by T. F. Walsh
Back at the house, the speck demon claimed she was marked. The only marking she’d heard of in her business happened after someone was possessed, and then every demon would be hunting that person with the intention of dragging them into Hell. Maybe this was the kick in the ass she needed to track down her father and learn more about what she was? But, the more demons she fought, the more information she could pry from them to validate if she was indeed somehow marked.
She glanced at Levi who finished off his drink. Oh, right, he was waiting for a response. “Not sure. Evil doesn’t always behave the way we expect it to.”
Levi leaned forward, pressing his stomach against the table’s edge. “It seemed as if both of them intended to hurt you, especially the speck.” His eyes fixed on her, his expression unwavering and unabashed.
She refused to fidget with her empty glass because that might give Levi a reason to suspect she was hiding something. The beasts might have worked out how to draw energy from her, and maybe word had gotten out. But in truth, she didn’t know how the demonic stuff worked. Her father didn’t do explanations, and she figured it meant he didn’t know much himself.
“Not sure what to tell you.” She hadn’t even trusted Tasha with her secret. But if Levi suspected that a drink and a wicked sexy grin would get her to confess, he was mistaken. “I’ll talk to someone at Argos tomorrow. The fact they put ten grand on the hit tells me they knew the jumper was a special case. Who knows what else they’re hiding from us?” Nice one, Cary. Push the attention onto Argos.
Levi’s lips twisted. “Bastards. Always keeping secrets. Ask them about the demon speaking in some guttural language too.”
“Whatever the spirit had said, it sure wasn’t pleasant,” she admitted. Perhaps it cursed her, which might explain the stink on her skin, or it threatened to kill her slowly.
Cary hadn’t spoken or heard that language in over a decade, ever since her dad had left her. Was it like high school Spanish—don’t practice it enough and you start to forget it?
Nevertheless, the nightmare ended with the demon vanishing, and she never planned to come face to face that particular terror again. But the lack of black moths from the vanishing demon bothered her, too.
Levi caught the waitress’s attention and pointed at the two empty glasses in front of them. She nodded. Once their replacement drinks arrived, Cary gulped down half to help with her dry throat.
“So, you don’t feel different or anything after tonight?” he asked, his voice brittle.
She slid her glass aside. “My head’s a bit blurry from drinking, but if you think by getting me really drunk, you’ll somehow uncover something I’m hiding, then you’ve stooped to a new low.”
His gaze shifted to the table and then back to her as he scratched his chin.
Time to switch gears. “Why did you really leave Argos? I mean, I know you destroyed half the Argos building while fighting a possessed Corvette, and Brent threatened to sue you.” Cary grinned. “Yet, everyone speaks about you as if you’re some kind of myth, taking down demons without weapons, battling three-headed beasts, and all this other shit they’ve made up.”
As a fellow hunter, the unspoken practice was never to correct embellished tales. Hunters risking their lives had to come with some perks, be it heroic tales or inflated egos, so Cary was willing to let Levi’s tall tales slide.
“Maybe the stories aren’t made up?” The edge in Levi’s voice turned serious. “I took down more beasts than anyone else there, and Argos slapped me with a massive bill to pay for the damages. That’s the reward I got, so I get to be pissed at them. Plus, I’d handed in so many stones for which they refused to pay, and whole bunch of other shit they did.”
The waitress approached their table and set down a large bowl of deep-fried onion rings. They were big enough that Cary could easily wear them as bangles around her wrists.
Levi nodded at the waitress and nudged the bowl toward Cary. She took one as Levi reached for the salt and liberally coated the others. In two bites, she finished the onion ring. The oily, sweet morsels slid down her throat. The salt in the batter left a sting going down to her belly. Sprinklings of salt didn’t kill her, but in large quantities, it caused the worst indigestion and migraines. She could live with a bit of discomfort for a few seconds of an oily treat.
“What I don’t get is why you keep doing jobs for them?” Cary wiped her greasy fingers on a napkin.
He stuffed a whole onion ring into his mouth, then reached for another, speaking with his mouth full. “The bastards stole something from me and won’t return it until I pay them back.”
“What’d they take?” She leaned closer, curious about what drove a hunter like Levi to remain at the mercy of Argos.
“It’s the principle. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about them. They’re ruining my onion rings.” He poked the plate toward her. “Saved you one.”
She picked up the last morsel, dusted the salt off and devoured it. When she wiped her hands, the pungent stink hit, and it wasn’t her this time. What was up with tonight? A quick scan of the room… No aura. “Excuse me for a sec.” A demon was near, it had to be. Better to check it first before Levi gets all action-mode. She might as well find it first before he questions how she knew there was one around. “My bladder’s calling.”
Levi nodded and reached for his drink.
As she walked away, Cary studied every table, the barman and the waiters, even the empty cage. For a split second, she visualized herself in there with Levi, both of them naked. Oh yeah, she’d do it.
She slipped into the bathroom to wash the oil off her fingers. On her way out, she spotted it, or more precisely, them. Silvery auras stuck around two men in suits heading outside the pub. Was there a demon convention in town? Her muscles tightened.
She bolted back to the booth where Levi waited and spotted him sliding her phone back across the table. Snatching it away from him, she shot him a scowl. Yep, she couldn’t trust him one bit. Mental note to put a password on the cellphone.
“We’ve got two on the move,” she said. “They’ve just left the building.”
His posture stiffened. “Maybe you should sit this one out, in case you’re targeted again.”
“Despite the charm and self-confidence oozing off you, I'm not going to let you shove me aside when it comes to hunting,” she said. She had way more experience than Levi anyway, thanks to her dad. If she submitted every black stone she’d ever collected, she’d blow Levi’s record out of the water. But drawing attention to herself from Argos wasn’t the plan. “Over my dead body, basically.” Cary bolted away from the table, but stopped when she got to the door.
“Put the drinks on my tab,” Levi said to the waitress as he passed her, handing her several bills for a tip. He caught up to Cary. “Wouldn’t expect anything less from my little hellcat.”
They rushed out into the night, and the nape of her neck prickled. Maybe demons turning up was nothing more than a coincidence. Yeah, right. Demons and coincidence were polar opposites. Just like demon hunters and cambions.
Chapter 6
Cary scrunched her nose and pushed past the rotten demon smell constricting her senses as she stepped out of the bar. Levi seemed undisturbed by the stink. Why couldn’t demons smell like flowers? If she ever returned to the motel, she’d scrub herself raw from the putrid stench. Then she’d pack her stuff and head back home to Detroit. Seeing Levi again wasn’t good for her mind, her libido, her anything. He was a temptation she struggled to say no to.
While the eerie ambiance of the quiet streets didn’t bother her, the shadows flickering in her peripheral vision did. She kept flinching from every movement.
“This way.” She veered left onto a side road.
“Are you sure?” Levi asked, his voice floating behind her. “The hospital’s a few blocks down the main street. It’s snack central for the damned. That’s our best bet.”
She turned to find him behind her at the corner, staring over his sh
oulder. A warm breeze swept through his long hair and tugged on his button down shirt, revealing his belt buckle. Cary’s gaze dipped to his jeans and how sexily they hugged him, most particularly his bulge. He was killing her with his sexiness, and he knew it.
“Trust me,” she said, following her nose away from the main road and walked away from him. “I saw them go this way.”
Soon, his quick footfalls fell into rhythm alongside her. “Take this.” He pressed a lasso into her hand.
A stabbing pain shot up her arm from the weapon. She flinched and pushed it away. “I’m fine, thanks.”
“No, you’re not. You’ve got no gear.” He shoved it into her hand again. “I won’t take no for an answer. I have a backup.”
Gritting her teeth, she accepted the lasso and tucked it into her back pocket. A growing heat smoldered against her butt, replacing the earlier discomfort in her arm. As long as it didn’t burn a hole in her favorite jeans, she’d live.
“Still carrying two lassos?” She took faster steps.
“Can’t be too careful.” He tapped his hip where she assumed he kept the backup. Explains why he wore his shirt untucked. No wonder he gained top hunter position at Argos; the guy never switched off from slaying mode.
Following the sulfuric odor, she rushed along the street and pushed ahead of Levi, who kept glancing over his shoulder, falling behind. He was lucky he couldn’t smell the stink. Cary swerved to her right, passing closed store fronts, a few cars parked on the curb, and the occasional street light. No residential blocks here, just shops.
“We’ve gone too far without a glimpse of the demons,” Levi called out from behind her. “We need to get our asses to the hospital.” The sharpness of his tone intensified.
Cary halted and turned to find Levi near the street intersection ten feet away. When had he fallen behind so far?
The glow from a single street lamp flickered. Rubbish blew along the asphalt, its scratchy sound shattering the silence. The hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end.
They weren’t alone.
Levi’s eyes narrowed in her direction… He sensed it, too.
“Let’s split up,” she said. “I have your lasso. I’ll search this area. You go the other way.” After the way he questioned her near the nightclub and then after the speck demon, she didn’t need him getting on her case again.
“No. We stay tog—”
A figure broke cover between two buildings and darted toward Levi.
“Watch out!” Cary lunged forward.
The stranger tackled Levi, throwing him off his feet. A breathy grunt escaped from Levi’s throat.
Someone snatched at her arm. They swung her into the shadow of a building.
She slammed into a brick wall, face first. Her lungs expelled every last bit of air. Her vision wavered.
Cary spun around, the bridge of her nose throbbing. Blood dribbled over her mouth and chin.
Both her fists flew forward, connecting with the man’s hard flesh. She gagged from the rotten egg smell. He pressed up against her body, her back to the wall. His pelvis rubbed against hers, and his hands latched onto her breasts.
“Not in this lifetime,” she yelled at him. Shoving one hand against his chest, she groped for the lasso in her back pocket and thrust the handle toward his face, aiming for his eyes. The man screeched, recoiling, hands clasped to his face. She charged after him and threw a round kick, her heel connecting with his chin. Saliva and blood rolled from the corners of his mouth. He fell backward onto the road.
Even with her hand burning and stinging needles swarming up her arm, she activated the lasso, and it snapped out. “Now you’ll pay.”
Except, the man didn’t seem scared. He jumped up, his eyes glinting yellow, and rushed her.
So the hard way it was. Fine. Legs planted solidly beneath her, she flicked the lasso at the possessed man, but he seized it from her and tossed it away. Her mind froze. What the Hell? Demons shouldn’t be able to touch the weapon without convulsing in agony.
He grabbed her arm. She packed all her strength into her free fist and threw a punch. She missed, and the man twisted her arm. Cary cried out as her back arched.
Snatching her other free hand, the possessed man drove her backward, his body shoving against hers. His fingernails dug into her wrists, hurting her. Forcing her arms above her head, he stepped onto her feet, keeping her in place.
She bent her knees quickly, knocking the guy off her. She kneed him, but the bastard was fast, capturing her leg between his, wedging her tight against the wall.
“Cary!” Levi called out from farther up the street. “Hold on. I won’t be long. This fucker—” His words cut off.
“Levi!” She stole a glance around the man in front of her. Levi had his weapon looped around his demon’s neck. No surprise that he’d soon have his monster under control.
The possessed man forced her arms higher. Her shoulders ached from being pulled up so hard that her toes barely touched the ground.
He towered over her, blotting out the faint street light.
Cary spat into his face. “I’ll kill you,” she promised.
The man head-butted her. Her muscles quivered. Warmth trickled down her left ear, a thin rivulet of blood that curved down her jaw line.
“Tell me your name, demon,” she said. “I command—“
He head-butted her again. Stars danced before her eyes. Don’t pass out! No telling what the fiend would do with her if she were unconscious.
She heard a guttural howl in the distance. Levi?
When she opened her eyes, her vision exploded with dotted lights. A groan rolled from her lips.
“I know what you are,” the man sputtered, inches from her face. He leaned in even closer, his lips grazing her cheek. “I smell the mark all over you.”
“Big whoop.” Her voice trembled at the notion of another demon mentioning the mark. “I know what you are, too: Scum.”
He licked her cheek. “Mmm.”
She shuddered with disgust. Her arms fought against his restraints, her hands tingling from a lack of blood circulation.
“They’ll eat you up.” His breaths quickened in anticipation, and he made a disgusting slurping noise. “I’ll be rewarded for returning you.”
“And I’ll kick your ass.” Damn, her shaky voice. Her thoughts tumbled over each other, the word marked buzzing forward. The speck demon had said it, too.
The guy’s voice snapped her back to reality. “Huge threat from a little girl who’s about to face judgment. You’ll suffer in the lowest pits of Hell for what you are, demon leech.”
So, that was her official title in the underworld. Demon leech. Yeah, didn’t have a nice ring to it.
The snarls returned, closer this time, and a foul smell, like wet dog filled her nostrils. The man’s eyes widened, and his body suddenly flung backward. He landed on his side on the curb, grunting.
Cary scrambled forward, wincing from the ache swarming through her head.
The demon contorted into a back-bend, his head hanging between his knees. Hell, the guy he wore like a suit was going to be sore tomorrow. He hissed.
Okay. The night just got weirder.
A growl reverberated from behind her. Cary flinched and jumped around, her head spinning as a blur whisked past her toward the fiend. A huge black dog appeared and ripped into the man’s arm. Blood dribbled from the corners of its mouth.
The man whimpered, scampering halfway across the street on all fours, his demon-yellow eyes on the dog.
A sound like a roaring engine thundered from the animal. Teeth bared, its huge trunk lowered on bent legs, ears flattened against its head. It leapt for the man, biting into his leg.
“Get off me.” The man’s desperate voice gave Cary goosebumps.
She wasn’t sure what to make of the intruder, but if the dog destroyed the demon, great. Wiping her nose, she found blood smeared down her hand.
The dog’s lips peeled back, revealing impossibly sharp
incisors.
Cary suddenly thought: What if the canine was eliminating competition for a piece of her?
Was she dealing with a hellhound? She’d read about them being slayers, soul collectors, a whole bunch of different things depending on the story, but all the tales agreed on one thing: Hellhounds were maniacal and ferocious entities that even demons feared.
She wavered on her feet. Pull it together.
Footsteps echoed along the empty street. Levi sprinted toward them, legs and arms pumping. He tackled the writhing man without hesitation, wrestling him down. He didn’t seem to notice the dog.
Did that mean only Cary could see the hellhound? Was it invisible to humans?
She spotted the discarded lasso a couple of feet away and reached for the handle. The dog crashed into her side, sending her stumbling backward. She cried out. Without a weapon, alarm squeezed her lungs. Everything twisted around her, and the dancing lights peppered her sight.
The dog’s monstrous head easily reached her stomach. It could tear her apart at any moment.
A scream pressed against the back of her throat. Don’t scream like a girl.
She rubbed her eyes, but the hellhound wasn’t in her imagination. Someone had scratched his left eye, which blinked twice as fast as the right one. Half an ear had once been torn off, probably in a fight, and drool seeped from his mouth. But it wasn’t attacking her.
“Good boy?” From what she’d read, hellhounds couldn’t be killed, only slowed down. Strangulation should work… If only she had the lasso that was still laying several paces away.
She could barely keep herself upright, she realized, let alone challenge a hellhound.
The dog trotted closer on massive paws, nails clicking on asphalt. Her breath caught in her chest.
Chapter 7
Levi tightened his grip on Noose’s handle, ignoring the squirming of the recently captured and handcuffed possessed guy that had done a number on Cary. He grabbed a cigarette from the pack in his shirt pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag as a warm breeze blew through the back street. The scary part was that the night wasn’t even over.
