Between the Bleeding Willows (The Demon Hunters Series Book 1) (10 page)

“Killian, I don’t know. You’ll have to be careful or you’ll spread the infection.” Lena looked terrified.

“I will be careful.” Tears fell from her eyes; Lena was not scared of pain—she was scared of dying. I wasn’t sure if this would solve the problem, but leaving a huge bubble of pus to ooze out seemed like a bad idea. “Angeline, a scalpel, please, and a towel.”

An hour later, we had Lena rewrapped and medicated. I hated pushing her out of her comfort zone. She rarely got sick, but when she did, she was the worst patient. Her stubbornness raised its ugly head.

I couldn’t lose her, though, she was all I had left of my core family. Our parents had died years ago when two demons breached our compound in a suicide mission aimed at our Elders. Everything changed after that day. Including the end of allowing marriage between Clan members and a shift in power that resulted in me being voted to lead the Clan.

Angeline and I wheeled Lena to her room where she’d be most comfortable and got her situated in bed. We put a snack and drink on the table nearby so she wouldn’t have to get up.

“Night, Lena. One of us will be here to help you in the morning.”

She muttered something that was probably some oath that she didn’t need help, but the fresh pain meds were kicking in, dulling her speech. I kissed her head and left with Angeline.

“Angeline, thanks for your help with Lena.”

“You’re welcome.” She walked with me toward my room. “I’m worried about her.”

“Me too. We’ll have to keep doing what we are doing and hope for the best.”

Laughter from the dining hall echoed out into the halls, which was odd, because the sound didn’t match the current somber mood of the Clan. We peered in as we walked by; Casper and Cassidy were currently the only ones in there, eating and laughing together. They seemed friendly and at ease around each other. She looked happy, and so did Casper. Had he not heard about Ren and Siggy’s deaths? Cassidy giggled again. Seeing them sitting there so close to each other…

My tattoo flared with pain. I looked down and saw the edges of it glowing green.

“Ouch! What the…?” Cassidy said, looking at her tattoo. It also appeared to have a green hue.

Angeline looked at my tattoo, then to Cassidy and Casper, and back to me. “This is new. Are you having feelings about those two being together?”

Wanting to avoid Cassidy, I continued down the hall till we were safely out of earshot. “I don’t know what I’m feeling, but even if I did, why is my tat green?”

She shrugged and shook her head slowly. “That’s a first for me. She
does
have your blood flowing through her tattoo, correct?”

I nodded.

“And you are bonded to each other.”

“Yeah, but I don’t recall feeling my donor’s emotions.”

“Well, that’s because you weren’t
in love
with your donor. I mean, you loved your uncle but I’m sure it didn’t feel as this does.”

“Angeline.” I did not want to share my emotions for Cassidy with Angeline.

“Killian, it’s obvious how you feel about her. It makes sense that seeing her with Casper would bother you. Just try to remember it’s also okay for her to befriend him.”

We arrived at my quarters, the room dimly lit by the daylight lamp on the dresser. “Goodnight, Angeline. Thank you for your help,” I said, my tone making it clear I did
not
want to continue this discussion.

She nodded respectfully. “Goodnight, Killian.”

Chapter Eleven

Cassidy

The Clan had a mourning feast in honor of the fallen Siggy and Ren. They told stories of each and celebrated their lives and accomplishments, quite different from the somber funerals we had back home. After the feast, I changed into more comfortable clothes and settled in with a book. Lena, who had rolled herself in her wheelchair all the way to my room, had dropped off another cup of healing potion. I was stunned, again, by the power of the Clan’s medicine—I felt both stronger and relaxed within a few minutes of taking it.

A knock at my door pulled me out of
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
. I set my book down and opened the door to find Casper grinning. He looked me up and down, assessing me.

“That will do. Come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall, whisking me away to some unknown destination. Although I had no pressing plans today, it was unnerving to be thrust into action without any warning.

“Hey! Frankie and Benjy were about to dissect Arthur’s brain. Where are we going anyway?”

“You’ll see. I thought you’d be done with that book by now. I gave it to you yesterday.” He smiled back at me and winked. Casper was the voice I’d heard in the darkness when I was trapped in my own body. He’d helped me escape my flesh tomb by reading about faraway lands, unique characters like my favorite, Marvin, the depressed and paranoid robot, and their wild adventures through the Milky Way Galaxy. When I awoke from my comatose state, Casper and I naturally had become friends. His time spent looking after me had set the tone of our relationship.

He led me to a section of the colony that I had never seen before. The air smelled bad, like sweaty men who needed a shower, making my nose wrinkle.

“Um, I’m gonna guess you all don’t grow flowers in this section. Are you taking me to the laundry room?”

“Ha! Funny, Cassidy. You smell something funky, huh?”

There were no sounds to clue me in to our destination. As we continued, I saw we were coming to a dead-end, and it was so much darker here compared to the other passageways. “Why is it so dark in this hall?”

“Oh, there are just less daylight lamps down here. We only have so many, and they are needed more in other corridors. Did you know the lamps are spelled to echo the Earth’s sun, so as the sun rises near the gate you crossed, our lights come to life here in the Clan?”

“That’s pretty cool.”

“It is.” Casper finally stopped in front of a large doorway. “Here we are.” He stepped to the side, allowing me to enter. The room behind him had a matted floor, and a large, middle-aged man was tidying up some long sticks.

“Jackson, thanks for meeting us here.” Casper walked over and shook the large warrior’s hand. I had seen him at the med unit when I first came to the Clan.

Jackson turned and looked surprised to see me. “Why is Cassidy here? I thought you wanted to spar?”

“She’s bored. Look at her. Besides, Killian wants to cross her over soon, and she needs to be strong for that. Does she look strong to you?”

I tried to smack him, but Casper was too fast. He winked at me in return.

“I don’t think he meant fighting strong,” Jackson corrected Casper.

“What will it hurt if we show her a few moves?”

Two girl trainees appeared at the door.

“Tarrin. Eva. You two here to spar?” Jackson asked.

“Yes, sorry, Sir, we didn’t know the room was being used at this time,” the tall, thin teenage girl said.

“It’s okay. We’ll be done in an hour if you wanna come back then.”

“Thank you, Sir.” The girls left and Jackson turned toward me.

“You up for this, Cassidy?” Jackson seemed reluctant to let me participate, but left it up to me.

“Like Casper said, I’m bored. Let’s do this.”

Casper grabbed some tape to wrap my knuckles while Jackson grabbed some three foot sticks. He had us stretch out and then demonstrated some blocks and attacks with the stick on Casper. Casper was half of Jackson’s size and probably half his age, but he moved before any strike could get him. He was unnaturally fast.

“God, you are infuriating to spar with,” Jackson huffed, making my friend laugh. “Cassidy, you’re up.” I grabbed my stick and approached Jackson. “Block anything coming at you. Keep your hands up,
always
. And never take your eyes off me.” I nodded in reply. It was intimidating going up against someone who was clearly a senior warrior, but I knew he would take it easy on me. Firmly holding my stick, I swung at Jackson. He dodged and blocked each of my strikes with ease.

“You have to keep your eyes on your target at all times, and you need to hit a hundred times harder. You might only get one shot so better make it count.”

I came at him with a flurry of hits—successfully making contact a few times. Jackson offered praise and criticism for them and hit back. My best effort to dodge Jackson’s attacks were not enough and only managed to evade three of about thirty hits.

“Not bad, let’s see how you handle hand to hand combat.” He replaced our sticks in a holder along the wall and returned. Sweat was stinging my eyes. I lifted the front of my shirt to wipe it away. “Ready?”

I nodded.

“Hit me. Hit me with all you got.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.”

I punched his stomach hard, but held back.

Jackson laughed. “Come on, Cassidy! Again, this time,
hit
me, don’t tickle me. I shouldn’t be laughing after a hard hit.”

I hit him harder, but I still felt like I was holding back.

He didn’t laugh; he said nothing this time. Instead, he walked away from me, paced around the room, looking scary and pissed off.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really want to hurt you.”

He walked up to me fast. My adrenaline surged. “If you don’t practice hitting hard, you’ll get your ass handed to you. Now.
Hit.
Me.
” His voice was thunderous and terrifying.

I hit him as hard as I could on his left cheek and he returned with a punch to my stomach. I could not breathe. I gasped and searched for air, falling to the floor on all fours, sucking hard to draw in oxygen, but somehow failing. I was going to die. I was dying…

“Jackson…what’s going on in here—Cassidy!” Killian was by my side in a flash.

I couldn’t answer him. I couldn’t do anything but focus on not dying. My vision was fading in and out. “Jackson! What the hell happened?”

“I probably knocked the wind out of her, Sir. We were sparring.” He didn’t sound worried or panicked like Killian and I.

“Sit up, Cass.” Killian sat on the ground next to me and wrapped his arm around me. “You need to calm down. The air will come when your muscles relax. Don’t force it, just try for slow, deep breaths through your mouth.” I let out a loud gasp for air and then a few shorter breaths followed. Tears fell down my face. He held me till my breathing returned to a normal rhythm.

“I think I’m okay,” I croaked. Killian pulled my hair back out of my face; his eyes held the same intensity they had when we shared the passionate kiss yesterday. My tattoo warmed and my heart skipped a beat. I needed to focus on something else, though. “Why did that happen? What the hell kind of attack move was that? I thought I was going to die.”

Jackson crouched in front of me and chuckled. “It was a simple punch. Your diaphragm muscle clenched, and it kept your breathers from fillin’. Happens sometimes. Next time, puff out all your air when I make contact with you, and it shouldn’t happen.” Jackson helped me up and showed me a reddening welt on his face. “Nice shot, by the way. I might even have a bruise tomorrow. Wanna have another go?”

“I think I’m good for today. Thanks.”

Casper guided me out of the sparring room. Killian stayed to chat with Jackson, though I noticed his eyes followed me as I left.

“Oh my God, that was terrible. Have you ever had the wind knocked out of you?” I asked Casper.

“Nah, no one can catch me.”

“Lucky. I have never experienced anything like that in my life. I thought I was gonna die.” I shook my head.

“You clocked him pretty good. Really good hit. I was kinda surprised he hit you back.” Casper led us to the fitness room. “Of course, Jackson is unpredictable and likes his crew to be ready for anything.”

“I was surprised too. Next time, I won’t be caught off guard.”

“Next time? Guess you liked it, huh?” Casper smiled at me. “Come on, bruiser, time to get you strong again.” The fitness room had resistance bands, pull up bars, inclined surfaces for sit-ups, and various other equipment. Casper had me lie on what looked like a scooter board, hold onto tight elastic bands attached to a bar in the wall, and push off to work my quads. My heart pumped fast and sweat dripped down my neck. After correcting my technique, he walked to a pull up bar and began his exercises. There was not an ounce of fat on him, just muscle and bone, which clearly helped him be so fast in combat. I lost count of his reps, watching him work his muscles hard.

“Not doin’ too bad, Cass. How do you feel?” Casper smiled at me. My muscles quivered from the exercise, weak from the inactivity of being unconscious, and my fist was starting to throb from making contact with Jackson’s brick face.

“I’m okay. But you are a machine! How often do you come down here?”

“As much as I can.” He chuckled at the expression on my face. “What? I can’t bulk up like Killian and Jackson. My metabolism is too fast, so I gotta be faster than my opponent.”

“Good point. I need a drink and a shower.”

“Drink first, my dear, and maybe some food.” We made our way to the dining hall and grabbed juice, jerky, and some trail mix, and then we headed toward my quarters.

“You’re unbelievable. Jackson was really trying to hit you and you evaded it every time.”

“Yeah, everyone hates sparring with me. My intuition gives me an unfair advantage over him, but he’s hopeful he’ll catch me off guard someday.”

“So this intuition thing, have you always had it?”

“To a degree, but it intensified a year ago when I turned eighteen and was tattooed. I believe the angel blood they mix with the ink intensified what was already in me.”

“Angel blood?”

“That’s what the legends say, though I have never seen an angel—seen a few demons while on patrol—but never saw an angel.”

The walk to my room was too short. His story was just getting good, and I didn’t want him to stop.

“Come in. You can’t leave till you finish this story.”

“Cassidy, I don’t know how much of it is true. They’re old stories.”

“Well, I want to hear them.” I pulled him into the room and urged him to sit beside me on the couch. “So you were saying something about angel blood.”

“Yeah, they say that the demons were gaining ground, getting more aggressive and trying to possess more people. Our Clan was losing the battle. If the demons continued, it would have been Hell on Earth and the human race would’ve died. So one day an angel was sent to the complex to work with the Clan, to help them fight and bind the demons. They successfully bound many of the demons that are trapped in the binding chamber, but they also came up against some strong demons. Anyway, the angel was fatally injured, but before he died, he instructed the Clan to drain his blood and use it for magic. Now we use it for crossovers, summoning, healing, and in our tattoos. But since our supply is running low, we take blood from each other to infuse the tattoos. Pretty diluted but still beneficial.”

“You haven’t had any angels come back since that one?”

“If that was truly an angel…” he corrected, “no.”

“So this tattoo of mine has angel blood in it?”

“According to the story, yes.”

“Is it one of the Clan member’s blood?”

“Yes, that’s all they use now. I don’t know whose blood they used, but you are bonded to someone here.”

“Bonded?” I looked at the serpent that coiled around my arm.

“You ask a lot of questions…” Casper’s eyes squinted when he looked at me. “Sorry, I’m used to everyone knowing this stuff. Um, yeah, bonded, connected in some way to them—at least as long as that tattoo inks your skin.”

“Till death do us part,” I muttered.

“What did you say?”

I looked up at Casper, “Till death do us part. You know, like when people get married—join their lives for life? But this is literally ‘till death do us part’.” Casper was quiet. “Do people marry within the Clan?”

He shook his head. “Not anymore. Heard they changed the rules some time back because they didn’t want the Clan safety jeopardized over love.”

“So how are there new recruits? Wouldn’t the Clan eventually die out?”

“People
can
have sex and reproduce without a marriage commitment.” Yes, that was true. I blushed; I didn’t mean for the conversation to turn toward a sex talk, but I was curious. “And if they want to be married, they can leave the Clan, or transfer to one that doesn’t forbid it.”