Releasing the Hunter

Ivy got between them and pushed at Quinn. “Don’t be an idiot.” Then she poked Ronan in the chest. “And you relax. You aren’t helping any.”

“You know, I thought you’d gain some sense in the past three years. But I see you haven’t. You’re the same impulsive, unpredictable girl you were when I left.”

Ivy pushed him again, and this time he backed up. “I have changed. More than you’ll ever know. You made sure of that. You forced me to change by leaving. You abandoned me, Quinn. You left me to fend for myself. And I did.” She bit out the last few words between clenched jaws. Waves of fury vibrated off her body.

Quinn’s face fell. “Ivy, I didn’t abandon you.”

“The hell you didn’t,” she spat back. “What do you call sneaking out in the middle of the night with no notice, nothing but a note on the kitchen table telling me not to look for you? If that’s not abandonment, then I don’t know what is.”

He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “That’s not how I meant it. I just wanted to spare you some of Dad’s shit that I had to deal with.”

“Well, you didn’t. Who do you think took up all the responsibility of hunting? Me.” She poked him in the chest. “And I became a damn great hunter. No thanks to you.”

“I’m sorry, Ivy. I didn’t think my leaving would hurt you as much as it did.”

She wanted to scream at him that it had ripped her heart out. What little of one she had left after Dad had died only a year before that. Instead she said, “Well, you’re an idiot, aren’t you?”

“It was just I always thought of you as pretty independent. You never needed my help in the past. I didn’t think my presence meant all that much to you.”

Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Not in front of Quinn and never in front of Ronan. So she dug her nails into the palms of her hands. “You thought wrong. I needed you, Quinn, especially after Dad died.”

He reached out to her, setting his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She let him pull her into a hug. He patted her shoulders awkwardly.

After a few moments, she pulled back from him. “Okay, I sort of forgive you.”

He smiled, and then punched her on the arm. “Good, because I don’t how long I can be the mushy brother. It’s totally cramping my style.”

She returned his smile, not because she forgave him completely, but because she realized that she didn’t need him in her life. She hadn’t had to rely on him in years. She’d done it all on her own. She’d forged a life as an independent woman and made a name for herself in the hunting community. That wasn’t to say she didn’t want him around. She did. She loved her brother. She missed him. But she didn’t need him to be who she was.

When she left this town, if he didn’t come with her, she was okay with that because she knew he was alive and driven to complete his own mission. She would be able to endure being separated from him...at least for a while.

“Okay, now we want to know about the key.”

Quinn looked from her to Ronan and then back. “What do you know about it?”

“I’ve been told you have it,” Ronan said. “And Quianna Lang informed us of its purpose.”

He sighed, then asked, “How is Quianna?”

Ivy interrupted, “Who cares how she is? I want to know about this key.”

“Ivy, you don’t want to know. To know is to bring this,” he gestured with his hands, “on you. It’s important that I keep it hidden. If it fell into the wrong hands, it would be, well, nothing you can even imagine.”

“I can imagine quite a bit.”

“This war here in Sumner would be just the beginning. If the wrong person had the key and opened the chest—” he closed his eyes and shook his head “—it would literally be hell on earth. Those demons cannot be released.”

“Who do you think is looking for it?” she asked.

Quinn stared straight at Ronan. “Besides the demons here in this town, I’d say you know perfectly well who wants it.”

Ivy glanced at Ronan, then back to Quinn.

“You’d be right,” Ronan said, his voice calm and flat.

“Who hired you?”

“Crimson Hall.”

“The Crimson Hall Cabal?” He shook his head. “Jesus, they’re worse than most of the demons in this town. Do you have any idea what they would do if they had the key?”

“I don’t really care.”

Ivy stepped between them. “He’s not going to take it, Quinn. At first that was his plan, but that’s changed.” She glanced at Ronan for his confirmation.

Except Ronan made no motion to contradict Quinn. He just kept staring at her brother. He refused to make eye contact with her.

She stepped into his line of sight. “Right? You’ve changed your mind, right? It’s not about that now.”

He glanced down at her briefly, then dropped his gaze. “You don’t understand, Ivy.”

“You son of a bitch.” Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. “I trusted you. I can’t believe you’re doing this for a few lousy thousands.”

“It’s not about money.”

“What’s it about then, huh?” She pushed him back. “Screwing me over?” She tried to shove him again, but his hands came up and locked around her wrists.

“This was never about you.”

Those words stabbed her hard in the chest. The tears she was so desperately trying to hold back fell. She couldn’t seize them any longer.

“I suggest you let go of my sister.” Quinn’s voice quivered with anger. Ronan let her go and took a distancing step away. Ivy turned to see Quinn leveling his gun at Ronan’s head. “Now, we’re going for a little walk.”

“Don’t kill him, Quinn.” She hated the desperation in her voice.

Quinn frowned. “I’m not going to kill him. But he’s no longer welcome in this compound.”

“Where are you going to take him?”

“Back to town. He can fend for himself.”

Quinn motioned with his gun to the door. Ronan walked to it, seemingly unaffected. Ivy always thought he was stoic and unflinching, but she’d never seen him so cold. It was as if he was made of ice.

“Shooting me won’t do you any good,” Ronan said as he neared the door. “I can heal myself pretty fast. Benefit of my demon blood.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Quinn snorted. “Except I’m pretty sure you’d have a harder time healing if I put this silver bullet in your head.”

Ronan nodded. “Yeah, that might hurt a little more.”

“Open the door and go out,” Quinn ordered.

Ronan did as he instructed and moved out of the room. Quinn followed, Ivy behind him, still unsure of what she was doing or how she was feeling.

She followed them all the way out onto the driveway of the farmhouse. There Quinn had two of his gunmen standing by to take Ronan away.

They were about to hood him when Ivy stepped forward. “Wait.”

She went to stand in front of Ronan. “Tell me this wasn’t all for money.” She needed to know that he’d felt something for her. That the passion between them hadn’t been fake. That he hadn’t just slept with her to get to her brother and the key.

“It was never for money. The cabal has a cure. I need the key to exchange for it.” He lifted his hand and traced a finger down her cheek. “I needed you at first, but then, I—”

“Doesn’t matter why,” Quinn interrupted. “You’re still a traitor.”

Ronan dropped his hand and straightened. “I’m sorry, Ivy. I never meant to hurt you.”

She glared at him for a long while, her heart snapping in two. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t.” She lifted