“They’re working together. It’s how Nathaniel got the jump on me.”
His eyes locked on her new scars. “So you were not injured because you were reluctant to hurt him?”
“I’m not an idiot.” Thomas refrained from commenting. His bride was a very intelligent woman, but her actions far from reflected it sometimes. “Was that the shooter?”
She shook her head and looked at him a long moment before answering. “It was Raoul.”
His blood chilled. “Why is Raoul trying to kill you?”
“Actually I have no idea. Usually it’s the other way around.”
This was the heart of her secret. But he didn’t have time to get into it now. The demons weren’t going to wait for them forever. “We should go.”
Cold night air enveloped Juliana as she walked through the streets of downtown New Hope searching for their quarry. Her glasses hid the glow of her eyes as she used her gift. Demons weren’t the only things hiding in the night. She’d snagged a stack of gauze from a medic and kept it pressed under her nose. She was going to have to shut down soon or she’d fry something. Thomas searched the rooftops above her head. She left him to it. She had enough to worry about without double-checking his work.
As she scanned signatures, she looked for one in particular. If Raoul was smart he left town the moment he realized she’d seen him. Unfortunately, intelligence had never been one of his strengths. She still couldn’t figure out why he was here, what he wanted from her.
Their prey had been followed to this area but they’d been searching for half an hour with no luck. She’d just made up her mind to call Thomas to join her when a plaintive howl cut through the night. Her breath caught. Nathaniel. It had to be. She needed it to be.
She tried to pinpoint the sound, but the echo from the buildings made it impossible. Thomas joined her and gestured to the northwest. On the roof he hadn’t had the same problem with the echo so it was easier for him to target the source. They took off at a run.
Thomas looked surprised as she kept pace with him. She couldn’t maintain the speed for as long as he could, but for a while she could match him step for step. She grabbed his arm to pull him to a stop a few blocks later.
She sniffed the air. As Thomas watched her, his fangs slid out and his eyes darkened in anticipation of the fight. They crept forward, keeping to the shadows of buildings. They used her nose to track the demons, leaving her feeling a little like a bloodhound. A giggle floated from the upper reaches of a building across the street. Her gaze shot up to find two dark forms devoid of signatures crouching next to each other on the roof. She shut her gift down and wiped the blood away from under her nose again.
She pressed on her earpiece and conveyed their location.
“How should we go up?” Thomas asked, pitching his voice low.
She kept her eyes locked on the demons and shook her head. “We’re not going up. They’re coming down.”
The demons would know they were there without her announcing it, but she stepped into light anyway. She slid the sword from the sheath on her back.
For a moment, all was still and then they came. The small fae flew to land lightly on the ground while Nathaniel leaped from landing to landing on the fire escape. They stood twenty feet away, staring them down. Thomas stood motionless beside her and she forced herself to be patient. To wait for them to come. Her pulse raced and her breathing quickened in anticipation. This was the part of the job she lived for. The part she was good at.
“Hello again, Juliana Norris. I see you still live. How...fortunate. Your blood smells delicious,” the fae said.
Somehow she didn’t think “thank you” would be an appropriate response, so she said nothing.
“If you think I’m going to let you have her, you’re mistaken,” Thomas said.
“Very well, Thomas Kendrick. You will both die eventually anyway.” The fae smiled revealing rows of pointy teeth. Thomas ran forward to meet it as it charged. Nathaniel stood entranced by their battle. She took the opportunity to slip her sword back in its sheath so she wouldn’t be tempted to use it. She wanted to kill the demon, but she needed to keep her friend alive. What she needed to do now was get Nathaniel’s demon away from its more powerful counterpart. She took a deep breath and whistled to get the demon’s attention.
He glanced in her direction but quickly turned back to the fight. She whistled again and patted her thighs. “Come on, boy. Come on. Come get me.”
His head snapped in her direction. He snarled, drool dripping from his mouth to the ground. Instead of waiting for him to charge, she bolted down the alley to her right. Relief flooded through her when she heard paws padding against the pavement. She never thought she’d be happy to have a demon chasing her.
She pressed on her earpiece. “Is Kennedy High still in use?”
“I think so,” Jeremiah answered.
“Good. Have a squad meet us there. Don’t use portals. I don’t want to scare him off.”
Kennedy was built next to a multi-denominational worship house. When the school needed more room, they offered to buy some land. Someone on the board of the church realized they’d make more in the long run if they rented out the land instead of selling it outright. Part of that expansion included a pool. A pool that sat on holy ground that was resanctified weekly.
She’d tried to lure a demon there before. It hadn’t ended well for her or the host. It would be different this time. There was no alternative.
Someone screamed in frustration behind her, but she didn’t stop. Saving Nathaniel was too important. Besides, it had to be the fae that screamed. Thomas wasn’t the screaming type. She wove through streets and alleyways, always just steps ahead of the demon-ridden werewolf.
A weight hit her back just as Kennedy High came into view. She flew to the ground and slid across it from the momentum she’d built up. Thick claws dug into her back and she yelped in pain. She couldn’t let this happen. Couldn’t let the demon get the best of her. She bucked, trying to get out from under him, but he held on, refused to be moved.
“Get off me you cursed mutt!” She pushed against the ground with all her strength, twisting as she did so. He fell to the side as her movement knocked him off balance. They crouched, sizing each other up. She eased her hand to her belt and grasped the flask of holy water. She flipped the cap off with her thumb.
With a flick of her wrist, she splashed the contents onto Nathaniel. He fell back with a howl and she took off for the school again. It bought her enough time to get a small lead on him. When he started to chase her again, she was even more convinced Nathaniel’s demon was low-level.
Low-level demons worked on rage, thought only about what they wanted at that precise moment and what they needed to get it. They weren’t thinkers or planners. All the demon in her friend knew was that it wanted her, so it followed. It never crossed its mind that she might be leading it somewhere.
At the school she fumbled with the chain on the door, finally found the padlock and unlocked it. She let the chain fall to the ground as she yanked open the door of the school and ran inside with the demon right on her heels. Fortunately a werewolf in hybrid form looked like the wolfman from all the old horror movies so he had paws and claws, neither of which were good for traction on linoleum floors. She gained a little more ground, put a little more distance between them. The layout for the school was easy to recall and she headed straight for the pool.
She slid into the room and ran to the far wall. Bending over, she put her hands on her knees and panted while she tried to catch her breath. Her head throbbed, her vision blurred. Damn demon. Nails clicked in the hallway outside the room and she drew her blade. Pressing her back against the wall, she let all the fear she felt for Nathaniel, for Thomas, and even for herself come to the surface. The scent of it would bring the demon right to her.
It scrabbled into the room and slid to a stop when it saw her. It sniffed the air, then crept forward. She didn’t have to fake her yell when it launched itself at her. Heavy paws pinned her shoulders against the wall.
