Drop Dead Demons (41 page)

Not the whole world. Just mine. And the apple. Like a fresh fruit grenade.

I dropped my hand and turned away from the brilliant light and sticky wet bits that splattered my face.

“Yes!” I jumped up and down. Punched the air. “Did you see that?” Adrenaline pumped. I felt so good! I wanted to celebrate. To hug someone but…

Jenny was terrifying and probably booby-trapped. And Matthias was…well, Matthias. So my jumping kind of dwindled. Along with my euphoria. Yippee.

Jenny lifted a shoulder. “Decent work, lass.”

Matthias looked unimpressed. “About time.”

Wow. Killer support team.

I looked at my hands. They glowed. And tingled. Hot. Alive. Maybe I shouldn’t be so excited I was going nuclear. What if I couldn’t stop? I started to shake and tucked them under my armpits.

“Get a grip.” Matthias was annoyed. “You’ve been glowing for a while now.” He turned to Jenny. “She tends to panic. Then choke.”

Sparks trailing, my fingers pointed at the exploded apple bits. “Are you blind? I was just awesome!”

“It was
us
, by the way.” Jenny tipped his hat at my perplexed expression and looked directly at me. His eyes were glowing a deep yellow. “I tapped into your power. Increased it. I needed you exhausted so you wouldn’t notice. Otherwise you might have fought me.”

An uncomfortable knot twisted in my stomach. “Wait. You messed with my power?”

“Just gave it a boost, lass.” He spread his arms wide. “I can turn it up or down. It’s what I do. My particular…charm, if you will.”

“Your hunter ability? Well, it’s not charming. It’s…rude and—” I stared at his yellow eyes, at the scratches on his face, then stepped closer and smelled the whisky. I whacked his arm. Not hard, but he flinched. “It was
you
. Outside my house. You attacked me.”

Matthias gave Jenny a hard look. “That true?”

Jenny rubbed his arm where I had touched him then shrugged, indifferent. “Just went to observe the lass you’d called me about. Saw her cavorting with a demon. She saw me and attacked with a shovel.”

“I didn’t—” see him until
he
attacked
me
but there was no reason for them to know I wasn’t as battle ready as they thought I was.

“I took offensive action.” He touched the scratches on his face. “More harm to me than you, child.”

When he’d touched me that night, I’d had the vision of Jayden and Rose. Great, he could tap into my Divinicus vision power too. My uncomfortable feeling was turning into really ticked off.

I folded my arms. “This power tapping thing you have, don’t do it on me again.”

“Can’t promise that, love.” Jenny had the nerve to offer a playful wink. “And besides, we were a good team just now. I only amplified the power, it was your aim that hit the apple. A fine shot.” 

I wasn’t always thrilled with being this freak of nature, but I liked being the master of my own freakishness. The fact that he could take control made him like some sort of body snatcher. I didn’t like it, could see why other hunters would find him unnerving to be around. And why the Mandatum would want him put on ice. 

“I’m a tad disappointed she didn’t vanish again,” Jenny told Matthias.

“So sorry.” I hoped he slipped on the sarcasm pooling off my words.

“No need to get testy,” Jenny said. “When I amplify the power it’s easier for you to identify the feeling. Now you just have to remember it — like muscle memory — and you can access it again. Here, try it on your own.”

He picked up a pine cone. Tossed it high in the air. 

I blasted it without thinking—
bam!
He continued throwing rocks, pieces of wood. I took them all down. The energy radiated from inside—not one particular place—just coursing throughout. Tickling up my spine, zig-zagging across my chest. Even my ears tingled.

“And you’re not doing anything?” I said.

“It’s stronger when I touch you,” he said. “And I can do it from a distance, but you have my word, I’m not doing anything now. Feel better?”

“Yes.” And I did. Powerful. Finally in some sort of control. “So what now?”

“Have the boys recalibrated the shields around the town?” Jenny asked Matthias.

“They didn’t have time to make them impenetrable to the level of the gods, but enough to slow them down and give us fair warning.”

“Good. Then now, lass, you go home, practice turning it on and off, and get some rest. You’ll need it.” Jenny used the tip of a sword to hook first his coat then his hat off the ground and into his hands. “Aphrodite and her lot have buried entire civilizations. We’ll all need to be on our game but especially you. Because you’re our secret weapon.” He slapped his hat against his leg then settled it on his head. “But no pressure.”

I stared at the ceiling until I heard Luna wake from her coffin. Then I stole the shower before she did, but it wasn’t as relaxing as I’d hoped. At least we didn’t have school today. Although that just meant I’d spend my weekend searching a dead lady’s underground hideout. Yippee. But first I planned to steal the tracker from Aunt M’s room.

We needed any clues to the traitor it could provide. Besides, M having anything Mandatum related freaked me out. Not that I could do much about her client list. Obviously a dangerous crowd. Maybe her paranoia wasn’t so…paranoid after all.

I couldn’t get a hold of Ayden. I’d hoped he’d help with my breaking-and-entering caper, but anytime I called, Jayden answered and said Ayden was asleep, assuring me that he was fine and would fully recover in a few days. Odd, because he sure seemed healthy and…vigorous yesterday on the kitchen table. I grinned.

Then it faded.

Crap. Maybe he had a relapse
because
of yesterday on the kitchen table. Maybe I was some kind of black widow.

Lucian knocked on my bathroom door. “Matty called!”

Speaking of poisonous vermin. “I’ll call him back later.”

“Fine. Next time he calls I’ll mention you’re too busy in the bathroom. Should I tell him number one or number two?” Lucian chuckled. “Must be two. You’ve been in there a long time.”

“Lucian, go away!” Murder might do wonders to relieve my stress.

He huffed and clomped off. “Girls never appreciate bathroom humor.”

After finishing up, I stepped out onto the mat and grabbed a towel, noticing a slight ache in my shoulder. I wiped steam off the mirror for a better look. The puncture was a bit ragged from yesterday’s adventures, and stitches had torn, but it hadn’t bled, and seemed to be healing well. The older scars around it that fed over my shoulder in jagged white and pink lines, the ones from the alley attack, were continuing to fade. The scar that wasn’t fading much at all was the red line on my arm, a courtesy slice from a ghoulie’s talon during my first stint in the Waiting World.

I wouldn’t be wearing that strapless ball gown I didn’t own anytime soon.

There was a
thump
in my bedroom. Then arguing. Towel tucked securely, I poked my head out.

Van Helsing sat on top of my dresser with an arrogant, green-eyed stare, and the tip of his tail twitching a haughty rhythm. That was normal. The rest of the scene was not. Or at least it didn’t used to be.

“Are you kidding me?” I hissed.

Logan covered his eyes. “I told them it was a bad idea. Get back— Go— Stay in there!”

Tristan turned away and tried to shove Blake around so he wasn’t looking at me, but that wasn’t happening.  

Blake waggled his eyebrows. “Now that’s what I’m talking about, babe.”

I hiked the towel tighter. “You can’t keep doing this.”

“I disagree, chickadee. I could gaze at you fresh from the shower over and over again.”

Jayden frowned. “We thought we’d be in and out before you were finished. And bear in mind, I refrained from joining you in the shower again.”

“What!” Blake’s eyes bugged. Logan and Tristan thumped him repeatedly trying to get him to turn around. “Ow. Why didn’t I get invited into the shower? Babe, I’m way more man than all of these guys put together!”

Jayden huffed. “Like the rest of you, she seems to prefer showering alone.”

“One shower with me would change her mind. Ow! Okay, you guys are being mean.”

“Is Ayden with you?” My heart skipped. “He seemed better yesterday.”

“I told you he requires solitude to heal.” Jayden wouldn’t look at me. “You should give it to him. We agreed I’d act as boyfriend if the requirement arises.”

Since when? But he seemed testy so I didn’t push it. “You know I can’t leave for the sanctuary until after family breakfast. And I’m getting the tracker from Aunt M’s room so since you’re here, you can help, but…why are you here?”

Jayden pointed to Blake who held the ring Eros had given me.

“I don’t recognize this type of stone. Since Blake deals with earth, we thought he might be able to identify it without us having to run tests at the lab.”

I perked up. “And do you?”

“Why, yes I do, milady.” Blake’s chest puffed out, hazel eyes twinkling. “I finally know more than genius Jayden. Let me savor the moment.”

“Blake,” Logan warned.

“Fine.” Blake closed and opened his eyes. “Moment savored. But Eros is messing with you. This has to be a fake. They’re too rare. And even if he did have one, he’d never give it up.”

“Why, what is it?” I asked.

“It’s a
replica
of an umbra stone.” Blake held it up and rotated it. Sparkling freckles of sunlight caught in the facets and winked across my bedroom walls.

Tristan looked wary. “I thought the stone was just a myth.”

“No, it’s real,” Blake said. “Hunters with Earth powers know all about them. Because we deal a lot with minerals, gems, and if we find one, we’re supposed to protect it with our life and get it to the High Council immediately.”

Jayden paled. “Blake, give it back.” He tried to grab the ring but the big guy just lifted his hand out of reach.

“Keep away!” Blake grinned. “Babe, catch!”

I heard Jayden, Tristan, and Logan yelling “No!” Even Helsing let out a warning
yowl
. But of course I caught the stone. It was a reflex.

And a big mistake.

Which I realized almost immediately because the stone’s energy stoked up from my hand and into my arm, filled my chest. I could cover that up, but the bright glow radiated from my palm, beams shot out. I might as well have been trying to contain a star.

I dropped the stone, but it was too late. It rolled on the carpet, streaks of light bathing the bedroom walls.

“Uh...” I breathed. This was going to be tough to explain.

“You?” Blake’s eyes went huge and ping-ponged between the stone on the floor and me. “You’re the Divincus Nex?”

I screeched, “What? No!” How the heck had Blake, of all people, made that leap?

Blake cradled his head in his hands. “But—it can’t—you can’t—” He spun once, then came back to point at me. “I knew it!” His gaze bounced excitedly to each of the boys. “Jayden was right. It’s her! She’s a girl. The Divinicus Nex is a girl! It’s Aurora!”

When Blake reached for the ring on the floor, Logan, Tristan, and Jayden launched their attack.

Since it didn’t seem prudent to wade into a Hex Boy brawl at any time, let alone when wearing only a towel, I stood on the sidelines and watched them wrestle on the floor. Between grunts and curses, I gathered information.

“So an umbra stone activates, or glows, only when a Divinicus touches it?” I said.

Jayden sat on the back of Blake’s thigh, grabbed his ankle, and bent it back. “Correct. Which is how he ascertained your Divinicus identity.”

“Tag, babe,” Blake muffled from under the pile. “You’re it. Guys, let me up. I’m not going to turn her in. I think it’s cool having the Divinicus as my girlfriend.”

I rubbed my fingers together, remembering the feel of the pulsating force of the stone. “Blake, you sure you don’t know what the stone does?”

Blake shrugged his torso and, sitting on his back, both Logan and Tristan lurched up like they were riding a bucking bronco.

“Sorry, babe. Like I said, they don’t tell us much other than to get it to the High Council asap because the Divinicus uses it for some sort of extra demon-tracking powers. It’s all pretty hush-hush.”

My brow creased. “Eros said it would give me great power and help find the stone I need because they’re similar. Have a connection.”

The door opened. We all froze.

“Mom, this isn’t what it looks like.”

Mom put her hand on her hip. “It looks like a group of boys wrestling on the floor of your bedroom while you watch. Wearing a towel.”

“Okay,” I admitted, “it is what it looks like, but it’s not—”

“Sexual?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Mom!”

Luna stuck her head under Mom’s arm and sucked in a breath. “She’s gone from a love triangle to a kinky sex pentagon.”

Blake lifted his head. “Vote for Team Blake!”

Mom rolled her eyes. “Boys, vacate. Now. Aurora get dressed. And everybody head downstairs. Breakfast is on. I made quiche. There’s plenty for all.”

“First edible breakfast in weeks,” Luna said.

Blake smacked his lips. “Yum!”

Mom checked behind the door. “Ayden’s not here, is he?” I shook my head. “Then there’s no lust factor. Although, your father may not be as easy going as I am. So, gentlemen, get
out
.” 

As she left, Mom dragged Luna away with her.

Blake shook off the other boys and stood. “That’s offensive. I’m a very lustful guy.”

“And a big blabbermouth.” Logan whacked the back of Blake’s head. “But remember you can’t tell—”

“Ayden!” Blake shouted.

“Right,” Tristan said, “or —”

“No, it’s…” Wide-eyed, Blake jerked his chin toward my door.

Our heads swiveled.

Ayden filled the doorway, leaning against the frame, arms folded. “What can’t you tell me?”

He arched one eyebrow awaiting a reply. The silence seemed ready to explode.

Ayden zeroed in on Blake. “Come on, Weak Link, give it up.”

Blake blurted out, “Jayden was in the shower with Aurora!” 

I choked. “What!”

“You idiot!” Logan thumped Blake repeatedly.

“Technically, that’s true.” Jayden said. “But only once.”

Ayden’s arms dropped. Along with his jaw.

Tristan jumped up and shoved Jayden’s shoulder. “Shut up!”

I tugged the towel tighter. “Ayden, that didn’t happen. Exactly. Guys, he already knows the Divinicus thing.”

“Oh, good.” Blake was relieved. “Secrets? Not my thing.”

“No kidding,” I said.

“You told
Blake
before me?” Ayden said. “Unbelievable.”

Blake raised his brows. “What’s that supposed to mean?"

I held up my hand. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Oh, my God! Why are you in a towel?” Ayden sprang forward and ripped off his leather jacket. One hand got caught in the sleeve, and he whipped his arm up and down trying to dislodge it. Finally free, the jacket slapped to the ground. Ayden snapped it up and practically dove in front of me in his haste to drape it over my chest and shoulders.

“Are you okay?” I said. “Don’t hurt yourself. The chest wounds could open up.”

“I’m fine.” Ayden narrowed unpleasant looks over his shoulder as he tightened his arms around me, holding the jacket in place. “Why are you guys here? You shouldn’t be here.” He led us both in an awkward sidestep to my closet. “Take your time. Get clothes on. Lots of them.”

He shoved me inside and closed the door. In the pitch, dark I reached for the light switch, but the door opened again.

“Sorry.” Ayden’s hand slid in, groping for the switch, found it, and flipped it on. “Don’t come out until…lots and lots of clothes.”

As I dressed, I heard the strain in his voice.

“A shower? What the freakin’ hell, Jayden?”

“Not like that,” Tristan said. “It was his usual shower surprise routine.”

“On Aurora! On a girl! Mom and Dad will kill you if they find out.”

“I’ve already been apprised of my error.”

“If I don’t kill you first.”

“Whoa, Fireboy. Calm down.”

“Blake, let me go.”

“Maybe if you stop smoking.”

“Yeah,” Logan said, “you’re about to light up.”

“I’m about to light
into
all of you!”

“Ayden!” I exited the closet, giving my shirt a final pull over my hips and sprinted over to my bedroom door. “They’re right. Calm down. You’re going to have my whole family in here if you don’t quiet dow— Ugh!”

The door burst open with enough force to throw me back against the wall.