by Jen Pretty
I turned to face him and watched as he pulled his mask on. The face he used in serious situations. I touched his face for a second, then nodded, and we walked back out.
Time to face my demon.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
We all piled into the limo. Every seat was full, but a bus was not a classy way to go to war against an ancient demon from hell.
The dragon gargoyle was in a van that followed behind us through the busy city.
"You ready, Harlow?" Rory asked. He had squished in beside me when we sat down, pushing Nick against the door to make space.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I said. Rory grinned. "You understand your part?"
They had gone over the grand plan before we left the suite. It wasn't complicated. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he laughed.
"All right. Sorry, I'm just pumped up." His knee had been bouncing beside mine since he sat down, so I already knew he was eager to get to the fight.
I was not pumped up even though Julian had fed me two cups of coffee and half a pound of bacon. Julian fought Rory off when the food cart arrived, and I had nearly swooned.
I glanced up at Julian, who looked grave and determined. We would stop this demon and live happily ever after.
"Harlow." Rory's voice was soft, and I turned back to look at him.
"What?" I asked. His eyes searched my face. "When we're done, can we stay here? Going back to that small town would suck. I know you love it there, but..."
"I know. You hate it there." I glanced at Steven. He was part of my little posse or whatever now. There was no way I could bring them both back to live at Lincoln's. Linc was watching me, and I locked eyes with him. He shrugged like it was up to me. But it wasn't anymore. Not really. Things had changed -- at home and here in New York. I looked back at Julian, he was watching me now too. "No. I think we'll stay here."
Julian's tough face cracked, and he squeezed my hand, pulling it into his lap and entwining my fingers with his.
I looked back at Linc, expecting to see some emotion on his face, but it was sadness that etched his eyes. He was looking out the window, but I caught his eye in the reflection and almost moved across the space to sit beside him, but the car stopped, and I realized we had pulled up to Club Hell.
We slipped out of the limo, and the guys unloaded the dragon from the van. They had it on casters so they could roll it through the front door of the club. The rest of us flowed behind to the deep base of the goth music. Not that I considered it music. It was just screaming and the loud sound of people assaulting instruments.
The half-demons inside stepped aside, and the music died. All eyes trained on us. Some burning red like the fires of hell. In the middle of the dance floor, a six-foot demon stood. My nemesis. Shit-face bore a cocky grin. His wings spread out and glistened in the overhead lights as if they were made of glass. Several half-demons stood behind him, their demon characteristics on full display. Two had horns pointing straight up like weapons, and a chill ran down my spine at the memory of being impaled. My fingers crept up and felt the scar under my shirt before I reminded myself I was tougher now.
I wanted to turn and run, but that would defeat the purpose of this little meeting. I had to end it today.
"Good evening, Daughter." His voice rang through the silence with the underscore of screaming voices. I wanted to cover my ears, but I wouldn't give him the pleasure of knowing his voice burned.
"I'm not your daughter," I said.
"Of course, you are. I gave you the powers you have. That makes me your father."
I shook my head. "That is some fucked up logic. You were living inside me like a parasite. Hardly a fatherly gesture."
He laughed. It was a dark cackle that raised the hairs on my neck.
"Can we get this over with? Where is my mother?" I asked, cocking my hip and putting on an air of boredom. It was the finest bit of acting I had ever commanded.
"Your birth giver is here, but she is busy right now. Aren't you, darling?"
My mother's thin frame sauntered through the crowd, her hand running over the shoulders and chests of the half-demons she passed. She glared at me, and her eyes flickered to red. That had never happened before.
I must have looked confused because she giggled, and the sound of screams echoed from her. Fuck. She was possessed.
I only had a moment to consider how many more half-demons in the building might be possessed before all hell broke loose.
The goths all rushed us. Hands were grabbing at me, and my self-defense training in Jackson kicked in. I launched a small female half-demon over my shoulder before grabbing my sculptors stone and pressing it to any half-demon who came close enough. The chant required to pull the demon into the sculptor stone was too long, and they moved too fast, so the best I could do was burn them. I saw Julian over my shoulder. He was holding his own, dropping half-demons in his wake. Nick had his knife out and was stabbing at them. My mother was still strutting towards me slowly as more and more demons grabbed my arms and legs. One finally grabbed my sculptor stone and threw it across the room.
We had assumed they would all attack us, but I had hoped to take out more than this before they got a hold of me. I kept fighting and used my speed to zip out of their grips. Finally, I got into the location I had wanted to be in. I was about to launch myself at the ringleader, Shit-face when I heard a scream and looked over to find a half demon with Steven.
The half-demon had him in a headlock and was squeezing as if he would pop the smaller half-demons head right off. I changed direction at the last second and launched myself in their direction instead. Julian would kill me, but my hand slammed down on the half-demon attacker's neck, freezing his ass and sending him to hell. I turned immediately and launched at Shit-face, but he was ready for me.
His arms slipped around my upper body, grabbing my wrists and crossing them in front of my chest so I couldn't get a hold of him. I struggled and squirmed, but his hot breath blew against the back of my neck in a dark chuckle.
"Stop, Daughter. Watch your friends die." His voice was deep and evil, and I watched as the half-demons overpowered us one by one.
"Come and set your grandfather free and we will all rule." He walked me closer to the dragon gargoyle. He had no idea we had removed the demon already. I hoped he would never know, honestly. Shit-face could probably throw one hell of a temper tantrum.
I renewed my squirming and tried to force my magic out before it was too late for my friends. The hot fire in my stomach flickered and licked at my insides as I pushed at it, closing my eyes to focus.
I pushed so hard I felt something snap. When I looked up, the room had a red haze, but I focused on the heat. It burned like straight alcohol and only increased until I thought I was actually on fire.
The heat spread like lava through my chest then down my arms. I screamed and the million screams that traced the demon's voice followed mine. I poured more heat down until it reached my fingers tips.
It burst out in a blaze of fire. Coating the room in fire and sparks. The acrid smell of hell-fire singed my nose, but I kept pressing, pleading with the flames to grow and envelope them all.
Shit-face let me go and stumbled back as the half-demons in the room screamed. They grabbed their heads and fell to their knees.
"Bow to your leader," I said. But I didn't recognize my voice. It was dark and echoed.
Everyone with an ounce of demon blood in them, including Julian, and the guys bowed to a knee in front of me except Shit-face who stood behind me and laughed.
"So, you have finally joined me, Daughter," he said. "I knew if I got rid of that measly human who played your father, you would come to me."
He thought I was on his side. What was he talking about? I struggled to put the words together and figure out what he meant, but he started talking again.
"Your eyes are so beautiful," he said. "Like my own." His eyes flared red, and I saw fires lick within them.
I grinned. "We will rule." I took a ste
p forward. I was almost within reach of him. He hadn't fallen to his knees. I didn't know what that meant, but I hoped it didn't mean he was too strong for my magic to work.
I pulled just a bit more of that hot flame from my center and let it lick down my arms and to my fingertips.
"Please, Father," I said, taking the last step.
His smile lit the room with the pride that only a father can have for his child.
"Rot in hell," I said, launching at him so fast he had no time to stop me as my hands grabbed his face and the magic the fires of hell had granted me turned him to stone.
His mouth hung open in a gruesome snarl, but he wouldn't be hurting anyone anymore.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I turned back to the group of kneeling half-demons. I knew some of them, or maybe all of them were possessed, but still, they knelt for me. I didn't want to think too hard about that. I nodded to Nick, and he pressed his stone to the half-demon closest to him. A scream rang out, and the half-demon slumped to the ground as he moved to the next.
I turned to look for my sculptor stone and found Lincoln holding it out for me.
"Thanks," I said. Lincoln didn't look relieved or happy we had taken care of Shit-face at all. He looked sad.
My mind flew back to what the demon had said. He said the human who played my father. It hit me then, and my knees gave out. I slammed to the hard cement floor, sticky with beer and who knows what. My heart shattered into a million pieces as my mind refused to accept what my heart already knew.
"I'm so sorry, Harlow," Linc said. His voice seemed a million miles away and drowned out by the sound of blood rushing through my head.
A tear slipped out before I had even accepted the truth of the situation. My heart knew.
A sob wracked through me, and a pair of strong arms scooped me off the ground.
"He can't be..." I said before another sob stole all the oxygen from my lungs and the room and the universe.
Len.
The first man who ever cared about me and believed in me. I tried to remember what I had said to him the last time I spoke to him. I couldn't remember. Oh God. I should remember. I needed to remember.
"Shh," Julian whispered in my ear. His hand rubbed up and down my spine, giving me something to focus on. I pulled in a ragged breath, but it sobbed out so fast I almost puked. I covered my mouth and pushed away from Julian. He was sitting in a chair at the bar with me in his lap, but I needed to find a place to vomit. There was a bathroom sign on the other side of the room, and I raced there at huntress speed, slamming into a stall and emptying my stomach of everything I ate plus some stuff I probably hadn't eaten.
It all came out. Until I felt hollow.
I had lost my tether to the ground. Len was gone, and I was alone again -- just a little girl digging through a dumpster trying to find something to eat to keep alive for another day. My feet were bare, and my knees were bony and thin with the hunger. My small hands shook as I dragged an empty cardboard box out of the way. I threw it over my shoulder, and no one was there to catch me when I slipped.
I was alone in the alley when older kids came to pick on me. No one scared them off.
No one put a broom in my hand and then exchanged it for a slice of pizza in a box before shooing me back to my empty apartment.
I was alone.
I was broken.
"I'm here," Julian's voice whispered from outside the bathroom stall. I was sitting on the cold floor. Probably sitting in urine. I crawled out of the stall and arms slid around me, lifting me up.
"I've got you now."
His words held more meaning than I thought he realized. He had me. All of me.
I turned my face into his shirt and let the world slip away. I went over moments I remembered of Len. I had to remember the last words he spoke.
I started at the beginning and flashed forward through everything. His Pam cooking spray. His no-nonsense attitude. His strong old man muscles bunching as he scraped out the oven. His broad shoulders bumping mine as we topped pizzas in the small kitchen.
The scent of his aftershave.
The lines on his face.
I remembered. He was standing in the pizza shop, his face soft and a smile touching his lips. He said, "Big bad demon huntress better not be caught crying over a foolish old man."
Fresh tears soaked Julian's shirt. I would cry a river for that old man. He was the best part of me.
I must have thought out loud because Julian said: "That's not true. He just saw the best parts of you and reflected them back." Julian's voice was close and quiet.
I turned to look up at him. We were in the back of the limo now. Just the two of us. I sniffled and cleared my throat. "He was the best man," I said.
Julian nodded. "Of course, he was. He raised you. Only an angel of a man could have made you so perfectly."
Tears slid down, but Julian wiped them with his thumb.
We were driving through the city and I realized I had left a bunch of half-demons who might have been possessed by demons in that club. "What about the demons?" I asked.
"They are being taken care of. You don't have to worry about them for now. Although, I think you have quite a few new half-demons under your power." He laughed. "Actually, I think you are the new leader of New York, but you don't have to worry about any of that right now. The world will wait."
He looked like he wanted to say more, but I shook my head and buried my face in Julian's chest. I had nothing left. I wanted to question him on the whole leader of New York thing, but I was so tired suddenly, I couldn't keep my eyes open. "I'm sorry," I whispered.
He kissed my temple, pulling me close, so I was enveloped in his warmth. "I'm not."
He had never wanted to be the leader of the city. If that fell on me now, I was probably doing him a favour. God help the half-demons of New York. I laughed at that thought but soon fell asleep. My body had worked too hard on all that magic, and my mind was raw.
I woke up curled around a warm body. I cuddled into the heat and sighed before I remembered the day before and stilled.
"It's okay, Harlow." His hands slid up my back and wrapped around me, pulling me to him.
Air filled my lungs somehow. The world should have changed. How did the sunrise? The world was empty, but it seemed exactly the same.
My heart kept beating.
"Lincoln told me to remind you of the letter he brought for you."
Oh God. "Did Lincoln... know the whole time?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.
Julian kissed my forehead. "I'm so sorry, love."
He had never used a pet name for me before. That was kind of Rory's thing. But it felt so powerful coming from Julian.
"Do you want to read it now?" he asked.
I nodded. Might as well get this over with. Whatever it was.
The space Julian left behind was warmer than where I was, so I curled up on his spot on the bed, and he slipped in behind me, handing me the envelope.
I pulled the blanket up over my head.
"Pass my phone," I said, hoping it had survived the fight with the demon bastard.
Julian slipped the phone under the covers, and I turned on the flashlight, so I could read this letter from my blanket fort.
I ripped open the envelope and realized there was a second envelope inside. Tears pricked my eyes. It was Len's handwriting. My name in his slanted block letters
"Big bad demon huntress better not be caught crying over a foolish old man."
His remembered words steadied me. I brought the envelope to my nose. It smelled like Len -- bitter and masculine with the slight scent of pizza.
I held it to my face for a long time, just remembering the man.
I delicately opened the envelope as if tearing it was destroying his memory. I wiped a tear before pulling two sheets of paper out of the envelope.
I wiped my eyes again and took some deep breaths to steady my hands. I had to read what he said.
Harlow,
If you are reading this, my time finally ran out. You know I'm not good with words, but I'm a lucky man to have been around you all these years. I never had kids of my own, but it felt like you were as much mine as anyone could have been.
I am leaving you the shop and the building. You don't have to keep it. Sell it and get yourself a fast car. Or hire someone to run it. I don't have much money, but it's yours, too. I want you to go to college someday. Do that for me. You are smart, you can do it.
I have nothing more to say, but I love you.
Be good.
Len.
The second piece of paper was instructions to make his pizza crust. That was it. I read his letter sixty more times before I folded it and slid it back into the envelope carefully. Then I just set it on my face and let his smell surround me. I closed my eyes and willed them not to cry anymore. I was parched like the desert from crying. Len wouldn't want me to wallow. He wanted me to go to college. I laughed.
"You okay?" Julian asked, sliding down, so he was under the blanket with me.
"I will be. I think," I said, curling into his chest and holding the letter close to my face.
Julian pulled my hand away so he could lay a soft kiss on my lips. "I'm sorry." His hands reached up slowly and unclasped the opal at my neck. I let him. I needed him now. I needed a break from the broken heart that still beat in my chest.
As soon as the necklace was off, I felt a rush of calm surge through me.
"That's a handy trick," I whispered, letting my body relax into Julian's.
Julian pushed the letter back towards my face, and I took a deep breath, consuming the scent of my old friend. My father. Blood had nothing to do with family. Len had been my family.
I slept off and on, remembering his strong hands pulling me out of that dumpster. No demon could steal the memories I had. I vowed to honour Len.
I would find a way.
He would live on through me.
