I hadn’t been this close to such a fine looking man in a long time, but it was hard to enjoy the experience since he seemed set on killing me. His lips thinned to a grim line as he stared me down, his stance that of a soldier. One not to be trifled with.
My attacker’s real eye color remained a mystery because his pupils glowed a pale alabaster. Which logically made him a hunter with power over air. But then why the gun?
Before I could figure it out, the woman jumped to her feet and yelled, “No! Don’t shoot her!”
“Her?” the man said.
He studied me closer, then grimaced and wrinkled his nose. Most likely from the putrid smell of the slime that covered my body. Or maybe he was reacting to my overall look. The bald head with oozing, fungus-yellow sores instead of hair. The blistered, wrinkly, red skin with scratches across my face, head, and neck from the many attacks that Culus has saved me from. The fangs. I could go on, but it was safe to say most children envisioned me as the terrifying creature living under their beds.
“You’re certain it is a female?” he said, his expression not only disgusted, but doubtful.
His comment stung, and maybe I couldn’t blame him, but it sure made it easy to dislike him a whole lot.
“Elias, don’t,” the woman said again. Her ponytail of dark hair swung as she vehemently shook her head.
The man, Elias, glanced at her, then ran a hand across his stomach, his fingers coming away smeared with blood. “Did you not just see her try to kill me?”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “It was an accident.”
“Like hell,” Elias growled, then looked at Culus. “It is time to tell us the truth or die, because you lied about coming alone.”
“As did you,” Culus said to the woman. He stood and pulled out a gun from his overcoat.
The woman looked at it, clearly annoyed. “Was that really necessary?”
Culus only shrugged in answer.
But it was a good question. Why bring a gun to a peaceful meeting? And an odd-looking weapon at that. Pale. Like it was made of plastic. A toy gun? That didn’t make any sense.
I stared at Culus who looked more earthly normal than I. His skin an orangy yellow. No blisters. A stocky human build. Brown hair. The curled horns coming out of his head tipped off to the demon thing. I tried to get a read on his thoughts, but he wouldn’t look my way.
He pointed the strange handgun at the Mandatum hunter, the German named Elias, who kept his own gun pointed at me. But then the German hunter smoothly raised his other arm and like a drawing coming to life, another pistol, a larger one, materialized in that hand. He pointed it at Culus.
At first glance, Elias’s pistols looked real enough, but on closer inspection, the gray metal wasn’t metal at all, but a visual construct made out of air.
Definitely an air hunter. And if he chose to pull the trigger, or just had a fleeting thought to do so, a blast of compressed air would slice through my head faster than any bullet and send me back to hell in a black mist.
“Dammit, Elias” the woman said with irritation. “Did Sasha send you? I told you all I had to come alone.”
“Which is completely illogical,” he replied, equally irritated. “You know that is not the procedure upon which we operate. And it’s excellent that I had the good sense not to comply, because he brought backup. Which actually makes him smarter than you. Who knows what maleficence these two had planned?”
“None,” I said. “I swear. We came for peace.”
“Like the word of a demon holds any meaning,” Elias scoffed, then used a foot to my stomach to keep me down. “Don’t move or you are dead.”
I gritted my teeth against the searing pressure. I wasn’t moving. Hadn’t planned on it.
“You promised,” Culus growled to the woman.
“Drop your weapon,” Elias told him.
“You first,” Culus said.
“Not a chance.” The German jerk sneered. “Move away from her. And Harper, enlighten me as to what the hell is going on? You’re dealing with demons? It is no wonder you wished to come alone.”
“It’s not what you think,” the woman said. “He had the information we need.”
“Then let’s retrieve it, kill them, get back to the team, and on mission,” Elias said.
“God!” the woman said with a roll of her eyes. “Listen to yourself. Do you really think that’s the way to get them to cooperate?”
“We do not make accords with demons,” Elias said. “Ever. In fact, call the team for backup right now, or I will.”
The woman shook her head, glanced at Culus, then sighed. “Fine, but you have to let me explain.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone.
I waited for Culus to do something. To stop her. But he just stood there, letting her dial. Letting her call in more assassins to better kill us with. What was wrong with him?
Well, if he wouldn’t save us, I would.
2
I flicked my fingers. The woman’s phone ripped from her hands and dropped straight down. It crashed on the concrete path. I rolled to the left and jerked my arm right. The hunter, Elias, slapped down to the ground and stayed there. He was alive, unhurt, but unable to move.
Messing with gravity was kind of my thing.
I jumped to my feet and turned to run. “Culus, let’s go!”
“No!” Culus yelled. “You idiot!”
I stopped. “What?”
Culus closed the umbrella and shot it toward Elias like a spear. The sharp, pointy top end headed straight for the hunter’s head. And he couldn’t move. Thanks to me.
My jaw dropped. A wounded Mandatum hunter was bad enough, but a dead one, jerk or not, was not good for a peaceful discussion.
I focused on the umbrella. It had already whooshed past me, so I was a little late on the uptake and could only move it slightly at the last minute. Enough to keep it from stabbing the German hunter in the head. However, it did pierce his thigh.
Whoops. That wasn’t my fault. Mostly.
“Stop it!” the woman said and started to raise a hand.
Culus knocked her arm away. Then casually shot her at almost point-blank range.
She spun sideways, gripping her shoulder and shouted, “What are you doing?”
That’s what I wanted to know.
Elias let out a short yelp of pain, and tried to stand. I slammed more of my power on him to keep him on the ground. Because if I let up, he’d kill me for sure.
Peace, at least for tonight, was off the table. We needed to get the hell out and regroup.
As I turned back to Culus, he grabbed the iron bench one-handed and threw it hard. Culus had always been the physically stronger of the two of us. The bench hurtled fast toward the German hunter, ready to crush him.
“Leave this to me!” Culus ordered.
I almost did. Feeling so confused and conflicted. But this wasn’t the plan. At least it wasn’t my plan.
So, I did something that I had never done to Culus.
I defied him.
Again, I was late to react. The bench was a lot heavier than the umbrella. I knew my power alone would be able to move its trajectory, but at this point, not enough to keep it from striking the German in some way, which could kill or fatally wound him.
So I ran in front of it.
I ducked and raised my hand. I had thought that hitting the bench with my power and my arm would move it enough to bypass the hunter completely. I was wrong.
Bone cracked. Shattered. Sure it would heal, but damn, it hurt. And I didn’t have time to worry about it, because the bench bounced off and continued past me still headed for pinned down and defenseless German.
Pain shuddered through my body along with a growing rage. So even with one arm damaged, limp, and useless, I focused enough to gather all my inner strength. Then I reached out my unbroken arm toward the bench. I closed my fist, twisted my wrist and jerked my arm back.
Inches from the hunter, the bench suddenly spun around
and headed in the opposite direction, back over me. The bench slammed into the ground. It skidded forward, fast, digging in hard. Grass, roots, rock, and dirt spit into the air.
Culus gripped the woman’s wounded shoulder and shoved her to her knees, directly in front of the careening mass of metal. She yelped and threw her hands forward. So did I. I used every ounce of strength I had left to try and stop it. But saving Elias had tapped me out.
A whisper of energy rippled the air. So delicate in comparison to the metallic screech as the bench deaccelerated drastically. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but thankfully, as the woman turned away from the flying debris pelting her face, the bench stopped a few feet in front of her.
I dropped to my knees, exhausted. Everything would be fine now. My broken arm was starting to heal. While accelerated healing was one of the few perks of being a demon, it always proved painful. Totally worth it because that German hunter still breathed. No one was dead. Culus could talk our way out of this misunderstanding. Peace talks could be salvaged.
The woman closed her eyes and fell forward.
Or she tried to.
In one continuous move, Culus grabbed the arm of the bench and swung it in a near-blur into her torso.
3
The tremendous force and weight caught the woman hard. She flew backwards and slammed into the lamppost with a vicious crack.
“Oh, no,” I whispered.
The benched banged on the pavement and rolled away. The woman stood for a brief dazed moment, then her legs gave out, and she slumped to the ground.
Elias yelled a frantic, “Harper!”
I pressed to my feet and stumbled forward.
“Stay away from her,” the hunter warned, but I still had him under my power, so he couldn’t do more than watch as I neared his comrade.
When I reached the woman, she lay motionless, her eyes closed, head turned slightly away, her breathing labored. The bullet hole in her shoulder leaked onto her shirt, but that was the least of her worries. Concave in spots, her ribs appeared more crushed than simply broken. Blood flowed heavily from a deep contusion at the back of her head.
“Culus!” I screamed. “What are you doing?”
“What has to be done,” he said walking over to gaze emotionlessly down at her limp form. “Harper, wake up, my dear. Tell me where it is, and I will make things quick for you.”
I pushed him away. “She may not be waking up, thanks to you.”
Her lids stuttered open.
Of course the stubborn Mandatum had to prove a demon wrong.
She turned her head and stared up into to the sky. She wore no makeup on a lovely, heart-shaped face. Smooth skin, full cupid’s bow lips that even in her broken state had a bit of a sexy pout. Her deep set, almond-shaped eyes swirled a dark magenta I hadn’t seen before in any Mandatum hunter, which meant that while I didn’t know what her power was, it still flowed within her. Considering her injuries, that showed some serious strength.
I would have given her a thumbs-up, but doubted she would appreciate my show of admiration.
Her magenta eyes glanced at me, took a moment to focus, then slid to Culus. “She is more powerful than you said. Is this how you…” Her voice broke off. She coughed, a weak gesture that sent blood dribbling onto her lips and out the corners of her mouth, the bright red trickling down her cheeks. “…what you always planned?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head.
But Culus only sighed. “Does it matter now? The damage is done. Thanks to her.”
“Me?” I stared at him. “I didn’t do this.”
“You let him sneak up on you,” Culus said, his eyes flicking toward the German.
“You said this was a peaceful negotiation,” I said. “A chance to start over.”
He ignored me to glare at the woman. “Where is it?”
Harper coughed again. More blood splattered out, mixing with falling rain and causing it to stream faster down her face. Her eyelids fluttered, then closed. Culus cursed, knelt down and rummaged through her pockets. Elias shouted curses, demands for Culus to stop touching the woman, threats if he didn’t, but the hunter still couldn’t move.
Culus ignored it all as he continued his search. A set of keys. A pack of gum. Various nebulous items. Obviously not what he was looking for. Then he smiled and lifted out a dagger, flicking the blade back and forth.
“You wanted a dagger?” I said, incredulous.
“No,” Culus dropped it. “But I see I wasn’t the only one ready for a fight.”
“God dammit!” Elias yelled. “Get away from her!”
Culus made a sound of frustration, turned and raised that weird pale gun. He pulled the trigger. Twice. “Shut up!”
Elias flinched as each bullet hit his leg very close to where the umbrella still stuck out.
“You son of a bitch!” Elias said. “I will decimate you!”
“Not before I eliminate you,” Culus said.
“Stop!” I knocked Culus’s gun down with my good hand. “We can leave now. They have Healers. He can get her to one. She’s still alive.” Although, I wasn’t sure for how much longer. “He can tell his teammates about how we helped. Get this all back on track.”
Culus paused. Looked at me. His pupils glowed a bright yellow. “You’re right.”
I let out a breath and closed my eyes with relief. Which is why I didn’t see the threat coming.
4
Culus grabbed my good arm and twisted. Bone splintered and spiked out of my marred flesh. I screamed. Hatred raged in the face of my so-called friend.
“He will tell them about us,” Culus seethed. “About me, you, and I cannot have that. You need to go back.”
“Back?” I said. “Back where?” It took me a moment. Then with realization, terror slammed all air from my lungs. “Back? You don’t mean— Culus, no!”
He landed a savage kick to my knees. They shattered. I went down. Landed right next to the fallen female hunter. He dug one knee deep into my chest and put a hand around my throat. His other set the gun down and snatched up the woman’s dagger.
He squeezed my neck. I choked and thrashed and twisted in his grip. He just smiled. Culus was stronger than me. Both my arms were incapacitated. My power weakened to nothing. Odds seemed in his favor that he would succeed in killing me.
Well, send me back to Hell. Which was worse than death.
I couldn’t let that happen.
Through my panic, I realized that my arm which had broken first had healed enough to move. Only slightly. My fingers had little feeling but enough to crawl across the ground, looking for the gun Culus had set aside. If I could find it, shoot him…well it wouldn’t kill him, but it would slow him down enough for me to get away.
Or so I hoped.
It was a long shot, but my only chance. Afraid to take my eyes from Culus as he raised the dagger high, my hand groped blindly. I couldn’t find the weapon so I risked a sideways glance.
Next to me, the woman’s lids opened. Our eyes locked. Her pupils still swirled dark magenta, dimmer than before, but still pulsing with power, even as blood streamed out of her mouth and nose.
Looked like I would die before she did.
She glanced up. So did I. Just in time to see Culus bring down the dagger straight to my heart. I groped one more time for that stupid gun. Didn’t find it.
Just as the tip of the dagger pierced my skin, rather than the gun, my fingers touched something else.
The world went black.
5
Pain woke me. No surprise there. It usually did. But this felt different.
A blast of agony sparked from the center of my being. An odd, almost electrical current shot through my body, searching, making connections. As it did, instead of feeling the usual all-over fiery sensation of sores and blisters, the hurt organized to a deep, pulsing ache in my head, back, and torso. Taking a breath seemed like trying to inhale through a mountain of cotton balls soaked in…blood? I smelled blood. Lots of
it.
I opened my eyes. And saw the unthinkable.
Culus, to my right, his knee on my chest, his hand to my throat, as he plunged a dagger deep into my heart.
My chest. My throat. My heart.
But it was all happening next to me like I was watching a movie. A horror movie.
Culus grunted with satisfaction. Then I watched my body, red skin blistered and oozing, swirl into a black mist and disappear into the ground. Which meant I was back in hell, or on my way to it through the Waiting World, another dreadful place.
And yet, I wasn’t. I was on Earth.
At least I thought I was. I felt the rain on my face. Smelled the wet grass, along with another myriad of earthy scents.
I tried to move. Pain spiked. The energy traveling through my body gave a sort of zap on my nerves, so I paused. The pain eased back to a series of aches and the current returned with renewed zeal, buzzing through my body like an animal on the hunt.
Culus looked over at me. “Not dead yet? Impressive, but I doubt it will be long. So, tell me where it is. Quickly. Or shall I use this for motivation.” He held up the dagger.
His hand holding the blade jerked. The dagger dropped.
Culus stared at the quarter-sized hole that suddenly appeared in his hand. “What the—”
“I’ve had enough of you.”
Lying on his side, the umbrella still sticking out of his leg, the German hunter held guns in both hands and fired.
6
Culus had always been quick. Never more so than when his life was on the line. As the hunter fired, the demon leapt behind the lamppost, stayed low, then ran into the dark of the surrounding trees.
He abandoned me?
After a beat, I almost laughed. He’d already killed me, and I was worried about him running off? Then I did laugh. But that turned into a wet coughing spasm, so much liquid in my mouth and throat. Some snorted out of my nose. It tasted, and smelled, like copper.
I wiped at my face, then looked at my hand which came away smeared with blood. That wasn’t good.
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