by Julie Kenner
“What?” the demon cried. “How?”
But he never got an answer. The purple light consumed him, and the demon disappeared in a puff. And as he did, the army of demons dropped to the ground, the demonic essence sucked out of each of their bodies.
I looked around at the cemetery, now looking much like a battlefield, and had to wonder what the authorities were going to think.
“What happened?” Stuart called from where he lay on the ground, his voice soft but strong.
“We won,” I said, drawing in deep breaths of sweet air.
“Damn straight we did,” Eddie said.
Only David said nothing. He simply looked at me, asking how without speaking a word.
“I wasn’t the one in the prophecy,” I said, simply. That was the short version of the answer. The long version was how I realized. So many hints and clues coming together. Eric’s bloody palm opening Abaddon’s chamber so many years ago. His temper. The blackness in his eyes. Abaddon’s cryptic comments here and earlier with Ben, references to cardinal fire and the breaking down of walls.
The prophecy didn’t refer to my giving birth to a child who would grow up to be a Demon Hunter.
It referred to Eric, in whose soul was brought forth a new kind of Hunter. A demonic Hunter, once trapped, but set free by the very cardinal fire that had once saved us from Abaddon’s wrath.
I didn’t know how. I didn’t know why.
But Gora-don’s death proved out that I was right.
Eric was part demon . . . and he’d been fighting his nature for years.
“Kate—” he said, and I realized that he understood. More than that, he knew about this secret inside of him.
“It’s okay,” I said, brushing my hand over his cheek, touching the face of a man I’d thought I knew so well, and was only beginning to understand that I didn’t really know him at all.
“Kate,” he said. “I love you. It’s not what you—”
I held up a hand, stopping him. “I love you, too,” I said. “I don’t think anything could change that.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, realizing exactly how broad a category anything was. But I’d spoken the truth and I wasn’t inclined to take back the words.
“I don’t understand everything,” I continued. “But I trust you, David. I trust you to explain everything to me in time.” I took a breath, then kissed him on the cheek. “Right now, though, I have to go check on my husband.”
“Kate,” Stuart said as I knelt down beside him. “Exciting life you lead.”
“It has its moments,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“A little shaky, but I’m alive.”
“So am I,” I said. “Thanks for saving me back there. I think I owe you big time.”
“I know what I want my reward to be.”
“You do?” I asked, amused.
“You,” he said simply, his eyes cutting to David. “There’s more going on here than I realize. More between you and David than I understand. But I’m going to fight for you,” he said, his voice strong.
He looked at me, his eyes filled with both love and determination.
“And Kate,” he added, his words cutting deep into my soul, “I’m not going to lose.”
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two