Demon Hunters 3: Tainted (Stand Alone Series) (Demon Hunters.)

by Avril Sabine

  She ignored the compliment. “How’d you find me?”

  “Do you really need to ask, demon girl?” He gestured towards her wrist. “You might as well have taken out a billboard sign saying demon tainted here. I’m surprised a heap of demons haven’t headed this way to check out what’s going on.”

  “What are you doing here?” She looked behind him. “Alone. Without your babysitter.”

  Gabe’s grin faded. “He’s a year younger than me. Besides I’m too old to need a babysitter.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  “You never said why you’re here.”

  “You seemed more concerned about my cousin’s location than wanting an answer.” He held up a hand when she glared at him. “Alright. No need to get upset. I don’t spend all my time hunting demons. I was at a nightclub.”

  “A nightclub.” She knew she sounded sceptical, but that didn’t sound like something a hunter did. Not from what she’d read in Patrick’s book.

  “I’d offer to buy you a drink but they’re afraid I’ll escape if they give me more than a few dollars at a time.”

  “Escape from what?”

  “Escape to.”

  “Escape to what, then.”

  “To bad influences.” He grinned, taking a step towards her. “But it looks like one found me instead. So bad influence, what happened to your pet demon?”

  Cassidy shrugged as she returned her daggers to her boots. It felt odd holding onto them when she wasn’t fighting. “Don’t know and don’t care.” She looked around, flaring the demon blood as she did. She felt a tug in one direction. There were still more demons in her city. “I was going to ring one of you in the morning.”

  “What for?”

  “I want to get rid of demons, not let them escape. How can I do that?”

  “You can never get rid of them permanently, just send them to hell. But they’re stuck there until they’re called by name or they’re first to answer the call of a human looking for any demon.”

  “Is this going to be one of those conversations that take forever? I’ve got things to do.” She looked back in the direction she needed to head in next. She’d have to get her motorbike first. The demon wasn’t within walking distance.

  “Like what?” Gabe stepped past her with a frown. “Is that a body?”

  Cassidy swore. “I forgot about her.” She spun and hurried to the still limp body to stand and stare down at her. She couldn’t bring herself to check the pulse. What if she was dead? An image of her father, knife in his chest, flashed through her mind.

  Gabe reached her side and crouched beside the woman, his fingers going to her neck. “She’s alive.” He rose to his feet. “Come on. The sooner we get away from here the sooner we can get someone to rescue her.”

  “We’re just going to leave her here?”

  Gabe reached for her hand and tugged her forward. “The last thing we want is to be in every second police report. Things like that start to ring alarm bells.”

  Cassidy allowed him to lead her away from the area. He dropped her hand once they reached a street sign and pulled his phone out to send a text message. “Who’d you let know?”

  “Family. They’ll make sure the message gets to the appropriate person. So, where to next?”

  “You’re not going anywhere with me. I hunt alone.” She pressed a hand against his chest when he tried to come closer.

  “Alone, huh? Fine. I’ll stand in the shadows and watch.”

  “You weren’t invited.”

  Gabe grinned. “If I waited for you to invite me I’d go grey.” He looked around. “So where is it?”

  Cassidy shook her head, striding in the direction of her motorbike. She glared at Gabe when he fell into step with her. “Don’t you understand the word no?”

  “Nope.” His grin faded. “I want to see how you hunt. You’re so far from sainthood it should be impossible. At least from what I know.”

  She reached her motorbike and turned to look at him. “And why’s that any of your business?”

  “Because I love to hunt demons. It’s the rest of it I have trouble with.”

  “The rest of what?”

  Gabe’s lips twisted into a smile. “Let’s just say I’d never attain sainthood.”

  “Bad influences?”

  Gabe laughed. “I think the problem is that I’m the bad influence.” He sobered. “This is meant to be my last chance to be a hunter. I don’t think I’m going to pass the exam.”

  Cassidy’s eyes narrowed. “I thought there was no exam.”

  “Not officially. But you might as well say we’re being tested all the time. If they handed out grades I don’t think they’d be able to find one low enough for me.”

  Cassidy picked up her helmet. “I haven’t got a spare one.”

  Gabe shrugged. “So don’t stack it and I won’t miss having one.”

  She studied his face. His gaze was so intense she wondered if he could see in the dark as clearly as she could. She nodded and swung her leg over the motorbike. “Get on then.” She waited until he was behind her, his hands lightly resting on her hips, his legs alongside hers.

  “Thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. We haven’t reached our destination.”

  Gabe laughed. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  Cassidy took off faster than she normally would and grinned as he tightened his grip. It took nearly a quarter of an hour before they were close to the next demon. She parked her motorbike and they both hopped off. Spotting the demon ahead of them, strolling along the road, she drew her daggers.

  Gabe put a hand on her arm. “No. It hasn’t done anything yet.”

  “It’s a demon.”

  Gabe sighed. “Until we have proof a demon means harm we can’t act against it.”

  Energy flared through her as she spun to face Gabe. “What sort of rubbish is that?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Gabe didn’t get a chance to reply. At the flare of demon energy, the demon’s wings snapped out and he flew at them, claws extended. Gabe laughed as Cassidy blocked, spinning away from him to put space between them. “Now we have proof.”

  “About bloody time,” Cassidy muttered. She warily watched the demon who hovered just out of reach. “Come down here and fight me.”

  “What are you?” the demon demanded.

  Gabe gestured towards the weapons she held. “Think I can have one of them daggers?”

  Ignoring the demon’s question, Cassidy threw one towards him. “What do we do now?”

  Gabe caught the dagger and tipped some of the contents from a vial of liquid over it. He capped the vial and called out, “Here.” When Cassidy nodded he threw the vial. “Tip some of that onto your blade.”

  She did as he suggested. “What is it?”

  “Holy water. They love fire and could bath in it. This feels to them what fire feels to us.”

  “Great, now we’ve just got to get the creature to come closer.” Which looked like it might be a problem since the demon was rising higher into the air.

  “No we don’t.” Gabe grinned and turned the dagger so he held it by the blade. “Get ready.” He tossed the dagger at the demon who howled as he plummeted to the ground.

  Cassidy was on him in an instant, sinking her blade into his body. The creature howled again, striking out at her. She dodged and weaved, striking back. Then Gabe was beside her, having collected the dagger. He plunged the weapon into the demon and started to pray. Falling backwards, Cassidy swore at the pain Gabe’s words caused. Jumping to her feet, she struck out at him with her forearm. “Shut up you idiot.”

  Gabe grinned up at her as he fought to keep the demon pinned to the ground. “What’s up, demon girl?”

  She gestured at him with her middle finger before she launched herself on the demon again. The creature howled and fought, struggling to escape. Its skin smoked and Cassidy stabbed it again at the same moment Gabe did. The demon seemed
to shrink in on itself, becoming nothing.

  Rising to her feet, Cassidy barely had time to sheath her dagger before Gabe whooped and grabbed hold of her to whirl her around. When his lips came close to hers, she turned her head and pressed against his chest, pulling away from him. “No, don’t. Remedy will kill you.”

  Gabe let her go. “You’re… dating him?” He sounded horrified.

  “No!” She shouted the word then forced herself to calm down. “No. Never.” Date one of her father’s killers? Was he crazy?

  “Then what?”

  “He thinks he owns me.” She turned her back on Gabe and felt his hand rest on her shoulder. “It’d be safer if you left me alone.”

  “Cassidy-”

  There was a rush of air and Remedy forced himself between the two of them, his hand going around Gabe’s throat. “Don’t touch what’s not yours.”

  Cassidy threw herself at Remedy, fear for Gabe rushing through her. “Leave him alone.” She pulled at Remedy’s hand, trying to help Gabe who was struggling to escape. “Damn you. Let him go, now.”

  Remedy opened his hand and Gabe dropped to the ground where he staggered to his feet, rubbing at his neck. Remedy turned his burning gaze on Cassidy. “You were warned. I said I’d kill any who touched you.”

  “We were celebrating getting rid of a demon. It was nothing more.” She yelled the words at Remedy, fear still racing through her. “Stop screwing up my life.”

  “You are mine.” He pointed a finger at her. “Never forget it.”

  “I belong to no one.” Her face was so close to Remedy’s she could see the individual flames in his eyes as she yelled at him. “Got it? No one.”

  “I say different.”

  “What would make you let her go?” Gabe asked.

  Remedy and Cassidy both turned to look at him. Cassidy spoke first. “I’m bound to him.”

  “Only death would break the binding,” Remedy said. “It would kill both of us. And I don’t plan to die.”

  Gabe shook his head. “No. What would she have to do before you’d let her live her life? What favour do you need done?”

  “My enemy made powerless against me.”

  Cassidy’s anger faded and she stared at Remedy, hope struggling to form. “Your enemy.”

  Remedy nodded. “The one who sent your father to me.”

  Hope and anger rose together within her, hatred sprinkled amongst it. “Done. Now who is he?”

  “Do you think you have the ability to make him powerless? He has ultimate power over me. How can you solve that problem?”

  Cassidy shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

  “He knows your name?” Gabe asked Remedy.

  Remedy sneered at Gabe, refusing to answer his question.

  “Yeah, he does,” Cassidy said.

  Gabe slowly shook his head. “You’re screwed then.”

  “No. It’s just going to take some time to figure this one out.”

  Gabe stopped shaking his head. “Maybe not.” He stared silently at her for a moment. “Demon girl, it just might be your lucky day to be a sinner.”

  “Forget the theatrics and spit it out.”

  “You could bind him to an object.”

  “No she couldn’t,” Remedy said. “He’s too powerful.”

  “He’ll be imprisoned in the object?” Cassidy asked.

  Gabe ignored Cassidy’s question to meet Remedy’s eyes. “How powerful is he?”

  “As powerful as me.”

  “I want to try,” Cassidy said.

  “No,” Gabe and Remedy answered in unison.

  Cassidy glared at them, refusing to believe she couldn’t do it. Instead of arguing she shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t about to waste her time in an argument she didn’t need. Somehow she’d figure it out, with or without their help. She turned her gaze on Gabe. “Do you want a lift home?”

  Gabe’s eyes narrowed, their intensity increasing. Then he chuckled. “You’re still going to do it, aren’t you?”

  “I will not allow it,” Remedy said.

  Cassidy’s hands went to her hips. “Do you want a lift home or not?”

  With a nod Gabe handed the dagger back to her. “It’d be easier than hitchhiking.” He grinned. “Not sure if it’d be safer though.” He shot a glance at Remedy.

  Remedy pointed a finger at him. “Just remember she’s mine.”

  Gabe met his stare, saying nothing, then turned to Cassidy. “Think you can remember how to get there?”

  Cassidy nodded before she strode to her motorbike, swinging her leg over the seat as she donned her helmet. She waited for Gabe to hop on the back, smiling when his arms wrapped tightly around her middle. She wondered if it was for Remedy’s benefit or because of the way she rode. She took off, hoping it was for Remedy. That demon did not own her.

  When they pulled up out the front of Gabe’s home, dawn was starting to streak the horizon with colour. She was tired, but energy still coursed through her making her wish there were more demons to hunt.

  “Thanks for the lift.” Gabe stood beside her. He grinned. “And the hunt.”

  Cassidy nodded, removing her helmet. “It was different fighting with someone else. And I want holy water. Hundreds of litres of it.”

  Gabe laughed. “Blood thirsty, aren’t you?”

  “And you’re not?”

  Gabe’s grin faded. “I’ve never had a problem with the hunting part. It’s the not sinning I have an issue with.” He took a step closer and lowered his voice. “Temptation’s always been my weakness.”

  Cassidy met his gaze and her mouth dried at his expression. She reached for him then pulled her hand back before she could touch. She shook her head. “Don’t. He’ll kill you.”

  Gabe’s lips curved slightly. “Temptation and danger. My greatest weaknesses.”

  “Then I won’t be very interesting once I deal with Remedy’s enemy.”

  “Oh you’ll always be dangerous, demon girl.” Gabe grinned. “Wanna hunt tonight? I’ll bring my own weapons this time and enough holy water for both of us.”

  She remembered the satisfaction it had given her to vanquish the demon. Hunting alone might be her preference, but she’d actually managed to get rid of a demon with Gabe’s help. “Deal.” She pulled her helmet back on and headed for home, still smiling.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cassidy glared at her home phone when it rang out again. Where was Gabe? She’d rung him at least four times already today. She’d waited until lunchtime to give him time to sleep. Where the hell was he? Or was he ignoring her calls? He’d been the one to offer his help. So why wasn’t he answering the phone? She slammed the cordless phone back in its cradle when it rang out again.

  She spent the rest of the afternoon pacing the house, too restless to do anything else. When Gabe finally returned her calls, she demanded, “Where’ve you been?”

  “Sleeping. Not all of us run on demon energy.”

  “I need to know more about binding a demon.”

  “Look, I shouldn’t have said anything about it to you. My cousin wants to come and talk to you.”

  “Riley?”

  “No. Scarlett. Well, she’s actually my second or third cousin. Possibly even my fourth. It gets confusing. Anyway, you haven’t met her. Can I bring her over? And where do you live?”

  “Does she know how to do it?”

  “More than she wishes sometimes.”

  “Then I want to talk to her.” Cassidy rattled off her address then had to wait until Gabe found pen and paper to write it down.

  “We’ll be there in about an hour.”

  The next hour passed far too slowly for Cassidy. She continued to pace through the house, occasionally stopping to look at an object and remember better days. And to think she’d thought nothing could get worse than her mum having early onset Alzheimer’s. But how could she have even considered demons existed? No one believed in them. Or if they did, it was usually because they were crazy.
Isn’t that what she’d thought of her father? How many other people who were considered crazy for believing in demons were actually sane?

  When she heard the knock at her front door, she raced through the house to throw the door open. Three people stood on her doorstep.

  Gabe grinned at her and pointed to his companions in turn. “Jesse. Scarlett.”

  Jesse had eyes dark enough to be black, an angular face with slashing cheeks, close cropped dark hair, broad shoulders, a row of earrings up both ears and in one eyebrow. Scarlett wore a small gold cross on a cord necklace around her throat, had warm brown eyes, a wiry frame and short blond hair that feathered around her fine boned face. The three of them were dressed in black jeans and short sleeved shirts and had demon marks around their left wrists.

  Cassidy stepped back so they could enter and led them to her lounge room. She waited until they were seated before she spoke to Scarlett. “Gabe said you know about binding demons.”

  “You should be trying to get rid of the demon currently bound to you instead of collecting more,” Scarlett said.

  “No way. I wouldn’t survive a minute against demons without him.”

  “You wouldn’t have to fight alone. No one should take on a demon alone,” Scarlett said.

  “I prefer to fight alone. You can’t rely on people. Ever. This,” she touched her mark that moved slightly under her skin, “Is what allows me to kick demon butt. In fact, I could probably take on all of you and win.”

  Jesse grinned, slightly predatory. “I wouldn’t count on that, demon girl.”

  Heat flared in Cassidy’s mark and she was out of the seat in a second and across the room to grab one of the many daggers she’d stashed around her house. “What are you?” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Jesse, the dagger unsheathed and pointed towards him.

  All the demon hunters were on their feet, but before Jesse could reply, Scarlett stepped forward, a hand gesture holding her companions back. “We’re not here to hurt you, Cassidy.”

  “Then what is he? And how could he get past the salt across my front doorstep?”