Demon Lore

by Karilyn Bentley

  Yeah, like I’m going to tell Nurse Hatchet to go to hell. I like my job just fine the way it is.

  I offer Sally Ann a half-cocked smile. “Uh-huh. Thanks for the advice. So far I haven’t lost it. Knowing Will is out of his coma really helps.”

  “And here’s some more happy news for you. He’s doing so good off the ventilator that they’re gonna move him to the floor. Once they have a room. Can you believe? We all thought him a goner. Lucky fellow, eh?”

  The tissue pauses against my cheeks as I glance at Will. Still sleeping. Not for long. “Yep. Lucky. Can’t believe he’s going to walk his happy ass out of here.” Especially after all the blood he lost. I close my eyes and swallow as the memory of him shot and bleeding out makes an unwanted appearance.

  “Yep. Can you believe how fast he healed? It’s been what, like six days since he was shot? They said the wounds were healing twice as fast as normal. Maybe that’s rumor but still.”

  “You’re right.” I drop my hand holding the tissue, tears disappeared into hiding. “That does make me happy. You’re a good friend, Sally Ann. I think I’ll keep you around.”

  She snorts a chuckle. “No problem, honey. Just come on back to Miss Sally Ann for some happy news. You can bring your brother too, you know. That’ll make me real happy.” She winks her over-mascara’ed lashes and I swallow a grimace.

  T and Sally Ann? Breakfast threatens a second appearance.

  “Well, gotta get back. Maybe he’ll wake for you. He didn’t for me.” Giving me a little finger wave over her shoulder, she walks down the hall, disappearing from view.

  Yeah, he’ll wake for me. I sniff one last time, drop my tissue in the trash, and step to Will’s bed, giving his shoulder a shake. “Will, wake up.”

  He moans. I shove the little voice telling me he needs his sleep into hiding and shake his shoulder harder. “Wake. Up.”

  Will cracks a lid. “Wha…?”

  “Tell me how you got this bracelet.” I hold the justitia in front of his face.

  His eye shuts. Right when I’m about to give him another shake, he blinks open both eyes. Shuts them. Opens.

  Yeah, I should let the patient be. But sometimes they need waking for their health.

  Or yours.

  “Gin?” Sleepy questions fill his tone.

  “Hey. Good to see you awake.” In more ways than one.

  “Wasn’t I asleep?”

  “Not anymore.” Curiosity stomps out my conscious concern. “Tell me about this bracelet. How did you get it?”

  He shakes his head, gaze bouncing off mine. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Tough shit. I put it on, it won’t come off, and all sorts of crazy things have happened since then.” I’ll wait until later to tell him about the demon-slaying abilities. Might give him a fright.

  He closes his eyes and inhales through his nose. “Did you take it out of my pocket?”

  “I found it in my scrub pocket after I found you. Maybe you put it in there.” Telling him the thing suddenly appeared in my pocket without human intervention sounds strange even after experiencing it.

  “Maybe.” His lids pop open, gaze focusing on mine. “I just meant for you to keep it safe from my shooter. Whatever happened to him? Did they catch him?”

  “He’s dead.”

  Nothing like murderous news to wake up a sleepy patient.

  Will’s eyes flared. “They said he came after Lara.”

  “I’m really sorry.” I pat his gown-covered shoulder. “Really, I am. But I need to know everything you know about this bracelet.”

  His eyes cut to the side. Close. Open. He sighs. “Dad gave it to Mom. Said it was important and for her to never give it away or lose it. Then he died and Mom stuck it in a drawer and never wore it. One day I found it and was playing with it. That’s the day she was killed.” He swallows. “She told me to take the bracelet and hide so I did. The man who killed her kept screaming about the bracelet so I always wanted to keep it safe. I must’ve slipped it into your pocket when you came to check on me. I don’t remember much of that day. Just the gun firing. It’s mostly a blur.”

  Great. Another case of localized amnesia.

  “I’m sorry to have to ask you, but as I said weird things have happened since I slipped on your bracelet.”

  “What kind of weird things?”

  Yeah, right. He’d really think I was nuts if I told him about minions and demons and the Agency. “I’ll talk to you about it when you get out.”

  “Don’t think I can handle it?” He raises a brow, a trace of a grin on his lips.

  “You need your rest.”

  “You’re the one who woke me up. Should’ve thought about that earlier.” His smile twitches across his face, highlighting the tiredness lurking in his eyes.

  “Yeah, well. Let’s just say this bracelet is really special and leave it at that.”

  “Only because I’m too tired to get my ass out of bed and make an issue of it. Just wait. I’m getting stronger every day.”

  My heart thumps a happy rhythm as I return his grin. “I heard. That’s great news. Soon you’ll be out of here.”

  “Not sure where I’ll go. Knowing Lara was…” he swallows, choking on the word. “Was…was…you know, home seems violated. I’m not sure if I can go back.”

  After a panic attack over visiting my own kitchen, I can sympathize. I pat his shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah. That’s what they say.” His eyes drift close. Snap open. Drift close.

  “Well, I better go.” My conscious won its fight over curiosity. I really need to let the man rest, even if I didn’t discover all I wanted to.

  But I learned something. Will knew nothing.

  Smythe won’t be happy. Or maybe he will. Googling things on his laptop made my mentor about as happy as a puppy gnawing on a shoe.

  Will’s lids open, and he reaches a hand toward me. I lean down and give him a little hug, making sure not to touch his skin. When I pull away his brows are furrowed.

  “Never pegged you as a tattoo type of person. What does it represent?” He points, and I slap a hand against the top of Zagan’s clawmark. A mark no longer visible on my skin, thanks to my new set of healing powers. Smooth skin greets my questing fingers.

  My brows furrow a painful squeeze, echoed in the speeding thump of my heart. “What are you talking about? I don’t have a tattoo.” Is he hallucinating?

  “Go look.” He points to the little mirror above the sink in his room.

  I obey, twisting my head to the side and pulling my ear forward, the tip of my ponytail brushing against my fingers as I stare at my reflection. The mark branded right below my hairline behind my ear looks familiar. I shove my face closer to the mirror. This can’t be happening.

  The same rune marks my justitia. Zagan’s mark.

  My stomach twists a tango as the color slides off my face like plastic melting in a fire. I’m not a fool. I know what the tattoo means. Zagan marked me as his. I’m not as free of the demon as I thought. Shit.

  A word about the author...

  Karilyn Bentley’s love of reading stories and her preference for sitting in front of a computer at home instead of in a cube drove her to pen her own works, blending fantasy and romance mixed with a touch of funny.

  Her paranormal romance novella, Werewolves in London, placed in the Got Wolf contest and started her writing career as an author of sexy heroes and lush fantasy worlds.

  Karilyn lives in North Texas with her own hunky hero, a psycho dog nicknamed Hell Hound, a crazy puppy, and a handful of colorful saltwater fish.

  More on Karilyn and her books can be found at:

  www.karilynbentley.com.

  Thank you for purchasing

  this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.