Heart of a Hunter (4 page)

“There’s a Christmas party tonight in Pasadena,” she said woodenly, swiping at her wet cheeks. “I’m going with Brandon and K.D. I guess this whole life that I know will be coming to an end, so I had better have a good time now.”

Strangely, Tagas’ eyes became shuttered, and he tensed. “Yes, I know all about that. Be wary tonight because a legion of demons know that you are now fully grown and will want to test the limits of your power. You need to protect yourself.” He grabbed a sheathed dagger from its hanging position on the wall and tossed it to her. “Use it if necessary. I’ll be close to you tonight as you enjoy yourself, so don’t worry too much. It’s about time you were tested by God, anyway.”

“Great,” she snapped. “First, He shackles me with this calling that’s costing me my whole life, then He wants to test me? What happened to a loving God?”

Tagas shrugged off her sudden outburst. “You were given not only incredible physical gifts, but He also blessed you with matching mental sharpness to figure your way out of anything. Sounds like love to me. Even angels question God, but like humans, we don’t always get the answers we want.”

As Tagas began grabbing up the arrows, the wheels in her mind were turning as she gave thoughtful consideration to his words.

****

“Selfie time!” K.D. shouted, smoothing down her wispy spikes of blonde hair.

The party was a full-on rager by nine that night, the throng of teens spilling forth from the downstairs rooms of the grand home in a posh area of Pasadena, out onto the backyard patio. Some of the upstairs rooms were also in use, occupied by those who didn’t want to be caught by the prying eyes of any number of cell phones. Everyone knew that photographic evidence and social media went hand in hand.

Elle’s mood had lightened as she arrived at the party with Brandon, who had graciously also given a ride to K.D. Everyone was dressed nearly identically in colorful festive sweaters and jeans. She laughed as if she had no concerns about her eventual future. “Brandon, get in here, too.” She waved him over from a conversation he was having with a guy friend. She turned to K.D. “Let’s keep quiet about Andy coming on to me with that whole limp dick thing. I cannot believe that he tried that.” She giggled. “Do I have sucker written on my forehead?”

K.D. nodded while applying a pink lipstick. “Your babe would totally freak if he knew.” She gave Elle a sly wink, smiling. “Here, let me rub that ‘sucker’ off your forehead.”

Brandon approached and sat next to Elle, wrapping an arm around her. “Someone said selfie? Let’s do this.” They arranged themselves, and K.D. snapped the picture with their big happy grins with her cell phone.

K.D. went very still. “I need another beer, but…what…” she said distractedly. Something outside had obviously caught her attention, and she stared for a long moment. “Wonder where that bright light across the street is coming from. Hope no one called the cops.”

A familiar hum of vibration began in Elle’s body, a once strange occurrence that she had become used to over the months during her training. She recognized it quickly. A portal had been opened not far from the house. She had watched as Tagas had opened plenty in their warehouse, giving her glimpses of other dimensions and, a few times, parts of Hell itself.
What’s Tagas doing over there? Something’s not right…

She pasted on a bright smile to mask her confusion. “Guys, I’m going to the restroom. Be right back.” She kissed Brandon’s cheek and left them on the sofa, striding in the direction of one of the downstairs bathrooms. She looked back to see Brandon and K.D. talking with a small group of teens. She swiftly moved through the front door of the house and across the massive lawn without being spotted, her hand instinctively wrapping around the sheathed dagger in the top of her jeans.

****

Cascadia slowly sauntered from the kitchen with a beer bottle in one hand, slowly sipping. She watched the teen party guests lounging on the black leather sofas and carpeted floor, all deeply involved in several different conversations going on at once. After this night, her guise of K.D., the loving bestie, would be no more, which suited her just fine. She hated the boyish, short blonde hair, she hated kids of all ages, and most of all she hated Heaven’s newest hunter, Elle Connor. Her lips twisted in a private, cruel smile as her eyes settled on Brandon.
It’s time to grow up, sweetie
…

She hummed a lilting tune and waved one hand back and forth gracefully. One by one, the teens throughout the house and on the back patio began to drop as heavily as ten pound bags of potatoes. Feeling free of her confining guise, she began to sing the same lilting tune with dark, hellish words until she was satisfied that every last one of them was unconscious and would remain that way for several hours. She had asked for their deaths, but Pyro had made it clear that it was to be death for only one, fearing severe repercussions from the heavens. She knew how to pick her battles carefully. Brandon was the only one still awake, but barely, just as she planned.

She stood over him, reaching down to tap his cheek as his head lolled and he struggled to keep his eyes open. She gave him a cheerful smile. “Brandon, all the hard liquor has hit everyone pretty hard. See? All passed out. We need to get outside on the patio to get some fresh air. We’ll wait for Elle out there, and then we’ll take off. I’ll drive us back, of course.”

Brandon’s speech was slurred, but he allowed her to help him up from the black leather sofa and out through the sliding glass door to the patio. She pushed him down on a lawn lounger and coolly surveyed her handiwork. More than twenty kids lay in varying sleep positions all around the immaculately green backyard, some even resting in the planters filled with colorful flowers.

As sinuously as a cat, Cascadia straddled Brandon as he lay on the lounger, his eyes squinting as he fought passing out. She leaned forward and licked his lips with her tongue, smiling craftily at his surprise.

“K.D….um, what…?” He tried to push her off and failed, his arms weak under the weight of her spell. “This…this is not a good idea. Elle and me…”

Cascadia’s mouth opened wide to reveal a set of sharp teeth, and she pulled off the beanie, dropping her guise fully with her red, wavy hair appearing. Her eyes glowed with a hellish emerald green fire. Brandon’s eyes went wide, and he began to weakly struggle against her weight on him. She rested her hands on his chest, drawing him in with her eyes.

“I just want a little taste of you. I promise I won’t tell Elle.” She leaned down and forced his mouth open wide. “And I promise you won’t tell her, either.” She locked her mouth on his, beginning to draw air and the life force from his body in deep, shuddering draws of breath.

****

Elle couldn’t quite believe what she saw. The portal was there in the neighbors’ back yard, just as she was sure it would be. Bright, deep crimson lights shot out from the open doorway to another dimension, and the heat was near searing. She stepped back, calling out for Tagas as she clutched her dagger. No response from him after several long moments brought her to the uncomfortable realization that her testing had begun. He clearly expected her to handle whoever came through the portal with deadly efficiency. She immediately went into fighting stance when a shadow emerged. In an instant, she recognized Pyro and raised the dagger.

Pyro raised his hands in mock surrender before clapping long and slow. “What a magnificent fighting bitch you have become, Ellie. I can see well shaped muscles on you that you probably didn’t even know you had before Tagas trained you. Strong but lean with a hint of womanly curves. Most impressive. I look forward to a confrontation with you in the future but not now.”

She stopped her approach abruptly. His use of her nickname threw her off her game for a few moments. “Get back in the portal. Now.” She raised the dagger, her expression stony as she walked toward him. He looked bored, and the expression pissed her off.

“Oh, you shouldn’t be concerned about me right now…Ellie.” He grabbed her and quickly spun her around, locking her neck in the grip of his forearm. “No, little one, you should be more worried about your boyfriend and your best friend. They really shouldn’t be alone together.” He laughed harshly in her ear.

Pyro abruptly freed her, turning sharply to dive into the open portal before it closed, leaving the back yard dark and quiet, with only the moonlight glowing. Her thoughts immediately went to Brandon and K.D., who would, no doubt, be his next targets. Elle took off running across the backyard and across the street back to the house.

The waves of sulfur heavy in the air hit her immediately as she came through the front door. Tagas had taught her that the stench usually signaled demonic activity in close proximity. She stepped cautiously through the living room, noting the fallen teens in different positions on the carpeted floor and sofas. She checked pulses on a few of them.
Some kind of deep sleeping thrall but at least they’re alive.
Brandon and K.D. became her prime concern, and she headed for the open sliding glass door that led to the patio.

The first thing she saw when she stepped outside would haunt her dreams for years to come, and her heart caught in her throat. Masses of wavy red hair completely covered his face, but she knew it was Brandon caught in an embrace with a demon. She had him pinned down by the shoulders with her mouth on his, making loud slurping sounds. She looked up, winking as she worked.

The face…the demon had K.D.’s face and clothing. Elle’s mind worked feverishly to put all the pieces together even as she quickly moved to shove the demon off Brandon. She grabbed her arm in a vise-like grip, pulled her off, and shoved her back roughly. The demon was licking her lips, savoring what she had stolen from Brandon.
She’s drained his life force, and oh my God, he’s going to die.

Elle immediately focused her attention on Brandon, cradling him in her arms as she fought tears. He was still warm but so far gone from the world by that point. Her heart knew he was gone, but she fervently hoped for God to have mercy and make a miracle happen. A hot rage filled her, and she looked up at the demon she had believed to be her human best friend.

“I thought you were my friend, K.D.” Elle’s lips twisted as she spit out the words. “This is a whole other side of you that I have never seen. Who are you? What’s your real name?”

The female demon fluffed her hair nonchalantly before answering after long tense moments. “I’m Cascadia, Ellie. Pyro assigned me the task of keeping you close, and I’m good at what I do. Poor thing, you never stood a chance in this game. I’m telling you this, so you don’t blame yourself too much for failing. You and that do-gooding, ass-kissing Tagas have been outmatched and outwitted from day one.” She laughed, exposing rows of pearly white fangs. “By the way, your boyfriend tasted delicious. I almost had an orgasm while I drained him.”

Elle snatched her dagger from the top of her jeans, eyes narrowed as she struggled to channel her rage into a clever attack. She needed a clear head for this fight. “You sucked the fucking life out of my boyfriend who never did anything wrong except choose to love me. You invaded my life at the most personal level and now you’re laughing. You bitch! Laughing in my face is the last thing on this earth you will ever do. I’m sending you straight back to Hell.”

Cascadia’s expression was feral as Elle launched her attack with the dagger. The demon nearly took the blade to her cheek but dodged swiftly, clawing Elle’s shoulder and leaving a gaping hole in her sweater. Elle rebounded from her misstep and quickly moved behind Cascadia, kicking her hard in the ass. The demon nearly went flying but stopped herself, facing Elle with an angry growl.

Elle lashed out with the dagger with neat, controlled thrusts until she had backed Cascadia into a corner of the patio garden. The demon stepped onto a planter and launched herself at Elle full force, knocking the dagger from her hand. It fell to the ground between them, but Elle put her foot on it before the demon could grab it.

She caught Cascadia viciously on the chin with her knee, knocking her on her ass. Elle didn’t stop there, punching the demon in her face with full force again and again. Her rage fueled her attack, and she fought hard to make sure the demon bitch couldn’t form a counter-attack. In the next moment, she felt a familiar thrumming sensation all over.

Tagas stepped from the shadows of the backyard just as another unholy portal exploded open. Cascadia took advantage of the pause in Elle’s attack and pushed her off, running to the doorway between dimensions that had been opened. Pyro stepped through long enough to grab Cascadia to safety.

Pyro’s laugh was harsh as Tagas stood next to Elle, and he gave a careless wave. “No one has beaten my hell-bitch in a fight in decades. Splendid, hunter! I absolutely cannot wait for our eventual confrontation, Elle.” He looked down at Cascadia shooting a venomous glare at them both. “Farewell for the moment, hunter. You understand we demons have other matters to attend to. Besides, we just came for the, um, food.” He gestured at Brandon’s lifeless body.

Elle screamed her anger and lunged at them as the portal began to close, the deep crimson lights gradually receding until the rip was gone, leaving the backyard dark and peaceful. Tagas held her as her knees sagged and tears flowed under the weight of her devastating grief.

“Don’t worry about me cleaning up this mess, don’t even think right now. Just release it all, young Elle.”

He held her tightly in comfort for long moments in the darkness, the moon and the stars in the clear night sky their only witnesses.

****