Morgan screams for Liam in his mind, a silent plea ricochets across the planet, seeking its target. Liam’s head snaps up, and he leaps into the air even as Morgan pleads with his friend.
“Release me, brother. What are you thinking?” He gasps holding his bloodied stump to his chest. Katie sobs openly now and with every tear that drops, Morgan’s rage grows. They will pay for putting her through this! Weakened by the blood loss, he drops to his knees, hanging by his remaining arm from the gate. A thick scarlet pool of his blood runs across the stone floor.
“Do you think I am the only one, Morgan? Seven of the Twelve have fallen and even now number eight is before me on his knees.” He laughs at the expression of horror on Morgan’s face.
“Why do you think the gate rejected you?” Balthial demands as Katie struggles.
“Don’t you listen to the lies of a demon, Morgan!” Katie shouts at him. When he slides down to the earth, her yell turns to moans of anguish. “Morgan?”
“Oh, shut up, human. He will heal, he is an immortal after all,” Daria snarls. Her red eyes flash as the scent of Morgan’s blood calls to her. “It seems a shame to waste all that essence,” she growls and releases her hold on the human to step forward. Furious at the vampire’s flippant response, Katie squeezes her eyes shut and hears her grandmother’s lessons in her mind. Use what you have at hand to defend yourself… her necklace! Katie reaches up a hand and whispers a prayer of help, smiling when she feels it heat beneath her hand. Jerking the necklace free, she tosses it at the wall holding Morgan, and Balthial screams.
“Nooo!” Balthial grabs Katie and leaps upwards, into the open air above the crumbled walls. Daria stares in stunned shock as he leaves her. Whipping around she leaps after the necklace, but she isn’t fast enough. When it strikes the wall holding Morgan, it detonates like a grenade, blasting the angel free.
Katie reaches for Morgan and screams as he fades from view beneath a mountain of rubble and dust. Balthial flies away knowing help will come and he must not be there when it does. With a whispered word from him, Katie passes out. He won’t take a chance like that again. How did she know her necklace would free him? No matter, he will be at her home soon. “You will give me what I seek and then you will wish you had not interfered.”
Chapter 7
“How do I look? Can you see my teeth? Are my eyes normal?” Anya is terrified that her father will be able to see a change in her.
“You look beautiful, as always. Now stop fretting and get in there.” Christian grumbles, pushing her through the doorway and into her father’s hospital room.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back…” Keane stares at his daughter and gets up slowly from his chair in the corner of the room. Anya begins to tremble and takes a step backwards, right into Christian’s strong body. His hands squeeze her upper arms as though to say, I’ve got you.
“Da, I can explain everything,” but her voice fades as he gets close enough to touch her cheek.
“Sweet hell, am I too late then?” He sees Anya with the eyes, not of a father, but a demon hunter. She is forever changed. A single tear breaks free and rolls down one whiskered cheek. Anya’s heart breaks, she knew he would see the truth.
“I was attacked last night at Katie’s, Da by a… creature. He bit me.” Keane walks away and drops down into his chair, covering his face with his hands. Anya is confused. Glaring at her father, she pulls free of Christian’s hands.
“Why is it that you don’t seem surprised? What the hell is going on?” He looks up at his daughter and tells Christian to close the door.
“When he bit you, what happened?” Keane demands, ignoring her questions.
“I don’t know, it happened so fast. I thought I was going to die. As he began to drink, it seemed to hurt him. When he tried to break away, I…, I turned on him and bit his throat! Oh, God, am I one of them, Da?”
“What do you mean, it hurt him? Tell me exactly what happened next?” Keane urges.
“He struggled to get away from, but it was almost as if he couldn’t release me. Then, after I bit him, he stumbled out the doorway, vomiting. I blacked out from the blood loss. When I woke up, he was gone, and my wounds were healing.” Anya waits as he processes this.
“Anya you are going to need to listen to me carefully, I will explain all I can, but we don’t have much time before they come for you.” Keane scoots to the edge of his chair, and Christian joins them.
“I was raised, as were my parents before me, to hunt the evil that preys on the innocent of this world. We are called Dalkhu Sharur, or Demon Hunters. We follow the dark shadows and eliminate the threat, wherever, and in whatever form we find it. I was tracking one such shadow, the day I met your mother.” Anya’s eyes go wide, but she does not interrupt him.
“At first, I thought it was a glamour spell, a trick put on to confuse me, but soon I knew she was no demon. Your mother was an angel, Anya, and she was in labor. You were born not long after finding her and I made a promise I would look after you. She spoke of twelve hunters who were too powerful to fight and gave to me a book which tells of the
