Drop Dead Demons

by Kirk, A

  “Don’t you dare!” Fighting panic, I laid my ear on his chest.

  Th-thump, th-thump.

  “Thank God.” I leaned over his face. Was he breathing?

  “Try to give me mouth-to-mouth, and I will throw up.”

  I sat back on my heels and let relief wash over me.

  “You wouldn’t be the only one.” I blew out a heavy breath. “Jeez! You scared the dickens out of me.”

  He sat up on his elbows, grimacing. “Since when do you care?”

  “Are you kidding?” I whacked his chest. “No one would ever believe I killed you by accident. Your dad would lock me up in the clink faster than you could say, ‘Shrimp on the barbie.’” My hands patted over his torso. “And he still might if you’re hurt. Is there any damage? Burns?”

  “Get off!” He slapped my hands away and checked himself out. “Seems fine.” His head fell back and he spoke loudly. “Told you it would work.”

  “You didn’t tell me anything!” My fists pounded on him. Sparks flew.

  “Ow, those sting!” He pushed me off.

  I studied my hands. The power was fading, but they still glowed. And felt…buzzy.

  “Serves you right!” I railed at him. “You tried to kill me!”

  “If I’d tried, you’d be dead, and I wouldn’t have to listen to you babble.” He sat up as I flopped down. “It was nice payback for the newspaper thing, but truth is, I just had to test my theory.”

  “By almost killing me?”

  “Yes.”

  I barked a laugh. Then stopped, because I saw he wasn’t kidding.

  “Stay away from me.” I scooted back.

  “Relax, drama queen.” He dusted himself off and sat up. “I just needed you to think you were going to die so your power would kick in. You’re welcome.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “No, lass.” Jenny sauntered out of the forest. How he could walk with the weight of all those weapons was beyond me. “He just wanted me to see how you operated.” He eyed Matthias. “Looks like that might’ve stung a bit, boyo.”

  The Aussie scowled. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “And you didn’t tell me she could grab your whips.”

  “Yeah, mate, didn’t know that until just now.”

  “She’s just full of surprises.”

  Matthias flopped on his back. “I’ve always hated surprises.”

  I gave them both dirty looks. “Think you two could tell me something I don’t know?”

  Jenny tipped his hat back on his head. “With hunters, our abilities are tied to our emotions.”

  “I know.” Gee, so much for the expert.

  “At its core,” Jenny said, “your power is tied to your will. In your case, it comes out when you’re in fear for your life. Your will to survive.” He squatted down next to me and turned to Matthias. “But if the demon she protected last night was any indication, I’d bet good money it’ll kick in if someone she cares about is threatened too. Her will to protect loved ones.”

  “See!” I shouted at Matthias. “You could have demonstrated without putting me in mortal danger.”

  Matthias twisted his lips in a demented smile. “Not nearly as much fun.”

  “Whatever. So how is all this brilliant knowledge supposed to help me control the explody thing?”

  “Explody thing?” Jenny said.

  I nodded. “It’s a technical term.”

  “I see. Well, lass, that’s what I’m here for. And it’s time to find out.”

  Jenny yanked me to my feet. As he turned and walked away, he flipped a knife, more of a dagger, high into the air. While the glinting blade rotated in the sunlight, he shrugged his shoulders and let his trench coat fall to the grass. The arsenal strapped to his body was in full view. He held out an empty palm just in time for the dagger to fall into it.

  In a blur, he spun around and threw it.

  At me.

  The knife rocketed at high speed. My adrenaline spiked, but either fear froze me too long, or I was just too exhausted to move, because my reaction faltered, muscles slowed. I started to dive right, but knew my sluggish response had cost me. I wouldn’t beat the blade.

  I raised my arms to at least deflect it from a dead shot between my eyes.

  Matthias kicked my feet out, and I went down hard. “Jenny!” he yelled.

  I sat up, breathing hard and fast. “Stop trying to kill me!”

  “Would’ve just nicked you.” Jenny was unperturbed as he walked over, kicked the knife into the air and caught it. “Come on, girl, show me your skills.”

  He walked away, jerking his head for me to follow.

  Yep. Nothing but good times ahead.

  Chapter Ninety-One

  In no time, I was dripping blood, sweat, and tears.

  Okay, not blood. And the tears? So far I’d managed to hold them back despite the mega-level frustration. But there was definitely sweat. Gallons of it. Not my dream day, but historically, I was more of a nightmare kind of gal anyway.

  It wasn’t all that dramatic. Jenny kept having me try to conjure up the blasting power. And I kept failing, producing nothing but a couple of sparks.

  “Want me to throw her off the cliff again?” Matthias offered.

  What a generous fella.

  However, Jenny decided that I needed some adrenaline pumping action so we worked on some hand-to-hand combat. I didn’t completely suck. The most fun was practicing various fighting techniques with Jenny’s short swords.

  But when I tired — telling myself it was the serious lack of sleep issue — I quickly lost little things like speed, agility, and overall cognitive function. And then the hits just kept on coming.

  Jenny jabbed an elbow to my back. I flopped onto the rocky ground. And stayed there. Not really caring that dirt coated my sweat-stained cheek and drool dribbled from the side of my mouth. Exhaustion claimed every muscle. And any part of me that wasn’t numb was a flowing tide of pain.

  “Get up.” Jenny dug a boot toe into my hip. “We’re not done yet.”

  “I am.” My slurred words displaced a little puff of soil.

  Jenny slipped his foot under my stomach and flipped me over. I groaned. Then I groaned again because the groaning hurt. And on went the vicious cycle of pain.

  He jabbed the sword tip into the sand and crouched down, one hand on the hilt of the blade. “The only excuse for quitting is being dead.”

  I rolled my head sideways and spit out sand. “Does wanting to be dead count?”

  Jenny’s smile was diabolical. “You tell me.”

  The sword was suddenly swinging a graceful arc toward my torso.

  I screamed, rolled out of the way, and once on my feet, threw the short sword that was somehow still in my hand.

  Jenny bent his knees and leaned back in a contortion odd enough to qualify as some advanced yoga move. The blade passed him harmlessly.

  “That’s more like it.” He pointed his sword at me, his mouth split into a wide grin. “That I can work with.”

  I dropped to my knees. I think it had something to do with the fact I could no longer feel my legs.

  “No slacking, lass. The fun’s just starting.”

  “Again. I am not having fun.”

  But I made it to my feet. Something cold was thrust in my hand. I blinked. Focused. A dagger.

  Jenny slapped my shoulder, almost knocking me down. “Next, I want you to—”

  I didn’t care. Without looking, I rotated my arm and threw the knife. Just to shut him up.

  Twang.

  I had to squint to be sure, but darn if the knife hadn’t buried its tip in the trunk of a tree. A goofy, lopsided grin curved my lips.

  “I did it.”

  “That you did. Now go again.”

  And once I started, I didn’t feel like stopping. Especially when I kept hitting target after target. Energy started buzzing inside me. Suddenly, I wasn’t tired.

  Jenny produced an endless supply of sharp things. Dagge
rs, short swords, scythes, hatchets, machetes, some circular pointy thing. We walked through the woods finding new targets. Jenny occasionally provided a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

  My insides were hot and vibrating. I was giddy. It was like on a long run when endorphins overrode exhaustion, and I felt I could run forever.

  Jenny dropped a hand on my shoulder and tossed an apple high. When I reached for my next weapon, nothing was laid in my hand. But muscle memory kept my body moving, my arm reeled back, and my hand shot toward the apple. Energy rippled down my arm.

  Light blasted.

  The world exploded.

  Chapter Ninety-Two

  Not the whole world. Just mine. And the apple. Like a fresh fruit grenade.

  I dropped my hand and turned away from the brilliant light and sticky wet bits that splattered my face.

  “Yes!” I jumped up and down. Punched the air. “Did you see that?” Adrenaline pumped. I felt so good! I wanted to celebrate. To hug someone but…

  Jenny was terrifying and probably booby-trapped. And Matthias was…well, Matthias. So my jumping kind of dwindled. Along with my euphoria. Yippee.

  Jenny lifted a shoulder. “Decent work, lass.”

  Matthias looked unimpressed. “About time.”

  Wow. Killer support team.

  I looked at my hands. They glowed. And tingled. Hot. Alive. Maybe I shouldn’t be so excited I was going nuclear. What if I couldn’t stop? I started to shake and tucked them under my armpits.

  “Get a grip.” Matthias was annoyed. “You’ve been glowing for a while now.” He turned to Jenny. “She tends to panic. Then choke.”

  Sparks trailing, my fingers pointed at the exploded apple bits. “Are you blind? I was just awesome!”

  “It was us, by the way.” Jenny tipped his hat at my perplexed expression and looked directly at me. His eyes were glowing a deep yellow. “I tapped into your power. Increased it. I needed you exhausted so you wouldn’t notice. Otherwise you might have fought me.”

  An uncomfortable knot twisted in my stomach. “Wait. You messed with my power?”

  “Just gave it a boost, lass.” He spread his arms wide. “I can turn it up or down. It’s what I do. My particular…charm, if you will.”

  “Your hunter ability? Well, it’s not charming. It’s…rude and—” I stared at his yellow eyes, at the scratches on his face, then stepped closer and smelled the whisky. I whacked his arm. Not hard, but he flinched. “It was you. Outside my house. You attacked me.”

  Matthias gave Jenny a hard look. “That true?”

  Jenny rubbed his arm where I had touched him then shrugged, indifferent. “Just went to observe the lass you’d called me about. Saw her cavorting with a demon. She saw me and attacked with a shovel.”

  “I didn’t—” see him until he attacked me but there was no reason for them to know I wasn’t as battle ready as they thought I was.

  “I took offensive action.” He touched the scratches on his face. “More harm to me than you, child.”

  When he’d touched me that night, I’d had the vision of Jayden and Rose. Great, he could tap into my Divinicus vision power too. My uncomfortable feeling was turning into really ticked off.

  I folded my arms. “This power tapping thing you have, don’t do it on me again.”

  “Can’t promise that, love.” Jenny had the nerve to offer a playful wink. “And besides, we were a good team just now. I only amplified the power, it was your aim that hit the apple. A fine shot.”

  I wasn’t always thrilled with being this freak of nature, but I liked being the master of my own freakishness. The fact that he could take control made him like some sort of body snatcher. I didn’t like it, could see why other hunters would find him unnerving to be around. And why the Mandatum would want him put on ice.

  “I’m a tad disappointed she didn’t vanish again,” Jenny told Matthias.

  “So sorry.” I hoped he slipped on the sarcasm pooling off my words.

  “No need to get testy,” Jenny said. “When I amplify the power it’s easier for you to identify the feeling. Now you just have to remember it — like muscle memory — and you can access it again. Here, try it on your own.”

  He picked up a pine cone. Tossed it high in the air.

  I blasted it without thinking—bam! He continued throwing rocks, pieces of wood. I took them all down. The energy radiated from inside—not one particular place—just coursing throughout. Tickling up my spine, zig-zagging across my chest. Even my ears tingled.

  “And you’re not doing anything?” I said.

  “It’s stronger when I touch you,” he said. “And I can do it from a distance, but you have my word, I’m not doing anything now. Feel better?”

  “Yes.” And I did. Powerful. Finally in some sort of control. “So what now?”

  “Have the boys recalibrated the shields around the town?” Jenny asked Matthias.

  “They didn’t have time to make them impenetrable to the level of the gods, but enough to slow them down and give us fair warning.”

  “Good. Then now, lass, you go home, practice turning it on and off, and get some rest. You’ll need it.” Jenny used the tip of a sword to hook first his coat then his hat off the ground and into his hands. “Aphrodite and her lot have buried entire civilizations. We’ll all need to be on our game but especially you. Because you’re our secret weapon.” He slapped his hat against his leg then settled it on his head. “But no pressure.”

  Chapter Ninety-Three

  I stared at the ceiling until I heard Luna wake from her coffin. Then I stole the shower before she did, but it wasn’t as relaxing as I’d hoped. At least we didn’t have school today. Although that just meant I’d spend my weekend searching a dead lady’s underground hideout. Yippee. But first I planned to steal the tracker from Aunt M’s room.

  We needed any clues to the traitor it could provide. Besides, M having anything Mandatum related freaked me out. Not that I could do much about her client list. Obviously a dangerous crowd. Maybe her paranoia wasn’t so…paranoid after all.

  I couldn’t get a hold of Ayden. I’d hoped he’d help with my breaking-and-entering caper, but anytime I called, Jayden answered and said Ayden was asleep, assuring me that he was fine and would fully recover in a few days. Odd, because he sure seemed healthy and…vigorous yesterday on the kitchen table. I grinned.

  Then it faded.

  Crap. Maybe he had a relapse because of yesterday on the kitchen table. Maybe I was some kind of black widow.

  Lucian knocked on my bathroom door. “Matty called!”

  Speaking of poisonous vermin. “I’ll call him back later.”

  “Fine. Next time he calls I’ll mention you’re too busy in the bathroom. Should I tell him number one or number two?” Lucian chuckled. “Must be two. You’ve been in there a long time.”

  “Lucian, go away!” Murder might do wonders to relieve my stress.

  He huffed and clomped off. “Girls never appreciate bathroom humor.”

  After finishing up, I stepped out onto the mat and grabbed a towel, noticing a slight ache in my shoulder. I wiped steam off the mirror for a better look. The puncture was a bit ragged from yesterday’s adventures, and stitches had torn, but it hadn’t bled, and seemed to be healing well. The older scars around it that fed over my shoulder in jagged white and pink lines, the ones from the alley attack, were continuing to fade. The scar that wasn’t fading much at all was the red line on my arm, a courtesy slice from a ghoulie’s talon during my first stint in the Waiting World.

  I wouldn’t be wearing that strapless ball gown I didn’t own anytime soon.

  There was a thump in my bedroom. Then arguing. Towel tucked securely, I poked my head out.

  Van Helsing sat on top of my dresser with an arrogant, green-eyed stare, and the tip of his tail twitching a haughty rhythm. That was normal. The rest of the scene was not. Or at least it didn’t used to be.

  “Are you kidding me?” I hissed.

  Log
an covered his eyes. “I told them it was a bad idea. Get back— Go— Stay in there!”

  Tristan turned away and tried to shove Blake around so he wasn’t looking at me, but that wasn’t happening.

  Blake waggled his eyebrows. “Now that’s what I’m talking about, babe.”

  I hiked the towel tighter. “You can’t keep doing this.”

  “I disagree, chickadee. I could gaze at you fresh from the shower over and over again.”

  Jayden frowned. “We thought we’d be in and out before you were finished. And bear in mind, I refrained from joining you in the shower again.”

  “What!” Blake’s eyes bugged. Logan and Tristan thumped him repeatedly trying to get him to turn around. “Ow. Why didn’t I get invited into the shower? Babe, I’m way more man than all of these guys put together!”

  Jayden huffed. “Like the rest of you, she seems to prefer showering alone.”

  “One shower with me would change her mind. Ow! Okay, you guys are being mean.”

  “Is Ayden with you?” My heart skipped. “He seemed better yesterday.”

  “I told you he requires solitude to heal.” Jayden wouldn’t look at me. “You should give it to him. We agreed I’d act as boyfriend if the requirement arises.”

  Since when? But he seemed testy so I didn’t push it. “You know I can’t leave for the sanctuary until after family breakfast. And I’m getting the tracker from Aunt M’s room so since you’re here, you can help, but…why are you here?”

  Jayden pointed to Blake who held the ring Eros had given me.

  “I don’t recognize this type of stone. Since Blake deals with earth, we thought he might be able to identify it without us having to run tests at the lab.”

  I perked up. “And do you?”

  “Why, yes I do, milady.” Blake’s chest puffed out, hazel eyes twinkling. “I finally know more than genius Jayden. Let me savor the moment.”

  “Blake,” Logan warned.

  “Fine.” Blake closed and opened his eyes. “Moment savored. But Eros is messing with you. This has to be a fake. They’re too rare. And even if he did have one, he’d never give it up.”