by Jen Pretty
“It’s fine,” he said, but not in a voice that sounded like it was fine.
After a long awkward silence, I asked the question I had been burning to ask. “Was it terrible?”
His eyes finally slid to mine, and his face looked haunted. “I think you sent me to hell.”
The air whooshed out of my lungs. Had I sent him to hell? I had always imagined hell was just a fairy tale they told bad kids, so they’d go to bed on time. But if there were demons, there must be a hell. While I tried to wrap my brain around that, Julian pulled his chair closer to me and slouched down, taking my hand in his.
“It’s okay, Harlow. I shouldn't have tried to hold you. Tell me what you dreamed about.”
I shook my head, still struck by the fact I had sent Julian to hell. I took a few deep breaths and calmed my heart. “It was just Collin killing me. It's always either him or a demon.”
Julian bit his lip and furrowed his brow. “Maybe once we have captured him the nightmares will stop.”
I snorted. Pretty sure that was unlikely. They hadn’t stopped since I got back from New York; they would not disappear easily.
This was so messed up. I wanted to ask Julian more about hell, but I decided now wasn't a good time. He still looked haunted. I wiggled down in the bed, trying to get comfortable, but I had been lying down too long and just wanted to get up and move around.
We sat in silence for a while until a nurse I hadn't met before came into the room and informed me I could go for a walk around the halls of the hospital. She helped me sit up and then pulled a second gown over my back so that I didn't flash everyone I passed in the hall. Julian ambled beside me as I took some small steps, pulling an IV stand along beside me.
“I’ll never be able to defeat Collin now. It’ll take forever to get strong enough to use my powers.”
An old man walked past leaning heavy on a cane, and our conversation paused. Not that it was much of a discussion. Julian hadn’t spoken since the nurse came in to get me out of bed. He kept his eyes forward, and we moved down the corridor. I glanced at him. His expression was blank, like the one he used to use around Collin. I hated that expression. It was stupid. Facial expressions were there for a reason and controlling them seemed like cheating.
Finally, he spoke, “I have someone coming to help you get better faster.”
“Who?”
“Someone from New York.”
That cleared things up perfectly…not. “Who from New York?” I asked, adding impatience to my voice. I didn't need to play twenty questions while my stomach was aching, and my legs were shaking. I turned us back towards the room. That seemed like plenty of walking for one day.
“One of the half-demons.”
I stopped dead in the hall, but Julian kept strolling forward at a slower pace.
“I don't want whoever it is to come,” I said, catching up to him. I limped past holding my stomach with one hand and leaning slightly on the IV pole with the other.
Once I was back in the room, I struggled into bed, choking myself on the gowns as I tried to maneuver myself and the IV line. I pulled at the neck hole but couldn't get it loosened and had to stand up again to bunch the stupid thing. Finally, I collapsed back into the bed with a moan and used my legs to adjust the blankets. I longed for my pain medication button which the nurse had taken away.
I looked up to find Julian leaning against the door frame, looking at the floor and biting his lip. “Let me do this for you, please?”
“How is a half-demon going to help me, Julian? All they do is break me and ruin my life.”
He was silent for a moment and then nodded and slipped back out through the door, leaving me alone in the hospital room.
Shit.
I guess I didn't mean that the way it came out. Or maybe I did. When had a half-demon ever done something good for my life? Never. Neither had a gargoyle or a demon. They were all shit. Maybe even including Julian. I was happy where I was in Humber Falls before he came along and dragged me away. Now he had done it again, and once again I was in the hospital.
Try to kill me once, shame on you. Try to kill me twice…
I closed my eyes, but I couldn't sleep. My mind just kept circling back to Julian. Damn his dark, brooding eyes.
An hour of restless tossing and turning later, Nick breezed through the door.
“Hey, Harlow. How are you feeling now?” he asked. He was all grins and giggles.
I squinted at him suspiciously. Something was going on.
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
“What are you so happy about?”
“I was talking to Julian, and he said Darla was coming to help you. That's great news.”
I scoffed. “Is that the half-demon? Not interested.”
He stopped beside my bed and stared down at me like I had grown two heads. “Darla can heal you,” he explained.
“If she is a half-demon, I’m not interested. I have sworn off all half demons till the end of time.”
He sunk into the chair beside my bed and continued to stare at me like I might change my mind. “I need your help, Har.” He spoke softly, and my brain tried to abandon our no-demon plan, but I stopped my mouth from saying anything. The no-demon plan was a good one. I wasn't going back on this decision no matter how much he made those puppy dog eyes at me.
It turned into a staring competition. When Lincoln looked at me like that he always won, but I was determined this time. Demons had been ruining my life since my mother gave birth to me. It was time to take a stand.
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “So you would rather heal at human speed?”
“Yes, I want to go home, eat pizza, and lay in my bed until I heal and then never have anything to do with half-demons again.”
“You will leave this city to Collin?”
“Shut up,” I snapped. “I want to be left alone. I'm not strong enough to stop Collin or anyone else. This was a stupid mission, and the Demon Division shouldn’t have asked me to come.”
Nick's eyes traced my features for a moment longer before he whispered: “I’m sorry.” He stood and walked out of the room, letting the door swing shut behind him.
“Fuck,” I whispered. I didn't handle Nick any better than I had Julian. I closed my eyes and buried my face in my pillow before letting out a scream. The pillow muffled it enough that the nurse didn't come charging in and I felt a bit better.
I picked up the phone and made a collect call to Len, knowing he would pick up. It was late in the afternoon, so the rush should have been over.
“’Ello,” his raspy voice filtered through the phone and tears sprung to my eyes. I tried to speak, but all that came out was a hiccup and sniffle.
“’Eh, Harlow, is that you?”
“Yes,” I muttered, wiping my face. “I’m fucking up here, Len.”
He made a tsk sound at my language but didn't call me out on it. “It’s probably not as bad as you think. What is going on?” I heard the squeak of his rickety old bench that sat on the front porch of his pizza parlour and the soft sound of traffic. Picturing him sitting there made my tears run faster. I wasn’t used to being this emotional but I missed home, and the pain in my stomach was pushing through the pain medication.
I told him all of it. My mother, Collin kidnapping Julian, getting stabbed in the stomach, the things I had said to Julian and Nick. We had never specifically talked about me being a gargoyle huntress, but he wasn't surprised by anything I said. He probably knew all along and just didn't say anything. Len was a man of few words.
He listened quietly, even when I had to stop to blow my nose, and when I was done talking I felt empty, like I had handed off all the weight of my problems to Len. I imagined his broad shoulders carrying my troubles. His old man muscles could handle it. He should be the one here in this city stopping Collin. Len was strong for an old guy and was a soldier in his youth. I wasn’t fit for this kind of work.
Len sighed, a sure si
gn he was going to say something that I wouldn't like.
“You know I love you like you was my own daughter, but you got to stick this one out. You got a special skill that is gonna help a bunch of folks—”
“The half-demons,” I interrupted.
“You know that it will spill over to humans, too. You want little kids all over the country possessed by demons? That’s what that Collin fellow is planning, I bet — bringing back the demons, letting them in somehow. You and I both know you won't stand for that. You are braver than you think Harlow.”
A tear slipped out. Len wasn’t big on mushy stuff, but he had always believed in me. “Okay, Len,” I whispered.
“You do the best you can, and then you come home. This new kid can't make the special right. Folks are complaining.”
I laughed. It was always about the pizza with him. “I love you, too,” I said.
He laughed; the sound was lighter than you'd expect from the old man. “You be good and apologize to those men. They are doing right by you.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“All right. Goodbye.” He hung up the phone before I could say goodbye too.
I set the receiver down and curled up tighter in the bed, hugging my knees to my chest but carefully not to press on my stomach too hard. I stayed like that for an hour, until I had to use the ladies’ room too bad to ignore it anymore. I slid out of bed in almost the manner the nurse had shown me, so I didn't strain my abdomen. I ended up on the floor beside the bed but made it to the bathroom in time by crawling. Once I finished, I checked my face in the mirror. I looked lost and disgusting. My hair was a mess and I had bags under my eyes. Classic.
I made my way back out to the room and then continued to the nurses' desk. She came back with a basin and a washcloth so I could try and clean myself up. She also helped me wash my hair in the sink in the bathroom, so I at least felt a bit cleaner when I finally stumbled back into the bed and picked up the phone to call Julian and apologize for being a shit.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next morning Julian and Nick both showed up in my hospital room as I was signing the discharge papers. Thankfully, the Demon Division had full medical coverage, and I didn't need to work a street corner to pay for my private room and extended stay. The total was staggering.
“I brought you clothes,” Nick said, setting a bag down on the bed beside me.
“Thanks.” I grabbed the bag and hustled to the bathroom to change. Nick had brought baggy jogging pants and my comfy hoodie. Raising my arms hurt a lot, even with the extra strength pain killers the doctor prescribed. Hopefully, this half-demon who was coming to heal me would be here soon. I was still on the fence about trusting whoever it was, but Len had been right. I needed to step up and get this done. There was no way I could do that with this injury.
As I stepped back out in the room, the guys stopped talking and looked at me. Obviously, they had been talking about me.
“What?” I asked.
They looked at each other and then back at me, but neither said anything.
I dropped the hospital gown on the bed and headed for the door. If they wouldn’t tell me, I was sure I would find out soon enough.
Julian slid past me in the hall and led the way to the multi-level parking garage. We took an elevator down and stepped out into a below ground level. There weren't many cars down this far, but there was a limo parked diagonally along three spaces just across from the elevator.
The driver got out and came around to open the door, and we all slid in.
“Hello, demon-touched hunters,” an eerie voice rasped from the far side of the limo.
I jumped and squinted, trying to make out the person in the darkness, but the guys didn't react so I assumed this was someone they knew.
“Who are you?” I asked.
I saw white teeth flash, but no reply.
“Harlow, this is Darla. She is from the Demon Division,” Julian mumbled.
Crap. Not just any old half-demon then. One who decided I should be out here hunting a half-demon instead of happily chasing down gargoyles. I narrowed my eyes and tried to make out her form as the car started up and began driving out of the underground garage.
The silence grew thick, but the creepy lady said nothing until the car rolled out of the dark parking garage and into the daylight. I could finally make out Darla’s features. She looked like a wealthy heiress, dressed in a sleek pantsuit with one leg crossed over the other. Her elbow rested on the window frame, and one long slender finger tapped on her cheek as she inspected me. Her eyes roamed up and down like I was some curious puzzle she was determined to solve.
“What?” I asked, breaking the silence and startling Nick beside me.
Darla’s lip curled up like I had done something amusing. I hated her already.
“I am the first of us to meet a twice demon touched human who survived. I am ensuring I have all the details correct so I can relay this day to the rest of the Division.”
I snorted. Great, I was a fishing story. I wondered if she would exaggerate the size of me. I tipped my head back on the seat and closed my eyes. My life had gotten too weird.
I could still feel Darla’s eyes on me as the limo cruised through the city and finally pulled to a stop at the hotel. I prayed we had a different room, or someone had deep cleaned the carpet.
Thankfully, Julian hit a different floor button in the elevator once we were all inside. My heart raced at the closeness to Darla in the confined space, and my breathing sped until I was barely holding it together.
Nick slung his arm over my shoulders and the heat helped ground me, but I was still out the doors like a bullet when they slid open again.
Julian looked disappointed, but that was too damn bad. I wouldn’t stop being afraid of half-demons just because I liked him. He would have to get used to it.
“This way,” Julian muttered, and we followed him to a door where he produced a key card and let us in.
“Are we safe here?” I asked.
“Yes, the hotel is locked down. I hired a private security company to monitor everyone who comes in,” Julian said, stepping aside so I could see the room.
It wasn’t as lavish as the other room, but it was similar in design. Wood floors gleamed in the last rays of sun shining through the floor to ceiling windows.
Darla sat on the leather couch in the small living room, and we all joined her. She still wore a slight grin that made me nervous.
“Now, I have come to help you recover from this injury so you can continue with your important job here,” she said.
“Why is it exactly that I have to do this? Don’t you super powered half-demons have a better chance of stopping Collin than I do?”
Her smile broadened. “We are not warriors. We make the rules, and the rest follow.”
I shook my head. Whatever. “Well, then who usually enforces your rules? Cause I'm just supposed to be chasing gargoyles.”
Her eyes slanted to Julian. “The leaders enforce the rules. We do not say how they must enforce the rules, only that they must. Stopping Collin is now Julian's responsibility.”
I shot Julian a glare. He had blamed the Demon Division for bringing me here to stop Collin. They were a handy scapegoat I suppose.
“Fine. So how is it exactly you can heal me? I thought demons only had powers for evil.”
Darla chuckled and leaned back on the couch. I wasn't joking. Why would a demon have the power to heal someone?
“All immortal half-demons can eventually heal others as well. It seems to be an extension of our ability to heal ourselves. Eventually young Julian will also possess the ability.” She spoke, staring at Julian with a creepy, hungry look in her eyes. Gross.
“Let’s get this over with so you can return to your job, and I can return to the Division with news.”
She stood and stepped towards where I sat on the leather chair. I jumped to my feet with a groan of pain, uncomfortable with her hovering over me, but she pushed
me back down. She placed her hand on my injury, pressing hard enough to make me gasp. I tried to sink away from her, but she just pressed harder.
Her eyes turned a solid black, and then the pupil turned red. I felt heat pour from her hand until it was so hot, I couldn't even gasp a breath. The pain rolled through me like an ocean wave, spreading from my stomach to cover every part of me.
The sound of a thousand people screaming filled the room. My vision turned white like I was staring into the sun. It seemed to go on for days and weeks. No end to the heat and the pain, until finally it all stopped and blessed peace sifted through me. I opened my eyes, and it was Nick’s face in front of me now. It took several moments for my eyes to focus on him properly and several more for me to notice we were alone now.
I glanced at the window and the moon blinked back at me from high in the sky. I had definitely lost time, but my throat was dry and scratchy when I tried to speak.
“It’s okay, Harlow. You’re okay.”
Easy for him to say. Some ancient half-demon didn't just send him to hell and back. I sat forward in the chair and felt no pain at all. I lifted my shirt and pulled the gauze off my stomach. In place of the nasty gash with ugly stitches I had what looked like a tattoo except it was bright red. It was in the shape of a star and centered on my stomach above my belly button.
“Whoa,” Nick said, tracing his finger over it.
I shivered and pulled my shirt back down. “I guess it worked,” I said, my voice still raspy.
Nick got up and brought me a bottle of water. It cooled my raw throat. Water was freaking delicious.
“Thank you,” I said.
Nick shook his head. “You should thank Darla. She was exhausted when she left. Julian had to carry her out of here practically.”
“I’ll send her a fruit basket,” I said sarcastically.
Nick chuckled.
I would thank her if I saw her again, but right now my mind kept replaying the heat that flooded into me. It felt like my heat, the one I used to freeze demons, and I was sure that meant something. Probably something bad. Or maybe it meant nothing. After all, my super magic powers came from demons and so did hers. I shifted until I had my knees tucked up beside me on the overstuffed leather chair and rested my head back.