by Jen Pretty
I had a little flashback to Julian's warm hands on my body and his mouth on mine. Oof. Yeah, he was too delicious even if he was a slave to the bat man.
“Maybe Collin is the one we should go after,” I muttered. Nicholas slammed on the brakes again and took a tight right turn into a dark alley, pulling to a stop beside another car.
“Listen, there is no point getting involved in the half-demon business. We have enough problems with full demons.” Nicholas gave me a serious look and then stepped out of the car. I got out too, considering his words. He was right. Half-demons would have to take care of their problems. Nickolas slid into the driver's seat of a silver Corolla, so I climbed in, too. He pulled back out at a more reasonable pace and drove through the city quietly, no more death-defying driving. We crossed the city, through scary neighbourhoods and upscale shopping areas. Finally, he pulled into a multi-story parking garage, taking a ticket at the booth. He drove around in circles until he found a spot. He put the car in park and looked at me.
“Look, Harlow. We are going into a rough place. Not all half-demons try to be human. Some try to be demons, and some are just disturbing outliers of humanity. Show no fear.”
With those super comforting words, he got out of the car.
I grabbed my net and hopped out, too.
Time to make friends with the underground people.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
My feet clomped on the cement of the parking garage. The occasional squeal of tires echoed through the structure, but it was my boots making all the noise. Nicholas could walk without making a sound, but I was an elephant. Someday I would be feminine and graceful. I laughed at myself and Nicholas gave me the side eye. Oops. No, graceful and feminine weren’t my forte, but I could wrestle a gargoyle to the ground like nobody. Take that, pretty girls. Nick said I didn’t need my net, but I’ll be damned if I was going into some underground tunnel without it. I had it slung over my shoulder like I was a hobo in an old movie.
I followed Nicholas into a stairwell that smelled like urine. It got worse as we went down. At the bottom of the stairs Nicholas crouched down in front of a vent screwed into the wall. I thought it was maybe a heater for the stairwell, but he popped the cover right off.
“After you,” he said magnanimously. I peered down into the hole and it had to be a good five-foot drop. I would have to sit on the ground in the stairwell where people had surely peed.
“How about I stand lookout?”
Nicholas sighed and said, “Get in the damn hole.”
I did. I wasn't happy about it and hoped he had another way to get back out because I felt disgusting. “You don't have hand sanitizer or anything?” I asked.
He laughed. “Suck it up, buttercup.”
Rude. I am not a buttercup. I am a freaking ninja gargoyle assassin. Just because I don't like sitting in pee doesn’t make me a wimp. Gross.
“I can hear your mind spitting at me,” he said.
“You cannot.”
He chuckled again. That was getting old fast.
“Hey Nick,” a voice said from the shadows. I couldn't see anyone even though there was a stream of light coming down from the open vent.
“Alister, this is Harlow.” A shadow detached from the wall, and I realized it was a man with black skin. His eyes were black, too, making him blend in perfectly with the dark.
“It’s good to meet you.”
He looked at me suspiciously for a long moment — longer than I was comfortable with, but Nicholas was resetting the vent. Alister clicked on a flashlight and continued to look at me, the beam blinding me.
“Jesus, Al. Could you try to be normal for two seconds?” Nicholas took the flashlight from him. “Lead on.”
Alister turned and began hulking through the tunnels. His back was hunched like he had spent too long over a laptop or a book, maybe. I got a strong book vibe from him. Sometimes I can tell when I meet a reader. They’re strange.
The tunnel led to an abandoned subway platform. It was dirty and strewn with garbage, but footprints had worn a path through the dirt toward a set of stairs that led down to the tracks.
“Where are we going exactly?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” Nicolas said. His voice echoed down the tunnel as we descended the stairs and walked along the tracks. Graffiti covered the walls and ceiling. I had to wonder how anyone got up there, but I stared too long and tripped, because I always fucking trip. Nicholas caught me though—his speed was at least as fast as mine, and I hardly stumbled before he was in front of me and his arms were steadying me.
“Thanks,” I said.
“No problem.” He held onto me a moment longer than necessary before releasing me. Alister chuckled and then turned to continue on his lumbering way.
We travelled down the main tunnel until we reached a hole in the wall. Bricks lay littered at the sides of the hole as if someone had just shoved them out of the way. I had to sort of jump to get through the hole, but I stuck the landing and patted myself on the back for my fancy moves. Following Alister was as boring as a six-hour motorcycle trip. We were wandering through tunnels, it seemed, at random. The rumble of a subway train sounded like it was coming straight at us at one point, but all I could see was darkness up ahead.
Alister took lefts and rights and eventually heard voices ahead.
We came out into a large area like an underground bunker. It was at least the size of Nicholas’ warehouse, and it was full of half-demon men and women. They stood around barrels of fire, their features flickering in the light. They all had demon features to some extent, but the most prominent were those with red eyes. Some of them had to be over seven feet tall. Their concave chests and long slender arms and legs barely hidden by the clothes they wore.
Shadows detached from the walls and moved closer to us. I knew they must be somewhat humanoid, but they were so dark, I couldn't make out their features.
They all stopped talking as we came in and one man rose from a cafeteria-style table, and a smile split his face. His neck had small scales that got larger as they disappeared into his shirt collar and a pair of horns spiraled up from his head.
I wanted to swing my net at a half-demon who got too close. This one had small wings on its back and was the size of a child, but its black eyes looked malicious. Like it might suck out my soul.
“Good to see you again, Nicholas.” The horned man reached out a hand and Nick shook it.
“Good to see you too, Denis. This is Harlow.” Nick stepped aside and let me shake Denis’ hand.
“Ah, we’ve heard a lot about you.”
I smiled awkwardly and switched my net into my other hand so I could shake his. His hand was rough and calloused.
“So, you’ve heard then?” Denis asked Nicholas, and they talked about the demon. I tuned them out and glanced around. I was trying to reconstruct a demon based on all the half-demon features I had seen since I came to the city. It was strange that I had never met a half-demon before. Maybe they didn't like small towns. They wouldn't blend in that's for sure.
“Who was your mother?” Denis asked. I looked back, and he was staring at me.
“Pardon me?”
“Your mother? Who was she?”
“Nobody. Her name was Elizabeth. She took off when I was seventeen. Why does that matter?”
Nicholas shook his head. “He thought you were demon-kin.”
“I can see auras,” Denis said. “Yours is the same as a half-demon.”
I sat down on the chair beside me; my legs were exhausted from all the walking through tunnels. “That’s probably because I’ve been demon possessed twice.”
“So, it's true then?” Denis asked. “And you have powers?”
“Yeah, I guess. Do you know where the demon is?” I asked, rubbing my forehead and wishing I had drunk more coffee.
“We heard he might be in the basement of Mr. Gamagin’s building.”
“Aw fuck,” I said. I wanted Julian to be above-board in this situation.
I liked him when he wasn’t around his boss, but if Julian knew about this demon, there was no way I was going to have anything to do with him. I bounced the end of my net off the ground a couple times. The ting-ting noise was reassuring in this world gone crazy. “Can we get there from here?” I asked.
“Yes, but the fastest way is to go through the library,” Denis said.
“Is that why the library is full of gargoyles? There is a hidden entrance to the basement of Collins building?”
“Yup. They’re probably trying to find the way in. It's under the librarian's desk.”
I gave him a double thumbs up and then closed my eyes. I thought maybe if I wished hard, I could end up at home. I imagined home in my mind. My bed. Lincoln. When I opened my eyes again, I was still in the stupid underground tunnel with a bunch of creepy half-demons. They were all openly staring at me like I was the odd one.
“She okay?” Denis asked Nick.
“Yeah, she does this sometimes. I think the second round with the demon left a little effect.”
I scowled at him. “I’m fine, just wishing I could go the hell home where the worst thing I had to deal with was the bitey stone bastard from the front corner of the bank.”
“We will get you home soon, I promise. Let’s get this demon put away,” Nick said. He sat beside me and slung his arm over my shoulders. He was so warm. I was getting cold again. Cold enough Nick felt hotter than a normal person.
“OK, let’s go. I need coffee on the way, and maybe a sandwich or something,” I said.
Nick nodded and stood up.
“Alister,” Denis said. The hunchback demon came swaying over. “You see these folks back to the city?”
“Yes sir,” Alister said before turning and walking away. Our guide was leaving. I shuffled past the creepy little black-eyed half-demon and a few others that almost blocked the path. When I looked back, they had all moved closer, and I hustled to keep up to Nick. I rarely discriminate based on a person’s appearance, but these freaks made zero effort to seem normal. It didn’t give me warm fuzzy feelings.
I whistled for a while as we walked, but Nick asked me to stop because he said it was creepy. Ha. Scaredy cat.
We got back to the vent hole that led to the stinky stairwell. Nick cupped his hands, linking his fingers together and indicated I should put my foot in his hand and he would give me a boost. I saw no other way to get out, so did as he said. He heaved me up and unfortunately slid me along the urine-soaked floor of the stairwell.
The whole front of my shirt smelled awful, and my hands were sticky. I didn't want to know why they were sticky. I knew, obviously, but I pretended I didn't know and tried not to think about it. Nick sent my net up next, and I picked it up gingerly. I tried not to get what was on my hands, on the handle of my net, so I didn't have to burn it like I was going to burn my shirt. I tucked the net under my arm, as Nick sprung up from the hole like it was easy as can be.
I was still making the gross face when he looked at me. “Sorry, I thought you would land on your feet.”
“I’m not a cat,” I said, indignantly.
He chuckled and led the way up the stairs. I stomped back to the car.
Nick parked at a mall, and I climbed out. I wasn't keen on shopping when I smelled this gross, but Nick insisted we needed tougher clothes. He was probably right. He was wearing jeans and denim wasn't the best for dealing with gargoyles. Nick led the way through the mall to a dusty corner where a tiny boutique shop called Belt ‘N Tie sat, hidden away from the heavy foot traffic.
“Hey, Nick! Long time no see, man!” the guy behind the counter looked like a club DJ. He wore sunglasses inside and a bullet belt. I didn't know people still wore those. His hair was dyed black and cut in a strange style that left it long in the front and short in the back, like a reverse mullet.
“Hey, Roderick. This is Harlow. We need kit,” Nick said in a relaxed voice.
“Aha, I got you, bro and little sis!” Rodrick was loud. “Follow me.”
Nick waved me ahead of him for a change, though I was still following this Rodrick chap who kept talking and nattering on about “those shits” and “rock pricks.”
“Are you a Hunter?” I asked as we moved down the narrow hallway with boxes stacked on shelves on either side.
“No way, little lady. My pops left me this business in his will. My family has a long history of outfitting hunters. He taught me all about the demons.” He turned and kept talking, but I tuned it out because he led us into a giant storage room that was a hunter’s delight. There were leather and padded clothes, the pole nooses that the dog catchers used and they even had nets like mine. See, I wasn’t the only one who recognized a net’s benefit.
I was still inspecting the nets, --they were a bit wider than mine and had a tougher string, maybe para cord--when Nick came up behind me. “You want a new net?” he asked.
“No, I like my net. These look good though. Maybe if I ever break mine, one like this would be nice.” I pointed to one with pink netting on a black metal frame.
Nick nodded. “Come on, Rodrick has leather pants and cuffs and clean shirts.” Nick looked down at mine. I had refused to look at it. I knew it was gross. I didn’t need to see it. Along the other wall was a rack of leather pants. I picked out some black ones that looked like they would fit and Roderick measured my wrists and picked me out arm guards. They strapped on securely and made me feel like wonder woman.
I changed into a black t-shirt and the new pants in a small change room in the back. Then took my bag of arm guards and looked at Roderick. “I don't have any money,” I said.
Nick looked at me again with that weird expression. “Look, I wasn't going to say anything, but you should have a decent stipend from the demon fund. I thought at first you were a crack head, God knows this job can give you some unhealthy coping mechanisms, but I think someone is holding out on you.”
“What the… oh shit. That rat bastard.” Lincoln’s ass was getting a kick when I got home. I thought it should offend me that Nick thought I was a crackhead, but I was too angry at Linc. I looked down at the burns on my wrist. Would I have quit my job with Len at the pizza place? I loved working there. Whatever. It was still wrong.
“That’s tomorrow Harlow's problem to deal with. Can I leave you an IOU?” I asked Roderick.
“It’s cool. It can go on my account,” Nick said. Roderick was sitting at a desk scribbling on some paper. “Thanks, buddy,” he called as he and I walked back down the hall toward the store.
“Yeah man, come on back whenever. We should do brunch!”
Nick chuckled, and we kept walking. I felt somewhat better in clean clothes, and we stopped at the food court to buy lunch and coffee. People crowded the mall food court and there weren't many places to sit and eat so we took it to go. I wasn’t used to so much noise, anyway.
We got back to the car, and I slid into my seat, flipping open the Styrofoam box that contained my burger and fries. The smell was heavenly when it mixed with the scent of fresh coffee. I scarfed it all down while Nick drove. He turned on the radio and bopped his head along to the music.
“Can I ask you something?” I said looking at him. He had just taken a big bite of his burger and had sauce on his chin. “Do you date people?”
He choked on his burger. It was a legit question. I struggled to date people because it was weird in the morning. My series of one-night stands was no big deal because I didn't want to stay past the midnight. I was like Cinderella. Ha.
Nick chewed and swallowed then took a sip of his drink. “I don’t date people seriously if that's what you mean.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t work. How do other hunters have children? They have to date people. This is a terrible lifestyle choice.”
Nick chuckled. “You’re a strange person, Harlow.”
“Yeah I get that,” I replied. “So, we are just going to run up to the demon and trap him in our sculptor stones?”
He nodded. “Yup. Just stick with me and r
epeat the words I say.”
“You will have to say them slow. I wish I had time to memorize them.” I had a brilliant idea at that moment and clicked open the glove box. I rooted through the receipts and maps—who uses maps anymore? —and found a sharpie. Perfect.
“OK, tell me the words,” I said, permanent marker at the ready.
Nick went through the words. It was just ten words repeated over and over at the demon until the little rock sucked up the demon. I wrote them phonetically down my arm in two rows.
“There. Now if we get separated for whatever reason, I can still do the spell.”
Nick smiled at me, and nearly rear-ended a Subaru. I was getting used to his kind of sketchy driving though, so I didn't even skip a beat.
He pulled up to the library and parked the car. The police still had it cordoned off, and guards were standing around it. We needed to get the gargoyles back to their homes. People needed to read. Damn it.
I had my cool wrist protectors on, and Nick got out of the car, put his on, and then we walked toward the library like two superheroes. My trusty net slung over my shoulder. We probably looked like we stepped out of an old west movie, the sheriff and deputy going to wrangle ruffians. Nicks leather pants were gloriously tight. So were mine. The rough hide was stiff still, but I could feel the quality in the workmanship. Good leather pants were scarce. It was all pleather stuff now.
The cop at the door looked concerned, but took out his key and unlocked the heavy chain. Fear me human! I chuckled. Nick looked at me and smiled like he could read my mind.
God, I hoped he couldn't read my mind.
I tried to remember what I had thought about since I met him. It was useless. I thought too much.
The door swung open, and all hell broke loose.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The gargoyles were like freaking monkeys, swinging from the hanging lamps and jumping from bookcase to bookcase. They rushed toward us when they saw the door open, and the officer slammed it hard behind us, the desperate rattle of chains clattered. Nick dove one way, and I tumbled the other as the horde rammed the thick doors and collapsed in a heap of boulders. If they did that too much, they might break the door down. Good thing they were kind of stupid.