Self-respect?
Teenage girls had no self-respect. Their entire world revolved around everyone else’s opinions of them. The mirrors they held to their faces were distorted by the subjective scrutiny of their peers.
So how in hell did he get the only one who actually cared about her self-respect?
This was proving to be a pain in the ass and the demon just wanted to slit her throat and be done with it.
But that wasn’t part of the plan.
Pure Silver was Plan B. If they couldn’t lure the hunter to them with the ghost, they would be able to do away with this priggish little sister, the puritan of the family, the pillar of society.
His biggest pain in the butt.
“Hi,” Pure said like some hyped up cheerleader. He hated that about her. Syrupy sweetness made his butt itch.
The demon had the same stupid smile plastered to his face he had since he’d met her, but inside, he was bristling. Humans were most annoying when joyful. They were irritating at best, downright obnoxious at worst. And the females were the worst with their puppy dog prancing and annoyingly high voices that lilted up at the end as if every sentence was a question.
“You ready to go?” The demon asked. “I thought we could spend some time alone, you know, skin-on-skin kinda stuff. I think it’s time, don’t you?”
“Ooh, sounds fun, but I really do need to get home and check in with Denny.”
“Your sister’s a big girl. She’ll be fine.”
Pure cocked her head at him. “It’s not like that. Ever since our parents left us, she’s been the one who always watches out for me. She sorta needs me now and I’ve been so wrapped up in your yummy goodness, I haven’t been there for her. I need to be there now, you know?”
“Can’t your other sister take care of her? I mean, come on, baby, we haven’t had much alone time.” The demon pulled Pure to him and kissed her sensuously, his hands holding her waist a bit too tight.
Pure returned his affection before peeling his fingers from her waist. “Mike Cockerton, you’re going to get us in PDA trouble.” Pure stepped back and adjusted her clothes. “We can go out Friday night, but tonight I’m going to check in with my sister, do some chores, and show her I’m not an irresponsible teenager.”
The demon forced his smile to remain. He wanted to bitch-slap the goofy grin right off her face. He wished he would have taken the other assignment. “Friday night.”
“For sure we’ll spend time together, yes.”
“Your kind of time or mine?”
Laughing, Pure flitted away as quickly as she’d come, not answering the question.
The demon wanted to bash her face in. The only thing these human bodies were good for was sex. That was a fun time, but this Silver, this sister of the demon hunter, did not seem interested. And that royally sucked. Here he was with this hard body, this thick dick, and this enormous sex drive, and he was stuck babysitting this Pollyanna.
Of course, that might very well be the one thing that would make the hunter come running—if she thought he was defrocking her little sister.
The demon smiled a genuine smile.
He knew exactly what he would do and it was going to finally put some zing into this incredibly dull task. At least then he’d have a good time.
***
“Are you sick?”
Denny struggled to open her eyes. When they finally opened, she found herself staring up at Pure. “What, what time is it?”
“Almost four. Are you okay? You never take a nap in the middle of the––” Pure spotted her pajamas. “Den? What’s going on?” She sat on the edge of the bed.
“I’m fine. Fine. Just tired.”
“Bullshit.” She touched Denny’s forehead. “You must be sick. Are you sick?”
“Not sick. I had a séance last night, hoping to locate Rush...it went south pretty quickly.”
Pure was on her feet in an instant. “Without me? You had a super cool séancie-thingie without me? Man, I miss out on all the fun.”
“Sorry, but it was time-sensitive and I couldn’t wait. I was trying to locate her.”
“And? Did you find her? Did you get to see her?”
Denny shook her head. “It’s...complicated.”
“Are you okay? You don’t look so hot.”
Denny’s bravado faltered. She broke down and started crying. Pure sat down and wrapped her arms around her.
“I just miss her so much.”
Pure held her and caressed her back. “I’m so sorry, Den. I should have been here.”
“No, no, you have a life––a life with the living. I want you living it. This is my battle, my problem.”
Pure pulled away. “Uh-uh, Sis, that’s not how we’ve ever done things. Ever. And we aren’t gonna start now. If there’s anything I can do, you tell me. I mean it.”
Wiping her eyes, Denny leaned against the headboard and blew out a big breath. “What you can do is keep your grades up, keep your nose clean, and stay out of trouble.”
“Done, done, and done.”
Denny got up and dressed and finally asked the question she didn’t want to ask. “What about Mike Cockerton? How’s that going?”
“Really great. He’s a super nice guy and really respectful of my feelings. You’d like him if you gave him a chance.”
Denny paused as she laced up her orange running shoes. “Respectful? Does that mean he wants something you don’t?”
A blush instantly appeared on Pure’s cheeks. “No. We haven’t really even talked about it, but he’s a guy, you know? It’s always on the tip of their tongue.”
“As long as that’s all that’s on the tip of his tongue. You have a good head on your shoulders. I trust you. I can handle this thing with Rush. I really can.”
“Handle what? It’s not like you have experience ghost hunting. Maybe...maybe it was just her time. Don’t ghosts eventually have to go somewhere? I mean, they don’t always hang around, right?”
Denny forced herself to nod as she grabbed a sweatshirt. “Maybe. Look, I’m fine. Rush is going to be fine. Don’t worry about me. I was just up really late and the emotions got to me.”
“You going jogging?”
“I need to wake up, get my blood moving. I have a lot to do today.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“I’m taking Tae Kwon Do. I have an appointment at six. I have a paper to write and chores to do. I’ve kind of let things slide around here and I’m sorry.”
Pure waved this off. “Judo? Really? How come?”
Denny shrugged. “It’s a good way to keep my weight down. What about you? What’s on your agenda?”
“A bunch of us are going to watch the play rehearsal.”
“With Mike?”
Pure laughed. “No. I think he’s more of a NASCAR guy. You know, there’s something mesmerizing about cars going around and around.”
“Mesmerizing or stupid?”
They laughed together.
“Okay, you enjoy yourself. Don’t be too late, okay?”
“No later than ten. I promise.”
***
As Denny’s legs started churning, she felt her stress melting away. The fresh air cleaned her senses and cleared her mind. She loved the jog around Grayson Stadium with the Daffin Park geyser jumping twenty feet high. One mile stretched into two, two into three. At the three-and-a-half mile mark, Denny sensed a car coming up behind her.
Too close.
Too slow.
Too late, she started off the bike path. The car clipped her left hip, sending her plummeting, end over end, down the ravine. When she came to a stop, there were sticks and leaves in her hair and her hip throbbed.
“Jesus,” she said, feeling her tender hip as she lay face down in the dirt. As she pushed herself up, she heard someone crashing through the ravine toward her.
“Shit.”
She’d left Fouet and Épée at home.
Denny just managed to turn to the on-comer when a fist connected with her l
eft cheekbone. He was on her before she could rebound from the punch.
Blurred vision prevented her from seeing him at first, but once her eyes focused, she recognized him as the second demon from the cemetery. She wasn’t the least bit surprised he’d come after her...she just hadn’t expected him to try to run her over.
He grabbed her neck and squeezed hard, trying to crush her windpipe and choke the life out of her. His thumbs dug into her larynx. “You should have killed me when you had the chance, bitch.”
Denny remembered Ames’s warnings not to focus on the attacker’s hands and arms, but to go for his softer inner elbows or eyes instead. She chose the latter and used her thumbs to gouge at his red eyes.
“God. Damn. It.” He growled as she ripped at his face with her thumbs.
When he took one hand from her throat to protect his eyes, she circled under his arm and punched his Adam’s apple. It sounded like a walnut cracking. Then she shoved him with all her might and the demon flew into the air and landed ten feet away, smashing into a tree trunk with an oof.
As Denny stood up, she felt it. Heat washed over her, her muscles felt bigger, and everything was clearer.
Her Hanta Raya had appeared and it was pissed as hell.
She took six long strides and was on the demon before he could get to his knees.
“You tried to run me over, you fucking fuck!” The voice, while still hers, had traces of the deep, scratchy demonic voice.
“You’re gonna die, bitch, and your Hanta with you.”
Denny spotted the reason why he was still on his knees. He had pulled his boot knife and lashed at her with it. The knife sliced through her sweats and cut a seven-inch long wound on her thigh. It wasn’t deep, but it still burned like hell and angered the demon inside even more.
“Son of a bitch.” Denny kicked him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him, but not hard enough to make him drop the knife.
When he lashed out again, she was ready—or the Hanta was ready. She wasn’t sure which. Denny jumped back.
“Come on, you little pecker head. Let’s see what you got.” The voice was no longer Denny’s, but pure, unadulterated Hanta. The power, too, was not Denny’s. The lack of fear was certainly not Denny’s.
And for all of that, she was grateful.
The demon got to his feet and held the knife out in front of him. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, Golden Silver. You are in way over your stupid human head.”
Denny crouched lower. She vowed to herself she would never leave the house without her weapons again.
“Yeah? Well why don’t you bring it and we’ll see who walks away from this fight?”
The demon slashed the air with his knife as he came at her. The first pass missed her by a couple of inches. Before he could bring it back for a second try, she grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm straight to lock his elbow. She drove her knee into the back of his elbow, snapping it like a twig. The sound reverberated through the air, followed by his scream.
A human scream. He dropped the knife into the dead leaves on the ground. Holding his now useless arm with his good hand, he roared, “You motherfucker! You broke my arm. You broke my fucking arm.”
“No. I broke your fucking elbow. If I wanted to break your arm, I would have done this.” Denny grabbed his good wrist, pulled his arm out and brought her forearm down on it so hard it broke both bones.
He screamed again, staring at his flaccid arms.
“You think me weak because I just learned who and what I am? Think again, asshole.”
Denny assumed a stance, much like one a boxer would take. She used a side thrusting kick and buried her heel in the inner part of his knee. The impact blew his kneecap out of place and sent him writhing to the ground. Three of four appendages taken out of commission.
“Jesus Christ,” the demon groaned, lying on his side.
“He can’t help you, butt-munch.” Denny leaped into the air and brought her heel down on the shinbone of his good leg.
The snap was drowned out by yet another scream as she hit his shin bone so hard, it snapped and cut through the skin like ivory.
“Just kill me, for god’s sake!”
Denny stood over him breathing deeply. She felt eight feet tall and lacked any remorse as she glared at the broken body before her. No guilt. No empathy. No compunction.
None.
“Kill you?” Denny laughed a laugh that came from some deep, dark well. “Killing you would be too easy, you bottom-feeding piece of shit. No, I’m gonna let your sorry ass live so you can crawl back to your buddies and let them know that coming at me or my family will be a very painful endeavor. Attacking the Silvers is only going to result in loss of life and limb. You tell them that, asshole, and the next time I see you, my face will be the last thing you see before you combust.”
“You’re not going to kill me? What kind of bullshit is that?”
Denny shook her head. “Are you deaf? If you manage to get your broken body back up to the road, you can be my little bitch messenger.” Denny glared down at him with two eyes she knew were glowing red.
The demon writhed on the ground. “You fucking bitch. You have no idea what you’re––”
Without so much as an inkling of a thought, Denny’s leg shot out and hit his collar bone with such force it snapped with the sound a baseball bat makes when it hits a fast ball.
The broken demon passed out from the pain.
Standing over it, Denny calmed herself and slowed her breathing. She felt the Hanta’s energy cool as well.
“Yeah, I should have killed you when I had the chance, but you ran away like a little girl, you pussy. I suppose watching your buddy implode would be a little scary.” Denny brushed herself off and started back up to the road, her hip none the worse for wear, but her cut thigh was bleeding and needed a bandage.
She glanced over her shoulder and wondered if leaving him alive was a smart thing to do. Three steps later, she no longer cared.
She was a fucking rock star.
***
Brianna looked up as she took her apron off, puzzlement on her face.
“You seem surprised to see me,” Denny said, as she walked in, trying not to limp.
A smile slid across Brianna’s face. “I am. You’re a hard one to read, Golden Silver. I never know what to expect from you. After the séance––”
“I hope you have someplace good in mind because I am starving.”
Brianna cocked her head to one side. “Are you...limping?”
“Yeah, pulled a muscle jogging. No biggie.”
Brianna opened her mouth and then closed it without comment. “Well, how does The Steakhouse sound?”
Fifteen minutes later, they were seated there talking about their day. Denny omitted her encounter with the demon and her experience with her Hanta and just sort of filled in the blanks.
It was the first time in a long time that she’d sat across from a living person and talked about everything from politics to the environment. Two hours rolled into three as Denny told Brianna how great it was to work with Ames and how nice it was to talk to someone about all she was going through.
“Ames is an odd guy, to be sure, but I’m glad he’s been a help.” Brianna laid her hand on top of Denny’s. “And I know you need help, Denny. I know this is bigger than what you’ve shared with me, and while I understand why you haven’t shared all of it, I want you to know, you can. I would never betray your trust in me. Ever.”
Denny looked at their hands before locking eyes with Brianna. “I appreciate that more than you know. You’re right. There’s a lot going on in my life right now and most of it isn’t great. Yeah, I’m a demon hunter with a whole lot to learn about my new responsibilities. I’ve been attacked twice, my––”
“The limp?”
Denny bowed her head. “Yeah. Sorry. I should have told you the truth.”
“No, no. I understand. I’m glad you didn’t blurt it out in th
e coffee shop. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m a fast healer.”
“I saw that with your eyebrow. Unnaturally fast. I imagine there’s more to it, you know, because of the Hanta Raya.”
Denny jerked back as if struck and stared at Brianna while their waitress set their meals on the table.
“What?” Brianna smiled. “You don’t think I ran home to research what a Hanta is? Of course I did. I heard what Cassandra said. It sounded like Santa, but I knew better so I looked it up. The fact that you can converse with and have a relationship with a ghost told me that you probably possess the Hanta in question. It was simple deduction. I was wondering if you were going to come talk to me. I wouldn’t have pressed the issue.”
“My life is incredibly difficult right now. I don’t just have balls in the air. I have flaming balls. I’ll understand if you want to walk right out that door and never see me again.”
Brianna leaned forward. “That’s not going to happen. I’m a Wiccan, not some starry eyed little girl. I know precisely what I am in for and I’m not afraid. But would you mind terribly if we had some girl talk?”
“Girl talk?”
“You need to get out more. You know...girl talk...where you tell me what it’s like having a ghost for a girlfriend?”
Denny cut into her meat before looking up. “You know, when it’s all you’ve known, you don’t really know how it compares.”
“Oh come on. You’ve had a real...wait, that’s not the word I want.” Brianna looked up at the sky. “I don’t want to minimize your virginity or anything, but––”
“It’s okay. I know what you mean, and no. Rush became my best friend in high school. On my eighteenth birthday, we got together and have been together ever since.”
“When you say got together, how, exactly does that happen, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Denny smiled. “Only two other people have ever had the balls to ask me that.”
“Was it rude of me?”
“Curiosity isn’t necessarily rude, no.” Denny waited for the waitress to refill their glasses before continuing. “Everything happens in my mind. It feels real, my physical body experiences the pleasure––” Denny’s voice trailed off.
“But?” Brianna asked.
Darkness Descends (The Silver Legacy Book 1) Page 21