Immortal Hunter

by Kait Ballenger

  David nodded. “I’m better than okay,” he whispered.

  She ran her fingers over the shaved stubble of his hair. “I can tell something is bothering you.”

  He nodded. “There’s something I want to say to you, but I don’t know if I should.”

  She ran her fingertips over his cheek as if cueing him to continue. Before he spoke, he kissed her hard. His heart thumped inside his chest, and a sweet ache filled him. He wanted and needed her in every way.

  When he pulled back from their kiss, he lingered, his lips barely touching hers before he whispered, “I love you, Allie. I never stopped loving you.”

  * * *

  ALLSÚN’S BREATH CAUGHT. She wasn’t sure what to say, or even if she should respond. Her heart ached at his words. The weight of how fully she’d missed him over the years pressed down on her. She’d never stopped loving him, either. She thought about speaking, but she was at a loss for words. Part of her wanted to say them back, even if just for old time’s sake, but another part of her wasn’t ready.

  David laid a tender kiss on her cheek. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. I just needed you to know.”

  She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek again. She ran her fingers over his slight five o’clock shadow—just enough scruff to be sexy.

  He smiled, then kissed her. With all the strength she possessed, she rolled the two of them over so she lay on top of him.

  He grinned. “This is a nice change of pace.”

  She flashed him a playful grin. “I want to do something for you.”

  His eyes widened as she kissed her way across the rock-hard muscles of his abdomen. She grinned at the shocked look on his face. This was something David had always wanted—he didn’t have to say that for her to know—but he had always been too giving to ask for anything that was for his pleasure alone.

  “Allsún, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

  She kissed the delicious V leading down to his cock. “But I do want to.”

  Before he could protest again, she wrapped her lips over the head of his dick and slipped her mouth down as far as she could manage. A moan escaped David’s lips. Instinctually, she used her hand to work the part of him her mouth couldn’t reach. He tangled his fingers in her hair, massaging her head. She smiled on the inside, because even when he was receiving his own pleasure, it was his natural instinct to please her.

  “I need to be inside you again.”

  She released him from her mouth.

  “I need to be inside you,” he repeated. “Now.”

  Suddenly she was on her back again, with David hovering over top of her as he used his impressive arms to support his weight. He sheathed himself inside her, and she cried out. He felt phenomenal, filling her up to the max. Wrapping his arms around her, he cradled her against him as he thrust. His right hand trailed down her side until he nestled it between her legs, rubbing her clit to speed her to the brink of ecstasy.

  Her core grew slick as she came closer and closer to climax. He penetrated her hard and deep as her arousal increased, matching the strength of his thrusts to her level of pleasure. He was amazing in bed, so good to her and so aware of her needs. She felt him stiffen inside her, coming closer to his own climax.

  “Come for me,” he whispered against her ears. Shivers shot down her spine as the heat of his breath tingled over her.

  He pulsed inside her and cried out as he reached his own climax, the cry fading into a strong feral groan as he filled her up. The feeling of his fingers massaging her most sensitive flesh and the long hard strength of his cock combined with the pulsing sensation of him coming inside her sent her over the edge.

  She threw her head back. “David!” she cried out. Wave after wave of pleasure washed over her, reaching every inch of her body. A fire burned inside her chest, and electricity shot through her limbs. As the last shudder of her release rolled over her, David kissed her deep. The sweet taste of his tongue flooded her mouth.

  David rolled over onto his side, pulling her flush against him once more. She kissed his cheek, before pulling back to stare into his dark eyes. A feeling of total adoration filled her, and she knew from the smile on his lips that he could see the truth reflected in her face: she’d never stopped loving him, either.

  Warmth the likes of which she’d never known consumed her, like the sun blazing inside her, shining from the inside out. And that was when she knew. She wasn’t quite sure how it had happened, but somehow, her light was back and there was only explanation she could think of. Though she hated to admit it to herself, this time when they’d made love, she’d fallen in love with David all over again.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  DAVID COULD FEEL it in his bones. Something about the second time had been different, David thought. The first time they’d slept together they’d been making up for lost time, years spent apart. The second time it was as if they’d gotten all the necessary carnal desires out of the way. Instead of wild pleasure, it was about unfaltering love, a love that, though they’d tried to deny it, they just couldn’t ignore.

  He had never stopped loving Allsún. He’d always known that, and for years he’d questioned how it had been possible for her to stop loving him. After all, how could she love him, yet intentionally leave? Sometimes it made him wonder if she’d ever really loved him at all.

  He knew better now.

  It wasn’t possible for her to stop loving, and she never had. It was only possible for life, obligations and responsibilities to get in the way of that love, because true love doesn’t die or disappear. True love was indestructible, even in death.

  He laid awake in bed for what seemed like hours, content with the feeling of Allsún’s warm body tucked against his. It wasn’t until, still sleeping, she rolled on to her side and out of his embrace that he finally got out of bed. He welcomed the brisk cool air of the penthouse. The chill acted as the reminder he needed. As great as things were going with Allsún, he wouldn’t feel truly better until he was certain no more families were in danger.

  After staring at the crime scene photos again, examining them for any new clue, he stepped away and pulled on his clothes—ready if needed—then went back to the pictures.

  After he’d been staring at the photos for a while, his phone buzzed. He picked it up and answered. “Hello?”

  Chris rattled off an address several blocks away. “Get there now.”

  David hung up the phone. “Allsún.” He spoke her name in a sharp bark in order to rouse her.

  She jolted awake. “What?” she snapped.

  He crossed the room and pulled on his leather jacket as he threw Allsún her clothes. “Get dressed. There’s been a hit on the surveillance.”

  She immediately went into action mode, pulling on her clothes in seconds.

  Within two minutes they were on the Super Glide, speeding toward the address Chris had given him. David ignored the traffic lights and cut in and out of cars with expert precision. He didn’t care about traffic laws right now. The sooner they got there, the more likely they were to save someone. When they pulled up to the apartment building, David rode up into the grass, throwing the bike down as he and Allsún bolted inside. They ran at full speed, bounding up the stairs until they reached the third floor.

  Using the heel of his boot, David kicked in the door to the apartment. Pain seared through his bad leg, but he didn’t give a shit; he would end this demon motherfucker once and for all. Gun at the ready, he stormed in. The demon stood in the middle of the family’s living room, wearing a teenage boy as its meat suit and clutching what appeared to be its possessed victim’s identical twin brother by the throat. Two dead bodies lay on the floor nearby. The parents.

  David squeezed the trigger and fired one of his custom rounds into the demon’s shoulder. The demon drop
ped the boy as it reeled with the unexpected pain. Normal bullets weren’t pleasant for demons, but David’s new toys caused a special kind of hurt. Smoke billowed from the wound in the demon’s arm.

  It hissed, eyes glowing a fiery red as it turned its gaze toward David. “You’ll pay for that, exorcist.”

  With the wave of its arm, David flew backward as if hit by an invisible force. His back buckled as his spine collided with the wall. His head bounced off the plaster in a cloud of dust. A warm trickle oozed down the back of his head, and he could feel the warm blood dripping down his neck.

  “Please, don’t hurt him! That’s my brother!” the newly released boy yelled.

  Stupidly, the demon had merely slammed him into the wall, David realized. It hadn’t bothered to hold him down, choosing instead to tend to its wound. Big mistake. He fired off a shot, hitting the demon right in the calf.

  The smell of burning flesh filled the apartment. The demon fell to its knees.

  “Don’t fire!” Allsún yelled.

  As she rushed up behind the hell-crawler, a beautiful burst of sparkling green light rose from her hands, shimmering in the midst of the bloody scene. But David knew that beauty was extremely misleading.

  Holding both hands over the demon, she focused her power until the light was so bright that David had to squint to see. Suddenly the demon writhed on the ground, twitching as if it were an ant being fried under the power of a sunbeam concentrated through a child’s magnifying glass.

  A sheen of sweat broke out on Allsún’s brow as she continued to keep the demon in place. “David, draw a ward and prepare to tie this thing up.”

  He didn’t need to be asked twice.

  Impressively, Allsún managed to hold the demon down despite the victim’s terrified brother screaming nonstop, until David successfully shoved it into a chair and made certain it couldn’t escape. Several minutes later he tied the last knot around the demon’s wrist, securing it firmly to the arm of the chair.

  The demon looked up at him through the eyes of the innocent teen boy. “I like a little bondage play.”

  David rolled his eyes. “You do, huh? Bet you’re into pain, too.”

  The demon gave him a smug grin. “You can’t hurt me, exorcist.”

  David smiled. “That’s where you’re wrong. Let’s see how much you like this.” He shoved the blessed serrated blade against the demon’s bare collar bone and slowly pressed the tip of the knife into its flesh—the knife he’d just dipped in holy water behind the little shit’s back. The demon screeched. It didn’t matter that demons weren’t actually humans, just imposters wearing their hosts like suits. When they were inside a human, they felt pain the same way their hosts did, which meant that the collarbone and genitals were very vulnerable places. David slowly dug the blade in. The demon continued to scream.

  “Please, I’m begging you. Don’t hurt my brother. He’s in there somewhere,” the twin cried out from behind them.

  David heard Allsún walk to the boy’s side as he continued to focus on causing the demon pain in hopes of driving it out.

  “It’s okay,” Allsún whispered to the twin. “We’re going to get your brother out of there. Just let us do our job. I know this is scary, but we’re going to save him.”

  The boy let out a tortured sob. “It killed my mom and dad.”

  “I know, and I’m so sorry. I promise you that we’re going to make this monster pay, and we’ll save your brother. Come on, let’s go out in the hallway. You don’t need to see this.”

  “No. I want to watch. I want to see it leave my brother’s body,” the teen protested.

  Finally, much to his personal disappointment, David withdrew the blade from the monster’s flesh. The demon let out another howl of pain.

  David leaned down, nearly nose to nose with the little bastard. “That was fun, wasn’t it?”

  The demon sneered. “Eat shit, you fucking Holy Roller.”

  David grinned. He leaned down and waved the knife in front of the demon’s face. “If you liked that, wait until you see what I have in store for you next.”

  The demon winced. “What do you want?”

  David’s eyes widened. Wow, that had to be a record. “Well, well...we have a talker already. If there’s one failing that all you demons share, it’s that you have no fucking loyalty to each other. See, that’s the problem with your kind, you’re only out for your own interests. Believe me, I’ve met my fair share of humans who are assholes, but even the nastiest displays of human selfishness are nothing compared to what you lowlifes get up to.” He paused and placed his boot on the edge of the demon’s chair. “If you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen.”

  “What do you want?”

  David frowned. “You know what I want, you worthless fucker. I can tell you’re not the one responsible for all the deaths around here. This doesn’t fit the usual pattern. There’s no baby, no pregnant woman, so tell me what I want to know.”

  “I don’t know what you want from me.”

  “This one’s not very bright, Allsún.” He placed the heel of his boot right between the demon’s legs, exactly where he could put just enough pressure to make it squirm. “You really don’t know what I want, huh? Information, you pathetic shit. Information. Who sent you to do this, and why? Don’t even bother trying to tell me you’re doing this on your own. I wasn’t born yesterday. Weak little assholes like you are always taking orders from someone. You’re no head honcho. And if you were the same demon asshole that’s been killing families around here, you would’ve stuck to the pattern. So, tell me, who sent you to do this and why?”

  The demon spat on David’s boot. In response David punched the monster with the butt of his blade.

  Blood trickled from the corner of the demon’s mouth as it spoke. Its eyes blazed red. “You’re going to exorcise me either way, so why should I give you information?”

  David laughed. He leaned down so he was eye to eye with the monster. “So first you play me by pretending you’re going to talk, and now you’re acting like the silent type? That’s fine, because it’s not a matter of whether or not I send you back to hell. It’s about how much pain you experience beforehand.”

  David sliced the knife across the other side of the demon’s collarbone and held the holy-water-soaked blade to the wound. Smoke billowed from the cut.

  The demon screeched and writhed against its bonds. “I’ll tell you what you want, just stop!”

  A sense of déjà vu washed over David at the way the word “stop” sounded on the demon’s lips, and his eyes widened in shock as he recognized the demon sitting in front of him. “Shit. You’re the Abyzu demon that was possessing babies a couple of months ago. I thought I sent your sorry ass back to hell. How’d you crawl out so fast? You shouldn’t be up here again this soon.” He pulled the blade away from the demon’s throat.

  The demon let out a low guttural hiss. “Look at you, all high and mighty because you’re a big deal exorcist. Not such a big deal now, though. I notice you’re missing something this time.”

  David scoffed. Whatever this demon thought it knew about him, it was full of shit. “Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”

  The demon grinned. Blood stained its teeth a putrid crimson. “You don’t have all the power you used to. The faerie light you had is gone.”

  David raised a brow. What did this hell-crawler mean? He glanced over his shoulder toward Allsún, but she was too busy comforting the host’s unpossessed twin to notice the demon’s comment.

  “Faerie light? What are you talking about?” he asked.

  The demon laughed, a vicious sound that made David want to gag. “Your little Fae bitch didn’t tell you? You’ve been carrying around a portion of her power for quite some time now.”

  David rolled his eyes. Really? This was the sort of shit the dem
on was going to feed him? He wasn’t about to allow this worthless monster to get under his skin. “And how did I lose it?” he baited.

  “The Fae in all their two-faced glory only share their powers with those they ‘love.’ That’s the only way they can give it or take it back—fucking. Tell me, have you been fucking around with her nice and good? Because she’s sure been fucking with you.” The demon’s mouth curved into a smirk.

  David glanced over his shoulder toward Allsún again. No, it couldn’t be. He ignored the monster and crossed the room to Allsún’s side. She was sitting on the sofa with the boy wrapped in her arms, crying into her shoulder.

  David nodded toward the hallway. “Can I see you outside for a minute?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, sure.” She turned toward the boy and ran a hand over his slightly disheveled hair. “I’ll be right back. You’ll be safe right here. That ward stops the demon from being able to move, so it can’t get to you. If it tries to talk to you, or tells you to do anything at all, ignore it, no matter how tempting it sounds. That’s not your brother in there right now, okay? So if he tells you to untie him, don’t listen.”

  The teen nodded. “Okay.”

  She followed David out into the hallway and leaned against the wall. “What’s going on? Has the demon said anything useful yet?”

  “Not that I can tell, but it did say something that’s making me wonder.”

  She nodded, urging him to continue.

  “I exorcised this same demon a few months back, and it said I’m different this time, that I’m missing something. It said I had Fae light in me, and now that’s gone. You don’t know anything about that, do you?” he asked.

  Allsún’s jaw dropped, as if she couldn’t believe he’d asked her that. “What? David, you can’t possibly believe that. You know demons lie through their fucking teeth.”

  He nodded. Maybe she was right, but he had to ask. “Yeah, but this lie seemed a little too specific for this dipshit’s intelligence level, you know? So, do you know what it’s talking about?”