…
Frost pinched Raven’s nose when she inhaled. The hint of snow that had been carrying on the cold mountain air for the past several days did not amount to much in the end, but the afternoon air remained brittle and cold.
Raven and Laurel had managed to find enough discarded but useful items to set up rough housekeeping, and they combined their workloads to make the interiors of their new lodgings as comfortable as possible. They had spent the majority of the day hanging strips of meat to dry in a small, homemade smokehouse they discovered behind one of the houses.
“How did you and Blade end up together?” Laurel asked her.
Raven closed the smokehouse door and latched it. Until now, the topic of Blade had been avoided between the two women. The others were wary of him still, and he did not trust them either. Raven was unused to playing the role of peacemaker.
That had been Creed’s role growing up.
“He stopped me from killing a Godseeker,” Raven said.
Laurel lifted the empty basket they had used to carry the meat and rested it on her hip. “I find it difficult to believe he cared enough to save another man’s life, even if he was a Godseeker.”
“It wasn’t the Godseeker’s life he was saving,” Raven said. “It was mine. And I’m sure if I asked him, he couldn’t explain why he did it.”
She told Laurel a bit more about how they’d come to be together, although not everything. She doubted if Blade would care to have any of his story told to others or anything about who he was in terms of a person common knowledge. If he wished to make friends, he had to do it himself.
That did not mean Laurel and the others needed to spend the winter living in constant fear of him.
“Your stepfather still hunts for you?” Laurel asked.
“As far as I know.” Justice was determined and ruthless. Raven had never known him to give up. She had embarrassed him by escaping, and he would not forget that.
The other woman’s sudden tense manner warned Raven that she was uneasy at the thought of a Godseeker arriving to find four more half demons than expected. Raven had wanted to discuss this as a group before now, but Blade had said no—that any one of them could have similar secrets, and until he knew more, he planned to share nothing. But Raven felt her new friend’s anxiety and was about to say more in an attempt to assuage it when Laurel’s attention was diverted by something behind Raven’s head. Her eyes widened, filling with shock and fear.
Raven turned to see what had so captivated her, prepared to defend them both from whatever it was.
A heavy weight slammed into her, carrying her to the ground and rolling with her at the last moment so that she was not crushed beneath it.
“I taught you better than this,” a familiar voice said, deep with disapproval.
“Creed!”
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed as tight as she could, unable to believe he was here. She had given up faith in him. To have him arrive left her world bright and shining and made her feel invincible.
Laurel hovered nearby, a thick chunk of firewood in her hand.
“I know him,” Raven said to her. “He’s a friend.”
Creed disentangled himself and stood, taking her elbow and pulling her up beside him. She could not take her eyes off him. He had gained muscle, she noticed. His hair was gone, and the edges of a flaming tattoo peeped above the back of his shirt collar. She reached up and ran her fingertips over its outline. It felt hot and alive, and she was not sure she liked it.
Other than that, he was as big and beautiful as ever. He still had the kindest, friendliest eyes she had ever seen, and right now, they were filled to the brim with the same joy she was feeling.
Laurel, too, seemed somewhat awed by his presence.
“Where’s this assassin who’s supposed to be protecting you?” Creed asked. He looked at the sky. “Because as soon as the sun sets, we’ve got trouble.”
“We’ve got trouble now,” Blade said.
They sat in the main room of the house he shared with Raven—Blade, Raven, Creed, Laurel, and Walker. One of Laurel’s companions was dead. The other had not yet returned and likely would not for several more days. The room was cold because Blade had not taken the time to rekindle the fire.
Blade was glad to see Creed but less happy to hear the news he brought with him. Altogether, Justice’s force included two Godseekers, eleven assassins, and a woman who could raise demons and summon enough fire to demolish an entire village—with any inhabitants in it.
And somewhere outside lurked something that could tear a man to shreds.
He told Creed what had happened to the man they had left at the mine. He had followed the trail of blood into the woods at the top of the valley, above the mine. Whoever—whatever—it was watched the approach to the village, not the village itself.
A small gasp had come from Laurel at the start of Blade’s story. Now she was silent but very pale, and she shook all over with a fine trembling that Blade recognized as trauma. Raven held her hand, squeezing her fingers.
“Come with me,” Raven said to her, standing. “Let’s go collect our things from the smokehouse and check on the fire.”
Blade wanted to tell her to stay inside where he could watch her. But the sun had not yet set, the smokehouse was only two houses away, and Laurel did not need to hear any more of this. Still, he could not hide his worry.
Raven paused at the door to glance at him over her shoulder. “We’ll only be a few minutes,” she said.
She was angry with him. Her parting smile for Creed was warmer and lingered longer.
Blade reached for his rifle, which was propped in a corner behind him, and passed it to Walker. “Go with them. Only use this in self-defense.”
Walker took it, nodded once, and followed the women. The door closed behind them.
“What made you come back?” Blade asked Creed.
“I always intended to come. I didn’t want you to know it. You aren’t as impervious to persuasion as you think you are.” Creed grinned. “I needed to find an argument you’d have no trouble believing. It seems you have commitment issues.” He then drew Blade’s attention back to their unfinished discussion. “It wasn’t wolven that killed your man?”
“No.” What he’d seen had not been done by any animal Blade knew of. “Are you sure it’s not something that came here with Justice?” he asked in return.
Creed’s answer was equally definite. “I’m sure.”
Whatever it was, it was not on either side. Blade did not have the numbers to stand against the Godseeker as it was. A second threat would be impossible to overcome.
He wondered what might have happened to Laurel’s third companion, the one who’d gone off in search of supplies. With any luck, he was far away and safe. Regardless, he could not be counted on for help now. That left him with Creed, Walker, Raven, and Laurel, as well as a dilemma.
He needed their demon abilities. However, using those abilities to kill would only bring out more of the demon in them. He doubted if that was a serious problem for Walker and Laurel. He did not believe they had enough demon blood in them for it to be a serious concern. Creed was already a trained assassin. And Blade did not have any particular investment in any of them.
Raven was a different matter entirely. He did not want her a part of this.
“Can you reason with the other assassins?” Blade asked him.
“Not that many at once. I’d need to speak with them each individually. And that’s not going to happen.”
Blade spread his palm flat on the table’s worn surface and examined his fingers, thinking hard. “We don’t want to kill assassins or Godseekers, except in self-defense. We need to convince them somehow that we’re all on the same side.”
“What side do you believe that to be?” Creed asked. “Because from where I sit, other than your own, the only life you care about is Raven’s.”
Blade did not bother to deny it. “I’m on Raven’s side. She b
elieves spawn deserve a place in this world and that the innocent will need protection, and she’s willing to fight for it. I’m not willing to let her, so I’ll fight for her, instead.”
Outside, the shadows lengthened as Creed thought it over. “That’s the side we should all be on, although I doubt we’ve yet reached that point. Siege had no love for Justice,” he added. “And Armor is a realistic man. So is Seeker, the other Godseeker with them. If we can somehow get rid of Justice, we may be able to reason with him. The assassins will take orders from Seeker as fast as they will from him, but in the end, they take their orders from Armor.”
And Armor took his from the Godseekers.
“Then there’s only one man you need to convince,” Blade said. “Get to Seeker, and get him to call off the assassins. They need to be warned of whatever’s out there. If it came after us, it will go after them too. Which leaves Justice to me. You don’t want to be involved in that.”
“What about the woman with him?”
“She’s mine, too,” Blade said. He could not forget what she had done to all of those people.
Creed rose from the table. He wore a heavy coat with a fur-lined hood and drew the flap over his head. “Try to take her alive if you can. Laws need to be established if the innocent are to be protected,” he reminded Blade. “If she’s brought before the Godseekers, they may find out things that might be important to know for the future.”
“She murdered an entire village of people,” Blade said. “Laurel saw it all. She knows how it happened. What more do you need to know?”
Creed finished knotting the ties of his hood. His eyes hardened. “I’d like to know why.”
…
“He didn’t mean to be so blunt or unfeeling,” Raven said to Laurel. “He sees no point in disguising the truth is all.”
Laurel passed the back of a hand over her brow. “I’m fine.” The cold air had revived her somewhat, and her trembling had eased. “I’ve lost so many people, one more shouldn’t matter this much. I don’t like to think of him suffering.”
Since Raven could not assure her he hadn’t, and Walker had nothing to contribute, she thought it best to leave it alone.
They stood at the corner of Raven’s house, between it and its drab, empty neighbor. The wind rattled a section of loose, brittle siding.
She looked at Walker. “Could you get Laurel something to drink please?”
He hesitated. She could sense his mind working. Blade had sent him to watch over them, and it would not be long before the sun went down.
“Laurel can shift to shadow, and I can take care of myself,” Raven reminded him. She allowed some of her demon allure to sift to the surface, and his eyes slid away from hers, embarrassed, but she had seen his concern for Laurel. “Blade and Creed are within shouting distance. We’re going to check the fire, pick up our basket, and meet you right here. We’ll be fine.”
He made up his mind. “I found some sealed bottles of whiskey stashed behind one wall of an old cellar,” Walker said. “I think she could use some of that.”
Whiskey was hard to find in the mountains and worth more than gold. Unless it was homemade, it could only be brought in through the desert. And until recently, the presence of demons had determined the trade routes.
“That would be perfect,” Raven said.
While he went to get the whiskey, the women hurried between the abandoned houses to collect the basket they had left behind at the smokehouse earlier. The simple, everyday task gave Laurel distraction and purpose.
With Raven carrying the basket, they turned to go. Movement caught her eye. She grabbed Laurel’s arm, setting the basket on the ground behind her as she did.
At the corner of the empty dwelling where they had been scavenging stood a woman with long black hair.
“That’s her,” Laurel said softly in Raven’s ear.
Raven’s heart raced when she saw Justice standing behind the woman. He had lost weight in the weeks since Raven had last seen him and had a bit more gray in his hair. The hardness inside him was more transparent. Raven read victory in him.
The situation was not good. With him was another man, younger, taller, and heavily freckled, who gave off the air of an assassin as he dispassionately assessed the two women facing him. But Raven had not run these past weeks only to give up so easily now.
“Shift,” she whispered to Laurel. At least then one of them could escape and go for help.
“No.” Laurel’s own initial panic seemed to have fled, replaced by a serene calm and determination of manner that added to Raven’s worries. Laurel believed she had nothing left to lose, and she wanted revenge more than survival.
Raven, too, had thought she wanted vengeance, and the sight of Justice so close tempted her. But more than that, she wanted to live. She was not afraid to die, she discovered. Not by mortal means. She simply was not ready to say good-bye to life, and to Blade. If anything happened to her, he would blame himself. She could not bear the thought of him living with so much guilt on his already overburdened conscience.
She tried to think. She did not want the strange woman to be aware of her own chaotic emotions—although she could tell by the cruel smile curling her lips that it was already too late.
“Hello, Raven,” Justice said, before he glanced at Laurel. He tugged up his collar against the bite of the piercing wind that swirled throughout the dreary remains of the mountain settlement. “Is your companion a spawn, too? What might her demon abilities be?”
Raven made no comment. Laurel’s sole ability was to shift to shadow, and she did not want the newcomers to know of it. It could yet save her life.
“We haven’t done any harm to anyone,” Raven said. “We want to be left alone, nothing more.”
Justice thumbed the brim of his hat from his forehead. “No harm? You raised a demon and destroyed an entire village.”
“That’s not true!” Laurel cried out, drawing his attention from Raven. She stared hard at the woman with Justice and pointed a finger. “She’s the one who raised the demon that killed my family.”
Laurel lunged for the demon woman, and Raven grabbed for her friend, her fingers missing purchase on the sleeve of Laurel’s coat by scant inches. The taller, freckled man drew back his arm and threw a knife he had palmed. It caught Laurel in the abdomen, and with a sharp cry of pain, she stumbled and went to her knees. Raven hurled herself forward, throwing her arms around her friend to protect her from any further attacks. Fear for her friend washed through Raven before she could suppress it. The demon woman’s smile widened. She fed on fear too, Raven realized, sickened—that made her more demon than mortal. She enjoyed killing.
A wall of flame sprang up around Raven and Laurel, pinning them into a circle. Raven saw the assassin hesitate. Then he drew back, as if uncertain now of what was happening and unwilling to take further action until he understood. Raven was grateful for that reprieve, small as it was.
“I should have run the knife through your heart when I had the chance, instead of your leg,” Raven said to Justice. “But it was too small a target.”
Justice chuckled softly at her insult. “We already know a little fire won’t harm you.” His gaze slithered from her face to Laurel’s. “But what will it do to your friend?”
He sounded curious, as if conducting some minor experiment. At a gesture from him, the demon woman tightened the circle of fire. Inside it, a few feet from Laurel, a demon slowly began to take shape, towering head and shoulders above the flames. The sight and smell of Laurel’s blood transfixed it, and it turned on her with hot, hungry eyes.
The woman who raised it did not seem to understand what she did. She had not drawn any of the boundary with it to keep it from entering the mortal world. Fire alone would not be enough to contain it for very long.
Raven had to do something. She shot to her feet, moving as far from Laurel as she could, and allowed her own inner demon to surface, hoping its allure would be enough to draw the attention of both
the demon and the assassin. The demon’s massive head swung in her direction, its eyes curious now, Laurel all but forgotten. It shifted to mortal form in an instinctive response.
Raven lured it to her—one step, then a few more.
And then she had her hands on it, and it was hers. But she had none of Blade’s knives on her this time to dispatch it with, and she could not pull the one from between Laurel’s ribs for fear the action might kill her.
“Stop her!” she heard Justice commanding the demon woman, his voice harsh.
The flames shot higher, the dancing circle tightening even more around them, forcing Raven to step closer to Laurel, and in turn bringing the demon closer to her, too. Raven was not afraid of the flames. She called the fire to her, drew it in, and allowed it to fill her until the circle vanished and a smoking black ring was all that remained.
With the circle gone, and no weapon at hand, only her grip on the demon kept it from escaping into the mortal world. But the fire she’d absorbed was too much. It threatened to explode through the pores of her skin. It burned inside her, but she did not dare release it.
…
Only years of training kept Blade from a mindless rush to Raven’s defense as her screams of pain, mixed with the thick allure of her protective defenses gone wild, filled the air.
He could not leave the house unobserved through the front door as Creed, who deflected unwanted attention, just had. Instead, Blade went out a back window and into the cover of shadow, where he ran behind the houses to the place her screams led him.
He emerged to a scene of chaos.
Raven had one hand on a demon. Laurel lay on the ground behind her, gravely injured, possibly dead.
Two men stood outside a scorched and smoking circle of earth that surrounded the two women and the demon. One of the men was Justice. Blade assumed that the other was an assassin. Neither seemed to possess an ability to move, which Blade could well understand given the allure Raven did not seem to have under control. A third woman stood a few feet away from them, unaffected by Raven, her feet positioned as if ready to bolt at the first opportunity.
Black Widow Demon (Demon Outlaws) Page 26