Demons: A Hunter's Novel, Book 1 (7 page)

“Did
you already cast the thread?”

Casting
the Thread
was a fancy way of saying knocking on the fairies door. If you wanted a certain
Fairy you had to cast a spell and then ask for the Fairy by name. If you didn’t
care which one came you simply left the spell open. That would be a very stupid
thing to do, however. Leaving the spell open allows for more than one and they
tend to gang up on you. Of course, Kai didn’t need help ganging up on you.

“Yes.
I did it before the meeting.”

“
Before
the meeting? Why
before
the meeting? How’d you know we’d need him?” My
voice was slowly elevating.

“Because
the guy that hired me to keep you safe told me to summon Kai
before
the
meeting.”

Az
knew the meeting was going to turn bad, obviously, and he knew that I was going
to need help figuring out what was going on. But what if it wasn’t Az? I needed
to talk to him.

“Anie,
can I ask a favor?”

“Depends.”

“Is
there any way I can put up a symbol on your house?”

“Depends.”

“He’s
a friend of mine that’s trying to help me. I know what it’s going to look like
but he’s actually on my side.”

“Let
me see it.” She held her hand out to me. I pulled the piece of paper from my
pocket that had Az’s symbol etched in blood. She saw it and frowned. Her eyes
widened a little then and she threw the paper on the table.

“How
do you know him?” She asked, squinting her eyes at me. I knew she wouldn’t take
it well.

“I
told you he’s a friend.”

“It’s
already up.” What?! Okay, I needed to take a breath. Don’t jump to conclusions.

“How
do
you
know him?”

“He’s
a friend.”

Oh.
My. God. She’d fucked him. I could tell by the look on her face. Or they still
were. There’s no question in my mind as to what kind of friend he would be to
Anie.

I
was suddenly very, very pissed off. I wanted out of the house. I knew we
weren’t together. Hell, I had screwed a ton of guys in the six months he had
been absent in my life. I knew that logically, but emotionally I was on a rage
bender. And it was because this was my friend. It was yet another page in the
book of shit I didn’t want to deal with. And I wanted to punch Az directly in
his junk.

I
stood up without a word.

“Where’re
you going?” Anie asked my back.

I
was running down the stairs. I wanted to run out of the house. I was upset and
that’s what I did – I worked off extra energy by running, doing blade exercises
or fucking. But seeing as I was locked in a house with Anie, running seemed
like the most logical option. If you gave me a blade right now, I would
probably cut her. And even if I could put aside the fact that she had fucked
Az, women just weren’t my thing.

I
ran straight to the front door and started unlocking the locks. By the time I
was half way through the locks Anie pummeled me to the ground. She pulled me away
from the door and into the entry way of the house, straddling my stomach.

“I
don’t know what hair crawled up your ass, but you will not run out that front
door for as long as I am responsible for you.”

“I
want to run.”

“Don’t
we all? Just stay here and do something else. Sharpen your blades.”

Anie
knew me well enough that she knew something was seriously wrong. And it
involved the Demon who belonged to the symbol we shared on our walls (pun NOT
intended). She just didn’t know what had happened with me and Az. Or maybe she
did and she was avoiding the uncomfortable conversation that we could currently
be having.

I
was tamping down the need to kick her ass right now. She slept with
my
Demon.
She couldn’t have found a different one? One of her own?

My
instincts being what they are, I hauled up off the floor and took a swing at
her. She leaned away at the last second and my fist met the edge of her cheek. We
had sparred many times when she was a Hunter. I hadn’t fought her since she had
become a supe, however. This would be interesting.

I
stepped back and got in fighting stance. She was already there. We started
circling each other, but I was never one to wait. I started faking right and
brought my left fist up – she blocked it easily with her forearm. I circled
faster, trying to throw her footing off. It was never her strong point. She
wasn’t so easily thrown and ended up keeping up with me, no problems.

I
was getting impatient. I decided on a totally different tactic. I stopped
moving and closed my eyes. I breathed deeply: in through my nose, out through
my mouth. It was a way for me to throw her off, having her believe I was done
fighting when I wasn’t. Strange thing was, I could still see her with my eyes
closed. Well, I could see her outline and it was a dark purple color. Strange did
not even begin to cover the path my life was headed down. Maybe I had a tumor. I
could hope, right?

With
my eyes still closed, I saw her bounce a little but she had slowed down and I
could tell she was trying to figure out what I was doing. As she slowed even
further, she dropped her hands at her sides and her outline turned a lighter
purple. I decided now would be the premium opportunity to sock her. I stepped
forward and swung. She leaned back and I missed. I opened my eyes and Anie
looked shocked.

“Were
you just trying to fight me with your eyes closed?”

Until
I could figure out what was going on I didn’t want to share with her that I
could see her outline.

“Yep,
you win.” I was done with my flight and my fight, for now. I needed a nap.

“Why
were you trying to fight me?”

I
knew she was really asking me who Az was to me. But what do I say? Because you
screwed the only man I’ve ever loved. Because no matter what, I don’t know if
I’ll ever be able to get over the fact that you have his symbol on your wall. I
couldn’t ask her and confirm what I already suspected. The reason she still had
Az’s symbol up. She hoped he’d come back. She was hoping that he would still
come to her at some point. Hell, did every woman Az had been with feel that
way? I know I did. And now I knew that Anie probably did, too. I didn’t want to
feel so much. I missed the numbness that I swam in just a few days ago.

“I’m
tired. I’m going to go upstairs to sleep. Let me know when Kai gets here.”

I
had so many things to think about. For instance, why Anie didn’t recognize Az
when he asked her to work for him. If they had been together there was no way
she wouldn’t recognize him. Once you go Demon you never go back. Which furthered
my suspicion that maybe it wasn’t Az who hired Anie.

I
walked into my designated room and laid on the bed. I found I just didn’t want
to do anything. So I laid down and studied the inside of my eyelids. Anie
didn’t come upstairs to ask me if I wanted anything, which was good because I
might’ve started another fight. I had had enough. I didn’t want to deal with
one more thing and that included eating. I lay quietly unmoving until merciful
sleep claimed me.

“In a dream I can’t seem to shake, She is standing alone…What a mess
that I make of my days…”

–The Format, A Mess to be Made

I
smelled food which was strange, because I didn’t remember cooking. I felt a
hand gliding up my side and heat searing me in its trail. If I could make
battery operated models of his hands and sell them at porn shops, I would
because I would make a killing.

I
slowly opened my eyes to Az in bed next to me, under the covers and it didn’t
look like he was wearing a stitch of clothing. I was naked too. Because, come
on, it was so much more comfortable to sleep that way.

I
loved these dreams. I looked around and didn’t recognize the room. It had big
windows and it was dark out. I looked at a tiny alarm clock next to the bed and
saw that it said 3:06am. So it was very late at night, or early in the morning
depending on how you saw it.

I
searched for the source of the food smell. There was a tray with biscuits and
gravy sitting on the side table next to the bed. It was my favorite. It looked
like it had been sitting there for a while, though.

 I
grabbed his hand from my side and kissed his fingertips. It was a weird thing I
liked doing. He always ran so much hotter than I did. I loved feeling the tips
of that warmth on my lips. I’m weird, sue me. I looked at him and smiled.

“I’ve
missed you.” I always told him that in my dreams.

“Me
too. I’m worried about you.”

“No
need.”

“Bullshit.
And why were you fighting Aniese?”

Not
our normal conversation in these dreams, considering there was normally, very
little talking – and what talking we did normally had to do with
harder
,
faster
and
yes
. But
I decided this was a dream, so why not? Why not hear the answers I was seeking?

“Did
you fuck her?”

He
didn’t hesitate. Didn’t waste even a blink to think it over.

“Yes.
About a month after you left me. I wanted to get back at you. After seeing you
with all the others…” He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, “She
left the sign up I see.”

I
couldn’t stop myself from asking questions I didn’t want the answers to. And I
knew for shit-sure he didn’t want to answer them, but I also knew he wouldn’t
withhold the truth from me. As much as I knew the answers would hurt me, I
couldn’t hold my tongue. I needed to know more than I needed the absence of
pain now. And even though it was a dream, it felt so real, that I knew I would
remember it when I woke up.

“How
many times?” I asked.

 “For
about a week. Long enough. I stopped it. She reminded me too much of you. I
knew who she was but she didn’t know me. It was like I was punishing myself for
not having you but also for the fact that you never told anyone about us.”

The
truth may have set him free but it sure did cause me plenty of pain. This was
not like my normal dreams. In them he would have said:
No way, I haven’t
slept with anyone but you, even though you’ve slept with countless men.
I
sat up realizing that what I thought was a dream, was probably not.

I
swung out of the bed and stood next to it. I pinched myself hard enough to
leave a very dark red mark on my forearm. Az had seen me plenty of times like
this, but judging from the tent that was formed under the sheet, I still
affected him.

“How
could you?!” I exploded.

I
knew I was being unreasonable. But anger was not a reasonable emotion.

“You
left me. You broke me in every way. I lost my mind without you. Then today I remembered
your voice consoling me when we broke up and I could feel you, like an imprint.
And you told me everything you did you regretted and that you still loved me.”

How
could I have gone back in time to the night we broke up? Did I travel in a
dream or was I time traveling? I mean I knew I went off the radar but
apparently I was off the grid. Hell, at this point I didn’t even know if I would
ever see the grid again.

“Az,
I have to be going crazy. I’ve lost touch. It doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s
how I felt. Come on.” He patted the bed next to him and his tent. “Sit, let’s talk.”

Oh,
I knew what kind of talking he wanted to do, and it had nothing to do with
words.

“With
you saluting me,” I gestured to his high standing erection, “there is no way
I’m going to be able to just talk. Work off some extra energy, maybe. But not
talk. Besides do you really want to screw me in the same house you screwed
another woman? Or is that a new thing for you too?”

I
was still mad about the Anie thing. I loved Az but we had hurt each other so
many times it was hard to be around one another. Yet, I couldn’t stand being
away from him either. I knew we would never be able to go back to the way we
were, but I was hoping to find a new place to start with him. If, that is, we
could get over all of the shit that had happened and still was happening.

Az
seemed to let go of what I had said instead of getting pissed and just folded
his hands behind his head as I had seen him do a million times before.

“Do
what you need to. I’ll wait.” He looked totally at ease, while I was bursting
with energy.

He
had done this very thing for me numerous times. He would just sit and wait
until I had worked out whatever I needed to. This was my Az. This was the man I
had fallen in love with. I paced and tried working through some of what had
happened, although I was distracted by the Demon and his massive erection lying
in my bed. I decided to try and work through this with his help. I had never
done that before.

I
had always worked through most of my problems by myself. If they involved Az I
would always go to him with the problem but only extract facts from him. I
never thought to try and work on it with him. I guess even then I had been
trying to protect him in my own way. I wondered if he would take it for what it
was worth: a step in a new direction, a better direction.

“Do
you know what I’m turning into?”

I
knew he probably didn’t but it was a starting point.

“No.”
He looked confused.

“When
did the melting pot of supernaturals start following me?”

“Three
weeks before your 30
^th
birthday.”

I
had only been 30 for about ten days, so not long.

“So,
whatever is going on with me is age related. Oh – I forgot to tell you – Anie
cast a thread…”

He’d
know it was Kai without me having to say it. I could see his eyes start
glowing. He was really pissed.

Kai
and Az had never seen eye to eye. Not since Kai had made a pass at me while Az
and I were together working one night. And when I say “made a pass” I mean he
slipped his hand under my shirt and kissed the shit out of me. It pissed Az and
I both off, but Kai was just like that. A pain in the ass to the end. Az and I
both would like to grab his throat and shake him. His little kiss didn’t mean
he was attracted to me; he was most likely just stirring the pot. Which he had
successfully done.

While
I let that set in for Az I started pacing and talking aloud to myself.

“So,
what do we know about supes. I mean, I have to be a supe, right? What else
could see through their eyelids as well as time travel with a thought, or a
feeling or maybe it was just my voice that had really time traveled.”

Word
vomit. I had it again. I had it in spades.

But
it wasn’t Az’s hand that stopped my word vomit this time, it was the look on
his face. He was stock still and there was no sign of moving. I waived my hand
in front of his face to snap him out of it.

He
hopped off the bed and joined me in pacing the floor. I thought it was my turn
to be freaking out, but apparently not. We looked like two naked loons pacing
past each other. And, really, that’s what we were. Two of a kind.

“What
did you just say?” He asked me.

“I’ve
gotta be a supe, right?”

“You
time traveled by having an intense feeling?”

“Yes.
At least I think that’s what happened.”

Az
stopped moving and captured my eyes with his. He looked at me like he was
seeing me for the first time.

“Fuck.
Now the pieces fit.”

And
with that completely unenlightening information, Az was gone. The next time I
saw him I was going to kill him. He knew something and disappeared before I
could squeeze him for answers.

I
lay back in bed and covered myself up, feeling a lot colder than I had a few
minutes ago. I missed having a support system that I could rely on. Looked like
the only person I could rely on was me.

I
found myself hoping whole heartedly that Kai would get there soon and actually
answer some questions for me, instead of just creating more.

Just
as the thought had crossed my mind, there was a bright bundle of light that
floated down next to my bed. Damn Kai. Ask and you shall receive, I guess.