Hunter Moon (The Moon Series) (25 page)

Laila fired three shots, all aimed for the hunter’s center mass. Each bullet bounced off some kind of force field or something. Terrific. He had the demon protecting him too. She saw Lukas bring the rifle, the flintlock one, up to his eye and sight along it. At her. And if what Master Toshi said was true, his bullets never missed.

A black blur roared in her ear as it plowed into her, knocking her out of the clearing entirely, her gun flying from her hand. Laila tried to keep her eyes on the trajectory, tracking the special bullet. As she watched, everything slowed; she must have bitten her lip when Kess plowed into her. The bullet arced towards them, seeming to zero in on Laila.

And just as suddenly, it arced away, flying back towards the one who fired it. The bullet slammed into Lukas, the force sending the hunter staggering backwards just as Finn, Cormac, and Rafe ran into the clearing. They skidded to a halt, clearly unsure of where to go first.

Laila pushed the bulk that was Kess off of her. The leopard looked at her inquiringly, but moved away when it appeared Laila was mostly uninjured. Laila walked over to Lukas, who leaned against a tree, his arm held awkwardly across his chest, coughing up blood.

Zamiel was standing next to the boy suddenly; it surprised Laila how much like a boy Lukas looked now that he was dying. The demon spoke softly, so that only the three of them could hear. “Time’s up, Lukas.” He pointed at the watch that suddenly appeared on his wrist. Twelve o’clock straight up. Midnight. “Happy birthday.”

Lukas’ eyes were bright with pain, but they focused on the demon’s face. A look of confusion crossed his ashen face. “That last bullet…” he trailed off with a bloody cough.

“Ah yes. The bullet. You see it did as I said it would—my bullets always strike everything they are aimed at.” Zamiel smiled his switchblade smile. “You may have forgotten that the last bullet was mine to aim.” He brushed a bit of dirt from the lapel of his suit. “Sorry about that.”

Laila watched as Lukas sank to the ground. His face was bloodless, the moonlight making him look like a cadaver in the shadows of the tree. Then he smiled, the blood in and around his teeth making it a gruesome sight. The hunter began to laugh softly, even though it obviously pained him. He choked on it, then caught his breath and laughed some more.

“What’s so funny?” Laila asked, putting a hand on her hip. She wasn’t sure what she felt right now. She’d wanted to be the one to kill Lukas, but to do so now just didn’t seem right.

Lukas bombardier blue eyes met hers and he grinned wider. “It’s a shame it had to end.” He took a gasping breath. “I should have enjoyed hunting you.” His smile faded. “You would have been the ultimate trophy.”

“Son of a bitch,” she hissed. Laila wished for her gun, but she’d lost it when Kess plowed into her and she didn’t plan to go searching the underbrush for it right now. She pulled her sword from its sheath. “You’re so hot for demons? Why don’t you join them?” She raised the sword above her head.

And then Finn was there, placing himself directly between Laila’s sword and Lukas’ body. “Enough, Laila.”

Laila glared at him. Who was he to tell her when it was enough? It wasn’t his brother, not even his packmate who’d been hunted down, killed, and then stuffed like some kind of museum exhibit. How could he possibly know when enough had been reached? As far as Laila was concerned, they still weren’t even in spitting distance of enough.

“He’s right, Laila,” Cormac said.

“On the contrary, my dear,” Zamiel whispered in her ear, “I don’t think vengeance for your brother has been reached. Yet.” His breath was surprisingly sweet against her cheek. Laila wondered if anyone else could see the compelling demon at her shoulder. From the looks on their faces, she doubted it. But Lukas seemed to know Zamiel was there. He appeared to be listening to their conversation, if the look on his face was any indication.

Laila felt her control on the sword slipping. It dropped towards Finn’s unprotected head an inch, maybe two. She gritted her teeth. Something wasn’t right.

“Stop it,” she whispered, in a voice as quiet as snowfall. She wasn’t sure if she was speaking to Finn or Zamiel.

“Laila?” Finn asked tentatively.

“Put. It. Down!” A booming voice came from seemingly out of nowhere.

Everyone froze. Laila recognized the voice: Sebastian. He’d finally caught up with her.

Zamiel smiled at her, all teeth and no soul. “Say the word, Laila. Just say the word and I’ll take care of all of them. Then you and Lukas can take all night.”

“And then you can take my soul?” she murmured, staring at the demon’s teeth. Laila idly wondered if he popped the souls he collected between them like a grape.

“Not at all. Consider this one a freebie.” His smile grew wider, until it took up her entire world.

Laila heard the sounds of voices, but they sounded so very far away. She knew they were talking about her somehow, but she couldn’t explain the disconnect she felt from the here and now. All she knew was that something wasn’t right. She couldn’t think straight, not with that smile looming next to her, not with everything it promised.

“Think of everything I could offer you, Laila,” came the honeyed words pouring into her mind. “The world, power, money, status. Everything you could ever possibly want. All there for the taking. Just say the word.”

What did she want? She wasn’t sure anymore. She’d always wanted to be a Keeper, but she had that now. As a little girl, she’d dreamed of being inducted into the Anubis Knights, one of the elite, like Sebastian. She wasn’t sure if that would happen now, especially after she’d gone rogue. Her whole life had been about service to the Keepers and, through them, the jackal-god Anubis. Now what?

Laila wished her brother were here. She closed her eyes. More than anything that’s what she wanted. Anubis, she prayed silently, help me.

“Hey pest.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Laila opened her eyes and looked around. She was standing on a dock jutting into a sea of dark water. A black flat-bottomed barge floated at the end of dock, two ornate eyes painted in gold on either side at the front of it. The eyes of Osiris. A funeral barge. The sky above was grey, with no stars, and almost blended into the dark sea.

She tore her eyes away from the boat to look at the figure about midway up the dock. Her heart stopped beating, then started up again with a stutter. Laila blinked, feeling the tears come to her eyes, tears she hadn’t allowed to flow.

“Mebis!” she cried, launching herself at him at a dead run.

He caught her in arms that felt as real and as strong as ever. She buried her face in his shoulder, inhaling the scent of him. It was Mebis—he even smelled like him. She didn’t know how this was possible, but she held on tighter in case it all faded away.

Her brother lifted her off of her feet in an enormous hug. When he put her down, he wore a huge smile. “You’re real,” she said in wonder.

“Not quite,” he amended. “But here, I’m the closest thing I can get to it.”

Laila looked down at him. Both of his hands were whole. It was like the hyena bite had never happened. Her face fell. “You’re still dead.”

“Of course I am.” He shook his head. “Don’t be dim, Laila.”

“I just thought…” she trailed off, not even sure what she thought anymore.

“That if you just clapped your hands and believed hard enough, I’d come back?” Mebis tilted his head at her. “You know it doesn’t work like that.”

She aimed a smack at his head, which he dodged easily. “I know that! You don’t have to make it sound so stupid.”

He took her hand in his and walked farther down the dock. Closer to the funeral barge. “I don’t have a lot of time. But I wanted to see you again. To say goodbye.”

Laila felt the tears stream down her face and she didn’t try to hide them. She didn’t care who saw them in this dark place. She was losing her brother all over again. Mebis brushed the wet tracks away, pulling her into his shoulder as they walked.

“You’re at a crossroads, pest. I know my death has been hard on you, but that’s no reason to throw away everything you’ve worked for.”

“But he said,” Laila started, but Mebis cut her off.

“Do you really think that infernal scam artist could circumvent our master?” he asked, a slight smile on his face.

Laila didn’t answer. For a moment, just a moment, she’d wanted to believe it was true. If it meant having Mebis back, she’d believe anything.

He stopped walking, pulling her to a halt along with him. “Look, Laila. It was my time. Do I wish I had longer? Of course I do. Do I wish I could have done some things differently? Yes. But that’s the way the scales balanced. Anubis called me home and he’s waiting for me.”

“But the trophy,” Laila began, taking a step away from Mebis. “There was no service, no heart. I thought you’d be stuck, unable to move on. How?”

Mebis laughed, bright as a shooting star. “That’s just trappings and ritual. We don’t really need that stuff to be judged.” He flung a companionable arm around her shoulders. “I appreciate the effort, Laila, but that stuffed jackal is just that: a stuffed trophy. It’s not any part of the real me.” He looked down at her fondly. “You always were so literal.”

“Hey!” she said, elbowing him in the ribs.

He laughed again and she with him. Then he looked up at the barge. “It’s almost time for me to go.” Mebis took her upper arms in his hands, staring into her eyes. “I’m not allowed to say much, but I can tell you this: Anubis is watching you and he has plans for you.” He smiled broadly, his scar crinkling like it always did in life. “Make me proud.”

“Always,” she whispered, feeling the tears gathering again.

“No more of that,” Mebis admonished. “I love you, little sister.”

“I love you, big brother.”

“And let that guy Finn take care of you some. Now that I’m gone, you need someone to watch out for you.”

“Wait, you like Finn now?” Laila gave her brother a dubious look.

“No one will ever be good enough for you, sis. But he’s tolerable.” This was said with a grin.

“I’ll be sure to tell him of your glowing recommendation,” she smirked.

“You do that.” He leaned down until they were nose to nose. “Never forget who and what you are, Laila.”

Then he leaned forward and kissed her right above her eye, where the scar that marked her as Anubis’ began.

When Laila opened her eyes, the barge, the dock, and the water were all gone. She was back in the Everglades.

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Finn didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he knew he didn’t like their odds of getting out of this unscathed. First there was the hunter, who’d apparently been shot somehow while he’d been aiming for Laila. Then there was the tall, skinny dude with the painted-on suit who had suddenly appeared and was talking like a lawyer. And finally, as if they didn’t have enough going on, Sebastian finally grokked the plot and showed up being all Keeper-y.

Finn was going to need a flowchart to follow what exactly was going on and who was working for whom. But that could wait until later. He was worried about Laila.

She wasn’t in the best headspace. Finn knew that—he’d known that since she’d found out her brother died. But now she was standing here, holding a sword that looked more than capable of cutting an able-bodied man from crotch to crest, looking like she might carve up a guy who was already dying. And the skinny dude was acting like they’d met before. Finn wasn’t jealous by nature—honestly, he’d never had cause to be—but this guy filled him with every territorial and protective instinct he’d ever known.

Finn stood, blocking her strike at the hunter. Not that he wanted to help that guy; as far as Finn was concerned, he could go rot. But Finn knew that Laila wasn’t herself at the moment and he didn’t want her doing something that she’d regret. Especially with Sebastian there to witness it.

She was distracted, her attention pulled in too many places. Finn could see she wasn’t paying attention to him; it was almost as if she were listening to a voice only she could hear. He eyed the skinny guy who stood nearby, off to the side of Lukas and Laila, but close enough to still be a factor, unsure of where he fit into all of this.

As Finn watched, Laila blinked, almost as though she were coming back to herself. Where she might have gone mentally, he couldn’t say, but when she looked at him, she looked at him like the Laila he knew and loved—however unwisely.

Sebastian was ordering Laila to drop her weapon. He had dropped into a fighting stance. Kess had also positioned herself in a stalk, ready to attack the Anubis Knight if she needed to. Cormac was hunched, hesitating before transforming into a wolf. Rafe hung back, but Finn knew the kid could be counted on to throw in where he was needed if things came down to it.

Finn nearly swallowed his tongue when Laila winked at him. What the hell was she up to?

He watched in amazement as Laila spun in a tight arc, her sword swinging down, not on Lukas but on the tall man in the tight suit off to the side. Shock registered on the man’s face before he exploded into black sparks.