Authors: S. L. Gavyn
Darkened
Darkened
An Avery Tywella Story
S. L. Gavyn
Copyright 2013 S. L. Gavyn
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This
free ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any person (living or dead), business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Darkened
All Rights Reserved.
Copyright ©
2013 S. L. Gavyn
Cover Design © 2014 S. L. Gavyn
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.
F
irst edition: November 2013
Available Books by S. L. Gavyn
The Forged by Magic Series
Ange Noir (Book Two and a half)
The Avery Tywella Series
The Fabled Series
First, I would like to thank my very best friend/ sound board/ that crazy person who’s always at my house, Christine. Without your encouragement, this story would probably still be floating around in my head. You might hear voices but I hear complete conversations. Thanks for not killing me like I’m sure you were envisioning on several occasions.
Next, I would like to thank my beta readers, Christine Harris and Mary Smyly, who have encouraged me to release my imagination. You guys are awesome.
Third, I would thank my husband for...well everything. Thanks for being my rock.
Last but not least, I would like to thank all those Indy authors out there who write such wonderful stories that I was encouraged to add my own to the mix. Hopefully, you don’t think it sucks.
“Gallion. From the info I have, he’s one of Rallizon’s horde,” I said.
“Do you have a description or anything, Angel?” Craven asked.
“Yeah,” I pulled out the picture I carried in my back pocket and looked at it. “He’s got dark hair and eyes. Looks to be about six one with a lean build. I know that’s not a lot but the only pic I have of him is a surveillance photo and it’s kind of grainy.”
I heard him sigh into the phone.
“I will keep my ears open but I wouldn’t hold my breath for any results with the minimal information you’ve provided.”
“That’s about what I expected but figured I’d give you the specs just in case.”
“In case what? He walks into my shop wanting a tattoo?”
“Or one of your other services.”
“I see. I will let you know if that happens.”
“I appreciate it, Craven.”
“Anything for you, Angel.”
I hung up and continued down Peachtree. As I passed the various clubs, bars, and restaurants, I couldn’t help but wonder how I was ever going to find this guy. It was like a needle in a hay stack and all I had was a crappy surveillance photo. This Demon had killed a Human and ate her soul. If I know anything about Demon it’s that if they kill once and get away with it, they will continue to kill until they are caught.
I had just turned onto Paces Ferry when I passed, what looked like, a drug deal in progress. Not my division. If Humans want to kill themselves, that’s their business. I have enough to take care of by chasing the Others that were killing them. Drugs were not my prob.
I had just walked pass them when I realized that one guy matched the description of my perp. No, surely it couldn’t be that easy. I turned around and took a better look at him. Same dark features and about the right height. I walked up to them like I was interested in what they had to offer. I looked typical enough. Twenty something chick with auburn colored hair wearing a dark colored shirt and hoodie and blue jeans with black boots. It was too dark for him to get a good look at my eyes.
“Ya got anything good, brotha?” I asked the possible Demon while looking around like I was watching for the cops.
“Whatcha looking for baby? I might be willin’ ta work out a deal witcha,” he said.
I smiled at him, reached out and ran my hand down his
arm like I was interested, but in actuality I was feeling him. One touch and I could usually tell what species they were. Especially the common ones, like Demon. I smiled again only this time because I had found my perp. This night had just started to look up.
“Gallion of Rallizon. You have been found guilty of killing a Human...”
That’s all I got out before he was gone and the chase began. He ran back up Paces Ferry and took a left onto Roswell. I pulled out my cell and hit the number one.
“Yo, Senorita. What’re you up to tonight?” Kansas asked.
“I’m chasing Gallion down Roswell. Per protocol, I need backup.”
“’Kay. I’m in the alley running behind Dallas right now. I’ll cut up to Roswell.”
“Then we’re heading your way.”
The Demon took a sharp left and managed to slide past the bouncer outside of a club who was arguing with some obviously underage chick. I tried to follow the Demon inside
, but of course, the bouncer saw and stopped me.
“Kansas, stay in the alley and head for Halo. My perp just entered the club. I’m following.”
Dallas was the bar two businesses down from Halo. Kansas can cover the back door while I enter from the front.
“Ten four, Ave.”
I hung up the phone and pulled out my badge for the bouncer.
“Avery Tywella. Human’s Rights task force. I’m chasing a suspect into the club. Stand aside.”
The bouncer eyed my badge for a moment then looked at me. Then back to my badge.
“Come the freak on. Do you need a fucking blood sample to verify DNA? Get out of the damn way.”
He raised a brow and then stepped aside. Good idea. I’d hate to hurt him in order to catch my perp. I entered the club to find that I couldn’t see any one particular person other than the band that played on the stage. Everyone else was so packed together that you couldn’t pick out one over all the others. To the right of the main dance floor was a raised area with the bar. Beyond that, tables ran along the entire side of the interior until you get to the back where the VIP section is located. I headed for the raised section so that I would be able to see over the entire dance floor. My cell rang.
“Avery,” I said as a greeting.
“Ave, you find your perp yet?” Davis asked.
“Not yet. I chased him into Halo but got hung up by the bouncer. I’m casing the joint now.”
“I’m out front. I’ll hang here in case he tries to double back on ya.”
“Roger that. Ave out.”
I hung up. Kansas and Davis were partners that worked for the task force. Actually, everyone on the task force had a partner except me. I don’t work well with others so my boss agreed to make an exception as long as I called for backup if I was actively in pursuit of a perp.
I started through the table area while simultaneously scanning the dance floor and the darker areas along the back wall where the booths were. If I didn’t find him on my initial walk through, I’d go have a seat at the bar and wait him out. My best friend happens to be one of the bartenders on duty tonight so I know she’ll help me keep an eye out.
Suddenly, it felt like I was being watched. I stopped and looked behind me first but there was no one so I scanned the dance floor. When I didn’t see anyone looking my way I scanned the stage since it was directly across the club from me.
The lead singer was belting out some hard rock song I had never heard before and he was looking directly at me. I looked behind me again to see if there was someone else he could be looking at
, but again, there was no one. I shrugged it off. Since, as I said, I was directly across from the stage I assume he regularly looks there so he doesn’t have to watch the people bumping and grinding to his song on the dance floor. It wasn’t really the type of song I would think people would dance like that to, but apparently some people will bump and grind to anything.
I continued on with my sweep of the
club and didn’t see him anywhere. The most likely place would be that he’s hiding out in the men’s room, but I’ll be damned if I’m going that route unless I absolutely have to. No, I’ll have a comfy seat at the bar which just happens to be across from the restrooms. That way I can keep an eye on them and the front entrance at the same time. If he tries to pull a fast one, he will have another thing coming.
As I sat down on the bar stool
, I saw that Temmy was serving a drink to a guy at the other end of the bar. I waited until she turned around and spotted me.
“Oh my Gods, Avery. I’ve been trying to get you to come to this club for the last six months and you pick a night that I’m working to decide to come?”
“I’m working too, Temmy. A Demon ran in and I’m in pursuit.”
“Well, let
me fix you a drink while you pursue.”
She went about mixing up a drink while I continued to watch everyone. Temmy’s real name is Temperance Desire Lovely and she absolutely hates it. Hence the nickname. She and I have been friends since we were twelve. I was raised by my maternal grandmother and she raised herself, at least until we met. Then my grandmother raised her too. See, Temmy is one of probably a thousand demigod children Bacchus, the god of grapes and spirit, has fathered. Needless to say, she has never met her dad and her mom was just as absent. Cinnamon Lovely, or Cindy to her friends, was a showgirl in Vegas when she met Temmy’s dad. The last we heard from her, she was married to some rich guy in south Florida. Good riddance to her. She should have given Temmy up for adoption as soon as she was born, but I think Cindy hoped Bacchus would return, and she wanted to hold on to her meal ticket.
“There you go, Avy. I call it a Temmy special.”
I raised a brow. “I did say that I was working, didn’t I? This isn’t going to knock me on my ass with one drink?”
“Lords no. I like my drinks fru fru. Taste it, you’ll like it.”
I took an experimental taste. It did taste good but I would take it easy. Just because it tasted good didn’t mean it wouldn’t get me shit
-faced. I needed to stay on top of my game for when I found my Demon.
I felt eyes on me again so as I scanned the crowd. I looked at the stage
, and found the lead singer was looking at me again. That’s strange. I wonder what his deal is. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.
“He is totally hot. I have been trying to get in his pants since
I started working here. Mmm mm, the fun I could have with him,” Temmy said when she saw where I was looking.
“I thought y
ou were dating Mr. Self-Absorbed. What happened to that?”
“Oh, I’m still dating him
, but a girl can dream can’t she. And, if he decided to make those dreams a reality, I wouldn’t say no.” She waggled her brows.
When it came to men, Temmy was like her dad with women. She never kept a single man for more than a couple of months and always had a wandering eye no matter if she was in a relationship or not.
“Tell me you don’t think he is fine,” she challenged.
I looked back at him and saw he was still watching me. Then he smiled and I quickly turned back to Temmy.
“He’s not too bad looking,” I said.
“Not too bad...are you crazy?! That right there is one fine ass mofo. If I’m lyin’, I’m dyin’.”
“Didn’t that saying go out in the eighties?”
“Some things live on forever. Kind of like you and me.” She winked.
As a demigoddess
, she was mostly immortal, and with my half Demon ancestry, it was likely that I was too.
I continued to scan for my perp. If he didn’t show himself soon, I was going to have to invade the men’s room and I really didn’t want to have to do that. Walking into a bathroom with a dozen or so drunk men was not something I wanted to do.
“You know, it looks like he’s watching us.”
“Who?” I looked around.
“Mr. Sexy on the stage. That’s who.”
“Oh. I don’t have time to play groupie. I’ve got to find this Demon.” I sighed. “I guess I’m going to go check out the restrooms. See ya, Temmy.”
“Wait. That’s it? You just waltz in here and hang out for five minutes then leave? That’s wrong.”
“We’re both working. I’ve gotta find this guy. I promise I will go out with you soon. Okay?”
“Next weekend
. I’m off Saturday, and you should be off too. Right? Your one weekend a month that you’re not on-call.”
“Uh, yeah. I’m supposed to be off. Okay, next Saturday. We can hang out at my place. I’ll buy the pizza.”
“Oh, no you don’t. We will come to this club, get drunk, and flirt with guys.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Call me tomorrow.”
“Alright, Avy. Have fun killing your Demon.”
I used the stool to push myself up so I could lean over the bar and give her a brief hug before I left. I walked toward the hall that the r
estrooms were on, and had no longer entered the corridor when the men’s room door opened, and my friend, the Demon, poked his head out. He saw me and immediately went back into the restroom, and tried to shut the door. I stuck my boot in the way and pried the door open. As I entered the room, he tried to stab me with a short knife. Well, two could play at that. I pulled my katana from the back sheath my hoodie covered, and stabbed him through the shoulder. The wound wouldn’t kill him, but my blade went all the way through and into the door behind him. That would keep him in place while I pulled the stiletto from my hip sheath. The weapon was made from the same thing the Hell dimension was made of. My maternal grandmother had given it to me upon my sixteenth birthday and said that my mother had wanted me to have it. There was also an ancient ritual written on a piece of paper that came with it. I don’t know what my mom, a White Witch, would be doing with a knife that killed Demon and bound them to their native dimension but I took it, memorized the ritual, and have been killing Demon with it ever since.
“Gallion, Demon of Rallizon, you have been found guilty of killing a Human woman by siphoning her soul. The sentence is death.”
“Please, have mercy. I only did what my master commanded.”
“It matters not. Justice will be served.”
I stabbed the Demon in the chest where the heart should be, said the ritual, and he disappeared. Even though Demon don’t actually have hearts, the center of the sternum is where the magic that is holding them to this dimension congregates. So stabbing them with a piece of their homeland and saying the ritual binds them to that dimension for the rest of eternity.
I pulled my katana out of the door, and grabbed a napkin to wipe the Demon blood off before returning it to its sheath. I was about to slide it back in when a guy walked through the door. He stopped in his tracks and eyed my sword. I slid it into the sheath, fixed my hoodie so that it hid it again then started toward the door.
