Dark Huntress

by Nia Night

  I was locked within the iron grip of his massive arms before I could even blink. Where it touched him, the chain continued to sizzle, but still, it seemed to have no effect on him. Within the unbreakable hold he had on me, I breathed in his scent. Despite the unconventional situation, something about it stirred heat low in my gut that had nothing to do with the fire magic. It was such a masculine, clean, distinct smell that it was nearly intoxicating.

  And, finally, when I realized that struggling was futile, I looked up into eyes that held me as fast as his arms. With the glow of the Calidi chains still so close, the blue of those eyes was brilliant, the look behind them stony and intense. He seemed to really see me then as well, and unwittingly, loosened his hold.

  It was all I needed to escape.

  I twisted and maneuvered, and before he could draw another breath, flipped him over my shoulder and onto his back. Now the bastard finally let out a grunt, but it was more of surprise than pain. I drew the Gladius from the back of my waistband and let the blade slide out of its sheath. I held it at his throat.

  But the male was fast—faster than even old Irsia back at the Academy, and he was on his feet, his own blade drawn, before I knew what was happening.

  “It would be wise of you to lower your weapon,” he said. His voice was deep, nearly rumbling.

  I snorted a laugh. “Right back at ya, buddy. You broke into my home.”

  “This place belongs to the Sisterhood. It’s not yours.”

  This gave me pause, but I continued to hold the sword aloft. “Who are you?” I repeated.

  “I’m here to inquire after the child.”

  I struggled not to roll my eyes. “Of course you are. Well, I don’t have her, asshole, so there.”

  Mature, I know.

  Silence hung for a moment. “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know, Gods damn it. Join the club of people who are looking for her.”

  More silence. Then, “Are you part of that club?”

  I blinked. What in the hells was going on here? “Listen,” I said. “If I lower my sword and turn on a damn light, are you going to attack me, or can we have a conversation?”

  Smugness seeped into his tone. “I was trying to have a conversation when you came in and attacked me,” he replied, as if I was the one being completely unreasonable.

  With a sigh, I lowered the weapon and wandered over to the light switch, careful to keep my eyes on him. “Yeah, well, lying in wait like a total creeper in someone else’s house is likely to cause such a reaction. Just for future reference, you fucking weirdo.”

  Just as I was speaking these last words, I’d flipped on the light, illuminating the living room, and the stranger. I was grateful for the years of training that had taught me how to school my features, because the male was among the most attractive creatures I’d ever seen.

  His form was indeed imposing, his hair thick and golden, cut shorter on the sides and a little longer on top. It contrasted handsomely with his brilliant blue eyes, the fine lines of his face.

  In the light, that confidence and danger I’d sensed when so near him was amplified, but mysteriously, it made one want to lean in, rather than away. I blinked, realizing I’d been staring too long, and the realization of what he was came to me at last.

  “Angel,” I said, and there was no small amount of distain in the word.

  He lifted a brow, his sapphire eyes running the length of me. “Demon,” he replied. His head tilted. “And a Sister.”

  He said this as if it explained everything.

  “What do you want with the child?” I asked. I’d lowered the Gladius, but the weapon was still in my hand.

  As if to prove a point, he tucked his own blade into the sheath hanging between his massive shoulders. I refused to check out the way the muscles in his arms flexed as he did so.

  “To protect her, of course,” he replied. “I’m her new guardian. And the last anyone saw her, she was with you.”

  “Her new guardian?”

  He nodded.

  I thought back to the Mark who’d been with the child. Hadn’t Vida mentioned he was her guardian after he’d been killed by the Accursed? If so, that would have made him pretty damn important. I wondered if the Superiors knew this when they ordered me to dispatch him.

  Then I remembered it was not my place to wonder such things.

  The Angel studied me as these thoughts occurred, but I cleared my throat and shook my head. “I don’t know what to tell you,” I said. “I took the girl to the police station on 17th street on the morning of the 19th. I haven’t seen her since.”

  “That was stupid. Didn’t you know who she was?”

  Offended, I placed my free hand on my hip. “Obviously not, dickwad,” I replied.

  “Dickwad?”

  I rolled my eyes. Angels were always behind on the times. The elitist bastards didn’t spend much time around mortals.

  “And if I had known,” I continued, “I’m not sure what else I could have done. It was not my place to get involved in any of this.”

  He shook his head. “The Sisterhood has as much stake in this as anyone else, as do you.” His eyes ran the length of me. “You’re going to help me find her.”

  I scoffed. “No, I’m going to mind my own business.”

  The look he gave me now was nothing short of condescending. “You have no concern over the fate of the world? Are you truly so selfish?”

  These words sent my anger through the roof, and I replied through clenched teeth. “The world has never given two shits about me, so I’m just returning the favor. And you don’t know enough about me to make that kind of judgment.”

  “I know you’re a Sister. You kill people for money. What else is there?”

  I pointed to the door, knowing that if I let this fucker speak much more, I was liable to start another physical altercation, and all of a sudden, I was tired. I didn’t have the energy for this shit.

  “Get out,” I said.

  At first, I was sure he was not going to obey, that I was going to indeed have to try and physically remove him, and with his size, this would have been no simple matter. Instead, his lips twisted in disgust, those vibrant blue eyes narrowing.

  Then he turned on his heels and left the loft, leaving me to seethe in the negative emotions he’d left behind.

  8

  A knock sounded on my door early the next morning, and I was so hung over that I would have ignored it, but the caller just kept on knocking.

  Thinking that I might murder whoever was on the other side, I rolled out of bed and swallowed past the lurching of my stomach. When I made it to the door, I threw it open without bothering to look through the peephole.

  And found the Angel staring back at me.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake,” I said, leaving the door ajar and wandering over to the couch before throwing myself down atop it. I draped my arm over my face. “What do you want?”

  I could feel his piercing gaze on me, and realized then that I was only wearing a small tank top and tiny bed shorts, the silky fabric leaving little to the imagination. The Angel took a seat beside me, the scent of him filling my nose, and set a cup of hot coffee on the end table near me. “We got off on the wrong foot,” he said. “I’m here to apologize.”

  This made me open my eyes. I peeked out at him from around my forearm. “Seriously?”

  His handsome face was solemn. “Seriously… My name is Kieran. It’s nice to meet you.”

  I snorted at the ridiculousness of this. “No, it’s not.”

  “You don’t believe my name’s Kieran or it’s not nice to meet me?”

  I grumbled, pulling myself up to a sitting position and grabbing the cup of coffee. “The latter. And I already told you, I’m not helping you find the child. I don’t know where she is. I couldn’t help if I wanted to. Which, I don’t.”

  “But you can help, and it is your duty to do so, Iliana,” Kieran insisted.

  “How do you know my name?”
r />   “I know your name, and that you’re a Halfling fire Demon, and that you were drafted into the Sisterhood at the age of ten when your mother was murdered.”

  My throat went tight, and I stared at him. “Wonderful. Do you also keep track of my menstruation?”

  He leaned toward me on the couch, his imposing form draping me in shadow, and against my control, my heartbeat picked up in pace. “You’re not on it right now. I’d be able to scent it,” he answered.

  My nose wrinkled and I nudged him back with my shoulder. “Ew. What the hell? You’re a total weirdo, you know that?”

  Kieran only looked at me, and when I met his eyes, I saw a certain gentleness I hadn’t glimpsed the night before, a compassion that juxtaposed the rest of his person.

  “Please agree to help me. The Fates would not have put you in the path of the child if you weren’t supposed to be there. Together, we can locate her and ensure that the world doesn’t fall into utter chaos.”

  “Wow. Very convincing. If you know all that, you know that this loft is owned by the Sisterhood, and I do not act without their orders.”

  The Angel finally seemed to pick up on the fact that my Superiors could be listening at this very moment, and to speak against them would only bring me a world of trouble.

  “You hungry?” he asked.

  My stomach growled in answer.

  “Let me feed you,” he said.

  I sighed, pushing some of my hair out of my face. “Fine. Let me get dressed.”

  His head tilted, blue eyes running slowly up my legs and torso, and finally up to my face. “I like what you have on,” he said rather matter-of-factly.

  I couldn’t help a small laugh, and did my best to ignore the heat rising into my cheeks. “I bet you do.”

  I padded into the next room, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and threw on some clothes. When I emerged, I found Kieran right where I’d left him. He smiled now when he looked at me, and the expression was breathtaking. Damn Angels and their overly handsome facades.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  I shrugged.

  Twenty minutes later, we were at a small café. I agreed to hear him out even though I’d already made up my mind on the matter. Under no circumstances could I go in search of Vida. My gut told me that this would do nothing but bring trouble to my doorstep, and no creature walking this earth was handsome enough to make that worth it.

  “Will you tell me what happened that night?” he asked. “The night you came into possession of the child?”

  I poked at the food on my plate with my fork, biting my lip. Another basic tenant of the Sisterhood was that we were silent on matters of business. Once a job was done, it was done. One did not go spewing the details to just anyone. Silence was one of our greatest allies.

  Seeing my hesitation, Kieran leaned forward in his seat, resting his large forearms on the table between us. I tried not to follow the masculine curve of his jaw, the rough stubble on his cheeks. But my eyes acted of their own accord, moving slowly up to those piercing blue eyes, and becoming locked there.

  “I understand duty, Iliana,” the Angel said, deep voice barely above a whisper. “And I also understand loyalty to the path that was chosen for us, but at some point in every person’s existence there comes a time when we must decide between willfully blind obedience, and doing what we know in our heart is right.”

  I leaned forward as well, holding the steel of his gaze with that in my own. “I don’t allow matters of the heart to make decisions for me,” I said. “That is a fool’s folly.”

  He retreated, wide shoulders settling back against the seat of the booth behind him. “You mentioned earlier that you took the child to the police station on the morning of the 19th. Why did you do that? Was that part of your mission?”

  My eyes narrowed.

  “Or,” he continued, “was that a decision made based on a matter of heart?”

  I said nothing.

  The Angel smirked.

  “I’ll tell you what happened,” I said at last, not because he was a master a persuasion, but because Vida’s little face popped into my head, the memory of the way she’d looked, of the fire in her eyes, the strength and defiance in her young features.

  With a sigh, I relayed the Accursed attack in the park, how I’d brought Vida back to the loft after, and the police station after that. I mentioned the subsequent Accursed attack in the alley, and even relayed the strange messages I’d received from my Superiors regarding the whereabouts of the child.

  “That’s it,” I said once I was done, and felt oddly better for having shared it, even though I would have never in a million lifetimes admitted it. “That’s all I got.”

  Kieran puzzled this over in silence for a moment, his brow lowering over those intense eyes. “So your Mark that night was the child’s guardian?” he said.

  I nodded slowly.

  “What could the Sisterhood gain by ordering such a hit?”

  I spread my hands. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  The Angel looked up at me. “Do you never question the people you’re ordered to kill? Do you never wonder where your paycheck comes from, what the end game of those hits is?”

  My jaw clenched and I found myself growing defensive. “One of the first things we were taught was not to question,” I answered. “Such inquiries are beaten out of us as soon as we arrive at the Academy. The first week I was there I had the naivety to ask why we had to spend so much time gathering the leaves that would fall on the grounds when more were just to follow. I was whipped before the entire school for this mistake, and left tied to a post until I gathered the strength to work the ropes free and crawl back to my bunk.”

  I snapped my mouth shut, not knowing why I’d shared that.

  The sympathy that crossed Kieran’s face was further reason to regret the words. If there was one thing I hated, it was pity.

  But his next words surprised me. “Angels are also drafted when they come of age,” he said. “Those of us who are not of the upper caste are taken into the service. The Institute where we train is not unlike the Sisterhood’s Academy. We are taught many of the same tenets. Not to question orders, not to think for ourselves. Their methods of punishment are as creative as they are cruel.”

  I swallowed, warning myself internally about whatever was going on here, sensing some yet-to-be revealed danger that I wasn’t sure even I could handle.

  “You want my help?” I asked. “Then answer me honestly. What is your stake in this whole thing? And don’t say it’s your altruism regarding the fate of the world. Why is this personal for you?”

  Kieran was silent so long I didn’t think he would answer. Then, he said, “I’m much older than you are, and I was present during the last war between immortals and men. Vida is not the first child I’ve found myself assigned to protect. I failed the previous. I do not intend to fail her.”

  He reached across the table and took my hands, and though I knew I should pull away, I couldn’t bring myself to.

  “So, please, Iliana. Will you help me?”

  My better sense was screaming at me to say no, that this would take me down a road there would be no turning back from.

  Nonetheless, I nodded.

  “You want to hunt the Accursed?” I asked, slipping the Gladius into the back of my waistband and pulling my shirt down over it.

  “Yes,” Kieran said. “They won’t stop looking for her until they find her, so if we find them, maybe it will lead us to the child.”

  We stood in a hotel room that was as nice as the places the Sisterhood would afford. Everything was in perfect order in the large space. The Angel had even made his bed. I wandered over to the window, looking out at the city below.

  “Why would they talk to us? If they want the child so badly, they’ll likely die before they give up such information.”

  “There are ways to make them talk,” Kieran insisted.

  I watched as he strapped various weapons to his body, concealin
g them under the fabric of his black shirt. The way he moved was hypnotizing, a grace I’d only ever witnessed a likeness to among the most experienced instructors at the Academy. Realizing that I was staring, I cleared my throat and turned away.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  I shrugged.

  He raised a brow as he headed toward the door and held it open for me. “Your confidence is reassuring.”

  I rolled my eyes, still trying to get a hold over my nerves. I’d agreed to help him find Vida, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still have apprehensions about the whole matter. When we reached the parking garage, Kieran led me over to a black and chrome Harley and handed me a helmet. I tried to keep the heat from rising to my cheeks at the thought of sitting so close to him. Why should it matter? I was being silly.

  As if he were intuiting my thoughts, the Angel gave me a little smirk before swinging onto the motorcycle and patting the seat behind him. With a sigh, I slid the helmet over my head and obeyed.

  My arms went around his waist, fingers taking purchase on the hard ridges of the muscles there.

  “Hold on tight,” he mumbled.

  Then we were off.

  9

  Kieran rode with the same determined purpose with which he seemed to complete all his tasks. As we passed through the city, I tried to let the pull of the wind clear my thoughts.

  The night was warm and clear, and people were enjoying the attractions. On the pier to the east, the ferris wheel blinked against the dark sky, the coasters running alongside it emitting screams of joy from the passengers.

  To the west, the buildings of the various casinos flashed images of famous performers and special deals. Women wandered down the street in scant clothing, either in groups or with men on their arms. As it was still summer, even the children were out in numbers, their faces tanned from time spent in the sun.

  Sometimes I liked to watch the humans as they went about their daily lives, unaware of all the things going on around them, just under the surface, beneath the Veil. How simple would it be to find a job, a partner, to start a family, with the biggest worries being paying the mortgage and making sure the children did well in school. A boring life, I’d assured myself on many occasions, certainly not one for the likes of me. Sisters were forbidden from taking long-term partners, sterilized upon graduation from the Academy to keep us from having children. It was better that way, I was sure. It’s not like one could run around knocking off Marks if there were babies at home in need of rearing. And a partner would be another weak point enemies could exploit.