look like a biker or gangster.

  “I’m sure Julian and Nick have it all organized. What did they say?” I asked, checking the strings on my net to ensure they were tight and secure.

  “They aren't my leader, you are,” he said, ceasing all other conversation as the rest of the passengers stopped what they were doing to gawk at us and eavesdrop.

  “What?” I said in a voice I hoped suggested they should all mind their own business.

  “He said you were his leader?” my long-lost mother asked, as if she had any right to question me.

  I pointed my net at her. “You don't get to ask me questions.”

  “He said you were his leader?” Lincoln parroted.

  Son of a bitch. “I don't want to talk about it.”

  “Too bad, Har. How are you his leader?” Lincoln pressed Rory back so he could glare at me.

  “How should I know? I don't even know what that means. Can we discuss this later? I’m trying to channel my inner warrior Goddess.”

  Lincoln’s eyes scanned my face for a few more moments before he sat back and turned back to the conversation he was having with another sculptor.

  Slowly the conversation all resumed. My mother's eyes lingered on me long after the rest of them remembered their manners, but she finally looked away, too.

  I closed my eyes and counted to twenty in my mind then took a few more deep breaths and looked back at Rory. He was tough, and he could fly. “You are with me,” I said.

  “Yesss,” he whispered, and I felt his adrenaline pumping through his veins. His muscles twitched and jumped beside me like a racehorse in the starting gate, ready to go. It was infectious, and when the limo pulled to a stop, I was ready to fuck up a whole herd of half-demons. Well, at least smack them with my net and maybe freeze their asses.

  We funneled out of the limo in a shitty area of town. The apartment buildings were decrepit and falling apart. People stood in the shadows of the street corner, eying us. I hoped the limo would make it out of the area with its tires and stereo intact.

  Alric carried a tire iron and popped up a sewer grate. The half-demons disappeared down the hole, jumping in like it was a swimming pool and not a hole into a disgusting mess of the underground world where people left dog poop and dirty needles. Apparently, there was a ladder because everyone else climbed down in a more normal way. When it was my turn, Rory wrapped his arms around me, his now bare chest warm against my cheek and he stepped off the road letting us fall until we were below ground and then his wings shot out and slowed us to land gently in the disgusting little stream of water that ran at the bottom. My boots were waterproof, but only to a certain height, so I prayed it didn't get any deeper.

  The whole team was silent now, most stealthy enough not to make a sound as I splashed through the water.

  I attempted to go into stealth mode, but it wasn’t possible. I was just a noisy walker. Whatever.

  I didn't recognize the tunnels at all for an hour. We splashed along, taking what could have been random turns. Al and Celia led us through the maze and scared away any rats that might have been lingering. Thank God. I didn't need those creepy rodents sneaking up on me.

  Finally, I saw a dim light up ahead and our pace slowed. I recognized the corner as the one we hid behind the first time we came down here and had to hide from a pair of half-demons in the tunnel. Rory’s hand came up and rested on my arm, stopping me so the rest of the team could get ahead of us. Julian looked back at me with a look of sadness and determination on his face before his mask slid into place and he became the stone-faced half-demon leader of New York. Then he disappeared around the corner followed by the rest, leaving Rory and me alone in the darkness.

  “You know, sweetheart, he’s not bad for a half-demon,” Rory said.

  I shook my head. “Not the time or place,” I whispered. There was never a time or place for this conversation. “And stop calling me sweetheart.”

  He chuckled.

  I waited impatiently. The group would take on the first line of defense, and then I would make my way around them and go after Collin. We knew he would be somewhere farther in the tunnel system, protected by the half-demons and probably possessed half-demons.

  Edward Fireside, the former leader of Jackson, was fighting, too, and would be ready to take over power when I froze Collin, or they captured him. I wasn’t clear on how the power of leadership transferred, or what that even meant, although I was getting the idea from Rory that it was not just a title. There was some kind of hierarchy like in a wolf pack.

  The sounds of yelling echoed down the tunnels. I moved to head that way, but Rory stopped me.

  “Wait a few minutes, so they get a head start,” he whispered.

  I bounced on my toes. A lot of my important people were in there fighting… Lincoln, Julian, Nick. It was hard to hear the sounds and not run into the battle to help. It was an unexpected reaction. I had always been more of a ‘run away’ type person, but this day I wouldn’t run. I would stop Collin and whoever else he had summoned to help him.

  Finally, Rory released my arm and whispered: “Go.”

  My muscles slammed into action, bunching and stretching as I raced forward at speed granted me by the very demons I was about to fight. The whoosh of wings reached through the sound of the wind in my ears as Rory slid above me through the tunnel towards the sounds of battle.

  The tunnel opened into the large dining room where I had met Ann, the woman who had helped me rescue Julian from Collin’s clutches. Instead of people eating though, wicked looking half-demons fighting each other and our team with weapons and their bare hands crashed around the crowded space. Our group had grown substantially since we last saw them and I ground to a halt, unsure who was good and who was bad.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  I scanned the room. Rory pressed into my side and watched my back as I tried to decide which way to go and how to get there. The half-demons filled the room. I would have to fight my way through, and as we have already established I'm not much of a fighter.

  I spotted Julian. Blood stained his hands and splattered all over his face. He was a force of nature, like a lion in a room full of lambs. He tore and ripped at the other half-demons, leaving them in piles in his wake.

  Lincoln and the sculptors were huddled together, jumping forward to exercise the demons from the men and women as the team incapacitated them.

  The other hunters were following Nick as he slashed and stabbed his way through the mass of half-demons towards a far door.

  I remembered the back hall that Ann had showed me when we went to rescue Julian and slipped around the writhing horde of violence into the small galley kitchen and out a door into a dark hall.

  I felt Rory at my back. Not through any traditional sense, but some sixth sense told me he was still there. It was reassuring to have him with me. I crept down the hall until I heard someone crying.

  Pausing for only a moment, giving half a thought to the idea it could be a trap, I then moved forward and found Ann next to a body. There was a stab wound on the dead man's chest and blood pooled around him.

  “What happened?” I whispered, but I knew already. Nick had brought a knife to a demon fight.

  Her gaze shot up and caught mine. She slumped again, realizing it was me. “They killed him.”

  “Your husband?” I asked.

  She nodded, and fresh tears streaked her face.

  “Shit,” I whispered. I wanted to sit and console her, but I didn't have time. “You should get out of here while you can. I have to go. I’ll get him for this.”

  Ann wiped her face and nodded, then kissed her husband one last time and ran back the way we had come. I prayed that she made it out alive.

  Rory and I stepped around the strong-looking man whose name I had never known and continued down the tunnel.

&nb
sp; The silence deepened the farther we got from the fighting, and a chill went up my spine. I knew up ahead we would find Collin and demons. This was my job. I would get it done.

  The tunnel opened into a large empty room. It had low lighting, but what I saw sent chills down my spine.

  “What is that?” Rory asked.

  I scanned the room. “It used to be gargoyles,” I whispered. Hundreds of broken gargoyles lay in heaps around the space. They were useless now that someone had set the demon free.

  I thought back to all the chairs in the cafeteria. There were probably close to a hundred. Did that mean there were a hundred half-demons possessed by demons?

  We tiptoed through the mess, and I scanned the broken demonic faces of the gargoyles. My net was still in my hand. I dropped it since we now knew most, if not all, the gargoyles were free. I wouldn’t be gargoyle hunting today and would need both hands to deal with this situation.

  As we neared the far end of the room, I saw the one that made my heart sink. My gargoyle, the one that contained the demon who had possessed me so long ago, sat broken in two among the rubble. I would know that scowling face and the jagged smile anywhere.

  When I got home, I would have a chat with Lincoln about making the gargoyles a little less scary. He could make them into puppies and kittens. Why did they have to be ghoulish?

  Back into a small tunnel, Rory was right behind me. The smell of copper pennies and charcoal reached my nose and grew stronger as we continued.

  Finally, we reached a sharp bend in the dim tunnel, and I halted. I wasn't sure how, but I knew that beyond the curve was a demon — a big ass scary one.

  I pressed my back into the wall of the tunnel and rubbed the scar on my neck from the last demon I met. Rory crowded me, but he didn't speak. He raised an eyebrow and pointed.

  I nodded, assuming his gestures were a question about the bad guys.

  This was why I was here. I had the power to stop the demon. I had to get my hands on him… or let him get his hands on me. That was the thought that scared me the most.

  Rory held my eye contact, his hand smoothing up and down my arm silently. I took one more deep breath and pushed at the heat in my belly that would spring to life and fry the demon, sending him back to hell. Sparks jumped and spat like butterflies on crack in my stomach. I was ready.

  I nodded once more, and that was all Rory needed. His face split into a crazy grin and he stepped around the corner.

  “Hey, demon asshole. Come here often?” Of course, he would use a bar pickup line.

  There was a deafening roar, undercut with the sound of screaming that I recognized as a demonic sound. A massive razor-nail tipped hand reached out and grabbed Rory, dragging him down the tunnel.

  I sprinted forward and around the corner in time to see the demon with Rory in a death grip about to twist his neck. I launched myself off the floor and landed with my arms around the demons scaled back. The smell of blood and fire was pungent, burning my nostrils and making me wonder if I would ever smell again after this. The foul smell would certainly linger like when I bleached the floor in the pizza parlour. All I would smell for hours was bleach.

  I pulled my fire forward, stoking the flames as the demon roared and tried to shake me loose. I wrapped my legs around his middle, so I clung to him like a baby koala. He shuddered and dropped Rory to the ground. Once the demon's hands were free, he reached over his shoulder and tried to latch onto me, but it was too late. That moment was enough, and my superpowers came pouring down my arms and through my hands into the evil demon.

  He screamed, the sound echoing through the tunnel, but they cut off abruptly as he froze solid as statue.

  A wave of dizziness washed over me, but I clung to the demon statue hoping the feeling would pass. My stomach churned, but I willed it to settle. I would not puke on the demon.

  “You coming down?” Rory asked from behind me.

  “Not just yet,” I said. The tunnel was still spinning.

  “I’ll catch you, Harlow, just let go of the gross demon before his smell gets stuck to you.”

  Eww, he had a point. I slowly let my arms release the rapidly cooling demon statue and Rory, true to his word, caught me before I collapsed to the ground.

  “Easy does it,” he whispered, leaning me up against the wall of the tunnel and pressing his body into mine to keep me upright. His warm hands cradled my face and brushed the hair from my eyes.

  My breath was still coming in panting little gasps, but I worked to slow it. One demon down. Hopefully, there weren’t anymore, and I could zap Collin and go home. Yeah, right. My luck didn't run that way.

  I patted Rory on the shoulder, and he stepped away from me but kept a hand on my elbow in case I toppled over. It was close a few times, but I kept my feet on the floor and moved farther down the tunnel.

  It was darker and silent now, but there was no turning back. The rest of the team had hopefully taken care of the possessed half-demons, and I had to do my part.

  A deep chuckle floated down the tunnel from somewhere too far away to see. The sound of it was familiar somehow. It tickled the back of my mind like some old forgotten sound that once haunted me. I grasped at the memory, but it swept away. Terrific.

  I shuffled on with Rory at my side. Deeper and deeper into the underbelly of the city. I had no idea how far we went, but eventually, the narrow tunnel opened into a subway track line. It wasn't one that was in use as the dirt and decay could attest. Something had disturbed the dust down the centre of the rusted old tracks, proving someone was down here. More than one someone, by the looks.

  Rory’s hand landed on my shoulder, stopping me. I glanced back at him and he pointed to the left. There was another narrow tunnel beyond a door that hung from its hinges. The tracks went down into the complete darkness. A flashlight flicked on as I stepped through the doorway. Thankfully, someone came prepared. Rory stepped past me and led the way, keeping the flashlight pointed ahead.

  Another deep laugh echoed from beyond the capability of the flashlight, sending a chill up my spine. I stopped dead, but Rory kept ambling towards our probable death. Idiot. I didn't want to be alone in the dark, so I hustled and caught up to him, walking so close I stepped on his heel a few times.

  It wasn't Collin. I knew that. But who? Oh shit. That’s when I remembered where I had heard the chuckling before. The first time a demon had possessed me, laughing as I burned, and my flesh flayed from my bones. It was Shit-face.

  I grabbed Rory’s arm and tried to pull him back. He glanced back at me and I shook my head. My hands shook. Shit-face was much worse than any other demon or half demon. He was psychotic and deranged.

  Rory stepped in so close I felt the heat from his body, but it did little to warm my suddenly freezing skin.

  “You can do this, darlin’. I’ll help you.” He brushed the hair back from my face and gave me a tight smile.

  I tried to shake my head again, but he turned and continued down the tunnel.

  “Shit,” I whispered. I pulled at that heat in my stomach and felt it spring to life. It was ready to fry another demon, but was I ready?

  No. I was not.

  My legs moved as if they had a mind of their own, carrying me along behind Rory.

  Just as the tunnel opened to a shaft that led up to the city streets, Rory came to a halt.

  “There she is. Step forward my lovely,” the mocking tone of the demon raised goosebumps on my skin.

  I stepped beside Rory and got a look at the poor half-demon currently possessed by Shit-face.

  “Go to hell,” I said, with way more bravado than I felt.

  He laughed… a deep belly laugh. The half-demon he possessed now was black as night with scales, horns and wings. I would have thought it was an actual demon, except he wasn't even six feet tall. Much too short for a demon.

  I reached up slowly to pull my sculptor stone out from under my shirt.

  “Ah ah ah… None of that, daughter.”

  “I’m n
ot your daughter,” I hissed. “And it’s time for you to go back where you belong.”

  I took a step forward, intending to run forward and zap the monster, but he rose on a giant flap of his wings, and he was suddenly fifteen feet above me.

  “You are most certainly my daughter. You should ask your mother about it.” A wicked grin flashed over his face before he flapped again and slipped out an open manhole above our heads.

  “I’ve got him, love,” Rory said, dropping the flashlight and disappearing up through the manhole, too, leaving me alone in the blackness.

  Scrambling for the flashlight, I spun around to check for anyone else, but I was alone.

  I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  The sound of boots slapping on the cement came from behind me. I shifted to the wall and flicked off the light. The small amount of light funneling down from above was enough to see by, and if it was a demon, I might get the drop on him. I called my superpowers, and heat poured into my arms and down to my fingertips. Ready to roll out some hurt.

  A tall figure appeared through the door, and I leapt realizing at the last second it was freaking Julian.

  He let out a shout at the same time I cursed and apologized. I pulled back my powers before I sent him back to hell, but only just barely. He collapsed to the ground, and I landed hard on top of him.

  “Shit, Harlow. I thought I was too late,” he said.

  “Too late for what?” I asked, pushing up so I could see his face. He had splattered blood on him again and a huge gash that split his shirt and the flesh of his chest. The blood still oozed, but I could tell his body was already healing.

  “Never mind. Let’s go. Collin is in the tunnels, and it would be helpful to have you there to stop him.” Julian rose, holding me to his chest. It was one of the least human things he had done around me. His muscles didn't strain at all as he got to his feet. He set my boots on the ground and moved back down the tunnel the way we had come.