Marked (15 page)

David smacked his lips together. “Yup—don’t know anything about some kid, though. I’m not sure what that means?” He screwed up his face and gawked at his drink.

Kara swirled the straw around in her glass. “Do you think maybe we were
wrong
about Benson? If he’s looking for a kid, then maybe he’s not the one involved in trying to get us killed? I didn’t hear anything about a plot to get
us
killed. Did you?”

After a pause, David brushed the top of his hair with his fingers. “Nope. I don’t know. Maybe he was finished with his plan before we got there—and we only heard part of something else.”

“Or maybe it’s not
him
. Maybe we have it all wrong.”

“It has to be—no one else in the Legion would do this to us! I’m sure Benson is the one.”

But Kara was unconvinced. If Benson truly was behind the strange demon attacks, then why would he risk a meeting with some creepy mortal just to talk about some kid? It didn’t add up. But Kara didn’t press it any further.

Soon Kara was on her fourth drink. She laughed away at David’s silly jokes, the kind of laughing which would normally have made her innards ache. But without innards, Kara only felt a slight tingle in her chest. She couldn’t remember the last time when she had so much fun.

The music changed, and she felt David’s hand on hers as he pulled her to her feet.

“Time to go.”

“Huh? Already?” Kara hit her glass on the table.

They pushed their way out of the club and walked back along Saint-Catherine’s street. “We’ll go through Berri Park, towards the water fountain.” He told Kara. “The park will be deserted—perfect for a skinny dip on the way back to Horizon—ouch!” cried David. He rubbed the back of his head.

Kara pursed her lips. “Serves you right, Casanova.”

They reached the park after a short walk. The only sources of light came from the moon and the one flickering park light at the entrance. The trees cast long, ghostly shadows on the ground. Male crickets chirped in the night, as they tried to attract a female. A raccoon the size of a small dog enjoyed an earlier morning feast in a city garbage can. He hissed at them as they passed
.

“Can animals can see who we really are?” asked Kara.

“Yes. Animals are sensitive to different energies—they can sense us.”

The raccoon kept hissing. “I don’t think he likes us very much.”

David laughed. “Poor little guy. He probably just doesn’t want to share his meal.”

“Gross.”

Kara returned her attention to David. She watched him strut beside her, grinning. She liked how his shoulders moved back and forth as he walked; with his head in the air, like a proud peacock—

“AH!” Yelled Kara, as her foot got caught in a tree root. She went straight down to the ground. After a moment, she hauled herself up and sat on the grass. She giggled. “Oops.”

“I love ladies who can hold their liquor,” laughed David. He grabbed Kara by the arm and pulled her up—just a little too hard, for she flew into his arms. David wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She looked up. His blue eyes sparkled in the moon light. Kara blinked. She thought his face was even more beautiful close up. His full lips parted slightly, as he stared at her mouth. His face was closer now. Warmth spread through her mortal body. She felt on fire. And then she felt his lips pressing against hers; softly at first and then harder.

The kiss was sudden and fast.

The next thing Kara knew, David had released her and backed away, his face intense. He had a fiery look in his eyes. Her body exploded in tingles and he broke into a wide grin. He knew she was his.

But Kara was in shock.
What the hell just happened?

He was still holding on to her, as though he were reluctant to let her go. She had never been kissed before. It felt amazing. She grinned.

What the—?
She felt a sudden sharp pain in the back of her neck.

She reached back with her hand. She was suddenly propelled back with incredible force. She crashed onto the hard floor. If her body had been human, it’d have been broken. She rolled over. She felt something hard tightening around her neck, like a thick rubber hose. Her neck burned, as though the mortal flesh was on fire. Her body lifted off the ground. She twisted her M suit, trying to break free. But the hold was too strong. She looked down and got a glimpse at her attacker.

A shadow demon, three times larger than the ones she saw in Mrs. Wilkins’s apartment, glistened in the moonlight. It had her wrapped one of its tentacles around the neck. She could smell the foul stench of blood and rotten flesh. The demon let out a loud shriek that sounded almost like a laugh.

“Let her go, demon!” David ran towards her, his sword shimmering in the moon light. He leaped into the air behind her. Kara heard a
swish
and then felt a release. She hit the ground hard. She rolled over and tugged at her throat. She pulled off the foul tentacle. She scrambled to her feet and watched as the demon flickered and its solid form disappeared into a black mist.

“Stay behind me!” yelled David, as he ran towards the demon. Kara stared in horror as he threw himself into the black fog, arms flailing as he struck at the creature. “I—HATE—DEMONS!” he panted. And then he disappeared into the mist. For a moment nothing happened, then David came into view as he jumped out of the black fog. The demon shimmered and flicked into its solid form again. Wailing, it lashed out with its many limbs at David and knocked him off his feet. His sword flew out of his hand.

“DAVID!” screamed Kara. With incredible speed the creature wrapped its tentacles around David’s body. It lifted him up—and started pulling.

Panicked, Kara understood the creature meant to rip him apart. She searched frantically for the sword.
Where is it!
“Crap! Crap! CRAP!”

Kara caught a glimpse of something silver flash in the moonlight. Like a bullet, she bolted after the sword. She grabbed it, the blade heavy in her hand, and turned back. She ran towards the demon, the sword held high in her hand. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with it, once she got there. But she knew she had to save David, no matter what.

The demon slammed David’s body hard on the ground. It lifted him up and started to pull his limbs.

Kara saw her chance. She took it.

She pushed off the ground and jumped in the air, landing on the creature’s back. She thrust the blade down into its head.

Black ooze poured out of the wound, like thick tar, drenching Kara in black blood. She pushed off and landed back on the ground. Immediately, the demon wailed and let go of David. He fell to the ground and rolled on the grass. The demon reached behind and pulled out the blade. It shrieked and threw it aside. The shadow demon flashed, changed into a black cloud, and with a last flicker it disappeared.

Kara ran to David. “David! Oh my god! Are you alright?” She knelt beside him, searching his body for any missing limbs. “Your mortal body seems to have all its parts.”

A silly grin materialized on his face. “I am now,” he laughed. “Man, I’ve never seen a rookie take on a shadow demon like that! Kiddo, you were fierce! Wait till I tell the guys what you did! That was awesome!”

Kara shook her head. “What? Are you
insane
—you were almost killed!”

“But I live to tell the tale—this is better than the soup I created with demon blood!” He jumped into the air, no signs of injuries and started to dance. “We make a great team, Kiddo. We’ll be the talk of the town!”

Kara shook her head and sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Skinny dipping—here we come!”

As they walked towards the water fountain in silence, David’s face was twisted in a wide grin. And Kara’s mind was loud with thoughts only of the kiss.

Chapter 10. Oodles for Noodles

F
or the following days, neither of them mentioned the kiss. Kara wasn’t sure if she should bring it up. She couldn’t shut her mind up on the subject. Maybe he regretted doing it? Maybe it was the after effects of the gin tonic, and he thought he was kissing some gorgeous voluptuous model instead of her? And now, realizing the truth, perhaps he was embarrassed and hated himself for kissing a girl whose feminine curves had been flattened by a giant spatula. She decided to wait for the perfect moment to bring it up, if he didn’t.

And so, she and David submerged themselves in their work.

After a good combat training workout, they strutted away from the great white tent at Operations with their next job. David handed Kara the file, and they made their way towards the pools.

Kara’s jaw dropped as she stared at the paper. “A drunk city bus driver is going to crash his bus into a busy Chinese restaurant—Oodles for Noodles. Ten dead mortals, including children!” She looked up at David. “
This
is my next assignment? Are they freak’n mad? I don’t want to be responsible for this!”

David took the file back from Kara, folded it and hid it inside his leather jacket. “We all get tough assignments like this, once in a while. It’s part of the job.” He clasped his hands on the metal railing and pulled himself up the four sets of stairs, onto the pool’s platform.  “We stop the accident, we stop all those people from dying,” David said, as Kara climbed up behind him.

“I’ll never get used to this new life,” said Kara. “The life I had before was
so
simple…I didn’t have to save anyone from dying—I just—ate ice cream and painted.” She stared down at the caustics rippling along the surface of the light blue waters, as her mind flashed on the remnants of her mortal life, the simple life. “…and demons didn’t want to suck my brains out and have them for lunch.”

David ignored her and stretched, preparing for the jump. “You have your gear?”

“Yup.” Kara slid a blue and white backpack from her shoulders and rummaged through it. “I got my map, sword, salt shakers and my
badass
butterfly net,” giggled Kara, as the idea of salt shakers and fish nets as gear was still a little outrageous to her.

David stepped up to the ledge of the pool. “Let’s go, Kiddo. On three—one—two—three—!”

Kara and David strutted up Decarie Boulevard. They zigzagged through crowds of students who were cutting class and some elderly shoppers who dragged their feet as they went. The busy street overwhelmed Kara’s ears with loud honks and running motors. They made their way north, taking in the exhaust stink.

“What’s the address again?” asked Kara.

“674 Decarie Boulevard, near the corner of De L’Église Street.”

Kara looked up the street. “And we have to be there for 3:45pm—what time is it now?”

“It’s 3:38pm,” said David, as he glanced at his watch. “And I can see the address from here.”

He pointed with his right arm to a one floor stone building, where Oodles for Noodles was squished in the middle by shops on either side, like the custard from a giant
mille-feuille
. It was just a block away, and they reached it within two minutes.

Kara stared at the oncoming traffic. “Do we know what city bus were looking for? The number or something?”

“204,” said David. “It should be an out-of-service bus.”

She turned her attention southwards and searched the boulevard for the bus. She felt an excitement growing in her breast. The idea of being responsible for so many mortal lives made her truly nervous.

“Uh, David?” asked Kara after a moment. “How are we going to pull this off? How can anyone pull this off?” She let her hands fall to her sides. “What’s the plan?”

David turned to face her. “Well, we know the bus loses control and crashes into the 674 building on Decarie—at precisely 3:45pm. So…we have to stop it before the crash.”