The Entity Within

right?”

“Right.”

“That stinks,” she said.

“You wanted all cable guys to be demons?”

“No, I was referring to the smell.” She waved her hand under her nose.

“The stench of hell.”

“And rotten eggs,” she said,

“That smell is sulfur, as in fire and brimstone—also known as fire and sulfur,” he explained.

Zoe’s head was spinning. “If you don’t mind, I need to sit for a moment.” She sank onto the couch. “I’m not used to dissolving demons before lunch.”

“Get used to it,” he said.

“How do you do that? How did you get used to it? Have you always been a Demon Hunter?”

“No. I was a minister once.”

Her jaw dropped. “Really?”

“Of course not. Do I look like a minister?”

“Then why did you lie?” she demanded.

“To see that look on your face,” he said,

“What look?”

“The one of wide-eyed amazement. You do it so well.”

“Yeah?” Zoe didn’t take his words as a compliment. “Well, you … you lie well.”

“Yes, I do.” He nodded, clearly pleased by her comment.

“You still haven’t told me how you became a Demon Hunter.”

“That’s right,” he said.

“Are you ever going to tell me?”

“Perhaps.”

His attitude angered her. “Don’t do me any favors.”

“Too late. I already did you a favor by killing that demon.”

“You were just doing your job. That’s what a Demon Hunter does, right? Kills demons? You were probably born killing demons,” she said.

“I wasn’t born a vampire.”

“No?”

“No. I was human once,” he said.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I was a soldier once and a law student before that.”

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed.

“It’s the truth.”

“Sure it is. If you’re expecting that wide-eyed amazed look from me again, you’re going to be disappointed. I’m not falling for another lie about your past.”

“I don’t care if you believe me or not,” he said.

But she could tell that he did care, and that surprised her. It also made her think there was a possibility he was telling the truth. A slight possibility, granted, but a possibility.

“You were a law student?” she asked.

He nodded curtly.

She wasn’t sure how he managed to make the nod indicate his impatience but he did.

“And a soldier?” she continued.

Again with the nod, but not quite as curt this time. She studied his expression. It wasn’t a happy one. “Did you fight in a war?” she said.

Damon pinned her like a butterfly on display with his dark laser stare. Right. He definitely hadn’t liked her last question.

“I fought in the worst war of all,” he finally said.

“World War Two?”

“Wrong. The American Civil War. For the Union.”

She was speechless.

“What?” he taunted her. “No smart-ass comment?”

“Um, thank you for your service to our country?” she said.

“Are you being sarcastic?”

“No,” she said. “You’re the one who specializes in sarcasm, not me.” He made no comment, so she asked, “When did you become a vampire?”

“Gettysburg.”

“As in the Battle of?”

Damon responded with another curt nod.

She was no expert on that period in American history but she knew enough. “Was it as bad as they say?”

“Worse.”

“What happened?”

He was silent for so long she wasn’t sure he intended to answer her at all. “If you want an hour-by-hour account, go check out a book from the library. No, wait, you can’t go to libraries because the books attack you,” he mocked.

“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.”

“How generous of you,” he drawled.

“If it upsets you to talk about it—”

“Who said it upsets me?”

She shrugged. “You were traumatized by the experience.”

“Hell, yes.”

“You don’t have to shout. I understand that you probably suffer from post-traumatic stress.”

“I’m a vampire. We don’t suffer from anything.”

“Including demons?”

“Including demons and witches.”

“I don’t appreciate you lumping witches in with demons,” she said.

“And I don’t appreciate you giving me the third degree. I thought witches didn’t like inquisitions. Didn’t you have enough of them in the Spanish Inquisition?”

“Hey, I was not alive back then. I am not that old.”

“Touchy about your age, little witch?”

“I was just trying to figure you out.”

“Don’t bother,” he said.

But she was too curious to give up. “Did you become a Demon Hunter at the same time you became a vampire?”

“Be careful,” he warned her. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

“I’m not a cat,” she said.

“Neither am I,” Bella said as she jumped onto the arm of the couch. “Well, I am a cat, sort of. But I’m much more than that. I’m a powerful witch’s familiar.”

“Zoe isn’t that powerful,” Damon said.

“I meant to say that I am a witch’s powerful familiar,” Bella corrected herself.

“Hey,” Zoe protested. “I am not a weak witch.”

Damon and Bella both gave her a look.

“Okay, on the rare occasion, when a vampire slays the cable guy in my living room, then yes, that does throw me for a moment,” she said.

“You shrieked like a little girl,” Bella said.