by Jen Pretty
“Where to?” the driver asked shortly.
Nick rattled off the address and the driver actually punched it into his GPS.
“You sure?” the cabbie asked, glancing over his shoulder at us.
“Yup.” Nick glanced out the window as the car rolled away from the lights of the hotel. Wherever we were going, the cabbie didn't sound very excited. The city rushed past in bright lights and busy streets. Car horns honked and the sounds of music drifted in through the open window at every stop light. The music died down and the sounds of people yelling filtered through as we continued. The streets got darker and meaner as we went.
The cab rolled to a stop in an area I wouldn't have got out in if I didn't have Nick with me. Nick handed the driver some cash and we slid out onto the empty sidewalk. Nick pointed to an alley, for crying out loud! I was pretty sure he had just brought me here to kill me by this point. I doubted even demons wanted to hang around here.
At an unmarked door, Nick knocked hard three times, and we stood waiting in the near black of the night. The door swung open on creepy hinges and a head popped out.
“Who are you?” a deep baritone asked. Black scales covered his face like a demon's and he was nearly as tall. He took another step forward and I took a big step back, bumping into Nick. Nick's hand came up to rest on my back, loaning me some strength.
“Nick and Harlow. I talked to Donny.”
The bouncer, because that was obviously who he was, stepped out to get a closer look at us. He wore dark jeans and a black tank top; I could see the scales trailed down to about his elbows before the skin turned into normal human flesh.
“Donny said he was expecting hunters. You look like a hunter, but this one looks pretty small for hunting,” he said, eyeing me like I was a pork chop.
I scoffed. “It takes more than muscle to catch a gargoyle. Have you ever caught one?”
He grunted and held the door open. The sound of music spilled out into the alley as Nick and I slid past him. The lights in the club were rainbow coloured and flashing over the people like laser beams. There was a lot of skin on display as well as scales and wings and horns. Half-demons packed the club. Everyone we passed had some demon feature. The bouncer led us to the back of the club.
Seated in a deep booth tucked into the corner was a man with no sign of being a demon at all. His hair was dark sandy brown, and when he rose he was over six feet tall. He wore leather and looked more rugged than a demon. Like a warrior. Or a hunter.
“Donny,” Nick said, extending his hand. Donny shook his hand but had his eyes were glued to me. He scanned me up and down like he was looking for something, and I guess he didn't find it because he looked back to Nick.
“Is this her?”
“She is right here,” I said before Nick could answer. Macho boy shit was not going to fly with me.
Donny's eyes slid back to me, his expression blank. “You are Harlow?”
“In the flesh,” I replied. “I need to ask you some questions.”
He chuckled and his eyes scanned behind me. I wanted to turn around and see what he was looking at. There were a lot of half-demons behind me in this club. Not a very comfortable place for me to be, but I didn't dare take my eyes off the hunter in front of me. Show no fear and all that.
“All right, follow me.” He turned on his heel and led us through a doorway at the back of the warehouse-turned-dance club. Single hanging bulbs at irregular intervals lit the hallway; as if someone had just tossed up some light without being concerned about lighting the whole way. The sounds of the music faded the farther we walked, and Donnie's broad back took up most of the hall until he stopped at a door and pulled a key out of his pocket. Beyond the door was a comfortable, though small, apartment. There was a kitchenette and living room, and a small closed door led to what I assumed was a bedroom.
Donnie grabbed some beers from the fridge and handed them out before collapsing on the couch in the middle of the living room. I took a seat in a plastic lawn chair and Nick sat on the other end of the sofa. I popped off the top of my beer and took a deep drink. Thank God. I was sweating in my pants and the cool alcohol felt like heaven.
“So, what do you want to know?” Donnie asked after a moment of silence for us each to commune with our drinks.
“I need to find Collin,” I replied simply.
He stared at me for a long minute and then turned to look at Nick. “You sure about this?”
“He’s summoning demons. We have to stop him,” I said. Donnie turned back again since Nick didn't reply. This Donnie was a piece of work.
“And what are you going to do about him? Even demon touched, there is no way you can stop Collin.” So he had heard about me and was choosing not to believe I had any special power.
“If you have a better suggestion, I’d love to hear it,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Yeah, you should go on home and leave the demons to professionals. You could end up dead or worse.”
I wouldn’t tell him that death is the worst; I was sick of this guy's attitude. “And who would be the professionals exactly? Collin has been in your city for months and he is still running around causing big shit. If you won't do anything to stop him, I will.” I stood to leave. If Donnie wanted to be a dick, he could do it on his own time.
“Orange station,” Donnie said from behind me as I reached the door. I turned back, and Nick was right behind me, but Donnie was still sitting on the couch, picking at the paper wrapper on his beer bottle.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“The subway station. Someone has seen him entering the station, but he doesn't get on a train. He disappears onto the tracks.”
I walked out the door, Nick hot on my heels.
“Was that a hunter?” I whispered to Nick.
“Yup. A douchey one.”
I snickered as we travelled back down the low-lit hall and out the door into the club. I scanned the dark corners, feeling eyes watching me, but kept moving towards the door we came in. Nick was at my back but whoever was watching me was intent and the hairs on my neck raised. Just as I approached the door, a solid mass stepped in front of me. I stopped short, or I would have bounced right off the broad bare chest. It was a human chest, but wings peeked up behind his shoulder. The man was wider than he was tall, and muscles rippled along his shoulders. I trailed my eyes up, and his face was steely and cold. I wanted to shiver just from the look in his eyes. Nick’s heat radiated behind me.
The half-demon nodded and then stepped aside, reaching behind him to push the door open. I suddenly didn't want to step out into the dark alley, but Nick's hand pressed gently between my shoulder blades, and I slipped past the winged demon into the night. The door clicked shut behind us and we were alone in the alley, but a moment later the door opened again and the half-demon stepped out. I was pretty sure he was about to kill us. I prepared myself to do some major kung-fu, but the massive half-demon just held out his hand like we should proceed him out of the alley.
“What do you want?” I asked, not moving away.
“Julian is my brother. I know of his capture. I will assist you.” I realized he had a light trench coat over his arm, and he pulled it on so it covered his massive wings. He still looked otherworldly since he was a giant, but with his sides covered he passed for human. The moon’s fragile light reflected off his black hair that was slicked back like he was from an old movie.
“How do you know he was captured?” I asked, feeling only a tiny bit better about being in the alley with the half-demon.
“I saw him taken. It took ten half-demons to subdue him. My name is Alessandro. You may call me Al.” With that, he led the way out of the alley and halfway down the block to a rusted old car that looked like a death trap. He held the passenger side door open for me. I wondered if I needed a tetanus shot before I got in, but the interior was tidy and didn't smell too bad. Nick climbed in the back, and Al circled around to get in the driver's seat. Road trip.
“So,
how long have you lived in this city, Al?” I asked to make conversation when the silence went on uncomfortably long. The empty streets of the scary side of town gave way to the busier roads in the shopping district.
“My whole life. I was born here and raised by my father after my mother abandoned me,” he said.
Seems like a lot of that going around in the demon community. Maybe we should start a support group. We could call it something catchy. I thought about that for a while until I realized that Al was still talking.
“We don't have maps of the tunnels, but it should be simple enough to search,” he said. I assumed he was talking about the subways where we would find Julian and Collin. Hopefully, there weren't bats or gross things down there. Rats? Ugh. I shivered.
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked from the back seat.
“I don't like rats.”
He chuckled, but I don't think he remembered the tunnel under New York. Okay, there were no rats there. It was a clean tunnel but I doubted my luck would hold out on the rodent situation.
Al flicked on the radio and some top twenty station was playing pop music. He mouthed along to the words of Lady Gaga, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. It was weird to see half-demons do normal human things. Like they should be stoic or something; but sometimes they were just humans. Well, Julian was. Sometimes. Okay, so Julian, my mom, and Collin were my only frame of reference for half-demons. That was probably too small a pool to judge the whole of a race of people.
I was so lost in my thoughts that the car stopping startled me and I realized we were in a parking garage. Al shut off the engine and stepped out of the car. I undid my seatbelt, but before I found the door handle Al had come around and opened my door for me. He offered me his hand and I accepted his help out of the low car. He smiled for a moment and then dropped my hand.
“Thanks,” I said.
He nodded, turned and led Nick and me through the echoing parking garage. Bare bulbs lit every corner but between the echoing sounds and the night outside it was still creepy. My boots clunked, reminding me of the last time I had to go in the sewers. I prayed we didn't have to go in through some access panel in a pee-soaked stairwell, and to my utter joy Al led us onto the street and down another set of stairs into the subway station.
It was abandoned at this time of night, but a breeze blew across the platform, rustling newspapers on the ground and fliers tacked to the walls. A lit-up sign declared the next train arriving in six minutes, but we didn't wait for a train.
Al walked to the edge of the platform and hopped right down on the tracks. Nick scuttled down after him, but I paused. Six minutes before a train arrived, and we were going to go walking along the tracks? I wasn't born yesterday and didn't have a death wish.
Al held out his hand absentmindedly like I was a child who was just unsure of the size of the jump.
“I'm not sure that's such a great idea.” I looked to my left and right down the line trying to see the oncoming train.
“It’s fine, Har,” Nick said, looking impatient.
I didn't have time to argue though. Al flung his coat off and his giant wings spread out a split second before his arms engulfed me. He pressed me against his broad chest and flew down the tunnel, Nick racing along below. I said a little prayer to the man above, hoping that my previous demon possessions didn't counteract whatever guardian angel had been watching over me all these years as I heard the sharp whistle of the subway train.
CHAPTER TEN
The lights of the train were getting closer. I peeked through half-closed eyes. The tunnel was getting brighter as it approached, but Al just kept flapping his giant bat wings like it was a lazy day in the park. Screaming was getting louder too, but I realized that was me when Al took a sharp turn and stopped dead, pressing me against a brick wall, his other hand snatching Nick up off the ground to pull him in beside us in a tiny alcove not over two feet deep. It was just enough space for us to huddle while the subway train passed. The wind whipped my hair into a frenzy and I felt a pull trying to drag me under the train, but Al's arm was solid as stone. As soon as the car was past Al stepped back, and I took a deep gulp of a breath.
My lungs were pumping so hard I thought I might throw up, but I swallowed it down and collapsed to my knees. Being flown by a half-demon was not the human way to travel. I took a few more deep breaths before I looked up. Nick was smiling like an idiot, and Al had a blank expression on his face like it was just another Tuesday for him. Neither response seemed to be appropriate in the circumstances.
“Let's not do that again, OK?” I said, using the brick wall to help me to my feet.
Al nodded. “Then I suggest we move because another will be along in four minutes.”
“Four minutes?” I shrieked and the sound echoed through the tunnel. I marched down the rail line at a good clip, then broke into a jog. Nick trotted along beside me.
“How far do we have to go?” I pushed for more speed.
“Just ahead,” Al's voice came down from above. His dark wings were spanning the tunnel in slow easy flaps.
I dragged my eyes off the half demon's wings and glimpsed a door that someone had wedged open a crack with a rock between the door and the frame.
The next train was coming. The rumble was getting closer, but I knew we could beat it in time. I still kicked into high gear, arriving just ahead of Nick. I pulled the door open and stepped through into complete blackness. Fabulous.
I took a deep breath and felt Nick's hand come up to rest on my arm. I waited as Al stepped past me into the black and I followed behind him. There was a distant sound like someone hammering steel, but otherwise it was silent and still. As the door slipped shut behind us, the last of the light disappeared. I could vaguely make out the general shape of Al's back and wings. I followed directly behind him.
“Where are we?” I whispered so softly that it was almost inaudible.
Nobody replied. Probably because they had no idea either, but Al didn't pause; he continued into the dark. The ringing steel was getting louder as we walked until a tiny light illuminated someone swinging a hammer down on an anvil.
Al walked past some piles of steel pipe and bars, right up to the person and cleared his throat. The person screamed and spun, dropping the hammer, and I realized it was a woman. She clamped a hand to her chest and bent over at the waist. She wore overalls and a bandanna on her head covering her short dark hair. I would have thought she was a sculptor, except she was working steel instead of stone. Plus she had tightly curled horns on the top of her head like a sheep.
“Fuck, Al. I told you to call before you came here. You son of a bitch.” She straightened and noticed Nick and I standing behind Al. “Howdy,” she said.
“These are the hunters. They will take care of Collin.” Al sounded certain about that, but I wasn't convinced that Collin would be so easy to take care of.
“Harlow,” I said, extending my hand to her. She took off her heavy leather gloves and shook my hand. Her grip was strong, I bet from banging steel all day long. “What is it you are doing here?”
“I make art,” she smiled and shook Nick’s hand too as he introduced himself. “My name is Celia. I used to be the leader’s blacksmith. Until cars took over and I lost my job, that is.”
“Good to meet ya.” I looked up to Al with a question on my face.
“Celia knows the tunnels better than anyone. She can help us.”
“Oh, hell no she can’t,” Celia replied, picking up her hammer. “I got a life worth living and I don't need to be scrapping with that bastard.” She turned back to her anvil where I could see she had bent some steel into the shape of something. I couldn't tell what it was. A butterfly or a bat? Something with wings anyway.
“Celia, they took down a full demon, they can take out Collin,” Al replied.
Nick was still standing silent behind me. He hadn’t said much all day, and I was wondering if there was something wrong with him. Was he sick? I looked back and he l
ooked fine. Just silent. His hand slid down into mine and squeezed. Well, all right.
“These two humans took down a demon?” she looked skeptical but set her hammer down like she might consider helping us.
“We are demon touched,” I offered.
“Harlow is twice demon touched,” Nick said. I glanced at him. I didn't realize we were making that public knowledge, but I guess if we wanted Celia to help us, laying our cards on the table would help.
Still, the fact I willingly let the second demon possess me wasn't my brightest moment, and honestly it didn't make me sound as bad-ass as I hoped. It made me sound careless, or maybe even inept. I have amulets for a reason.
Celia took a step closer and squinted at me. “She’s more than that.”
I wasn’t into sharing the news I might be a quarter demon, so I spoke before Nick could spill the beans. “I have new magic. It freezes gargoyles and demons. I have to be touching them, but it works, and I think It might affect half demons, too. I could stop Collin before he can hurt anyone else and someone can take him to jail or whatever you people do.
“Did you talk to the Demon Division?” Celia asked Al.
“They are ready to move as soon as we locate and subdue him.”
That was a nice way to put it. I wasn’t sure how my power would work on him, but if it was like the demon and the gargoyles, he would be a living statue. If he couldn't move, could he breathe? Would he die if I left him frozen? I wasn't a murderer or some freaking assassin. I needed to help Julian and stop Collin from bringing demons here, but that was as far as my enthusiasm went for this little death mission.
Celia threw her hands in the air. “Fine, I’ll help you, but if we get caught and die, I will come back and haunt all of you.”
“Okay, Celia,” Al said with a chuckle.
I glanced at Nick. He wore a small smile on his face. I wasn't sure what was up with him, but he liked this bit of news. Maybe now we could get to the actual finding part. I was getting impatient with the idea that Julian was being tortured somewhere in these tunnels and we were doing an awful lot of standing around. Nick let go of my hand, and we followed Celia and Al out of the little make-shift work-shop.