Betrayal

by A. S. Fenichel

  He really was sorry, but for what, she couldn’t be sure. Maybe his remorse came from upsetting her or for kissing her. She pulled her shoulders back and met his gaze. “I believe you, Reece. We will be fine.”

  A very sexy grin played across his face, and he bowed before leaving the room.

  Elizabeth stripped down to a blouse and black trousers. She cloaked herself in a long-coat, checked her weapons were secure, and followed her desire for a long run.

  Dew already covered the grass. She jogged through the formal garden to a gate that opened to a rolling field lit only by the moon and stars. Running as fast as her legs would take her, she headed for the trees to the north.

  Her thighs ached. Breathless and lightheaded, she pushed herself further. She clutched the trunk of a small oak and gulped down air. Sweat poured down her face.

  Movement deep in the trees stopped her. Likely a deer or hog foraging for food, but she couldn’t be sure at such a distance. It would not be good to meet an angry hog in the dark by herself. Training to kill demons wouldn’t help much in the face of a sharp tusk. A big hog would slice through her flesh in an instant, and there’d be nothing left for the other’s to find in the morning. A passel of hogs would finish her off, bones and all. A shiver shot up her spine.

  Curiosity pushed her toward the movement. She crept deeper into the woods. No deer or rabbit scurried from her approach. Void of frogs croaking or crickets chirping, the forest screamed with silence punctuated by the occasional crackle of fire.

  Firelight filtered through the leaves. Her heartbeat shook her to her fingers and toes, but she calmed her breath and eased forward on hands and knees. Careful not to break a branch or rustle the leaves, mud seeped through her trousers. Teeth chattering, she strained to keep even that sound at bay.

  A break in the trees allowed her to spy on a small army of demons. They’d made camp, fed a fire, and prepared weapons.

  Wiry treboxes covered in grayish green scales sat on rocks around the camp, sharpening blades acting as lookouts. Malleus, twice the size of a man, covered in green slime with bulbous heads, tossed hundred-year-old oak trees into the fire like matchsticks. Four of the hairy little beasts with the poisonous bite scurried here and there. Only the size of a five-year-old child, this was the type of demon that had nearly killed Reece with its razor-sharp teeth.

  Downwind, she could likely sneak back unnoticed. Elizabeth backed away as slowly as she had come. Sure her heart would lodge in her throat and force out the scream pressing behind her lips at any moment, she cleared the forest and crawled across the field. Luck had hidden her from the demons when she’d made her run to get away from Reece. Only a fool would tempt fate twice. By the time she reached the garden gate, she’d been soaked through.

  She carefully closed the garden gate behind her, then ran for the house. Mud splattered down the hall with every pounding step. She burst into his lordship’s private study without knocking.

  Belinda rose from the settee and Gabriel from the chair behind his desk. They both stared at her wide-eyed.

  She tried to catch enough breath to tell them what she’d seen.

  “Demons?” Belinda cradled her abdomen with one hand and grasped her sword from inside her skirt with the other.

  “In the woods. To the north.” She drew another breath. “At least a hundred.”

  Gabriel’s eyes darkened and he rounded the desk. “Rouse the house. Start with Brice. He will be in the south parlor at this hour. I will go to the upper floors and wake the students there. Bella, go to the cellar and barricade yourself in with the servants.”

  “Like hell,” Belinda said. “I will send the servants down, but I will be damned if I am going into hiding while my home is under attack.”

  “You have to protect the baby,” he said.

  She lifted her sword. “I promise you, I will.”

  Elizabeth ran for the south parlor and told Brice what she’d seen.

  Brice’s strong jaw ticked during her telling. He’d released his long hair for the night, and his dark eyes turned wild. “I’ll get the weapons ready. You may have given us the advantage we need, Elizabeth. Well done.”

  Never having been in battle, Elizabeth shuddered just below the surface while excitement tingled in her fingertips. Would her training be enough? Would she live to see the dawn again? She ran up the steps and down the hall, banging on bedroom doors as she went and ordering students down to the ballroom. By the time she reached Reece’s door, he stepped into the hall.

  “What the hell is going on, Lizzy?”

  “Demons in the woods.”

  He scanned her from head to toe. “What happened to you?”

  “I was out for a run. I saw them.”

  He grabbed her arm so firmly he would leave a mark. “What were you thinking? You could have been killed.”

  Pushing hard on his chest, she dislodged herself from his grip. The mud on her hand marked his white blouse. Her chest tightened, and she clenched her teeth to keep from saying more than she wanted. When she tucked her anger away as fuel and not fire, she took a breath.

  “We will all likely die in this war, Reece. Perhaps if you stopped treating me like a child, you could see beyond the end of your nose. You had better either arm yourself or go to the basement with the servants.”

  She hadn’t meant it to be cruel, but he slumped and guilt washed over her. “I am not a complete invalid, Lizzy.”

  “Well, then go get your guns ready. We’re going to war.” She left him standing in the hall and continued to wake the rest of the house.

  Downstairs, twenty students and instructors had gathered with Lord and Lady Tullering in the ballroom.

  Reece straggled in behind her and leaned against the wall. He had his pistols and a rifle, which he used like a cane.

  She wanted to tell him to get into the basement. He was in no shape to fight. Gabriel spoke to him.

  Reece nodded.

  Gabriel slapped him on the back before striding farther into the room.

  Brice took control of the ballroom with a raise of his hand. “Quiet down. I know most of you are not ready for this, but demons are within our borders, and we will only have the upper hand for a short time. Those of you who are better shots with either gun or crossbow will lead the way and take out as many as you can. Elizabeth said their numbers were around a hundred, and we will need to even the playing field if we are to succeed. After that, it will be a sword fight. If anyone feels they are not ready or able to fight, go to the basement and protect the servants and staff. There will be no shame.”

  Turning toward the door, Brice asked, “Reece, are you able to lead the first wave?”

  He looked tired. Her muddy handprint still marred his shirt. “I am able.”

  Elizabeth wished she’d worked harder on her aim with a gun. She wanted to keep an eye on him, but he had his job and she hers. It meant waiting for the first wave to complete their task and charging in with her sword.

  Brice said, “We need a few to stay behind and protect the house. Belinda, you will stay here.” He put his hand up to stop her from protesting. “You are in no condition to go traipsing across the fields. Be happy I do not order you to the basement. Send a message to London in case we fail. Protect the house if they break through.”

  Belinda’s jaw worked from side to side, and she pulled her shoulders back, making a stand. “Yes, sir.”

  “Does anyone have anything to add?”

  When no one replied, Brice began organizing groups by their particular skill. Hand to hand combat, sword, throwing knives, he made up squads each with various talents.

  They were short on fully trained hunters, so Elizabeth found herself leading a squad of students across the wet field toward the woods. Two tall, muscular men murmured together about being led by a girl, but they followed her from the house along with a rather rotund man of perhaps twenty.

  She said, “Stay close and do not get killed
.”

  “I am William.” The stout man offered his hand. He spoke like a man who’d been well educated.

  “Elizabeth.” She never stopped moving as she shook his hand.

  “Those two are Miles and Joseph, good fighters but not too bright.”

  “And you, William, are you a good fighter?”

  He shrugged and pointed toward the row of knives tucked into a cross-strap along his chest and belly. “I’m rather good with throwing knives.”

  The band of hunters crawled in the grass toward the woods. By one in the morning, they waited several yards inside the shadows of the forest.

  Guns and bows ready to take out as many demons as they could before the enemy scattered or charged, the first team crouched to her right. Even though he was pasty and covered in sweat, Reece lay on the ground with his rifle resting against his cheek.

  As if he felt her gaze, he turned and gave her a smile and a wink before returning his attention to the demon’s camp. He held up one arm, and when he lowered it, the camp exploded with gunfire. Arrows flew, most of them hitting their mark. They focused their fire on the larger malleus and the poisonous pravus.

  Slimy giants tumbled to the ground one after the other. Hunters targeted them first as they had superior strength. Speed saved three of the small poisonous pravus. Screeching, they ran up tree trunks.

  Demons screamed and scattered. Some of the nasty beasts encircled the fire in the center of the camp with their backs to the flame.

  Elizabeth searched the trees for pravus demons. She stood and lopped the head off a trebox darting toward the field. Her first kill. A strange fuel spread through her, and she ran, yelling toward the encampment. “William, look to the trees. Miles, Joseph, with me.”

  Sparks flew toward the heavens as Miles pushed a malleus into the flames.

  The beast caught fire, but rushed toward them in spite of his flaming skin.

  Joseph stood in its path as it lifted a broad sword. His eyes widened, and he attempted a counter attack.

  Elizabeth raised her sword and leaped forward.

  Joseph countered too slow and off balance. His death was imminent, unless she moved faster. With a sharp kick, she caught the demon behind the knee, forcing its sword wide of the mark.

  Joseph spun away from the blade.

  Elizabeth slid between the demon’s tree trunk legs and thrust upward. Gore splattered her as she pulled back her sword, rolled to her feet, and avoided the malleus’s wildly flailing arms and blade.

  A knife whooshed by and lodged in the demon’s forehead. Burning, it tumbled to the ground.

  William readied his next knife and scanned for his next target.

  Miles and Joseph fought back to back beside her and between them, killed better than twenty demons.

  William came through with expertly tossed blades, reducing the number of demons charging them.

  The trebox fought with short swords similar to hers. No matter how many she killed, another lurked behind it. Her arms ached and her legs wobbled.

  A high-pitched scream rang from above, followed by a thud on the ground behind her.

  Elizabeth spun, sword raised.

  Hairy, with pointed teeth and stubby legs, a demon sprinted toward her.

  She crouched and readied her sword. This kind of beast had poisoned Reece and left him in his current state. Rage fueled her as she tracked the unpredictable demon.

  Gunfire discharged to her left, and the pravus dropped.

  Pale, sweaty, and glaring, Reece stepped beside her. He took a breath. “That was particularly satisfying.”

  A trebox rushed in from her right. She whirled and sliced its ribs.

  Miles pounced and drove his sword through its chest.

  Calm settled over the woods. The hunters stilled, waiting. Elizabeth let her sword down for the first time since entering the woods.

  The campfire exploded, shaking the ground. Hunters leaped away.

  Elizabeth ducked and shielded her face. Dirt and embers pelted her. She brushed away bits of fire like a swarm of bees, before her blouse caught.

  When the debris settled, a dim image of the master stared at her from the blue flames. Sharp pain struck inside her head, and she winced, clutching her skull.

  “You are already mine.” His voice rang in her head.

  “I belong to myself. You will never own me again.”

  Reece stood at her side. Miles and Joseph took positions behind her and William at her other side.

  Trebox demons skulked in from the trees. Other demons, hiding in the woods, cried for the master’s protection.

  “I am master!” He knocked them off their feet. The fire smoldered out and the master disappeared. Maybe he’d expended all his energy with anger. Perhaps there were acceptable losses in the war for Earth.

  Demons rushed where the image had been, but their god had deserted them and left them to die.

  Gabriel called out from the other side of the camp. “Keep one for interrogation.”

  A trebox charged her.

  Elizabeth screamed her rage and sliced the monster from neck to groin. Steaming in the cool night air, its entrails poured to the ground. She spun to kill the next.

  Reece and three shocked students stood, staring at her.

  Reece smiled. “Well done, Lizzy.”

  She caught her breath and bit her cheek to remind herself she’d survived. “You did well too. Are you all right?”

  “Nothing a glass of brandy and a good bed will not cure.”

  Despite two other skirmishes, one group managed to keep a trebox demon alive. Bound, they dragged it toward the house. She didn’t envy the task of interrogation.

  Wrapping one arm around Reece’s waist, she let him lean on her as they turned toward the house. One student and an instructor had been lost. Most of the other wounds were superficial. The bodies and injured were carried out of the encampment.

  Where would they send her body when the time came? Perhaps The Company would bury her in an unmarked grave somewhere in the countryside. No one would visit, but it would be fine to be out in the fresh air.

  Reece stepped in a hole and they teetered. His ability to find his feet without much help encouraged her.

  Chapter 2

  His shoulders ached and his legs wobbled, but he also had a spark of delight he’d not noted in a long time. Perhaps there was hope. Whether from killing demons or having Elizabeth Smyth’s arms around him, he couldn’t say. She changed his world in ways he’d never imagined. How could this slip of a girl matter so much?

  He could go to the country and wallow. His pain would be less. While some of his friends within the Demon Hunter Company might try to draw him out, ultimately he could do it. He might very well sink into a hole so deep no one would remember the great hunter he had once been.

  Not only him. He and Lilly had kept London safe for years with no help and then Belinda had made their trio perfection. All of it gone. Belinda had married the Earl of Tullering, and soon they would have a child.

  Lilly—his touchstone, had married as well. At one time, he’d even thought he might marry Lilly himself. But their love provided more the kind a brother might have for his sister.

  He’d known these women and what they wanted, yet they had left him.

  Nothing would ever be the same.

  In the ballroom, Lizzy had stayed with him where he leaned against the wall. The young men she’d led each turned to her and gave a formal bow, before moving forward with the rest of the group. She nodded to each, but remained with her shoulder touching his.

  Perhaps he was right; it would be different going forward. Did that mean it could not be good?

  Covered in mud and the worst kind of grime, she still radiated beauty inside and out. In spite of his exhaustion, his shaft reacted to her. He’d been ill for so long he’d almost forgotten the effects an exciting woman could create.

  “You fought well, Lizzy. Not o
nly that, you led well. I’d wager those three young men would follow you to the ends of the Earth if you asked them to.”

  “They did very well. I am relieved they did not get themselves killed.” She looked up at him, and he recognized the same fear he experienced whenever a hunter under his command went into battle.

  He touched her cheek and pulled away as if burned. It wouldn’t do for the entire ballroom to know he found it hard to resist this amazing girl. This war made the strangest soldiers. This sweet girl should not be risking life and limb to kill demons. She shouldn’t be ordering young men into battle.

  Her eyes narrowed. “What are you thinking?”

  “That this is no place for you.”

  She frowned, but Brice cut off anything she might have said. “Well done. I could not be prouder of all of you. I need a few volunteers to keep watch for the first four hours and four more to take the watch after that. We must not let them get inside the property again. Tomorrow we will devise a more efficient schedule and warning system.”

  Several students stepped up.

  Brice shook his head at Elizabeth who rushed to the front of the volunteers. “Go get some rest, Elizabeth. You have had a very long night. You can take the second watch.”

  Reece followed her out of the room and up the steps.

  Once they were at her bedroom door, she spun on him and narrowed her eyes. “Where exactly do I belong if not here?”

  “Why do I always seem to anger you lately?”

  “Excellent question, but answer mine first.” She propped her fists on her hips, and her breasts pushed up from the scoop of her blouse.

  His eyes lowered to take in the stunning view of those globes. He longed to run his fingers along the edge of the fabric, dip inside, and feel her warmth. “I cannot say.”

  The clatter of students returning to their rooms sounded on the stairs. She opened her door and tugged him inside before anyone saw them. “Then let me say. If I were not here, my options were to find another position as a scullery maid or become a lady of the night. Please enlighten me as to which of those occupations you think would better suit me?”