by G. Bailey
“You don’t need friends, you have me,” I say the only thing I can think of. I didn’t go to school, so I don’t have a clue what she is going through. I know she can’t leave that school, it’s the only place there are no witches and no one to notice her. It’s safe there for her, and I won’t be able to find another school like it. Its why we live in a sleepy town in Scotland, just outside of Inverness. Inverness is busy enough that no one notices me and Hali when we come here to train and buy stuff.
“But you’re too old to be my friend,” the cheeky little shit replies. I ruffle her hair, making her laugh as she pushes me away before putting my arm around her shoulder, and pulling her to me for a hug.
“I’m not old, so don’t try that with me, and I know it’s shit. People are like that, its best you learn it now and not later,” I say, and she sighs, hugging me tightly for a second before standing up.
“I know that, it still doesn’t change that I get lonely sometimes. I don’t really have a future to look forward to,” she says, turning around, and walking away quickly. I want to tell her she does, but lying to her never feels right. She is growing up, and it’s hard to accept. I pick two of the daggers up, and I hear a shout, and then a loud gunshot followed by a scream. I turn around, see an alleyway door open, and the noise is coming from there as another scream fills the training room. The demons all run away as I run straight towards the door, sliding out and see a dead demon man on the ground, there’s a gunshot hole where his heart should be. There are two men holding a young demon woman between them, pushing her into the wall, and ripping her clothes as she screams. Blood pours down from a cut on her forehead, and her scared eyes meet mine before she mouths “help”.
“Oi! Assholes!” I shout, making the men turn towards me.
“You want to join in, demon bitch?” the man on the right says in a thick Scottish accent. Honestly, I barely understood the idiot. Their gun is on the floor next to the man, they must have dropped it. Bad move. I step on it as I step forward, making it clear that its mine. I look at both of them slowly, seeing they are just humans. Ugly and clearly stupid ones at that. I look at the demon, seeing her pink skin and red hair, and I would guess she is a succubus demon. Human men can’t resist them and will lose their minds over one if they get too close. She shouldn’t be on the streets, so why is she?
“I will count to ten. When I get to five, I will stab you, and if you still don’t run away by the time I get to ten . . . I will be chopping other parts off,” I purposely look at where I’m thinking of chopping as I spin the daggers in my hands.
“One,” is all I need to say before they turn and run away. Cowards. The demon woman crawls across the floor, picking up the man’s head and placing it in her lap.
“Don’t die, I need you,” she pleads as she starts to sob, resting her forehead against his. I don’t want to interrupt, so I pick the gun up and open it, emptying the five bullets inside before snapping the gun in two and throwing the pieces away.
“You should leave, the humans could come back any moment,” I eventually say to the succubus demon.
“I don’t have anywhere to go. I lived in a demon compound in Spain, but it was raided and destroyed. We came here because we heard there might be somewhere safe, but it’s even worse. I can’t live around humans, I might as well just die with him rather than going back to hell,” she says, breaking into sobs once again.
“I can take you somewhere safe, with other demons, and the humans there are in relationships with demons, so they won’t hurt you. We have to leave now. The human police will come soon, and we don’t want to be here for that.” I tell her. They will kill her, and me, for disturbing the peace. She nods, shakily standing up and walking over to me. She follows me into the training room, and I close the doors behind us.
“Evie?” Hali’s quiet voice comes from behind me. I turn to see her looking at the succubus demon, and then back to me.
“She needs to go to you know where, get the car started, Hali,” I chuck her the keys from my back pocket, and she nods, running to the entrance and out the doors.
“Can I trust you? Are you a demon?” she asks, clearly guessing demon because of my blue hair. My blue hair let me fit in with them when I was younger, and it helped hide me.
“You can trust me, but I’m no demon, I’m not going to lie to you,” I say, and she pauses, giving me a nervous look. I walk to the entrance, seeing the other demons near the door shooting me nervous looks.
“She is the assassin. The one we whisper about,” one of the other demons says, fear creeping into his voice.
“Then you will know to stay silent about her mate, and what happened here. You never saw us,” I tell them all and they all look away, nervous. I know they won’t speak, but we can’t come back to train here anymore. I look back at the succubus demon behind me.
“Are you coming or not?” I ask, knowing I don’t have a lot of time before police get here. Or worse, protectors.
“Yes. I’ve heard of you, and you protect demons. At least, that’s what they say,” she says quietly, walking out the door with me.
“I protect people like you, that had no choice. Nothing more,” I tell her firmly.
“But to us . . . it is everything that no one else freely gives, and demons never forget,” she says. I spot Hali, and my car right out in front of the car park; my old Rover is hard to miss with its dirt-covered hood and the awful noise it makes. I’m surprised it’s still working, considering I can’t remember the last time I took it to a garage. The succubus demon gets in the back as Hali slides over to the passenger seat, and I get in the driver’s. I frown as Hali hands me a red rose, with a small white note attached to it.
“Where did you find this?” I demand.
“On the wheel,” she says, and I grit my teeth as I open the note. It doesn’t say anything, just an ‘A’ written on it. I open my window, chucking it out before winding my window back up.
“Why do you throw such a lovely gift away?” the succubus demon asks.
“When the sender is your ex, and pure evil. Literally,” I say, and her eyes widen as she sits back in her seat, and I turn around. Hali whacks my arm, huffing.
“Azi isn’t evil,” she exclaims.
“Don’t,” I warn her, and she sits back with a scowl on her face as I start the car and drive off.
Evie
“I’m going to be back late tonight. You will need to get your own dinner,” I tell Hali, who nods as she picks her bag up. I look out the window at the foggy morning, not even being able to see the end of the street as the fog is so bad. I finish the last of my bacon sandwich, before putting the empty plate in the sink.
“Work?” she asks as she grabs a drink and some fruit off the side. When she does look at me, the disappointment in her voice isn’t hard to miss as it reflects in her eyes.
“We have to survive somehow, so don’t look at me like that,” I roll my eyes at her.
“But killing demons for money? How is that right?” she asks me.
“I don’t kill good demons, if there even is such a thing. I’ve explained all this to you a dozen times, Hali,” I tell her.
“Yes, I know you have. Demons come to earth all the time. Protectors send any back to hell that break the laws and the ones allowed to live still do bad things in secret and you have to stop them, blah, blah, blah.” She leans against the door, “But, you aren’t a protector, and I’m scared one of those demons you go after is going to kill you before you can kill them. You go after evil ones, and they do evil things.”
“Don’t worry about me, I know what I’m doing,” I say, ignoring the annoyed stare she gives me.
“I know you’re fast, you’re powerful, but you don’t have anyone to save you when things get rough. You need that, or you need to stop going after demons for money.” She gives me a slightly sad smile before opening the front door, and I don’t have a reply for her. Killing demons is all I know, all I’ve ever known. I was trained to do tha
t, and it’s a damn sight better than being a thief like I used to be when I was a kid. I can’t tell Hali any of that. I can’t even explain what the demon has done, and why I’m going to kill him tonight. Let’s just say he deserves to go back to hell.
“Contacts! You forgot to put your contacts in!” I shout, just before she can shut the door, and she opens it again.
“Crap,” she mutters, running to her room. I grab my coat, clicking my daggers into place underneath it and sliding my other daggers into my knee-high boots. After pulling my hair up into a high ponytail, I hear Hali shutting the door as she leaves without saying goodbye. I pull my phone out, checking the address of the club the demon will be at just as I hear a small clicking noise. I lift my head, searching for the unfamiliar noise, but not hearing anything else as I slide my phone back into my pocket. Only seconds later, I hear a loud scream, a scream I recognise. I run out the door, jumping down the stairs, and slamming the door open.
“Evie . . .,” Hali cries out, as I stop just outside the door in slight shock. I keep my face calm when I see five Protectors in hoods, one of them holding Hali with a dagger pressed against her throat. I can’t see the faces of any of the Protectors, only the black hoods covering them, and the Protector symbol on their hood to mark who they are. Their cloaks sway in the breeze, in the silence of the empty street.
“You will come with us,” the Protector on the far right says in a deep voice. I chuckle, reaching into my cloak and sliding out a dagger as I weigh up my options. Five against one, not fair, but not impossible.
“I really don’t think so,” I reply simply. Hali cries as the Protector holding her bends her head, pulling her hair up, and showing me her witch mark on the back of her head.
“A witch mark . . . a mark that says she will kill a royal witch. She is a monster, and you still protect her?” the Protector holding her says, lifting his head, but I cannot see his face under the large hood.
“A mark doesn’t make her a monster. Now, let her go, or I will show you what a monster really is,” I say, twirling my dagger in my hand.
“This mark means she must be killed, and no law would stop us. You will come with us, with no fight, or we will kill the witch,” the man holding her says, and his cloak hood falls down. His white eyes meet mine, matching his white hair. He is much older than I thought he would be, with his wrinkled face and old eyes. Protectors don’t age like humans, or even like witches. We live thousands of years. I’ve heard it takes two thousand years before your hair and eyes lose all colour. It’s a sign you are near your end.
“Or I could kill you all?” I ask, with large smile.
“You won’t be able to get to her before I slit her throat. I have killed thousands of witches, demons, and even an angel once . . . . Do not test me, child,” he says, and I believe every word in his cold stare. I lock my eyes with his as he pulls Hali’s head up and holds the dagger in his other hand. I’ve seen the looks of killers, ones who will never stop until they get what they want. Ones who have killed so many that death means nothing to them anymore. I will have to come up with another plan, but for now, it seems going with them is the only option. They clearly want something. I carefully roll my eyes over the four other Protectors here, seeing their big builds, the shine of their swords under their cloaks. I will need to take them out slowly, one by one. Not all at once. And then portal me and Hali out of here.
“Fine, but you let her go now,” I demand, dropping my dagger on the floor. I can’t fight my way out of this, not without hurting her. I won’t let them do that, she is all I have.
“The girl comes with us,” the Protector says, moving the dagger away from Hali and nodding his head at the Protector on his left. The Protector walks up to me, pulling out two small silver wrist bands.
“Wear them, now. We know you can portal like us,” the Protector says, and I look over at Hali who shakes her head constantly.
“Don’t, run!” she pleads with me, but one look at the Protector holding her, and I know running would cost me her life. A life she hasn’t even gotten to live. I’m twenty-five, I’ve had more years than she has, and this is my past catching up to me. I hold my hands out, and the protector snaps the silver bands on both my wrists. They burn instead of feeling cold like I thought they would, sending a fire-like feeling straight up my arms, and my four runes burn like crazy.
“Fucking hell, this is why I’m not into bondage,” I grit out, making the Protector who cuffed me chuckle a little.
“Connor, take her to the car,” the Protector holding Hali says. Connor goes to grab my arm, and I step back.
“I can walk to the car, you don’t need to pull me like some caveman,” I say, walking forward, with Connor following me, lightly chuckling. Damn, he has a sexy chuckle, and that’s not what I need to be thinking about. I keep my eyes on the Protectors as they put Hali into a car, shutting the door behind them, and the car takes off quickly, silently. Three Protectors stay near me, one opening the door to a sleek black Mercedes. I slide in, watching the door shut behind me, and two of the Protectors getting into the front seats.
“If they hurt Hali, if any of you do, I’m going to murder you all. One by one, and that’s a damn promise,” I tell them. I try to keep my voice calm, unlike my emotions, as I rest back in the seat.
“I don’t doubt it, we all know who you are,” the man driving the car says, his purple eyes catching mine in the mirror. His cloak hood falls down, showing off his rugged, strong-looking face, a five o’clock shadow, and a seriousness to his tight-lipped expression. The grumpy Protector looks like he has a stick up his ass.
“What are you waiting for? Drive, grumpy,” I smirk, keeping my emotions hidden because I have no idea where they are taking me or what they want. Whatever it is, I’m never helping them. I’d rather kill them first.
“Welcome to the island of the Protectors, and to the royal court,” the grumpy Protector driving says in the most unwelcoming tone ever, as we drive straight towards an empty looking cliff. Finally, one of them talks to me. I know the Protector in the passenger seat is Connor, only because he spoke to grumpy once. It’s been a dead quiet three-hour drive, and I’m starving. I also have no plan to escape, and no idea where we even are. I look over at grumpy, and then at the speed he is driving us at as I think about what he just said. I look behind us at the car following us, the one I know Hali is in and then back to the cliff. Is he really going to drive us off a cliff?
“Are you fucking crazy? Don’t drive off a cliff–” I stop shouting when the car goes off the cliff, but it’s not a cliff at all, it’s a long road that just appears out of nowhere. A gold freakin road. I lean forward, looking at the five gold towers in the distance, the many gold roads stretched across the sea that lead up to the little city. It’s a hidden city, one I’ve heard of, but no one actually has any proof that it exists. Just rumours on the streets. Rumours from demons that say they have been here, but you can never trust a word from a demon. If anyone knows that, it’s me.
“So, you guys like gold then?” I ask sarcastically. There is a crap-ton of gold stuff. Any thief would have a field day here.
“Do you like blue?” Connor asks, smirking as he puts his hood down, and I finally can see some of his handsome features. He has golden hair, wavy and messy, but out of the way of his gold eyes. He reminds me of a lion in a way, an attractive way. I don’t answer him, knowing he is just taking the piss out of my blue hair.
“Blue, are you not going to reply?” Connor asks me, and the other Protector whacks him on the arm before returning his hand to the wheel.
“Don’t flirt with her, she is a fucking assassin,” he snaps at Connor.
“Trex, don’t be so stuck up. They are going to kill her anyway, if she doesn't help us, why not be nice?” Connor says, his voice downright seductive. He reminds me of succubus demons, they have sexy voices that can make you do anything they ask.
“You mean try to fuck her before they kill her?” Trex replies.
<
br /> “I’m right here,” I interrupt, and then slowly drift my eyes up and down Connor’s muscular form. “Although I don’t mind the fucking idea, but that might have to wait.” Connor smirks, opening his pretty mouth to say something, but Trex interrupts.
“Both of you, shut it. Connor, do remember you have a job to do, and you can’t afford to fuck this one up. None of us can,” Trex’s harsh words do something to Connor, as he sits back and does just as he is told. I don’t bother speaking to them anymore, looking back at the secret damn city as we drive up to the towers. When we get closer, I notice they are less like towers and more like city high-rises. All glass windows on one side, and gold walls on the others. The protectors drive us straight towards the biggest tower in the middle, and I focus on the outside. There are no Protectors to be seen, it’s like a ghost town in here. The sidewalk is even gold. Where the hell do they get the money for a place like this? I glance up at the two angel statues outside the building, one on each side. Humans say Protectors have a tiny amount of both angel and demon blood, making them perfect to protect them.
“Where are all your people? Children?” I ask, distracting myself from my thoughts. This is a place I never thought I’d ever be.
“They know you are coming here, so they have all hidden,” Trex answers me.
“That’s a little bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?” I ask, trying not to laugh at the serious look he gives me through the mirror.
“No, it’s no overreaction at all. Now shut up,” he snaps, and I laugh as I sit back. After about ten minutes of driving through the town, we pull up to the biggest building. I look behind, not seeing the car Hali was in. I can’t believe I was distracted.
“Where is Hali?” I demand.
“She will be taken to a private room and kept safe. Only those with Protector’s blood can enter most of the buildings here. They have wards,” Connor explains to me, and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from saying anything stupid. Connor locks eyes with me, only for a second.
