Devil May Care (4 page)

T
ree branches tear
at my bare arms. My sore feet pummel against the loose earth. I stumble and fall hard against a bank of gnarled tree roots. Pain arcs up my side, but it soon becomes lost in the agony radiating through me. Teeth gritted, I will myself back to my feet, and even though my lungs burn, and the air drags through my teeth, I somehow find the energy to keep running. This time, maybe this time, he won’t find me.

A swollen moon, bruised purple by the wash of clouds in the night sky, watches over my escape. I’ve waited weeks for the full moon to rise. I need its light. Sometimes, the night is so thick it clogs my throat. Tonight though, the air is clean. It tastes like freedom.

Eyes watch from the shadows as I burst through the undergrowth. I jump fallen branches and weave around trunks of the ancient trees. The things that wait in the dark won’t risk attacking. Not yet. But if I fall too many times… if I stop to catch my breath...

I’d rather be torn apart by lesser demons than return to him.

He must know by now that I’ve escaped. He’ll be looking.

I look up through the skeletal branches. Aside from the moon, the sky is an endless black. Dipping my chin, I summon all my reserves and run faster. My leg muscles burn, and my chest tightens. I duck and dart, hissing as claw-like twigs snatch at my flesh. My wings snag behind me. I’m yanked back, pulled at an angle. Unbalanced, I stagger and fall into the branches’ brittle embrace. Barbed creepers coil around my ankles. I kick out, but the vines twist higher and hook into my legs. A rumbling growl bubbles up from inside. Liquid fire flares across my skin. It washes over me. The creepers burn to dust in a blink.

A grumbling snarl ripples somewhere behind me. My heart leaps into my throat. I claw apart the smothering bushes and scramble free. Fire drips from my flesh and sizzles on the damp leaves. I’m on my feet. My leg muscles bunch, ready to spring forward. Something heavy and cold hooks around my wrist and yanks my arm back so violently I’m spun around and dragged off my feet. Face down in the mulch, the chain around my wrist tightens, almost wrenching my arm from the socket. I cry out and then try to gulp back a scream.

I’m trembling so hard I bite my tongue and taste blood. Tears sizzle on my cheeks. I barely made it to the shoreline. I ran so hard. I thought I had a chance this time. I thought I was free.

He’s behind me. I can sense the whispering touch of his element crawling over my flesh. I don’t want to see. My claws sink into the earth. I close my left fist around a handful of dirt. If I can blind him, maybe I can unwrap the chain... Because if I don’t... If I can’t get free. The things he’ll do...

I tense, but his foot comes down on my lower back. He leans his weight into me, grinding my pelvis into the ground. Stones and roots dig into my ribs. His cool hand grips the rise of my left wing, and he laughs. The sound of that laughter clamps hold of my heart and freezes my thoughts. I try to turn my head to see him, but I only see his silhouette. The moon casts him in shadow. A shaft of light dances off a blade. He drops the chain and holds the scimitar high over his shoulder.

My thoughts scatter.

“I... warned... you.” He spits the words down at me. His spittle vaporizes as it drips onto my back.

Begging won’t stop him; my mewing only excites him. My best chance is to remain quiet and still. I pant. My lungs burn, but I try to keep the fear locked away, to hide it from him. He knows. Fire pools outward around me. Tiny flames dance as they consume the fallen leaves. If I call the fire, his punishment will be worse. His grip tightens on my left wing. His claws press against the membrane. One by one, they puncture my skin. I flinch and swallow back my cries. He closes his fingers around a bone.

“No, please...”

When the blow comes, a shock of agony jolts through every muscle in my body. My jaw locks, until the scream escapes, echoes in my ears, slices through my skull, and pierces the night. I buck beneath him. My body blazes, but it’s no use. Hot blood spills over my back and sprays across my face, into my eyes, my mouth. Damien tosses something misshapen into the undergrowth. I can see parts of the thing protruding through the leaves. It doesn’t make sense. What has he done?

He walks slowly around me and stops so close all I can see are his legs and the tip of the sword. Viscous black blood drips from its edge. My blood. He crouches down and coils the length of chain around his hand. “You. Are. Mine. Muse.”

I can’t see him clearly. Something is wrong. I can’t feel the pain anymore. My entire left side throbs, but it doesn’t hurt. Blood dribbles over my shoulder. I turn my head and try to focus, but my vision blurs. A filter of acceptance falls in front of my eyes. I struggle to focus, but I can see that my left wing is gone. Just a stump remains. Blood bubbles up and dribbles across my back.

I know what it is he threw away.

He laughs again. I close my eyes.

T
ears are useless things
; tiny droplets of salt infused water, insignificant and pitiful. I hadn’t cried for Stefan, even when they’d told me he couldn’t return. I hadn’t cried when they’d stolen my demon from me a second time, when I woke with a yawning chasm of emptiness where she should have been. But I cried that night when the memories returned. I staggered retching into the shower.

Scalding hot water pummeled my pink and vulnerable flesh. Steam bellowed around me, and I cried so damn hard my body ached. I buried my head in my hands and fell back against the slick tiles. Sobs juddered through me. I slid to the floor, pulled my legs up against my chest, and squeezed myself into a tight self-embrace. I cried until my voice failed, and the water ran cold.

Adam, Ryder, Coleman and Hill, they had no idea what I’d done to escape my owner the first time around or what had been done to me. I’d barely touched on the details in the interview room and had no intention of laying my scars bare for them to pick at. Adam didn’t need any more excuses to examine me under a microscope.

Still, I preferred them to Damien. The thought of him sent me into a fit of dry heaving. Not only had I—a lowly half-blood as far as any demon was concerned—done the unthinkable and killed my owner, but I’d trapped a Prince of Hell on the other side of the veil. It just so happened that Prince had been keeping the other demons away. Now he had gone, it was open season on me, and Damien hadn’t hesitated. If he caught me, death would be preferable to his alternative.

A
waiting
Adam’s assessment of my situation, I wandered the Institute’s many levels. The complex was a rabbit warren of old buildings and warehouses, all consumed over time by the sprawling embrace of the Institute. I’d been living on site for months and hadn’t yet scratched the surface of its maze-like layout. On the inside, it bustled like a university campus with people coming and going from different departments and areas of expertise. Weapons, Science, Public Relations, Training. On the outside, it looked like an abandoned industrial park. Unusual graffiti riddled the outside walls, the perfect camouflage in a city environment. That graffiti looked right at home in the forgotten neighborhood of industrial units, but it also had intricate symbols etched into it which nullified elemental energy. No full-demon could pass through the exterior of the Institute. The magic didn’t completely subdue elemental magic—they need to be able to use the demons they capture—it worked as a perimeter fence. I could only get through the barrier because of my half human body. The Institute knew what they were doing when it came to demons. Nobody could argue that.

My rambling brought me to the library. The room was called a library, but it was more like a store room. Rows of high shelving units housed countless books, mostly foreign and all antiques. Almost nobody used the library, not when all the information could be found on the Institute’s cloud network. It had been forgotten and discarded, a victim of progress. I often visited it when awaiting some assessment of my behavior.

I poured myself some vending machine coffee. The machine hissed, gurgled, and spat. I noticed a handful of other people in the library. One young woman sat in one of the comfy chairs, legs curled under her, nose in a book. She flitted between a substantial hardback and a dog-eared paperback, and then scribbled some notes on a pad. Nica Harper was Adam’s daughter, Stefan’s younger half-sister. She and I had our differences, not least of which was the fact she blamed me for her brother’s untimely departure.

She sensed me watching her and peeked over the book. I lifted my dishwater coffee. She made a face and shook her head, her blond ponytail swishing behind her, and then buried her nose back in the book. I settled into a chair next to hers and took a sip of my coffee. I grimaced. It needed more sugar. And real coffee.

Nica smiled and finally tore her attention away from the books. “Tastes like something died in the machine.” It really did. “You’ve been doing well. Top of the class. You must be pleased.” As she spoke, her face came alive, blue eyes brightening. She was one of those people who couldn’t seem to sit still, as though she had surplus energy. If you spent enough time with Nica, her enthusiasm rubbed off on you. I missed that. I missed her. I didn’t really have friends. Akil didn’t count. Friends don’t threaten to kill you with the intention of carrying it out. There was Sam… Akil killed him.

“The other Enforcers say I do so well because I’m half demon.” I shrugged.

She nodded and closed the large hardback with the title
The Art & Implications of Summoning
Demons
with a
thwump
that echoed around the library. “It’s difficult. Stefan he... he had to fight every step of the way to prove himself. After a while, he just stopped caring what they thought. He never had to prove anything to me.”

I dropped my gaze, and my coffee suddenly seemed very interesting. I hadn’t expected to come into the subject of Stefan so quickly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Her hand swept away the apology. “It was his choice. He did what he had to do.”

“I know but, I...” I had told him to leave. Looking into Nica’s face, I couldn’t bring myself to admit it. “I was so angry. He should have told me everything.”
Instead of piling lie upon lie, like bricks in a wall.

Her eyes fluttered closed. She sucked in a breath and sighed. When she opened her eyes again, they sparkled with unshed tears. “He did what he could, and kept us both alive. Had Akil stayed, we’d be dead. And yeah, my brother lied to you, but sometimes you gotta do the wrong thing to do the right thing.”

Ouch. I may even have flinched. She was right. I hadn’t understood at the time, but now, with a bit of perspective, I knew why he’d lied. He didn’t have a choice. But my realization had come too late. I’d told him I never wanted to see him again. Ever. I’d got my wish.

“I just miss him, you know.” She picked a lose thread from her skirt. “When I was little, I didn’t care that he was half demon—I didn’t even know what it meant. He was just my brother. We looked after each other... We grew up here, did you know that?” I shook my head. “I had everything I wanted. College, proms, friends. Our father, Adam, he gave me everything I asked for, but when I talked about Stefan, he’d sorta... I dunno...” Nica’s delicate fingers quivered as she tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “It was as if Stefan didn’t exist.” She blinked, and a fragile smile lit her face. “But I’d always tell Stef about school... about friends and the crazy stuff we did. He never once resented me. He could have.” Her words trailed off, and her gaze drifted for a few moments. “I taught him how to read. The Institute—Dad—they weren’t interested in his mind. All they cared about was the ice demon inside him. But he was smart. He wanted to learn. This place,” she glanced around us at the forgotten books and silent aisles, “he liked it here. I come here a lot. It helps…”

Nica fell silent, the echoes of her voice still rippling through the library. It was the most she’d said to me in months. I searched for a meaningful reply, something that would relay how I understood, how there was nothing we could have done. “It’s pretty messed up, huh?” I failed.

When she looked up, her eyes glistened. “You don’t know what it’s like. You don’t have anyone...” She paused, her focus softening. “He used to make it snow for me. This place has loads of hidden exits if you know where to look. We’d sneak out sometimes.” She blinked and tilted her head back, her lashes wet with tears. “We’d go to the public gardens—to the George Washington statue, and it would start snowing.” She swiped at a tear with the back of her hand. “I loved it. Snow is so... magical. He froze the frog pond once. You know the one? Where the little frog statues sit lookin’ all pensive.” She laughed softly. “We were going to try to walk on the ice, but someone saw us.” Another tear escaped. “Freezing a pond in the height of summer wasn’t normal. Daddy nearly...” Her words trailed off, her smile fracturing.

She didn’t need to finish for me to guess what Adam might have done— nothing good. Stefan would have taken the blame. It was in his nature to protect; I’d witnessed his devotion firsthand. Nica was right; Stefan had done the wrong thing for the right reasons. Hindsight’s a bitch.

She rolled her lips together as if to hide how her lips turned down. “But it’s okay.” She sniffed and nodded firmly. “We got away from Akil. It could have been a lot worse.”

“I’m going after Stefan.” I tried to hold her gaze, but she flicked hers away. “As soon as I get my demon back, I’m bringing him home.”

Her eyes widened a little, the brightness there beginning to fade. “You know he’s dead, Muse.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“He’s never been across the veil. He’s half human. You know what it’s like better than I do, but I’ve heard enough. I’ve read about it.” She glanced at the array of books on the table. “I’ve done my research. There are demons there who will chew him up and spit him out. Monsters the size of cruise ships. It’s been months. Maybe...maybe if you’d gone straight away. But it’s been too long. He’s dead.”

“I couldn’t go. They took my demon.” I shook my head and reached for her hand, but she snatched it away. “Listen. Just listen. My owner’s back. He’s looking for me, and he knows things only Stefan could have told him. About the Institute—about Enforcers. Adam thinks Stefan is alive. I’m getting Stefan back. You have to believe that.”

“The Enforcer murders...” She blinked. Her pale blue eyes widened, and the color drained from her face. “Your owner is behind it?” She pressed her hand against her neck. “I heard the Enforcers talking... Those poor women.”

“Yes. There’s no other way Damien could know about the Enforcers. He’s all demon, and as far as I know, he’s never crossed the veil before. He wouldn’t know how to catch a bus, let alone track an Enforcer, kill her, and then go back into hiding. Once Damien discovered I was alive and unclaimed, he would have used anything to get to me. Akil. Stefan. They have the knowledge Damien needed. I know, Nica. I do. Stefan is alive.”

“Akil could have told him… You nearly killed Akil, Muse. I saw you. You were… something else; terrifying. Akil would want you dead.” She spoke as though her thoughts were elsewhere. I wondered if she was remembering her days with Akil. The Institute had sent her in as a mole. He hadn’t appreciated it. “He could have told your owner about the Enforcers. Couldn’t he?” She pinned a hopeful gaze on me.

I’d thought about that. “No. Akil doesn’t know the inner workings of the Institute. He might want me dead, yeah, but he doesn’t know anything about Enforcers. It has to be Stefan.” Could Stefan have told Damien everything? “I don’t know why he would tell Damien.”

“I do. He tried to help you, and you told him to go to hell.” She bit into her bottom lip and swallowed hard. “I can’t believe you. He’s gone. He’s not coming back.” She gathered the books and tucked them into a canvas bag. “Even if he’s alive, which is highly unlikely, he can’t cross the veil again. He’s trapped there with Akil. That was the key to stopping Akil from coming back. Stefan’s trapped there in a world filled with demons who want him dead. Jesus, Muse, open your eyes.” She turned and glowered at me. “You need to let go.”

I watched her stalk out of the library and slumped back in my chair. Stefan and Nica had been close. Nica had been Stefan’s lifeline to the outside world. When he’d taken Akil beyond the veil, he’d left behind the only family he’d ever had—a sister he loved. He’d known it was a one way trip. And I’d told him to go to hell.