Demon Hunters 2: Retribution (Stand Alone Series) (Demon Hunters.) (2 page)

Within minutes the door swung open. A woman in her sixties with short steel-grey hair and metal-framed glasses stood there. She looked at Scarlett, with a single glance towards the demon. “Father Joe said he’d be sending a boy. Why are you here, girl?”

Scarlett took a calming breath and ignored the irritation in the woman’s voice. She tried to tell herself it was preferable to tears. “I’m Scarlett.” She gestured towards the boxes. “Are these the boxes you need taken to Father Joe… ahh…” For a moment she couldn’t think of the woman’s name, most of her attention was on the demon beside her. “Mrs Rose?”

“Who is he?” The woman stared at the demon.

Scarlett turned her gaze to him. He smiled lazily at her and didn’t bother to introduce himself. He could have made himself invisible instead of making this job more difficult for her. Scarlett took another deep breath. She did the only thing she could. She shortened the name he’d offered her. “Des.”

“Those are the boxes. All eight of them have to go. You got room in your car?”

Scarlett looked at the boxes and nodded her head. She took a couple of steps closer and reached out to pick up the first cardboard box. Before her fingers came in contact, her demon mark heated and she pulled her hands back as if something had bitten her.

Mrs Rose laughed bitterly. “You feel it too. My daughter said I was mad. Said I should sell the stuff. But I couldn’t. Father Joe said he’d deal with it. I don’t know what my brother was into, but you can rest assured he isn’t with the angels in heaven. I’m betting he’s warming his toes at the fires of hell.”

“Where did you find these things?” Scarlett looked past Mrs Rose to stare at the house.

“Not in there. A little timber shed out the back. I’m going to burn it to the ground. Makes me feel like I’m being watched every time I go near it.” Mrs Rose shuddered.

“Can I see it?”

“Around the back. You can’t miss it. I keep expecting to see gargoyles perched on the ridge. But you won’t get me near it anymore than I have to.”

“Thank you.” Scarlett hesitated only a moment before she strode back to the car. With one demon already shadowing her she wasn’t about to take any unnecessary chances. Mrs Rose could think what she wanted. She dropped the belt of her sword over her head and one arm, so it rested against her back. Picking up a second vial of holy water, she slid it into her pocket next to the one already in there. The vial was about the size of her little finger, but she wouldn’t need much. A drop of holy water went a long way when dealing with demons.

“You’d be better off taking a bag of salt with you.”

Scarlett ignored Des and strode back towards the house.

“What are you, girl?” Mrs Rose dropped onto one of the cane chairs with a grunt.

“I’ll see what I can do to dispel any demons left behind by your brother’s meddling.”

“You can do that?”

Scarlett nodded.

“Then maybe it was a good thing you came instead of just him.” Mrs Rose nodded towards Des.

“Maybe.” Scarlett didn’t bother explaining Des wasn’t the one who was supposed to be here. Alex should have come and he was just as capable as she was at dealing with demons.

Scarlett walked around the side of the house. She stopped when she saw the timber shed. It made her demon mark feel warm and her skin crawl. She straightened her shoulders and marched forward. When she stood in front of the shed, she drew her sword. Whatever demon was in there was far more powerful than Des. He only made her mark feel like a mild itch that wasn’t worth scratching.

Des stood a couple of metres away from her, arms crossed on his chest and a smile of amusement on his face. “Are you going to send me to hell once you’ve dealt with the demon here?”

Scarlett looked over at him. “Do you feel one here too?”

“I’ll exchange the information with you.”

“Do you think you can talk just once without complicating things?”

He shrugged. “Probably not.”

“How can you sit in my car? It’s been blessed by a priest.”

“Are you worried you might not be able to send me home?”

“I didn’t say that. Oh, forget it. I can’t believe I’m still talking to you. It’s just so wrong.” Scarlett turned back to the shed.

“It isn’t easy. My skin feels like it’s being attacked by a thousand bitting insects. It also feels like the occasional knife is thrown at me too, but I think that’s when you start praying in your head. I can ignore the pain.” Des paused. “It’s nothing compared to what a major demon can do to punish you.”

“I don’t kill.” Scarlett continued to look at the shed rather than the demon near her.

“It isn’t killing. It’s more like unmaking. Now you must answer a question.”

“I never agreed to that!”

“I offered an exchange of information, you asked a question.”

Scarlett sighed heavily, closing her eyes. She knew talking to demons only brought trouble. Even minor ones. She opened her eyes to glare at him. “Get it over and done with.”

Des smiled, his head slightly on the side as his gaze roamed her figure. “I think I’ll save it. I never did put a time limit on it.” His smile widened and his voice lowered. “Anticipation.”

Scarlett rounded on him, opened her mouth to speak and then closed it with an audible sound. She glared at him for a moment, eyes narrowed, before she deliberately turned away and took another step closer to the shed. “Demon! This is not your home. Come out and face me.”

The wind picked up. Des chuckled. Scarlett continued to ignore him.

“Demon! Show yourself. Stand before me.”

“Try spilling a little blood. He’ll be out in a flash. He’s so very hungry. Mainly for power. He doesn’t have much of his own.”

Scarlett turned to glare at Des who had moved closer to her. “Do you mind?” She didn’t even bother trying to keep the annoyance from her tone.

Des grinned. “Not at all.” He turned towards the shed. “You might as well come out brother. She isn’t going anywhere and it will only cause you unnecessary pain to resist. She will send you straight home. No punishment.”

“Do you promise this, brother?” The deep voice came from the shadowy doorway of the shed.

“Brother-”

“You can’t speak for me.” Scarlett interrupted him.

“Give him a break, Scarlett. He’s only Deception. The masks we wear when we face the rest of the world. Prayers only. No touching him with holy relics. What does it matter? He’ll still be sent home.”

“He can’t be so minor a demon. I feel something stronger than that.”

“It was the method used to call him,” Des said.

Scarlett’s lips thinned and her hands tightened on her sword. That could only mean human sacrifice. “I’ll give him ten minutes. Then I use holy water and my sword.”

Des turned back to the shed. “You heard, brother. I have gained you ten minutes. Let her help you find the way home. No punishment if you can make it in time.”

“I thank you, brother. I owe you for this favour.” Deception walked out of the shed. He was half the size of Scarlett, his wiry body covered in greyish skin that seemed to ripple as he moved. His face was fluid and changed his appearance by small amounts every second.

Scarlett began to pray the moment the demon was in front of her. She noticed Des move away when she started and found that action comforting. She had worried it would be difficult to send Des home. Closing her eyes, she pushed everything from her mind but the need to send the demon back to hell. When she reached the end of her prayer, she felt her demon mark cool considerably. She opened her eyes to find she was alone. Only the power from the sacrifice, that had called the demon, causing the warmth she felt from her demon mark.

Des was nowhere to be seen. Regret crept over her and stunned by the feeling, she pushed it away, moving forward to examine the shed. Des stepped out of the gaping doorway and Scarlett smothered the shriek that came to her lips, glaring at him as she sheathed her sword.

“Tell the old woman to burn the place. There’s no need to go in there.”

“I’ll decide that, not you.” Scarlett stood in front of Des and waited for him to move.

Des shrugged and stepped back into the shed. Scarlett forced herself to move forward, fighting the urge to flee as fast as possible. Her skin crawled and her demon mark felt like it writhed beneath her skin. She glanced around the dim interior, her eyes drawn to the far end of the shed. Walking shakily forward, Des at her side, Scarlett couldn’t look elsewhere.

“Why put yourself through this? You know what you’re going to find. Actually, that was a rhetorical question. Answering it doesn’t count.”

“Stay out of my business, demon.” Scarlett stopped and stared at the dirt floor. It looked like an animal had clawed and scratched at the ground, disturbed before it could make more than a shallow indent.

“Burn the shed and be done with it.” His words were soft as he moved closer to her.

Scarlett shook her head. “Whoever it was deserves a proper Christian burial.”

“Even if they were a murdering rapist?”

“Were they?” She opened her mouth to withdraw her question, but she was too late.

“No.” Des grinned at her. “You owe me two answers.”

“Then one answer will only be yes or no since that’s all I gained from you.”

“It was a young woman who was hitchhiking that he picked up about eighty kilometres from here nearly three years ago.”

“I didn’t ask for the extra information. It doesn’t count.”

Des laughed. “Fine. But you had best watch what you say because I’m listening very carefully. Not to mention I’ve already been generous. I haven’t counted your ‘do you mind’ question.”

“That wasn’t a proper question.” Scarlett pulled out one of the vials of holy water and sprinkled it across the disturbed grave before she hurried from the shed.

“Technically it was still a question. But I’m willing to be generous.”

Scarlett took a deep breath of the untainted air outside the shed. She started to argue the point with Des, but stopped. He didn’t need any encouragement. She strode to the front of the house and Des walked beside her. “Ar-” Scarlett broke off before she could finish the word. How did you ask a demon if they planned to be your shadow without actually asking a question? The best solution was to send him home, but she didn’t think he’d stick around for that. Besides, it was against what she stood for. Scarlett growled in frustration.

Des chuckled.

Mrs Rose came to her feet when she saw them. “Well?”

“The demon’s gone. I’ve got a business card in the car for a detective you need to call. Tell him you’re from Father Joe’s church and you’re at your deceased brother’s home. Say that someone mentioned your brother was interested in demons and human sacrifice and it looks like some animal has been digging up the dirt floor of his shed. You thought you’d call him first before you disturbed the area.”

“Oh!” The woman staggered back to her chair. “Oh.”

“I’m sorry,” Scarlett said. She hated telling people bad news. They always took it harder from her. Even Alex could break bad news better. At eighteen, he was nearly a full year younger, but much better at dealing with people. “I won’t be able to take these boxes for you, the police might need them. But I’ll ask Father Joe to see to the taint on them and in the shed.”

Scarlett retreated to her car for the business card. She strode back to the house, her eyes drawn to Des where he leaned against a verandah post. She forced herself to ignore him and gave the business card to Mrs Rose. “Do you have any idea of when you might ring? I need to call Detective Tuck after you have, to give him some other information.”

The woman looked at her blankly.

“You’ve such a nice way about you, Scarlett.” Des moved to sit beside the woman. He reached out and took hold of her hand. “I guess your daughter’s going to have to listen to you say, ‘I told you so’. I’m sure she hates it when you’re always right.”

Mrs Rose smiled shakily. “I would have preferred if she was the one saying it this time.”

Des patted her hand. “You’ll manage though.” He smiled slowly and leaned forward. “But I’d book an appointment at your hairdresser and splurge on a new dress before those reporters come calling. You’ll want to look your best when your photo appears in the newspaper.” He winked at her.

“Oh, my, yes.”

“I’d ring straight after you call the detective to make sure they can fit you in. You can bet the reporters will be out here as soon as they hear about the shed.”

“Yes, yes, of course.” She rose to her feet. “Thank you, young man. You’re absolutely right of course. I’ll make those calls straight away.”

Scarlett turned away and strode to her car. Sitting in the driver’s seat, she tucked her sword in beside her, leaning the hilt against the seat before she grasped the steering wheel. Glancing back, she saw Des putting an arm around the woman before he moved away from her. She was torn. She’d brought this demon here. Anger coursed through her. He’d been able to comfort the woman when she hadn’t known the words to use. She wondered if he’d used his demonic powers, but he was such a minor demon she couldn’t be one hundred percent certain. And unless she was, she couldn’t intervene. She’d walked away before she did or said something she shouldn’t.

She started the car as Des opened the door and climbed in. She wanted to drive off and leave him there, but it would’ve been wrong to leave a demon behind after getting rid of one from the property. She ignored Des who stared at her.

“I’m surprised you didn’t leave me behind,” Des said after several minutes. When he received only silence, he spoke again. “But I’m not going to let it go to my head. I’m sure it’s only because you know you’re stuck with me until you answer my questions.”

“I’m wh-” Scarlett broke off before she formed another question. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not stuck with you until I answer your questions.”

Des chuckled, but didn’t volunteer any information.

Scarlett sat in frustrated silence. There was no way she was going to owe him three questions. She forced herself to ignore him as she drove towards home. When she saw a public phone box on the side of the road she glanced at the time on the dash. It had been about twenty minutes since she’d left Mrs Rose’s house. That should have been enough time for her to have made her phone call. Parking beside the phone box, Scarlett hopped out of the car, continuing to ignore Des.

She dialled the number on a card identical to the one she’d given Mrs Rose and listened to the phone ringing. Her toe tapped as she waited for the detective to answer.

“Tuck.”

“Hi Detective. Hunter here.”

Tuck laughed. “Hello Hunter. Been a while since you were a woman.”

Scarlett smiled. When any of her family, male or female, rang him with information they always used their surname. They’d been contacting him for years and he’d taken them seriously right from the start. “I’m wondering if you’ve had a call in the last twenty minutes.”

“About a man who possibly summoned demons with human sacrifice?”

“That sounds like it.” Scarlett gave him the address. She faced the opposite direction as Des came to stand near her.

“Yes. You have more information for me?”

“I’m afraid so. I don’t know how much it’ll help though.”

“Fire away.”

“A young woman hitchhiking. She was picked up about eighty kilometres from his place but it was nearly three years ago.”

“Guess it was too much to hope for a name. Don’t suppose you can help with a direction either?”

Scarlett started to turn away from Des again. Instead she looked at him thoughtfully. “Give me a second.”

“All right.”

Scarlett pressed the phone against her leg and continued to stare at Des. “You know if you felt like sharing any more information about the woman who was sacrificed, now would be a really good time to say it.”

“Nice try. Very well worded and everything. I am left wondering what sort of information you were asking for.”

“I’m not asking for any information. But if you wanted to volunteer say her name, or where she was picked up from, I’d listen.”

“Now if it was a question, I could give you both those pieces of information without a problem.”

“Both her first and last name.”

“I could even give you her middle name,” Des said.

Scarlett frowned. Demons were bad news. The woman was already dead. Making another deal with a demon wouldn’t change things. Scarlett started to shake her head.

“She was seventeen and the only child of a woman who lost her husband five years ago.”

Scarlett’s hand curled into a fist and she closed her eyes to shut out the triumphant grin on Des’s face. How could she leave that woman wondering what had happened? She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “One question. The answer is to include the full name of the girl and where she was picked up. Exact location. And I owe you one question in exchange for it.”

“Deal. Annabel May Passey.” Instead of an address, Des gave her longitude and latitude.

Scarlett put the phone back to her ear. “You still there?”

“Yeah. Was beginning to wonder if you were though.”

“Sorry, but I do have the name and location.” Scarlett repeated the information Des had given her. “As far as I know the information is true, but the source isn’t completely reliable.”

“I could do with a source like that. Don’t suppose you have one interested in hanging out with me?”

Scarlett smiled ruefully. He regularly asked her family that. After everything he’d learned over the years he should be more cautious about demons. “More trouble than they’re worth. Trust me on that one. And I believe the young woman was seventeen at the time of her death.”

“Anything else?”

“Sorry. No.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Scarlett hung up and strode back to her car. She drove off the moment Des was in the passenger seat. She tried to ignore the sense of disaster she’d felt since she had unwittingly made the deal with him. It had been drummed into her from birth never to have dealings with demons. They were slippery and twisted everything. Doom! That’s what he had said he’d be for her. She played the earlier conversation over again in her mind and could find no loopholes. But she wasn’t a demon. How much worse had she made it by extending the original deal she’d accidentally made? She couldn’t have done otherwise. How could she have left a mother wondering what had happened to her daughter? A mother who had also lost her husband.

Checking her phone, she noticed it now had coverage. Pulling over, she rang Father Joe to tell him about the demon she’d returned to hell and the young woman buried in the shed.

“Do you have something on your mind, Scarlett?” Father Joe asked when she’d finished.

“Far too much, Uncle Joe.”

He chuckled. “Well, when you’ve finished being evasive and beating yourself up over something that probably wasn’t as bad as you thought, you know where to find me.”

“Thank you.” She was sure he’d be saying different if he knew.

“Can you tell Gran I’ll be there Saturday night for dinner?”

“Ahh, maybe you better tell her. I hadn’t planned to go straight home.” She wasn’t about to take a demon there. That just didn’t seem right. She’d go home after she got rid of him. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult. She was a hunter, getting rid of demons was her specialty.

“It can’t be that bad, Scarlett.”

“I’ve got a few more things to think over first. Can you tell her I’ll be late?”

Father Joe sighed. “Family doesn’t judge you as harshly as you judge yourself.”

“Please? I’m sorry I’m being difficult-”

“No. You go and find somewhere to think through your problems. I’ll let Gran know. But, Scarlett, it was only Wednesday night that you were here for confession. I can’t believe you could’ve gotten into that much trouble in a couple of days. Wait up,” he said when she started to interrupt. “But if for some reason you have, there’s no need for you to deal with it alone. All your family are here for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Go with God, Scarlett.”

“You too, Uncle Joe.”

Scarlett hung up and sat with her eyes closed. She quickly opened her eyes when she felt Des’ hand on hers. She pushed him away.

“I haven’t come to bring you trouble. I’ve asked such a small favour from you. I would have offered something in exchange, but I know you would have been wary of that.”

“Go away, Demon.” There was no heat in her words, only weariness.

“After you have answered my three questions.”

Scarlett hit the steering wheel with her palms. “You’re really annoying. And stop grinning at me like that. I’m not about to become a mindless puddle at your feet and ask more stupid questions.” She growled and dropped her head to the steering wheel.

“It’s hard when you can’t use questions. But remember, I have the same problem. I can’t ask questions of you without using up the three I have left.”

Scarlett turned her head to look at him, still leaning on the steering wheel. “All I have to do is get you to ask your three questions and then you’re gone.”

“I’ll swap all questions you owe me if you will unmake me.”

“I can’t kill you.”

“I’m not asking you to kill me. Unmake me. It’s different.”

Scarlett leaned back in her seat. She held up her left hand and turned her head away. “I can’t talk to you. Will-” She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Cancel that last word. I need you to leave me be for a bit.” She turned to face him when he took her hand in his. “Let me go,” she said through clenched teeth.

He raised her hand to his lips and held it there. As he pulled back, he smiled and let her go. “I will give you an hour. Maybe then you might recall how peaceful life was without me and be willing to grant my favour.”

The air shimmered and Des was gone as suddenly as he’d appeared. Scarlett reached out to where he’d sat. Her hand encountered nothing. She drew her hand back to run it though her hair.

“What am I going to do now?” Her words were a whisper in the otherwise silent car. She looked at the time. One hour. That meant he’d return around dark. She had to think of where she could go before then. She considered going to her church, but she wasn’t ready to see Father Joe. That left one other sanctuary, but she had another phone call she should make first.

“Hey, Scarlett.”

“Allie?

“Yep.”

“I-” Scarlett frowned.

Alyssa laughed. “This is Blake’s phone. He’s dropping me home. Did you want him to ring you back in a couple of minutes?”

Scarlett fell silent as she tried to figure out what to do. Maybe it would be best not to mention Retribution while he was driving.

“Scarlett? You still there?”

“Yes.”

“Blake wants to know what’s wrong.”

“Maybe it’d be best if he rings me back-”

Blake interrupted her. “Scarlett.”

“Blake.” Her mind came up blank.

“Come on, Scarlett. We’re parked out the front of Allie’s parents’ place. If we sit here too long, we’ll have her parents out here checking on us.”

“Maybe…. it might be… Allie…” How could she even mention Retribution around Alyssa after all that had happened to her? She had expected to find Blake alone.

“Where are you, Scarlett?”

This probably wasn’t something that should be explained over the phone, but should she tell Alyssa too? “Can you meet me at the cemetery near your place?”

“When?”

“I’m about twenty minutes away.”

There were a few seconds of silence before Blake replied. “Okay.”

She finally reached a decision. “Do you think Allie can come too?”

“I don’t think her parents will agree. She’s still partially grounded.”

“Tell them it’s a prayer meeting to pray for the soul of a parishioner who’s going through a difficult time.”

“Who would that parishioner be, Scarlett?”

“Me.”

“What about Alex and Riley?”

“Not yet. Just you two. Please?”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

“Thanks, Blake.” She ended the call and stared at her phone.

Blake was Riley’s older brother and they were her only first cousins. She had plenty of second and third cousins, as well as aunts and uncles. Out of all her relatives, she was closest to Blake, Riley and her brother Alex. They had done most of their training, to be demon hunters, together. Blake was the oldest of the four of them at twenty-two and Riley was twenty, only a year older than her. Alyssa, Blake’s girlfriend, was eighteen like her brother Alex.

She started her car and drove to the old cemetery. It was within walking distance of Blake’s house that he shared with a couple of university students. He’d spent eighteen months away from the family and had only returned late last year. He had chosen not to stay at Gran’s house with the three of them. He valued his privacy too much and you never knew which family members, or how many, were likely to descend on the house. Nor how long they’d stay.

Reaching the cemetery, Scarlett locked her car and wandered amongst the graves. Pausing in front of some of the older ones, she read the inscriptions. She slowly made her way to a grave that had an angel watching over it and dropped onto the grass beside it. She could see her car from this spot and her fingers randomly plucked at the grass as she waited for Blake to arrive. His four-wheel-drive pulled up next to her car moments later and both Blake and Alyssa climbed out of the vehicle. Scarlett remained seated as they drew closer.

They were both dressed in black jeans and shirts and wore a cross identical to the one Scarlett had around her neck. Alyssa had green eyes and dark hair, which fell in layered waves to just past her shoulders. A crimson streak curved through her hair starting at the crown on the left side of her head.

The first thing people noticed about Blake was the demon mark that circled from his wrist to his elbow. It had been tattooed to look like barbed wire, but after an encounter with the demon Retribution, the ink was now as red as Alyssa’s lock of hair. He had blue eyes, dark hair, tanned skin and a tendency to have his hair cut infrequently and shave irregularly to give him a slightly scruffy look.

They sat in the grass across from Scarlett and Blake’s arm automatically draped around Alyssa’s shoulders. Alyssa leaned in towards him with a slight smile.

“Okay. Time to spill,” Blake said.

“Why did I think it’d be easier talking to just the two of you?” Scarlett ran her fingers through her hair. When she realised what she did, she quickly dropped her hands into her lap. “I had a demon appear in my car.”

“Sounds like it might need to be re-blessed.” Blake linked his fingers through Alyssa’s.

“No. He said it was uncomfortable, but he could stand it since he is only… well, only a minor demon.”

Blake grinned. “What’s the sin?”

“Lust,” Scarlett mumbled.

Blake burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny.” Scarlett glared at him.

“Blake, quit teasing her. A demon isn’t anything to laugh about,” Alyssa said.

“Sure, Allie Cat.” Blake tried to suppress his grin, but gave up.

“He’s trying to escape from Retribution.”

Blake’s grin evaporated. “What?”

Scarlett smiled wryly. “Thought that’d stop your laughter.”

“You’re serious?” When Scarlett nodded, Blake said, “You’d better tell the whole story. Every little bit.”