by Jenny McKane
Liam laughed at that.
“I need to catch my bus soon,” she said, as they stood. Liam nodded and handed Sunny her backpack.
“I’ll walk you out,” Liam said. “Unless you’re ready to let me give you a ride?”
“I’m good,” she said a little too fast, getting a laugh out of him.
“Settle down, Sunny,” he said. “I was teasing. I know you don’t want me driving you home. I was only kidding.”
She felt foolish but did her best to play it off without backing down. She really didn’t need him knowing anything about her temporary situation or about Gideon.
They continued with the small talk for a few more feet when they found themselves crushed in the crowd of two classes that had just let out. Liam laughed as they moved forward toward the door. Just as she had passed through the doorway that let them all out in the parking lot, she felt an iron grasp around her bicep pulling her sharply to the left and away from the crowd.
She started to protest but fell short when she looked up and saw Michael standing there, casually blending in with the rest of the community college student body with a pair of jeans, expensive sneakers, and a button-down shirt. He didn’t look half bad, actually, though it was much more relaxed than she’d even seen him.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered as he continued to pull her down the sidewalk and away from the mass of students rushing for their cars. In a moment of panic, she looked over her shoulder for Liam, worried that he was watching her get manhandled by some frat boy. She scanned the crowd and surprisingly found that he was nowhere in the crowd anymore. He’d disappeared just like that.
“Miss Bonnard,” Michael said with an inclination of his head. “Long time no see. Are you any closer to killing Seumat?”
Shit. Shit. Shit. In all reality, she hadn’t really even been part of Gideon’s tracking of Seumat, so she had nothing to report to him.
“I’m not exactly on the ground team right now,” she admitted, trying to stay as close to the truth as she could. “I’m trying, though.”
She was trying. She was trying to do and accomplish lots of things, so again, she wasn’t really lying.
Though Sunny might have been imagining it, she thought she saw a look of worry cross Michael’s handsome face.
“It’s of utmost importance that you succeed, Sunshine,” he said, most of the condescension in his voice gone. “I can’t stress that enough. Hear me on this: your one and only objective is killing the sex demon. No matter what others are trying to accomplish around you, the mission lives and dies on the execution of Seumat. Do you understand me?”
His lips were thin and drawn tight. Sunny also noticed that Michael didn’t have his usual entourage around him. He was alone and reminding Sunny just how important it was that Seumat die. Strange.
“I understand, Michael,” she said, careful to keep her voice respectful and as reverent as she could manage. Michael scared the ever-loving crap out of her, and it was all she could do not to show it.
“Good,” he said, nodding to himself and looking around the parking lot, searching the faces among the rows and along the sidewalks. He seemed distracted for a moment before he remembered himself. He pulled a large envelope from his back pocket and motioned for Sunny to open her backpack.
“Put this in there,” he said, and as soon as the main compartment was zipped open, he tossed the envelope in.
“What is it?” she asked, trying to get a look at it, but Michael grabbed the zipper himself and pulled it shut.
“It’s a surefire way to kill Seumat, Sunshine,” he said. “The first chance you get, you kill her and you finish this mission. Am I clear?”
Again, there was so much to his body language, tone, and facial expression that Sunny had never seen before.
“You’re clear, Michael.”
It was all she knew to say. Michael didn’t exactly look like he wanted a discussion and Sunny was so royally confused and unsure of what was going on that she wasn’t trying to ask too many questions.
“Stay focused,” Michael said as he turned to leave. “Just stay focused and stay alive, Sunshine.”
With that, Michael pushed into the crowd she’d just been pulled from and disappeared. Just like Liam had. How did they even do that?
Sunny glanced at her watch and cursed. Her little side conversation with Michael was going to make her late for her bus, and she doubted that Gideon would drive all the way down to campus to pick her up.
Like she was known to do, Sunny hitched her backpack up and she ran for all she was worth, hoping and praying the bus driver wasn’t in a hurry.
Chapter 17
What Michael had given her in the envelope turned out to be a small, simple dagger. The blade was made out of some kind of stone, it appeared, and the handle was simple silver with a few engravings on it. She couldn’t read the etchings, but she assumed the language had to be angelic.
Somehow, she had managed to wait till she got home to open the paper envelope that he had tossed into her backpack. Gideon still wasn’t home, and Plaxo hadn’t made himself visible yet.
Sunny thought about how quickly Liam had disappeared when Michael showed up. She couldn't help but think that it was probably more than a coincidence that he had disappeared into nothing, but Sunny didn't have time to think about that. She knew that later tonight she and Gideon were going to head back onto the trail of Seumat and that she would need to keep her wits about her. At this point, Liam and the life she had at school was still somewhat separate from Gideon and the life she had as a Solomon.
She wasn’t sure what time Gideon was expecting to leave, so she went to her closet to get dressed. She stopped at the bathroom first and took a shower. She was surprised to find new clothes hanging on hangers with tags still attached when she opened the closet door.
New clothes?
Had Gideon gone shopping for her? She knew that her current outfit choices were dismal and probably made her stick out like a sore thumb, but it still surprised her that Gideon had thought to find her an expensive wardrobe that she could go out in. She looked through each piece, selecting a simple pair of slim black pants, a black camisole with pretty rhinestones, and a tiny little sweater that left more to the imagination than covered it. She also pulled on a pair of tall heels that Gideon had managed to find in her size. Really, it was all kinds of crazy, imagining Gideon going through women’s clothing trying to find pieces that would fit Sunny. It made her giggle.
She was sitting in the corner of the room, with a large mirror propped against the wall as she did her makeup and tried to style her hair. Noodle was on her bed sleeping. As she worked her eyeliner, Plaxo appeared out of thin air so close to her she could feel the heat from his tiny little body. While he didn’t get a scream out of her like he normally did, he still surprised her enough for her to gasp. And behind her, Sunny could see Noodle perk up and open his mouth to hiss at Plaxo.
Plaxo didn’t seem to be in the mood to be yelled at by an orange cat, so he turned around and hissed first. It seemed to mollify Noodle, who put his head down and went back to sleep.
“Lady Hunter looks fancy,” Plaxo said. “Big plans?”
Sunny shrugged.
“Kind of,” she said. “I think we're going to go look around and see what we can find tonight. My archangel boss visited me today at school and left me something. Do you think you could tell me what it is?”
Plaxo agreed and Sunny pulled the envelope from the bag. As she pulled the blade out, she saw Plaxo visibly recoil from it. He even hissed at her.
“What?” she asked, frowning. “What is it?”
“Put it away. Put it away,” he said, practically begging. “Please.”
She did so and tossed the backpack far away from Plaxo.
“What’s the matter? Can you tell me what that is?”
Plaxo was still trying to get himself under control, and he was shivering.
“Obsidian,” was all he managed to say at
first.
Sunny frowned.
“The blade is obsidian?” she asked. “Is that what you mean?”
Plaxo nodded.
“Angelic obsidian blades are deadly to demons, especially lower class,” he said. Plaxo’s voice was small and scared.
“What do you mean lower class?” she asked. Had Michael given her a weapon that really wouldn’t work against Seumat? “Is something like this not going to get the job done?”
Plaxo inhaled deeply and let a slow breath out, as though he was finally regaining control over his fear.
“Obsidian blade will hurt and maim all demons,” he said. “It can also kill higher demons, but the user cannot miss. If a lower demon is even nicked by obsidian, it will kill them.”
She knew demons didn’t really die -- sort of like angels, they simply went back to their realm and could pass through another portal when they were strong enough.
“Would this just send the demon back to hell?” she asked.
Plaxo shook his head emphatically.
“No,” he said. His voice was a little stronger, but she could still sense his apprehension, and his eyes kept darting over to her backpack. It was as though he feared the dagger would grow legs crawl out of the backpack to attack him. “No. It will kill a demon’s soul. There is no regeneration after that.”
“The soul?” Sunny asked, clearly confused. “I didn’t realize demons had souls like angels and humans did.”
That got a bit of a snort out of Plaxo, who gave Sunny an incredulous look.
“Lady Hunter assumes demons do not deserve souls?” he asked.
He seemed a little offended. Sunny hadn’t meant that.
“It’s just that I was never taught that a demon had a soul,” Sunny said. “Not that I didn't believe anybody deserved it or not, it was just never a possibility in my limited training. Is it common knowledge? Do angels know that demons have souls?”
Again, Plaxo shrugged.
“Plaxo does not know,” he said. “But if angels know that this obsidian can permanently kill a demon, they must know that demons are more than simple creatures. Simple creatures can regenerate over and over. Creatures with souls that are destroyed cannot.”
“Are you afraid of the dagger?” Sunny asked. “Are you afraid that I will hurt you? I would never hurt you, Plaxo.”
“Plaxo knows Lady Hunter would never hurt him,” he said. “But it does not need to have intention behind it to kill a demon, especially a dream demon. Lady Hunter remembers that dream demons are considered lower class.”
Sunny nodded; it was completely clear why he had been so scared at seeing the blade.
“I promise I will keep it out of sight,” she said. “And I won’t accidentally cut you, I promise.”
It sounded ridiculous, but it seemed to appease Plaxo. He began to paw through her makeup.
“Why does Lady Hunter need this?”
He was holding up an eyelash curler, and she could see how it might look like some sort of torture device to a demon who had no need for makeup. She chuckled.
“I suppose it’s because people think it makes you beautiful,” she said. But now that she looked at it, what really did a curled eyelash add to the whole effect? Other than ripping out a few perfectly healthy lashes each time she attempted it, she never really got it right.
“Lady Hunter does not need this,” Plaxo said dismissively as he tossed the eyelash curler behind him without so much as looking. “Lady Hunter is beautiful. Lady Hunter does not need paint on her face.”
She laughed at the tone; Plaxo was being downright paternal with her. Next, he’d be telling her she had a curfew and she’d better be home before midnight or she’d get her phone taken away.
When she was finished, and when she had wrestled away her tube of red lipstick from Plaxo, who thought it was too bright for her, she gave herself an assessing look in the mirror. She looked foreign to herself. Gone where the baggy jeans and threadbare t-shirts that she cherished. In their place were sleek black pants, a sparkling top that hugged her every curve, and a tiny sweater that hardly covered her shoulders. Her eyes were suitably smoky, and her lips were bright and red.
All in all, Sunny was pleased with what she had managed. And she even liked the dramatic look a little bit, but she couldn’t see herself wearing something like this to English Lit anytime soon. Liam would probably die of a heart attack, or from asphyxiation from laughing too hard. It certainly wasn’t Sunny’s signature look.
Out in the loft she heard Gideon arriving home.
“I’m taking a shower,” he yelled at her. “Then I’ll be ready. We can stop and grab a bite to eat before.”
He didn’t even stop to wait for a response, as Sunny yelled back to him. He dashed inside his room and shut the door. Moments later she heard the shower running.
She had plenty of time to kill, as Gideon tended to take very long showers. It was probably some sort of guilty pleasure he had been denied after so many years of bondage and slavery in the demon realm. Before she could allow her thoughts to really dig into what he had undergone and what he’d had to do to survive, she forced herself to switch directions. She looked around for Plaxo.
“Do demons have families like humans do?” she asked him, as he reappeared at the sound of her voice.
This time he was on her bed, as he was sneaking up on Noodle. Noodle raised his head quickly and hissed behind him at the site of the demon so close. Plaxo gave Sunny a sheepish grin, as he’d been caught a second before harassing her poor cat.
“Like humans?” Plaxo shook his head. “Not like humans. Plaxo was created and has a mother demon, but it is not a matriarch like you would assume. It’s more like the leader of a cohort. Plaxo has brothers and sisters, but they are not the same as human relationships. As soon as a demon is created, there is heightened consciousness and that demon is responsible for their own survival. We do not have an infanthood like humans do. We are very similar to angels in that way.”
“So, from the moment you open your eyes for the first time, you’re aware and you’re surviving on your own? No childhood?”
Plaxo nodded. “No childhood,” he said
Plaxo seemed to sense the emotion on Sunny’s face, even if she was not aware of it.
“Does Lady Hunter have family?”
She gave a sad shake of her head.
“My parents died when I was younger,” she said. “My brother and I were raised by a relative, and he disappeared about a year ago. He is a hunter like me, but we weren't very close to begin with.”
“The Lady Hunter seems sad about that?”
She nodded. Yes, she was sad. Sad that her brother might be in peril, if not dead already. Sad that if her parents had survived, maybe they would have had a closer relationship. But Samuel had taken their deaths easily and had withdrawn almost completely in the years before he took his Solomon ring and disappeared.
“My brother was difficult to get to know on a good day,” she said. “When my parents died, it became impossible. So even though he is gone, I never really knew him.”
“Excuse Plaxo for saying so, but do you think maybe Lady Hunter’s brother is dead?”
She gave a shrug.
“Perhaps,” she said. “Perhaps not. Maybe he’s deeply entrenched somewhere in the demon hunting world.”
Plaxo gave a nod. “Perhaps,” he repeated.
Before they could get any further in the conversation, Gideon indicated that he was ready. She bade Plaxo goodbye, pretty sure that she’d probably see him later, wherever they ended up, anyway, and walked out of the room.
Gideon was waiting by the front door, and if Sunny read his expression correctly, he was more than pleasantly surprised at her appearance. In fact, Gideon looked downright speechless and gobsmacked at how she had dressed for the night. Her cheeks warmed, and she tried to look unaffected at what she could only describe as desire flashing behind Gideon’s eyes.
Things were definitely going to get more int
eresting, it seemed.
Chapter 18
Gideon seemed to recover quickly enough and ushered Sunny downstairs and into his car. Today, he was driving a sleek sports car. He was wearing dark slacks and a dark button-down shirt, his hair styled perfectly, and his face shaven.
“You look gorgeous tonight,” he said, as he held the door open for her and she got into the passenger side seat.
It made Sunny smile. It also made her toes tingle a little.
“You look great too,” she said. “And thank you for finding me better clothes. I was a little embarrassed thinking that I would have to go another night out on the town with you dressed in cuffed jeans.”
Gideon just chuckled and shook his head, as he closed the door for her and walked around to the driver's side.
“Is your pet with you?” he asked. He meant Plaxo, that much was obvious. Sunny only shrugged.
“I have no idea,” she replied. “Plaxo? Did you manage to get into the car with us?”
They waited a moment for an answer, but none came.
“I guess not,” she said. “Couldn’t you sense him anyway? He seems to be able to sense when there are other demons around.”
“Demons have a harder time sensing me and vice versa,” he said. “My mother was only half demon, the other half human. That’s why it was so easy to impregnate her. Clinical, sorry.”
Yes, it was a little bit clinical, Sunny thought. But whatever, at least he was opening up to her.
“Plaxo is pretty heavy,” Sunny said. “So it’s hard not to hear him when he moves around.”
“He has a name?”
Sunny laughed. “Don’t be rude,” she said. “Plaxo is actually a really helpful friend to have. He's an expert at manipulating travel using the portals. He can be anywhere he needs to be almost instantaneously, and we seem to have some sort of bond where he knows when I need him.”
“Did you need him today?”
She wondered if Gideon knew that she had met with Michael, but there was no way he could know that.
“Only to judge my makeup,” she said. She told Gideon all about the arguments she and Plaxo had about how much makeup was too much makeup. Gideon laughed aloud at the fight Plaxo put up about the red lipstick. His eyes settled on her lips, and she licked them nervously without meaning to.
