Demon Hunter (The Collegium Book 1) (13 page)

Steve gutted the demon’s fiery body, stabbing it with Fay’s knife, cutting hard enough to rip a dozen universes apart, and sent the damned creature screaming back to hell. Steve had been fast, as fast as only leopard reflexes could be, but Fay had been faster.

“Stubborn, brave woman.” He picked her up from the scorched floor and stood, cradling her in his arms.

She made him happy. Happy in ways she hadn’t even guessed. He’d admired her for years, claimed her as friend, and nearly lost his mind when she’d taken him as lover. He hadn’t meant to ever let her go—no matter what his grandfather said, what the world said, whatever the hell happened.

But she had taken that choice from him. She had died for strangers.

She had left him.

He howled, a long eerie cry of a hunting cat. He wanted to tear the Collegium apart for taking her from him. If it didn’t mean letting her go, he’d do it, too.

The door to Richard’s office opened and the man who should have been Fay’s father, her protector, the man who should have fixed this whole damn mess before it started, walked out.

Steve snarled.

“I hold her,” Richard said.

Steve stepped back, angling Fay’s body away from her father. “You destroyed her.”

“No.” Lewis approached carefully, evidently aware of Steve’s need to kill something. One demon wasn’t enough. “He says he holds her. Richard holds Fay’s lifeline. Mages can, for family.”

“For blood,” Richard said. He looked at his daughter. “You’re right. I destroyed her. I let myself be compromised.” His expression was ravaged. “But even when I didn’t understand, when I didn’t know what was happening, even when I failed everyone else—I never let the demon touch her.”

Richard opened his hand and a ball of golden light glowed. Like a conjuror he rolled it to his fingertips and pressed it to Fay’s forehead.

The light glowed brighter, brighter, and vanished.

Fay opened her eyes.

Fay opened her eyes and saw her dad standing there. But only for an instant, and then, Steve was kissing her and she was kissing him, and she was lost and found, and alive!

The demon was gone. She felt it in the freedom and lightness of the atmosphere. She and Steve had won, working together.

“Never again,” he said roughly against her mouth. “We’re never doing that again.
You’re
never doing that again. I won’t lose you.”

A shriek of rage interrupted them. Nancy beat her cuffed hands against the desk. “Gone. It’s all gone. He’s gone. I’m the one who’s lost everything.” The cuffs cut into her skin, blood beginning to drip. “I have nothing. I have
nothing
!”

Richard caught her hands, halting the self-harm.

She hit him then, slapping his chest, becoming hysterical so that he locked her in his arms and forced stillness on her.

“Put me down,” Fay said quietly to Steve. The demon was gone, but not the heartache and devastation it left behind.

He set her on her feet but kept her locked against him, her back to his chest, his strength surrounding her.

“I resign,” Richard said.

Fay looked at her father, really looked. He was the man who’d lost everything: family, respect, and his position in the world. She’d felt the moment he placed the kernel of her life force—that he’d held safe through the years, the tie that was just theirs—against her forehead and brought her back. He had lost so much, but she’d gained something today. As fraught as their relationship had become, he was her father and he loved her. “Where will you go?”

Richard shrugged. “I’ll stay for the inquiry the Collegium will need to hold, and then, there’s always a need for magic somewhere.”

“You’re a fool,” Nancy said.

“Yes. I trusted where I shouldn’t, and became obsessed with my own power. If I had let others in, the demon’s influence wouldn’t have been so absolute. But you helped with that, didn’t you, Nancy? You helped to isolate me.”

It was true. His trusted secretary hadn’t mediated between the President and the Collegium. She had split the two.

“And all for power,” Fay said aloud. For power, Nancy had summoned a demon and unleashed this nightmare. And the demon had played. It had used the Collegium to collect other demons, ones bound by humans, to act as its own slaves.

There would be a merry time in hell for it, and Fay was glad.

The decision as to Nancy’s punishment wouldn’t be so simple, but at a minimum they’d have to take her magic from her so that she could never summon another demon.

Fay looked at Lewis, standing silent to the side. It would be his decision. Had he realized? “Lewis, you’ll have to be the next president.”

He jerked, head swinging from studying Nancy to frown at Fay. “I have no magic.”

“Exactly,” Steve said.

“Devil’s balls,” Lewis swore.

Fay was sympathetic, but realistic. “The senior members actually listen to you, and for a while, everyone will need the reassurance that with your burnt out powers you can’t use their oath-ties to the Collegium against them.”

“As I did,” Richard said. “For myself and for the demon’s entertainment.” He released Nancy who had stopped struggling and now stood in a stillness evocative of despair, her head bent. He stepped back from her. “At least my stubbornness helped in one way. I was so determined that no one would get me out of the presidential office that I refused to open the door to Nancy’s demands. Then by the time I realized the demon was there, I understood the cascade of consequences my pride had allowed. I knew I had to stay in the office and not make the situation worse. But now I can go. Sorry, Lewis. Fay.”

Impulsively she grabbed her dad’s hand. They stared at each other because there were no words. She’d come to challenge him and remove him from office. He’d saved her life.

He nodded once, uncomfortably, and walked out.

Steve put his cheek against her hair, offering comfort. “There’ll be time, later, to build a new relationship.”

“Yes.” She turned in his embrace and hugged him.

He addressed Lewis. “We’re going. Fay’s wiped. I’m taking her home.”

“I’ll need Fay’s report, tomorrow.”

“You’ll have it.”

“Fay.” Lewis’s voice halted them as they walked out. “Thanks.”

She glanced back over her shoulder.

Nancy had slumped into a chair. Whatever had animated the woman, whatever metaphorical demons had driven her, she’d broken.

“Fix things, Lewis,” Fay said. “That’ll be harder than anything I did.”

They left, with Steve phoning a were friend to come and drive them home. “Because you’re in no state to take the subway and my leopard couldn’t cope with that many people.”

Bad enough was the horde of people waiting in the Collegium foyer when the elevator doors opened.

“Go up,” Steve said when they shouted questions at Fay. “Lewis will tell you what happened.” And in a low voice. “Poor bastard.”

The crowd surged and rushed the elevators and stairs. Richard must have taken another way out, or he’d have been caught earlier in the crush of curiosity. Steve pulled Fay free of it, his sub-vocal growl undoubtedly triggering atavistic wariness in the others and keeping a small clear space around them.

It made Fay feel safe.

In the car, she borrowed Steve’s phone to contact Yolanthe. She was too tired to risk portal travel, but her mom needed to know she was okay. The conversation was short and vague with Steve’s friend listening. “We’ll visit as soon as we can. Yes. I love you too, Mom.”

Steve smiled at Fay as she handed him back his phone. “Love you too, Fay.”

She gave him an uncharacteristically shaky, tears-threatening, smile.

He unbuckled her seatbelt and hauled her into his arms. “Always, Fay. Forever.”

They barely made it into the penthouse before stripping off their clothes.

She needed him. Craved him. And told him. She begged him; no longer needing to be brave or independent. “Make me forget everything. Make me know I’m alive.”

His kisses were feral, almost biting. “You are, Fay. You’re with me.”

The back of her knees hit the wide, low sofa and she let herself fall, trusting in his hold to keep her safe as he twisted her sideways, along the length of the sofa.

He parted her legs, calloused fingers sliding tenderly against her soft skin, but not disguising his urgency. She arched up as his fingers found her and slicked against her flesh.

“Fay.” A growl, so full of possession and hunger. And then he was there, thrusting into her, giving her his weight and his strength and all the power of loving.

They lay like that, wrapped in each other, as the aftershocks rippled through them. She pressed her lips to his throat, open-mouthed, tasting the flavor of him. His larynx vibrated and she smiled. “You’re purring.”

His hand swiped lazily down her body. “Mmm-hmm.”

She wriggled and his purr increased. She laughed. “That is so sexy.”

He caught her chin and angled her mouth for a kiss from which she emerged breathless. He smiled, feline satisfaction glinting in his gorgeous hazel eyes. “Now, let’s see what makes you purr.”

If you enjoyed
Demon Hunter
, you’ll love my two paranormal romance collections,
Indulge
and
Dare
. And meantime, I’ll work on the sequel to
Demon Hunter
. I think we all want to know what Steve’s story is—and I can’t wait to share his Cyprus home with you.

You can find a list of my other books on
my Amazon page
, and while you’re there, click “
Add Favorite
” and Amazon will notify you of my new releases.

Happy reading!

Jenny