by May Dawson
"We aren't teenagers," Zane said.
Those bright eyes fixed on him like a spear.
"And then you found yourselves in a fight with the demon," Calla said, resting her hand on Turner's. "Why don't you tell us all about that?"
"We went to get our sister," Zane said guardedly. Before Turner could cut him off with some devastating question, he hurried to fill in the details. "She had wanted to help Ryker and Levi. We've been friends since we were kids. We'd told the Alexanders, you won't have any help from Hunters anymore. She said she wouldn't abandon them. She's not a Hunter, though. She just helps with computer stuff."
"Yes, the loyal girl," Calla said with subtle emphasis. She nodded to the Hunter by the door, who stepped out. "Go on. Tell me exactly what happened."
One after another, Zane, Yale and Nash detailed the fight. They had shown up at the house with the intention of talking Olivia into coming home. They had hoped that Ryker and Levi would come to their senses—ha, it was like they didn't know my boys at all—and when Duncan hadn't been able to talk them into betraying Nimshi, they were worried Olivia would ruin their reputation too.
When Olivia wasn't interested in going with them, they decided to take her. But that had not gone well for them.
Jacob shifted impatiently in his chair. It was agony to listen to the Zane-Yale-and-Nash-Show and not defend ourselves.
"Bring the girl in," Calla said. "I'd like to hear from her."
I glanced at the boys. Levi's lips parted, his eyebrows arching in surprise, before he schooled his face to neutral again.
The Hunter at the end of the table stood and opened the door. The guard who had left earlier came in with Olivia. Olivia wore jeans and a gray Star Wars t-shirt, her messy red curls pulled back in a low ponytail. She clearly hadn't thought about the dress code either.
I met her wide eyes, trying to loan her a little strength, because testifying here had to be the worst. I felt like I was going to explode out of my skin. Was she testifying against her brothers? Or against Nimshi? If she just told the truth, who would it count against?
"Olivia, tell us what happened the day your brothers came to take you home." Calla leaned back, crossing toned arms across her chest. Her bright eyes were intent on Olivia.
Olivia nodded. "Jacob had gone out for a run. He was out of the house for the start of the..." she trailed off. "I had told Levi it was all right to go with him, but Levi wouldn't leave me alone with Nimshi. So the three of us were in the house together."
"I saw my brothers' car pull into the driveway on the cameras. When I told Levi, he jumped up to talk to them. I told him I would take care of it. He told Nimshi to stay put, it would just make things worse if they saw him. So Nimshi stayed in the house and Levi and I went outside."
She sighed. "My brothers told Levi that this was a family matter and they just wanted to talk to me. Levi said no, he was going to stay with me. That we'd all been family, once upon a time."
Her eyes went to her brothers. Levi shifted in his seat, ducking his head slightly, as if he were embarrassed to hear his peacemaker's words after they had failed.
"My brothers told me that I should come home with them. Nash did most of the talking, like usual. He threatened to arrest me. That he'd find something to arrest me for."
I glanced down the row at Nash, who pulled a rueful face.
"I told them no, I was staying. Nash told Levi to go inside the house." She shook her head. "Levi took a step in front of me. I mean, we all knew that they intended to just... take me...at that point."
"You all just knew," Calla repeated. She pursed her lips to one side.
"I ran for the house. Yale and Zane tried to take Levi down, I think, but Nash slipped him and he followed me. Nimshi was waiting for me right behind the front door. He slammed the door shut and locked it. The two of us ran upstairs and he told me to hide in his room."
"So you took the demon's help? Defending you against your brothers?" Tanner asked.
I was just about over Tanner and his questions.
"They weren't acting much like brothers," Olivia said tightly. "Or like Hunters."
"They had every right to keep you from consorting with a demon. Christ." Calla leaned forward, staring at Levi. "You should not have gotten between them."
"I wasn't going to let an old friend be kidnapped from my front yard," Levi said, his voice loud and confident in the long, echoing room.
"If you were old friends, you should have protected her," Calla said. "It's one thing to risk your own reputations for this... thing... you think may be a brother. But to risk hers?"
"I wanted to be there." Olivia protested.
Calla waved her over to the wall. "Go stand over there. You should watch what you've wrought, girl."
Well, that made my heart drop.
"I understand your charges against Nimshi," Calla said to Nash McKenna. "But he's dead. So there's no revenge to be taken against the demon. All that remains is two Hunting families and a feud this world can ill-afford."
"Do we get to talk?" Ryker asked.
"No," she said. "You'll do your talking with your fists, since that seems to be your preference."
She slapped her fist on the table, glancing down the line at the other Council members. They each answered her by slamming their fists into the table.
"It's decided," she said. "Mediation by combat."
Mediation. By. Combat.
Well, there are three words you don't usually hear in a sentence together.
Chapter 10
"Pick your warrior. You have five minutes," Calla said. "Then we will dismiss. We meet again tomorrow to end this."
"It'll be me." Levi stood to his feet easily, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Why wait?"
Unspoken, but clearly heard, was I can kick all their asses right now.
"Your arrogance doesn't serve you," Calla scolded him.
"It's never let me down before," Levi said.
Ryker was up, too, grabbing Levi's shoulders and pushing him away toward the empty corner of the warehouse. Jacob joined them. The three of them were strategizing, and I should be there too. But Olivia hesitated, lost, in the center of the courtroom.
One of the guards started for Olivia, no doubt to remind her that she was supposed to stand against the wall.
I jumped forward to grab her wrist and tow her toward the wall. On our side. Where she'd chosen to be, no matter what it cost her.
"You okay?" I whispered.
She tugged on the bottom of her ponytail. "I've been better."
Her face was cold, but I knew her well enough to know Olivia was anything but cold on the inside. I started to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she took a quick step back.
Olivia tilted her head back, her eyes toward the ceiling, her eyes shiny. "If you hug me, I'll cry. I can't cry here."
"We'll talk later," I promised.
She jerked her head to indicate my guys. "You better help them. We all know the girls are the real brains of the operations around here."
"That's for sure." I glanced toward Calla, unintentionally, as she and the crowd of men around her spoke quietly. Calla's eyes flickered up and met mine directly, as if she had sensed me the second I looked in her direction.
I didn't like the knowing way she looked at me. I wondered what had been going on in her head in Turner's attic, when she watched me steal the pendant and almost seemed to approve. I had a feeling I'd hear about that moment again. I was afraid it would be used to damn us all somehow.
"You can come with me," I said, jerking my head toward the boys.
She shook her head. "It'll only make worse trouble. They don't think I should have gone against my brothers."
"The patriarchy never sleeps." I muttered. I wouldn't have expected this from Hunters, although maybe I should have. Regardless, I turned on my heel and left poor Olivia alone against the spray-paint-tagged wall, heading for the knot of my boys.
They stood close together, lookin
g like a unanimous front from a distance, but they were arguing intensely in whispers.
"I'm the oldest," Jacob said. "I'm going into the fight."
"You can't," Levi said. "With your powers, they'll never agree it's a fair fight."
"I'll take all three of them." Jacob made the offer as if he would enjoy it.
"Still. Just let me do it," Levi said. "I've known them forever. Whoever their champion is, I’ll know how they fight."
“I’ll do it,” Ryker interrupted.
“Nope,” Levi said.
“This whole I’m—the-oldest-thing is absurd,” Ryker said.
“Noted.” Jacob nodded. “But you’re the youngest until we bring Nim back. You don’t get a say.”
“We’re in our twenties, man.” Ryker said.
“And when we’re in our thirties, you’ll still be the third-born. Funny how math works.” Jacob said.
Ryker's deep green eyes met mine, and he rolled them slightly, as if he knew he'd find solidarity from me in how ridiculous this argument was.
"Is this a fight to the death?" I asked softly.
"God, no," Levi said, resting his elbow on my shoulder. "It's only to the death if no one yields."
"Great." I muttered. Because I couldn't imagine any of my boys ever yielding willingly, if things went south.
"It should be me," Levi said again. "Ryker's got the worst luck. Jacob's got the powers."
"I'm the oldest," Jacob said. "Responsibility for the family is on me."
"I was the oldest, as far as I knew, until a year ago," Levi said. "And I still have to make that up to you."
For a second, they froze. Levi had never said that so bluntly before.
His jaw set, as if he were embarrassed to have given away his feelings. "Come on. Let me do this."
"You don't owe me anything," Jacob said. "You don't have to feel responsible for Wendy's choices."
"Sure," Levi said. "I'll stop as soon as you do."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Whatever Wendy did to bring Nimshi into the world, it was her own decision. You don't need to feel bad about it."
"Fine, then you stop feeling guilty about forgetting me." Jacob said. "It might have been Wendy anyway for all we know. Black magic and twisted memories."
"I will," Levi said.
"Great." Jacob clapped his hands together. "Past all forgiven. We're all over it. See, Ellis? And you thought we needed therapy."
"So much fucking therapy," I said. I felt the air ease a little with the release of tension.
"I still want to be the one who fights those motherfuckers," Levi said, glancing over his shoulder at his old friends.
"Me too," Jacob said. "I never liked them."
"I thought you guys got along," Levi said.
"No, I was just trying to humor you all. I hated all those dinners and training sessions and Christ, that time we teamed up. Yale never stopped talking. That damn mummy almost got me and he was still going on about his girlfriend."
"They broke up."
"I can't imagine why."
Ryker blew out a deep breath. All eyes swiveled to him.
"I think there's only one way to solve this," he said. "Rock, paper, scissors."
Chapter 11
That night, I slept on Levi's chest. He had won that goddamn game of rock-paper-scissors.
I’d seen the boys fight so many times, but there was something different about this duel. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was headed our way. The Council claimed they were on our side, but they might just be the most terrifying enemy we faced yet.
Before we went to sleep, Levi had promised me that he wouldn't get hurt, twirling his hair through my fingers. I'd wanted to cry, but instead I lay with my cheek pressed against his chest, feeling his fingers move through my hair. His hand drifted down my spine and nestled in the small of my back as his breathing stilled. Ryker and Jacob joined us, sleeping on either side of Levi in his big bed. They might complain, but they knew how I loved to be close to all of them.
But even so close to Levi and the men I loved, my dreams found me.
I knew I was in the Far when I walked under the shaking trees. For a second, I smiled up at the dark, shifting shapes of the monkeys high above. Nimshi's landmark, a reminder of his mischief, always brightened my heart.
I wondered if this were a dream, the random byproduct of my overactive and currently worried imagination, or a vision. I’d had an awful vision before where I had seen the boys being killed in a battle with Zuriel and the Company, and that vision had almost come true.
Nimshi had died to keep his brothers from meeting the fate that yawned in front of me in that vision. And I had been the one who told Nim.
I heard lute music in the distance, a clear, bright melody playing. My heart raced, and I raced through the trees, ignoring the branches that slapped into my face and the snarls of thorns that tripped me.
I reached the edge of the sea of bright emerald grass.
The field wasn't empty today. It was filled with people, and for a second, it looked busy like a county fair. Then I looked closer: it was filled with people whose chains seemed to emerge from the grass or who were pinned to boards. Beautiful men and women, walked among them, regarding them curiously, and I watched one who stopped to turn a lever that made a man scream..
Above the chaos and screams, in this beautiful setting, the strains of lute music floated above.
Samael.
My heart stopped when I recognized him, a beat before my brain caught up. He’d had to possess other bodies when he visited Earth, but now he was in the same form he’d been when I knew him first, in the garden. He was slender, of average height, not much taller than me. His dark hair curled around his ears, but those piercing light blue eyes that fixed on mine were eyes I would have known anywhere.
It was how I remembered him; we had both been young in the garden. Time had passed differently there, where we had fallen in love and where he had murdered me.
He pressed his palm to the humming lute strings, silencing them. "Hello, Ellis."
"What do you want?"
"I want the same thing you do," he promised. "I want for you to see Nimshi."
He stepped to one side. Nimshi was strung up behind him. He hung from what looked like a metal cross driven deep into the ground; his hands were chained wide. His head hung forward, as if he had passed out.
Blood trickled steadily down Nim’s arms to fall in a steady trickle of droplets that spotted the grass. The Devil's Nails were buried deep in his wrists. Samael had used those to torture Jacob; as long as the victim held still, they lost blood slowly. If they fought back—and Jacob had fought—the nails were dangerously close to their arteries. If the nails came unlodged, Nim would bleed out fast. Just seeing them again made my brain buzz with panic.
I met Samael's eyes. "You're a one trick pony, huh?"
Samael smiled. "It seemed like you appreciated this one before. Might as well have a reprise."
I should have known lute music was always trouble. Nimshi knew how much I hated the lute, thanks to Samael; he wouldn't have played it to guide me here.
"This one doesn't matter to me though," Samael said, indicating Nimshi with a gesture. "I mean, sure, I'll torture him over and over again because, well, he did betray us."
"He split your head open with a shovel," I said. "Best day of my life."
"Best day?" Samael said without missing a beat. "I grew so bored of you in the garden, and you haven't grown much more interesting in the intervening millennia, Lilith."
"You're talking about me? You haven't even changed your hair."
"I don't want him," he went on. "I want you. If you come to me in the Far, I'll let him go."
"Oh, so you can kill me?"
"I can't kill you," he said, propping his hands on his hips. He rolled his eyes heavenward. "The big guy's seen to that, huh?"
"So what's in this for you?"
"I like killing your
incarnations," he said. "It never gets old. Brings me right back to that day, the look in your eyes when innocence finally fled. And then the light fled too, as I dropped you in the grass."
"You've got a weird sense of nostalgia," I said. He wasn't really talking to me. He was talking to the Lilith inside me. "So you'll make a deal. My life for his?"
"He can go live the rest of his life out with his brothers," Samael said. "That seems punishment enough."
"And how do I know you'll keep your word?"
"The devil always keeps his word." He promised.
"Maybe. But you're not the devil, are you? You're just one random demon with a big old crush on me."
"I don't have a crush on you."
"Call it an obsession then."
"No."
"If it weren't an obsession, you wouldn't get so mad at my boyfriend." There was a female demon walking by just then, and I caught her eye, smiling at her and inviting her in on the joke. She stared at me, and her eyes flickered to Samael, who looked irritated.
Invite me in to your life, Samael. Into your little torture garden. I'll ruin your street cred.
Nimshi woke up just then, drawing in a quick, strangled breath. He pushed back on the chains, his head falling back against the metal, as he breathed in.
Oh no. I knew Samael would take pleasure in hurting him in front of me. Go back to sleep, Nim.
But Nim's eyes focused on me, and the haze in them seemed to clear away. "Ellis. You have to get out of here."
"I was just catching up with my ex over here," I said lightly. To Samael, I said, "We should really do coffee sometime."
"Yeah, I love when we catch up. Remember last time?" He snapped his fingers, and to my left I saw a girl running through the woods; the garden had faded away, and instead there was a forest there. She wore old-fashioned clothes, a full skirt, her hair braided back tightly. She fell heavily, but quick as a breath, she turned to face Samael, who was coming after her. He had murder written across his face and a sure step. She held her hand out to him, and he had to push forward against the force of the wind she called forward, which blew his hair back. He kept coming, though, coming toward her, pushing aside his waistcoat to reveal a dagger in his belt.
