Demons: A Hunter's Novel, Book 1 (9 page)

I
turned to leave but heard my Father clear his throat. In the past it was a
subtle way of telling me that I had forgotten something. I automatically turned
to face him, standing with my hands robotically at my sides. I then cursed
myself for not leaving. The Shadow had trained me for all of these years and I
hoped he hadn’t brainwashed me past the point of no return.

“Just
one more thing, Delaney.” When had he started with the Delaney instead of Angel?
I was assuming that was when the Shadow had taken over. I’d have to tackle that
later since I was literally trapped in the lion’s den.

“Yes,
Sir?”

“You
will tell me if you see Kai again.”

“Yes,
Sir.”

With
that I turned and left. As I strode to the door that was one step closer to
away, I veered to Anie, grabbed her arm and kept moving. We were outside less
than 2 minutes later. I couldn’t run screaming from the Hunter’s HQ. And I
couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Once
we were outside I held onto Anie’s hand, much the same way she had held mine
the night my house had burned down, all the way back to her house. She unlocked
the door and I pushed her inside in front of me.

I
immediately started pacing. Anie finished locking the deadbolts, and slid down
the door stopping when her butt hit the floor.

“Stop.”
Anie said quietly.

I
stopped moving and saw her eyes were shining with questions. Mine were clearly
laced with pain and unshed tears.

“What
the hell is going on Laney? You’re scaring me. More than usual.”

“There’s
too much to say. I can’t process everything right now. It hurts to think.” I
clutched my chest with one hand and my head with the other. Neither able to
reconcile what had just happened. The physical pain of having been raised by a
Shadow was just too much to bear. “My Father is possessed by a Shadow.”

And
just like that, saying it out loud made it more tangible. I crumpled to the
floor. There was no more I could do. I had to take a breath. I could feel
myself closing up like I had done when Azrael and I had broken up. The physical
pain with that had been almost as bad as this.

I
had closed my eyes and fought the desperate pain I felt. I felt hands grip my
shoulder and someone crouch down on me. I felt protected and looked up through
my eyelashes to see Anie was hugging me. I was lucky to have her.

“For
how long?” She asked quietly.

“I
– I don’t know. Forever? When had he started drilling me, verbally belittling
me, locking me up when I did something he didn’t like –” Annie rocked me back
and forth. She tried to comfort me. She had done it for me before when I was
going through things with my Father, but nothing compared to this.

“Life
is never going to be the same.” I whispered.

“Welcome
to my world.” She said. I laughed sadly, because it was true.

She
had gone through a complete life upheaval when she had been changed. And while
neither of our changes were voluntary I, at least with any luck, would be able
to save my Father and choose which supe I became. Hopefully. How? I had no
idea.

I
made it up to my bedroom with Anie’s arms still circling me, supporting me. She
helped me undress, leaving me in my underwear and put me under the covers. She
patted my arm and told me to get some rest. I knew there was more likely a
chance of ice water in hell, but I didn’t say anything. It had been too long
since anyone had taken care of me.

I
closed my eyes and let the world die to me. I needed the quiet, even if I
wasn’t going to sleep.

“Some hid scars and some hid scratches, It made me wonder about their
past…”

– Of Monsters & Men, Mountain Sound

I
cracked my eyes open and saw it was still pitch black out. I had lost
consciousness a couple times so far throughout the night/morning, but to call
it sleep would be wrong. There was nothing restful about it, not even for a
moment. The Shadow weighed heavily on me and every time I closed my eyes I
would reexamine every memory I could conjure to try and remember some sort of
normalcy, but there had been none. Not since I was 4.

I
finally pinpointed when the Shadow had most likely taken over. My Dad hadn’t
come to read to me one night shortly after my fifth birthday. I remembered
being heartbroken and falling asleep, uneasily, after reading myself the story
I knew by heart. It wasn’t as good as when my Dad had read it to me, but it was
better than nothing. That next morning I sat at the kitchen table without my Dad,
which was odd in and of itself. But I didn’t want to bother him in case he had
been out on a mission for the Hunters and been up late.

He
had left me very few times since I had been born. When it had happened there
was always someone there to keep me company while he was out. The Hunters that watched
me would normally make breakfast and play with me while my Dad caught up on his
sleep. There was no one around that I could see that morning. So, I made two
pieces of toast, buttered them (with my fingers because I was told to never
touch the knives without permission) poured myself a glass of orange juice in
one of my plastic cups (because the glass ones were for grownups) and ate
breakfast at the kitchen table by myself.

My
Father stomped into the room that morning looking severe and missing the warmth
I knew my Father to have. I remember thinking about how the night before must
have been horrible for him to be acting like that, and how glad I would be when
he started acting normal again. But it never ended. My Father was severe, cold
and downright mean from that day forward.

I
should have known, even then. I was a child, but a Hunter by blood. Something
should have told me that my Father wasn’t right. Hell, any one of the Hunters
who had known my Father should’ve seen the change. But no one had seen my Father
the way I had seen him. Maybe things had been bad for so long that I forgot to
remember when things were good. And looking back, that was part of it. I didn’t
want to remember. The other part was that I was always told not to look back.
Eyes
forward or you’ll trip and break your neck.
Those words had been said to me
so many times over the years. I took them to heart and stopped looking at the
good that had been in my life.

The
only time I had, really, looked back in my life was after I left Az. I had
played over the life I had with him many times in my head. I wondered if I had
been selfish in not replaying any of the time with my Father. I guess when
there was little to no love lost, there wasn’t much to remember.

How
could I have been so blind? How was I supposed to stop the Shadow? I needed
help. I needed Anie. Kai. But most of all, I needed the other half of my heart
– I needed my best friend…I needed Az. I just had to figure out a way to get
him to show. He knew what I’d do when he’d show up: yell at him for
disappearing on me, try and squeeze him for information then –
if
I got
what I wanted – have amazing make-up sex. At least, that’s what I
would
have done had I not known what I know now. I wondered what Az knew. I wondered
where the look on his face had come from. Did he know more than I did?

I
hoped he was clueless. But knowing Az, he would never jump without looking
first. I questioned if the reason he had started dating me was because he knew
back then what I was going to become now. I mean, why not? The man I knew as my
Father was a Shadow. Why shouldn’t the man I would risk the only life I know
for, be a traitor?

My
whole world had been shaken to the core and I was now questioning everything in
my life, even the things I was absolutely sure of. Because I had been raised by
a Shadow, anything was possible. And that was terrifying.

How
could I be part Angel when my life had been nothing but a series of trips and
falls? I wasn’t anywhere near perfect like I imagined most Angels were. Except
for the crazy ass Angel that burned down my house, he had to be a little unstable.

I
guess I could be more Demon than Angel, then the whole thing with Az made more
sense. Maybe God did work in mysterious ways. Or maybe he was just as much of a
sadistic bastard as Mastema was.

I
lay in bed for a moment or two longer then jumped up to search for Anie. I
opened the door and found Anie holding up the wall.

“Are
you being paid to sit outside my door?” I said.

“Are
you always such a bitch?”

“These
days, yes.”

Overall
I had been a pretty hardcore bitch recently. She was right.

“Well,
it’s never too late to change.”

Anie
could be a real bitch too, but you always got glimpses of the good heart she
had. She would do anything for me, and I was thankful to have her in my life.

“You
know I love you right?”

Wow.
I couldn’t believe those words passed my lips, and without my permission
nonetheless. I mean I did love her, but it’s not something I wanted to throw
out there all the time.

She
had been a part of my family as much as Cade and his parents had been. I was
pissed at her but not really. I was trying to blame her for things she didn’t
know. She had no idea about Az and I. I couldn’t blame her or be mad. I
shouldn’t at least. But it didn’t mean I wasn’t trying to ignore the truth of
that situation: It was my fault.

Anie
gave me her one eyebrow-raised look, which said:
Did you really just say
that? I can’t wait to hold it over your head later
. She didn’t need any
more ammunition. We had known each other long enough where she still held over
my head the time I peed my pants during training because she kicked me in the
bladder after I had just told her I really had to pee. I had been so pissed at
her that day. The Hunters had to restrain me and pull me off her, urine soaked
pants and all.

“Are
you feeling okay?” She said it jokingly but I knew there was an undertone of
seriousness. I wasn’t okay and I probably wasn’t going to be for a long while.

“Sure.
Yeah.”

“You
just going to sit around in your underwear all day or are you going to do
something about the Shadow?” Ah, Anie always knew how to make me feel better.

“That’s
why I’m out here. It’s just taking me some time to get around to it.”

I
really, really did not want to have this conversation with her, but there was
no other way around it. I needed to talk to him and the symbol he had given me
was the only way I had to get a hold of him. I knew Anie probably had at least
a burn-phone number.

“I
need you to get a hold of Azrael.” I said it like pulling off a band-aid.

Anie’s
color immediately turned to a bit of a blush. Huh, so he
had
shown her
some of his moves in the sack. When a man’s name conjures up that kind of
blush, he had to be something else. And I knew for a fact he was.

Anie
had never been good at hiding her feelings. I, however, was a pro at it. I’d
been doing it all of my life. If I had acted on the feelings I had for my Father
over the years he’d have been dead many times over. Or, rather, the Shadow
would be dead. Which I think would mean both of them, right? I was confusing
myself needlessly.

“I
don’t know who you’re talking about.” She said. Bullshit!

“Just
fucking call him!” Well, I used to be good at hiding my feelings. Now, it would
seem, I wore my heart on my sleeve.

“Woah!”
She put her hands out as if her tiny hands could stop my temper. I knew she was
about to enter into the tirade I had started. “Listen heifer. I don’t know what
the fuck is going on, but stop taking it out on me.”

“You
slept with the Demon Azrael. Had sex with him. Fucked him. Six months ago.” Her
eyes widened as I pointed each sentence with a sharp edge.

“What’s
it to you?” She put her hands on her hips and the attitude ensued.

I
was just too beat down and on an emotional roller coaster to try and explain
the complexity of Az and I’s relationship and answer all of the questions that
would surely follow. And, honestly, what do I tell her? He’s the only one I’ve
ever loved enough to walk away from? He’s my soulmate? He’s my lover? He’s the
only one in the world that at this moment I feel I can trust?

I
know I could trust Anie but I didn’t want to put her in too much danger by
telling her all of my deep dark secrets as I had with Az. I knew he could take
care of himself, he had proven that. Anie was tough, but not like Az who sat
right below Mastema. Anie had fourteen locks on the inside of her house. I bet
Az didn’t even have a door on his house.

“Just
call him.” I said barely over a whisper. I turned and went into my room,
grabbed my blades, and decided now was as good a time as any to sharpen my
blades.

“Is there a chance, a fragment of light, At the end of the tunnel, a
reason to fight?”

– A Fine Frenzy, Ashes and Wine

I
sliced the air with my blade, doing so with weighted precision and depth. I
needed this. The influence of the steel brought me focus and, although only a
small amount, peace. This was what I had done as a stress reliever for as long
as I was able to balance a blade. It helped me think and work through
situations that were livable but felt unlivable at the time. This was one of
those times. One of those moments in life where every thought is in chaos and
question. My life had never been so out of my hands. But the familiarity of my
blade helped.

I
had grown up living the life of a Hunter, and now how could I not question
everything that my life was? I continued with my rolling, slicing, flipping. I
was wearing a sports bra and a pair of black yoga pants. I had sweat sliding
down my back being slurped up by the top of my pants. I was in good shape and
didn’t see the point in hiding it, even from myself.

As
I finished a slide, I felt my Demon in the room with me. Az stood watching me. He
grabbed the extra blade he preferred from the floor, sluiced his jacket off,
and stood ready to fight me. I could fight him with less restraint than I
normally would have with any other sparring partner because he healed quickly. I
never put so much oomph behind my blade that I would take off a limb or kill
him, but enough where I could be less gentle than sparring with a Hunter. Az
healed very quickly, especially with how high up he was now. He could take a
beating and be fine afterward. Perfect.

“Came
crawling back?” I said.

“Something
like that.” He smirked. I knew he had come back because Anie had called him. But
a girl could hope it was for her.

He
brought the blade from above his head down onto me, I caught his blade with
mine. It was a signature move he always began our sparring with. One I had
never forgotten.
It’s my warning we’re beginning
. He had said those
words only once but had done the move as his first from that moment on. I
appreciated the fact he trusted my memory enough not to say it over and over
again. Unlike the Shadow who had repeated every phrase to me at least 100
times.

Normally,
I would dance around him before I threw my first jab. But I needed the physicality
of this dance now. I shifted my weight to strike him on the left side and he
blocked easily. I spun quickly around to try and elbow him in the face before
he could catch onto what I was doing. He blocked my hit and brought the sword
under my chin. Fuck.

I
could feel his breath on my neck and the chill that followed it down my body. Not
from any sort of cold air, but from the heat his mouth could illicit without
ever touching my skin.

“One
to me.” He whispered in my ear. I loved this man.

He
released me and I brought the blade low, swinging to take him out at the legs. I’ll
admit it was a stupid move. The second I went down to do it, I realized my
error. He jumped and landed as the blade zipped under his feet. I had my back
to him now because of the momentum of my movement. Az kicked me in the butt. I
lost my balance and fell on my front, catching myself with my hands, and
holding a sort of yoga plank pose with the sword still in my hand. That was
embarrassing. I didn’t need to turn around to see the smile on his face. I
could hear it clearly enough in the silence.

“Two.”
Az said. He was going to pay for that.

With
a quickness I didn’t know I possessed I pushed up off the floor and kicked
backwards, catching Az off guard. He stumbled a few steps. I turned to see the
light in his eyes flare. He loved fighting as much as I did.

He
jabbed at me twice on the left side which I blocked once with my blade and then
dodged with a spin. It was a beautiful dance that I enjoyed immensely,
especially with him. He jabbed at my left side again, I felt the blade bite my
skin and took the opportunity to pin the blade under my arm. Keeping it tucked
to my side, I spun, taking the sword away from Az. When I turned back around I
had a blade in each hand and struck out to cross cut. It cut his shirt in an X
shape and I saw his chest bared to me.

I
could feel the beginnings of a fantasy, one I wanted to act out with him. Heat
licked over my body. I looked to his face and wanted to smack the smirk off it.
He had always known the effect his body had on me.

“My
first point, but not my last.” I said.

He
would not win the fight today. I was breathing hard now, a little bit from the exercise,
a little bit from Az’s body. I dropped the sword because it was only fair. I
would’ve had him on the ground in minutes had I kept it. Which had crossed my
mind but I needed this, more than the win. Az rolled, grabbing his blade again
and stood like he had never left his feet.

I
shifted closer to him with my sword, going left to right. We went blade to
blade for a few minutes and then something happened that had never before, everything
slowed down. I could see his progress slow along with mine, but I somehow knew
it was still real time. It gave me more time to plan my next move, which wasn’t
always easy with Az.

I
looked into Az’s eyes as I moved my sword to cut his cheek, but just barely. I
knew it would only be a scratch for him while the blade came down slowly. After
it connected with his cheek, everything sped up and Az brought his hand to the
blood dripping. He rubbed his fingers together and then looked up at me,
surprise showing clearly on his face.

“No
wonder you’ve always won our fights. Being able to slow everything down helps.”
I kept my blade clutched in my hand. I was stabbing at a hunch but I saw his
reaction and knew I was right.

“So
you’re part Demon.” It was a statement from Az. So he didn’t know much.

“You
tell me.”

“I
actually went and spoke to Mastema when I left you earlier. You caught me off
guard.”

Of
course I caught him off guard. It’s not every day you hear that your
ex-girlfriend is some sort of supernatural when you thought she was just a
Hunter. But he talked to Mastema instead of me?! What the hell?

“You
went and talked to your boss instead of me?!”

I
could feel my temper rising, as well as the blade in my hand. I placed it on
the ground in front of me so I didn’t do something stupid.

“I’ve
always felt a pull toward you. It was…painful not being with you. And I don’t
use that term lightly.” I would think not since he was from Hell. “But now it
makes sense why I couldn’t let you go.” Well, fuck him too.

“And
I thought romance was dead. It couldn’t be that you loved me? That you needed
me? That maybe I was more to you than just a good fuck?!”

“I
felt all of those things initially. I still do, but it was more concrete once
you left me. I felt like I was missing a piece of me. With Demon blood, when a
Demon mates, the bond is stronger. A Demon without its mate is like a void. It’s
why I now sit at Mastema’s right hand. I was hollow without you. I tried to
suck up all the pieces of myself until one fit back into place. Mastema
understands that better than anyone. That’s why I talked to him.”

I’m
not really sure what he meant about Mastema knowing that better than anyone,
and I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn’t about to tell me either.

I
had felt the same way. I wondered if he’d still feel the same way once he found
out that I wasn’t just part Demon.

“I
have something else I should probably tell you.” I gestured to the bed. Az
threw his blade on the floor next to mine.

Once
we were both sitting I took his large hand in my slender one. I knew he would
try to understand what I was about to tell him but whether he would accept me
the way I was ….that was a different story.

“I
know what I am, right now anyway, and it’s probably more than what you think.” I
paused and took a deep breath.

“You’re
a Hunter. And, at least partially, a Demon.”

He
was trying to piece what I was together and that was encouraging for me. It
meant he had not known what I was before we had gotten together. But I didn’t
know how he was going to react to what I told him next, and that was unfamiliar
ground for us.

“I’m
not only Demon, I’m Angel, Hunter, Vamp, Drover, Shifter, Fairy, and human.”

“How
do you know?”

His
face was blank now so I knew the process of deciding what to accept and what to
cast aside was happening for him inside that gorgeous head of his.

“Kai.
I called him.”

“You
told me Anie cast the thread.”

“Anie
cast the thread. I called
to
him.”

I
had only lied to him once in my life and that was when I told him I didn’t want
to be with him – I wouldn’t do it again.

“You
can do that?”

“Like
calls to like I guess. I didn’t know I was doing it until after Kai told me I
had. I could read his thoughts too.”

Az
put his hand up for me to stop talking.

“Do
you realize how much danger you’re in?”

“I’m
getting the idea. I know why the Angel or Demon or whatever blew up my house
now.”

“It
was an Angel. I checked the signature. I thought it was trying to keep you from
becoming a Demon by killing you. But now it could be something else entirely.”
He seemed to grab onto a thought and run with it when he said, “How did this
happen?” Probably talking to himself. But I answered anyway.

I
told him that someone had created me, but I wasn’t sure how, who or why. I told
him about the Shadow that was my Father. Az listened and brushed my cheeks
affectionately. He did it with such gentleness it felt like a butterfly had
kissed me. It was a strange sensation.

It
was an affect of being around Az now with the Demon blood coming to the surface,
I guessed. It seemed whatever I was around came to the surface. What I didn’t
understand is why I hadn’t started with the Drover stuff when I was around Anie
more than anyone.

I
looked up at Az to see how he was taking everything as I finished with the
Shadow story and answering his questions.

“Don’t
worry, Love. We’ll get your Father back.”

It
was as though everything in the world would be fine as long as he was there
with me. So long as Az was with me I felt stronger and more at peace, placed,
still.

“Did
you hire Anie to protect me at the Hunter meeting?”

It
was the last question I needed to ask.

“I
would never leave you unprotected.”

I
knew it. I patted myself on the back and high-fived myself, quietly in my
imagination.

He
leaned down and took my mouth with his and laid me back on the bed, running his
hands under my shirt over my pebbled nipples. As I lay taking in all of the
feelings he was giving me, I heard an intake of breath and without thinking put
myself between Az and whoever was standing behind him.

Anie
stood in the open doorway with an expression of disbelief. How had I not heard
the door open? Oh right, Az and I were getting ready to do the nasty.

“Azrael?
Laney?!” She started sputtering, smacking her forehead and looking between us. “You
getting pissed about his sign being up makes sense now. What the fuck, Delaney?
Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“What
would I have said?”

“I
don’t know, ‘Anie, I screwed Azrael too?!’” Anie threw her hands up in exasperation.
When she said it that way, I guess I could’ve said
something
.

“It’s
more complicated than that.”

“I
can only imagine.” She waited a beat then said, “Good to see you Azrael.” She
spit out with distaste, “Fuck you both. Oh, wait! You already are! In my
house!!”

Anie
flipped us off with both fingers, turned on her heel, and left the room. Damn
did that girl know how to do an angry storm out.

I
decided to let her go for an hour, or maybe a day, to make sure she had time to
calm down. She was the type of person, when pissed, you didn’t want to try and
have a conversation with.

“Well,
that went well.” Az grabbed my hand and pulled me back down on the bed with
him.

“Ummmm…don’t
you think we should show a little respect to Anie, and
not
do this right
now?”

“She’ll
be fine. As long as you’re quiet, she’ll never know the difference.”

I
wanted to tell him that
I
would. But when it came to Az, my love, or
maybe lust, for him would win out. I decided to try and change the subject
instead.

“I
need help Az.”

“I
thought I was helping.”

He
said as he rubbed his obvious arousal against my hip. Well, I
thought
I
was changing the subject.

“Ha.
Ha. I’m serious. I’m scared and I don’t know what to do. Well, I know the first
thing I need to do is to get rid of the Shadow.”