by Terry Spear
Angered that the women thought they could own a demon, Hunter couched his darker emotions. He turned again to the demon. “Go!”
The demon trembled but didn’t wait for another order from a Matusa and leapt through the portal.
Before Hunter could shut the gateway, the woman with burgundy hair grabbed the summoning book and began a chant to call forth another demon.
Jared shoved into her, knocking her to the floor, and clamped his hand over her mouth.
The other shrieked and tried to yank Jared off her friend.
Hunter closed the portal, then grabbed the summoning book. “Quit playing with the ladies, Jared. Time to go.”
When he turned, he nearly ran into Alana. Not Alana, but the vision of her, and he cursed out loud.
“She’s here,” Jared said, still trying to defend himself without hurting the women.
“They’re witches, Hunter. Get out of there before they cast some kind of hex on you!” Alana warned.
Hunter grabbed Jared and yanked him out of the apartment.
“What about Alana?”
“Forget about her. She just warned me these women are witches.”
“Oh.”
Hunter and Jared nearly flew down the stairs and burst out of the apartment building. A bolt of lightning flashed through the third floor window, sending electricity sparking along Hunter’s skin, but the force of the bolt hit the pavement with a resounding crack.
Jared raced after Hunter headed for the car. “Maybe we should have brought Alana with us after all.”
Hunter gave him an annoyed look.
“We’ve got to have her join us. She’s not safe on her own. We’re not safe on our own.”
“Where are you, Alana?” Hunter asked, unable to curb his irritation. He knew she’d try to join them.
Chapter 19
Jared pointed to his laptop and said to a fuming Hunter, “There’s a Kubiteron signature at the airport.”
“Forget it, Alana. We know where you are. Stay put and we’ll come get you.”
Hunter jumped in the car, his head pounding with frustration. The girl was the most exasperating demon in the world—either world. “I knew she’d come.”
“So, what do we do about sleeping arrangements? The hotel was booked solid for weeks because it’s summer.” Jared cleared his throat. “Why did we get the Paradise Lodge anyway? Couldn’t we have gone anywhere in Orlando?”
Hunter gave him a cross look meant to silence his questions. He’d never been to Paradise World and wondered what all the fuss was about. But he didn’t want to explain his reasons to Jared.
“It’s a suite. Living room sofa folds out into a bed.”
“I know that,” Jared said, his voice on edge, “but you already claimed the bed, and I was supposed to sleep on the sofa. Does that mean you want to share the king-sized bed with me?”
Hunter gave him a get-real look.
“Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind sleeping with Alana.” Jared smiled.
Ten more minutes and they’d be at the airport. Ten more minutes of this insane discussion.
“We can get a roll-away bed or whatever they’re called,” Hunter said.
“The sofa folds into a double bed. She could sleep with me.” Jared raised a brow.
Hunter hadn’t wanted to show any emotion one way or another, but the notion Jared would be with Alana… Hunter ground his teeth. The demon side of him wanted her. Well, so did the human side. But the Matusa in him demanded that the Kubiteron be his. Jared had told him about the strange attraction the Matusa had for the Kubiteron, but he’d never believed it before he’d met Alana. Even so, the girl was too aggravating to be the one for him. When he decided on a girlfriend, she would adore him and everything he did, not always give him guff.
When they arrived at the airport, Alana was standing outside, wearing jeans and a silky shirt. No matter how much he didn’t want to show any interest in the Kubiteron, every time he saw her, his heart surged. To make up for his annoying physical reaction to her, he glowered at her.
She returned the same look. Which only added fuel to the fire burning deep inside him. “Don’t you have an overnight bag?” he growled.
“Why? I hadn’t planned on staying overnight. I came to help you get rid of the Matusa, then return home.”
“He’s not here.”
“What?”
“We may have to stay a few days. Your uncle is going to be incensed.”
“What about your parents?” she asked, as he stalked off to the parking lot.
“I am eighteen.” He gave her a sharp glare.
She looked at Jared.
“My parents were thrilled I was taking a trip.”
“But you are underage and a girl,” Hunter growled.
“Considering we’ve been through a couple of life-threatening situations, and I came out of them just fine, I’d say that evens the odds. Besides, you’re supposed to be my bodyguard. How can you guard me when you’re here and I’m in Texas? For your information, Ferengus managed to return to Dallas while you were enjoying your vacation in Orlando.”
“Hunter worried about that,” Jared agreed.
Hunter gave him a look that could disintegrate a body into a pile of ashes, except Jared ignored the warning. “How do you know Ferengus had returned?” He climbed into the car.
“I had to revisit the banker’s home. Ferengus came shortly after I discovered Gryndal was in Orlando.”
Hunter stared at her, then shook his head and pulled onto the street. “Did he see you?”
“He knew I was there. He didn’t catch me, but I figured that part is rather obvious.”
Hunter blew out his breath. “You’re trouble. But then I suspect you already know that. Tell me about this witch’s thing.”
“Witch’s thing? What do you want to know?”
Hunter’s electric blue eyes pinned her. “Try everything. Like how come we didn’t know you exist?”
“You’ve heard of the Salem witch trials, right? It’s best people don’t know about us. Makes non-magic users nervous.”
“Besides, you can use your powers in a sneaky way.” Hunter paid for parking and left the airport. “Like your uncle dabbles in the stock market?”
Alana glowered at him. “My uncle, for your information, is good at what he does and doesn’t need to use his magic to get him anywhere. When it comes to figuring out which companies might be coming out on top, he has a sixth sense. Plus, he studies the market constantly.” Now, her mother, who wasn’t that interested in magic, did use hers in her business. It was the only way to successfully exorcise ghosts.
Alana folded her arms. “You don’t even know what I’m capable of. What if I could shrivel your big head to half its size? Or could curse you into silence? You ought to be more respectful of us.”
Jared chuckled.
Hunter grunted. “So what does your mother have against her kind? Your uncle said she hasn’t trained you properly. Why not?”
“She’s not the homeschooling parent type?” Alana shrugged.
“There’s more to it than that.”
“And how would you know?”
Hunter jammed on his brakes at a light. “Blasted signals.” Glancing at Alana, his mouth turned up a hair. “You get more defensive than usual when you know something you don’t want to talk about. Your uncle says she also doesn’t want to live near your kind. What’s that all about?”
“What business is it of yours?”
“If you want me to protect you, I need to know what you’re capable of. Maybe you did something terrible when you were little, not understanding your powers and your mother decided to drop out of the witch’s world.”
“We don’t begin to get any abilities until we’re around thirteen or so normally. Supposedly, that’s because we might hurt someone early on if we weren’t a little older and didn’t understand our powers. I was nine when I had my first ability—giving that kid a nosebleed when he said the things abo
ut my father not coming home to see me because he didn’t like me. But before I turned thirteen, Mom sat me down to give me a lecture and told me how serious being a witch could be. I thought she was going to tell me about dating boys!”
“And she said?”
Alana glanced out the window at the city, remembering how serious her mother was when she’d told her the facts of life for being a witch. Torn between hating that she was different, and thrilled she could use her “powers” to her advantage—whatever they were—she hadn’t known how to feel.
“She told me how dangerous it could be if a non-magic user found out. She gave the standard lecture on the Salem witch trials and other examples of ‘witch’ burnings or drownings all over Europe in the early days, whether the individuals were truly witches or not. It made quite an impression on me. And, even though we have the innate ability to use magic abilities, we need to train in them, just like learning to sew or learning math—one simple step at a time, building on the spells until we master the advanced ones.”
“You still haven’t explained why your mother didn’t train you.”
“She did, when it proved useful. I’ve helped her on a few ghost-busting jobs. But I’m serious about her not being the best of homeschooling teachers. She doesn’t have any patience. Whereas Uncle Stephen makes me do something over and over again until I get it right, Mom gives up if I don’t get something down by the second time. Then I’d have to keep practicing on my own to prove to myself I could do it. But you know, she drummed it into me not to let anyone know I had witch’s abilities so I really never wanted to learn them.”
The look of disbelief on Hunter’s face made her amend her statement. “Well, and the fact I’m a late bloomer.”
“Late bloomer? I thought you’d given the kid a nosebleed earlier.”
“Yeah, it was a fluke. After that, I never was able to do anything more. Just like I wasn’t interested in boys.”
“Wasn’t?”
She flashed him an annoyed look. “Am not. How many girlfriends have you had that can deal with your demonic side?”
Hunter pulled into a parking lot, and she raised her brows when she saw the hotel. “The Paradise Lodge?”
“Why did your mother not live near other magic users?”
“Haven’t I said this is none of your business?”
“It’s because her parents denounced her for having you out of wedlock, isn’t it?”
She figured her glower could have melted Antarctica, but Hunter only seemed a trifle amused.
“Isn’t it?”
“Yes! That and because a warlock she’d met and fell in love with wanted her to give me up for adoption. He said I was the mistake in her life, and if she wanted to move in the proper magic user circles, she had to get rid of me. For Mom, that was it. Of course, I didn’t learn until a couple of weeks ago when I turned seventeen how big a mistake I was.”
“Doesn’t sound like your mother thought so.”
Alana was certain a flicker of hurt flashed across Hunter’s eyes, but he quickly hid any sign of discomfort with another hard look as they left the car and walked toward the hotel.
“No. But she conveniently didn’t tell me about it until my eyes flamed red. Then when portals opening nearby began to pull me toward them, she grew worried and finally told me more of the story.”
“So how did you know to use the water spell you conjured up if you’d never done that before?”
“A defensive mechanism? Like shutting your eyes if something is about to strike them? I don’t know. It’s the only reasonable explanation I can come up with. Maybe it’s part of my demon heritage, too. What about you, Hunter?” She considered the opulence of the hotel lobby, chandeliers, tapestries, oil paintings of jungle scenes, waterfalls spilled into tiled pools, and jungle music played overhead. She looked back at Hunter. “When did you become aware you were half demon?”
For several minutes, she let the silence stretch between them as he led them to an elevator, but then Jared said he’d be along in a minute and headed to the check-in counter.
Why should she answer Hunter’s million and one questions and not get a few of her own answered about him? What dark secrets did he have to hide?
“So, when you met Jared was that when you learned the truth about your demon heritage? Or do Matusas know from birth because they think themselves so superior?”
Hunter didn’t answer her, but punched the elevator button for the fifth floor. “I want to know about these magic user circles you mentioned. Because both your parents weren’t magical users, would you be excluded?”
“You know, it’s really none of your business.”
When they reached the living suite, Alana’s mouth dropped. “Who’s paying for this?”
“Jared’s parents.”
“Wow.”
Hunter lifted the phone and offered it to her. “You’d better call your uncle and let him know where you are.”
“No way. If I tell him, he’ll have one of his warlock buddies who lives here in Orlando pick me up pronto and send me straight home. I’m helping you guys. Heck, those witches would have skewered you with lightning bolts if I hadn’t saved your butts.”
He shook his head. “Fine. I’ll call him. You’re not staying here. What’s your uncle’s phone number?”
She laughed, then walked over to the balcony window and peered out. “Wow, the monorail! This is too cool.”
“What’s your uncle’s last name?”
She smiled at him, then opened the balcony door and stepped outside. “I’ve never been here. Mom always said it was fake magic and didn’t measure up to the real stuff.”
“Forget it. I’ll have my mother run over to your uncle’s house, and she can give him the good news about your whereabouts.”
“Ohmigod! Where’s Jared when we need him? A Matusa’s down there, heading deeper into the park!”
When Hunter joined her on the patio to investigate her claims, she whipped around and hurried for the door. “I’ll follow him. You wait for Jared and he can lead you to him unless he’s managing to cloak himself from Jared’s tracking device, or something.”
She opened the door and gave a small scream. Jared grinned at her and waved a bag in front of her. “I got you a complimentary toothbrush and toothpaste at the front desk.”
“There’s a Matusa in the park,” Hunter said, scowling. “Get your laptop. We’ve got to find out where he’s going.”
Jared tossed the bag onto the couch and opened up his laptop. The three hurried to the elevator. “Jeez, I take a break from it for a minute and all hell breaks loose.”
“What in the world would he be doing at a theme park?” Alana asked, wondering out loud as the three of them ran down the stairs.
Chapter 20
“Why would a Matusa come here? He likes rides?” Jared asked, with a grin and shrugged.
“Tons of people. The Matusa can easily lose himself in the crowds.” Hunter led them outside and stalked across the park.
Jared monitored his laptop. “He’s stopped beyond that building.”
Alana held her head as she felt the strong pull of a portal. “He’s opening a gateway.”
“No, he can’t. He must be directing someone else to do it.” Hunter glanced at Alana. “She’s not with us. Grab her hand.”
“She’s like a rag doll.” Unable to get Alana to walk at their rapid pace, Jared lifted her over his shoulder. “Hope nobody stops us.”
When Hunter reached the edge of the building, he found a teenager chanting to bring forth a demon. The redheaded Matusa beside him concentrated on the portal and Alana’s astral form stood slightly behind him.
She glanced at Hunter. “I don’t know what to do!”
He shook his head and motioned for her to stay still. Then he lunged for the Matusa.
A new demon stepped through the portal, his blonde hair curling about his ears, his green eyes wide. When he saw Alana’s astral form, a shimmer of recognition app
eared.
Jared set the real Alana on her feet. He shouted, “Samuria, return to Seplichus!”
The demon glanced at him, then looked at the human teen whose mouth hung wide.
Hunter slammed into the Matusa again, knowing if he didn’t terminate him, he’d be back. But Hunter couldn’t kill him, not in front of the crowd gathering to watch the show.
The Matusa hissed and clawed at Hunter, but he kept out of the demon’s path. Then with a final kick, he sent him through the portal.
The crowd cheered.
“Return to Seplichus,” Hunter ordered the Samuria.
The demon’s teeth glistened in a broad grin. “The Kubiteron guardian has called me forth. I am her guardian. I am her match.”
“Like hell you are.” Hunter grabbed the Samuria’s arm, but he quickly shook loose.
Hunter tried again to gain the upper hand, but the Samuria moved like the mist.
“You must return.”
“I am the Kubiteron’s match.”
“Tell him to return to Seplichus, Alana!”
“You must do as Hunter says,” Alana responded, then she slipped into her physical form. “Return home.”
The Samuria’s smile grew, and he bowed his head. “You have called me forth. The match cannot be broken.”
“This kid called you!” Alana quickly wiped the teen’s mind and the other spectators gathering around. Then she fed them a line about free ice cream being given on the south side of the park. Turning her attention to the Samuria, she said, “I’m not a gate guardian. I didn’t call you. You’re free to go.”
He didn’t budge.
Exasperated, Hunter closed the portal. The Samuria would not fulfill his claim to Alana. “Fine. Stay, but keep out of our way.”
“Samson is my name. I will go where Alana goes.”
“Oh, no you won’t.” Alana stalked back to the hotel, her back rigid.
“Why would the Matusa call forth a Samuria?” Jared asked, sounding puzzled.
“I think Gryndal was trying to call forth a Matusa,” Alana tossed over her shoulder.
Samson cleared his throat. “Ferengees he called out.”