21 Shades of Night, page 303
“Nest?”
Keir maintains his surveillance. “Vampires.”
“Oh. I’ve never met one. I was warned to keep away though…”
Keir chuckles. “One of the oldest kinds of demon tracked, and definitely not as strong as my kind. You must have come across vampires?”
“Nope, never sent after one.”
“And they sent you after a Nephilim!” He rolls his eyes in an exaggerated manner. “What were they thinking?”
“Shh.” I laugh and poke him.
“Well, now’s your chance to meet one of the charmers.”
Soul hunters are warned never to approach them. These creatures are a different kind of demon, a race of their own and not a creation by the Demon Lords. They’re stronger and are rarely beaten; the poisonous death I’d face would be excruciating.
Not good.
We cross the road, approaching around the side of the house, away from the streetlights. Keir’s shoes crunch on the ground and he pauses, listening. Nothing. He raises a hand indicating I should stay here and moves silently toward an unlit, grimy window. He peers through before turning back and shaking his head.
“Where did they go?” I whisper as he returns.
He points downwards. “In the basement. I’m not sure if there are others down there though.”
We move to the back of the house, and I strain to hear, unable to pick up any sound. Keir’s eyes are closed, sensing more than me.
“There’re three of them; normally there’re more. The others must be out hunting.” He grins, eyes bright in the darkness. “Killing three will be a good start.”
“Three? There’re two of us.”
“They’re no match for a Nephilim and a soul hunter.”
I make a soft sound of disbelief. In the last few weeks, we’ve taken down pairs of demons together. But three vampires?
“We’ll be fine,” he replies. “We’ll just take them by surprise.”
“How?”
“You knock on the door.”
“Do what?”
“Do your sexy Ava thing… get them out of the basement and into the house.”
I fight a smile as he gestures towards the front door.
Cracked paving leads to the door, and I knock. A light flicks on inside, and voices murmur. The door swings open, and a tall guy regards me with brown eyes almost black, eyebrows drawn together in suspicion.
“Hi,” I say and flash my biggest smile.
He rests his arm against the door so I can’t pass and I wrinkle my nose. He smells odd. Acrid. Dangerous. “Yes?”
“Sorry, just wondering if you’ve seen my dog?”
“Dog?”
“Yeah, four legged animal, goes woof.”
The confusion on the demon’s face detracts from his tough-guy-in-a-leather-jacket image, but he quickly composes himself.
“No, sorry.”
He begins to close the door and I stick my foot in the gap before the door closes completely. “It’s just he’s so little, and I’m scared something might hurt him if he’s alone in the dark all night.” I lower my voice and lean closer, holding my breath. “Did you know they kidnap dogs? For dog fighting? I’m so worried about my Troy.”
“Troy?”
“My tiny poodle. He might be scared and hidden in your garden—or basement. Do you have a basement?” I peer around him and twirl a finger into my ponytail.
“Umm.”
Obviously vampires are stupid.
“What’s going on, Marius?” asks a gruff voice.
“Girl here. Lost her dog.”
A second vampire walks up and stands shoulder to shoulder with the first. They’re similar looking, pale skinned, slicked black hair.
“What dog?”
“Troy.” I bite my lip in an attempt to look as stupid as them. “Is there any chance he’s inside your house? He doesn’t like being outside and I’ve asked the other neighbours.”
The two glance at each other.
“Sure, take a look,” drawls the second vampire, “Come on in, sweetheart. Let me fix you a drink.”
I smile coyly. “Oh, that’s so kind, thank you.”
In the empty house, a bare bulb hangs from a white wire, no shade. The light illuminates stained beige carpets and bare walls. As I pass rooms, I peek inside. All empty; no curtains at the windows and boxes stacked in the corner of one room.
“Just moved to the neighbourhood?” I ask.
“No, we’re moving out soon.”
The vampires head toward the back of the house, where a light filters through an open doorway and behind stairs run into the basement. The second vampire disappears down them.
Something moves in the shadows at the edge of my vision. Keir waits in a room to my left. I glance at the vampire in front of me, adrenaline building. Don’t let him see Keir.
“Oh, I thought I heard something in here.” I indicate the room Keir hides in.
Marius cocks his head to one side. “You smell funny.”
“Excuse me?”
He steps forward, his dull brown eyes narrow as he sniffs. I step back into the room. “Do you often go around sniffing people? That’s not very polite.”
“What are you?” he growls and extends long, white fingers toward my neck.
Shit.
I duck under him, grab his neck, pull him into a headlock, and spin him around. He opens his mouth to yell out as Keir steps out of the shadows, holding a stake, the point against the vampire’s chest. Keir put his hand over the struggling vampire’s mouth, and I tighten my arm across its neck.
“She’s a soul hunter. I’m Keir, and you just lost,” he whispers in the vampire’s face.
Keir nods at me and I shove the creature violently forward, into the wooden stake. Without a sound, the body crumples to the floor. In seconds, the soul pours out of the vampire’s open mouth, toward the window. I swallow. Each time a soul leaves unhindered a sharp reminder jabs, as Darius’s face appears in my mind.
“Come on, two more to go.” Keir pulls at my arm. “The other went downstairs, right?”
Holy crap. The vampire disintegrates and a pile of ash lays on the dirty carpet. Since when did…
“Ava!”
Snapping out of my surprise, I follow Keir back out of the room, and we creep along the hallway. He pauses at the top of the stairs, listening. “Okay, there’s only two left. Good. I’ll get the closest one and you grab the other.”
“Sure.”
I cover my nose with an arm as we head down the stairs, the odour from their den more pungent than any vampire. A single bulb lights the room, three dirty mattresses strewn across the floor, and the walls stained with something red. My stomach twists… blood? The vampire who answered the door faces away and a second lies on his side on one of the mattresses. Another male, skinnier and scruffier than his associates.
“Easy…” whispers Keir and grins as he lifts the stake.
“Yeah?” The first vampire turns round, shooting a hand out to catch Keir by the neck. Keir instantly sidesteps him, the vampire left grasping at air. The one on the mattress jumps to his feet, moving with inhuman speed across to his friend. I push both hands out and knock him to the floor, and the scruffy vampire grabs my leg, attempting to do the same to me. I kick out, foot colliding with his chest; he winces and swears at me. Behind me, Keir struggles with the first vampire and someone’s slammed against the wall. I glance over my shoulder. Keir pins the vampire halfway up the wall, his feet not touching the floor. Arm held up, Keir’s ready to stake him. I gasp and stumble as someone grabs my ponytail and drags me to the ground.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I cry at the scruffy vampire, kicking upwards with both feet into his chest. He’s weaker and can’t hold me, falling backwards instead.
Ha.
I kick him down and kneel on his stomach, twirling the stake in my hand.
Fear pools in the vampire’s subdued brown eyes, peering from beneath a shaggy dark fringe. I hesitate. Why isn’t he fighting back? Never in two years of this life have I seen fear in a demon’s eyes. A pained yell, and then silence, comes from behind me, and the sound of the vampire slumping to the ground.
“One down, one to go,” says Keir.
But the vampire beneath my knees freaks me out. This isn’t normal.
“Do it,” he hisses, “I want you to.”
Demons didn’t normally say that either.
“Happy to oblige.” I raise the stake high into the air.
“No, Ava! Stop!” Keir knocks the stake from my hand and drags me off the vampire. I struggle and he crushes me against his chest, squeezing the air from me.
“What the fuck?” I push at him. “Isn’t this what you wanted me to do?”
“It’s Jack.”
Chapter 13
I PULL MYSELF free. “Dahlia’s Jack? Isn’t he dead?”
Jack slowly climbs to his feet and dusts down his filthy jeans, watching warily. “Yeah, I’m dead.” He backs toward the wall. “Hey, Keir.”
“You’re a vampire?” asks Keir hoarsely, walking over to the stairs and sitting down. The other vampires were dressed to blend into the world, but Jack is a mess of dirty clothes and wild hair. Only his smooth, pale skin gives any indication he’s the same race.
“Looks that way,” he says.
“You died. I saw it,” Keir replies.
Jack shakes his fringe from his face. “Apparently not.”
“Oh, shit…” Keir covers his face with his palms.
“Yeah. Oh, shit. That’s what I thought too. Oh no, wait. That’s not right. I thought: what the fuck just happened and why aren’t I dead?”
I stay on the ground, stake still poised, and Jack scowls at me.
“Jack… I didn’t know. When I arrived at the scene, you were already dead,” whispers Keir.
“You couldn’t have stopped anything.”
“I tried…”
What the hell is going on here? If he’s a vampire, Jack should be dead. Now.
“But you can kill me now,” hisses Jack, moving toward Keir. “Dahlia would want you to.”
Keir shakes his head. “No. No. Don’t say that.”
I watch the pair, shocked by Keir’s distress. This is bigger than the two of them; a third person is involved here. “We should tell Dahlia. If it was me, I’d want to know.”
Both guys look around, as if they’d forgotten I’m here. They need to consider Dahlia. She gave up her angel soul and became human, lives with the mortality and pain of the passing years. Dahlia gave up everything. I don’t like her, but if Dahlia chose something irreversible, because she loved this mess of a thing in front of me, she deserves to know the truth.
The lines are already blurred between demon and angel, angel and human, so what difference does Jack’s form make?
“I can’t see her again,” says Jack, voice breaking.
“She thinks he’s dead and he may as well be. After almost a year, Dahlia’s starting to accept Jack’s death. I’ve seen her taking steps toward moving on. Maybe we shouldn’t tell her he’s... this. We could let him go.”
“Isn’t that for her to decide?” I ask.
“No, it’s for me to decide,” replies Jack. “I can’t face Dahlia knowing I represent everything she hates.”
“But you’re you, just in a different form. Like she is, now she’s human,” I press.
“I kill people!” he yells, cold eyes filled with anger.
I clamp my mouth shut. Yep. Whatever his past and his appearance, Jack’s a demon. Keir’s right. I swallow down my natural inclination to retaliate.
“I can’t kill you, Jack,” Keir says. “I’ll let you go, but I can’t end your life.”
“And I won’t kill you,” I retort.
“I’m a human soul trapped in a demon’s body; it’s what you fucking do! It’s what I’ve been waiting for!” Jack pulls at his hair. “Keir, please.”
I straighten as Keir steps toward Jack, who closes his eyes, tensing. Taller than Jack and broader, Keir looks down at him and digs fingernails into the stake.
No way. I whip my phone out of my pocket, press the speed dial for Dahlia, willing Keir to pause. “Dahlia?”
“What are you doing?” yells Jack, pushing Keir to one side and reaching out for my phone. I snatch my hand away and shove him backwards.
“Ava? Is everything okay?”
Jack reaches out again, tears springing to his eyes. “Ava, don’t do this!”
“What’s happening?” Dahlia’s confused voice sounds small. “Who’s with you?”
“You need to come here. We’ve found Jack and…” My phone cuts out at the same time as a Jack’s distressed scream fills the room. I land hard on the ground, banging my head as Jack catches me off-guard and throws me to the floor.
“What have you done?” he yells.
* * *
I SIT ON the basement floor, nursing my arm. I landed awkwardly when Jack pushed me down, and I am so bloody tempted to hurt him back. But he probably wants me to.
Alone together, Jack paces around, stopping to glower at me or to pull at his hair, pacing, or doubling over. I shudder at each inhuman noises, wishing Keir hadn’t left me alone with Jack. I have nothing to say and don’t want to be trapped in this stinking room with a vampire. Did I do the right thing in telling Dahlia? What if she didn’t want to know?
Too late now.
Keir waits upstairs for Dahlia. Jack’s asked him to intercept Dahlia and keep her out of the basement. Has Keir seen Dahlia when she’s pissed off? Good luck to Keir holding back a determined Dahlia. I smile to myself. Yeah, the girl annoys the crap out of me, but at least she gives as good as she gets.
The front door slams upstairs.
“Where is he?”
Dahlia.
Keir’s low voice replies, followed by scuffling, and raised voices above us. Jack freezes and backs into a corner.
Omigod. I do not want to be here.
Dahlia stumbles into the basement, wide eyes frantically searching the dim room until she catches sight of Jack. His straggly hair hangs over his face as he stares at the floor.
Dahlia shivers and her face pales as she takes a tentative step toward him. “Jack?”
“Please make her go away,” Jack says hoarsely, not looking up.
Dahlia falters. “No, you don’t mean that. Look at me, Jack.”
Jack pulls his fingers down his face and the preternatural noise assaults me again.
“Please, Jack, I don’t care what you are, just that you’re here.” Dahlia’s voice cracks.
I really, really need to leave but can’t get past Dahlia. Keir appears on the stairs behind Dahlia and puts a hand on her shoulder. She shrugs him off and crosses her arms tightly around herself.
“I’m a fucking vampire, Dahlia. A demon. I should be dead.”
“I don’t care. You’re Jack.”
Jack’s head snaps up. “No, I’m not. I’ve killed people, Dahlia. What if I kill you?” He turns away from her to Keir. “This has to end. I shouldn’t be here. I should’ve died last year.”
Vampires. Yeah, I’d heard of them and their human forms, and this guy looks like one. A pale, scruffy human in need of a change of clothes and a shower, but human. Jack’s eyes are different to most demons, closer to a natural colour and nothing malicious in them.
“I stayed for you Jack, gave up everything. You don’t know what it’s been like for me since you… went. If it wasn’t for Keir, I don’t know what I’d have done,” says Dahlia hoarsely.
Keir tenses. “If it wasn’t for me, he’d still be alive.”
“No. You did what you could. We weren’t expecting them…,” says Dahlia, turning to place a hand on Keir’s face.
Keir pulls her hand away. “Don’t try to be nice about this.”
Something connects these people that has nothing to do with me, and my discomfort grows. I shouldn’t interfere when I don’t have all the facts.
Jack slumps to the floor, hiding his head beneath folded arms. Dahlia approaches, kneels in front of him, stretching out a tentative arm.
“Ava,” whispers Keir. He inclines his head to the door at the top of the stairs. With relief, I follow him, leaving Dahlia and Jack together.
“Is she safe?” I ask, as we sit next to each other against the cool wall upstairs, outside the basement door.
“I don’t think Jack would harm her.”
I stretch my legs out and tap the toes of my boots together. “Jack thought he might.”
“No, I think they’re soul tied.”
“They’re what?”
Keir’s hand folds around mine. “You haven’t heard of that? You who knows so much about souls?” he teases.
“You should know by now everything I know about souls is fucked,” I snap.
Keir places his head against the wall. “Sorry. Okay. Originally, some souls were tied to each other, almost part of each other. When they were free, before”—he wrinkles his nose—“the war. Then some souls became parted by the chaos. Sometimes the souls find each other again. It’s rare, but when these souls do find each other, they don’t want to be apart. Ever. It doesn’t matter to the souls if they are contained within beings who are enemies of each other. They transcend that. Which is how a soul hunter fell in love with a human, and how I think they will love each other no matter what. Jack has the same soul as when he was human, even with a different physical form.”
My heart flips. “That’s really beautiful. And so sad if it’s true.”
“Free souls search each other out,” he says quietly. “Another reason I want to free as many as I can.”
I stroke his face. “You’re a good person. I don’t know how I ever believed you could be a demon.”
Keir’s jaw clenches. “I am half demon. Don’t forget that, ever. I have a lot to atone for.”
Keir doesn’t elaborate, and I refuse to push him, scared of what he might say.
One thing, I have to know. “What happened with Jack? Can you tell me?”
“Vampires heard Dahlia killed one of their own and wanted revenge on an ex-soul hunter. I heard about the plans and went to warn her. When the vampires came for Dahlia, Jack was with her. I suppose they saw taking him a bigger punishment than killing her. I tried to protect Jack, to kill the vampires first, but they attacked him.” Keir rakes a hand through his hair. “He was dead when they took him.”
