by Kat Simons
Angie winced as the sounds of approaching demons from beyond the portal grew louder. They’d be here soon.
“Faster,” she murmured, her voice lost in the Molder demon’s shrieking.
Sebastian stalked forward, and with every step the demon dropped back, closer and closer to the breach.
“I will return,” it hissed. “I will have this realm.”
“No,” Mara said at the same time as Sebastian said, “Be gone, beast.”
The Molder demon hit the edges of the portal and was sucked through with a horrendously awful, squishing noise that made Angie wince.
There was enough screaming and high-pitched denials that she wanted to cover her ears. She blinked slowly, prepared to look away, to close the opening between realms, to let the barrier that separated her world from the hellscape solidify again. Focused on pulling her gaze away. Willed herself to turn from the tree.
A flash of movement to her left and another series of screams.
She couldn’t look away in time. Grant lunged through the gap, threw himself into the hellscape at the same moment as Angie forced her gaze to the ground.
Too late to stop him from going through.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The opening between realms closed with an audible snap.
Angie blinked hard at the ground. “Shit. Should I open it again? We need to get him out.”
“Leave him,” Carmen said in disgust. “He deserves what he gets.”
Angie looked to Sebastian. She’d almost been trapped in a demon realm once before. Only gotten out because Sebastian had managed to hold the doorway open with his will and pull her out. He’d reached through that portal and rescued her. If not for him, she would have been trapped. And she’d been too panicked to defend herself well. The demons had been on her. She would have died.
She wouldn’t wish that terror on anyone. Not even Grant.
But he’d gone through willingly, run into the realm, not been dragged there. He would die in a horrible way, but it was his own doing.
Sebastian looked to the tree. He wouldn’t be able to see into the hellscape. He couldn’t even when she tore open the boundary between worlds.
“Open it for a moment, not long,” he said quietly. “If I can pull him out, I will.”
“No,” Carmen said, nearly barked. “Why risk it? He’s a baby killing bastard.”
Angie agreed he was a bastard, but…
She forced her gaze up and stared into the tree’s natural V, brought the realm beyond into view.
And knew it was too late.
The screams. The blood. She gagged and dropped her gaze, dropped all the way to her knees as her stomach rolled.
Almost worse than the images from the lantern and the demon’s own psyche.
“Well, that’s going to cause a lot of nightmares,” she murmured as Sebastian dropped down next to her and pulled her into his arms.
She went without protest, hugging close to his heat.
“He earned that,” Carmen said.
“Yes,” Ellen agreed. “He did.”
Angie couldn’t echo their sentiment. They hadn’t seen. They didn’t know.
And maybe it was better for everyone that way.
She looked up at Carmen. “Why did you give up the demon?”
She made a disgusted face. “I didn’t have much choice, did I?”
“You’ll do this again?”
“The people I go after deserve what they get.”
“You could use your will to a better purpose,” Sebastian said.
“Like you do? Stopping demons?” She snorted. “No.”
“There are people who will want to talk with you,” he said.
There was a bite in Sebastian’s tone. And Angie remembered that Carmen had killed a hunter. The others wouldn’t let that go. What they’d do with Carmen, Angie had no idea. But they’d want justice for their fallen.
“If they can find me,” Carmen said. She glanced at Ellen. “Don’t leave your daughter with demon-summoning assholes anymore.”
Ellen pulled Mara close, glaring at Carmen.
Carmen turned to Mara and her expression softened. “I wouldn’t have let him hurt you,” she said.
Mara leaned into her mother without answering.
Carmen sighed and nodded. “Be good, little girl. Train that magic so you don’t hurt yourself.” She glanced at Sebastian again. “If your people come looking for me, I will fight back.”
“We wouldn’t expect any less. But they will be looking for you.”
“Fair enough.” She gave him a little solute and disappeared into the darkness under the trees.
“You’re just letting her go?” Ellen demanded. “She’s one of the bad people.”
“She won’t get far,” a new voice. From beyond the tree Angie had used to open the demon realm.
The hunter they’d met in the restaurant, who’d taken the lantern—or fake lantern as it now seemed—stepped from behind the tree. She looked at Angie. “What you can do is terrifyingly impressive,” she said without preamble.
“If you say so. I find it a pain in my ass more often than not.”
“What are you doing here?” Sebastian asked.
“The lantern…” She gestured to the real lantern, on the ground within Sebastian’s easy reach.
“You figured out the other was a fake?” Angie asked, wishing they’d realized as quickly.
“It wasn’t,” the hunter said.
Angie and Sebastian sat up straighter, though he didn’t pull his arms from around her.
“They come in pairs,” the hunter said.
“Why didn’t I know that?” Sebastian asked.
“It wasn’t relevant.”
“Not relevant?” Angie snarled. “If a hunter comes across one, and doesn’t know it’s part of a pair, they won’t look for the second one. What a dumb ass thing to say. Not relevant. Of course, it’s bloody relevant.”
Sebastian’s hand flexed on her shoulder.
“They’re impossibly rare,” the hunter said without any signs of unease. “There are only six pairs. And we have four of those in our possession already.” She shrugged. “Over the years, the pairs have been separated. There was no way to know if this pair had remained intact or not.”
“I’m not buying that even a little,” Angie said. “Or you wouldn’t be here.”
“Buy it or not, it’s the truth,” the hunter said. “I didn’t know the pair was intact. But I did sense when the second one activated. That’s why I’m here.”
“Why did Carmen’s associate say he’d replaced the other with a fake then?” Angie asked, realizing she had no idea what the pale man’s name was. He’d be harder to track now.
“Don’t worry about him,” the hunter said as if reading Angie’s mind. “The police are picking him up now. Anonymous tip. He’s quite the thief, you know.”
“Mm hmm. Why did he think he’d replaced a real lantern with a fake?” Angie wouldn’t be distracted, but she was glad to hear he’d be arrested. She didn’t like the idea of loose ends running around, especially ones who’d spent time hosting a demon. Carmen walking away was bad enough.
“Carmen will be taken into custody too,” the hunter said, again as if reading Angie’s mind, but also answering Ellen’s earlier question. “She’s a history of stealing from the rich men she destroys. She’s cleaned up most of her…fingerprints, if you will, over the years. But not all.” The hunter’s eyes flared just a little redder as she said, “Killing one of ours comes with consequences.”
“Well that’s all nice and neat,” Angie said, but not with any rancor. In truth, she was relieved. She’d have been frustrated if the scales hadn’t been balanced. She knew they couldn’t always be, that sometimes, bad people got away with their crimes. But oh how she loved a balanced scale. And this way, the appropriate level of justice would be done.
Images of Grant’s screaming husk rose to haunt her. She wasn’t sure that had been appropriate
justice, even if he’d done it to himself. Maybe even if it was what he’d deserved. She just… Some things were just so damned horrible, even for evil bastards.
The hunter approached the lantern with care, studying it without touching it. “You have an affinity for demons,” she said to Angie without looking at her.
“No,” Angie said.
“You didn’t require any sort of…process before the demon could use the lantern to possess you. There’s usually some sort of process involved.”
“Is that why it went for me instead of Mara?” Angie asked. She knew the beast had intended to possess Mara, because of her magic. It had only changed its interest to her because of her ability to open doorways into demon realms. But in those moments before the lantern had been tossed at her, they could have as easily forced Mara to take the demon. Unless doing so required more time.
“They had already prepared Mara to be a host. Though she wasn’t aware of it.”
“What?” Ellen screeched. “How do you know that? What did they do to her?”
The hunter sighed. “We haven’t let Grant go unmonitored,” she said slowly.
“Yet you didn’t stop him. Or Carmen.” Ellen took a step toward the hunter, violence in her eyes.
“Actually, we did,” the hunter said. She widened her hands. “You’ll notice neither of them got away with their plans.”
“Not for lack of trying,” Angie muttered.
“And they nearly did,” Ellen added.
The hunter shrugged. “It’s all worked out. I’m not sure why you’re upset.”
Ellen snarled and started toward the woman again, but Mara held her back. “Let it go, mom,” she murmured. “They’re all gone now. We can start over.”
Ellen let out a harsh breath. “So much time lost,” she whispered.
“But it’s over now. We can start over.” She touched her mom’s shoulder and Ellen turned to face her, her glare dropping away as she looked at her daughter. “I want to start over. Maybe somewhere…else.”
“If you’re open to suggestions,” Angie said, “New Mexico is lovely. And I have a friend there who is very good at training budding witches. She mentored me when I was new.”
“There,” the hunter said. “Everything is properly sorted. Now, I’ll take this lamp.” She looked at Angie. “And we’ll expect you before the council in the next week. After you recover yourself.” To Sebastian, she said, “Assure she’s there. After what I witnessed tonight, we can’t allow this…estrangement to continue.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Angie said, half rising.
The hunter waved at Sebastian. “You’re free to explain now. The time has come.”
“’Bout bloody time,” he muttered under his breath.
“Explain what?” Angie said her voice rising.
“Goodnight, Angela. Sebastian.” The hunter scooped up the lantern and dropped it into a reusable bag she pulled from her coat pocket—not the same bag as Angie had sacrificed to the other lantern. “We’ll see you both at the end of the week.”
“Wait,” Angie said, her voice deepening with her anger. But Sebastian put a quelling hand on her shoulder even as the hunter walked away, heading down the path that would lead toward Strawberry Field and an exit from the Park.
“I’ll explain everything later,” he murmured, close to her cheek.
Angie realized belatedly that the hunter had distracted her, and she still didn’t know why the pale man thought he’d replaced a real lantern with a fake. So much for balance. Damn it.
“Let’s get Mara and Ellen home,” Sebastian said. “They’ve had a bad night.”
Angie looked at Mara, her face pale and worn. She was drooping, hanging heavily in her mother’s arms now. And Angie remembered the will she’d used to help Sebastian. The instinctive shield she’d built around herself. The girl was using powers she was new to and had no real control over. Add to that she’d been kidnapped and nearly handed over to a demon tonight. Of course she was exhausted.
Angie let Sebastian help her back to her feet, but whispered in his ear so only he would hear, “You have a lot of explaining to do later. And you owe me a bottle of Tequila.”
“Yes,” he said. “To both.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Angie woke with her head aching. Damn, she should have had more water before bed. Live and learn.
Live.
She was alive. She didn’t have a demon inhabiting her body. Some dangerous artifacts had been removed from the careless hands of human society—at least she hoped. And most importantly, Mara had survived and found—again, Angie hoped—a loving home.
She really really hoped Mara and Ellen finally found some piece and normality. Hard to live under the reign of a demon for all those years.
She rubbed at her face and rolled over in her bed, staring at the brick wall. She loved this little apartment. Loved the single brick wall that ran through the long, narrow space. Loved the continuity of that. Her landlord had let her paint the walls, so she’d given everything a soft, sandy color with a few highlights of turquoise and burnt orange. The rugs were Navajo, sent from her parents. And her no-longer-working fireplace in the living room held a collection of flowering cacti.
Living room—where Sebastian had crashed on her couch. She’d have to face him soon. She glanced at the clock and groaned. Almost noon. She had work tonight too. And she and Sebastian still had a lot to say to each other.
They hadn’t talked about anything important at all last night. They’d picked up a bottle of Tequila in an all-night liquor store, come back to her place, gotten ripping drunk, and he’d passed out on her couch while she’d stumbled into bed to pass out.
They’d spent the night arguing over the philosophy inherent in their favorite movies. That philosophy had seemed deeper and more profound the more Tequila they drank, too. The messages of hope and love in Die Hard. The existential crisis at the heart of The Highlander. How it would have been a crime against humanity if anyone but David Bowie had played the Goblin King in Labyrinth.
The release of the last couple of days, the freedom to just get drunk and enjoy an old friend’s company had been so wonderful.
And the fact that they’d managed not to complicate things by falling into bed together, despite a very near moment, an almost kiss, was also a relief this morning.
It had been a close thing, though. That moment, leaning in, holding his gaze, knowing exactly how his mouth would feel on hers, how he would taste…
But that would have been much too complicated when they still had so many things to discuss.
Unfortunately, with light streaming in through the crack in her curtains, she knew it was time to face that discussion, like it or not. No more hiding in Tequila and movie philosophy.
She rolled out of bed with a groan, her head swimming, and stumbled to the bathroom in the vain hope that a cool shower would somehow help her hangover.
She did feel less spinny and gross by the time she came out to the living room, but her head still ached.
Sebastian was sitting on the couch, looking rough around the edges, cradling a steaming cup of tea.
“Is it helping?” she asked.
He smiled up at her. “I could will the hangover away, but I feel like I deserve it.”
“Thought the same thing in the shower. I earned it. I have time for it. I need to live with it.”
“You have the good tea still.” He raised his cup.
She breathed in the strong scent of English Breakfast tea and smiled. “You ruined me for the ordinary stuff.”
She sat on the opposite end of the couch from him, carefully, so she didn’t jostle him. He was still wearing his t-shirt and jeans, all looking the worse for wear since he’d slept in them, but he’d neatly folded the blanket she’d slung over him last night and set it on the back of the comfortably overstuffed couch.
Tucking her toes up under her, she faced him. “We better talk now. I have work later.”
“You don’t want breakfast first?”
She groaned and put a hand to her stomach. “No food. Not yet.”
“The only time you ever pass up a meal. When you’ve been deep into your Tequila.” He sipped his tea. “You want to start with the questions, or will I just carry on with the answers?”
She waved a hand for him to carry on. The questions were all pretty obvious.
“The hunter you met, who took the lanterns, she’s a member of the demon hunters council. Our governing body.”
She raised her brows. “You have a governing body? Why didn’t I know?”
“No one but the hunters know they exist. No one we work with. No one we love. You have to be a hunter to know about them.”
She let that sink in for a few minutes before saying, “I’m not a hunter.”
“No,” he said with a nod. “You’re not.”
“What happens? Now that you’ve told me. Why have you told me?”
“They’ve been…” He looked away, staring at the cacti that turned her otherwise useless fireplace into a mini desert garden. “They aren’t happy that you’ve been left unmonitored for the last two years.”
Everything in Angie stilled. She only remembered to breath after her lungs started to burn. “Monitored?”
He didn’t face her. “My job, after we first met, when Aidan and I came to you for help, and…”
He didn’t need to go into detail. She remembered their first meeting.
She’d met Aidan at five, when Aidan had saved her after she’d accidentally unleashed demons onto the world by looking into a V in a tree. She’d been a child and Aidan had seemed like a white knight. Over the years, Aidan had ensured her safety, introduced her to her magical mentor, Esmeralda, and when she was old enough, had come to her for help with a demon loose in New Mexico.
She’d brought one of her protégé with her.
Sebastian.
Angie didn’t really believe in love at first sight. But there had been something between her and Sebastian from the start. A spark she couldn’t dismiss. Something he didn’t act on at first. Not at first. But he and Aidan showed up a few times that year, always asking for her help. Eventually, he started showing up without Aidan, and not always for help with demons.