The Unlikeable Demon Hunter: Sting (Nava Katz Book 2)

by Deborah Wilde

  I got to Leo’s the next morning a half hour before the hoped-for 11AM phone call. My friend took one look at me and poured a giant cup of milky sweet coffee, pressing it into my hand.

  I pulled her into a hug. “I’m so happy to see you.” I’d been a giant idiot letting our friendship slide.

  “Pffft. You’re just a slut for the many services I provide.” She pushed her straight red hair off of her shoulder, busy hopping around the living room gathering up all her funky silver jewelry to put on.

  Sinking onto the sofa beneath the colorful print of Warhol’s flowers, I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Are we broadening our friendship boundaries?”

  Leo ran a hand along herself in fine show model form. “You couldn’t handle this much woman.”

  “A little goes a long way,” I teased, alluding to her height.

  “So I’ve been told on many an occasion.” She winked lewdly at me.

  11AM came and went.

  As did 11:10, 11:20, and 11:30.

  I placed my cup in the sink. “She’s not phoning.”

  “We’ll try again tomorrow. Come on,” Leo hooked her arm in mine. “I’ll walk you out. I need to check my mailbox.” We’d said our schmugs, and I had the front door to the building open when Leo called me back. She held a letter up. “It’s for you.”

  There was no return address and the postmark was smudged. We ran back to her apartment and I tore it open. A faint hint of cigarette smoke clung to it like perfume.

  Dear Nava,

  If the cancer hasn’t killed me, you can be sure the Brotherhood won’t. It’ll take more than some mutant fiend to rid them of me. I promised you the ritual, and you’ll have it, but first: remember that Vashar amulet I gave you?

  I stopped reading aloud. “Vashar. That’s what the gogota kept saying when it attacked me. Why the amulet?”

  Leo jogged my elbow to get me to resume reading.

  It’s a powerful artifact. In fact, it’s the only thing capable of stopping a…

  I trailed off as I read the next word.

  “I get if you don’t want to share that with me.” Leo didn’t look perturbed.

  There were so many reasons to keep this information from her. She wasn’t Rasha. She was a half-goblin. This information could seriously harm the Brotherhood if it got out to the demon world. It would get me killed if I was seen as the source of the leak. There was only one reason to tell her. After Ari and Rohan, Leo was the person I trusted most with my life. I kept reading aloud.

  …stopping a Rasha induction. Use the amulet during a traditional ceremony and it sucks the magic into itself.

  Leo whistled.

  The Brotherhood knows you have it. They also know that you’ve been causing trouble for Isaac, insisting that there is no point in testing your brother further. That you are the only rightful Rasha in your family.

  “Isaac?” Leo asked.

  “Rabbi Abrams.”

  “That’s ballsy of them. Make the Brotherhood think you’re a whiny, petty bitch, which they’re probably inclined to think anyway. Then you team up with a witch who gives you an amulet capable of stopping Rashas from being made.”

  “Yup.” I squinted at the postmark again but its point of origin remained a mystery. “When Ari proves to be Rasha, the Brotherhood will believe it happened via the usual ceremony and if I’m not happy about it, that will make them very happy.”

  I’d have to turn the amulet over to Rabbi Abrams, but I could have kissed Dr. Gelman and her devious mind. The gogota wasn’t sent to kill me because of the secret ritual. It was sent to kill me for the Vashar. Well, I’d be handing over the amulet soon. Eliminating one strike against me. I might live awhile after all. Even better, Ari was safe. I was the bad guy in this situation.

  The rest of the letter detailed the ritual. How to prepare for it, what to say, how to use the vials of water and dirt that I’d brought back from Prague. The rabbi would have no problem following it.

  Final item and I can’t stress its importance enough. You must be the one to perform this ritual. The fact that the first ceremony to determine initiate status was never performed on you, combined with your Rasha essence asserting itself during Ari’s induction has caused any division between you and your twin to disappear in this matter. This ceremony will separate you both as it inducts your brother. It is simple to follow, but know this. If the ceremony fails–

  “It’ll kill me?! What the fuck?” I glared at the letter but there was no “Psych! Kidding!”

  Leo squeezed my shoulder.

  I realize this may not seem different from Brotherhood actions, but there is a difference. If this works, and I believe it will, then you and Ari will both have magic with no harm done. But more importantly, now it’s your choice. For once, you should be the deciding factor in your fate.

  She’d underlined “your choice” twice. The letter ended with Gelman wryly admitting that should I live, she expected to see me live and in person to yell at her. We’d also discuss that other matter at that time.

  “What other matter?” Leo shook out the envelope but there was nothing else in it.

  “I might have more magic tricks than previously assumed,” I said.

  “The force is strong in you?”

  “Apparently.” I peered into my mug as if more caffeine might magically appear. Or rum.

  Leo tucked her legs under her on the couch. “Are you gonna go through with it?”

  “Do I have a choice?’

  “D’uh. She didn’t say you’d die if you did nothing.”

  “Leo,” I sighed. “Do I have a choice?”

  Scowling, she jabbed a finger at me. “Fine. But if you die, I am going to screw all memory of you out of Rohan’s brain.”

  I snorted. “Good luck getting him away from Lily.”

  “Let me have my revenge fantasy here.” She shoved me and I fell backward against the sofa.

  “Fine. I die, you screw, and I won’t spend eternity haunting you.” I tucked the letter in my pocket. “Before I meet my alleged demise, I think I better chat with Rabbi Abrams.”

  I found him in the kitchen back at the chapter house, almost as if he’d been waiting for me. Or waiting for his kettle to boil. I slid the amulet across the dark granite counter to him as he poured boiling water into his mug. “No, no, don’t take this from me.”

  He pocketed the amulet, stroking his beard. “You leave me no choice. Shame on you, Nava. I’m incredibly disappointed in your behavior. Such mishegoss.” His eyes twinkled at me.

  I retrieved his honey from the cupboard. “Yeah, I’d be sorry, but what can I say? I’m the only Katz twin who deserves this. My brother’s a loser and unworthy of the title.”

  He stirred the honey into his tea. “And to partner up with such a bitter witch.”

  “Desperate times, Rabbi. Desperate times.”

  He took hold of my hand, running his thumb over my glamoured Rasha ring, and spoke a few words. The ring transformed to its normal state. “There.”

  “Rabbi?” He looked at me. “Thank you.”

  He patted my hand. “Navela, you understand the danger?”

  “I do.”

  “You still want to go ahead with this?”

  I nodded. “You won’t tell Ari, will you?”

  “No. You should. You must.”

  Agree to disagree, Rabbi. I was the one in danger. My body, my choice. Ari would never be part of the ceremony if he knew. He was always conservative with his bets, whereas I could happily let it all ride on one hand and let the chips fall where they may.

  “Alea iacta est,” I said.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket to fire off a quick text to my brother that the ceremony was a go and that I’d phone him later with the details. By the time I’d finished, the rabbi had gone. But I wasn’t alone.

  Rohan watched me, lounging inside the room. I drank him in, freshly shaven with his sweater and black trousers molding to every muscle. His eyes were alight with amusement. �
�Why were you quoting Latin, Lolita?”

  My hand tightened on my phone. “That name is done. Got it?”

  Rohan gave a confused nod.

  I stomped out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my room. Of course he followed me. He never knew when to leave things alone.

  He stopped in the doorway. “The Latin?”

  My head had started to throb. “It means–”

  “I know what it means. I’m asking why you said it.”

  “Is it any of your business?”

  “Does it have to do with the scientist whose hotel room was trashed? Because if it does?” He crossed his arms, propping one hip against the wood. Settling in for the long-haul of being annoying and making this his business.

  Really? Now he was concerned about that? About me? “Dr. Gelman gave me the instructions for the ritual. I’ll be the one performing it.”

  “She’s alive?”

  I nodded. “Hiding out, but alive.” I untangled the mess of blankets on my bed, hoping he’d see I was busy and leave.

  “Good. What did Abrams want you to tell Ari?”

  I smoothed out the top cover, keeping my back to him. “Eavesdropping is a nasty habit.”

  “Around you it’s a requirement. Spill.”

  I plumped the pillow up. Pound. Pound. Pound. “There’s a slight chance I could die.”

  “If you do the ceremony.”

  Still working on the pillow, I faced him. “Yes.”

  Rohan smiled, a glittering dangerous smile. I scooted backward a couple of steps. My knees hit the boxspring. “Ari wouldn’t let you do anything to endanger yourself,” Rohan said.

  I flung the pillow at him. Rohan wasn’t expecting that. It bounced off his face and hit the ground. “You rat me out and I’ll never forgive you.”

  He pushed off the wall. I sensed that same wildness in him as the day we’d learned about the Brotherhood using demons. “I can live with that.” His words were silky and more lethal sounding for it.

  I stepped up to him, toe to toe. “You have no say in my life or my decisions.”

  It took everything in me not to smack his arrogant eyebrow lift off of his face.

  “I’m in charge of you,” he said. “Your main babysitter, remember?” Babysitter. Right. Just the poor schmuck stuck watching my pathetic ass.

  I punched him in the stomach. Rohan grunted. “That’s for not even saying ‘thank you’ for saving Lily,” I said. “I had third degree burns on my back and had to spend three freaking days in an iron lung!” A total lie but the doctor had given me oxygen. “I didn’t even merit ‘a good job, Nava’ from you. Your leadership skills suck balls.”

  I shoved at him, craving a physical target for my anger, but he grabbed my wrist, jerking me up against him. “Thank you, Nava,” he growled. “For saving someone so important to me, when I failed to realize she was even in danger. Thank you, Nava, for risking your life when all I did was leave her wide open to be taken by a demon.”

  He released his hold, the fight going out of him.

  I’d never seen the expression on his face before so it took me a minute to figure it out. Shame. With a healthy heap of guilt. Shit. His cousin Asha. What kind of flashback hell had Rohan spent the past few days reliving, believing his failings had caused yet another person he loved to be hurt?

  I reached out to place my hand on his cheek, then remembered that gesture wasn’t on the approved list anymore and curled my fingers into my palm. “Rohan, if you were to blame for her being there, then I was just as much to blame.”

  His eyes lit up like I’d thrown him a lifeline. Then he shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. It wasn’t your fault.” Truth be told, it was probably more my fault than his. Lily was my gift from Samson after all. It was my lie about being lightning girl that started it. Plus, he’d seen me replaced by her at the concert. The pissed off demon had gifted me with my chance for payback, convinced I’d take it.

  However, I’d shared as much as I was going to. “Absolve yourself. I do, and I’m sure Lily does.”

  I walked over to my doorway and paused, one hand on the wall. “The thing about living in the dark? It doesn’t exist without light. That means you can step into that light, if you want. Only you can choose how you live your life, Rohan, just like only I can choose how I live mine.”

  I was halfway down the hall when I heard his soft, “good luck.”

  28

  I never did enlighten Ari that he might be an only child when this was over. He looked nervous enough to puke, or bolt, as it was. Dressed all in white, as per Dr. Gelman’s instructions, he sat on the sofa in our family’s living room, drumming his fingers on the modular coffee table. Both our parents were at the university teaching so I’d commandeered the room. It seemed appropriate given this was where his induction ceremony had gone so wrong the first time.

  Outwardly, I was the picture of calm as I poured the dirt and water into separate small clay bowls, but his drumming set my teeth on edge. Luckily, right before I concussed my sibling with the decanter, there was a firm knock on the front door. “That’s the rabbi. Go help him.”

  Ari jumped up to answer it.

  I ran a critical eye over myself to ensure that I’d properly adhered to the clothing specifications. I wore an ankle-length white cotton skirt and long sleeved white cotton blouse. My feet were bare, my hair was down, and I wore no make-up or jewelry other than my Rasha ring. Gelman had been clear about both the purity of color and fabric for this ceremony. I was to be as natural as possible to ensure nothing could contaminate the ritual. Ari and I being bound was complication enough.

  My brother returned a moment later, leading Rabbi Abrams into the room.

  “Rabbi, where are all the ritual items?” He’d promised to get me everything on Gelman’s list, insisting they were easy enough for him to procure without raising any suspicion.

  With Ari’s help, the rabbi lowered himself into a chair. He sighed in pleasure, rubbing his knee, and looked over toward the hallway. “My helpers.” As if on cue, Kane and Rohan walked into the room, each carrying a box.

  I pointed to the ground next to the coffee table. “Set them there, then you can leave.”

  Kane put his box down. He flung himself onto the sofa, pulling Ari down next to him by both hands. “Nervous? Excited?”

  “This isn’t a spectator event. Invited guests only.” I snapped my fingers at him. “Out. That goes for you too, Mitra.” I rushed Rohan as he sat down, trying to knock him out of the chair he’d reached for. He got comfortable and I barely escaped falling into his lap.

  “Rabbi,” I appealed, “I’m nervous enough about performing this ritual correctly without a home audience.”

  The rabbi reached into his pocket, pulling out three simple white cloth kippahs, which he distributed to the men. “It’s better to have witnesses for this. They can attest that I performed the Brotherhood’s induction ceremony which, thanks to God, worked properly this time.” I’m glad he believed it would work.

  Or was at least faking really well.

  He pointed to the box that Kane had put down. “That one contains the Brotherhood ceremony items.”

  The Brotherhood’s anal corporate tendencies worked in our favor. Every time a rabbi performed a ritual, he had to request the necessary items through the Brotherhood. In Rabbi Abrams’ case, that meant having Ms. Clara take the candles, wine, and ceremonial cloth from inventoried stock. If anyone checked, they’d see that the rabbi had indeed requested them to re-run Ari’s induction ceremony. The box Kane had brought over was the dummy box full of Brotherhood-mandated ritual props.

  For the ceremony that I was going to perform, however, other than the dirt and water that I’d purchased specifically in Prague, it didn’t matter where the other items came from.

  Rohan reached into the box at his feet and pulled out a white tablecloth. “Where do you want this?”

  I snatched it out of his hands and lay it back in the box. “If you two ar
e going to stay then keep out of the way and don’t touch anything.” I planned to follow Gelman’s instructions to a T, not intending to drop dead because of some minor procedural screw up. “Sit on the sofa, both of you.”

  At least they did as they were told.

  “Navela.” Rabbi Abrams pulled a small, intricately carved box out of his pocket and held it out. Inside was the same Rasha ring that I wore, a gold band, engraved with a hamsa and dotted with a tiny blue sapphire. If the ceremony worked, the ring would fit itself to my brother’s finger. I had him hold onto it for a bit longer.

  I pulled Ari to his feet and positioned him in the center of the room. “Don’t move.”

  I’d read and re-read Gelman’s instructions. Could recite them backward and forward and still I wiped damp palms against my skirt in fear that I’d accidentally do something in the wrong order.

  First, I positioned four white pillar candles on glass bases in a wide circle around Ari to delineate north, south, east, and west. I’d used an old compass earlier to mark out the correct directions. Moving the coffee table by the north candle, I spread the white tablecloth on it then placed my clay bowls on top of the fabric. Beside them went a shofar, a hollowed-out, carved ram’s horn that I’d blow through to make a kind of trumpeting noise. Shofars were most closely associated with the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, but also with mitzvahs and were part of my instructions now.

  From the box I removed two white talleisim; knotted, fringed prayer shawls, which I placed next to the shofar. The ring box was the final item needed. I took it from the rabbi, but instead of placing it on the tablecloth, handed it, lid open, to my brother.

  Ari was still fidgeting so I took both his hands in mine best I could with the ring box, looking deep into his eyes. Affirming our connection. He straightened his shoulders and nodded. He was ready.

  Was I? I looked at my twin, standing tall and smiling at me, implicit trust in his eyes. I felt his love wash over me and knew, come what may, that I was. Taking a deep breath, I placed one tallis over Ari’s shoulders and the other over mine to signal the beginning of the ritual. A symbolic garment to denote placing ourselves in a space conducive to sacred work.