Lucifer rises fully, his body towering well over mine, heightening not only the difference in strength but in size. I hate being under the stature of bigger men, knowing full well they are likely to treat me like their lesser counterpart. My sharp mouth and trigger-happy limbs usually cut those thoughts in half.
With him, though, I only want him to bend me over the table and dominate me.
Lucifer looks down at me and the hunger in his eyes shows he knows exactly what I’m feeling right now. “Soon, love,” he growls. “I must prepare.”
And I have to get back to where I belong. I stand, fighting the urge to wrap my legs around him. “Take me back.”
He doesn’t fight me on it because he knows he can’t. I’ve been here long enough. He can’t keep me here forever.
He also doesn’t try to convince me to come back soon either. No doubt his high commanders will take care of that for him. That’s a fight I’ll have to prepare for later. Right now, I can only fight the sensations rushing through me when he wraps his arms around my waist.
The world goes black for a second, then I’m back, standing among the mess Natalia left behind. Lucifer steps away from me, but places a hand on my cheek, looking into my eyes. “Walk safe, Melody.”
“Don’t let them turn you into a zombie, Lucifer.”
That makes him smile, right before he disappears. I’m glad I’m able to give him that much.
7
Getting back to the Guild is an affair that, unfortunately, fills me with reluctance. It isn’t until I get onto my bike do I realize that that feeling is really me just missing Hell. There. I admit it. I miss them already and it hasn’t even been five minutes yet. And Lucifer? What’s going to happen when he’s gone for who knows how long?
Sighing for the umpteenth time, I pull into the parking lot. As soon as I take my helmet off my head, Ben appears out of nowhere, coming to stand next to me.
I look him up and down. “You’re getting creepier by the minute, you know that?”
He blinks at me, surprised. I can’t blame him for such a reaction. For weeks I haven’t been the most interesting person to talk to, so saying something as normal as that is not expected of me. A second later, a smile spreads across his face. “I wasn’t waiting for you if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything, bucko.”
“I really wasn’t.” He grins harder, turning with me as I make my way to the elevator. “I was just getting back and saw you come in.”
“Did you now? I hear you loud and clear.”
“It was the pharmacy,” he says. Without asking, he presses the upper floor. “I wanted some painkillers.”
“We have a nursing station.”
“Okay, it was something else.”
I only shrug. “Whatever drugs you take is on you, Ben. I have nothing to do with it.”
Ben blows air out his nose, clearly enjoying the conversation. “I’m not doing drugs, Melody.”
“Sure you aren’t.”
He laughs. “New mission?”
“Yup.”
“Got them?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
“Julissa says it was blaring on the radar. Could have been a high ranking.”
I look at him then. Suddenly, I notice that there’s a light sheen of sweat over his face. It isn’t hot enough outside to be sweating like that. “You asked me if I had a new mission although you already knew?”
He blinks at me, and I swear he almost looks startled. “I wasn’t sure if this was a mission you’ve been on for a while.”
“Have you seen me do anything constructive in the past few days, Ben?”
He laughs again and rubs the back of his head. I lean against the back of the elevator, keeping my head on the closed doors though every bit of my attention is focused on him. Ben and his suddenly awkward movements. “What’s with the third degree, Melody?” he says on a chuckle that sounds forced. “Oh, by the way, your father was looking for you.”
I blink at that. “Why?”
“Beats me. I think it was a little after you left out. You should head there now.”
Right on cue, the doors open on the top floor, revealing the long hallway leading up to my father’s office. I step out, throwing a glance of farewell over my shoulder at Ben. I don’t miss the way he sighs. “Alright, well. This is me,” I say, facing him. “Go do something productive or rather do anything that doesn’t involve watching me walk away.”
He grins, a real one this time. “I don’t know. Watching you walk away is incredibly entertaining.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve met your quota, buddy.” I press the down button. Ben’s laughter can be heard even when the door closes.
He’s acting odd. But then again, when is anyone not acting odd around me? Especially after the past few weeks. Maybe he really is on drugs and that’s why he’s more jittery than usual. Whatever the reason is, I don’t particularly care anymore.
Sighing, I face the hallway. The one I always longed to walk on when I was younger and forbidden from entering my father’s office. I would take the elevator up to the top floor and just stand and ogle. Over the years, this very hallway has slowly changed from a source of awe and wonderment to slight dread and dismay. At the end of it, the man I used to revere – but not resent – sits leading the Guild.
I can’t lie and say he isn’t a good leader. He is. One of the best New York has ever had. And, to top it all off, Mr. Black is one of the best hunters there is, if not the actual best. I’ve never before seen him in action, but I’ve seen his stats as well as his record of demon kills. I’ve also heard the stories of demons he’s gone up against and how unscathed he has left every battle. As much as I don’t fancy him, there’s no denying that Mr. Black is worthy of being my rival. There’s no one I aim to best more than my father. I can’t remember the days I haven’t worked to become the best hunter there is.
Now, I’m the hunter who is not only helping demons but falling in love with one. Falling in love with the devil himself, at that. Way to take a whole 180 degrees on that one, Melody.
Now that I’m standing here, I realize just how much I don’t want to face my father. I’m in too good a mood, too hopped up off the lovemaking with Lucifer. I’m too excited at the prospect of seeing him again before he leaves – hopefully – and too annoyed with myself for even caring so much about him in the first place. Mr. Black is not who I need to see right now. But I can’t run or hide from him. Experience has taught me that it’s a heck of a lot better to face the demons you hate than it is to run from them. They’ll only follow you, and grow stronger in the time you’ve given them. Mr. Black is the perfect example of that. Avoid him, and once he finally catches you, all hell breaks loose. Our pissing battles are too wearisome for me to handle right now.
So, I knock on the door this time, playing it safe. Usually I walk right in, usually I don’t give a rat’s ass about respecting him in any way. But usually, I’m not as conflicted with so many paradoxical emotions as I am right now. So, I knock. And I wait.
Nothing. He neither calls me in nor tells me to wait. I put my ear to the door, but I hear nothing.
Maybe he isn’t in at the moment. Though it isn’t often, Mr. Black does try to go on missions from time to time, whenever he thinks his busy schedule will allow him. Easy ones, ones that won’t take him away from his desk for too long. And if that’s the case, then I can always come back later. Perhaps later down in the day, he’ll be back to hear my report.
Something tells me to check anyway, so I knock once more – for good measure – then crack the door open. I peek inside. What I see has me frozen stock still.
I recover a second later and slip inside, clicking the door closed behind me and locking it. I don’t want to chance anyone else coming in and witnessing this … this mess.
Papers are everywhere. Mr. Black isn’t a fan of electronics, and so he prefers to document whatever he can get away with on paper. Those same do
cuments litter the wide office, covering every inch of the black carpet. His massive, dark-colored desk is split in two, and the couches nearby are ripped, the stuffing pouring out the open wound. I wander closer in, careful not to step on anything, not knowing whether whoever did this had left some sort of clue behind.
Whatever did this, I tell myself, running my fingers over the torn couch. It could be a demon as much as it could be human. So far, nothing leans to either side.
My eyes dart over the area, trying to spot any movements, any lingering demonic energy. With my demonic blood, I’m more than capable of sensing when another is near, as long as it isn’t glamored. If a demon is still in the room, though invisible, I should still be able to sense it.
I feel nothing. But I do hear something, and it’s coming from behind the desk.
Slowly, I inch my way forward. The sound grows louder the nearer I come, and soon I recognize the sounds as whimpers. A second after I do, I stop to see Luna sitting there, legs pressed to her chest and her face buried into her knees.
I kneel at her side. “Luna,” I call to her.
She jolts. Her eyes are rimmed with red, tears streaked across her face. When she sees that it’s me, her hands begin to shake and her eyes dart all around her. “Melody, you have to get out of here. It’s dangerous in here.”
“Luna,” I whisper, “it’s okay.” I touch her trembling shoulder. I hate to see her cry. A woman her age shouldn’t cry.
She doesn’t look as well put together as she usually does. Luna takes being my father’s assistant very seriously, and always keeps her image in tiptop shape. Neat skirts and blouses, low buns, sensible heels. She is much older than Mr. Black is, but has the sort of wit and sharp tongue that can cut you in half. Seeing her like this is not only concerning, it’s frightening.
I grasp her elbow, trying to remain calm. One of the few things I’ve learned from my father - Always stay calm. “Luna, whatever it is that was here is gone now. It’s only you and me, I promise. We’re safe.”
She looks at me, eyes wide. “How do you know that?”
“I just know. Can you stand?”
She releases a loud, shaky breath, eyes still darting around fearfully. Still, she allows me to bring her to her feet. “It’s okay,” I continue to say to her, hoping it will soothe her shaky hands. “Everything’s okay now. You’re safe. Sit here.”
I steer her toward one of the torn couches. Suddenly, I wish I knew how to make tea, or at least where she usually makes hers. Luna loves her tea. I’m sure it’ll calm her greatly right now, but since I don’t have any on hand – and I don’t want to risk leaving her alone to find where I can make it – I settle on rubbing her arms. The tender gesture doesn’t make me cringe as it would have with anyone else. Luna is as close to a mother as I’ve ever had.
“Something was here, Melody,” she says shakily. I can see her trying to contain herself, trying to get herself under control. Another thing I admire about her. “It’s powerful.”
“Tell me what happened,” I say, my words almost coming out in a stutter. I allow a deep breath to fill my lungs, needing the action to settle my nerves. Convincing someone that everything is okay is almost impossible if my actions betray my words. I fix my eyes on Luna. “How did this happen?”
She lets out a shaky breath and reaches for my hand. I clasp hers tightly. “I came to give Mr. Black his monthly report. He always wants to see it on this day, you know? The last Thursday in the month so he can be free to relax on Friday. So I was coming to his office to give it to him, to tell him how well we did this month. Hunter injuries low, crime levels even lower. But before I pushed through the door, I heard a scuffle on the inside.”
She laughs, the sound strained and uneasy. “I thought it was you in there, you know? Can you believe it? I thought you two had finally decided to hash it out with your fists and you were in here rolling around throwing punches. I didn’t come in immediately because I figured you guys needed it. It was about time. You two are always butting heads. As a matter of fact, I stood outside the door and cheered you two on. I was gong to wait thirty seconds. I remember counting. I wanted to wait thirty seconds before coming in.”
Then she sobs, and I gather her close. “To think that, if maybe I had been a little earlier, if maybe I hadn’t waited those seconds, all this wouldn’t have happened.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Luna,” I say pressing her head against my chest. “You couldn’t have done anything to stop it. If you had gone in any earlier, you might have just ended up getting hurt.” Which is right. Luna has the sight, but she isn’t a hunter. She has no training.
“You don’t know,” she insists. “I could have done something to stop this. The scuffle ended at twenty-five seconds. I thought the fight was over, that there was a winner. So I went in and saw… this.”
She withdraws from me, wipes her tears and collects herself. “The first person I thought about was Mr. Black, but he wasn’t in here. So I instantly assumed that whatever caused this mess, whatever had been making those sounds, must have taken him. I was about to sound the alarm when it came back.”
My eyes widen. I grab her shoulders, running my eyes over her properly this time. “Did it hurt you?”
“No,” she shakes her head, swallowing. “It didn’t hurt me. I didn’t even see it. I ran as soon as I heard it coming again. I didn’t know where to go, what to do. I didn’t even know if it was the same thing. I just panicked and hid.”
She laughs again, humorlessly. “Now that I think about it, hiding behind the desk wasn’t the smartest move, but I couldn’t think of anything else. I just sat there and held my hands over my head, praying it would go away.”
“How did you know it was the same thing coming back?”
“The way it moved. I could hear it crunching around as if it was looking for something. Melody, if it wasn’t the thing that came back, if it had been you or someone else in the Guild, they would have done something. Sounded alarms, checked around the room, something. But it didn’t. It only walked around a bit, and when it found what it was looking for, it left.” She shudders violently. “I thought it was going to find me, Melody. I thought it was going to do the same thing to me that it did to Mr. Black.”
I tense at her words. Slowly, I dip my head to meet her eyes. “Luna, what do you mean? What did it do to Mr. Black?”
She looks at me and again, tears begin to shimmer in her eyes and a lump the size of my fist rises in my throat. I hold my breath and I swear I don’t breathe at all for the time it takes her to complete her answer. “He isn’t here, Melody. This is where he should have been and he wasn’t here. When I came in, the room was empty.”
Which can only mean one thing.
Mr. Black was abducted.
8
Alarms were raised. Hunters were called inside – only the best of the best. The others stand impatiently outside the door, cluttering the hallway that shouldn’t fit that many people. They’re waiting for some kind of news that throws clarity on the situation at hand.
Mr. Black is a loved man. Either that, or he’s just a great leader. Perhaps both. It becomes even more evident as I take in the hunters before me. There’s concern plastered on their faces and clenched in their jaws, tears in some of their eyes. I know, without having to see them, that everyone on the outside of this room is just as devastated by what has happened.
Luna is right next to me. The tears have been dried from her face, but her eyes still wear the pink tint of someone who’s been crying. She’s fixed herself up though, put her bun back into place and straightened her back. Once again, she’s the Luna I know, the one who commands respect again, the Luna who will have no issue settling the crowd inside and out.
I have absolutely no idea how to and so I intend to leave it in her more than capable hands. She knows how to calm the riot, I don’t. She knows how to speak to them, how to get them to see things clearly. I definitely don’t. If anything, they’ll just steer me into my own b
reed of anger and that’s an emotion I’m trying to avoid right now. Not when I’m expected to be levelheaded and calm about this.
“Hunters,” Luna says when I give her the nod. “Your attention, please.”
They all quiet down. There isn’t much space to sit, especially with the torn couches, so they all stand. Only two of the twenty aren’t already in hunter gear, and nearly half of them had rushed here from a mission once they heard the news. All of them, however, are impatient and undeniably outraged.
“What the fuck is going on?” one asks. I recognize him as Leon, a man as brusque as he is burly. We’ve gone on a few missions together before, and I find him too stubborn and strong-willed to be a good partner. It says a lot that he says the same of me. “What do you mean he’s missing?”
Stay calm, Melody. Stay calm.
It doesn’t help that they’re yelling at me. I hate being yelled at. “Exactly what you’ve heard. Mr. Black is missing. This room and his absence are evidence of that.”
“So what do you plan to do then?” asks a woman much older than me. Her name is Karla and God, does she hate me. Her eyes always spit poison at me whenever I walk past. I always ignore her. She’s never gotten used to the idea that I’m better than her, though I’m younger. Even now, her voices drips with condescension. “A search party, surely.”
“Of course,” I answer her calmly. “That is a given, is it not, Karla? But the search cannot commence until we have a proper lead.”
“What happened then?” someone asks in the back. I don’t see who it is that spoke, but I clearly hear the irritation in his voice. In fact, a blanket of agitation hangs in the air. There’s a thin thread preventing these hunters from heading out and taking care of matters themselves.
“As far as we know,” I say, leaning over the desk. I’m sitting in my father’s chair. Not once did I think the day would come. And never did I think it would happen this way. “Whatever, or whoever, it is that came in here engaged in a scuffle with Mr. Black. Luna says she stood outside and heard it, thinking it was something else. However, when she went inside, there was no one here. Only all this mess.”
Hunting Light: Hunter her Lovers (Demon Hunter Book 2) Page 5