The demons.
While Kevin and Caleb both had the same idea as Walker, fighting two shadowmen near each other so they could work somewhat in concert, Mateo fought Thomas. The man was quick as hell, but his movements were already showing small signs of weariness. The concealment runes had taken their toll.
I didn’t step in. Instead, I scanned the area. The others had their parts to do—on their own. Because I had another target.
Hugh.
Part of my mind screamed that looking for the other demon was a mistake. That my team would be better served if I stepped in to help Mateo with Thomas. We’d be virtually guaranteed to take him then. Thomas wasn’t strong enough out here in the open to take on two Venators.
But images assailed me. Staring eyes—the eyes I saw in the mirror every morning. Broken bodies. Blood covering the floor of my parents’ home. My younger sister, only just beginning her adult life, chestnut hair dyed red.
And for what? A convenient source of energy for a power-hungry demon who was on the run. Hugh had used my family up. Destroyed them. And destroyed me just as surely as if I’d been there to share their fate. Need coiled in me, a tight knot in my chest. The need to feel Hugh’s skin give way under my blade. The need to hurt. The need to kill.
I scanned the field as I walked, knowing that my target couldn’t be far. In the distance, standing in a dark corner far enough away to observe the fight safely, was Hugh. His silhouette was just barely visible in the moonlight.
Blood pounded in my ears and my vision tunneled. The other fights faded, and I moved past them. They didn’t feel real. Venators were simply landscapes quickly passing by my window. The ground was no longer solid beneath my feet; I flowed across it. Reality faded into the surreal. My own violent intent and the demon in front of me were the only things that were still real.
As if I moved faster than my own mind could process, I suddenly stood in front of Hugh. Part of me realized I’d walked here, at my normal enhanced speed, from only across the field. The rest of me felt like I’d been walking to this moment, this man, since the day I’d gone to my parents’ house for Sunday brunch and found my world utterly destroyed.
Hugh’s eyes were closed, as he no doubt worked to keep his shadowmen on this plane even as Franklin struggled to banish them. I pulled my machete from its sheath. Ten feet and I would finally feel the demon’s throat under my hands.
Five feet.
Two feet.
Hugh’s eyes snapped open.
I ducked and swung, but Hugh’s arm shot out faster than anything I had ever seen in a backhand blow. Pain arced across my face, and I flew backward. I landed hard but sprang to my feet again, ignoring the pain and the wavy dots floating across my vision.
Hugh hadn’t moved. A smirk twisted his mouth, arrogance coating his proud stance.
“Really? Coming after me when your friends are struggling so?” The demon’s gaze flickered to something behind me.
Guilt stabbed at me, and worry for the Venators—worry for Ava—threatened to overtake my thoughts. The temptation to glance over my shoulder was strong. But I kept my attention on the demon. Ava still wore her concealment rune. If she’d gone back into the foliage like she’d promised, she’d be as safe as possible. One false move, though, and I’d be done. My fight would be over. I couldn’t allow that. Hugh would not live to see a new day if I had anything to say about it.
Instead, I took a step to my side, watching for any indication of weakness. Surely the shadowmen must be pulling at him, sucking at his energy in order to maintain their presence here. That was a drain Hugh could eliminate, but it would require dropping his link to the men. And then he’d lose his backup.
Hugh’s eyes flickered to the scene behind me again, but I didn’t take the bait. Instead, I used to the split second of distraction to lunge at the demon. Hugh jumped back, but not before I nicked him with my blade.
The demon’s eyes narrowed and he struck, a quick cross-punch that sent me falling back a few steps. I blinked until the world stopped spinning, and sprang at Hugh again. But the demon twisted out of reach at the last moment, dancing in the grass before swinging for a quick blow.
I evaded his fist and continued to slash at the demon. But Hugh dodged repeatedly, his laughter a low hiss that crawled up my spine.
“Fight me!” I finally yelled, beyond frustrated.
“Oh, I don’t think so. You’re far too much fun. I’m going to enjoy breaking you.” Hugh’s teeth flashed, more a snarl than a grin. “But not tonight.”
The demon threw himself at me, springing like a cat. His weight hit my chest like a boulder and I fell back, hitting the ground hard. All the air flew from my lungs, and pain lanced from my back and ribs. Then the demon was gone.
I struggled to breathe, forcing my body to turn so I could look back to the others. Hugh stood next to Thomas, facing off with Mateo. Walker threw off her remaining shadowman and ran for the demons.
A laugh sounded—Thomas, not Hugh. And Hugh grabbed Mateo as if the huge man was nothing more than a bag of potatoes. With almost careless ease, he threw the other man up over Walker’s head to the shadowman behind her. Hugh called out an order in Latin, and the shadowman closed the short distance, flitting to Mateo’s side.
Ava appeared from the forest, running toward the crowd.
Oh, fuck.
I struggled to my knees and crawled toward them, but the shadowman was already kneeling next to Mateo. Shadows crawled around them, climbing onto Mateo’s limbs as if they too were sentient and eager to feed. Mateo struggled but was obviously stunned from his impact against the ground, and was without a light for even a bit of protection.
In a blink of an eye, the shadowman and Mateo were gone.
Walker screamed, running toward the spot where Mateo had lain. Hugh and Thomas, taking advantage of the distraction, darted toward the forest with inhuman speed.
“Karson!” Ava sprinted to my side, half sliding, half falling onto the grass next to me. “Are you all right? Did you see that?”
“Told you.” I sucked in air and pain shot from my chest. Hugh had definitely bruised my ribs, maybe fractured some. “Stay in the forest.”
“Whatever,” she said, but her voice shook.
She helped me to my feet, and I gritted my teeth against the pain. Together, we struggled back to where Mateo had disappeared.
“He okay?” I called to Caleb, who tended a prone Franklin.
“Passed out, but strong pulse,” Caleb said.
Relief rushed through me at that. We might not always see eye to eye, but Franklin had brought me into this world and had given me a shot at gaining some payback for my family. He was a good man.
Walker and Kevin spoke in hushed tones, but went silent at our approach.
“We’re going after Mateo,” Walker said without preamble.
“Maybe we can help,” Ava offered.
Walker gave me a cool glance, but addressed Ava. “No. You’ve helped quite enough.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ava asked.
She’d seen the fight, but she hadn’t realized the implications of what I’d done. Of course, she had no experience fighting demons, so she didn’t know how big of a fuckup I’d committed.
“I should have helped him,” I said, an admission to Walker as much as an explanation for Ava. “Should have backed up Mateo instead of going after Hugh.”
“Damn right you should have,” Walker said. Kevin bared his teeth but didn’t speak.
Without another word, they turned and left.
The dream of leading my own cell following in their footsteps. I hadn’t been a leader. I’d failed.
Chapter Twelve
I waited for Ava to duck into the driver’s side of the car before I jumped in after her. She yelped in surprise when I helped her to the passenger’s side by picking her up and scooting her over. The car’s engine roared to life, and I drove slowly away from the estate.
“Aren’t we in a lit
tle bit of a hurry?” Ava asked as she scanned the area outside of her window.
“I’m driving normally so we don’t draw attention.”
“Oh.”
Cell phone pressed against my ear, I spoke with Caleb. Franklin was conscious but mostly out of it. But Caleb had him loaded into the back seat of his car and they were headed to a safe house.
I stuck with one-word answers to Caleb’s seemingly endless stream of questions. Yes, we were out of harm’s way for the moment. Yes, we’d meet up tomorrow. Yes, I was certain there was no way Walker would allow us to help look for her cell leader, Mateo.
Ava’s apartment was known by the demons, but it was also warded, and far closer than my hotel room. We were exposed out in the car like this. Finding us wouldn’t be all that difficult, and warding the car wasn’t an option. It would take too much time and too much energy. Plus, maintaining a ward on a nonliving, moving target was tricky.
When we pulled into her apartment parking lot, Ava blinked in confusion, looking up from the spot on the dash where she’d been staring. “We’re there already?”
“Yep.”
I grabbed my machete and then jumped out of the car. Ava followed, an odd look on her face as she took in her building.
“I wasn’t sure I’d ever see this place again,” she said when we reached the lobby.
Tension melted from my shoulders the second we passed through the doors. The wards were still active; my tattoos tingled when I passed over them. The feeling was vague. The blood used to power the wards was old, but I was confident they would hold another day or so.
Granted, a demon as powerful as Hugh could probably break my ward, but it would take a while to do so, and I would feel the pull on my energy. A benefit of the wards being drawn in my blood—one that could too easily turn into a drawback if the runes drew on too much of my energy before they broke.
We made our way to her apartment door, and Ava glanced around nervously as we walked. She couldn’t feel the wards, the security they offered.
“We’re okay,” I reassured her.
She twisted the key in the doorknob, and the door opened immediately.
“You should always lock your deadbolt.”
“I lost the key. I lock it when I’m home.” She crossed her arms. “I wasn’t always so security conscious.”
I scanned the room. Nothing appeared out of order, and the wards tickled my tattoos again when I walked across her threshold. To be safe, I checked the bedroom and bathroom, but nothing had been moved since the last time we were here. The tension in my shoulders lessened further. Things would be okay. I could work with this. But the plan had changed, and Ava wasn’t going to like it.
“Are you sure it’s safe here?” she asked when I returned to the living room.
“Yes. The wards are up. The demons can’t get in.”
“What about their people? You know, people who work for them—are bound to them with those collar tattoos. And what about the shadowmen?”
“Wards cover people acting in the service of a demon as well. Anyone truly connected to them by blood.” I waved at the tattoo around my neck. “Anyone actually bound by one of these won’t be able to cross.”
Cocking her head to the side, she asked, “There’s no workaround for that? Tricking someone somehow? Blackmailing them or something?”
“No workaround they’ve found so far. And I’m pretty sure they’ve been trying any that came to mind in the last millennia or so.” She was rightfully nervous, after what she’d just seen. Watching a man being swallowed by shadows wasn’t pleasant. “Besides—they’ll be busy tonight licking their wounds.”
The words were meant to reassure her, and she saw right through it.
“From what I saw, they didn’t have a lot of wounds to lick.” Her face creased with worry. “Okay, maybe the shadowmen did. But damn. You weren’t joking before. Hugh really isn’t in the same league as Thomas, is he?”
That someone so new to the world of demons had picked up on that was a testament to exactly how powerful Hugh was. “Nope.”
“So where do we go from here? I know that the other Venators didn’t want our help, but we have to look for their leader. I mean, that Mateo guy was there to help us and—”
“No.”
She blinked at me “No what?”
“You can stop with the planning, Ava.” I swallowed hard, but the guilt remained lodged in my throat. “This was my fault. And if I let you continue with this game, your death will be on my hands, too.”
“But—”
“I can’t live with that,” I said, hoping for the strength to keep my voice even and unemotional. I had to say my piece and get the hell out of here. Before I let her talk her way back into my life. “You’re not a Venator. And you’re leaving town tomorrow.”
“The hell I am! You already said that won’t necessarily keep me safe.”
“I’m not debating this. It might not be safe for you anywhere with Hugh still alive. We don’t know what he’s capable of. But under the protection of another cell, you’ll be safer than I can make you right now. They can ward the hell out of the location and make you tough to track. Protect you.” Anger made my tone harsh. Anger at myself for being so stupid. So selfish. But I’d chosen to follow the path my family’s death had set me on, and I would not move from it. Not for her. Not for anyone. Not even for myself, to alleviate the aching pain in my chest at the thought of never seeing her again.
“While you go off and hunt him on your own?”
“This discussion is over, Ava.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, and there was steel in her voice.
“You’re not a Venator.” And I’d be damned if I let her become one.
“Venator,” she said, as if tasting the word. The couch whined as she pushed up to pace the room. “Karson. I’m not a child. You get that, right?”
Of course I got that, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t need to be protected. I tried to think of words to explain the situation to her that wouldn’t make her angrier. “I reached out to you to protect you, not train you. Not to hunt demons with you.”
“What? So I’m not good enough to be one of your Venators? I’m not exceptional enough for you? Not worthy to be anything but bait?” Anger radiated off her in the same way passion had only hours before.
“I—”
“I mean, I’m good enough to screw but not good enough to fight alongside? But I guess I was just a quick affair for you anyway. A meaningless fuck for the big, strong, demon hunter.” She abruptly halted and her hand flew to cover her mouth. Eyes wide, she looked shocked at her own words.
I shook my head, regret and longing building so deep in my chest they threatened to suffocate me. The desire to reassure her was overwhelming. But I couldn’t do that.
I also couldn’t claim that making love to her had meant nothing to me. I couldn’t force out the lie.
“This isn’t the life for you.” I rubbed my face with my hands.
The couch shifted beneath me as she sat on the opposite end. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair to say that to you. But you’ve got this look—” Her voice cracked and I looked up, just in time to see her resolve falter and her face crumple.
Reaching out to her—comforting her—was the right thing to do. But it would only make everything harder in the end. I was what I was. And I couldn’t ask her to join my messed-up life. So I forced myself to stay put, fighting every instinct raging through my body.
A deep, shuddering breath shook Ava, and I examined my hands.
“I know what that look means. And I get it, I really do. But if you gave me a chance…” she trailed off, her voice only slightly more controlled than it had been moments before.
“A chance at what? A chance to live the life of a Venator? That’s no life at all. And it’s the only life I can lead, Ava.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts. Trust me when I say this isn’t a life you’re cut out for.
” I had to tell her the rest and pray that it would turn her off of me for good. “You know what makes me a Venator and you a civilian, Ava? It’s not the life or the training or the experience. It’s these.” I ran a hand over my upper arm.
“I get it. You need tattoos. Do you think I’m scared of a needle?”
“What do you think gives them the power? It’s not just the symbols. It’s the blood.”
“The…blood?” Some bit of realization seemed to be dawning on her, and she stared at my tattoos as if they might reach out and bite her.
“They’re imbued with demon blood. I have demon blood in my body, Ava. Under my skin. I’m not even a man anymore. Not really. And the reality of it is, we don’t come back from this. I won’t ever be a nice, normal man. I’ll always be a man who lives one small decision away from being as bad as they are. Part of them lives in me.”
She’d paled, and she looked like she might be sick. “Karson, I still—”
“No. It’s not a life I’d ever care to see you lead. Besides, I can’t concentrate on my job when you’re around.”
She opened her mouth to argue. Hell, I’d thought the demon blood thing would convince her. She had too much stubborn and too little good sense. I had to put a stop to it before she convinced me. Before I gave in and got her killed because of my weakness.
“The last few days were a mistake.” I didn’t dare look at her when I got up from the couch and headed to her apartment door. A simple separation, the wood of the door wouldn’t withstand much of a physical assault. But to me—and, I thought, to Ava—it might as well be formed from concrete and lined in lead. Funny, how such a flimsy piece of wood could create such a distance between two people. The second I crossed that barrier, I’d never be able to come back through.
Nor would I deserve to.
“Caleb will be by in the morning to collect you. Be ready to leave.” Hand on the doorknob, I resisted turning to glance at her. Burn her image into my memory. If I did that, I’d be lost forever.
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