Releasing the Hunter hn-168

by Vivi Anna

  The silence was palpable as they drove down the highway toward town. Ivy could feel Ronan’s edginess as well as her own. His gaze darted everywhere at once, looking for something, anything to be out of place.

  She just kept her eyes on the road ahead. In the distance, large rolling black clouds gathered. It looked like they were waiting for them to drive right into their dark folds. They had that ominous quality reserved for black magic and demons.

  Usually she wasn’t afraid when she went on a hunt. It was a job, a job she was good at and had trained for, for many years. Sometimes it was a cakewalk to take out the hellspawn. This all felt different. Something major was happening. And she wasn’t confident that she was prepared enough to handle it.

  For the next hour and a half, Ronan drove in silence, his gaze fierce and alert. She glanced out the side window every now and then, but for the most part watched the road in front of them. One thing she did notice was there was virtually no traffic on the highway. No cars in front of them, nothing behind them and no vehicles in the opposite lanes. Which was odd even for an untraveled highway.

  As they took the ramp off I-5 and closed in on the town, evidence to confirm her paranoia started to show. At the sign welcoming them to Sumner, there were two cars in the ditch, the doors flung open but no sign of the occupants. Ronan slowed a little as Ivy peered into the empty vehicles.

  “Do you see anything?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  They continued on, driving slowly down the street that headed into the main town square. They passed a few old houses along the way, cars in drives, but no one in the yards. That didn’t necessarily mean anything. Dark clouds did swirl overhead threateningly. Residents might be hunkering down inside waiting for the storm to pass.

  But Ivy had a feeling this storm wasn’t going to move on anytime soon.

  After another five minutes, Ronan drove the car into downtown Sumner. But it was like no downtown she’d ever seen. There were cars parked here and there, haphazardly, clearly not obeying any of the parking laws. One SUV was overturned on its side, all its windows bashed in.

  Some of the storefront windows were also smashed in. Parts of the sidewalks were littered with broken glass. And if her eyes didn’t deceive her, she spotted blood splatters here and there on the cement and on the brick store walls.

  But as they made a pass down the main street, they didn’t spy one person on the street, in their cars, or in the open store doors. It looked like a ghost town. Most recently deceased.

  “Looks like a war zone,” Ronan muttered as they turned onto another street and off the main drag.

  “Yeah, but a war between who?”

  And that’s when a large something smashed on top of their car, denting in the roof.

  Chapter 19

  Ronan lost control of the steering wheel and veered off to the right, bumping up onto the curb and sidewalk. “Jesus! What was that?”

  That answer came when a body rolled down the windshield and over the hood to land in a heap in front of the car.

  He glanced at Ivy, who had two knives unsheathed and was staring out the front window. “Do you think he was thrown or did he jump?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think we should stick around to find out.” He put the car in Reverse and backed up off the curb and onto the street.

  The body that had “fallen” onto the roof of their car struggled to his feet. He looked like an average guy, average height and weight, wearing a flannel shirt, jeans and runners. But when he turned toward the car and grinned at them, blood dripping down his chin from what looked like a busted nose and some missing teeth, Ronan knew there wasn’t anything average about this guy.

  “Welcome to Sumner, bitches!” The guy lurched ahead, reaching for the car.

  “Jesus, the bastard’s possessed,” Ivy hissed. “I wonder how many others are, as well.”

  Ronan glanced in his rearview mirror and saw three more people, two men and a young woman, coming up on their rear, grinning like fools. “I’m going to guess and say a bunch.” He shot it into Drive and stepped on the gas. “Hang on.”

  He raced down the street, then took another left to avoid going back down the main drag. As they zipped down the road, veering around two more abandoned vehicles in the middle of the street, Ronan noticed another car following behind.

  “We’ve got company.”

  Ivy glanced over her shoulder and through the back window. “He’s gaining on us.”

  “I can see that.”

  He cranked the wheel to the left, jumped the curb and drove half on, half off the sidewalk to avoid another car sitting in the street. Coming up on the next corner, he took it at top speed, skidding to the side, but he kept in control. A glance in the rearview mirror showed the other vehicle slagging off.

  He was about to smile when in his periphery he spied a truck coming at them from the side. “Hang on!” he yelled just as the truck slammed hard into the passenger side, barely missing the door.

  The impact sent them into a spin. Ronan could barely steer as the car careened off the road and slammed into a light post, crushing the front end like an accordion. He knocked his forehead against the steering wheel. Thankfully he’d been wearing a seat belt or else he would’ve gone through the windshield.

  He turned to his side to check on Ivy. She, too, had hit her head on the dashboard, but didn’t fare as well. She had a big gash above her right eye. Blood dribbled down her face, obscuring her vision. She wiped at it with the back of her hand.

  He reached over and touched her shoulder. “Are you—” His heart slammed in his chest. “Out of the car! Out! Now!” He pushed the release on her seat belt and, grabbing her hand, yanked her across the seat. He pushed open his door and slid out, pulling her with him.

  They both tumbled to the ground. But Ronan scrambled up, tugged his shotgun out of the car, and yanked Ivy to her feet. By now, she’d totally seen the truck roaring toward their smashed car and was already running full speed away from the scene.

  He caught up with her just as she jumped over a small white fence around some person’s front yard. They plowed across the green grass toward a side fence. Without stopping, Ronan kicked the wooden gate off its hinges and they raced alongside the bungalow and into the backyard. Thankfully there was no guard dog on duty.

  They crossed the yard to the back fence, which butted up to another yard. It was a six-foot wooden structure and not easily jumped. When Ronan got to it, he bent down and cupped his hands for Ivy. She stepped up into them, grabbed hold of the top and hefted herself over. Once she landed, he vaulted it in one leap.

  She sniffed at him. “Must be nice.”

  “It doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure.”

  “Now where?”

  “We can’t stop here. I suspect they’ll be looking for us.” He glanced to the side and down the row of houses. “I say we jump a couple more fences that way, then into a house. We need a minute to figure this out.”

  “Let’s not take too long, okay?”

  After they jumped three more fences, they found a house with an unlocked sliding-glass balcony door. They entered the house. No one was at home. But it looked like it had been vacated in a hurry. There were half-eaten meals on the table, and the TV was on in the living room. It appeared that the occupants had either jumped ship or been taken out.

  Ivy opened the refrigerator and found a couple of bottles of water. She tossed one to Ronan and uncapped the other, taking some greedy gulps. She finished half the bottle, then capped it again.

  “So what are we dealing with? An entire possessed town?”

  He drank some water, and then shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this. Never heard of anything like this, either.” He neared her, and grabbing a dish towel, he splashed it with some water and dabbed at the cut on her forehead.

  It wasn’t bleeding freely anymore, which was good. He wiped at it and saw that it was sealing up. F
or good measure he pressed his thumb to it to help it along. After a solid minute he dropped his hand and took a step back.

  She nodded to him. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” He wanted to pull her to him and kiss her, or at least hold her close. They’d nearly been hurt badly. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if she had been. His healing came with limits. He wasn’t able to mend everything. Serious wounds were beyond his scope. If she’d been crushed in the car, he doubted if he would have been able to save her.

  He didn’t want to think about it. It hurt too much to consider it. So he made his way into the living room to peer out the front window and assess their situation. Crouching, he pushed aside one part of the sunny-yellow drape and peered out to the street.

  A car rolled by, slowly making its way down the street. He imagined the occupant was looking for them. Then he saw three people walking down the sidewalk. It was the same three people he’d seen earlier, coming up behind their car. He ducked down as they passed the house.

  Ivy crawled to where he was situated. “What did you see?”

  “The three that passed were demons.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “Positive. They weren’t hiding their red eyes.”

  “So we have a bunch of demons and possessed townspeople.”

  “Looks like it.”

  “Where’s the resistance? I saw some bullet holes along the main street and some blood. There have to be people here fighting against them.”

  “Your brother among them?”

  She nodded. “Let’s hope so.”

  “Well, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if there is a resistance, they definitely would’ve been alerted to our presence. We did make a kind of splashy entrance.”

  Smiling, Ivy said, “Yeah, I’d say.”

  “So the best way for them to find us is out on the street, not hiding in this house.”

  “I hate sneaking around anyway. It’s not my style.”

  He looked her over, taking in everything about her, and grinned. “No, it certainly isn’t.”

  “I think our best bet would be back out on Main Street.”

  “Agreed.” He glanced out the window again. “We’re only a block away. We can sprint across the street and through that side fence.” He pointed to a spot two doors down. “I imagine there’ll be an alleyway separating the houses and the back of the main stores.”

  “Okay.” She unsheathed two of her longest, deadliest blades. “I’m good for close work.”

  Ronan pumped a round into his shotgun. “I got you covered.”

  “Good. Then let’s not waste time by talking.” She was about to open the front door when he grabbed her arm to stop her. He leaned down and kissed her. He had to. He couldn’t go into whatever it was they were going into without having felt her lips on his once more.

  When they broke apart, she licked her lips. “Don’t look at me like we’re not going to get through this. Because we are. I won’t let anything happen to you. Don’t worry.”

  He laughed at that. “Okay, I won’t.”

  She gave him her most winning smile, and then opened the front door. On a count of three, they ran out onto the street and hopefully not to their doom.

  They crossed the street with little problem and went into the backyard of the house two down from their hiding spot. The back fence was another tall one, and he’d been right about it butting up against an alley.

  Before they jumped it, Ronan peered through the slats. He looked down one way, then the other. So far, the coast was clear. “Looks good.” He bent over and gave Ivy a hand up. Once she was on top of the fence, she swung her legs over and jumped down.

  “Clear,” she said, as she waited for him.

  He vaulted up on top of the fence and perched there for only a second. But it was enough for a bullet to find him and pierce through his shoulder.

  The impact sent him spiraling off the fence. He landed on his side on the gravel. Ivy was on him in seconds, pulling him up, but mindful of his bloodied arm.

  “Shit. You’ve been shot.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll live. Let’s get out of here.”

  Together, they scrambled out of the alley, down another, between two stores and out onto Main Street. Here there were more people milling about. Ronan didn’t know if they were demons or the possessed. He couldn’t tell from this distance. And as far as he could discern, he and Ivy hadn’t been spotted yet.

  He motioned toward one burned car. “Over there. We can hunker down behind it.”

  They ran to the car and crouched behind the back bumper. Ivy pulled at his shirt. “Let me see.”

  Ronan rolled up his sleeve over his shoulder. Blood ran down from the wound. He prodded it with his finger. “It’s not bad.” He searched behind and found the exit hole. “It went through.”

  “We need to patch you up.” She reached into the pack she had strapped to her belt. She unzipped it and came away with some alcohol wipes and some gauze pads. She ripped open the wipe package. “It’s going to sting.”

  “Can’t hurt more than it already does.”

  “Don’t be a baby.” She wiped it across the open wound.

  Ronan nearly shot to his feet. The pain was sharp and stinging. It almost brought tears to his eyes. After she finished, she pressed the hole with three gauze pads and secured them with tape. When she was done, she rolled down his shirtsleeve.

  He tested the tape job by rolling his shoulder. “Not bad.”

  She shrugged. “You’re not the only one that can heal.”

  He lifted up his shotgun again and peered around the car. The people that had been on the street were now gone. He scanned the storefronts and the rooftops. Nothing. He didn’t like the feeling that crept over him.

  “I think we may have a problem.”

  The metal barrel nudging the back of his head confirmed that statement.

  “What are you doing out here making all this noise?” the male gunman asked.

  “Trying to get your attention,” Ivy answered.

  Ronan pictured another gunman pointing a weapon at Ivy. There was no way this one guy would still be standing if there hadn’t been.

  “Yeah, well, you definitely got it now,” the gunman answered.

  “They’re demons, Bill,” the other gunman said. “Let’s take them out and get out of here.”

  Ronan heard a round going into a chamber.

  “Wait,” Ivy growled. “My name is Ivy Strom and I’m here looking for my brother, Quinn Strom. Do you know him?”

  There was an audible sigh from one of the two men, and then Ronan heard a safety going on. Obviously they’d heard of Quinn Strom.

  “You better be who you say you are, or you’re going to die, nice and slow.”

  Chapter 20

  The two human gunmen blindfolded Ivy and Ronan, stuffed them into the back of a car and drove them to their camp. Ivy wondered if that was where Quinn was. She imagined if there was a leader running this show it would definitely be him. That’s why she had used his name as a stalling method. It had obviously worked like a charm.

  After about a ten-minute drive, a long time for such a small town, the vehicle came to a stop. She figured they were then just outside the town limits. The car doors opened and they were pulled out and pushed down a path of some sort, up four stairs and through a door. Ivy heard it shut behind them. Then they were ushered—she could sense Ronan with her still—across a floor and down a set of stairs to a basement, she assumed. Once there, they were shoved into hard wooden chairs and their blindfolds were tugged off.

  She was right; they were in a basement of some older house, surrounded by about ten men and women, all with weapons trained on her and Ronan. She sniffed. Mildew, sweat and fear tainted the air. It was an old house filled with frightened people. She wondered how long they’d been holed up like this. Then she looked down and saw her chair was smack dab in the middle of a devil’s trap. She glanced over at Rona
n and saw the same thing.

  He lifted an eyebrow and a shoulder in response.

  Another man stepped forward. He looked to be around thirty—dirty, sweaty and tired. There was a fresh bandage around his hand. “Who are you? And what are you doing in Sumner?”

  “I’ll only talk to the man in charge,” Ivy said, looking around at the faces glaring at them.

  “I am in charge,” he retorted with a sniff.

  She shook her head. “No, you’re not. Quinn Strom is here somewhere. This totally looks like his operation.”

  “Perceptive, as always, I see.”

  The deep masculine voice came from behind her but she would know it anywhere. She sighed, then gave a little chuckle. “Enough to know that you haven’t had a bath in, say, over a week.”

  Quinn came around her chair, stepping into her view. He looked the same. His hair was a little longer, flecked with a little gray at the sides. Dark stubble lined his pointy jaw. She wanted to punch that jaw.

  “Hello, sis.”

  “Quinn.” She gestured to the people with guns pointing at her. “Is this how you treat the last of your family?”

  “When they could be possessed by demons, sure is.” He glanced at Ronan. And Ivy could see his amulet flare to life. Instantly, he drew his own weapon, cocked it.

  “Don’t!” she yelled. “Don’t splatter him all over the place.”

  Quinn looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Why, is he your demon lover?”

  She saw Ronan bristle at that.

  “He’s not full-blooded. He’s a cambion. Turned against his will.” She reached out a hand. “Just give us holy water to drink, jerk, so we can prove who we are and be done with this bullshit.”

  Quinn nodded to the woman on his right. She rushed over and handed an open bottle of water to Ivy. She snatched it from the woman’s hand, tipped it and chugged half the bottle. She was definitely thirsty, and holy water or not, it hit the spot. After she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, she handed it back to the woman.