by Sarah Noffke
“Pull out your sword,” he ordered, fury flaring in his eyes.
Liv dropped the head of the demon on the ground, and it landed with a thud. She did as she was told, turning to face the tiny cabin.
“Whoa, where did you get that?” Stefan asked, his eyes wide as he regarded Bellator.
“Same place you left all the answers to my questions,” Liv said.
He nodded, a slight smile flicking to his eyes. “Well played, Liv Beaufont. But please note this is not the first time I’ve seen you with a giant-forged sword.” He added, “Today.”
Liv feigned ignorance, regarding the sword with awe. “This is a giant-made sword? Well, I’ll be. I got it at a flea market from a guy named Leonard. Short fella. Definitely not a giant.”
He snickered slightly, facing the cabin. “Well, thankfully, if you do come up against one of the demons in there, you’ve got an extra advantage. Usually, there are only two ways to kill a demon.”
“Fire and beheading,” Liv supplied.
Stefan nodded. “Yes, but I’ve heard a theory that giant’s swords are deadly to demons.”
Liv lifted Bellator, eyeing it with appreciation. “Let’s test that theory.” She started forward, but Stefan caught her by the shoulder, spinning her back around.
“Let me go in first,” he suggested. “You should go around the back to keep a lookout, and cut them off if they try and flee.”
“That sounds like a bullshit plan where you get to have all the fun and I stay out of harm’s way,” Liv said.
He nodded. “I agree that it’s a brilliant plan. Thank you. We’ll meet out here after I’m done with them.”
“What if I insist that we go in together?”
“Then I’ll insist you tell me why you were cuddling with that sword that was stolen from the Natural History Museum,” he countered.
“You know, I think checking out the back of the cabin sounds great,” she said with a slight laugh.
He winked. “I thought you might.”
Liv watched as Stefan soundlessly moved to the front of the cabin, his cape flying behind him. She stealthily moved around to the back of the building, where she was unsurprised to find no back door. She didn’t like that Stefan had taken over this case, but she needed his help and didn’t need him asking too many questions. It was just one case, and then she could go back to working alone. Also, she hoped to learn more about him, specifically what he was hiding. So far, though, he had been a tightly-sealed vault.
As Liv slid next to the cabin, she heard scratching from within. That was Stefan’s problem. She was the lookout. The backup. That wasn’t going to do, and his whole attitude around his territory of demon hunting was annoying. After this was over, she was going to realign the framework of their relationship, ensuring she was standing even with him. She realized that as a newbie warrior she had a lot to learn and he was in a position to teach her, as Akio was doing with combat. However, Stefan hadn’t shared any information yet.
After Liv slipped around the back of the cabin, a loud thud made her jump. It had come from inside the building. Something had been thrown against the wall, making it shudder.
“Looks like someone is having fun,” Liv said dully to herself.
Another assault hit the wall, making her think it would splinter.
She took another step, sinking deep into the mud. “Damn it to hell.” Liv tried to pull her boot out but realized she was sinking. Seriously, this is a thing? I thought quicksand was just a plot device for movies.
She was about to use her magic to unstick her boot when she heard a voice clear and loud in her mind. Plato’s. Watch out!
Liv looked up as something leapt off the building and crashed on top of her. The demon yanked her out of the mud, propelling her into a forward roll. She dropped her sword in the fall but rose to her feet as soon as she could. The demon had too and was hunched over, growling at her, its hands touching the ground. The beast was by far the ugliest thing she’d ever seen, with its small horns protruding from its cheekbones and brow. Its black eyes didn’t blink as it regarded her with a vicious stare. It took a crouching step toward her, dragging its other leg behind it.
Liv didn’t look directly at her sword, which was a few feet away, slowly sinking into the mud. A few weeks ago she’d have been dead at this beast’s hands. However, her training with Akio had been a good idea. Now was the time to make him proud. And her parents. She remembered them, but more than anything, she remembered the training they’d instilled in her.
Fight with love, not vengeance. The words wrapped around her heart, making Liv feel stronger than she was alone, a cumulation of the people who mattered most in her life.
The demon lunged at her, drooling. She moved faster than she ever had, the way Akio moved—like a phantom, there and gone. She slipped behind the demon, making it spin around. She was already on the other side of him, moving so fast that her feet didn’t even sink into the mud.
The beast screamed, making its frustrations known. Liv confused him again, taunting him by appearing at his back twice more. She picked up Bellator just as it was about to disappear into the mud. Swinging the debris off of the sword, she splattered the demon. It screamed again, showing rows of sharp teeth, its long pointed tongue stretching out of its mouth.
With Bellator in her hands once again, she noticed immediately that she didn’t move as fast, just as Akio had warned.
“We gain and we lose when we hold a weapon. They make us deadly, but often slow us down. Never forget that wielding a weapon isn’t always the right approach. It depends on the battle.”
She knew exactly what he meant now, but she also knew that Bellator was the right approach. She could run circles around this demon, but that would only disorient him. The means to the end was in her hand.
The monster dove for her. Liv rotated, bringing Bellator around, slicing it through the abdomen. It crumpled at once, writhing in pain and gripping its stomach. The scream that left its mouth was like the ones she’d heard in Amsterdam, searing her ears.
Liv brought Bellator over her head, trying to remember the Latin that would free the soul within it.
“Metuendas Dcemonis violentias, dimittere unam animam de amicae tuae involasti, permittens eos tandem requiem,” she intoned as the beast tried to reach for her boots, its claws finding only mud. Gripping her sword, she dug deep for the courage to do the next seemingly impossible thing. She’d never killed anything, even something so evil. Still, no matter what it was, killing wasn’t natural. It shouldn’t be, and she knew that. It should come at a great price so that it never became easy. She sucked in a breath. “Ad infernum, a quo factum est tibi in sempiternum in ipse comburetis.”
With force fueled by a passion she wasn’t acquainted with, the sword came down, slicing the demon’s head off cleanly. Liv backed away from the body, not believing what she’d done. It wasn’t an act she hadn’t ever thought she’d be proud of, and yet, she was. She’d freed a soul, and rid the world of a horrible entity.
The scream of another demon echoed from the cabin. The walls shook. Fueled by instinct, she ran around the side of the building, halting once she was in the entrance. She froze, having déjà vu. The scene before her looked very much what she’d seen in Amsterdam. Stefan had pinned the demon to the wall with a series of knives. Black blood was dripping from the cuts, staining the wall. However, the demon didn’t appear to be in pain like the one she’d just slaughtered. This demon, uglier than the rest, lifted its head, its body pulled down by the weight but still pinned to the wall.
If demons could smile, that was what this one did, its greenish teeth sawing back and forth and making a horrid sound.
“How dare you come after one of your own?” The demon hissed the words, its gaze flicking to Liv, who was standing in the doorway.
Stefan looked over his shoulder at Liv, swallowing hard before swinging around to face the monster again. “Get out of here, Liv,” he urged.
She didn’t move,
just studied the scene. Stefan had pinned the demon. Granted, he didn’t have Bellator, which made her job much easier, but this looked like it was personal. Like he wanted to punish this demon.
“Oh, she doesn’t know, does she?” the demon sang, its voice not at all melodic.
“Delirium has set in. It doesn’t know what it’s talking about,” Stefan said over his shoulder to her. “Get out of here. There’s another one left.”
She shook her head, holding up Bellator, which was soaked in black blood. He nodded roughly, something catching in his throat.
Stefan lifted his sword, holding it even with the demon’s neck. However, he didn’t take this opportunity to end things. Instead, he hesitated as if he were unsure he should kill the monster.
“I know you are a man right now, but you’re destined to become a demon just like me,” the beast spat, seeming to play with Stefan.
“No, I’m not!” Stefan roared, slamming his elbow into the demon’s chest, blood squirting out from its wounds onto his face.
The demon gurgled on a scream that turned into a choking laugh. “Yes, I can smell it on you. You’ve been kissed, and soon you’ll be just like me.”
Liv sucked in an audible breath, remembering what she’d read about demonism in Bermuda Laurens’ book. She’d called it a kiss too, but remarked that it was more like a bite. The demons affectionately called it a kiss because it was what kept them prowling the Earth.
“How long do you have?” the demon asked, sniffing the air like it smelled something tantalizing. “Maybe not long. And then you’ll be one of us—the ones who will inherit this planet.”
“No! That will never happen! Never! Never!” He brought his sword around, slicing the demon’s head off cleanly. It landed at his feet, its black eyes staring up at him and a grin on its face.
When Stefan turned to face Liv, his face was splattered with black blood and he was vibrating with a hostility she’d never before witnessed. It didn’t scare her. At that moment, she knew with absolute certainty that Stefan Ludwig was in danger of becoming a demon. He’d been bitten by the very thing he hated most, and she was going to help save him.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Make it a double,” Stefan said. He laid a wad of cash on the table they’d taken at a bar in Venice, a local joint that was dark and not filled with hipsters.
The waiter nodded, giving Liv an expectant look.
“I’ll take the same,” she replied, pointing to Stefan, who looked like he’d just fought a gang of demons, although he’d taken the time to wipe the blood off his face. The brooding hostility was still brimming in his eyes as if something dark in him was begging to escape.
Liv waited in silence until they had their drinks, thinking that they probably both needed them to continue the next inevitable part of the conversation. When the waiter returned with two whiskeys, sliding the glasses in front of them, Liv and Stefan weren’t saying a word but rather staring off uncomfortably.
Once the waiter had left them, Liv took a sip of her drink, the whiskey burning her throat but instantly making her feel better. She drank half of it before setting it down and looking at Stefan directly. He appeared to be a hollow man, simply going through the motions.
“Do you want to tell me about this demon-bite business?” she asked.
He cut his piercing blue eyes at her. “Oh, no. Kittens first. That was the deal. I help you with the demons, you tell me why you have a bag full of kittens.”
Liv laughed, finishing her drink and flagging down the waiter. She was going to need more drinks for this conversation. Scratch that. She was going to need all the drinks.
“Bring the bottle,” she said to the waiter when he was almost to their table. He nodded, heading back to the bar.
“So, on the side, I volunteer at the animal shelter,” she began. “Would you believe that during my shift—”
Stefan slammed his glass down with a blunt force, giving her a “no bullshit” glare. “Here’s the deal. If you’re straight with me, I’ll be the same with you. The moment you close up, so will I. But you should know, Liv Beaufont, that I’m not your enemy.”
Liv considered Stefan for a long moment. The earnestness in his blue eyes was hard to ignore, but how could she trust someone just because they told her she could? Wasn’t trust something people earned? One of her biggest problems was that she didn’t know who her enemies were. The Council was a major pain in her ass, and the deranged elf was definitely no friend of hers. But who was behind all that? Who was behind her parents’ and siblings’ deaths?
Slowly she nodded, swirling the remaining whiskey in her glass. “The kittens belong to a friend of mine. Someone broke into his place the night before you found me in the library.”
“To get the sword, I gather,” Stefan guessed as the bartender brought over the bottle of whiskey.
Liv’s instinct was to divert, but she couldn’t keep doing that if she wanted Stefan to cooperate with her. Yes, she’d thought he was up to something, and it appeared he was—trying to survive a demon bite.
“Yes,” she finally answered, “I panicked and took the sword and the kittens to the House of Seven.”
Stefan laughed, refilling their glasses. “You definitely had to have some balls to bring that sword into the House. I can only imagine what would have happened if Adler had caught you, or someone else.”
“I’d have thrown a kitten at them and run away,” Liv joked.
Stefan ran his fingers over his stubbled chin. “Kitten bombs; not a bad idea.”
“Yes, they are so adorable that they momentarily disarm the enemy, allowing me to escape.”
The smile dropped from Stefan’s face. “The next question is, why did you steal the sword, and what did you do with it?”
Liv shook her head. “You said I only had to tell you why I had a bag of kittens. The sword was not part of the deal.”
Stefan held up his hands as if in surrender. “You’re right. So then, please continue about the kittens. What did you do with them?”
Clever approach, Liv thought. He was mostly referring to the sword, probably realizing that the kittens and weapon went together. “I returned them to my friend.”
“And do you think the little felines are still in danger?” Stefan quickly added, “From whoever tried to break in before?”
“I’m certain they are.”
He nodded. “So what does your friend plan to do with ten kittens, especially with criminals posing such a danger to them?”
“That I don’t know,” Liv answered, knowing all too well that they were really talking about Turbinger. “I suppose I’ll need to continue to help him protect them, although I’m not sure what that will involve.”
Stefan took a drink. “Do you need some help?”
Liv arched an eyebrow. “Actually, I think you’re the one who needs help. How long have you been infected?” She pointed to his right arm.
“How do you know where the bite is?” he asked, looking impressed.
“You’re drinking using your left hand, although you use your right to swing your sword,” Liv explained. “I’m guessing in battle it doesn’t bother you, but otherwise you favor it.”
“And here I thought you hardly noticed me,” he said with a wink.
Liv snapped her fingers, an impatient expression on her face. “Out with the story, Stefan. I’ve got to get to bed on time since I’m opening the store tomorrow morning.”
Stefan cracked a smile. “I think you’re the first Warrior in the history of the House of Seven to have a side job.”
“Yeah, but you go to college on the side, right?” Liv asked. “You’re majoring in avoidance.”
“Double major, actually,” Stefan corrected. “Avoidance, and the art of distraction.” He poured another drink for himself, looking to have loosened up considerably since they had sat down.
“So this demon that bit you. His name is Sabatore, right?” Liv threw him a curveball. “You’re trying to track him do
wn, aren’t you?”
On cue, Stefan’s mouth fell open. “How do you know its name?”
Liv took a drink. “I’m much better at following you than you are at trailing me. You never even knew I was there.”
A dark shadow fell across his eyes as he lowered his chin.
Liv waved off his sudden seriousness. “Hey, it’s only fair.”
He shook his head. “No. You asked me to stop following you, and I did.”
“Well, if I’m completely honest—”
“As you should be,” he interrupted.
“Yes, as I should be,” she continued, “the Council is suspicious of you. Clark related that to me. Said he thought you were hiding something. Since I don’t trust anyone, I had to check things out for myself. I followed you the night you went to Amsterdam.”
Realization dawned on him. “And you saw me questioning that demon about where Sabatore was?”
Liv affirmed his guess. “I didn’t know then that you’d been bitten by a demon. Not until tonight when that demon said you’d been kissed. How would he know, though?”
Letting out a weighty breath, Stefan closed his eyes for half a beat. “The demon could smell it on me. Sense it in me. Demons share a common bond with one another, and he knew I’m not completely human anymore.”
Liv tensed, feeling the severity of the matter suddenly. There was no hiding behind jokes anymore. “How long do you have?”
Stefan drained his glass. “It’s hard to say. Each case is different, and most are not documented.”
“Because the person who was bitten doesn’t tell anyone, and therefore no one knows until they’ve disappeared and turned into a demon?” she suggested.
He nodded. “Yes, something like that.”
“But why are you tracking down Sabatore?”
“Because that’s the only way to create the antidote,” Stefan explained. “I need his blood.”
“Tonight when you were tracking those three demons, how were you doing it?” Liv asked, believing she already knew the answer.
“We’re connected, like I said before. I can feel them.”