Unearthed (32 page)

“Yes. Yes, to everything.”

“I didn’t finish asking.”

“You shouldn’t waste the question on something so obvious. Yes, to everything.” He kissed her because demons didn’t kiss, because he didn’t want to be a demon, because he didn’t want to leave her.

“Wow,” she said, pulling away. “You forgot humans need to breathe occasionally.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you breathing…heavily.”

She laughed without him, stopping when she realized it. “What’s going on with you?”

He hated how weak she made him, but they didn’t have much more time. So he didn’t want to hold back, to hesitate or worry about the longterm effects, because there was no long term. This was it for him. In two weeks—max—all this would be a memory, and even that wasn’t for sure. Maybe once he was down there, he wouldn’t be allowed to remember anything beautiful. But that wasn’t her problem and if he told her, she’d probably want to spend a lot of time talking about it. And he wasn’t
that
human-ish.

“I’m only being nice because I feel bad for the third-degree burns. Once you’re all better, I’m kicking you out and going full-on glutton with people’s minds.”

“Are you trying to make me jealous?” she asked, smiling as she stood.

He decided to give her a few minutes before he followed her into his room, giving himself a little time to contemplate the meaning of nothing. But when she came back out only a few minutes later, fully clothed with her hair slicked back and her boots on, he regretted every bit of thinking he’d ever done.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

“A dive bar on Lincoln Avenue,” she said calmly. “When those vamps thought I was dead, one of them mentioned taking me to Lincoln Avenue where a guy named Jimmy could clean me up. Then Lamere would think I’d been stabbed when he found my body. There just happens to be a bar called Jimmy’s so I thought I’d check it out.”

“Where they were going to dump your dead body. How is that supposed to make me feel better about you going?”

“It’s not.” She pulled two stakes out of her bag, checked their strength, then put them back. “It’s supposed to explain where I’m going and why.”

“No.”

Her jaw dropped open. “Excuse me? Lamere thinks I’m dead. Again. You don’t seriously think I’m going to stay here and wait for him to realize I’m alive and come find me, do you?”

“No, I’m seriously hoping you’ll take your head out of your ass and let me go after him alone.”

“Wow. You’re not my father, or my boyfriend, or even my boss. So fuck off.” She grabbed her bag and tossed it over her shoulder, pushing past him on her way to the door. “This is why demons don’t have relationships. Because they think they’re the only ones who can do anything right.”

“Demons don’t have relationships because relationships suck! And we don’t have a relationship, hunter. We have a…a thing.”

“A relationship.”

“Stop using that word!”

“Go steal a dictionary, demon. Then you’ll finally understand that using the word doesn’t mean I want to settle down and have demon-spawn with a guy who won’t even put out. And
not
using the word doesn’t mean we forget the other exists. And no word in the English language means you get to tell me what to do.”

He grabbed her when she bounced off his chest. “We have a
thing
that means I’d rather not watch you die.”

That stopped her. For about five seconds.

“Okay, I guess that’s a pretty big thing. But now you need to put your big thing away, so we can go hunting.” She spun and headed out the door. “If we team up, you won’t have to watch me die.”

Fuck, he hoped that was true. And he
prayed
that, if it happened, he wouldn’t be the one who killed her.

Keira couldn’t go back to her place for weapons. Luckily, even if she wasn’t paranoid enough to spread their locations out, she had too many to keep them all in the one place.

“Is this how you do all your hunting?” Davyn asked as they walked down the long cement corridor of the self-storage place, smacking the locks against the metal doors just to make noise. At least they’d stopped arguing. “It’s fun. Ineffective, but fun.”

She didn’t bother glaring at him, stopping in front of her unit and spinning the combination lock. “I need some more equipment.” She dropped the volume of her voice when she saw the security guard at the end of the aisle. “Stakes, lights, chain, that kind of stuff.”

“We should go.” His whole body was tight, facing the guard until the man shuffled away.

“Relax. He’s a seer—all the staff here are. That’s why I come here.” But she whispered anyway, because she’d never trust anyone
that
much.

“I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.”

“I’m sure he felt the same way—you’re a demon, remember? Besides, you’re so unattractive, I would’ve thought you’d be used to being stared at.” The door stuck until she kicked it open. “We can go as soon as I get my stuff.”

He looked around the 10’x10’ space in awe. Bins of stakes, a sanding wheel to make them, all her knives sheathed and carefully lined up side by side. She may not care about how she looked, but she took great pride in her workspace, as small as it was. Davyn was so big, he barely had enough room to turn around, but when he did, he saw the fifty-pound bags of salt leaning up against the wall. “Ouch. That’s not for me, is it?”

“Only if you deserve it.” She showed him the knife handles she’d made, trying not to blush at his compliments.

“A vamp should be honored to get one of these in his chest.” Davyn might not
use
weapons, but he knew quality when he saw it.

“Shut up,” she said, pulling out a large duffel bag and throwing stuff inside. She’d been caught underprepared the last time she fought. It wouldn’t happen again. When she had about all she could comfortably carry, she tossed another flashlight in and then hoisted it over her shoulder.

The door at the end of the corridor was closed. Not unusual, considering this place was supposed to be secure, but something about it felt wrong. She shoved her bag at Davyn, jogged warily to the door, and yanked the handle.

“It’s locked. From the outside.” Probably the security guard they’d seen earlier. Keira took off in the opposite direction, brushing past Davyn on her way to the other exit. She tried that door handle, shook it, and then started cursing.

“Is there a problem, hunter?” he asked calmly, coming up behind her and setting down her bag.

“It’s locked. He locked the damn door.” She scanned the hallway for another way out. Nothing, not even any windows. “Hey!” she screamed, pounding on the door. “We’re still in here!” The building was designed to keep people out not in, but the effect was the same.

“Your great plans for revenge, thwarted by a door lock. That’s really fucking sad. I wish I had a camera—you should see the look on your face, and I should have something to refer to if I ever get sappy again. Hey”—he looked up to the corner where the wall met the ceiling—“we’re in luck. They have cameras. Wanna fool around? Come on, let’s make some nice memories, then we can swipe the videos on the way out.”

“Stop being so damn calm, demon! It’s annoying as hell.”

“Nothing is as annoying as hell.” He eyed her bag. “Did you bring anything to eat?”

She groaned and then kicked the door handle. “Can you break it down?”

“Yeah,” he said, sounding offended. “But I couldn’t fix it and broken-down metal doors tend to make humans curious.” The whole collateral-damage thing was a pain in the ass Keira didn’t need. “
But
I could do the old-school demon thing and pop on out of here with my fancy magical powers.”

Oh, right.
“You’re so amusing, demon. Just don’t forget to unlock the door once you’re on the other side.”

“Why would I do that?”

She glared at him. “Because we made a deal.”

“Lame reason. You should’ve used my dire need to get into your pants again. Something like, if the door doesn’t open, the pants don’t either.”

“Davyn, knock it off! You can tell bad jokes later.”

“That’s not a joke. I really do want to get into your pants again, and having your taste on my tongue is a pretty powerful incentive.”

“Inappropriate commentary, Davyn. Right now, try to think with your other head.”

“Come on, it’s a beautiful day, and I’m locked inside a modern-day fortress with a beautiful woman.” He backed her against the wall without touching her. “So what do you think she wants to do?”

“She wants to get out of here!” She pushed his chest so he’d give her a little space.

“In a bit,” he said, blowing her off. “Since I have your full attention in here, tell me something about yourself. Anything.” Why was he wasting her time? For the same reason he hadn’t wanted her to leave his place earlier. No way was he going to keep her stuck in here until dusk.

“If you really care, let’s talk about it somewhere else.”

“Here’s good.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass.” Which he fully acknowledged and probably took pride in…even though pride was a sin. “I tell you something, and you get me out of here.”

“Perfect.” He brightened at the opportunity to make a deal—his demon nature something she could always count on, even in a world as unpredictable as theirs.

“Um…” She leaned back against the concrete wall and tried to think of something amusing or even interesting. Her life prior to becoming a seer had been uneventful—good home, decent student. “My life was pretty boring.”

“No human life is boring—they’re too short. Try being immortal for a while.”

She considered what it would be like to be immortal, how she would fill all that time. Even obsessed hunters and mercenaries had days off. Once she’d cleaned her weapons and folded her laundry, there wasn’t much else. Davyn
was
a weapon and he probably dry-cleaned all his clothing. So what did he do? Aside from eating a lot.

Oh
. “You can have sex with any kind of super, right?”

He arched a brow. “Yeah. Anyone who isn’t human. Why do you ask?”

“Just trying to think of ways you might keep yourself busy. And feeling slightly intimidated by how much sex you’ve probably had.”

“Have you?” he asked after a minute, an unreadable expression on his face. “Had much sex?”

She shrugged. “Some. But my life’s been kinda complicated for the last few years, so relationships aren’t a priority. I’m too busy killing things for anything lasting.” She tried to laugh, but it came out too weak to be called that.

“Tell me about your first time.”

“Seriously?”

“Am I not supposed to ask?”

“No, it’s…um…” Unpleasant to think about. But she trusted him. “Okay, my first time.” She looked up, trying to remember the facts without the feelings. “Picture this: Senior year of high school, which means I’m almost eighteen. It’s about three months into my life in the Heights, but I don’t know it yet because the angels missed me. I’m with a friend at a football game, but we’re not watching the game. We’re in the parking lot smoking and drinking cheap-ass wine out of a Big Gulp cup.” She glanced at him, needing a sign he was listening, that she wasn’t going through all this for nothing.

His body was as relaxed as always, but his eyes were their most intense—he was definitely interested. And was waiting for her to go on.

She took a breath. “This car pulls up and stops right under the floodlight. Like jaw-to-the-floor hot car. Same thing with its driver—he was perfect. I don’t really think about it too much because my friend says she knows him. We both jump in the car, excited because we’re being
bad
.” She shrugged. “Or stupid, I guess. Blah-blah-blah. Then I realize he’s a little too perfect.”

“A vampire. Your first lover was a vampire?”

Lover? Was that what he’d asked? “No. My first
kill
was a vamp.” She tapped her hand on her thigh. “Do you want to know more?” She waited for his nod. “From the second I got in his car, I had this awful feeling that I couldn’t quite pinpoint. But I didn’t care and was self-destructive ’cause, you know, I’d just died.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You’ve never been human, let alone a teenager. They never make sense—it’s a hormonal thing. Plus, I was screwed up because I kept seeing things that weren’t real, like a guy’s eyes completely change color, glimpses of what I now know were demons, and shit like that.

“Anyway,” she continued. “I didn’t start trusting that feeling until he’d taken us way out of town. As soon as we got out of the car, we got our first really good look at each other. He must have been young because I don’t think he’d figured out I was a seer until then. Maybe because I hadn’t figured it out either. I knew something awful was about to happen, but I hesitated. We might’ve been able to get away if I’d trusted myself. When I saw his fangs come out, I got it—what I was seeing was real, and it was about to kill me.”

Keira felt her heart speeding along, keeping up with every word of a story she’d never shared before, because she’d never had anyone who she wanted to let in, to know who she was and why.

“My friend saved my life. She jumped on the vamp’s back, totally clueless about how dangerous he was. Because she couldn’t
see
him. While he was…um…killing her, I got to a piece of wood and prayed I could stake him hard enough. I did.”

“You can’t feel guilty for killing something that would’ve killed you.”

“Now? No way. I wish I could go back and kill him a few more times. But back then? I don’t know—it’s different being on the outside. I was just a stupid, confused teenager. What did I know about life, or death, or monsters?” Or either of the worlds she lived in.

“It was total luck,” she said. “A brand-new seer shouldn’t have been able to dust a vamp. But then something grabbed my hair and hauled me away from my friend’s body.”

“Lamere.”

She nodded. “They’d planned a double-date-slash-murder. But he didn’t kill me, and he didn’t feed from me. He took me.” She cleared her throat. “The first person I had sex with was a shithead named Blake who I dated for a while junior year. Lamere was the second, obviously not by choice. And now that you know all of my torrid past, it’s your turn.”