by Dara Kent
Snapping my fingers, I got his attention again. “Lily’s still cut off.”
Benny’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry, Lily.”
I scowled. “Don’t apologize to her. And get Monica a drink.”
Shaking her head at me, Monica said, “I’ll have a Yazoo, um, the Dos Perros.”
Benny hurried off to fill her order.
“Over there.” Monica nonchalantly tilted her head. “Three o’clock.”
Casually, I turned my attention to the right. “Ah, Mogwais.” Lily and I had nicknamed the demons in question after the cute little guys in the 80’s movie Gremlins because of their aversion to bright light. We’d also been at Wilde Stallions that night with the decade in the forefront of our minds when we first came across them.
Monica chuckled. “Mogwais. Huh. Guess I can see why it works.” She chuckled again. “You two with all your cute little nicknames for demons. Do you use any of the real ones?”
“Sometimes. If we know them. Like the Ratta demons from the condo.”
Lily played with a few strands of her curls, unabashedly staring at the Mogwais. The group of them, four if there weren’t any more wandering the bar, lurked in the shadows together, scoping out prey. To the casual observer, they were a lot like vampires—pale, skinny, attractive in a brooding goth sort of way—but the big difference was their meal plan. Mogwais fed on souls instead of blood. Plus, vampires weren’t demons. They were just another brand of supernatural. A type that I ignored unless they got carried away with feeding and killed someone. Then it was a stake through the heart from me, free of charge.
Peeling at the label on my beer, I considered. “It’s a no-brainer to lure them away from the crowd. We all know that needs to happen.”
“Yep.” Monica took a sip from her fresh beer.
“And we also don’t want any to escape so they can warn other demons to stay away from Wilde Stallions. I quite enjoy the easy marks the bottom feeders that come here are.” Lily and I went after bigger problems often, especially the ones who drew attention to themselves by way of a body count, but there was something to be said for taking out the low-hanging fruit. It added up our kill totals and kept my business open to continue making us money.
Rolling her eyes, Lily slipped off her stool and tugged down her already low tank top. “I knew I’d end up being the bait, as usual.”
She wasn’t wrong, exactly. I hadn’t planned on asking her to be bait, but if she was willing, my sister was the obvious choice on how to wrangle the Mogwais. “Get them back into the office. Heather won’t be in until later.”
Sighing dramatically, Lily trotted over to them. Like she wielded her own special brand of magical demon lure, all four Mogwais trailed along after her with only a few words.
Monica’s eyes widened. “That’s amazing.”
Preferring to normally hunt with Tomas, Monica had never seen Lily as bait before. “If only we could bottle and sell it to other hunters, we’d be rich by now.” Hopping off my stool, I bowed with a flourish. “Shall we?”
Monica grinned. “Yes, we shall.”
In unison, Monica and I skulked after Lily and her adoring fans, hot on their heels. Lily could stall, and hold her own against four Mogwais if she needed to, but I didn’t want to put her in that position. Besides, missteps could happen.
“What’s going on?” Mogwai one hissed as we joined their little party in the office. They’d been clustered around my sister, who was backed into a corner.
My lips curled up into a sneer as I reached into my boots to produce my blades. “Oh? We weren’t invited to the party?” I flipped the light on, and hisses filled the room as the demons covered their sensitive eyes.
Charging, I swung my arm in a wide arc, connecting with the Mogwai on the right and taking his head in a clean sweep. Ashes lifted into the air, swirling behind me as I moved quickly to take out the demon to the left of me in the same manner.
I halted, gaze connecting with Lily’s then Monica’s. “That was …” I sighed. “Who wants to go look for more demons?” Swiveling on my heel, I led the three of us back to the bar, our seats no longer vacant.
“We could see if any demons are lurking around that cute wine bar in The Gulch,” Lily suggested.
“Fine,” I growled. After all, the chances of us finding any more demons at Wilde Stallions tonight were pretty slim. Not only did I want more of a fight, but I had a feeling Monica did, too. She needed to focus on hunting instead of the Tomas-shaped hole in her heart.
“I’m in,” Monica said, all but confirming my suspicions.
Lily linked arms with her, skipping through the crowd. “This is going to be fun!”
Rolling my eyes, I followed behind them. I didn’t want fun. I needed a real fight to get my aggression out. I more than needed, I craved. But I would take what I could get.
14
My fist connected squarely with the side of the demon’s face, spinning her head a full one-eighty. She whipped around, lunging at me with her claws.
Dodging to the right, I bounced on the balls of my feet. “Can’t pass for human anymore, huh, bug?” I laughed, the sound echoing off the brick walls sandwiching us into the alleyway.
“Bug?” Monica’s question reached me from a few dozen feet away, where she stood with my sister.
“It’s because they’re so bendy, like a bug,” Lily replied, tone cheerful. “I came up with that one myself.”
“How long is she going to play with it before putting it down?” Monica stage whispered in an attempt to chastise me without actually uttering the words directly to me.
“Dunno,” Lily mumbled.
The bug scampered from side to side, arms held at an awkward angle, reminding me of a praying mantis with its head on backward. With a crack and a pop, the demon rectified the situation, hissing with anger. It crawled up the brick wall, muscles coiled, large, black eyes tracking my every move.
Pushing off the wall, the bug sailed through the air at me, claws extended.
Ducking low, I punched up, throwing her off balance. She toppled to the ground, landing on her side. Quickly scrambling to her feet, she glared at me, hissing again.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. You’re pissed.”
Finally growing bored with the game, I slid my blades out of my boots and waited. So hopped up on fury, the bug didn’t even hesitate to rush me again. With one swipe of my blade, her head toppled from her body, turning to ash before it hit the ground.
I sighed demonstratively. “I bet fighting a bug would be funner if it wasn’t in an alley.” Sadly, it seemed as if ninety-nine percent of our dealings with demons took place in alleyways. It made sense, since our prey was generally lured from bars and nightclubs when we were in Nashville. Plus, it was relatively private for what we needed to do. Even so, every once in a while, I got a jonesing for a real fight—something challenging. The incident with the BBD when I’d been caught off guard wasn’t what I was talking about either. I’d been off my game that night, not given an actual run for my money.
Lips twisted as if pain, Lily tapped her chin. “Funner isn’t a word.”
I smirked, knowing how my penchant to make up words bothered the crap out of her. Although, in this case, I was fairly certain funner was legit. “It is.”
We both turned to Monica in unison for her input. She raised her hands in surrender, backing away slowly. “Don’t look at me. I have no idea what is and isn’t a word anymore. I heard irregardless was added to the dictionary, so …”
Even I grimaced at that one. “If that’s true then funner is definitely a word.”
“Ugh!” Lily grated, storming away from me.
Monica fell into step beside me as we trailed my sister, heading in the direction of our transportation.
She cleared her throat. “Tomas was that way, too.”
“What way?” But I already knew. Tomas and I both enjoyed fighting demons. For us, the numbers were the most important thing, but we also enjoyed a good hunt.
; “The fight. He reveled in it. The brutality of it.”
“And your point is?”
She halted abruptly, resting her hand on my shoulder. “Be careful. Violence is a slippery slope.”
Is she serious with this shit? “They’re demons.”
She clicked her tongue once, turning to follow Lily again. “Heed my warning.”
“That’s not why Tomas was killed,” I called after her. But I was met with silence.
“Whatever,” I grumbled. “Next she’ll be talking to me about demon rights and their feelings.”
My good mood effectively squashed, I shuffled down the sidewalk, ready to call it a night.
The tall corn stalks swayed in the wind and I sneezed. “Bless me,” I muttered, not sure why. I supposed it never hurt to cover my ass on all bases. Yeah, because a ridiculous, antiquated superstition is going to be the thing that puts you over the edge, ultimately letting you into Heaven.
A trill of laughter, shrill and multi-layered, drew my attention to the field on the left. “Just what I need, some real-life children of the corn.” In actuality, what I was dealing with was an infestation of farm demons. Lily and I had dubbed them the trite name because of their tendency to end up on farms. They enjoyed spreading blights and diseases, feeding off the strife of the family living on the land, eventually killing them in the end as well. They could go anywhere, infect anyone, but they perpetually surfaced on farms.
This particular case had been uncovered after I unearthed a pattern of dead and dying farms in the rural parts of Pennsylvania with no scientific explanation. I’d been too late to save the last farm. This time the little bastards weren’t getting away.
“Are they being all creepy and hiding in the corn?” Lily crowded in beside me, her shoulders raised up to practically her ears.
“Yup.” Tilting my head, I listened for more signs of the demons. Hiding in the corn was a good tactic, I had to admit. They were small, resembling what books and movies usually portrayed as goblins, their size easily hidden in the stalks.
“Too bad we can’t just burn them out.” Lily fidgeted with the steel blade in her hand. It was one borrowed from me, so the grip was a bit off since mine were custom. She was still figuring out what her favorite hunting tool was, not yet settling the way I had. Although, she struggled with the killing part of hunting a bit more than I did, preferring to do things at a distance if she could. In fact, she’d played with the idea of a crossbow until she realized she would have to get close for the kill strike regardless. She had time to figure it out, though—at seventeen most things remained undecided.
“If we torch the fields, then we’ve kind of defeated the point of saving the farm.”
“Yeah, I guess.” She tugged on the gumband in her hair with her free hand. “What did you tell Mom we were doing this time?”
“Research for school. On agricultural stuff.”
Lily snorted. “And she bought it?”
“I know. I barely have to try. Almost makes me feel bad that she trusts us.”
We turned to each other and said in unison, “Almost.”
Taking a few steps closer to the corn, I gripped my blades tighter. “All right. We’re going to have to go in there eventually. Remember, we’re faster and smarter than them. We got this.”
“We got this,” Lily repeated, all the blood draining from her face.
I smiled encouragingly. “We do … got this that is.” If I could hunt alone and share my kill numbers with Lily I would. She was not built mentally to be a hunter. If I didn’t drag her on regular hunts, she would no doubt end up in Hell due to her lack of participation in the game.
“Riss.” I whirled, Tomas’ unexpected voice catching me off guard.
Staggering, he went to his knees as he reached for me. His hair and face were covered in blood, pieces of skin hanging off his battered frame. “Please.”
My heart thrashed against my ribcage, and my stomach twisted, bile pushing up my esophagus. “What are you doing here?” Rushing toward him, the distance between us remained the same, the landscape distorting. What the fuck?
“Please. Don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?” Wait. This isn’t right. This has to be a dream. I didn’t know Tomas when I was twenty-two years old. He doesn’t belong here.
“Riss. Fight it. This isn’t you. I refuse to believe it’s you.”
Tugging at my hair, I continued to run. “Tomas! What are you talking about? What isn’t me?”
A flash of the Hell marked skidded across my mind, followed by the demon who nearly killed me, dark tentacles lashing against me.
Everything went black before erupting into flames.
A scream erupted from my throat, and I kicked the blanket off of me. My bedroom slowly came into focus as I blinked away the nightmare. Rolling over, I checked my cellphone, the message alert lit up.
Still trying to fix this mess at work. No news about Pestilence. See you tonight.
Jensen’s absence was disappointing since I would have liked to drown out the images from my nightmare with some naked time with him. Instead, I tumbled out of bed and shuffled across the floor.
“Oh, hey.” Benny paused outside of Lily’s bedroom door, his head dipping sheepishly.
I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, um … I gotta get goin’.” He thundered down the stairs, the front door slamming shut a moment later.
I shuffled over to Lily’s door and pounded. “What was Benny doing here?” Without waiting for a response, I entered her room.
Leaning against her headboard, my sister grinned at me.
I frowned. “If it was anyone else, I’d assume you slept with him.” I arched my eyebrows, silently demanding an explanation. I knew Benny had a thing for Lily. Anyone with eyes would know that the way he followed her around like a puppy when she was at the bar. I frequently teased her about it but never thought I’d have to have the talk about not scaring away my employees. Especially the good ones.
She gathered her wild curls on top of her head. “We stayed up talking all night.” Climbing out from under her comforter, she clamored to the edge of the bed, her hands clasped in front of her chest. “It was amazing.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I didn’t want to take away from her obvious delight. Personally, postcoital whispered words, deep thoughts, and secrets topped the up-all-night thing anytime. But to each is own. Plus, you kind of had to be sexually active for my preference to happen, and Lily was not.
Leaning against the door frame, I crossed my arms. “Sooo … you like him?”
Settling in the center of the bed, she crossed her legs. “There are no red flags yet.”
“Could he be your true love then?” I bit back a laugh at her horrified expression.
“No! I would have known right away if he was.”
“Okay, now I’m confused. I thought you didn’t want to waste your time with anyone other than your true love slash soul mate.”
Flopping backward, she sighed dramatically. “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I mean, how many twenty-four-year-old virgins do you know of?”
“Don’t worry about anyone else. Do what makes you happy.”
She sighed again. “That’s the thing. I’m not sure I’m happy waiting anymore. I have urges and needs, too. I’m a grown woman.”
Clapping my hands over my ears, I retreated to the hallway. “I do not want to hear about your urges and needs. Talk to someone else about those.”
“Like who?” she called.
“I don’t know. Anyone but me. If you need advice that doesn’t involve those come and find me … but, you know, you have the whole Internet at your fingertips.”
No matter how old we got there was a part of me that would always see Lily as a little kid. A child too young physically and emotionally to handle a complicated relationship involving sex of any kind. I knew her innocence wouldn’t last forever, b
ut I could pretend otherwise as long as she’d let me.
Groaning, I made my way downstairs, my mind clouded with things I didn’t want to think about. My nightmare with Tomas, Pestilence, Lily’s sex life … Maybe I should start my day with a tequila sunrise. No one but me would have to know.
15
Blinking away a red haze from my vision, I staggered back, narrowly missing a claw puncture to the stomach. Swiping at the sweat on my face, I backpedaled, giving myself more room to maneuver.
“Riss, look out!” Lily screeched from behind me, too little too late.
Fighting another bug so soon—the mate of the female I killed—was supposed to be another fun jaunt into the world of demon hunting, a release of aggression in the only productive way I knew. But something was wrong. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it either. I was slower than normal, almost sluggish, my muscles weak, as if fatigued, and my concentration was shot, my mind wandering to things it shouldn’t when my life was on the line. Most of it could be explained away from my lack of decent sleep, but it was more than that.
Maybe I’m getting sick. Twice marked were immune to demon bred pox, such as the one Pestilence let loose, but we were still susceptible to human ailments such as colds and the flu. We fought them off quicker, our immune systems robust, but every once in a while, one of us went down for the count due to a mundane virus.
Gritting my teeth, I ducked another onslaught from the bug, claws meeting steel blades with a dull ping. Drawing on every last bit of reserve, something I rarely had to do, I lunged, taking the bug’s head.
Burnt embers turned to ash, floating to the ground as I hunched over, hands on my knees, gasping for air, chest heaving. “I think I need to get home to bed.”
Dancing up onto her tiptoes, Lily pressed the back of her hand to my forehead. “You don’t feel hot.”
Shirking out from under her, I lurched toward the entrance of the alleyway. A headache bloomed, shooting pain through my skull. “Maybe I don’t have a fever, but I don’t feel right.”
