Demon Hunters 1: Blood Sacrifice (Stand Alone Series) (Demon Hunters.)

by Avril Sabine

  “It’s not our job to punish him,” Scarlett said softly. “I know he tried to kill you. I know you think right now you want to do the same to him. But it’d start to eat at you if you did. Maybe not right away. Maybe a week from now, maybe a year, but it’d happen.”

  Alyssa shook her head. “No. It wouldn’t.”

  “Well, why don’t you see, Princess? You’re holding a gun. Show me if you have the guts.”

  “Get away from him, Alex. Let’s see if he’s still smiling after I shoot him.” Alyssa kept the gun pointed steadily at Nathan.

  Alex shook his head. He sat on Nathan’s back, one of Nathan’s arms twisted high behind him. “You don’t really mean it, Alyssa. Once you calm down you’ll feel different.” He glanced behind her.

  Alyssa turned to see what Alex looked at. She saw Scarlett rummaging in her backpack. “What’s going on?” She looked between Alex, Riley and Scarlett.

  Scarlett strode towards Nathan, two lengths of rope in her hands. “We can’t let him wander free. Who knows what other weapons he has stashed on himself.”

  “No! You have to send him to the demon. Do you think he’s going to let me live? I want to go home. End it!”

  Alex swiftly tied Nathan’s hands behind his back and then used the other piece to wrap his ankles tightly together. He strode towards Alyssa the moment his task was complete. “Give me the gun.”

  “No. It’s mine.”

  “Then at least put the safety on so you don’t accidentally shoot yourself.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Give it here and I’ll do it for you.” Alex held out his hand.

  “I wasn’t born yesterday, Alex.”

  Alex sighed heavily. “I promise to give it back to you.”

  Alyssa hesitated.

  “Oh for crying out loud,” Scarlett said. “How many times have I got to tell you we don’t lie? I can’t watch any more of this drama. If you need me I’ll be as far away from all this rot as I can get without leaving the church.” Scarlett strode towards the pew where they’d left their backpacks. She grabbed hers and headed for the front of the church.

  Alex continued to hold out his hand. “Alyssa?”

  Alyssa glanced between Scarlett’s retreating back and Alex. She reluctantly handed the gun to him and watched as he put the safety on, taking the gun when he held it out. She tucked it into the back of her jeans and tried to shift it to a more comfortable position, with no luck. Resigned to the discomfit, she moved to where Riley checked Nathan for weapons. He found a pocketknife and ammunition. Alyssa grabbed the ammunition.

  “Allie-” Riley began, but stopped immediately at the look she sent him. He shrugged and glanced towards Alex who nodded. Riley grabbed his backpack and walked towards Scarlett.

  “You certainly know how to clear a room, Princess.”

  “Shut up.”

  “You wound me.” Nathan smirked.

  Alyssa turned away from Nathan. Alex watched her. She turned away from him too. She grabbed her backpack and moved to the back of the church. She pulled out the thin blanket and rolled it up as a pillow and lay on her side to read her book.

  It wasn’t fair. High school was over. Forever. She could sleep to eight every day since it didn’t take her long to get to work. That meant she’d have had plenty of time to catch a movie with Erin tonight. They could have stopped in at Del’s first. Or even gone there after the movie so they could argue over which was the best scene. Instead she was stuck in a church with a demon prowling around outside waiting for her. She was living the horror movie.

  Her eyes blinked rapidly as she tried to focus on the words of the book. She couldn’t think about what waited for her. She had to figure out how to deal with it. The words came into focus. Her enemy better look out because she was getting to know him better with each page.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Alyssa.”

  She opened her eyes. Her heart raced at the sound of her name whispered. Looking up she saw Alex crouched beside her. She took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, she felt a little more in control. Sitting up, she stretched. She frowned when she saw Riley and Scarlett by the church door, their backpacks on, the sword case in Riley’s hand.

  “Time to go.” Alex pressed his fingers to her lips when she opened her mouth to speak. “Shh.” He nodded towards where Nathan lay on his side, his eyes closed, his knife beside him.

  Alyssa packed up her gear and followed Alex outside to where Riley and Scarlett hurried to the car. As soon as they were far enough from the church, Alyssa asked, “Where are we going now?”

  “Up the coast. Blake has an apartment only a few hours from here. We’ll sleep there for a bit and figure out where to go next. We can’t stay around here.”

  Alyssa stopped in mid stride as her hand touched the small of her back. “Where is it? What’ve you done with my gun?”

  “In your backpack.”

  Alyssa slipped her hand inside and ignored the hurt expression on Alex’s face. She felt relieved when she found the cold metal. “Sorry.”

  “Forget it.” Alex looked away, his expression closed again.

  “I have to work today.”

  “Find someone to replace you.”

  “Just like that? You think people will drop what they’re doing and take over my job for me and then return it when this is over?”

  “I’m not fighting with you. If you don’t know someone who can take over, ring and quit. You can’t go to work if you want to live.”

  Alyssa hurried ahead of Alex. She fumbled in her backpack for her phone. As soon as she was in the car, she dialled Erin.

  “Sleeping,” Erin mumbled.

  “Can you do me a favour?”

  “What? Allie? Where are you? What are you doing ringing at this hour? Don’t you know what time it is?”

  “I changed my mind about Cairns. But I’m a long way from home. Do you think you can fill in for me at work until I get back? Might take me a couple of weeks. I know you’re working weekends, but you did say you wished you could get more hours.”

  “Where are you? What happened to Cairns?”

  “Erin! Focus.”

  “Sure. I’ll save your butt. Again. You owe me though.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Then how about you tell me so I have one.”

  “I can’t right now. Look, I’ve got to go. I need to keep some credit on my phone.”

  “Call your parents, Allie. They’re driving me nuts. And they’ve got my parents on my back.”

  “Sorry. I just don’t know what to say to them.”

  “Yeah well, think of something. And tell them to quit ringing me.”

  “Sorry, Erin. When I get more credit on my phone I’ll call my parents and talk to them.”

  “Promise?”

  “Sure. I promise.”

  “Okay. Hey, you’ll never believe who I thought I saw yesterday.”

  Alyssa hoped Erin wasn’t going to make it a guessing game. “Who?”

  “Nathan. I mean, I didn’t get that good a look at him, but I swear it was him.”

  Alyssa’s heart seemed to stop and she closed her eyes as she tried to hold back the fear that threatened to swamp her. “You sure?”

  “Nope, not really. Why?”

  What could she say without having to explain far too much and panic Erin? “It wasn’t important.”

  “Okay. You going to tell me anything of what’s been happening?”

  “No.”

  “Then I’m going back to sleep. No human should be awake at this hour. I’d throw something at you if you were here.”

  “Bye, Erin.”

  “Mmmm.”

  Alyssa turned to Riley. “Erin saw Nathan.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We’ve got people watching over her.” Riley grinned momentarily. “Her own guardian angels.”

  Alyssa couldn’t return his grin. “She’ll be okay? And my parents?”
>
  “Yes. And speaking of your parents.” Riley gave her a card. “Call your parents. Didn’t you promise your friend you’d call when you had more credit for your phone.”

  “That’s cheating.”

  Riley grinned. “So? Give them a call. They must be out of their mind with worry.”

  Alyssa reluctantly took the card. “We’re not close like your family.”

  “They deserve a call.”

  “They’ll yell at me and carry on.”

  Riley shrugged. “That’s their problem. Not yours. No need to take it on board.”

  “What do you think you are? My shrink?” Alyssa glanced towards Scarlett who laughed. “He’s not, is he?”

  “Not yet. He’s still at uni,” Scarlett said.

  “You don’t think I spend all my time fighting demons, do you?”

  Alyssa stared at Riley in disbelief. “But a shrink?”

  Riley shrugged. “I find people fascinating. Now quit stalling. Call your parents.”

  “It’s too early. They’ll be asleep,” Alyssa protested.

  “That might be the best time to ring them. Catch them off guard.”

  “I don’t know, Riley.”

  Riley shrugged again. “Might not be as inclined to yell at you.”

  Alyssa stared at the card. “I’ll ring them after breakfast.”

  “Guess our next stop is a servo with a restaurant. And we’ll need fuel before we get to Blake’s,” Alex said.

  Alyssa glared at him. The last thing she wanted to do was ring her parents. Her days were bad enough without the extra trauma.

  * * *

  Alyssa wished she’d rung her parents while they were at the service station. She’d been so busy putting the chore off she’d forgotten she’d have an audience in the car. Scarlet was on her small laptop, Alex drove as usual and Riley read a magazine he’d bought during their stop. A financial magazine. It was the last sort of magazine she’d expected him to buy, let alone read.

  She stared at her phone. She’d left it on after ringing Erin and not once had her mother tried to ring. She looked at how much charge was left on her phone and smiled. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t be able to talk long before the battery went flat.

  She dialled her home number and waited for someone to answer.

  “Hello?”

  “Mum.”

  Silence stretched out, before Grace spoke again. “Come home, Alyssa.”

  “I’m sorry, Mum.”

  “Running from problems doesn’t solve them.”

  “I know. But not being listened to doesn’t help either.”

  “Is that what all this is about?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I didn’t want to have to walk out like that. But I’m not a child. I know I have to live by your rules while I’m in your home, so maybe that’s the solution.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “That living at home might not be the best option for me.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Alyssa. You can’t afford to move out of home. Not and go to uni as well.”

  “Then maybe that’s the rest of the solution.”

  “You’re going to uni, and that’s final.”

  “See, that’s the problem, Mum. No discussion. You tell me to do something and I’m expected to immediately jump to it. I’m not a child.”

  “You’re our child. Of course we want the best for you. And while you’re-”

  “But that’s it. I’m obviously not under your roof. Am I?”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m not even in the same city as you.” Well, she wouldn’t be shortly.

  “Where are you? And how did you get there?”

  Alyssa laughed bitterly. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  “Well, I hooked up with some religious nuts who think they can guard my soul and want me to learn the Lord’s Prayer. They think it’ll be good for me to know it.”

  “Don’t get smart with me, Alyssa.”

  Alyssa laughed again. “I said you wouldn’t believe me.” She saw Riley shake his head out of the corner of her eye. “Here, you can talk to one of them. This is Riley, Mum.” She shoved the phone at Riley with a grin.

  “Hello, ma’am.” There was a pause as Riley listened. “No.” Another pause. “We’re going on a religious retreat.”

  Alyssa giggled and ignored the glare Riley sent her. She wished she’d thought to put her phone on speaker mode. Or that she had the guts to press her ear to the phone to hear the other end of the conversation.

  “She’s eighteen. She doesn’t need parental permission to go on the retreat… you’re welcome to do that, but the police will say the same… she chose to join us of her own free will… no, we’re not a cult, we’re part of a mainstream-” Riley’s words were interrupted and he shook his head as he listened. “You can talk to our priest if you want… of course he wouldn’t… twenty… no, there’ll be separate sleeping accommodation… we don’t believe in pre-marital sex.”

  Alyssa smothered her laughter with her hands.

  “My cousin… She’s nineteen… Scarlett… It’s a family name, ma’am… Grace… no, of course not…yes… I’ll encourage her to ring once a day… I don’t know what the coverage will be like… I’ll look out for her like she’s my own sister… it’s Allie’s choice, but I do understand-” Again his words ended abruptly. “I’m sorry you feel that way… I have to go now… I’m sorry, but-” he sighed as his words were cut off. “I’m sorry… bye.” Riley ended the call and handed the phone to Alyssa who continued to grin. “You’re lucky I believe in forgiveness.”

  Alyssa burst out laughing. The first time in what felt like years.

  “Alex! Pay attention to the road,” Scarlett said sharply.

  Alyssa turned her phone off. “I won’t be able to ring her every day. My battery’s nearly flat.”

  “Then we’ll get a car charger for it,” Riley said.

  “Great.” Alyssa returned the phone to one of the outside pouches of her backpack and pulled her book out. She flicked through until she found the last words she recalled reading before she’d fallen asleep in the church.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They pulled up in front of a block of flats a couple of streets back from the beach. Alex unplugged the phone from the car charger they’d stopped to buy earlier and handed it to Alyssa. She reluctantly took it.

  “So good to get out of the car.” Scarlett threw her door open and hopped out, her backpack over one shoulder. Riley and Alex quickly followed her example.

  Alyssa continued to sit in the car, even when Alex opened her door. She glanced up as he moved to stand near her. One arm rested across the top of the car door and his shadow fell on her.

  “It can’t be too comfortable sitting in there.”

  Alyssa sighed. “You didn’t even ring him to say we’re coming. What if he’s not home?”

  “He works nights. He’s probably in bed.”

  “Alex, that’s worse. We can’t drag him out of bed.”

  “He’s family.”

  “I thought you said he was out of the family business.”

  “Yeah, but not being a demon hunter doesn’t mean you’ve left the family. Come on, Alyssa. It’s hot out here.”

  Alyssa pushed him out of the way. They still wore their long sleeved black shirts. She guessed it’d be cruel to make them stand in the heat after all they’d done for her. She followed Scarlett and Riley as they climbed a set of stairs.

  Scarlett rapped on the door, waited a few seconds and knocked louder.

  “I’m coming. No need to knock the door down,” an irate voice called from inside.

  Alyssa gasped when the door opened. The arm that held the door caught her eyes. A demon mark travelled all the way to the elbow. The mark had been tattooed to make it look like barbed wire was wrapped around the arm. She finally managed to drag her eyes from th
e arm to see the owner of it staring at her. Blue eyes, a sharp contrast to the dark hair and tanned skin. It wasn’t until then she realised the man was only wearing a pair of shorts sitting low on his hips.

  “You look terrible, Blake. The scruffy look doesn’t suit you. Get a haircut and have a shave.” Scarlett pushed past her cousin to step inside.

  Blake ignored her, his eyes on Alyssa. He grabbed her left arm and turned it so he could look at her wrist. He dropped it instantly. Next he snagged the crimson lock of hair and ran it through his fingers.

  Alyssa nearly stopped breathing under the intense scrutiny. She took a deep breath when Blake turned to face Scarlett.

  “Get out.”

  “Aw Blake, don’t be like that.” Scarlett pulled a chair out from the table and dropped onto it. “We hardly ever get to see you.”

  “Take your demon touched and get out of here.”

  Riley stepped inside the apartment and glanced around. “We just need to use your spare room for the day.”

  “I don’t have anything to do with demons,” Blake said.

  “Really?” Riley moved away from the window ledge he’d run his fingers over. “You salt your ledges for fun do you?”

  Scarlett leapt from her chair. “You don’t! You have better ways to fight them than that, Blake.”

  “Don’t lecture me, Scarlett.” Blake turned back to the doorway and met Alyssa’s eyes. “Get inside. And shut the door. I don’t what the neighbours knowing my business.”

  Alyssa stepped inside. Alex followed her. She glanced around the compact apartment. A counter was all that separated the lounge room and kitchen. The kitchen was barely large enough for the square table and four chairs and the lounge room looked crowded with a sofa, television and bookcase.

  “So who are you?” Blake demanded.

  “Alyssa. Allie.”

  “Leave her be, Blake.” Alex stepped in front of her.

  Blake looked between Alyssa and Alex. “I wouldn’t have thought her your type.”

  “That’s enough, Blake.” Scarlett grabbed Blake by the arm so he’d be forced to look at her. “We need a few hours rest then we’ll be out of your way.”

  “Get a room somewhere then.”