by Terry Spear
“Then we fly from Baltimore to Dallas. Check to see if we can all fly there on the same plane,” Hunter said.
Jared checked the flights. “We can make the flight out in two hours. That will give us time to grab our gear and head over there.” He frowned. “Well, make that three of us can go. The rest have to take another flight. That one leaves three hours later.”
“Okay, then the three of us will wait for the others to arrive.” Hunter assumed everyone would know that the original team of demon hunters—him, Jared, and Alana—would go first. They would stay at her uncle’s house. Hunter had to protect Alana no matter what. Jared was essential for getting everyone there in the first place. The rest would be essential on the next phase of the plan—enter Seplichus and keep from getting into too much trouble. There was no sense in hoping they wouldn’t. All they could hope for was that it wouldn’t be too much for them to handle.
Hunter had considered that they go in small groups to locate family, but he believed, with their combined strengths, they would fare better if they stuck together.
“I don’t like this plan,” Samson said, frowning at Hunter.
“You don’t have to.”
“I’m texting my uncle to let him know we’re landing in on him,” Alana said, and Hunter knew that was her ploy to change the subject to one less volatile.
“Hey, you can protect me and Wendell,” Celeste said.
Hunter knew, from Samson’s killing look, he wanted to guard the Kubiteron.
“Okay, I left my parents a note saying I found my family, and I’m going home to them. And thanked them for everything. That’s the only regret I have. They were really good to me.” Wendell shouldered his backpack and led them outside. “We’re going through a portal?”
“No. We’ll fly out to Dallas,” Hunter said. “You can leave your vehicle here.”
“Why?” Wendell still looked nervous around Hunter, keeping his distance, but he looked relieved he would be returning home.
Hunter gave him a quelling look. “Alana and I’ll be heading over to her place to pack.”
“And me,” Celeste said. “But I’ll drive my own car.”
“I’ll take whoever wants to ride in my Jeep,” Jared said.
“I’ll go with Celeste,” Wendell said.
Samson climbed into Jared’s Jeep. “Alana needs to go with Celeste so she can pack. And Jared and Hunter should go together.”
Hunter ignored him and drove off. He wasn’t about to have Samson reorder who went with whom and where, even if it made sense. Hunter didn’t trust Wendell with Alana. What if he forced her to open a portal here so he could return home and not go to his aunt and uncle’s home near the hall of records?
Anyone that Hunter hadn’t worked with for a while, was suspect.
“Samson was right, you know.” Alana buckled her seat belt.
Hunter glanced at her. “You trust him completely?” He knew he sounded like he couldn’t believe, after they’d been through so much, that she would be that gullible.
“Of course not. He could help us, not bother to—once he gets what he wants—or turn on us. It’s a gamble like it usually is.”
When they dropped by Alana’s place, she hurried to pack up. Celeste hadn’t arrived yet. Hunter didn’t like it.
Jared texted to Hunter: I’m at my place.
Hunter responded: We are at Alana’s home and then headed to your place.
Meet you here. Jared.
“I left some stuff at my Uncle Stephen’s house, so I won’t need to pack much,” Alana said.
Hunter was watching out the window. “I’ll text your mom to let her know we’re headed out on a flight in a couple of hours.”
“Thanks.”
Celeste pulled up and parked her car. Hunter watched as Wendell and she got out of the car.
“They’re here. If you’re done here, we’ll head on over to my place so I can pack, and we can pick up Jared and drive to the airport. Celeste and the others can leave when they need to for their flight.”
“Okay. I’m ready.” She joined Hunter at the window. “Are you trying to do your Matusa stare down on Wendell?”
Hunter smiled. “He just saw me watching him.”
She took Hunter’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
They met Celeste at the door. “We’ll pick you up at the airport when you arrive in Dallas,” Hunter said.
“See you there.”
“What took you so long to get here?” Hunter asked before they left.
“Traffic. Hit every red light.”
Hunter figured, if he could do it, Wendell would have controlled the traffic lights so they wouldn’t arrive until later and might even miss seeing Hunter.
“We’ll see you.” Alana climbed into the truck.
Hunter gave Wendell another searing look, reminding him who was in charge, just in case he caused trouble for Celeste or Samson. Then he got in his truck and drove toward his place. The apartment complex was as close as he could get to Alana’s housing development, so it didn’t take long before they were there.
Jared had already pulled Hunter’s field pack out and had his bags ready to go. He started loading up the truck while Hunter packed his bag. Samson was sitting in the living with his packed bag beside him.
Alana watched Hunter stuffing things into the bag.
“Do you ever fold anything neatly?”
“Everything’s wrinkle-resistant.”
She shook her head.
Hunter grabbed his bag and headed back out to the truck. “We have just enough time to get to the airport. Samson, is Celeste picking you up when you need to leave?”
“She is.”
“See you soon,” Hunter said.
Then Hunter and his little party headed for the airport.
“This almost feels like old times,” Jared said. “Except that Alana’s with us.”
“That feels like old times too,” Hunter said. “I have to admit that Celeste and Samson have helped us out a few times.”
They finally parked at the airport and headed inside to make their flight.
“I wonder where Indigo is?” Alana asked. “I haven’t seen him around in a while.”
“Good.” Hunter hadn’t missed the ghostly Matusa. “You want the window seat, don’t you?” Hunter asked Alana as they boarded the plane.
“Sure.”
Jared snorted. “You know you don’t have to worry about me with Alana.”
“It’s a Matusa thing,” Alana said. “Get used to it.”
“I’ve had to get used to a lot of things over the years. I just never expected to see Hunter stuck on a girl.”
“Not any girl,” Alana said.
“No, a Kubiteron. Don’t you ever feel that’s the only reason he has the hots for you? That it has nothing to do with you personally?”
Hunter gave him a look that said to cease asking the questions. He’d never shown any interest in anyone but Alana. Not when he was half demon. How could a human girl deal with that? He’d have to keep his demon heritage and occupation a secret. He’d seen several Kubiteron over the years while he’d been trying to send them home, so it wasn’t like any Kubiteron female would do.
“He adores me for being me.” Alana fastened her seatbelt.
“Maybe it’s your witchy half then.” Jared fastened his seatbelt.
The pilot said over the intercom, “We’re flying to Shreveport, Louisiana in just a few minutes.”
Everyone on the plane looked at everyone else.
Then the pilot added, “After a stopover in Dallas.”
Several passengers laughed. Not Hunter.
Alana took his hand and squeezed. “You have to admit the pilot has our kind of humor.” She glanced across Hunter to see Jared putting his phone away. “You were checking to see if we were on the wrong flight?”
“Of course not.” Jared sounded defensive enough that Hunter suspected he had been.
“Okay, my uncle wasn’t home, and
he’s not answering his text messages,” Alana said, tucking her phone away.
As soon as the plane took off, the air chilled by so many degrees, Hunter knew Indigo was with them.
“Can Indigo go through the portal when we open it?” Hunter wondered if he could get rid of him that way.
“Maybe. Or he might need to be more than his ghostly state to do it.” Alana snuggled closer to Hunter.
That was one good thing about Indigo’s chilling effect. Alana always got closer to Hunter to get warmed up when Indigo hassled them.
“Can we still get into your uncle’s place, even if he’s not at home?” Hunter asked.
“We can, as long as he hasn’t erected any new barriers that I don’t know about to keep others out.”
“Would he?”
“He might. I texted Mom to let her know I couldn’t reach him. She said she’d keep trying too. He might have gone to a warlock’s convention or conference. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get into the house without any trouble.”
“If he erects a barrier, can it electrocute us?” Jared asked.
“No telling what he might put in place,” Alana said.
“How do you think he’ll feel about a whole passel of demons landing in on him?” Jared asked. “Should I book a couple of rooms at a hotel?”
“Yeah,” Hunter said. “Good idea. Just in case, and we can always cancel the reservations if we don’t need them.” He turned to Alana. “Did you pack your frog prince pajamas?”
“Did you pack your red-hot chili peppers boxers?” she asked.
Jared chuckled.
“I need to stop in on my human parents when we have time,” Hunter said. He loved his adoptive parents and his younger sister. He didn’t want them to feel as though they’d raised him, and then he had abandoned them. Particularly, after he’d learned of his real mother and father.
“You need to have Alana wipe away any knowledge that you exist,” Jared said.
Hunter gave him a growly look.
“Or not. It would just make it easier.”
“Do you want me to do that to your adoptive parents, Jared?” Alana asked.
“Of course not. They pay for all our accommodations.”
Alana shook her head. “It’s more than that.”
“Yes. I love them. I rarely see them, but I care for them.”
“Okay. So, Hunter cares for his family too.”
“Not Bentos,” Hunter said.
“Your demon father too,” Alana corrected him. “He saved your life. For that, you’re grateful, even if you don’t want to admit it. And he didn’t kill your human mother when she summoned him.”
“He won’t tell me where my half brother is.”
“He probably thinks he’s not ready to learn about his demon heritage. Look how hard it was for us to learn of it.”
“Bentos prefers his mom to my mom. He broke my mother’s heart.”
“He’s a Matusa.”
“Yeah, and he wants you. Don’t ever forget that part.” Hunter couldn’t help the antagonism he felt for his dad. He couldn’t forgive him for breaking his mother’s heart, though Hunter knew deep down, his dad leaving her had been the best thing that could have happened for her. But the business with his father wanting Alana? That’s where Hunter drew the line. The problem was he still couldn’t fully claim her until they were married. That meant other Matusa believed she was fair game.
“We have to get married.”
“What?” she asked, her green eyes wide.
Hunter wasn’t going to get down on bended knee and ask. She was his and there were no two ways about it. He figured she was going to give him grief over the way he gave her the news. He welcomed it.
Jared laughed. “Way to go, Hunter. If that was a proposal of marriage, it sucked.”
“Look up in your notes on the proper etiquette for a Matusa taking a Kubiteron for a mate.” Hunter was sure Jared wouldn’t have any.
“She’s witchy too.” Jared looked at his notepad. “Says here the Matusa beats his chest, then throws the Kubiteron over his shoulder, and hauls her off to his cave.”
Hunter smiled at Alana.
She folded her arms, brows raised. “Jared’s pulling your leg. I’m the one who beats on your chest.”
The guys both chuckled.
Jared ran his finger over his notes and said, “Right.”
“But it doesn’t mean I’m saying I do,” she said. “If you think you’ll get rid of the other Matusa who are interested in me, you’ll have to come up with an alternate plan.”
“We could leave you behind,” Jared said, serious as could be. “For your safety.”
“I’m not marrying anyone until I finish a bachelor’s degree.”
“That’s going to be never if you keep skipping classes or missing them because of your astral traveling. As soon as you graduate from high school, I’m marrying you. No argument. Your mother said she was all for it because she knows I’m the only one who can protect you. Your uncle agreed. And your dad even said yes. The day after your high school graduation, we do it.” Hunter studied Alana’s expression for a moment, but she looked…expressionless. “Alana?” He shook her shoulder. “Hell, she’s…gone. Where did we just fly over?”
Jared was already looking up the flight route. “Memphis, Tennessee. She can’t have been pulled to a portal. Wouldn’t the fall from the airplane kill her?”
“She’s astral travelling. I can’t believe this.”
“You still want to marry her?”
“Where were we when she left her body?” Hunter was searching for demon signatures, but except for the three of them on the plane, he saw no others. “You need to extend the distance on these.” He was so frustrated, he growled the words.
“Thirty-nine-thousand feet? I’ll get right on it. Not.”
“If I could stop the plane, I would,” Hunter said. They’d never reach her quickly enough.
“I can.” Jared got on his computer and hacked into the plane’s computer system. The plane flew a short distance and then began to turn back toward the airport in Memphis. “Just need to wait for them to get clearance.”
“You are sure handy to have around.”
“Thanks.” Jared sounded proud of his efforts. “What about Alana?”
“Federal agents are sure to be on the ground, checking us all out. If we’re lucky, Alana will return to us from her astral traveling. Otherwise, we’ll have to tell them she’s got epilepsy and having one of her episodes.”
When they landed, federal agents met the plane and detained everyone, looking for someone who had misdirected the flight electronically. Hunter was trying not to look anxious, which could indicate he’d had something to do with this. He had to restrain himself from looking at the demon tracker. He was desperate to find Alana. For now, he had his arm wrapped around Alana’s physical form.
“On drugs?” one of the feds asked Hunter.
“She has seizures. I think she was upset about the plane turning away from our destination. We’re going to take a car to Dallas instead of flying the rest of the way, and hope she is more herself soon.” Hunter showed the agent her medication that she always carried on her, just to prove she wasn’t faking this. He released them, wishing them a safe journey.
Once the feds couldn’t find any evidence onboard or that showed a passenger had done it, the plane was taken out of service for a more thorough examination.
“Come on, Jared.” While other passengers from the flight were scrambling to find other flights to take to Dallas, Hunter was checking out the demon tracker. “The demon signature is this way—a Kubiteron and a Samuria about a mile east of here. We’ll pick up a rental car and drive the rest of the way to Dallas. I always thought she’d be safe from the opening of portals when she’s flying that far away.”
“Yeah me too, but you know it could be her abilities are evolving.”
“Being more sensitive to the pull of a portal isn’t evolving. It’s a disaster. E
volving would mean she’d have some control over being pulled to them.”
“I agree. So she’s becoming more powerful, in one respect? Or the portals are?”
“I don’t know.” Hunter frowned at the tracker as they headed for the rental car counter, his arm around Alana’s waist, trying to move her quickly, while Jared carried his bag and Alana’s. “Hope this Samuria isn’t like Samson. We don’t need another one thinking he’s Alana’s guardian.”
They had to grab a bus to the rental car lot and when they arrived there, they hurried to get their car. They threw their bags in the car, and Hunter helped Alana into the back seat, then buckled her in. “We’re getting married when you graduate.”
Jared chuckled. “It’s easier to convince her of that when she’s not really all here.”
Then Hunter jumped into the driver’s seat while Jared climbed into the passenger’s seat and directed them to the site where Alana’s astral version self was. “They haven’t moved,” Jared said.
“Yeah, I don’t know why she hasn’t sent him back to the demon world.”
“Unless he’s like us and has lived here always.”
“Or he’s like Samson and believes he’s now here to protect the gate guardian.”
“There she is.” Jared pointed to her and a redheaded guy standing at a convenience store.
As soon as they parked as close as they could get and climbed out of the vehicle, the Samuria pulled Alana behind him, as if protecting her from Hunter.
“We’re Alana’s friends,” Hunter said.
“He’s right.” Alana vanished and the car door opened. Alana stepped out.
“You’re back,” Jared said.
“Yeah. That was one unbelievable ride.”
“As long as you’re safe.” Hunter glanced around and didn’t see any people nearby. He opened a portal and said to the Samuria. “Go. Return to your world.”
“I’m the gate guardian’s guard.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I tried explaining this to him. Samson is, but Samson isn’t here protecting me, so this guy doesn’t believe me,” Alana said.
“Where’s your summoner?” Hunter asked.
