The Lost Saint (22 page)

62.5 HEARTBEATS LATER

Talbot kicked in the door, and the two of us burst through the doorway. A man and a woman, who had been sitting at a table playing cards, shouted when they saw us. A third man, who had been asleep on a couch, suddenly shot straight up, looking confused and feral. He lumbered toward us and took a wild swing at me. I easily deflected his blow and pushed him away.
The woman threw the table aside, accidentally knocking over her companion, and lunged at Talbot. Talbot punched her in the gut, and she stumbled back. She snarled and threw herself at him again.

The noxious demon smell in the room made me dizzy and nauseous. The feral man snarled at me. I assumed he was Gelal from his sour-milk stench. He threw another punch toward my face. I ducked and was about to sweep at his legs with a kick when I caught the glint of steel out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head toward the flash as Talbot swung his sword at the woman’s throat. It sank deep into her skin with the sound of a knife plunged into a watermelon—and, with a spray of blood, her head separated from her body.

Talbot had
cut off
her head!

I screamed. Like I didn’t know I was capable of screaming.
Talbot killed that woman!
I dry heaved, and I scrambled back away from her head as it rolled toward me, an expression of sheer surprise on the face.

What had just happened? What had Talbot done?

He killed her!

I didn’t know what I’d expected before we crashed in here. We’d subdue these criminals and leave them for the cops?

But not
murder
them!

The woman’s headless body took another step toward Talbot, then crumpled to the ground … and shattered
into dust before my very eyes. Her head disintegrated, too.

“What did you do?!” I screamed at Talbot.

And then I took a direct blow to the face from the Gelal.

I flew backward and slammed against a picture frame on the wall. I could feel the glass crunch against my shoulder and pain rip into my back. I dropped to my knees. I was stunned, the whole room swimming before my eyes, when the man lunged at me. His fingers elongated into pointed claws, aimed at my throat. Talbot flung his sword at the man. It skewered him through the back and out through his chest. Black ooze spurted from the wound and onto my face. It burned like acid on my skin, and I tried to wipe it away. The man fell over at my feet, clutching frantically at the sword sticking through his chest, but unable to do anything but slice open his own clawed hands.

“Oh, God.” I scrambled forward and reached out to help him.

“Don’t touch him!” Talbot shouted. He was now in a hand-to-hand struggle with the guy who had been at the table.

The man in front of me shook with agony and then suddenly went rigged. His stiff body rocked back and forth and then exploded into ooze. I jumped to the side just in time to miss the brunt of the burning acid.

I shook as I stumbled as far away from the sour-smelling
mess as I could get. I steadied myself against the banister of the stairs that led to the upper level. My breathing came too fast. My stomach lurched. I was about to lose the contents of it when somebody grabbed me from behind. My feet left the ground before I could even react, and whoever had grabbed me flung me toward the couch. I landed half on, half off it, but I had no time to move before someone jumped on top of me. A woman. With pink-and-black hair, and sharp, pointy teeth. She grabbed me by the throat.

Where had she even come from?

She must have been the one who’d been upstairs, I realized, which meant Jude wasn’t here at all.

“Don’t look her in the eyes!” I heard Talbot shout.

But it was too late. The woman had locked eyes with me, and I couldn’t shake the gaze of her coal-black irises. Couldn’t will myself to look away or close my eyelids. I could hear the woman chanting something—some other language—but her lips weren’t moving. I’d experienced this before, but I suddenly couldn’t remember how or when.

“Use your stake, Grace!” Talbot shouted. But he sounded so far away. “Use it, Grace. Kill her!”

You want to give me your stake
, the woman said without speaking.
Hand it to me. You know that’s what you want to do
.

I gripped the stake in my hand. I’d all but forgotten it was even there. A thick fog swirled in my brain,
and all I could think was that I didn’t want this terrible weapon. I couldn’t kill someone. I wasn’t a murderer. I wasn’t a monster. If the woman wanted the stake, she could have it.

I slowly lifted my arm and handed it to her.

She clutched it in her talonlike fingers and laughed.
I don’t know what Daniel sees in you
, she said inside my head.
You’re so weak-minded
.

What?
I tried to ask, but my lips wouldn’t move. How did she know Daniel’s name? How did she know who I was?

But maybe tonight he’ll be more fun to party with—
she lifted the stake above my heart—
now that you’re dead
. She thrust the stake at my chest.

But then she froze as if shocked by something. Her eyes rolled back in her head, breaking the trance she’d held me in. The fog in my mind cleared a bit, and I realized I did know her.

“Mishka?”

“Little bitch,” she said, and disintegrated right on top of me.

All that was left of her was a pile of dust. A broken chair leg fell from her back as she disappeared. It rolled off the couch and across the floor, stopping when it hit one of Talbot’s sneakers.

“You okay, kid?” he asked, and held out his hand to help me up.

I cowered from his touch and scrambled as far away
from him as I could on the couch while frantically brushing Mishka dust off my pants. “I … I … knew her,” I stammered. “And you killed her.” I turned my head from side to side, searching the room for life. It was empty except for two other piles of dust and a pool of acidic ooze that ate away at the carpet. My stomach lurched. I clutched at it with my hand. “You … You killed them all.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I do.” Talbot brushed his hand through his hair. He’d lost his baseball cap at some point during the fight. “What did you think, we were going to take them all out for ice cream and buy them puppies?”

“No. I thought … we’d deliver them to the police. But you
killed
them.” It didn’t make sense. I’d seen Talbot handle April’s silver bracelet without it burning his hand. I’d assumed he was just like me—an Urbat who had powers but who hadn’t fallen to the curse. A Hound of Heaven. But if this was the first time he’d killed somebody, shouldn’t he have changed into a wolf? Except … the way he’d handled that sword, this certainly wasn’t his first kill. There had been no hesitation there. “I don’t understand. A predatory act … if you kill a person, then …”

“These weren’t people, Grace. These were straight-up demons. The werewolf curse only affects you if you kill a
human
. The Urbat were created to kill demons. It’s what we do.”

“But you didn’t kill that one with the gun the other day.”

“I didn’t kill him in front of you because I didn’t know if you were ready for that. Apparently, you still aren’t. You’re far more green than I expected.”

“No. It’s just that I still don’t understand. My brother fell to the curse when he tried to kill Daniel—who was a werewolf at the time.…”

“Ah.” Talbot sat next to me on the couch. I scooted away from him, not sure if I knew who he was anymore. “You see, werewolves are
still
human. They still have a human heart that coexists with their demon one. That’s why killing a werewolf—with malicious intent—counts as a predatory act against a
human
. But true demons are different. Gelals just take on a human-looking appearance. They don’t actually have real bodies at all. And Akhs—a species of vampire—take up residence in dead human bodies. Think of them as a demon infestation of a dead human. That’s why they smell like rotting meat—at least to someone with a sensitive sense of smell.” He tapped the side of his nose. “It’s also why they turn to dust when they’re killed. The infestation rapidly speeds up the decomposition of the body, so they fall apart when the demon inside them dies.”

“Oh.”

My mind reeled. Dad had given me books about werewolves, but most of those books just contained myths, no real substantial information at all, and the idea of
battling a real demon had always been so far off—and seemed completely unreal—that I hadn’t bothered trying to learn much about the enemy. Talbot was right—I really was green.

And it had almost got me killed.

“Thank you for saving me. I would have just laid there and let her kill me.” I hugged my knees to my chest on the couch, feeling utterly useless. “I couldn’t help doing what she wanted.”

“Mind control,” Talbot said. “Just remember never to look an Akh in the eyes. That’s how they’re different from traditional vamps. Akhs are what you call psychic vampires. They feed on your life force, steal your free will. But Gelals and all vamps die the same way. Stake to the heart, or a good old-fashioned beheading.”

I shuddered, remembering the sight of the first woman’s head being severed from her body. “I was so shocked by everything, I completely forgot that there was one more of them in the house.”

“That’s my fault. I should have reminded you so you’d have been prepared. But let that be a lesson to the both of us, okay?” He smiled at me. “Rule number one: Never drop your guard.”

I half smiled, but then it turned to a frown. Daniel had said that same thing to me time and again. And I hated that I wouldn’t be able to tell him about what had happened today.

I’d have to lie to him.

The feeling of utter defeat settled on my shoulders as I surveyed the empty room again. “I just wish you hadn’t had to kill them all. I mean, we didn’t get to question any of them about Jude. If this is the gang he’s been hiding out with, then where the heck is he?”

“Jude was never here,” Talbot said. “These creatures were just amateurs. Copycats. They’re not the real Shadow Kings. The real gang would have never tripped the silent alarm at that pawnshop.”

I stood up and faced Talbot. My hands shook with anger. “Wait, you knew all along they weren’t the real gang?”

Talbot nodded.

“Then why did we come here?”

“Because this was a test, Grace. I needed to know if you were ready, and clearly you’re not. What you saw here, what happened in that alley on Monday, that was just child’s play compared to what we’ll eventually face. This little band of amateurs was only four strong. The real gang is probably five times as big.”

That thought sent chills down my spine. “So you knew Jude wasn’t here before we came busting in?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you say … Why did you make me think he was?”

“Because I needed to get you worked up enough to act. Your emotions—that’s where your power comes from.”

Talbot’s words confused me. “But that’s not what Daniel says. He always tells me to pull back when I get angry. He says the key to learning to use my powers is balance. He says I should never allow my emotions to get the better of me if I want to learn to use my powers without giving in to the wolf.”

“Then you should start asking yourself what reason Daniel has for holding you back.”

Heat flashed in my cheeks.
Talbot’s right
, a voice said inside my mind. Daniel did want to hold me back.

But that still didn’t mean Talbot was right and Daniel was wrong.

Talbot stood up so he was standing right in front of me, only a few inches separating us. He looked into my eyes with his piercing gaze. He reached out and touched my moonstone necklace. I wanted to flinch away from his touch, but I didn’t.

“You’ll never reach your full potential if you keep wearing this,” he said. “I ditched mine a long time ago.”

“You threw away your moonstone? Where’d you even get one? I thought they were rare.…”

“Old family heirloom. I’m better off without it.”

“But Gabriel says the moonstone is the only thing that keeps the wolf at bay. Gabriel—”

“Gabriel?” Talbot pulled his hand away from my necklace and stepped back. “You know Gabriel?”

“Yes.” Assuming he meant the same one. “Gabriel Saint Moon?”

Talbot let out a harsh laugh. “He calls himself Saint Moon now? That’s ironic.”

“You know about Gabriel and the Saint Moons?”

“Gabriel is a notorious coward.” Talbot spread his arms out at his sides. “And I
am
a Saint Moon.”

I almost gasped. “You are?”

“Or at least my mother was. She was a direct descendant of Katharine and Simon Saint Moon, the first werewolf hunter in my family. By the time my mom was born, the Saint Moons had supposedly retired from the demon-hunting gig, but both my parents were crypto-zoologists. They’d travel around researching local demon mythology—but I imagine they did a little slaying on the side when times called for it. That is, until they had me. They stopped traveling and settled down in a small town in Pennsylvania. The Saint Moons had a truce with Gabriel’s pack, which lived in the nearby mountains, but then, on my third birthday, my parents were slaughtered by a rogue band of werewolves from that pack—right in front of me.”