The Unlikeable Demon Hunter

by Deborah Wilde

  Neither was the hit-and-run black SUV.

  I had to get out of here. There was no way to get past the airbags to try the ignition button and, given the crumpled frame and odd way the door hung open, I doubted the car would start anyway.

  Dad was going to lose his shit.

  I opted to try and zap my way loose from the seatbelt, since the paramedic was taking too long to get whatever tool he needed. I was so focused on the best way to free myself that I failed to realize he’d returned with what appeared to be a very thin, orange, post-modern stapler-shaped thing.

  I shut my magic down with a lame, “It’s not what you think.”

  He frowned at the tool. “The seatbelt cutter?”

  No way he hadn’t seen my magic. Ignoring the impossible? Dodging that bullet worked for me except something about the way he watched me–his smile a little too bright, his gaze a bit too intense–made the back of my neck prickle.

  Paramedic man squatted down, sawing through the belt with one sharp slice.

  I pitched sideways. The world swung around me, my hand shooting out to grab the warped doorframe for balance. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the paramedic. Underneath his image, he was rippling.

  A hot, bright burst of panic bloomed in my chest. I slammed my hand into his shoulder.

  For a brief second, he transformed from shaggy cuteness to a silvery-blue serpent with an overly large mouth and needle teeth, made entirely of water. My electricity dissipated harmlessly over the surface of him. A weak cloud of steam rose off of the serpent, but that was it. His only reaction was to ask if I needed help standing up.

  I doubled over, hyperventilating–not entirely an act–to buy me time.

  “Come on. I’ll get you to the ambulance.” He tugged on my elbow, trying to pull me to my feet.

  An icy certainty that I couldn’t let him put me in there slithered up my spine. I flashed back on the guy sucking that demon’s thumb, unwilling to contemplate what this one might do to me. But if my magic was useless on him, how was I going to get away?

  Another tug. “Get checked out and I’ll help you find your brother.”

  My head snapped up at his words. At his encouraging nod, the picture of compassion. Except I’d never said Ari was my brother. The mention of my twin triggered the memory of Ari’s concentrated salt-coated blade that had been tossed in the car door pocket. In one fell swoop, I thrust it upward into the demon paramedic’s jugular.

  His eyes widened and his glamour fell away, leaving his watery serpent self with the knife sliding downstream to his toes.

  I jumped to my feet, dizzy, and tense, waiting for the clatter of the knife on the ground. Waiting for his nasty retaliation.

  Instead, he puffed up, solidifying into a Jell-O-like state, the knife buried inside him.

  I’m not sure which of us was more shocked.

  The demon tried to move but the salt content made him unwieldy. He wobbled from side-to-side, exactly how I’d expect a giant gelatin cube to walk.

  “Bloating sucks,” I said, shooting a fairly decent forked lightning bolt from my eyes, which was so fucking cool. Thanks to his super salt content, he now conducted electricity just fine. His body wobbled back against the attack.

  The demon curled into his left side. He had to be protecting his sweet spot. Excellent. That left a lot of him to work on.

  “Where’s my brother?”

  Silence.

  Electricity crackling off of my finger, I ran the tip along his wrist, slicing through him like butter. His hand dropped to the ground with a meaty splat. His face tightened but he stayed mum.

  The demon snapped at me with his spiky teeth but I sidestepped him, one magic-charged hand held up. “I can do this all day. Ari. Why was he taken?”

  The demon edged away from me.

  “Who are you afraid of?” I forced myself to voice my deepest fear. “Asmodeus?”

  His imperceptible flinch was my answer. All guilt, all terror, I shoved down into a well-buried box to torture myself with later. Then I killed the uncooperative bastard.

  The demon convulsed, contorting around himself until he became smaller and smaller and then nothing at all. All that was left of him was a few drops of water splattered on the ground and Ari’s knife.

  I didn’t stick around to gloat, bolting for Leo’s place, since I had no phone to call her with. Luckily, she lived around the corner. Hand pressed to my sides, lactic acid burning its way through my muscles, I leaned on Leo’s intercom, holding the wall for balance, and praying she was home.

  “Hello?”

  “Let me in!” I scanned the area for any out-of-place twitch or suspicious person.

  It seemed like an eternity before the door buzzed open. I cracked it enough to slide inside then shut it tight, wrenching on it a couple of times to make sure it had locked behind me. With one last look around the lobby, I stumbled into the elevator, hit three, and crashed on my ass to the floor.

  I managed to shove my foot into the open door when it reached Leo’s floor, but couldn’t get up on my own, mostly because everything spun so violently, I wasn’t sure which way was up.

  Leo ran over to me, hooking her arms under my pits. “Your face,” she gasped.

  “Demons took Ari.”

  I let her drag me inside. My adrenaline gave out, leaving my legs shaking, and my stomach doing dry heaves. I collapsed onto the round, red brocade chair by the window that she’d brought with her from her bedroom when she moved out. The stories this chair could tell.

  “You need to go to the hospital.”

  “No time.” I filled her in on what had happened.

  “Shit, Nav, that was a kapasca demon. Psychopathic serpents. If he’d managed to haul you back to the water?” She shivered.

  “How do I find Asmodeus?”

  “I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “No clue even where to begin.”

  “You got him a message.”

  “Not directly and no one is going to give up his hideout.”

  My hopes deflated, leaving me with a gut-level queasiness. I’d been positive Leo would know how to find him. I pressed a hand to my head.

  “Got any Tylenol?” If she couldn’t help, I had to patch myself up and find Rohan. My accelerated healing powers weren’t accelerating fast enough. That, or my concussion was a lot worse than I thought.

  “Not Tylenol,” she said, handing me a tablet and a glass of water a moment later. “Paracetamol.” She took the glass back from me, helping me to sit up.

  I didn’t question her having the meds on-hand. Leo was a bit of a hypochondriac.

  She gave me the bottle in case I needed another pill later. “I’ll put out feelers.” It was a start.

  “Can you drive me back to the chapter house first?” I asked.

  She hesitated. “Why don’t you just call them?”

  “Because the stupid Fallen Angels never bothered to give me their cell numbers.” I seethed. “I promise not to let anyone hurt you. Or find out you’re a demonette.”

  “No worries.” Leo grabbed her purse, patting it. “Custom made iron switchblade. Very effective. Even on Rasha.” She smiled evilly. “Remember that.” Then she grabbed her keychain from where she was using it as a bookmark in one of her crim texts.

  I groaned at the distinctive logo, pressing a hand to my throbbing head as the sound sent a fresh wave of nausea through me. “Not the Vespa.” Given the one second delay between my brain and my body, I’d fall off the damn thing.

  “Mom’s got my car. This is the fastest way unless you want to wait around for a taxi,” she said. She tossed me a spare leather jacket that was too short in the arms and too tight in the boobs, but would keep me warm and protected from any road rash.

  The ride back wasn’t too bad, with only two stops for me to throw up–once in a box hedge, and the other right into the gutter like the classy kitten I was. We pulled up to the chapter house gate. Tossing her my helmet, I got off the bike to hit the buzzer
next to the scanner panel.

  “Yes?”

  “Yum,” Leo mouthed at me, at the sound of Drio’s Italian accent.

  I squeezed my right fist open and closed twice rapidly, our code for giant anal sphincter.

  Her face fell.

  “It’s me, Drio. Let me in.”

  “Qui?”

  “Nava. Quit screwing around. We don’t have time.”

  “Bella, I assure you,” he purred, “You and I have all the time in the world.”

  Leo shivered. “Could he just be one–” She opened and closed her fist once, indicating a partial anal sphincter personality. “I could deal with that level of douchery.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” The sentiment applied to the two of them.

  There was a pause from the intercom, then Drio said, “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  Leo parked the bike, while I leaned up against the gate in a pose I hoped conveyed nonchalance rather than assisted standing.

  Drio finally arrived but didn’t open the gate. Asshole could have flash stepped outside instead of making us wait. Though he did darken at the sight of me. “Who hurt you?” he asked, pointing at my face.

  I rattled the bars which failed to rattle. “Let me in and I’ll tell you.”

  “Tell me and I’ll let you in.”

  Was he really going to do this now? “Where’s Kane?” He’d let me in.

  Drio braced a hand against the bar. “You’re not his type, bella.”

  “What’s your type?” Leo piped up.

  He rounded on her with an interested gleam.

  “Not the time,” I hissed, smacking her across the top of the head. “I know who has Ari.”

  Drio straightened up, all flirtiness gone, and opened the gate. “You better come talk to Rohan.”

  I grabbed his wrist, bracing for the worst. “Did you find him?”

  Drio glanced down at my hand on his arm. “You dare to wear the hamsa?” he growled in a low voice.

  Dread sat in my gut like hot lead. Drio might not like me but he wouldn’t joke about me being Rasha. “Don’t you know who I am?”

  “Problem?” Rohan asked in a silky voice, joining the party. He was not a happy camper.

  Leo, however, was ecstatic for about the thirty seconds she fangasmed all over him once recognition kicked in.

  Rohan bestowed a rock fuck grin on her and said, “Always pleased to meet a fan.”

  That did it. I let my magic out in full force.

  Ordinarily, I’d have loved making the boys’ jaws drop in shock at my amazing abilities, but the fact that my powers were news to them meant that they had no clue who I was.

  I wrapped my arms around myself, a million worst-case scenarios of how this could have happened flashing through my head. Trembling, I started up the drive, needing more than ever to get my fellow Rasha onboard with saving Ari.

  Rohan attempted to stop me but I burst into full crackle. “I will go psycho like you’ve never seen if you don’t get yourself, Drio, Baruch, and Kane into the library this very second,” I said.

  That’s when Rohan saw the ring. He grabbed my hand, barely flinching at the electricity scorching his skin. He tugged on it but of course, it didn’t move. His hand clamped on my wrist, he dragged me up the driveway without another word.

  “Wait for me!” Leo called out.

  Reality slowed down into a slow motion “Noooooo.” I yanked free of Rohan and sprinted for Leo before she could try to step over the ward and be repelled off of it, visions of Drio dusting my best friend dancing before my eyes.

  “Rohan is highly overrated,” Drio said. “Allow me.” He took her arm, escorting her onto the premises, as I stumbled to a stop. Did he know she was a PD and was toying with us? Or had he inadvertently saved her?

  Leo winced, her eyes widening in comprehension, but she regained her composure in an instant, flipping her hair as she assured Drio it would be her pleasure. Not that she had a choice. Drio may have sounded player personified, but the set of his shoulders assured me that neither Leo nor I were going anywhere until they had answers.

  Brilliant. A goblin, a Rasha, and two amnesiacs walk into a house–I couldn’t begin to imagine where this joke was going to end. Or at whose expense.

  So long as it wasn’t Ari’s.

  19

  Rohan led me all the way around the house and in through the back door to the kitchen, presumably so I wouldn’t see anything I shouldn’t. I tried to explain that he was wasting valuable time, but he wasn’t inclined to listen.

  They really had no idea who I was. How was this even possible?

  How could I be so easily erased?

  The mean little voice inside my head scoffed. Not that hard, Nava. Other than to Ari, weren’t you pretty much incidental to everyone anyway? And he wasn’t exactly feeling the love either, was he?

  Shut. Up.

  Once they had us corralled in the middle of the room, Rohan leaning casually against the back door and Drio lounging in the doorway, blocking our escape, I was ordered to start talking.

  “Baruch and Kane,” I said. “Where are they?”

  “Here. You are who?” Baruch barked at me, lumbering in past Drio. The color drained from Leo’s face and she scooted back a few steps. Not surprising. With their height difference, Tree Trunk could drop kick her across the yard. Or snap her in two.

  I squeezed her hand. “Get Kane,” I insisted. After me, he was the most invested in Ari’s well-being.

  “He’s busy.” Rohan’s pose didn’t change. “Now, who are you?”

  “I’m Nava Katz.” They guys exchanged a look at my last name. “Look, I know who took Ari.”

  “Why should we listen to you?” Drio asked.

  “If you don’t believe that I’m Rasha after seeing my power, maybe this,” I pointed upstairs, “will help convince you.”

  “Power?” Baruch asked, but Drio had already allowed me to pass.

  I led everyone up to my bedroom, showing them my stuff which was helpfully strewn across the room after my earlier phone search. “Rasha. I live here. See?”

  “Lucky,” Leo sighed. She snapped her mouth shut as all three guys conferred identical expressions of barely veiled annoyance on her.

  Drio poked at a lacy blue demi-bra.

  I smacked his hand away. “I’ve been here training with you guys for almost a week. The Brotherhood thought Ari was the initiate all this time but when Rabbi Abrams did the second ceremony, it turned out it was me.”

  They watched me blankly.

  I straightened up with steel-spined determination. Remember me or not, all they needed to do was help me get my brother back. “Ari is my twin. You sent me to go pursue a lead,” I said, fudging the truth, “and I was ambushed by a bad guy.” Emphasis on the last two words.

  “Nava is so hush-hush with her new job,” Leo joked. “I’d tell you but I’d have to kill you.” She broke into a snorting laugh.

  I face-palmed.

  “Thing is, you’ve seen her power,” Rohan said. “What do you know about that?”

  So tempting to slap the re-appearance of rock fuck grin off his face. And hello? How come that grin had never made an appearance with me?

  Leo batted her eyelashes at him. “I’m very good at keeping my mouth shut.”

  An incredulous laugh that I didn’t exactly turn into a cough escaped me.

  That earned me the finger. Behind her back, so her new friends wouldn’t see something so crass. “I wouldn’t do anything to endanger my best friend,” she said. “Even if she is astoundingly annoying.”

  Her words made me think of my twin, also astoundingly annoying at times. And the person I wanted most safe in the world. I’d managed to forget about Ace for a quarter of a second and I hated myself for it.

  I massaged my temples. “Hold me accountable if she blabs, you know where I live.”

  Baruch waved a dismissive hand at my belongings. “This means nothing. There is no such thing as a female Rasha.�
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  I appealed to Rohan in desperation. “Last night. We talked about your music. About how incredible it was to sit down with the rest of your band and put all your bad feelings, all your dreams into words for the world to hear. What it was like having your lyrics come alive. You’ve got to believe me. We’re wasting time here.”

  “Wow,” Leo murmured.

  Rohan’s expression shuttered.

  “Ro doesn’t talk about those days. With anyone,” Drio said. “Nice try.” He broke out the psychotic smile that tended to precede Torture Time and stepped closer.

  My power didn’t convince them. The fact of me living here didn’t convince them. Recapping events of the past few days also a big fail. How could I prove I was telling the truth?

  “Ari didn’t have a twin.” Perfect. Kane had shown up, sporting a fine scowl. “I was listening. Might want to do your homework before leading with an easily verifiable lie.”

  “I’m not–” I stumbled, realizing he’d used the past tense in talking about my brother. I lunged for him, grabbing his shirtfront. “What do you mean ‘didn’t?’ I want to see his body.”

  He took pity at the desperation in my voice though he pried my fingers off him. “There wasn’t enough of him left to see.”

  “Ari’s not dead,” I protested. I’d have known. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Ari, while in danger, still lived. But for how much longer? I had to convince them.

  I was about to remind Rohan of how we’d fought together when it hit me. The memory loss. “Asmodeus. He took Ari and he’s the reason you can’t remember.”

  “Impossible,” Baruch said.

  Somehow the demon had compelled the Rasha to forget me. The same way he’d managed to compel me to, well, forget myself. From Rohan’s thoughtful expression, he was turning the idea over in his head. How was it possible for a demon to alter someone’s memory? Because one, that was terrifying, and two, I was totally going to have words with Ms. Clara about my demon-punching contract not being more upfront about stuff like that.

  I kicked Rohan in the head, intending to snap him out of the compulsion like I’d done in the park. It failed to work. He cursed, Drio and Kane tackled me, and I ended up facedown on the floor, sputtering about the demon through a mouthful of carpet.