Red Dagger

by H G Lynch

  I hesitated. If I invited them in, that gave them permission to poke around, and the last thing I needed was for them to find the stash of weapons under my bed. Or my bloodstained jacket in the wash. Still, if I didn’t invite them in, it would look suspicious.

  With a forced smile, I swept my hand and stood aside. “Of course. Come in.”

  As they stepped inside, and I shut the door behind them, I was mentally kicking myself for letting that woman run off. I should have at least tried to talk to her. Maybe then she wouldn’t have convinced herself I was the bad guy. That was what I got for being a good citizen and saving innocent lives? Sometimes, being a demon hunter really sucked.

  The cops settled themselves on the sofa, my mother politely offered cups of tea, which they turned down. Not a good sign; it had to be serious if they were refusing beverages. I stood across the room from them, my hands in my pockets, trying not to look defensive. Mum hovered at the edge of the room, expressionless.

  “So, son, can you tell us where you were last night around ten p.m.?” the younger cop asked casually, as if the answer wasn’t really that important.

  I kept my guard up but my body relaxed, trying not to grit my teeth because he’d called me son. My father was dead. He had no right to call me son, as if he knew me. “Out. I went for a walk around town to clear a headache.”

  While the older guy scribbled that down on a notepad, Janovich asked, “Do you remember where about you went on your walk?”

  I shook my head, trying to look rueful. “I’m still sort of new to town. I don’t know street names. But I did go past this bar called The White Boar, or the Black Boar, or something?” Actually, that bar was three streets over from where I’d been last night.

  “The Black Boar. Yep, we know it. Can anyone verify that?” Officer Clay asked without looking up, scribbling in his notepad.

  “My mother saw me leave the house, but I was walking alone, and there weren’t many people out because of the weather. I got pretty soaked before I got back home. Is the weather here always so quick to change?” I tried a smile. A little small talk could go a long way toward making me look less like the kind of kid to pull a knife on a woman.

  Clay finally looked and smiled back, nodding. “Yeah, horrible, isn’t it? One minute it’s sunshine, the next, you’re ankle deep in snow.”

  “Guess I’ll have to get used to that. There’s really only one weather setting in Ireland. Damp.” I chuckled.

  The cops nodded, but I didn’t think they were buying my I’m-just-a-normal-Joe act.

  “Yep, you should buy yourself an umbrella, son.”

  I tensed again at that word, but my smile was firmly stuck in place. If he called me that one more time, I might have to punch him in the teeth.

  Janovich leaned forward, eyeing me. “Do you know about what time you got home from your walk?”

  I shook my head.

  My mother stepped in to say, “It was around half past ten, I think. I was just getting out of the shower when I heard him come in,” she said, flicking me a glance.

  That was bullshit. It had been well after eleven by the time I got in. I recognised she was saving my ass. By telling them I was home by half ten, they could calculate the distance from here to where that woman claimed she’d been attacked, and figure out that there was no way I could’ve possibly gotten from there to home between the time she was attacked and the time my mother said I got in.

  Grimacing, Clay looked at my mother and said, “Are you sure that was the time?”

  Mum nodded. “Quite sure. I always shower at the same time at night, and Ruairidh really wasn’t gone all that long. As he said, it started raining, so he came home. Dripping wet, I might add,” she said, giving me a motherly glare. “You left mucky footprints all up the stairs, young man. Next time, take off your shoes at the front door, you hear me?”

  I bowed my head, hiding a grin, and nodded. “Yeah, sorry.”

  Clay cleared his throat, looking like he was trying not to smile, and I knew my mother’s diversion had worked. I just looked like a typical teenage boy being scolded by his mother. Normal-Joe stuff.

  “They’re a handful at this age, aren’t they? I’ve got two boys myself about the same age. Always leaving a mess around the house. Drives my wife nuts.”

  My mother nodded, looking sympathetic. “I’ve got another son who’s just the same. Between the two of them, I need a maid to keep this place clean.”

  More bullshit. Angus was a freakin’ golden boy with OCD. He’d always been obsessive about things being tidy. When we’d shared a room, you could tell whose side was whose because his was neat as a pin, and mine looked like a bomb had hit it. But Mum was taking the heat off me directly, spreading that boys-will-be-boys crap.

  “I know what you mean,” Clay said, chuckling. Then he glanced at his partner and flipped his notebook closed. “Right, I think we’ve got everything we need for now. But if you remember anything else, son, give us a call.”

  He handed me a card from his pocket, and I took it, nodding. The cops got up, and my mother showed them to the door. After they were gone, I tore the card Clay had given me in half and shoved the pieces in my pocket. Mum came back into the room, arms crossed, wearing that blank expression that she wore when she was seriously pissed off. I knew I was about to get a bollocking.

  “Would you care to explain yourself, Ruairidh Finnegan?” she asked in a hard voice.

  I winced. Finnegan. She was more pissed than I’d thought. If Dad had been that pissed, I’d have gotten a clap round the ear, but Mum didn’t believe in that kind of punishment. Instead, she stewed. I’d prefer it if she hit me. I hated when she got all quiet and angry like that. It made me feel like crap for disappointing her.

  I held up my hands. “I swear, it’s not like they said—”

  “If I’d thought it was, I wouldn’t have helped you out. I don’t believe you’re a criminal, Ru. Not yet. So explain what really happened.”

  I sighed. “There was a demon,” I said reluctantly.

  Mum’s mouth twitched, and I knew she’d been hoping I wouldn’t say that.

  I went on quickly. “I promise you, I didn’t go looking for it. I wasn’t hunting. I was just walking along, and I heard a scream. When I checked it out, there was a Catchi Demon holding the woman against a wall. I pulled my dagger to fight it, but it escaped. The woman was in shock. She probably put it all together when she went home and told herself that I’d been the one to attack her, that there had never been some evil monster in the alleyway. You know that happens, Mum. How many times was Dad accused of stuff he didn’t do because some idiot human couldn’t take the truth?”

  My mother stared at me with cold eyes for a long moment, the silence stretching between us until my nerves jangled. You could cut the tension with a spoon.

  Finally, she said, “You’re grounded. Two weeks. No more walks.” Then she turned and walked away into the kitchen.

  I slumped. That could have gone worse, I thought. Hopefully, if I kept my head down, the cops wouldn’t arrest me. Hopefully.

  Chapter Seven

  ** Ruairidh **

  As per my grounding, I spent the rest of the weekend at home, doing chores to make up for upsetting Mum. Angus was, unsurprisingly, totally pissed at me. As if that was a change. He’d gotten home on Saturday soon after the cops left. He’d walked in the door, dark as a thundercloud, taken one look at me standing alone in the living room, and lightning had flashed in his sky-blue eyes.

  All he’d said, with a sneer, had been, “So they didn’t arrest you. Pity.”

  After that, he’d went to his room and slammed the door, and I hadn’t seen him again until I spotted him leaving the house the next morning, looking shockingly excited. At least until I’d stepped into the hallway and asked him where he was off to in such a buzz.

  His grin had faded and he’d snapped at me, “None of your business.” He’d slammed the front door behind him, and hadn’t returned until well after
suppertime, looking fairly self-satisfied.

  This time, I didn’t ask. I knew that look. My bro had himself a girl, and I suspected it was one of the two I’d seen him hanging with at college all the time. Personally, I hoped it was the one with the glasses. The other one, Islay—I’d picked up her name from a guy at college—was pretty hot. Hot enough that I was kind of hoping to know her better, if you got my drift.

  Unfortunately, the one time I’d tried to talk to her, she’d blanked me, and I had a feeling it had everything to do with Angus and his big mouth. After all, I’d seen the way she’d looked at me the first day I was at college. But that was before she knew I was perfect Angus’s hard-ass, no-good big brother.

  Still, despite my rep, or maybe because of it, I had plenty of other girls showing interest. I caught stares in the hallways, some of them blushing and looking away when I spotted them, or the bold ones holding my stare with a smile that promised sex. Hey, I wasn’t a prude, and I was far from a virgin. But I didn’t have the time nor inclination to start anything with a girl. If I’d thought I could make it a one-time deal, I’d have gone for it. God knows I needed the release, a way to kick back a little. But I’d tried that shit before, and it never ended well. There were always complications—rumours, jealous ex-boyfriends, or the girl ended up wanting more and I couldn’t give her it.

  I wasn’t looking to drag a chick into my deadly, bloody world, and I had enough on my hands as it was.

  I was glad for my baby brother, though. He didn’t have the baggage I did. He was good, smart, and funny. Plus, he didn’t hunt soul-sucking vermin of evil in the night hours. He’d be a decent boyfriend, and Mum would be thrilled when she found out he’d snagged himself a girl.

  Angus didn’t seem inclined to tell her yet, though, and I kept my mouth shut, too. It wasn’t my business, and I didn’t need to rat on him and give him another reason to hate me. Despite all his bullshit attitude since I’d arrived, I didn’t like having my brother loathe me. I missed him.

  I also wasn’t going to beg him for forgiveness. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I’d gone with Dad because I felt like it was my duty. I was made to be a warrior like our father. Angus couldn’t understand that, never had. It was his problem, not mine. All I could do was keep trying, and hope he pulled his head out of his arse and talked to me again.

  I was still thinking about my brother when the bell for the start of class rang. It was Monday, and I had an applied learning class in my Biochem course – there were the Bunsen burners Mum had talked about.

  It felt good to be moving around the classroom instead of sitting listening to some professor drone on. I’d had a tough workout regimen when I’d been in Ireland with Dad. Hit the gym every night I wasn’t hunting. It was well past time to get my arse in gear and start training again, and not just with the sword. I needed to hone my body back to perfection if I was going to go after that Catchi demon I’d let escape—and damn, I was going after it. I couldn’t relax, knowing that thing had gotten away, that it was still out there, and next time it attacked, I might not be there to save the victim.

  The demon stayed on my mind, stressing me out during the day, and my nightmare continued to do its job at night. By Thursday, I was on edge, frustrated, and itching to get out and hack some demon ass to bits.

  But I was still grounded, and I was under almost twenty-four/seven watch. Under, I suspected, Mum’s orders, Angus walked with me to and from college, silent as a brick wall. Mum kept me busy when I was at home, finding excuses to check on me and make sure I didn’t sneak out. I couldn’t ditch school because, no doubt, Angus would notice, since we were in most of the same lectures. He’d just love to rat me out to Mum.

  With demon hunting thoroughly off the schedule, I was wound up tight as a bloody goatskin drum by the time Thursday rolled around. I sat at my desk in Maths, and drummed my pencil impatiently on the desk. Under the table, my leg was bouncing. My shoulders were tensed, and my head was buzzing. I needed to get out of the lecture hall—the small space, the constant yammering, the crush of other students. It was all driving me to the brink, and I felt as if I would snap any second.

  From across the room, I heard my brother laugh, and I glanced over to see him smiling at that brunette girl, Islay. His other gal pal was absent, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t have noticed anyone else if they’d come up to him and slapped a ‘Moron’ sticker on his forehead. His eyes were fixed on Islay, and as he leaned forward and said something to her in a low voice, I watched her blush.

  Well damn, I thought. He is with the hot one.

  “Ruairidh.” I spun around as the professor called me out in front of the entire lecture hall. “I’d like to see you after class.”

  Ah, shit. That couldn’t be good. As the rest of the students filed out, I moved down to the front of the hall and Mr Collins placed a piece of paper in front of me. “Take a look at that while I clean the board, Mr Finnegan.”

  I flipped it over. It was the Maths homework we’d been given on Tuesday—and mine was marked with a lot of red ink. Double shit. Mum was going to be pissed when she found out, and she would find out. She was a mother. They knew everything. I’d probably spend the rest of my grounding locked up with a Maths textbook.

  “What did you get?”

  I jumped, scrambling to cover the paper as I glared up at Angus. He’d stalked up behind me instead of leaving with the rest of the class. “What, so now you want to talk to me?”

  Angus narrowed his blue eyes. “You so failed.”

  My limbs tensed, my hands curling into fists. I was so done with his bullshit. If he wanted to have a go at me, he could do it like a man and take a swing, instead of going on with this bitchy sniping. “You know what, bro? If you’ve got a problem with me, how about you fucking man up and deal with me?”

  Pressing his lips thin, Angus pressed his palms down on the desk, leaning in close to meet my glare. “I’d love to, big brother. I really would. But us fighting would upset Mum, and I’m not the one who constantly disappoints her.”

  I ground my teeth, ready to lurch out of my chair and plant my fist in my baby brother’s teeth. But, just then, a hand came down on my shoulder, and I glanced up. Islay was standing at the edge of the desk, one hand on each of us.

  She looked at Angus with concern. “Hey, is there a problem here, Angus?” she asked softly.

  Angus took a deep breath and smiled at her. “Nope. No problem. You still want me round tonight?”

  Islay nodded, tucking her shoulder length, mahogany hair back behind her ear. Up close, she was even prettier than I’d expected. Clear skin, pouty lips, rich hazel eyes the colour of whiskey. Her nose was slightly tilted up at the end, giving her a pixie-like look. When she looked at Angus, her smile was shy.

  “Only if you bring take-out,” she said to him.

  Angus grinned. “How about a Subway?”

  “Mmm…okay. Veggie—”

  “Veggie patty with extra cheese. Yeah, I know what you like.”

  Angus blushed after he said it, and Islay laughed, patting him on the arm. I snorted, leaning back in my chair and folding my arms.

  The sound caught their attention, and Angus glared at me again, but Islay leaned into him and whispered something. Angus jerked his head once and stalked out of the hall. Islay hovered next to me, her hand still on my shoulder. Her golden eyes fell on me, and her fingers bit into my shoulder with surprising strength. She didn’t say anything, but the warning was clear enough in her eyes. She glowered at me for a moment, followed Angus out the door.

  I turned away, my muscles still crawling with the urge to fight. The professor came back to me, board duster in hand. Mr Collins was a youngish man, maybe late twenties, with stylish glasses, keen grey eyes, and brown hair that curled around the collar of his shirt. He was a good teacher, and I liked him okay, but I had a feeling that was about to change.

  Collins sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his ankles. “Ruairidh, what’s going on, kid? You sh
ouldn’t have failed that homework. I’ve seen your other work. You’re smart. You know this stuff. It should’ve been a piece of cake for you.”

  I looked down at the toes of my grimy Converse, feeling like shit. Hell, not only was I disappointing my Mum, I was disappointing the only teacher I actually liked at this college. I shrugged. “Guess I’m not as smart as you think,” I mumbled. There was no sass behind it. Just my ever-growing self-loathing.

  Mr Collins sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. “I don’t believe that. I think if you tried, you’d be just as smart as your brother. I know that’s not what you want to hear. It’s obvious you two have issues to work out. I understand that.”

  My head snapped up, and Mr Collins just smiled.

  “You thought I didn’t see that little moment between you two just then? Think I don’t hear the gossip going on? I know you and Angus are at odds. Trust me, I can relate. I haven’t spoken to my own brother in three years, and not because it’s a long-distance call.”

  I grimaced and shoved my hands in my pockets. “If you’re going to tell me not to follow your footsteps, and that I should make up with my brother, blah, blah, then save it. I’m not the problem, he is.”

  Shaking his head, Collins said, “Wasn’t going to say any of that. What happens between you and Angus is none of my business. Look, all I’m saying is . . . don’t let your family issues mess with your schoolwork. You’re a bright kid, Ruairidh. If you have to, get out of the house to study. Go to the library, or hang with a friend.”

  I snorted. “Two problems with that, teach. I’ve got no friends here, and I’m grounded anyway, so I can’t leave the house. My brother is probably out in the hall right now, waiting to make sure I go straight home.” I don’t know why I told him that. He just felt like the kind of guy you could say that kind of personal shit to, and he wouldn’t judge you. I needed that.

  Collins didn’t show a flicker of sympathy, for which I was glad. He just shrugged. “Then I’ll assign you a tutor. That gives you a reason to be out of the house and studying, and it’ll be a way to make a friend.”