by Jana Oliver
“I prefer to work on my own.”
“What are you hunting?” she asked.
“The demon that killed Paul.”
Riley started at the mention of her father’s name. “You knew my dad?”
“We met a while back. He told me about his daughter, how proud he was of you.”
She couldn’t remember her dad mentioning this guy, but that wasn’t unusual. He only told her what he felt she needed to know.
“He said your middle name is Anora. I’ve not heard that before. What does it mean?” Ori asked.
“Light,” she replied. “Riley Anora means ‘Valiant Light.’ My parents seemed to think that was pretty cool.”
“So do I.”
His gaze weighed on her and she found it hard to think.
“When you find the Five,” she said breathlessly, “I want to be there. I want to help you take it down.”
Ori smiled at her, and for a second she thought he’d agree. “No. It’s best you stay out of harm’s way.”
Riley’s excitement deflated. “You sound like Beck.”
“That’s Denver Beck, isn’t it? Paul mentioned him. What’s he like?” Ori asked.
“Oh, where do I start? Beck’s mouthy and he lives to tell me what to do.” In short, he’s so not you. “Why do you want to know?”
A glimmer appeared in Ori’s dark eyes.
“Just scoping out the competition.”
THIRTY-THREE
Riley didn’t remember much about the ride to class, her brain was too busy replaying her conversation with Mr. Mysterious. He seemed to know a lot about her, but so far she’d only scored his first name and his profession. And the fact that he was after the demon who’d taken out her father.
Good luck with that. Of course, she’d be the first to cheer if he could pull it off, but Fives were hard to bring down, especially if you were working solo. Maybe the hunters were better at that sort of thing.
The bigger problem was how to convince the good ol’ boys that the Holy Water wasn’t reliable anymore. Harper would be in her face the moment she opened her mouth, but she had to tell them, one way or another.
Riley shoved that worry aside the moment she pulled into the parking lot. She could only stew on one problem at a time, and right now she had some groveling to do. Guilt had gnawed on her like a rabid rat since she’d taken her Beck-induced anger out on Tim, the boy oh-so interested in demons.
Get it over with.
She blew a stream of air out of pursed lips and marched up to him. He tensed as she approached, his eyes darting around like a hare looking for a place to run.
“Tim? That’s your name, right?” He nodded cautiously. “Hey, I’m sorry,” she said. “I was a hag the other day.”
It took a few moments for him to process what she’d said. Then he frowned at her. “You were.”
She shot a glance at Brandy and her pack. She’d been just as nasty as them, which made her feel bad. “The best way to tell the difference between a Biblio, a Klepto, and a Pyro is by what they do.”
Tim scrambled to dig a notebook out of his pack. Then he hunted for a pen. “Go on!” he urged, his eyes alight.
Riley gave him a quick peek into the world of the smaller demons, but not so much as to get her in trouble. The Guild would be upset if she told an outsider too much as it was bound to end up on the Internet. As she explained things to Tim, she began to realize how much she really knew and how much of it her dad had taught her.
“That’s about all I can tell you or I’d have to kill you,” she jested.
For half a second Tim looked like he believed her.
“Joking!” she said.
“Oh. Okay. Thanks!” Then he grimaced. “I’m sorry about your tire. They…” he angled his head toward the gaggle of girls. “I was really mad at you, and then Brandy told me to make it go flat.”
Somehow that didn’t surprise her. “How’d you do it?” she asked for future reference.
“Put a BB under the valve cap. Gives you a slow leak.”
“Neat. I’ll have to remember that.” But why were you carrying BBs in the first place?
“Oh. Thanks for all this,” he said, tapping the notebook with a bony finger. Tim took off. The reason for his sudden vanishing act was Brandy, with the pack right behind her.
I still want all your hair to fall out.
“You really trap demons?” Brandy asked.
Riley nodded, thinking of Ayden’s lecture. If being a trapper and a girl was so cool, why not see how far that got her?
She pulled the claw out from under her sweater.
One of the droids gasped. “Is that from a…”
“Demon, yes.”
“No way,” Brandy said, leaning closer to study it. “You bought that at the market.”
“No, they dug it out of my leg.”
Brandy’s eyes twinkled. “Prove it.”
Riley’s bluff had been called. If she backed down they’d think she lied and the harassment would escalate.
“See, I told you she wasn’t for real,” Brandy said, smirking.
The other girls hooted in unison.
“Bathroom,” Riley said, waving the annoying girl forward. When the others started to follow she put up her hand like a traffic cop. “Just me and her. This isn’t a public event.”
Once the bathroom door was locked, Brandy continued to smirk until Riley raised the skirt far enough for her to see the six healed claw marks.
“Omigod! Those are gross!”
“I prefer the word dramatic,” Riley said, dropping the skirt and smoothing out the wrinkles.
“Did it like, hurt a lot?” Brandy asked, eyes wide.
“Yeah, big-time.”
Apparently satisfied, her nemesis retreated to the mirror and fussed with her hair. “Do you have a brush? I forgot mine,” she said. Without waiting for an answer, she asked, “How do you get your hair like that? Mine is all over the place.”
Riley looked over at her enemy. They’d crossed a line somewhere along the way or they wouldn’t be sharing styling tips. She dug out her brush and handed it over. “Just lucky, I guess.”
Brandy bent over, then flung her hair back when she stood up. She started working on the stray pieces, blending them in. “Did you see that weird guy with the teeth?”
“The vamp wannabe?”
“Yeah. He’s really into all that. The black clothes, the red soda, the whole thing.”
“Then why is he going to school in the afternoon? A real vampire couldn’t do that.”
Brandy hitched a shoulder. “Do you like this shirt?” she asked, turning around so Riley could get the full three-sixty.
“Yeah. Pink’s not my color, but it’s nice.” For someone like you.
“I like it a lot,” Brandy said, handing her the brush.
And then she was gone, probably to report to her entourage that Riley had gross scars on her leg and wasn’t a lesbian because she hadn’t made a pass in the bathroom.
That was weird, but it worked. No bad karma either. Maybe Ayden was right.
Class was full of math, sociology about seminude pygmies in rain forests, English literature, and even more Civil War. When Riley tried to figure out how all that connected, her brain went flatline.
At least I aced my paper.
The kid who thought he was a vampire keep leering at her, revealing those ridiculously pointed canines.
Note to self: Bring wooden stake to class.
“Don’t forget the field trip on Friday,” Mrs. Haggerty called out. “We’re going to Oakland Cemetery to visit the Confederate section.”
A field trip to a cemetery. Now that’s special.
Riley found Brandy and the girls leaning against her car. “I swear, if you’ve messed with my ride again I’m going to rip you apart.”
Brandy shook her head. Which meant nothing. “You heard the news, didn’t you?” she asked, breathless.
Which could mean anything. “What news?”
“They’re coming to Atlanta.”
“They who?” Riley said.
“Demonland. They’re taping the show here!” Brandy said, her voice rising in anticipation.
Riley had heard Harper say something about that this morning, along with the words pansy-assed actors.
When Riley didn’t respond, one of the other girls chimed in. “Their website said they’re going to meet with the local Trappers Guild.”
So that’s it.
“Will you get to see them?” Brandy asked, breathlessly.
“If they come to a Guild meeting, I will.”
Brandy squealed in delight. The sound was almost sonic level in intensity. Riley waggled a finger in an ear to ease the pain, wondering how many bats had been stunned senseless.
“Oh. My. Freaking. God!” Brandy shouted, causing heads to turn across the parking lot. “That would be so cool.” Then she reined herself in. “Can you get Jess’s autograph? He’s totally hot!”
Jess Storm Something-or-Other. Riley thought she knew which one that was. He was hot, especially in those painted-on jeans.
“Jess is dog meat to Raphael. Swoon. He’s totally the shit!” one of the other girls said.
“Stacy, you’re trash-talking my babe,” Brandy argued, hands on her hips now. Apparently this was a long-standing argument. “Jess has the most amazing eyes.”
Stacy shook her head, her hair whipping around her. “No way. Raphael’s the man. He’s got gorgeous pecs.”
“The show is dumb,” Riley said. There was stunned silence as every one of the girls gawked at her like she’d blasphemed God or something. “But the guys? They’re gorgeous. They’ve got great butts,” she said, before she could stop herself.
Brandy giggled. “Jess’s is the best!”
“No way!” Stacy shot back.
It went downhill from there as each girl listed off her fav’s stats. By the time Riley left she had their numbers so she could send them cell phone photos of the TV guys when they came to the meeting.
If she could get their autographs she could actually be their BFF.
Maybe there is something to this whole karma thing.
* * *
With traffic in her favor for once, Riley arrived at the Tabernacle way early. As she walked into the auditorium she saw Simon carefully applying the Holy Water ward. It wouldn’t do to interrupt him, so she headed toward the bathroom and changed into her new jeans. No way she was going to endure the abuse from the other trappers because of her fashion choices.
When she returned Simon was still at it, painstakingly ensuring there were no gaps in the ward. Riley set the messenger bag full of pint bottles on the floor next to a folding chair and tried not to freak about what she was about to do.
“I will not wimp out.” No matter how many times she said it, she didn’t feel good about this. What if she was wrong and the Holy Water was okay?
Her phone chirped and she mentally thanked the caller, even if it was Beck.
“Riley! How’s it going?” Peter called out.
“Pretty good. I’m at the Tabernacle. We’re having a Guild meeting pretty soon.”
“So how goes the Great Holy Water Mystery?”
Riley gave him the rundown, keeping her voice low so Simon couldn’t overhear.
“You really think someone is messing with that stuff?”
“Yeah, I do.” Learned that the hard way.
“Whoa. That’s way illegal.”
“I figured I’d better tell the Guild and they can take it from there.” The idea that the Holy Water might not be so holy was too scary to think about.
“Will they believe you?”
Leave it to Peter to find the one weak spot. “Not sure. Some of these guys are way dense.”
“I hear you. How did class go?”
Riley gave him the report and had him laughing by the end of it.
“At least they’re off your back for a while,” he replied.
“I hope so. If I get the photos and autographs, they’ll be making me class president.”
There was a long pause. “How’s it really going?”
He knew her too well. “I’m okay and then I’m not,” she admitted. “I go along and then bam! I remember Dad’s gone and it all falls apart.” Riley choked up. Her eyes glazed in tears, and she fumbled for a tissue one-handed.
“I get real tired of the warden bitching at me, but I don’t know what I’d do if she wasn’t here. Or my dad either.”
“Three more nights and I’m done sitting vigil,” she said, wiping her nose. “Then he’ll be safe.”
“We’ll celebrate,” her friend replied, his voice lighting up in anticipation. “Then we can hang together more often.”
That might prove a problem now that Simon was in the picture.
As if on cue her boyfriend reappeared, empty Holy Water jugs in his hands. He set them just outside the circle. Then he smiled and beckoned her to join him.
“Ah, got to go. The meeting’s about to start,” she fibbed.
“Give me call later, okay?” Peter asked.
“Sure.”
When she joined Simon he dropped a kiss on her cheek.
“Tease,” she said, feeling bubbly and warm inside. Ori was gorgeous and everything, but Simon hit all the right places. She felt whole when she was with him, and right now that meant so much when the rest of her life was an empty shell.
“Let’s take a walk,” he said. The glint in his eyes told her he had other things in mind.
As they walked by the empty jugs, she paused. “Hold on.” Kneeling, she wetted her finger and tested the labels. The ink didn’t run.
“What are you doing?” Simon asked.
“Just checking something.” She wouldn’t share the news, not with Simon or Beck. If somehow she was wrong she didn’t want Harper taking it out on them.
This is my deal. And my dad’s. She’d just finish what he’d started.
Simon’s hand touched hers as they walked around the side of the Tabernacle. Her worry about the meeting faded. Being with him helped her forget her troubles, made her feel so good.
Is this what it’s like to fall in love?
“There’s a quiet place back here,” he suggested, heading toward the rear of the building. It was quiet, nestled away from street. He pulled her into the shadows.
“That’s better.” Before she could say a word, he kissed her, a tentative peck on her lips.
“More?” he asked, watching her reaction closely.
“More.”
The next kiss went on longer. Riley felt the warmth in her chest, then even lower. He pulled her closer, sliding a hand under her coat, then her sweater, his palm pressing against the small of her back. It felt wonderful and she didn’t want him to stop.
“If Harper catches us,” he whispered in her ear.
“We’ll both be shoveling demon crap for months,” she replied.
The next kiss deepened, became more urgent, needy. There was no space between them, and she could feel he enjoyed their closeness. Riley heard him moan and they reluctantly broke apart.
Simon sighed. “Such a temptation.”
“But I’m worth it, right?”
The sparkling blue in his eyes told her he thought so. They sat on the steps that led to the fire escape. Content, she nestled herself against his shoulder, and Simon placed his arm around her, drawing her close.
“I really like you, Riley,” he said. “In case you haven’t noticed.”
“Good to hear it,” she said. “Just part of my cunning plan.”
“Whatever that plan is, it’s working.”
They fell silent for a few minutes, just being close. She could hear his heartbeat slow to normal. Other guys might have tried to push her into something she didn’t want, move too fast, but Simon hadn’t.
Which is why I like you so much.
When the quiet became unbearable, she asked, “Why do you want to be a trapper?”
“
Because it’s a holy crusade,” he replied without hesitation. “Like being a priest. I’m fighting against the forces of evil.”
The strength in his voice said he believed every word. That made sense: Simon’s world was black and white, right and wrong.
“I’ve upset you, haven’t I?” he asked, quieter now. “I do that when I go all religious on people.”
“It’s just that…” She hesitated. “The demons, for instance. There’s a big difference between a Magpie and a Geo-Fiend.”
Simon shook his head. “They’re both Lucifer’s minions. It doesn’t matter if one’s less of a danger than another. They should be destroyed.”
“Even a Magpie? I mean, they’re not evil.” The demon flitting around her apartment was kinda cute, actually, in a larcenous sort of way.
“Doesn’t matter. They belong to Lucifer and warrant destruction,” he said resolutely.
Suddenly it all made sense. “You want to be a hunter and work for the Vatican, don’t you?”
He pulled back, studying her as if to see whether she could be trusted with a great secret. “I do, but I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention my plans to the others. Especially Harper.”
“I won’t.” The rivalry between the trappers and the hunters went way back, centuries even. Trappers caught demons. Hunters killed them. But that wasn’t all. Hunters had the legal right to arrest, charge, and execute anyone who made a pact with Lucifer. Sometimes that was a trapper, which didn’t make for good relations. It didn’t happen much anymore, but the hunters still held those powers and all the trappers knew it.
She eyed Simon solemnly, trying to sort out her feelings for him. He seemed so gentle, so thoughtful, but that’s not what a demon hunter was all about.
“Could you kill someone if you thought they were working for Hell?”
To her relief she didn’t get an “Oh sure, no problem, they deserve to die” answer. Instead, she could see him wrestling with the question.
“Possibly,” he said, brows furrowed.
“Even if it was some young kid? Could you do it?” she asked, fearing the answer. Was there a heartless monster lurking inside of him?
Simon’s face clouded. “I don’t know.” He pulled her close again. “Too many questions. You make me wonder if I really know what I want in life. Besides, you that is.”
