Demon Retribution (Shadow Quest Book 3) (6 page)

Kyra arrived at Little Jitters before Zo,
who needed to run an errand. Joe had volunteered to cover for
her.

For some, in the city that never sleeps,
dinnertime was breakfast time, so Kyra and Joe were kept busy
enough that there was little conversation between them.

Joe was already three hours into Zo’s shift,
but he didn’t complain. His eagerness to see her was evident, and
his crush was obvious to everyone…except Zo. Unfortunately for him,
he was a nice guy, and Zo just didn’t do nice guys.

When the dinner crowd died down, Kyra
suggested, “Joe, you should take off already. You’re scheduled to
open tomorrow.” At his head shake, she added, “I’m sure Zo will
show up soon. And even if she doesn’t, I can handle it from
here.”

“
Ky, you’re nuts if you
think I’m going to leave you here alone.”

Kyra shrugged. “Fine, if you want to be
zombified in the morning, I won’t stop you.”

Ten minutes later, the door chimed as Zoey
squeezed through, carrying a heavy tin object. The shape of it was
distinct.

Kyra straightened. “Is that…?”

Zoey grimaced, then said in a mock sweet
tone, “Mom, you remember Ky. Ky, Mom.”

She eyed the urn warily. “Zo, you’re not
going weird on me, are you?”

“
No more than usual,” Zoey
replied, then set the urn on the counter and entered her employee
number into the computer. “I had to pick her up today. I would have
taken her home first, but traffic was a bitch. Did Joe leave
already?”

“
Nah, he’s in the back
doing inventory.”

“
Jojo!” Zoey
hollered.

He appeared moments later. “Hey, Zoey! How
are you?” The urn drew his eye like a magnet. “What’s…uh?”

She grabbed the container and stored it
under the register. “Mom just wanted to see what I do for a
living,” she joked, but her expression became a sad impression of a
smile. “Thanks for staying so late, Joe. I really appreciate
it.”

“
No problem. Any time. If
you wanted me to work the rest of your shift, it’s really not a
problem.”

“
That’s okay. But, thanks.
I’m already here anyway, may as well get in a few
hours.”

Reluctantly, Joe clocked out. “Alright, I’ll
see you girls later then.”

“
Yeah, thanks again,
Joe.”

He waved from the door before ducking
out.

With an analytical eye on Zoey, Kyra asked,
“So, how are you, really?”

Zoey released a breath. “I’m okay. Just
feeling a little drained, is all.”

“
Well, you have the day off
tomorrow. You should rent, like, five or six funny movies and just
veg out.”

“
No, I took Marco’s shift
tomorrow.”

“
Why?” she said
slowly.

Zoey brought one of the coffee pots to her
nose, sniffed, then tossed it and began a new brew. “I need to save
up for a trip.”

Sighing, Kyra refrained from arguing,
deciding instead to change the subject. “Do you know where you’re
going to take her?”

“
Not yet. I’ve never been
anywhere, so I really don’t know of any exotic tropical places.
Maybe Hawaii?”

They spent the next few hours, when they
weren’t serving customers, discussing the world’s most beautiful
destinations. Zo wanted a place that wasn’t too touristy. Something
secluded and quiet with mountains and trees, and a small river or
stream nearby. But nothing too far away. She wanted to be able to
re-visit the area without going into debt.

Kyra offered many suggestions, but thirty
minutes from closing time they were still debating. Zo’s list of
criteria just kept growing till they were both at a loss. “Okay,
Zo,” she said, giving up for the moment. “Do you want to do
anything tonight?”

Zoey went rigid and averted her gaze. “I
sort of agreed to go over to Kevin’s later.”

Kyra groaned.

“
Just to talk. And I’m not
staying.”

An outraged protest stuck in Kyra’s throat.
“I’m going to take out the trash.” Hiding her irritation, she
drifted through the café, gathering all the garbage bags and
shoving them into one large bundle. Zoey proceeded to wipe down the
already spotless counter.

Outside, Kyra took a heavy breath of crisp
cool air and trudged to the community bins. One of the tall
buildings stole most of the moonlight, making her rely on the dim,
artificial lighting.

The usual rotting smells were particularly
defined tonight. Holding her breath, she lifted the heavy lid and
added to the already stuffed bin, then let it crash back in place,
backing away quickly for a hit of fresh air. As she did, she bumped
into something that hadn’t previously been behind her.

Stunned, she twirled around and bit back a
horrified scream.

The monstrous being stood on two feet, but
could in no way could pass for human. A bulbous forehead cast its
deeply concaved eye sockets in shadow, and behind the darkness,
where the eyes should be, were cloudy white balls threaded with
veins.

Sharply angled jowls, tethered to the neck
by thick rope-like muscles, added to the harsh planes of its
hideous face. The skin, if it could be called that, clung tightly
to bones that all looked painfully out of place. A long, dark robe
covered the rest of its body, and she thanked every divine entity
she could think of for that.

Her jaw froze open, and she choked on a
silent scream.

Her feet were stuck, glued to the spot, and
her mind wasn’t working correctly. It seemed her heart was the only
thing running on high alert. But she could feel herself pulling it
together. Any second now she would act. A step back was all she
could manage before a series of abrupt clicks drew her eyes to a
second beast.

Low to the ground, its four legs jutted out
like some kind of spider. It had a long jaw and terrifyingly sharp
teeth that dripped with sticky saliva. Its eyes were black and
cold.

Another scream bubbled, along with the
burning sensation of bile, in her throat.

The tall one spoke then. His voice too even
for what she was seeing—deceivingly smooth, nearly sensual. “Good
evening, Princess.”

She stumbled back into the metal bin and
pressed against it as if she could force herself through to the
other side. Her heart rate reached a painful speed. When the
creature before her smiled, she was vaguely aware that she’d never
seen anything so frightening.

“
W-Who are you?” Her words
were barely audible.

“
I’ve been sent to find
you,” he replied coolly. “I wish to take you home.”

“
Home?”

“
Yes, to Evlon.”

Her eyes went wide. “D-Did my father send
you?”

His hesitation was so minute, she almost
missed it. “Yes.”

Her eyes darted between the small
spider-thing and the humanoid. The sense of danger turned thick.
She could practically taste it on the back of her tongue.

From a stairwell behind them, a dark figure
descended, landing with soft thud. Both creatures turned to look.
The spider-thing snarled.

The man crouched on his haunches, his face
familiar. She instantly recognized the hat, but he dressed
differently today: a simple white button-down shirt and dark
jeans.

His features were twisted in a menacing rage
that looked out of place on him. His gaze fixed on the taller of
the two beings.

Seemingly unalarmed by the newcomer, the
humanoid asked, “And who are you?”

“
Vengeance,” the man spat
in a tone that made her shudder, her pulse hammering
anew.

In a single breath, he tore across the alley
and slammed his fist into the humanoid’s face.

The small creature bared its fangs and leapt
to protect its master. Without thinking, Kyra reached out and
closed her fist around one of its stringy legs. Using the
creature’s own momentum, she whipped its body around like a
tetherball, bringing the creature down hard onto the black
pavement.

The creature screeched in pain and then
fixed its eyes on her. It pushed against the ground and launched at
her, hooking its clawed limbs around her torso.

She lifted her forearm to restrain its body
and struggled to hold back the snapping jaw. A gust of wind lifted
her hair and the creature caught hold of it, ripping a few strands
free in its frenzy to snatch off her face.

She lost her footing and fell back against
the pavement, inadvertently bringing the creature on top of her.
Slick strings of saliva dripped over her face, while the disgusting
sounds of gurgled snarls and repetitive clicking filled her
ears.

The dark body of the humanoid flew over her,
slamming with a loud bang into the face of the trash bin. He pulled
to a stand before shouting to the creature in a dialect she’d never
heard. The spider-thing instantly stopped trying to gouge her with
its teeth and backed away, refocusing on hat-man.

She gasped for air, her heart pounding
painfully, and scooted backwards while trying to quell her panic.
In the span of a second, she assessed the situation. The
spider-thing pounced at hat-man while the humanoid loomed over her.
His face twisted in rage, making him look even more monstrous.

Finally her mind snapped into place and
instinct linked with every coiled muscle.

As the humanoid’s bony hand reached for her,
she rolled on her back, grabbed his wrist, and brought her knee up
hard into his forearm. She heard a crack. The monster howled and
stumbled back as he gripped just above the spot where bone split
the skin. His hand dangled limp and useless.

She expected to see some kind of evidence in
the blood that would prove these things had been conjured straight
from hell, but it ran red, like any other living creature.

The other fight was in full swing, and the
man seemed to be holding his own against the spider-creature. She
tried to ignore them to focus on her own struggle, but then
something happened that was impossible not to watch. The man
gripped the animal’s front legs near the shoulders and it screeched
so loud she had to cover her ears. The sound cut off as the
creature’s body ripped down some invisible line. Gore spewed
everywhere.

Suddenly, long fingers threaded through her
hair and the humanoid’s claws dug into her scalp. She gripped his
wrist as he yanked her backward, causing her heels and butt to
scrape along the dirty pavement. Ignoring the pain, she swiped her
leg up and planted the tip of her boot into his chest. He bellowed,
but didn’t release his hold as he continued to drag her away by her
hair. Pain radiated over her scalp.

Abruptly, the movement ceased as hat-man
approached like a stalking beast, eyeing her captor. The reflection
of dim light off his irises made them look red. With unimaginable
force, the humanoid heaved her to the side. Her neck screamed from
the abuse. Tender skin scraped asphalt as she rolled to a stop.

Glancing back, she saw the two going at each
other like some titan clash. The man had lost his hat. His blond
spikes glistened in the low light as he knocked an object away from
the humanoid. It skidded to a stop in front of her.

A gun? It looked like no weapon she had ever
seen. She didn’t see a trigger, or any indication of how to work
it.

She swallowed a painful lump, tasting the
metallic tang of blood.

Attention back on the battle, she watched
the man flip the humanoid over his back, bringing him hard to the
ground. Then, using his entire body, his fist crashed down into his
adversary’s skull.

Crunch
.

The monster went limp.

But that wasn’t enough. He brought his fist
back and another sickening crunch had her forcing back a gag. And
then again.

Her chest heaved, her body hurt, and her
pulse raced faster than it ever had. But this was her chance to
escape, while the man was still distracted.

She managed three steps.

His head snapped up at her movement, and she
paused. A dark shadow hid his expression. The air left her as the
pounding in her chest went into hyper-drive. Then she dove for the
backdoor of Little Jitters, slamming it shut and snapping the lock
into place.

Her heavy gasps sounded like a broken motor
in the silence that surrounded her. She forced her shock-frozen
eyes to blink. They felt like sandpaper.

The front door chimed.

Her heart stopped just as Zoey’s scream rang
out.

Another humanoid stood in the doorway. He
was similar to the first, yet distinctly different. Protruding
forehead, white eyes, tight skin. This one was shorter, a bit
rounder in the middle.