Daring Hearts: Fearless Fourteen Boxed Set

by Box Set

  Since we were standing outside in the parking lot by ourselves and it was dark and cold, Konstanz grabbed my wrist and led (or dragged, depending on who you asked) me inside. I let her, but I did lean back just a bit, so she'd know I wasn't cooperating completely.

  "I signed us up to sing the next set," Reese yelled over the music. She’d found us a table, and I wasn't surprised that it happened to be right next to a group of hot guys. Nice. Maybe my new boots would finally get the attention they deserved. I walked past them, slowly. I wasn't Konstanz. Or Reese. I didn't turn heads or stop guys in their tracks. But the boots?

  They did.

  Konstanz snickered as I settled next to her, letting my feet dangle because even with five inch stilettos, I couldn't reach the floor. What exactly was the point of these raised tables that bars and clubs seemed to be so fond of? I'm not a drinker, but I've hung out with enough of them to know that tall chairs and alcohol do not mix. Although it is pretty good entertainment for those of us not intoxicated.

  "Whatcha thinking, beautiful?" a cool male voice said next to my ear.

  "I'm thinking it's pretty blasted creepy when someone whispers into my hair and I've never even been introduced," I snapped as I spun on him, nearly knocking him over.

  He had a nice smile. His eyes were pretty —sort of an ice blue. If I weren't still head over heels in love with my stupid ex, I might be interested. But... eh. I wasn't. Dang heart.

  Apparently he couldn't read my thoughts. His grin widened and he held out a hand. "Bryson."

  I frowned, considering him. Konstanz nudged me, none to gently, in the back. "You want me on stage tonight?" she hissed through what I could only imagine were clenched teeth.

  I shook his hand. "Navi."

  He glanced down at my off-the-shoulder blouse. "Fitting."

  "My name is fitting because I wore a navy blue shirt? I don't dress to coordinate with my name."

  Instead of being insulted like I'd attempted, he leaned back and laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. "Can I buy you a drink?"

  "She doesn't drink. But I do. Hendricks Ellison." Terrie somehow managed to fit herself between us, and I leaned back, watching in amusement.

  Bryson handled it easily, nodding at a passing waiter like it'd been his intent all along. "Hendricks Ellison for the blonde, and..." he paused, raising an eyebrow at me.

  "Pepsi. No ice," I finished. "And my gorgeous friend Konstanz will have water with ice, please."

  Bryson leaned around me. "Just water? Not even caffeine?" he teased.

  "Trust me, I'm jittery enough without the added sugar."

  On cue, Reese bellowed from the stage.

  "That's our fearless leader." I stood up, grabbing Konstanz' hand. "Watch our table for us?" I batted my eyelashes. It was a good table. I didn't want to lose it.

  "Of course." He settled into my seat, leaning back and planting a foot on the one next to him. There were low cheers from his friends at the next table; like we were playing football and he'd just had a good run. Trust me boys, he doesn't have a snowball's chance. Cocky and arrogant were definitely not my type.

  I marched up the stage steps, holding tight to Konstanz so she wouldn't attempt to flee. I prayed, quickly and fervently, that Reese had picked anything other than songs spelling out words about demanding high regard from one's mate. Because that hadn't been overdone at all. Luckily, she hadn't. It was a popular, new song that I knew the words to. It was suddenly clear to me why Reese had been blasting this song non-stop all week long. She'd been practicing and subliminally implanting the words into our brains so we’d be ready for tonight.

  I’d grown up singing in front of people. I felt safe on stage; confident. Here, I knew what I was doing. The music started and I closed my eyes, feeling the song pour into my blood and swirl through my veins, waking me from the inside. The first note was my favorite. I was small. Pretty ordinary. People didn't fall in love with me and never get over me for years and years. But my voice, it was something people didn't forget.

  And when I opened my mouth, it shocked the crowd into silence. That was why I agreed to come to karaoke nights.

  The song ended and the crowd applauded. They yelled for more and Konstanz fled the stage, cheeks red but proud of herself for facing her fears. Reese yelled that we were done for a while and we followed Konstanz.

  "That was... incredible. I've never heard someone sing like that before." Ah, Bryson. He'd guarded our table so well.

  "Thank you." I smiled, pulling him to his feet so I could steal his chair—which was rightfully mine. His hand held onto mine until I untangled my fingers, and I gritted my teeth. Definitely not my type. My type was tall, lanky. Gorgeous. Bryson had blue eyes but they were too light. And his face was too open, too friendly. He looked like he worked in an office. I liked... electricians. Sighing, I realized what I was doing. I was comparing him to Alec. I compared everyone to Alec. Was Alec here, wanting to talk to me? No. Had Alec wanted anything to do with me in the last four years? No. Angry at myself, I turned the force of my smile on Bryson. "Thanks for saving our table. You guys should come on over." I waved at his friends. Bryson's face lit up like I'd just given him a pony, and he spun away, dragging their table over to ours.

  "Good girl," Konstanz whispered with a wink.

  I pulled a face.

  Bryson slid his chair right up next to mine and introduced me to his four friends, whose names I would never remember because I'm completely awful with names unless they're stapled to someone's forehead. I was pondering whether or not anyone would let me do just that when Bryson leaned closer. "You're the most gorgeous girl in this entire place. You know that, right?"

  I raised an eyebrow. "How much have you had to drink tonight?"

  He laughed, leaning back. "Nothing. I'm driving tonight."

  I twitched my lips to the side, considering him. "Are you sure?"

  "Positive." His grin widened. "So. Pretty thing like you must have a boyfriend, right?" He watched me with those ice-blue eyes and I looked, panicked, to Konstanz for help. She was talking to one of Bryson's friends and completely missing my drama. I swallowed hard, looking back into the light blue eyes and easy, too-white smile.

  "I work a lot. That's my focus right now. Not finding male attention."

  "Oh yeah?" He smiled but his eyes said he didn't believe me. "What do you do?" He reached for his drink, which apparently contained no alcohol but sure looked like it did, and raised it to his lips.

  Hmmm. How to answer that one. "It's... complicated. I'm sort of in the probation officer line of work."

  His eyebrows shot up as he sputtered and coughed. "You? You're..."

  More powerful than you'll ever know, buddy. Yeah, okay I was five foot two and barely weighed a hundred pounds. I didn't look tough at all. But all I needed was my voice and some very desperate souls to do my bidding. Trust me on this one.

  "What do you do?" I asked sweetly, steering the conversation away from his assumption that small girls were helpless, and back toward him.

  He coughed once more, for effect mostly, I'm sure. "I'm a loan officer."

  "Sounds fascinating." I tried to look interested. "Do you like it?"

  "Yeah. I get to help a lot of people achieve their dreams and I don't have to be out in the elements. One of my roommates is in construction and he's outside, rain or shine or snow or wind. He comes home either freezing or sunburned."

  Yeah. That was the kind of guy I liked. Stupid Alec, finding his way into my thoughts again. "That must... suck."

  "Hey, do you wanna dance? I happen to be an amazing dancer." He grinned again. He did have a nice smile. I could see that Terrie was swooning from across the table. I'm sure there were lots of girls who thought he was hot. But I just... didn't. Stupid Alec. Again.

  "I'm sorry. I can't dance."

  "C'mon. I'll lead. All you have to do is follow me and move your hips." He winked and I felt my cheeks go bright pink. Holy snowballs was I an adult or a giggling teenager?
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  He raised an eyebrow suggestively and I’m sure my cheeks went pinker. Clearly, I was still a teenager despite my birth certificate saying I was twenty-two. I cleared my throat. "No, seriously. I dance like a wounded goose. But Terrie!" I grabbed my roommate and practically shoved her in Bryson’s lap. "Terrie would love to dance with you!" Clearly unsure what to do with this startling new predicament, Bryson led Terrie out to the dance floor. I sat back in my chair with a sigh of relief.

  And felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck. My hair is super thick. So the tiny little hairs? I feel them when they rise to attention. It could only mean one thing.

  I scanned the room, biting my lip when at first I didn't find what I was looking for. It took me sweeping the entire club twice before I saw her, standing by the door. One of my parolees, Elizabeth, stood nervously, alternatively wringing her hands and motioning me frantically. Every so often, someone would come in the door and walk right through her. Good thing she wasn't paying attention.

  I glanced at Konstanz. "Work is calling. I gotta go." I slid to my feet, wondering how fun it was going to be fighting in my favorite boots.

  Konstanz frowned. "You work too much. When are you gonna sleep, girl?"

  I grinned as I backed away. "I'll sleep when I'm dead!" Hopefully. Hopefully I'll sleep when I'm dead. Unless I screw up and spend the afterlife in prison. Or, unless I don't screw up so bad, but just bad enough, and I spend the next several years of my unlivingness being someone's parolee.

  I hurried past Elizabeth, meeting her translucent eyes once, before escaping out the door and into the fresh air. "What's wrong?" I asked.

  I hid in the shadows, blending like I'd been trained to do and speaking low so no one could see me talking to myself. Because they wouldn't see Elizabeth. No, the only one who could see Elizabeth was me.

  Because Elizabeth is a ghost.

  Chapter 3

  Navi

  "There are reports of activity on the coast. I think the asuwangs are hungry." Elizabeth spoke with an accent I had never been able to place. I had no idea when she'd died, only that she'd joined my army several years ago. Apparently, she'd gotten a good look at hell and decided it wasn't where she wanted to spend the rest of her life. Funny how a glimpse of fire and brimstone will do that to a ghost. She'd made some bad decisions while still alive. Not enough to send her straight to hell, but enough that she was eligible for my probation program.

  "Okay. Can you gather the others? I'll meet you there." I could already feel it pulling me—the call to protect. It was in my blood, tugging me toward danger when others ran away from it. Frustratingly, I could only fight at night. My ghosts could only come out at night. Luckily, demons only liked to play at night, too. On the bright side, it left me daytimes to have a real life.

  "I will." Elizabeth nodded and faded into the shadows.

  I started to follow, when a voice caught me from behind. Resisting the urge to swear, I dragged myself back and turned, plastering on a fake smile. "Bryson."

  "Hey. You didn't say goodbye." Was that a flirtatious smile he was giving me? Did he not realize how dangerous the situation could become if I didn't get to the coast and stop the asuwangs before they escaped into town? No, of course he didn't. Because I was very good at my job. No one here had ever heard of asuwangs. Or believed demons were real.

  "Sorry. Work calling. I gotta go." I hiked my jacket collar up like I was cold, and hoped he didn't notice that I'd come in a car with other girls who were all still inside.

  "I didn't get your number."

  I stopped, staring at him in confusion. "I didn't give you my number."

  His smile broadened.

  "Oh. Right. Konstanz? My friend inside? She's got it. You can get it from her if you'd like. I really, really have to go now." I may or may not have been bouncing like a five-year-old at Christmas.

  "Okay. Expect a text from me tomorrow."

  "Will do. See ya!" I turned, unable to resist the call any longer, and raced through the parking lot. I let the layers fall away as I ran, so fast that to anyone watching I would be a shadow, a blur in the night.

  A ghost.

  My swords, which had long, ancient names, unfolded against my back like wings. One, a golok, I had nicknamed Golly, and the other, a kalis, I'd named Kali. It was easier that way, to name them and pretend they were pets and not deadly weapons. I wished so much that I could somehow shed my clothes and have different attire replace them as I ran. My swords appeared out of nowhere, so why couldn't I have battle armor that was resistant to stains also appear out of nowhere?

  It was a bit ridiculous to fight in five-inch stiletto boots and an off-the-shoulder navy top. Just sayin'.

  The asuwangs could only enter through a rock formation that acted as some sort of gate or doorway between their sea witch's lair and my world. She and her sisters—there are nine of them, could only open the doorways at certain latitudes and longitudes throughout the world, and this was one of those places. It was under water and rose up through the sand of the beach, causing the surf to be wild and dangerous. Thankfully, it also kept most regular, non-fighting-demons-at-night people away from the area and it was hard to get to if you didn't have super speed and mega-high jumping abilities. Unfortunately, it didn't keep the asuwangs in. They could climb the rock like creepy giant spiders. Fittingly, the locals had named this place Devil's Gate, because it divided the beach and inside was hollow—that's where I made my first stand. Some say the angels, who are Death's good friends, created the gate when the doorway was first opened, calling up the mountains to help protect the humans. But the rock wasn't enough, so everywhere that a sea witch had a doorway, Death placed an Agent. That's me.

  I hit the sand but didn't slow, even when my blasted heels sank and wobbled. Totally rocked the mighty warrior thing—if by rock I meant I looked like a wounded goose. I raced past late-night yoga classes and couples on moonlight strolls and old men walking their dogs. A few of them sensed me, I could tell by the way they would tense or look up. Luckily I was a blur of the imagination or I'd have some weird questions to answer. The closer to Devil's Gate I got, the fewer people I encountered, as if they somehow sensed the danger in the area and stayed away. The huge formation loomed in the distance, stretching bigger and bigger the harder I ran. When I got within leaping distance, I jumped, felt my heels not catch like they were supposed to because they are stilettos, and had to scrabble for my grip. I flung myself onto the rocky plateau and tumbled over the other side, landing in a crouch.

  My ghosts, all thirty-three, hadn't even waited for me to get there and sing for them—my way of calling them to battle. They also hadn't waited for me to yell, "Fight!" with my swords raised. They were already locked in deadly battle with the asuwangs, which at the moment were in the form of giant, hideous beasts that looked a lot like a cross between dogs and spiders. I stuck my hands on my hips and glared, feeling left out. During the day, asuwangs could be anything. A kitty, a baby, the sweet little old lady neighbor who smiled and waved when I raced off to school. Asuwangs were shape-shifters, but at night, they were forced to return to their roots.

  And then I could hunt them.

  Many of them didn't change at all. They lived in the ocean and came out at night to feed or capture souls for their sea witch. They especially liked children. As I was also fond of children but in a completely different, not creepy way, I killed them all. The asuwangs, not the children. The children, I protected. And I—

  "Navi? Where you planning on fighting with us tonight?" I blinked, watching as Elizabeth materialized in front of me.

  Death allowed souls like Elizabeth's, and a million gazillion others, one last chance. Fight with the Agents against demons and darkness and evil, and they won't spend an eternity roasting on a spit. It seems like an easy enough choice, but apparently roasting is easy and requires little effort, and fighting, well...

  I looked out across the beach. Fighting is hard.

  Fighting is hard, and if the d
emons escape, I have to submit a report saying my ghosts didn't fight hard enough. Sometimes, they get pulled from the project and sent... away.

  More often, they work and fight so hard that they save their own souls.

  Then, there is Elizabeth, who was granted freedom to move on, and she didn’t. She stays with me and fights, even when she doesn't have to. Actually, I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard of it happening before. Elizabeth is a rarity. I'm not allowed to have favorites, but I do anyway. And Elizabeth is definitely one of my favorites.

  "Navi?" she prompted.

  "Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming. Sorry."

  I unsheathed Golly and Kali and sprinted across the sand. I dived after the first creature I came into contact with, swinging my blades together like giant scissors around its neck. I winced, just a little, as the tarry black blood splashed on my favorite navy shirt.

  Jesse, one of the newer ghosts, and one I had very little hope for, appeared next to me, pulling the body away to a pile with other rotting asuwang corpses. We would burn them all, when we were done. She didn't fight, but she was really good at dragging dead bodies away. It made me wonder what had gotten her in this situation in the first place.

  "Navi!" Elizabeth yelled, flinging her sword end over end through the air. I spun, ducking, as it flew over my head and pierced the dog-thing reaching for my throat. Right in the eye.

  "Nice shot!" I yelled. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the fight, her sword materializing back into her hand. These magic swords, they were nice like that.

  I whirled, slicing first with Golly and following with Kali, pulling my hands apart and cutting the creature in two. Before it fell, I moved on to the next, and then the next. My ghosts surrounded me, protecting me even though, as a flesh and blood creature, I was more powerful than all of them. I don't know if they did it to make themselves look good or because they're honestly worried about my well-being, but I liked them a lot more if I assumed the latter.