Heart Blade: Blade Hunt Chronicles Book One

by Juliana Spink Mills

  A flash of light illuminated the sky, visible through the gap in the roof. The demon on guard took her eyes off them for a second. That was all Alex needed. He jumped up from the table, caught the ragged edge of the roof in one hand, and vaulted smoothly through the hole. There was a yell from up top, and the heavy thud of a body hitting the shingles. Shouts broke out all around them.

  “Now!” said Dan. He yanked off the metal bar and pulled the door open. But either Alex’s distraction hadn’t worked, or there were more than enough demons to watch all exits. A shot rang out, slamming Dan back into Rose with a grunt.

  “Are you okay?” she gasped.

  “Vest,” he told her as he began shooting wildly through the billowing smoke and flames outside. He pushed through the fire that licked up the walls of the cabin, Rose following as close as she could. There were very few return shots. Rose guessed they were trying to avoid hitting her. She could use that.

  She moved ahead of Dan, wrapping her arms backward around him. “I’m shielding him,” she shouted. “You shoot him, you shoot me!” Dan muttered a protest, trying to draw away, but Rose told him fiercely, “You’re my godfather. You’re all I have left. Let me do this.”

  Dan pushed her forward, guiding her toward the cars as he shot over her shoulder. They had left the fire behind, with its useful smokescreen, and Rose could see the demons milling around. At the edge of her vision she saw Alex battling several demons at once, Redemption clashing furiously with their own shining blades. Red sparks flew from the vampire’s sword.

  The pack danced in and out of range, jabbing at them with their swords. Dan was out of bullets and, knife in hand, he clamped an arm around Rose’s waist, turning her this way and that so she was always between him and the demons. It was working. The demons gave them enough space to crabwalk toward the parked cars.

  They had almost made it to the cars when a snarling, dark-haired demon in camo darted under Dan’s reach and slashed at his leg. He jumped away in time, but the demon dropped into a slide and aimed a kick at Dan’s knee. It connected. There was a loud pop, and Dan fell heavily, pulling Rose down with him. The camo demon grabbed her by the foot, dragging her away.

  Thunder crashed overhead and the skies opened up. The rain drowned the blaze and masked the shouts, and the world slowed down in the mist of water and steam. Rose kicked out hard at the demon holding her by the leg, even as multiple hands reached down for her.

  She’d lost sight of Dan, but just then she heard him cry out in pain. Her own fear spiked and then turned to anger. They were hurting him. What had Alex said? Anger is a tool? She reached for the wolf and it came easier this time, the shift fueled by her rage. She snapped out at the demons surrounding her and they backed away, taken by surprise.

  Rose turned in mid-leap, landing behind Dan. Her godfather was on the ground, and everywhere she scented blood. A skinny girl-demon was in front of him, about to slice down with her sword. Rose never hesitated. She leapt straight for the girl-demon’s throat, ripping it out in one savage, tearing movement. The demon’s aura winked out, and suddenly there was a clear space around Dan as the other demons backed away.

  “Rose?” Dan called out warily. “Don’t let it rule you. Control it.”

  Control what? She’d never felt this good in her entire life. Her fur crackled with energy, and she could see blue sparks in the air around her. Her mouth was full of the taste of demon blood, dark and heady, and her anger hungered for more. She turned to the demon she’d killed, but the body was already disintegrating, dust turning to mud in the rain, and nothing left except a broken sword. She snarled at the next closest demon and crouched to spring.

  Dan clamped a hand around her leg. “No! No, Rose. That’s blood lust. Don’t give in to it!”

  She turned on him with a growl. She wanted to bite his hand. Why was he stopping her from fighting? This was glorious. But then she saw his eyes, full of sorrow and fear. But not fear of her. Fear for her. She forced herself to remember girl-Rose, and the wolf receded until she shifted back and found herself on her knees in the mud. The raindrops tasted of salt, and she realized she was crying.

  Dan staggered to his feet, drawing Rose up too. He was limping, barely putting weight on one leg. The rain had washed most of his blood away. “You were hurt,” she said as they set their backs to each other, knives out. Rose’s distraction had bought them time, but it had also let the demons gather between them and the cars. “You are hurt. I smelled the blood.”

  “A cut on my arm. It isn’t deep, but it bled plenty. Are you all right?”

  “I’m all right.” She could still taste demon blood, and she gagged, nausea rising in the back of her throat. She fought it down, forcing herself not to think of the dead demon with the ruined throat. “I’ll be fine.” The beautiful anger had fled, and all that was left was dread. Rose began to shake, arms pebbled from the rain. The downpour was icy against her shift-warmed skin.

  Dan spun to one side, swinging his knife wide as one of the demons tried to make it through to Rose. He skidded on the wet grass and went down on his injured knee, with a shout. Rose crouched over him, knife out despite the cold fear within, daring any demon to get close. “Dan!”

  “My knee,” he said, gritting his teeth against the pain that flickered across his face.

  The demons were closing in, the circle around them growing tighter. “Where’s Alex?” she shouted through the rain.

  Right on cue the vampire crashed through the line of demons, bursting out of the dark of the woods. Another lilac demon aura winked out. He scooped Dan up and set him effortlessly on his feet, as if Dan were still the kid the Guild had adopted all those years ago.

  Alex swung his sword in a wide arc, pushing back the demons again. His eyes flickered to the blood splatters on Rose’s sleeves, but he made no comment. Instead he said, “Rose? Daniel? Can you walk?”

  “Yes,” Dan said. Rose smelled his blood again. “How far?” he added.

  “Your car. Mine’s out.” He gestured to his rental, deep behind the demon line. One slim demon stood on top of it, arms crossed, surveying the chaos. Even in the dark, Rose could make out the amused expression on the demon’s face.

  “Jude,” she said with a hint of a snarl to her voice.

  The three of them stood there in a tight knot — man, wolf, and vampire — looking for a break in the circle. Jude lifted a hand and the demons fell back a little, swords still out and ready to move in.

  “You can’t win this,” he called out. “Just give us the girl and we won’t hurt her.”

  Alex laughed scornfully. “You expect us to believe that? You plan to Gift her!”

  Jude’s voice was deadly serious when he answered, all trace of amusement gone. “There are ways and ways to reach the edge our Liege requires for that. It can be gentle. Or it can hurt like the fires of Hell. Let us have her. We’ll see she feels nothing.”

  Alex bit his bottom lip with his sharp eyeteeth and spat the blood on the trampled mud and grass. A vampire’s challenge, Rose guessed. “She’s mine, demon,” he said. “We won’t give her up. The Guild protects her.”

  “Is that your final answer?” asked Jude.

  At Rose’s side, Dan drew himself up as straight as he could with his wounded knee. “It is.”

  “Very well,” said Jude. He looked down at his pack members and his voice rang out, loud and clear. “Make sure you leave a pulse on the girl. Now, finish this.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Del

  Del was leading Ash by the hand when he stumbled and fell to his knees in the muddy undergrowth.

  “I can’t go any further,” he whispered. He was shivering, from fever and the rain that had soaked them both to their skin, washing Del’s face clean from the blood of Diana’s markings.

  When they’d run from the cabin, stopping only to scoop up the keys to the truck, they’d found the driveway blocked by a souped-up SUV and an ancient rust-speckled station wagon. Trees ringed the propert
y, and there were no other car routes out. Ash had led Del deep into the woods, hoping to shake Theo off their trail, but he was weakening at an alarming rate and soon Del had taken the lead.

  Now she knelt down in front of him, brushing wet hair from his face. She kissed his forehead. “You’re burning up. We need to find somewhere to lie low, someplace dry.”

  “Where, Del?” His eyes were listless, dulled by exhaustion. “I told you, there’s no one else nearby. That’s what my teacher said, anyway. That’s why he loves this cabin so much.”

  “There has to be something we can do! I’m not just going to give up and sit out here in the rain to watch you die.”

  “No one’s dying, Del. Not today,” he said. But his voice was hushed, and there was no energy to his words.

  She leaned her forehead against his, catching his hands in hers. A tear trickled down her cheek. “Don’t leave me.” Her voice quivered. “Don’t you dare leave me.”

  Somewhere in these woods, Diana was fighting Theo. Somewhere, she was winning, or she was already dead. Del wiped her eyes angrily with one hand. This was stupid. What use was crying? Crying never solved anything. If Diana could fight, so could she. “Come on, Ash. Help me think. There has to be something we’re missing. Can’t you do that Blessing thing again?”

  “I don’t know how I did it the first time. I’m not supposed to be able to do it until I’ve sworn my oaths. I think it’s dangerous, somehow. I think the witch fire isn’t the only reason I feel so sick.”

  “Okay, so no magical Hulk powers. Well, can’t we hotwire a car or something? People do it on TV all the time.”

  Ash opened his eyes. “I know how to hotwire a car.”

  “Really? Isn’t that immoral or illegal or something?”

  He gave a small smile. “My grandpa was a mechanic. I was always in his workshop when I was a kid. My dad likes cars, too.” He got up a little unsteadily. “Not the new one, the SUV. I can’t do that one. But I can probably hotwire the station wagon. It looked old enough. You know, before smart keys and all that?”

  He was a little more alert, Del noticed with relief. They made their way back to the lean-to without meeting Theo, the steady rainfall masking their progress. The station wagon was unlocked. But when they searched for the keys, they were nowhere to be found. Ash went to the lean-to, running his hands along the dusty shelves. “I need a flathead screwdriver,” he said. He emerged a moment later with one in his hand.

  He sat in the driver’s seat, working the screwdriver into a panel below the steering wheel. “Del, can you find me something like a hammer? I need to bust open this hatch.”

  She returned to the lean-to, searching for something he could use. Just then, Theo walked into the clearing. Del shrank back in the shadows, crouching down behind the truck and trying to silence her breath. Had Ash seen him?

  Ash hadn’t. “Del?” he called out. “Did you find anything?”

  There was a shout and a scuffle. Del crept to the side of the truck so she could see, lying on her stomach to hide behind the tire. Theo stood there holding Ash tight against him. Ash was big, but Theo was almost a full head taller than him. He had one of Ash’s arms twisted behind his back and his hand clamped over Ash’s face.

  “Now, isn’t this a nice surprise?” Theo shouted. “Look what I’ve found, Adeline. It’s your little angel boyfriend. Why don’t you come out and join us?”

  Ash tried to say something, but Theo tightened his grip and all that came out was a muffled mumble. Theo twisted Ash’s arm harder. “Come on, Adeline,” he said. “Enough. You owe me your fealty now. Our sister is dead. I’m Master of the Hunt. I lead our pack.” He released Ash’s face and drew the remains of a broken sword from his pocket with his free hand. A flash of lightning showed the distinctive carved hilt, and Del recognized it as Diana’s.

  Del didn’t answer. It was too dark to see the expression on Ash’s face clearly, but she knew what he’d tell her right now. He’d tell her to stay put. The moment she gave herself up, Theo would have no more use for Ash. She made herself as still as she could, her breath the faintest thread of sound. Her leg, folded awkwardly beneath her, began to cramp. But she didn’t dare stretch it.

  Theo stuffed the hilt of Diana’s soul blade back in his pocket as he searched the black space inside the lean-to with his eyes, looking for her. He took a step forward, pushing Ash along in front of him. “I can protect you, Adeline.” His voice was gentle, even friendly. “I can even protect your boyfriend here if you make this easy. I can spare him for you. We can negotiate.”

  He took another step forward and stopped, waiting. When she didn’t answer, his voice turned cruel. “Of course, if you are not interested in negotiations… I don’t have to kill him, you know. It’s much more fun to play with a toy first. Maybe I’ll cut him up a little, remove a few parts. Maybe I’ll even let you watch.”

  Theo twisted Ash’s arm further and there was a popping sound as his shoulder dislocated. Ash yelled out and Theo dropped him on the ground.

  “Your boy here doesn’t look too hot, Adeline. Won’t you come out and spare him more pain?”

  Del balled her hands into fists. Not again. She couldn’t take this again. Not after the witches. But she forced herself to stay still, even though the cramp was growing steadily worse. She knew damn well there would be no “negotiations”.

  Her leg gave a sharp twinge and she twitched her foot ever so slightly. Her heel hit a stone and there was the faintest click as it struck another rock. Theo laughed, an echoing sound that bounced eerily around the clearing. He took another step and crouched down low to peer beneath the truck. “There you are. I was beginning to think you’d abandoned your angel boy.”

  Del wriggled under the truck, fast as a snake. Theo was too big to get under it, but he stuck his arm in, trying to reach her. His hand closed on her shoulder, gripping her t-shirt so hard it ripped. Del sank her teeth into him and he let go.

  “You bitch!” he shouted. He lunged again, and this time he grabbed her by the hair. Del screamed as he pulled. He released her to adjust his grip, but before she could squirm away, he had her by the neck. Del’s shouts cut out as he pushed her face into the earth and hauled her forward. Choking on dirt, she scrabbled for handholds in the small space beneath the truck.

  There was a wild yell and Theo was knocked to one side, releasing her. Ash had tackled him at a run. He got off the demon and backed away, his injured arm hanging uselessly at his side. He was swaying on his feet, but Del could read determination in his stance. She rolled out from under the truck, coming up behind Theo.

  Theo drew his soul blade. Ash was in front of him in a half-crouch, ready to move. Del grabbed the first thing she found, a wrench, and ran at Theo. She whacked the wrench as hard as she could into the hand that held the blade. He dropped it, and it shimmered out as it fell. He turned to face her, but Ash tackled him again.

  This time, Theo was ready. He took the blow and rolled with it, pulling Ash into the fall and coming out on top. He punched Ash hard in the face and there was another crunch of something breaking. Ash didn’t even yell this time. He was trying to get his good arm up to shield his face.

  Del ran at Theo with the wrench, but he flung her away easily. She slammed into the side of the lean-to. Theo got up and kicked Ash aside and into a puddle. “Stupid girl. You think a baby sentinel and a half-made demon can take me on?” He kicked Ash again. “This one’s almost gone, anyway.”

  Ash was completely limp. His aura flickered erratically in the rain’s silver mist, dimming and lighting up again. Theo drew his soul blade. “I say we put him out of his misery. What do you say, little sister? Will you do the honors? Claim your soulgild?”

  Del got up, pushing wet hair off her forehead. Her head was buzzing from when she’d hit it against the boards. She shook it, trying to clear her hearing, but her ears only buzzed worse. She set her hand to her chest. Her heart was a fluttering bird, trapped in the cage of her ribs. She pressed her fingers
onto her skin and pulled back. The smooth hilt of her soul blade materialized in her hand, and she drew out the sword.

  “You can’t have him,” she said firmly. She tried to remember Diana’s sword lessons, but the buzzing kept getting in the way, so she just ran full-tilt at Theo in a headlong charge. He dodged the blow easily, parrying her sword to one side.

  He laughed. “Baby sister wants to play. Come on, then. Show me what you’ve got.”

  She rushed him again, and once more he dodged her blow. He didn’t even bother to defend himself this time, he just stepped aside. At least now she was the closest to Ash. She got in front of his fallen body. “He’s mine,” she said firmly. “I claim him. Diana said I have the right to a voice in the pack.”

  “Only if you complete the ceremony,” Theo hissed. “You’re not full pack yet. Not until you’ve paid your soulgild.” He moved fast, striking out with his sword. Del jumped out of the way, and then jumped yet again as he closed in. He drew back, and she realized with a start that once more Theo was beside Ash.

  “You tricked me,” she whispered above the buzzing in her ears, dread creeping in. He hadn’t been after her. He was after Ash.

  “You have a lot to learn,” he replied. He looked down at the unconscious sentinel. “So much trouble over this?” He raised his soul blade. His arm had already started its downward swing, the blade an arc of light, when Del darted in to shield Ash in a blur of demon speed. She forgot her own soul blade still gripped tightly in her hand. She forgot all her training. She threw herself across his body, screaming, “Never!” at the top of her voice.

  Theo tried to stop his strike at the last moment, but it was too late. Del had one brief glimpse of his wide-open eyes and look of horror. Then his sword came crashing down upon her and finally, finally the buzzing stopped.

  Chapter Thirty-Six