Immortal Hunter

by Kait Ballenger

  “David!” She hit him in the arm, not hard, just enough to be playful.

  A sly grin crossed his face. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I was just curious, I guess.”

  “Well, keep your curiosity to yourself.”

  He nodded. Silence fell over them, but he couldn’t hold himself back.

  “No, seriously, how was he in bed?” he asked.

  She folded her arms over her chest, and he could tell from the look on her face that if she’d been standing instead of lying on the bed, she would have had her hands on her hips. “Why do you think I would tell you that?”

  He shrugged. “Well, you want to talk like we’re best friends again, right? You wouldn’t tell your best friend how your ex-boyfriend was in bed?”

  She rolled her eyes. “But you’re not just a friend, you’re an ex. Talking about my sex life with you is hardly how I wanted to go about rebuilding our friendship.”

  He threw his hands up in mock surrender. He played it cool, but he had to be honest with himself. When she called him her ex, it stung like hell, a knife straight to his heart. He forced a chuckle. “Okay, point taken. I do still want to know, though.”

  “It was good, okay?”

  He winced. “Ooh, good. That’s a word you only want to hear describing the weather.”

  She pointed a finger at him. “Be nice.”

  “I wasn’t being a jerk. I was just telling the truth.”

  She flashed him a coy smile. “Yeah, well, everyone can’t do amazing tricks with their tongue.”

  David couldn’t help but laugh. “Yikes. He gives shitty oral?”

  “Going way too far into the details there.”

  “Okay, I’ll stop asking.”

  She sat up on the bed. “Can’t you ask me normal things? Like maybe how my career is doing?”

  “If I asked you normal things, I wouldn’t be me.”

  “You’d still be you, just a less vulgar version.”

  He sat up beside her. “Vulgarity mixed with humor has always been my thing, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll ask—how’s your career going?”

  She stood and slowly paced in front of him, arms still crossed over her chest. “Fine. I’m working at the same veterinary clinic.”

  “Still ignoring that head vet you swore ‘wasn’t actually making a pass’ at you? I never liked that guy. I know you said he was just being friendly, but I always had a sneaking suspicion he was into you and too scared of me to act on it.”

  Allsún chewed on her lower lip before she finally spoke. “Last I checked, he’s still scared shitless of you, but not enough to stop him from being with me.”

  David couldn’t stop himself from swearing. Seriously? He didn’t want to imagine her with anyone else, let alone that damn vet. He’d never liked the guy, mostly because of the I’m-so-in-love-with-you eyes he’d always made at Allsún, at his girl. He tried to hold himself back and find something nice to say for her sake, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  “Fuck, Allie. That’s the guy you were sleeping with? Of all people...”

  She stopped pacing and glared at him. “Hey, Tom is a good person. You don’t know him.”

  He fought back another curse. He knew it was her choice, but really, of all the people she could have dated... “I may not know him, but I do know that he was always eyeing you at the office Christmas parties, even when I was there with you and we were engaged. In my book, that makes the guy a total sleazeball.”

  “He was never a sleazeball. He just had a crush on me, and you didn’t like it. But once you and I separated it was kind of nice to have someone pay attention to me, so when he asked me out I said yes.”

  He pushed off from the bed and walked toward the living room, running a hand over his buzz cut. Part of him wished he had enough hair left to rip out. Anything to calm the emotions plaguing him at the news. “Man, I never thought he would be the one to end up with my woman.”

  Before he could anticipate what she was doing, she grabbed hold of his arm, forcing him to turn and face her. “Your woman? Since when have I been your property?” She released him in disgust.

  “I’m not saying you’re my property. I know you’re your own person and you’re free to do whatever you want with whoever you want, but can’t you understand how I would still see you as mine? I loved you for years, Allie. Longer than that loser has even known you.”

  She jabbed a finger into his chest. “He’s not a loser, and he was good to me.”

  Gently, he caught her wrist. He cradled her hand against his heart. “Even if he was good to you, you didn’t love him like you loved me.”

  She wrenched her hand away from him. “You’re putting words in my mouth. Just because I said we weren’t serious, that doesn’t mean I didn’t care about him.”

  “I’m not trying to be an ass, I’m just trying to get you to admit the truth. You just said a few moments ago that your relationship with him wasn’t serious. You’re not together anymore, so clearly, you weren’t happy.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t know what my relationship with him was like just from a few minutes of talking about it.”

  “Maybe I don’t, but I do know you, and I can tell when you’re happy—and when you’re talking about him, you’re not happy.”

  “Maybe I just don’t want to talk about him with you,” she said.

  “And why is that? Because it reminds you of the great thing you and I used to have together? Because I know you miss that?”

  She stared at him in disbelief. “You’re putting words in my mouth. I never said I missed what we had.” She stepped back, but he took a step forward, closing the distance between them.

  She swatted at him in an attempt to shoo him away, but he caught her hand in his and pulled her closer. “Maybe not in so many words, but I can see it in your face, Allie. I’m not saying you want to get back together, there’s too much bad blood between us for that, but don’t try and tell me that what we had wasn’t an amazing and beautiful thing. We were crazy in love. Look me in the eye and tell me that some part of you doesn’t miss that.”

  She met his gaze and opened her mouth, but no words came out. He knew they wouldn’t.

  Pulling her closer, he wrapped his arms around her, leaned down and kissed her hard. Her mouth was warm against his. She tasted like sweet strawberries. For a moment she didn’t respond, just allowed him to take control, but soon she leaned farther into him, kissing him back feverishly. A wave of desire rolled through him.

  Suddenly she pulled her mouth away as quickly as he’d captured it. “I can’t do this to you.”

  “Do what? I want this, and I think you do, too. We’re both consenting adults. What’s so wrong about it?” he whispered.

  Placing her small hands on his chest, she pushed away from him slightly. “Because I know how you are, David. You’re not the kind of guy who has sex with no strings attached.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  She looked away. “I mean that you always want a relationship, and we’ve already tried that and it didn’t work.”

  He tried to pull her closer, but she eased farther back. “Maybe I’ve changed,” he said.

  “I don’t think you have.” She stepped out of his embrace.

  Instinctually, he reached for her, but she only moved farther out of reach. “Well, if I haven’t, then it will be my problem, won’t it?”

  “I can’t do it. I’m sorry.”

  He dropped his hands to his sides, and his shoulders slumped. Shit. He knew when to admit defeat. He’d been wrong, so wrong. Too confident in thinking that maybe she still loved him the way he still loved her. “It’s okay, Allie. It was my fault for pushing the issue. If you don’t want to, then I don’t want to, either. I’d never pressure you.”

/>   “Thank you.”

  “How about I let you get to bed, huh? We’ve both had a rough night.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I think that would be for the best.”

  A large lump formed in his throat. Damn. Having her so close like this when he wanted her so badly was the sweetest and worst kind of torture. He forced himself to nod in return. “Okay. I’ll let you be. Feel free to use anything you need.”

  He bit his lower lip and fought back all the frustration, all the pain, all the anger. It was his fault they’d come to this, his fault she didn’t love him anymore. He wanted to tell her that he couldn’t live without her, that he would rather die than do anything to make her hate him. But instead all he said was “good night” before he walked from the room, resigning himself to yet another night of sleeping alone.

  CHAPTER TEN

  AT THE CLICK of the bedroom door closing behind David, Allsún fell onto the bed, tears pouring down her face. She clutched the soft bed linens in her hands. How had this happened? She had enough on her plate as it was, but here was David, pushing all her buttons. Part of her hated him for knowing her so well, knowing exactly what to say to make her heart melt and make her miss him more than anything.

  But how could she be with him after everything that had happened?

  Of course she wanted him. But she had to be honest with herself now that the emotions were staring her right in the face. There was one thing in this world she wanted more than anything—more, even, than David: a child of her own. Ever since she’d been a little girl she’d dreamed of the day when she could be as wonderful a mother to her child as her own mother had been to her. She loved David, but she couldn’t give up the aching need for a child that burned in her chest. Not even for him, and in some ways she blamed him. If it wasn’t for the fight they’d had, the things he’d said the night they broke up, maybe she wouldn’t have run from his apartment, maybe then the most awful night of her life wouldn’t have ensued. She tried to keep the memories at bay, but they were inexorable and flooded over her despite her efforts.

  * * *

  ALLSÚN’S FEET CRASHED against the pavement as she ran full force down the street with tears pouring down her cheeks. She hadn’t bothered to grab any of her shopping bags, and she didn’t care. The wind stung against her face, but she didn’t slow down until she managed to catch a cab and the door was firmly closed behind her.

  Slowly she turned around as she grabbed the handrail. Her eyes scanned the platform, and her heart sank even further, something she wouldn’t have said was possible a moment earlier. He hadn’t come after her. He hadn’t followed her or tried to stop her. With seemingly not an ounce of remorse for his actions, he’d let her walk right out the door, right out of his life. She choked back a sob. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be. She couldn’t manage anything but lifeless mechanical movements until she reached home.

  Though she wasn’t quite sure how, as fatigued as she’d been feeling lately, something kept her going until finally she reached the front door. She jammed the key into the lock, then jiggled the knob left, then right, to undo the ancient lock, which her mother had discussed replacing countless times. Finally she stumbled into the old building.

  It didn’t take her long to realize that her mother wasn’t home. An odd stillness throughout the house told her that much. But it didn’t matter. The only thing that did matter was that she’d stupidly assumed David would come after her, and he hadn’t. She knew what assuming did. It made her look and feel like a complete ass. So much for the self-righteous attitude she’d had when storming out on him. She should have just told him the truth.

  She locked the dead bolts and shuffled in exhaustion toward her room. Without even taking her shoes off, she dropped her purse on the mattress and allowed herself to fall on to the old knit purple blanket, which her mother had made for her as a baby, years ago. As her body made contact with the sweet softness of the bed beneath her, she allowed herself to sob harder than she ever had before. The smell of talc and baby powder—the scent of her mother—filled her nose as her eyes grew swollen from her tears. She felt like a fool. How could she ever have thought that her life would end up perfect? That she could find the man of her dreams, marry him and live happily ever after?

  Maybe she should go back. Was she pathetic for thinking that? After all, David had asked her to stay by his side, and she had been the one to walk out. He didn’t even know how hurtful the words he’d said had been right now. If he knew the truth, would he have said those things? If she’d told him afterwards, would he have taken them back?

  Allsún shivered and quickly huddled under the covers, then rubbed her hand over her barely rounded belly. It was her first pregnancy, so even though she was twelve weeks along, she was just now beginning to show. Luckily for her, she managed to hide her newly forming baby bump underneath baggy clothes. She’d known for a couple of weeks now, but she’d been waiting to tell David. She’d wanted to give him the news at the perfect moment, but no matter how many different ways she planned to tell him, none of them felt right. She’d hoped the baby shoes Shelley had given them would be a good intro into telling him that in less than nine months he would be a father.

  So much for that.

  He’d made it blatantly clear that he didn’t want children with her. She rubbed her belly again. She swore it seemed rounder every time she felt it. She wasn’t going to be able to hide her pregnancy much longer.

  She wondered again whether David would have said those things if he’d known she was already carrying his child. Part of her felt that he wouldn’t have, but did it really matter now? He’d already said them, and she’d already left. Even if she didn’t go back for her own sake, because despite everything she loved him, maybe she should go back for the sake of the baby. It would need a father. And David would never abandon his own child, no matter how unwanted that baby might initially be.

  From behind her, she heard a small creak as someone stepped into her room. She’d been sobbing so hard she hadn’t even heard her mother get home.

  “Leave me alone, Mom. I just need to be alone for a while.” The mound of blankets and pillows she’d buried herself in muffled her voice.

  She heard a few more steps, though her mother didn’t speak. A warm hand pressed softly on to her shoulder, the touch lingering before suddenly tightening, tightening....

  “Ouch! Mom, that hur—”

  Without warning, she was shoved backward. Her spine buckled as she slammed into the wall of her bedroom. Pain seared through her as her head bashed against the plaster, sending a warm trickle of blood running through her hair.

  Her mother was standing at her bedside, hand out, and holding her to the wall. A distorted voice sounded from her throat. “Mommy’s not home.”

  Allsún’s eyes widened, and the little breath left from the initial impact escaped her. The rotten smell of sulfur filled her nose.

  Demon.

  Allsún writhed against the demon’s hold, fighting to free herself to no avail. The demon stepped closer, twisting her mother’s normally warm face in a look of pure hatred.

  “Well, would you look at that?” A sinister grin crossed the demon’s face as it reached out and touched Allsún’s pregnant belly.

  “David!” she screamed, though she knew it wasn’t any use. David was nowhere to be found. He hadn’t come after her.

  The demon chuckled.

  “Please, don’t hurt me. Please, have mercy on me. I’m pregnant.”

  “And that’s exactly why I’m not going to have any mercy on you.”

  “No, please, don’t. Please. You can come back and kill me once the baby is born, but, please, don’t hurt me now. Don’t hurt my baby. Please! I’m begging you!”

  “You really think pleading is going to save that disgusting unborn piece of filth inside you? That’s exact
ly why I’m here.”

  Slowly lifting Allsún’s shirt, the demon ran a hand over her bare stomach. The familiar feeling of her mother’s smooth skin coupled with the evil she knew was behind the touch made her skin crawl. She cringed and tried to pull away.

  “You may not know it yet, but I can sense you’re having a boy. I can already feel his power. He’s going to be a self-righteous exorcist just like his father.”

  “No, you’re wrong. He’s not going to be an exorcist. He won’t have that kind of life.”

  “You’re right. He won’t—because I’m here to make sure he doesn’t have a life at all.”

  The demon moved as if to shove its hand deep inside her gut. Pain the likes of which Allsún had never known before seared through her body. She screamed and fought against the demon’s hold, but it was no use. Tears poured down her face as she felt the monster’s hand grip her insides and twist. As if someone had flicked out a light blazing inside her, she felt the baby’s life force slowly fade. Blood gushed between her legs, staining her jeans a warm blackish red.

  The demon released her as her screams of pain subsided into cries of heartbreak. She crumpled to the floor in a puddle of her own blood. The sound of her mother’s footsteps leaving the room pounded in her ears. With every last bit of strength she had, she dragged herself to the end of her bed, pulling her purse down and fumbling inside to find her cell phone.

  Her vision spun as she pressed the numbers.

  “9-1-1 operator. What’s your emergency?”

  Allsún tried to speak, but only a weak noise came out.

  “Ma’am? Ma’am? I can’t hear you, ma’am. Please, speak up.”

  “Help me,” Allsún panted.

  Spots massed in front of her eyes before she felt herself pass out.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  TEARS CONTINUED TO pour down Allsún’s face as she pushed the horrific memory from her mind. It didn’t matter that she knew the events of that night weren’t David’s fault; no amount of reason could convince her heart otherwise. There had been so many nights when she’d dreamed that, in the moment when she’d screamed David’s name, he’d burst in and saved her, only to wake and find no such thing had happened. Each time she woke, David was no closer to saving her than he had been that night.