Hunting Light: Hunter her Lovers (Demon Hunter Book 2)

by Savannah Rose

  The walls are soundproof? Why do I not know this? Doesn’t matter anymore. “Fine,” I say. “Natalia’s apartment it is.”

  I step closer to him, expecting him to wrap his arms around me and teleport us away, but he doesn’t, he only tightens his grip on my hands. Stepping back, he sinks into the bed and pulls me between his legs. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I wish I could say the same.”

  Lucifer nuzzles my neck, burrowing his face into the crook of it. “You know what the best thing about being soul-bonded is?” he says, breath tickling my skin. I resist the urge to moan. God, just one touch. Just one simple touch and that’s all it takes for me to be putty in his hands. “You don’t have to say anything. I know everything you’re feeling, even the things you don’t want me to know.”

  I try not to freeze. “Even …”

  “Yes.” He looks up at me, eyes direct. “Even the way you feel about Brotus and Merlidon.”

  I tense, trying to pull away. He doesn’t allow me to. He pushes his lips into the curve of my neck again and this time, he licks the area. I nearly collapse. “It’s not unnatural,” he murmurs against me. I’m nodding without even realizing it. “The parts of you that belong to me aren’t the parts of you that belong to them.”

  Then he takes me in the way only he can. I feel my energy being drawn to him, pulled at by his own. I feel it filling him, as if the strength he’s being given is mine. Sounds of ecstasy, pure and simple, tear from my lips as he feeds. He’s ravenous, devouring me. His arm bands behind my back, keeping me upright when my legs become useless, but he continues to take, continues to suck me dry until, once again, we are one and the same.

  He goes for my breasts next, tearing through the material of my shirt. I arch my back as his tongue flicks against my nipple, biting, nibbling, sucking. Every moan I release spurs him on until he can’t contain himself any longer and flips me onto back.

  “No,” I say, stopping him before he can crawl on top of me. I look down at the length of him, at the pulsing cock begging for release. He’s poised atop of me, waiting for me to continue with impatience oozing from his every pore. “Let me.”

  Slowly, I ease him onto his back. He watches me like a predator, and I watch him just as intently. I reach down, palming his cock. His entire body tenses.

  I rub my thumb over the head, wiping away the beads of precum that dot the surface, then, eyes still trained on his, I cover it with my mouth.

  Lucifer’s hand goes for my hair instantly, the other framing my face. He gasps loudly and the sound drives me like nothing else can. I make quick work of it, doing wonders with my mouth, taking as much of him as I can. Slowly at first and then working my way into a rhythm. His hits the back of my throat over and over and over again.

  “Melody,” he groans and I grip him even harder, stroking his shaft with a firm grasp. When his fingers curl even tighter in my hair, I know that he’s close. Wanting to taste him, needing to taste him, I continue until I’m milking every last drop of cum from his cock.

  Without giving him a chance to recover, I mount him. His eyes fall closed as I slide perfectly onto him, as ready for him as he is for me. I start off slowly, keeping my eyes on him, enjoying the way each stroke makes him moan. Hands on his chest, I ride him, building the rhythm, the movement, the speed.

  And then, I’m gone. Screaming my moans from the top of my lungs. The world is no longer in focus and sounds blur until there’s nothing there.

  “Fuck, Melody,” he pants once he recovers enough of his energy. “I feed on you and you take it right back.”

  “I’m only evening the playing field,” I whisper back. “Now that we got that out of the way, let’s go find us an angel, shall we?”

  He teleports us right into Natalia’s apartment. To my complete surprise, Merlidon and Brotus are already there. They’re standing apart from each other, Merlidon picking at his nails by the window, and Brotus on the other side of the room, staring at nothing at all – though I’m sure his mind is going a million miles per minute. Lucifer and I appear in between them and they straighten when they see us.

  “Why do you two look so sour?” I ask, but the end of my sentence is drowned out by Brotus, who’s on me all of a sudden, asking, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  I blink at him, frowning. “I’m fine, Brotus. No broken bones, as you can see.”

  He relaxes visibly. I look at Merlidon for an explanation, but he isn’t looking at any of us. He just keeps picking at his nails.

  Lucifer releases my hand, but steps closer to me. “Yes, Brotus,” he says, his voice low. “She’s fine.”

  Brotus looks at his king, then steps back, bowing his head lightly. “I heard about Luna. I thought that maybe-”

  “I told you she was fine.” That was Merlidon. He almost sounds annoyed, though his face doesn’t show it. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of her.”

  “Your definition of taking care of things isn’t one I like to rely on,” Brotus tells him, eyes steady, voice calm, but with a serious undercurrent running through his words. Merlidon seems to sense it too and he glares at him. Something passes between them, something I can’t translate.

  “What the Hell is wrong with you two?” I grunt out. Their eyes don’t move away from each other. “Come on. Whatever it is you’re fighting about, snap out of it and focus. We have business to take care of.”

  “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Lucifer interjects. Authority rings in his voice and it succeeds in bringing the two of them back to the present. He looks between them, as if he knows why they’re so at odds with each other. Truthfully, I’m curious about that as well, but I have neither the time nor the energy to worry about that right now. I have an angel to call on.

  It’s only then do I realize that Natalia’s place is spotless. The floors are shiny, and the faint smell of pine wafts from the surface. No more empty bags of chips, used tissues and half used lipsticks about the place. No more mountains of clothing to climb over. I can actually feel the floor beneath my feet, hear the heel of my boots. I can see the furniture. I can see the true colors of the wall. It seems as though whoever went through the room came with a scrub brush and a bucket of soapy water.

  I look at Lucifer first, the accusation ripe on my tongue, but he beats me to it. “I didn’t throw any of it away. I didn’t know what was meaningful to her, so I kept everything that I wasn’t sure was trash. It’s in the bedroom, packed away.”

  “I didn’t ask you to do this.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  It’s hard to complain about him cleaning, especially when he already stated that he put everything he thought was important away. So, I clamp down on my tongue. “I’m not going to say thank you.”

  Lucifer smiles at me. “You don’t need to,” he says, kissing me on the cheek.

  “So, what’s the plan here?” Merlidon’s voice breaks through. He takes a seat on the couch, a couch that looks much bigger now that it isn’t covered in mess. He drapes his arm over the back of it. “You told us to meet you here, Lucifer, but you didn’t tell us why?”

  “I found a way to contact the angels,” Lucifer tells him. He also takes a seat in the chair next to the couch. I perch myself on the armrest.

  Merlidon’s brows shoot into the air. “You want us, a group of high ranking demons, to summon an angel?”

  “It isn’t called summoning,” Lucifer says casually. I have to admire the way he speaks about such things, as if nothing scares him. For a demon who’s been alive for thousands of years, it’s no surprise that nothing does. “We’re merely calling out to one of them and hoping for an answer.”

  “If he doesn’t answer?” Brotus prods.

  “We look for another way,” I say. “But let’s hope it doesn’t have to come to that. We have no other ways right now.”

  “And if he comes ready for a fight.”

  “Melody will be the one calling him,” Lucifer says, placing a possessive hand on th
e small of my back. Absentmindedly, he begins making slow circles. “She’ll be the mediator, if you will. As a hunter, she’s more likely to convince him that we can be trusted than any other person.”

  “Still,” Merlidon continues, “this all sounds very risky considering what we all went through not too long ago.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, Merlidon,” I say casually, “I would think you’re scared.”

  “Smart,” he says easily. “Unlike some people, I know when not to dive headfirst into trouble.”

  Lucifer crooks a brow at him, clearly amused. “Are you speaking about me or Melody?”

  “Both of you. You two are hell bent on putting yourself in harm’s way. You’re going to get yourself killed one day.”

  “I think that one was specifically for me,” I comment lightly. “What do you want to do then, Merlidon? You can go back to Hell if you’re too scared.”

  My jab doesn’t bother him in the slightest. “I never said I was scared,” he says. “I’m just pointing out where your plan can go wrong.”

  “I’m sure they’re well aware of the holes in the plan, Merlidon,” Brotus speaks up, his voice a low baritone that cuts into the conversation. For some reason, he’s chosen to keep standing.

  Merlidon’s eyes rove over to him, slowly. I can sense he’s about to say something, to start another argument, but I beat him to it. “If you’re out, you’re out. Either way, you have a decision to make and that decision needs to be made now.”

  Neither of us speak. Lucifer continues to make slow circles on my back. I nod after another moment has gone by. “Good.”

  I get to my feet, coming to stand in the middle of the room. It isn’t until I’m about to begin do I realize I have absolutely no clue how to. I’ve never prayed. Never. I look at Lucifer for help.

  But, of course, he doesn’t know how to either. He’s the first human, barely alive before he became the man we now know– Lucifer, the King of Demons. He’s just as unsure as to how to proceed with this as I am, and I don’t even have to look at the other two to know that it’ll be the same with them. So, I’m alone with this.

  I get on my knees, hoping that’ll make it easier. Closing my eyes, I clasp my hands, take a deep breath and begin. “Oh, Clariel,” I start off. Suddenly, my palms are sweaty, and I can feel their eyes on me, boring into my skin. “I … don’t know what to say. I want to talk to you, to see you. I have questions and I know you’ll be able to answer them for me. So, I ask, please,” I add with emphasis, “please hear my call and come to my side.”

  The prayer is over before I know it. I creak one eye open, hoping to see a white clad man standing before me. A part of me knows that it doesn’t work though, so when I see that there’s nothing there, and the only other people in the room are the same three demons, I’m not surprised, though that doesn’t stop me from being disappointed.

  Sighing, I get to my feet, shooting Lucifer a glare. “I should have known this wouldn’t work.”

  “Maybe you just didn’t do it right.”

  “How do you pray right?” I shoot back. Maybe I really didn’t do it right. Maybe I should have put more fervor into it, more emotion.

  He opens his mouth to speak. In fact, they all do, all three of them. But no words come out. Instead, their eyes shoot past me, widening, staring at something over my shoulder. When I look in the direction their facing, I see a small white light.

  The white light shimmers, floating in the air. After a moment, it expands, stretching lengthwise until it’s in the shape of a man. Then the light dims, and a man – clad in all white as I expected – is standing before me.

  His eyes rove over the lot of us, before coming to stop at me. “You called?”

  He’s neat, impeccable. A shock of white hair, pristine white clothes and a gait that bleeds royalty in the highest sense. He tucks his hands into his pocket, keeping his eyes on me as if the other people in the room aren’t interesting in the slightest. He doesn’t even look twice at Lucifer.

  I pull my shoulders back, bracing myself. My last encounter with an angel didn’t leave me with the very best impression of them, and I’m not sure this one will make amends for the last. “Are you Clariel?”

  “That is who you called for, is it not? Unless my hearing has gone bad.” I blink at him, not sure if he’s joking or not. Finally, Clariel breaks his gaze and looks directly at Lucifer. “Interesting. I had heard of the dalliance between the King of Demons and a human girl, but I wasn’t convinced I should believe it. Now, I see it must be true.”

  “You’ve heard?” But Charmeine is dead.

  His eyes find mine again, this time more interested than they were before. “Angels talk, young one. And we see things. Even when you don’t see us.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” I shake my head, dismissing the turn of conversation. “That isn’t why I called you here.”

  “You want information, don’t you?”

  “How did you know that?”

  “That’s usually what most of you want. Either that, or wishes, and since you have the head demon here under your thumb, I doubt you’ll want the latter from me.”

  “Well, alright, yes. That makes things so much easier then. I want information.”

  He shrugs, the movement slight. “What is it you would like to know?”

  “The saying, ‘Cut one head off, another grows back’, where does that come from?”

  Clariel thinks about it for a moment. Then, he moves toward the couch. “Do you mind?” he asks Merlidon before taking a seat right next to him. Considering there is more than enough space to be put between them, I can only guess why he chooses to sit there.

  Merlidon can guess too, and, as expected, he looks both flattered and unsurprised. “Not at all,” he says, intrigue lighting his eyes.

  “Quite a handsome lot you deal with, Melody,” Clariel says casually, looking around appreciatively.

  “I never told you my name.”

  “You didn’t have to. I told you, Melody. We angels like to talk.”

  “Well then if you like to talk so much, then you should know why I asked you such a question. And what the answer is.”

  “I do,” he says, a shadow of a smile on his lips. “There is a group of angels, you see. They call themselves the Purge. Apparently, their only wish is to rid the realms of all evil, whatever the cause. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

  He knows too much about me. I don’t like that. It makes my skin crawl. “Charmeine mentioned that once or twice yes.”

  “Ah, Charmeine. A charming woman. Had great qualities, when you didn’t think about the fact that she was willing to kill everything in order to get rid of the demons, of course. No offense to you all. You all seem sweet,” his eyes find Lucifer and there’s no doubting the sarcasm in his tone. “It’s really such a shame, you see.” He shrugs again, as if her demise couldn’t be helped. “But yes, before you ask, I do know that she was your mother. Once a human, then a demon, then an angel. She went through it all. Admirable, to say the least.”

  “But her last moments didn’t prove to be her best moments.”

  Clariel shakes his head. “Not at all. She got caught up in her beliefs and got even more caught up with the Purge. And because of that, she was killed. By her own daughter, no less. It’s such a shame, really.”

  “Clariel,” I push, drawing closer. “Tell me more about the Purge.”

  “A bloodthirsty lot they are. They say they’ll stop at nothing to rid the world of demons.” Beside the hunters, that’ll make two of them. “It’s the reason behind their motto. Cut one head off, another will grow back. Simply meaning that no matter how many of them fall for the cause, there will always be someone else to pick back up where they left off.”

  “Do you think they might be at it again?” Brotus asks.

  Clariel looks over at him, hums appreciatively, before answering, “Oh, they’re always at it. Always trying to find some way to get rid of those things. I must say t
he last was the most creative one of them all. I was half expecting it to work.”

  “You seem to know a lot about their work, Clariel,” Merlidon says casually, though I know he’s anything but casual. Even though he reclines as if he hasn’t a care in the world, he’s a spy through and through, and he always gets his information.

  Clariel isn’t very hard to get it out of however. “I was interested in them, I won’ t lie to you, though I was positively turned off by what they were doing.”

  “Then why didn’t you stop them?” I ask. “Why did you let them ruin so many lives?”

  This time, when Clariel looks at me, his eyes darken for a moment, as if haunted by memories he would rather forget. “There are things you just wouldn’t understand.”

  Fine.

  “What are they doing now then?” I ask. It’s hard trying to keep the desperation out of my voice.

  Clariel shrugs again. The more he does that, I notice, gritting my teeth, the more maddening it becomes. “That I don’t know. They’ve been quiet for a while.”

  “So, they haven’t been kidnapping humans with the sight then?” Lucifer asks.

  “Not to my knowledge. I would know. As I said, I’m quite interested in them. Though,” he continues after a moment, “I’m completely against what they stand for. They think demons are the scum of the realms and they should be eradicated. Where I think we can all live peacefully if we really want to.”

  “How flattering,” Merlidon drawls. “Unfortunately, there are many demons and angels who don’t think or act the same way you do.”

  “Life’s about balance. There’ll be good and there’ll be evil. If everyone thought in the exact same manner, then what kind of life would that be?”

  Finally, he grins. Somehow, he manages to look more menacing than the three demons in the room. “I like the world just the way it is and have no reason to want it to change. If I could create a group to rival the Purge to that end, I would.”

  If what Clariel said is right, then the angels are not who we’re looking for. Kidnapping hunters isn’t something they would be able to do without bringing at least some amount of attention to themselves. If someone who watches them as closely as Clariel does doesn’t’ see anything out of sorts, then it’s likely they aren’t the ones behind this. Which brings me right back to square one.