Demon Hunters 2: Retribution (Stand Alone Series) (Demon Hunters.) (3 page)

Scarlett nodded reluctantly. She glanced at the time on her phone. She had fifteen minutes before Des was back. She started with the demon appearing in her car, told about accidentally agreeing to exchange information with him, how she’d sent another minor demon back to hell and her weakness at the public phone where she’d ended up owing a third question to Des. Part way through her story, she noticed Des sitting on the bonnet of her car. After the first glance at him, she refused to look again.

“So if you had an hour’s peace, then shouldn’t he be back by now?” Blake asked.

Scarlett automatically looked towards her car where Des now leaned against her windscreen, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the stars that dotted the night sky.

Blake turned to see what drew Scarlett’s attention. “Is that him?”

“But that’s a man,” Alyssa exclaimed.

Scarlett nodded. “Yeah.”

“Come on then.” Blake rose to his feet. “I haven’t made any deals with him.”

Scarlett and Alyssa rose to their feet and walked one on each side of Blake. Des continued to relax on the bonnet of the car, even when they stood near him. A look of amusement caused his lips to curve slightly.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding,” Alyssa said to Scarlett.

“Allie,” Scarlett groaned.

Alyssa laughed. “Did you deliberately choose the face of an angel, Des? Or is that the face you’re stuck with here on Earth?”

“Allie Cat.” There was a warning in Blake’s voice.

“I’m sorry, but well, he doesn’t look anything like a demon,” Alyssa said.

“Neither does Nathan,” Blake said.

Alyssa’s hands went to her hips. “Gee thanks, Blake. Way to ruin my night.”

Scarlett could empathise with that feeling. Nathan had kidnapped Alyssa and tried to use her as a human sacrifice for Retribution. And now Retribution was after her. It didn’t make sense.

“Demons are more dangerous than any human. I just want you to remember that.” Blake reached out and tugged on Alyssa’s crimson lock of hair before he turned to face Des. “I want to make it clear I’m not interested in making any deals, taking up any offers or anything else you might be hawking. I’m declining all of them now, no matter what you say or how you word it. There’s nothing you have that I want and I have nothing I am willing to give you.”

“A thorough man. Interesting.” Des continued to recline on the car.

“What do you want with my cousin?” Blake demanded.

“Seems like you do want something from me. Answers,” Des said.

“I’m trying to see if there’s any way I can resolve this standoff.”

“Are you speaking on behalf of your cousin then?”

No,” Blake and Scarlett answered together.

Des laughed. “You must admit it was worth a try.”

“Forget for a moment you’re a demon and talk straight with us. What do you want, Des?” Blake asked.

“I’ve already explained to Scarlett. I wish her to make me cease to exist.”

“You can’t seriously expect us to believe that. You’re a demon. Why would you want to die when you can live for an eternity?” Blake asked.

“Not die. Cease to exist. There’s a small chance I will exist again one day in the future. Slim, but worth the gamble.” Des turned his dark eyes on Alyssa. “Would you wish Retribution on anyone?”

Alyssa shuddered. “No.”

“I face an age of Retribution’s tender loving care if I don’t answer his call. You think all demons are the same. We’re not. I don’t gain pleasure from torturing other people. The kind of demon I am is focused on different pleasures. It’s not that I won’t be able to live with myself if I do torture Scarlett, it’s that I won’t be myself. And I’ve rather gotten used to me. I don’t want to change. I’m actually quite averse to change.”

“Wouldn’t ceasing to exist be a really large change?” Blake asked.

“How can you change something if there is nothing there to change?”

“That sounds like a demon comment to me,” Scarlett said. “I thought you were going to talk straight with us.”

Des grinned. “I never agreed to anything. What you assume is your problem.”

“Why do you have to play these stupid games?” Allie asked. “How can we help you if you’re going to keep doing this?”

“No demon would ever give up any of their power or put themselves at a disadvantage, weakening themselves,” Des said.

“Does it have to be Scarlett who unmakes you?” Blake asked.

Des shook his head. “No. I knew asking her was a long shot. She’s very much by the book. All demons say she sees things in black and white with no shades of grey. But she’s the target. I thought it might make a difference.”

“I-” Scarlett began.

“I keep telling you it’s not murder. It would only be murder if a death was involved,” Des said.

“Do you know what’s involved in making you cease to exist?” Blake asked.

Des shook his head. “No. I was hoping you’d be able to figure it out. There are stories about a Hunter who once unmade a demon.”

“Hunter as in-”

“Scarlett!” Blake said in warning.

Scarlett frowned. “You should be more specific when you use the word hunter since you could be talking about a relative of mine or using it in the accepted dictionary way.” She shook her head. “You’re making it very difficult for me to help you, Des.”

Des grinned. “I thought you hunters liked a challenge.”

“Are you talking about a relative of ours?” Blake asked.

“Yes. But that’s all the information I could get. I don’t know the name, or even the year.”

Scarlett ran her fingers through her hair and sighed heavily. “You can’t imagine how many books our family have written, including diaries and handwritten manuals from centuries ago. This is an impossible task. And you haven’t even said when you’ll be asked to hunt me.” Scarlett glared at Des when he remained quiet. “Arghh!”

“He’s a bit annoying, isn’t he?” Alyssa said. “Makes it easier to think of him as a demon.”

Des leaned forward to sit crossed legged on the bonnet. “I can’t give you a time. All I know is someone will receive a call when they’re with Scarlett to say Nathan has slipped surveillance. It will occur about six hours after that event. Give or take a few minutes.”

“Then we’ll change things.” Blake pulled out his phone. “Gran… yeah, she’s with me… a little problem, well it’s little for the moment… later Gran. I need you to increase the surveillance on Nathan… major disaster if he slips it…. I don’t have all the details and what I do have is unreliable.” Blake turned away from Des when the demon rolled his eyes.

“What is it with you lot? You want me to swear an oath that I speak the truth?” Des muttered.

“Demon, Gran… Sure.” Blake held the phone out to Des. “My grandmother would like to talk to you.”

Des took the phone. “Venerable one of the Hunters, how are you this lovely summer evening?” Des laughed after he had listened for a few seconds. “About sixty years ago, are you still as lovely?” Des chuckled.

“He’s flirting with Gran,” Scarlett said in shock.

“What can you expect? That does go hand in hand with his sin,” Blake said.

“Yeah, but Gran!”

“Shh! Listen,” Blake said.

“I would be delighted to visit with you again, my lady,” Des said.

“No!” Scarlett shook her head. “I’m not taking him home.”

Blake took his phone when Des handed it to him and listened for a few seconds. “I hope you know what you’re doing Gran… I’ll see you shortly.”

“Blake-” Scarlett began.

“Gran has spoken.” Blake slid his phone in his pocket.

“But a demon?” Scarlett glanced towards Des. “And I wasn’t talking to you, that was addressed to Blake so don’t even think about answering it.”

Blake rested his hands on Scarlett’s shoulders. “Shh. Gran wants to speak with him. He’s not being invited into our home. I doubt he’d be able to enter. Do you want to drop your car at my house and I’ll drive you to Gran’s or are you up to driving?”

Scarlett took a deep, shuddering breath. How had everything gone so wrong so quickly? “I’ll drive.”

“Good. And just remember, we’re meant to pray for your soul sometime tonight so Allie doesn’t have to lie to her parents,” Blake said.

Scarlett glanced towards Des and smiled before she turned back to Blake. “How about now?”

Blake laughed. “Very mean, Scarlett. Okay, why not? I’m sure he knows better than to stick around.”

Des vanished the moment they began to pray and didn’t appear again until Scarlett was in her car and nearly at her Gran’s house. Other than a quick glance in his direction, she ignored him.

Scarlett pulled up in front of closed double garage doors and Blake parked beside her. She looked at the spacious house caught in her headlights, the timber painted in neutral creams and browns. The gardens were lit with strategically placed lights to highlight the mass of flowering plants and shrubs. She turned off the headlights and sat in the darkness of her car.

She wanted to ask Des to leave her family alone and not to trick them or harm them. But she was having trouble thinking of a way to word such a request without it being a demand or a question.

“I know you’re a demon, but I want you to remember that you’re here because we’re trying to help you. I would appreciate… it would… argh. Just treat my family decent,” she ended in frustration.

Des laughed. “I really should be offended by that comment. But I’m too amused by the effort it took for you to get nowhere with your non-question.”

Scarlett threw her door open, grabbed her sword and slammed the door shut behind her. She walked around her car to join Blake and Alyssa near the front door. Blake rested his hand on her shoulder momentarily.

“I’m fine.” Scarlett sighed heavily. “Well, I will be.”

The front door opened and Alex stepped out. “Gran’s waiting for you around the back in the gazebo.” He glanced towards the demon. “She wants you to bring him around too.”

Scarlett saw the anger in her brother’s dark brown eyes, the same eyes she saw every time she looked in a mirror. His hair, the same shade as his eyes, was cut short, almost shaved. He had a square jaw, sharp cheekbones and a solemn look. At six foot, and broad shouldered, he stood out in any crowd. And unlike his cousin, most people never noticed the thin lines that snaked around his wrist three times.

Scarlett reached out with her left hand and clasped Alex’s forearm so her wrist was against his. “She’s never steered us wrong yet.”

Alex nodded before he led the way around the side of the house, following a well-lit path. The gazebo was draped in a flowering, scented vine, the smell heavy on the warm air. There were two people waiting in the gazebo. Gran and Riley.

Riley rose to his feet and came forward to meet them. His usual smile was missing as he reached out to clasp left hands with Scarlett. He glanced towards Des, no word of greeting for him. He had sandy blond hair, short at the back and sides with a little more length at the front, warm brown eyes and a silver stud in the shape of a cross in one ear. Light caught the cross at his neck.

Scarlett walked over to her grandmother and stood in front of her, Des on her left, her family behind her. “Hello, Gran.”

“There’s no need to look at me like I’ve lost my mind, child.” Gran’s voice was strong, her hazel eyes ageless. She rose to her feet, the light highlighting her face, which was lined and full of hollows. Her grey hair was pulled back and plaited to just past her shoulders and her demon mark travelled nearly to her shoulder. The same thin line evenly spaced, even with the wrinkles and skin that sagged in places. She offered her cheek for Scarlett to kiss.

Scarlett dutifully kissed her grandmother. “Gran, he’s a demon.”

“He’s asked for our help,” Gran replied.

“But-”

“Enough, Scarlett. He’s a creature in trouble. It’s unchristian of you to turn your back on him.”

At her grandmother’s words, Scarlett looked at the timber floor and tried hard not to argue against them. Gran’s gaze momentarily felt like a weight on her.

Gran waved to the cushioned seats built into the perimeter of the gazebo. “Sit down. No need for you all to hover.”

They all sat down. Alex on Gran’s left, Alyssa next to Blake near the entrance, Riley near Alex and Des reclined on Gran’s right. Scarlett sat beside Des to keep a wary eye on him.

“Explain to me what the problem is,” Gran ordered Des. Once he’d told her all he’d said to Scarlett, Blake and Alyssa earlier, she stared at him thoughtfully as her fingers played with the cross that hung at her neck on a dainty gold chain.

“It’s been a few years, Lady Hunter.” Des smiled slowly at Gran. “The decades have been gentle on you.”

“How old were you when you first met Des, Gran?” Scarlett asked.

“Really, Scarlett. I didn’t come down in the last shower.” Gran shook her head.

Blake laughed. “You’ll never trick her into telling you her age.”

Des leaned closer to Scarlett. “But there are other ways to find out.”

She ignored his bone-melting smile and turned back to Gran. “Have you heard of the ancestor who unmade a demon?”

Gran shook her head. “It has to have been at least a hundred years ago.”

“Is that because it wasn’t in your lifetime, Gran?” Scarlett tried again. The familiarity of the ritual was comfortable. She needed all the comfort she could find.

“Nor the years before I was born.”

Scarlett sighed. Even the game to guess Gran’s age failed to improve her humour. She glared at Des. There was only one way to do that. “Then what are we supposed to do? Read every book?”

Gran rose to her feet. “Yes. You had better get started. There are a lot of centuries to cover. I’ll call in more of the family.” She looked over at Des. “I’m glad to see you haven’t changed either, Desire. You spoke truth back then, I pray you do today and are here to help, not harm my family.”

“You have my oath I will not harm any of your family while you have Nathan under surveillance.”

“Fair enough.” Gran held out her hand and Des rose to take it. They stared solemnly at each other until Gran turned and walked down the path that led to the back door of the house. Des reclined on the seat again.

Alyssa checked the time on her mobile phone. “Can I take some books with me? I want to help, but I have to get home. I swear being grounded at eighteen is beyond ridiculous.” When Blake was about to speak, Alyssa said, “I know, I know. I’m trying. But I think you’re expecting a miracle. My parents only know one way to treat me and that’s as a child. Oh well, guess you better take me back to my prison cell.” She grinned. “And do you think you can spring me again tomorrow? My parents think you’re a good influence on me.”

Riley made a sorrowful sound. “Those poor misguided souls.” He winked at Alyssa.

Alex stood. “I’ll get a couple of reproductions you can take with you.”

“Thanks.” Alyssa rose to her feet, tugged Blake up and followed Alex.

Des continued to recline on the seat. “Almost alone again.”

“Dream on.” Scarlett leapt to her feet and hurried out of the gazebo. But not quickly enough that she could miss hearing Des’ reply.

“Would you like me to tell you some of my dreams?”

Riley followed Scarlett into the house. “You’re the last person I’d have thought to be tangled with a demon. If someone had asked me who I thought most likely, I’d have told them me.”

Scarlett leaned her sword against the wall near the back door. “I’m so glad I can make you feel better about yourself.”

“This might even eclipse anything Gran might hear at church on Sunday,” Riley said.

“What have you done? Actually, come to think of it, what are you doing home? Aren’t you meant to be at a movie with… oh, whatever her name is?”

“Whatever her name would get along fine with your demon,” Riley said.

“He’s not my demon.”

“Yes well, he’s still welcome to Sharon. That demure look and sweet personality we see every Sunday at church hides a temptress.”

“Oh no. What happened?”

“Well, I don’t know if I should say thankfully her parents came home or curse that they came home and are now going to tell Gran all about my corrupting influence on their daughter at church on Sunday.”

Scarlett reached out and took Riley’s hand in both of hers. “Tell her now, Riley. Arm her with the truth so she can deal with them. Gran will stand by you.”

Riley sighed. “Yeah, I know. It’s just that look she gives you when you know you’ve disappointed her that bothers me. It makes me feel like I’m ten-years-old.”

“Tell me about it. I’ve still got it to look forward to when she gets me alone.”

“Maybe we should stick together like glue until someone else disappoints her so we don’t get to see it.” Riley grinned.

“You want me there when you explain to Gran what you and Sharon were doing when her parents arrived home?”

Riley laughed. “Good point. Guess I should get it over and done with.”

“And I suppose I better start reading.” Scarlett sighed heavily. “Do you think it’s safe to leave him out there?”

Riley shrugged. “Safe for who?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should read in the gazebo. Keep an eye on him so he doesn’t disturb the neighbours or something.”

Riley shrugged again. “We’re never taught about helping demons and letting them hang around like guests. Only how to send them home. Your guess is as good as mine on what to do with him.”

“Then I probably should read out there. I suppose he is my responsibility.”