Hunted

then teleported.

Releasing a breath, I turned and faced the SGs. They stood with their hands behind their backs, legs slightly apart, body straight, and eyes locked on me as though I were a drill sergeant and they were recruits waiting for instruction. Resentment mixed with curiosity hung around them. The resentment came from the twins. What was their problem? They didn’t like me in charge? Too bad. I thought I caught a twinkle in Esras’ eyes, but I must have imagined it because when I looked him straight in the eyes, he didn’t blink or crack a smile. Lucien’s topaz eyes shone with anticipation. I liked him already.

“Okay. Let’s relax and get to know each other better now that the taskmaster is gone,” I joked, surprised when my voice came out confident when I wasn’t.

Lucien grinned. The twins and Esras didn’t relax.

“I know this is your first time here, so feel free to ask me anything,” I said.

“Are we going to fight demons, Cardinal?” Lucien asked.

I grinned at his enthusiasm. “I don’t know. Our objective is to find Bran, help him with whatever he’s doing and come straight back. If demons get in our way, then yes, we’ll deal with them. Please, call me Lil.”

Lucien’s grin widened. “We heard that your team uses neutral demons as informants and are friendly with them. Can we stop by their den? I’d like to tell my friends back at home that I visited one.”

“No,” Solaris, or Lunaris, said, disgust written on her face. “We don’t associate with demons.”

I studied her, not surprised by her attitude. The Guardians’ innate hatred for demons was homegrown. When I first met Remy, Sykes, Kim, and Izzy, they’d felt exactly the same way. Bran had cured them of such prejudices.

“We do things democratically around here, Lunaris,” I said firmly.

“My name is Solaris,” she snapped rudely as though insulted I couldn’t tell them apart. She jerked her thumb and indicated her twin. “She is Lunaris.”

I kept my cool when all I wanted to do was snap back, but I was leading this mission and that meant keeping my cool, just like Remy or Bran would. “We usually go with what the majority decides, which means we vote.”

“Then I vote we don’t fraternize with any demons, active, neutral or whatever you want to call them,” Solaris said.

Her sister nodded. The two were angry about something, though I wasn’t sure what. Esras’ gaze moved from me to the twins and back to me again, but he didn’t speak. I had a feeling he was one of those guys who just watched and listened without intervening.

“That’s going to be interesting, because we are going to Jethro’s Bar and Jethro is a demon, a Neutral to be specific,” I said with just a tiny bit of glee. “And if you didn’t already know, Cardinal Bran is considered a Souled Demon by some.”

The twins looked at each other and made faces. Their attitude was beginning to piss me off. Lucien raised a finger to get my attention. “Yes?”

“Can we eat at Jethro’s since it’s getting close to lunch time?”

“No,” the twins said, in unison this time.

Esras shook his head, too.

I gave Lucien a sheepish grin. “Sorry, we’ve been outvoted. We’ll probably be back here by lunchtime anyway. If we are not, we can eat at a restaurant owned by a Guardian.”

Lucien was disappointed, even though he tried to cover it with a smile. “Is Jethro a member of the Outcasts?”

“It’s an insult to use the term ‘Outcasts’,” I corrected him impatiently.

He blinked, his smile waning. “I didn’t know.”

Feeling bad since he was the only nice SG in my unwanted new team, I gave him a smile. “They are called the Brotherhood of Guardians or just the Brotherhood. And no, Jethro is not a member. He is a neutral Hermonite.” From the corner of my eyes, I caught the glance and eye rolls the twins exchanged. Grinding my teeth, I added, “But that doesn’t mean he didn’t go after human souls at some point. What matters now is he doesn’t do it anymore. He supplies us with information on demonic activities that our Psi-dar can’t pick up. We, in turn, offer him protection.” I glanced at my watch. Eleven o’clock. I gave them a sweeping glance. “Do you know where the weapons room is?”

“Yes, Cardinal.” Esras frowned. “Master Haziel showed us around.”

“Did he give you hunting coats to conceal your weapons, too?”

They all nodded.

“Good. Wear them and let’s meet outside the weapons room in thirty minutes. Oh, and Esras?” He glanced at me. “Don’t call me Cardinal. Everyone calls me Lil.” I waited until they teleported, then sighed. This mission could turn disastrous if I didn’t watch my temper.

- 13 - UNEXPECTED ANSWERS

The alley behind Jethro’s bar was filthy, as usual. Leading with Lucien, I slowed down our teleport until I found a spot away from the icky puddles, then rematerialized.

Lucien grinned. “That was cool. How did you slow down?”

“A trick I learned recently,” I said absentmindedly, reaching under my trench coat to touch my lower back. It felt warm and tingly, like an itch that wouldn’t go away. Not sure what it meant, I ignored it and focused on Bran.

A quick scan told me he wasn’t at Jethro’s, which was packed as usual. I still didn’t understand why he chose to sleep at Jethro’s when it took less than a second to teleport home.

The twins appeared, one after the other. They looked around with disgust. Once again, I couldn’t tell them apart until they spoke.

“Where are we?” one asked. Her voice was gentler, which meant she was Lunaris.

“L.A. warehouse district. This building belongs to Jethro. The bar’s entrance is that way.” I pointed toward the front of the building.

“Yeah, I can feel them,” Solaris said in her high-pitched annoying voice. “Demons,” she added, reaching for the ninja stars she’d placed in sheaths around her waist when we were in the weapons room.

“No weapons, please,” I warned. Her eyes narrowed as though she wanted to defy me, then she backed down, her hands dropping to her sides and forming fists.

“Where’s Esras?” I asked when the Guardian didn’t appear.

“Master Haziel came to the weapons room right after you teleported and needed to have a word,” Lunaris answered.

“He’ll miss the telegate if he’s not careful,” I warned. A telegate was a trail of energy disturbance left behind when one teleported. “One time, when we teleported here, only two of us made it while the others ended up across town.”

Esras appeared just as I finished speaking. He was red in the face, uneasiness pouring from him.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said and tugged the collar of his shirt. The fact that he couldn’t meet my eyes told me his nervousness had something to do with me. If he didn’t want to talk about it, fine. I couldn’t take any more mess directed at me. What bugged me more was the twins’ antagonistic attitude toward all demons. They had grumbled while we chose weapons, and I was sure they wouldn’t stop.

“Before we go inside the restaurant, you need to know it is packed. Don’t do or say anything to antagonize them, because we are not here to fight. In fact, Jethro has a policy against many things, including fights and teleporting, in his bar. If a demon makes a sudden move, don’t assume he or she is about to attack. If you have to respond, just subdue them.”

“This is not right,” Solaris murmured.

“Solaris,” her twin warned.