Releasing the Hunter (Harlequin Nocturne)

by Anna, Vivi

  “They kicked the cambion out,” the radio demon said.

  The other one nodded. “No surprise considering the Stroms’ reputation. I was surprised to hear that the bitch Ivy Strom had been partnered with him to begin with.”

  “Well, true to form, she cut him loose. I was surprised that she didn’t kill him.” Radio demon smiled. “I almost admire her cold, calculated ways. It’s almost going to be a shame to kill her.”

  The other demon smiled. “We could play with her first.”

  “True.”

  And they laughed together.

  It took all Ronan had not to come up behind them both and jam his knife into their throats. He had to be patient. He would get his chance soon enough, he was sure.

  The radio crackled in the demon’s hand. He pushed a button and spoke. “Yes?”

  Ronan couldn’t hear what was said through the radio.

  But after a few seconds the radio demon said to the other with a satisfied grin, “We have their location. In an hour we will be happily feasting on the Stroms’ blood. They don’t stand a chance.”

  “Does he think they have any idea they have a traitor in the camp?”

  Radio demon shook his head. “He says they are dumber than a sack of hammers. He says instead of kicking out the cambion, they should’ve been looking at those closest to Quinn Strom.”

  They both laughed again.

  “When are we moving out?”

  “Right away. The rendezvous point is three blocks from here at the old church.”

  Ronan had heard enough. He knew what he had to do. Slipping his knife out of his belt, he pushed away from the car and rushed the demons.

  He had the radio demon’s chin in his hand and his neck exposed in two seconds flat. The knife went in nice and easy. After dispatching him, he let go and reached for the other. But the demon was already on the move.

  Gripping his knife tight in his right hand, Ronan took off at a run in pursuit.

  * * *

  After a briefing with her brother about their current demon situation, Ivy stepped outside for a breather. She wandered down to the barn and around the other side. There she found a tree stump that was perfect for sitting. She took a swig from the bottle of water she’d taken with her, then set it down on the ground.

  No matter how much liquid she drank, she still felt hollow and thirsty. She knew it had nothing to do with being dehydrated. No, it had everything to do with a certain cambion.

  She understood her brother had to make a decision for the compound. And she knew he honestly believed it was the right one, but Ivy couldn’t help thinking it had been a stupid one. Quinn thought he was protecting his people, but she felt they would’ve been better off with Ronan here in the camp.

  And she supposed she wanted him here for other reasons, as well.

  Although his admission about still wanting the key stung her, she still couldn’t stop the feelings she had for him. She couldn’t stop her heart from beating fast when she thought about him. Or halt the way her belly flipped and her thighs clenched when she remembered his lips on her skin, his hands sliding up and down her body.

  No amount of water was going to fill up the hole that had been ripped inside her.

  She took another drink anyway.

  Standing, she decided to go back into the house. Maybe she’d track Quinn down and ask him to reconsider his decision about Ronan. Maybe she’d ask to be dumped in the same place they’d dumped him.

  Her brother didn’t need her. He was doing just fine on his own. Here she thought she was coming to rescue him, that he was in need of her help, but the reality was he’d never really needed her.

  And as it was, she’d finally realized she didn’t need him. She was okay on her own. She was actually more than okay. But she wasn’t really alone, was she? She could have Ronan at her side if she wanted.

  Truth be told, she did want that, despite his decision to take the key. He needed it. To get a cure to his cambionism. She understood that desire to fix who he was. How many times had she wished she could fix the defects in herself? But what she wanted to say to Ronan was that he was fine the way he was. The demon blood inside him didn’t alter who he truly was. She wished she could show him how incredible he was, as is.

  She made her way around the barn and was about to head up to the farmhouse when something flashed at her out of the corner of her eye. Without looking directly, she turned her head a little, as if studying the tree next to her.

  There it was again. A flash of metal. A gun, she suspected. Someone was hunkered down in the tall grass in the field beyond the compound. They were under attack.

  Ivy ran the rest of the way to the house, bursting through the door and locking it behind her. She found Quinn in the kitchen at the table going over a map of the town.

  “They’re here. We’re under attack.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, already folding up the map.

  “Deadly sure.”

  He nodded to the others in the kitchen. “All right, arm yourselves. Everyone to their points. Just like we planned.” He looked at Gloria. “Get the children in the cellar.”

  Gloria ran out of the room already calling for the kids that were in and around the camp.

  Quinn tossed Ivy a shotgun. “You’re with me.”

  “We should split up. I’m a good shot. You can use me to our advantage.”

  He looked at her for a moment and she thought maybe he was going to argue with her, but he finally nodded. “You’re right. You aren’t a little girl anymore.”

  “I haven’t been for a long while.”

  “Okay, take the west point. Bill, go with Ivy. Take three others with you.”

  Before they separated, Ivy grabbed Quinn’s arm. “Even though I’m still angry at you, I love you, you damn idiot.”

  He smiled and kissed her quick on top of the head, like he used to when she was little. “Love you, too, pain in my ass.”

  Pumping a round into the chamber, Ivy looked at Bill and the others. “Let’s go kill some demons.”

  Chapter 23

  It didn’t take the demons long before they stormed the farmhouse. But like the cowards they were, they sent in their possessed counterparts. Regular people who had no clue what they were doing. Puppets for the demons to play with.

  For the townspeople with Ivy, it was difficult for them to watch as their loved ones and neighbors sprang at them from the tall grass firing rifles or wielding pipes and bats that they would no doubt use to bash their heads in. So for that reason, Quinn had given every group tranquilizer guns as well as regular weapons.

  At a distance it proved difficult to tell who was a demon and who was just possessed, so Ivy just started shooting everyone she could see with tranquilizer darts. One by one the attackers fell. They would be out for at least twelve hours, which would give Quinn time to go out and do a mass exorcism.

  The first wave came and went, with about ten people charging toward the west corner where Ivy, Bill and a couple of others were stationed behind two beat-up pickup trucks. But she knew that was just the beginning. She knew an all-out offensive when she saw one, and this was it. The demons were sending out everything they had.

  Ivy reloaded her shotgun and the tranquilizer, her heart sinking. She glanced at Bill. “We only have five darts left.”

  He sighed. “What do you think we should do?”

  “I don’t know. We can’t really start shooting townspeople. We could kill someone.”

  “We need someone up front to take them out with a bat or something as they advance.”

  She nodded. Made sense. Unless of course the possessed had a gun; a bat wasn’t going to stop the bullet.

  “I’ll go,” Bill said.

  “Are you sure?”

&nbs
p; He nodded. “I know these people. If I don’t recognize someone I’ll be more discerning.” He lifted his gun.

  “Okay, good luck.”

  With a nod to her and the other two, Bill slid around the side of one of the trucks, and then ran across the yard to a spot near the house behind some hay bales.

  He got in position just in time for another wave of people to jump out of the tall grass and run screaming and grunting across the gravel driveway, brandishing all manner of weapons. Ivy picked up the tranquilizer and waited to see how Bill fared. If she needed to, she would put down anyone that got past him and hope for the best.

  She held her breath as two men holding tire irons rushed toward Bill like madmen. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see foam spilling out between their lips. The looks in their eyes were ones of pure madness. As they approached, getting closer and closer, she picked up the dart gun and set her sights.

  Then it all went wrong.

  She lowered the dart gun and cursed up a storm. “Son of a bitch!”

  “What?” The guy called Stewart or Chuck, she couldn’t really remember which, grabbed her arm. His eyes were as wide as dollar coins.

  But she didn’t have time to answer him. She swatted his hand away, and then pushed him to the back of the truck. “Move.” He did, so did the other guy. They had no choice really, because she was forcing them forward.

  “What’s going on?” the guy asked. “Did something happen to Bill?”

  “Yeah, he switched sides.”

  Both their mouths gaped.

  Ivy ignored them and surveyed the situation. They had to move from their position or risk getting pinned down. She saw an outbuilding about ten yards to their right, but they had to cross the open yard to get there. It was a risk they had to take because staying where they were was going to get them killed.

  She grabbed Stewart/Chuck by the shirt lapels. “Look, we need to cross the yard to that building. Can you do that?”

  He nodded, but she still wasn’t sure he was listening. He had that glazed-over shiny look in his eyes. But she couldn’t wait to see if he truly got it or not. They had to move now.

  “On my count.”

  They both looked at her expectantly.

  “One, two...”

  Stewart/Chuck didn’t wait until three. He dashed across the yard. Sounds of gunfire exploded around them. And Stewart/Chuck went down. The other guy had been right behind him. Now he turned to dive back, but it was too late. He got nicked by a bullet in the leg and collapsed, grabbing at his knee and screaming wildly.

  Ivy swore again, and was about to rush out and see if she could pull the injured man behind the truck, but the press of metal into the back of her head made her stop.

  “Drop your weapons.” It was Bill behind her, stabbing the gun into her skull.

  She tossed the shotgun down.

  “And the tranq gun.”

  She pulled that out of her waistband and tossed it to the ground. “You’re a traitor to your species, Bill. How does that feel?”

  “You tell me. You’re the one sleeping with a cambion.” He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her to her feet.

  It took everything she had not to turn around and jam her blade into his big gut. But she stayed still. She could feel the barrel of his gun quiver a little. Obviously, Bill wasn’t too sure about his convictions.

  “He’s dead, by the way,” he said, as if she’d asked about the weather. “Had his neck slit down on Main Street. He thought he could take some of them out. But he was no match for them.”

  She started to shake then. She bit down on her lip, trying hard not to scream, or rage, or turn around and scream in his face that he was a big fat liar. There was no way anyone had gotten the better of Ronan. She knew it in her heart. She wasn’t going to let anyone, especially not this traitorous piece of crap, tell her otherwise.

  “What did the demons promise you to do this? To kill your own people?” she asked.

  “Everything I want.”

  She shook her head, still mindful of the gun pressed against it. “So you sold your soul for what, some money, a fast car, a hot vacation spot and some ass? Seems pretty lame to me.”

  “Shut up!” He kicked her in the back of the knee, sending her to the ground. She landed on her hands. “Keep talking and I’ll put a bullet in your empty head.”

  Ivy pushed up to her knees but kept her hands down on her thighs. She had a knife tucked into her boot. If she could get to it, she’d embed it into Bill’s femur. “Okay, Bill. No need to get angry. I’ll shut up.”

  He grabbed her again, this time by the hair. He pulled her back up to her feet, keeping the gun pressed to her skull. He turned her around and marched her out into the main yard in front of the house where she knew Quinn had stationed himself.

  There was a lot of commotion going on as he led her to the front. The others hadn’t seen Bill’s betrayal yet; they were still busy holding off their own sieges, manning their stations. Screams could be heard around them, and Ivy felt a bullet whiz by her left arm as they marched around the corner.

  “Quinn!” Bill yelled. “Quinn, I have your sister!”

  And just like that, all the commotion stopped. Bill had gotten everyone’s attention with that little piece of information.

  He pushed her forward to face the house. “Quinn, I know you’re there. I know you can see her. If I don’t see you in five seconds I’m going to blow her pretty head apart.”

  It was exactly four seconds before Quinn’s head popped up from behind the trellis on the roof of the house. Ivy was loath to admit that she breathed a little sigh of relief when she saw him.

  “What do you want?” Quinn asked.

  “Complete surrender.”

  Quinn looked at her. Even from the distance she could see the pure agony on his face. The agony of the decision he had to make. “Ivy?”

  She knew what he was asking. If she could take Bill out without getting killed in the process. She gauged the situation. The only weapon she had now was the blade in her boot. She’d used the others along the way. There was no way she could get to her weapon before Bill pulled the trigger. And even if she could somehow elbow him in the gut or take out his kneecap with a good kick, he’d likely mortally wound her even if it wasn’t a head shot.

  If Ronan had been here, with his healing hands, she might’ve considered it. But as it was, she didn’t see a way out of this right now.

  “No,” she finally said.

  “No, what?” He knocked her in the head with his gun. “No, what, bitch?”

  Quinn stood all the way. “You have my surrender.”

  “I’ll believe you when I see you face-to-face without any weapons.”

  “Fine. We’re coming down. No one do anything stupid.”

  She knew he not only said that for Bill’s benefit but for the rest of the compound. She’d counted about ten weapons trained on her and Bill the second they’d stepped into the front yard.

  About three minutes later, the front door opened and Quinn walked out, his hands out to the side, showing that they were empty. He came down the front-stoop steps.

  “I’m unarmed.”

  Bill snorted. “I highly doubt that, Strom, but as long as I have baby sister here, I know you won’t do anything dumb.” Then he put his fingers in his mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle.

  Eight demons stepped out of the tall grass and shadows surrounding the compound and walked into view. They were all smiles. One of them, a redheaded woman, stepped up next to Ivy. She ran her hand down Ivy’s arm.

  “Two Stroms for the price of one.” She laughed. “It’s a great day.”

  Chapter 24

  Ronan stayed hidden behind the silo in the field about one hundred yards from the farmhouse. He
wouldn’t do Ivy any good by prematurely jumping out and revealing his position. He had the element of surprise on his side and he was going to use it to his advantage.

  Earlier, he’d lost the second demon through the town streets, but it had brought him closer to the demon rendezvous. Because of his superior hearing and vision he’d been able to overhear exactly what was going on from his spot. He knew they were planning an attack on the human compound. He also knew they had an inside man. Someone close to Quinn who’d been feeding them vital information this whole time.

  And because of their misplaced confidence in their strength and cunningness, Ronan had been able to follow them to the farmhouse.

  They’d known he’d been kicked out of the camp but they’d misjudged his willingness to return and help the humans. To save Ivy. He supposed the demons had no concept of loyalty, friendship or love.

  Yeah, he had to admit it to himself. He was in love with her. It probably wouldn’t change her mind about him, though. And he didn’t blame her. Despite everything, despite how he felt about her, he still needed the key. He wished she could understand that. His need to be fully human again. And if this was the only way, he’d do it.

  Through the binoculars he’d procured from one of Ivy’s bags that he’d gone back to their busted-up car to retrieve, he watched as the demons herded Ivy, Quinn and all the others into the farmhouse. He imagined they would secure them in the basement. Now he just needed to get close enough to use the other goodies Ivy had in her gear.

  Some of the things that she’d invented for demon hunting were inspired to be sure.

  Once they were all inside, leaving two sentries out front, the possessed he assumed, Ronan hefted the pack over his shoulder and crawled his way across the field. He was wearing black so he knew he was somewhat camouflaged in the waning light. He just had to keep his patience and go slowly and carefully. Although everything inside him screamed at him to run and attack and kill everyone standing in the way between him and Ivy, he took in a few deep breaths and tried to stay calm and levelheaded.