Chapter 22
‘I look ridiculous,’ Ezra declared.
Lira chuckled. She was sprawled in a chair in Maddog’s office, Analise perched next to her.
The lights were low, but not low enough that Ezra didn’t notice Analise’s gaze sweep over him slowly, like she was committing the shape of him to memory.
She bit her lip and tore her eyes away as Jem handed Ezra a bandolier decorated with several small knives and two glass vials filled with a shimmering red liquid.
He strapped himself in, fingers running over the vials. Alchemy? He looked at Analise again, but she was studying her hands in her lap.
‘Break those, and you’ll know it,’ Lira said. ‘It’s liquid fire. A bit of magic and science. It will burn a demon to nothing.’
Analise looked up. ‘How does it work?’
‘It’s a mix of chemical compounds, I’m not sure which ones, but basically, when it comes into contact with oxygen, it ignites,’ Lira explained.
‘Does it burn the bones?’ She glanced around, realising they were all looking at her. ‘Inorganic materials don’t burn, so bones are left behind. I imagine the incinerators are full of bones.’
‘It burns bones,’ Jem told her. ‘The liquid fire changes the chemical composition of the bones, so they burn to ash like the rest of the body.’ He handed Ezra a holster and a pistol. ‘Ready?’
‘To hunt a supernatural creature? Sure, why not,’ Ezra said, allowing himself to be led from the room as Lira called out for them to have fun. He could feel Analise’s eyes on his back. ‘Is your sister naturally bloodthirsty, or has she had to learn that?’
Conversation dropped away as they left the Canem Club through the back door; Maddog and Tobias were waiting for them, and Ezra bit his lip at the sight of the gangster dressed like a …
whatever the fuck they were supposed to be.
A cigar dangled from the corner of Maddog’s mouth.
He took a final drag, then stubbed it out on the brick wall.
London was cloaked in darkness, the rank smell of water rolling in from the river. Ezra didn’t ask where they were going, sticking close to Jem and Tobias, who threw him the occasional dirty look. Maddog walked ahead of them.
A sudden thought struck Ezra. ‘I thought the Devil was hunting me?’
‘He is,’ Jem answered. ‘Well, his demons are, anyway. Any sign of your Familiar yet?’
Ezra stopped walking. ‘I’m fucking bait, aren’t I?’
Tobias chuckled. ‘That you are.’
‘I hate you,’ Ezra hissed.
‘Would you rather I dangled Analise out here?’ Jem punched Ezra lightly in the shoulder. ‘We won’t let you get eaten, Ez. Promise.’
‘I promise nothing,’ Tobias said. ‘By the way, now is probably the time to tell you—you’re a traitorous little shit, and I took absolute delight in the few weeks I spent trying to find you.’
‘But you didn’t find me, did you?’ Ezra shot back. ‘You obviously aren’t as good as you think you are, Toby.’
Tobias’ eyes hardened. He opened his mouth to respond, but Jem shook his head, giving Ezra an exasperated look.
They continued on in silence, weaving through side streets and back alleys.
Maddog withdrew a device from his pocket.
It looked like an ordinary pocket watch, but when Ezra asked, Jem told him it was like a compass.
Instead of giving them a bearing, it told them where the nearest demon was lurking.
Maddog stopped suddenly, holding up his hand.
He pointed to a brick wall at the end of the alley they had entered.
‘Other side,’ he whispered.
‘How do we get over?’ Ezra asked, but Tobias was already moving. He scaled the wall as quick and nimble as a cat, pausing at the top as Maddog joined him.
Jem put his hand on Ezra’s arm. ‘Two things—don’t pass out, and get your mind off a certain redhead and focus, or you might end up dead. Then any chance you had of winning her over will be lost.’
Without waiting for a response, Jem shimmied up the wall.
Ezra took a deep breath, cleared his head, and followed the others. He grinned as he dropped to the ground, dusting his hands on his pants. There was something thrilling about sneaking around in the dark like a pack of thieves.
‘Well,’ he said. ‘That wasn’t so—’
Jem and Tobias drew their weapons and Ezra’s heart lurched as something unfolded itself from the darkness of the alley.
It was a man in a rumpled suit. Tobias pulled a flare from his bandolier and lit the alley up.
In the flash of light, Ezra thought he saw a blonde woman with a skull for a face. He blinked, and she was gone.
The man held up his hands, terror on his face. His lips quivered.
Jem swore and stepped forward. The man’s face shifted, his skin twitching and suddenly, he exploded.
His skin peeled back, opening like a piece of ripe fruit.
Ezra froze, his stomach sinking, as something black and glistening, with limbs longer than a human’s, pushed its way from the shell of the man’s body.
Blazing red eyes looked at him from a face crafted by nightmares, two jagged horns jutting through its bulbous head.
A thick stream of black liquid escaped the creature's slit-like nostrils.
Spikes adorned its shoulders, and a blade-like tail crawled behind it, swishing side to side with evil intent as the demon growled low in its throat.
Ezra gaped. How had he spent his life in this city and never seen something like this before? The creature let out a guttural roar, and the next few minutes were pure chaos.
Tobias pushed Ezra back against the wall as a bullet lodged in the creature’s shoulder. It roared and lifted itself to its full height. It towered above them, black body taut, and released another roar that shook the ground beneath Ezra's feet.
Jem clutched a vial of shimmering liquid fire in one hand, a dagger in the other.
Tobias fired again, and the creature howled.
It swung a massive paw at him; he danced out of the way, narrowly avoiding being gutted by those deadly claws.
As he twisted to the side, he threw one of the smaller blades from his bandolier; it struck the monster in the face, embedding itself to the hilt below its eye.
Jem unleashed the liquid fire. It shot from the vial and engulfed the creature’s head.
It growled and shrank away from the light.
Maddog darted forward and sliced off one of its hands.
Screeching, the beast swung at him, but Jem’s blade slid into its gut.
Black blood spurted onto the cobblestones.
The monster clutched its stomach, shadows swirling around its body, red eyes flashing. Jem backed up as it came closer, talons raised, ready to shred flesh and bone.
Maddog’s bullet hit the demon straight between the eyes, above where Tobias’ knife had landed. The creature stumbled, but didn’t fall to the ground, and Ezra finally remembered why he was there.
His hands moved without thinking—three knives left his fingers as fast as a blink.
One found purchase in the demon's left eye, another its throat, and the final knife landed where its heart, if it had one, should be.
The creature collapsed in a heap, smoke and shadow rising from its shiny, black body.
Ezra concentrated on breathing as Jem crouched by the dead demon.
He used his dagger to lift a piece of it from the ground, before letting it fall into the wet pile of skin and blood.
He stood and emptied another vial of liquid fire onto the body of the demon.
It took less than a minute for there to be nothing left, no evidence the creature had existed.
There were a million words running around Ezra’s head, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was, ‘Fuck me.’
Jem chuckled. ‘So eloquent as usual, Ezra.’
‘Let’s get back and get cleaned up,’ Maddog said. He slung an arm around Ezra’s shoulders—Ezra nearly jumped out of his skin. ‘Great arm. If I’d known you could throw knives like that…’ He shook his head. ‘...You were wasted in my boxing ring.’
Ezra could only nod.
Demons were real. His gangster boss and his best friend were fucking demon hunters, and he’d helped them kill a demon.
They made their way back to the club. Dazed, Ezra followed the others through the empty front bar and into Maddog’s office, where Lira and Analise were waiting. As they walked in, Analise shot to her feet. She mumbled something, and hurried from the room, red-cheeked.
Jem and Tobias sat on the lounge, Jem’s arm slung around Tobias’ shoulder. Maddog produced a bottle of whiskey and they took turns drinking. Ezra didn’t know what to say. Once the bottle was empty, Maddog, Jem, and Tobias left, Jem giving Ezra’s shoulder a squeeze on the way out.
Left alone with Lira, Ezra dragged his hand through his hair.
‘Tobias and I had a bet, he thought you’d pass out.’ Lira sat back, putting her feet up on the small table. ‘You’ve got a set of brass ones, that’s for sure.’
Ezra shook his head. ‘Was any of that real? Or am I high?’
Lira laughed. ‘You’re not high. You know, someone was worried about you.’
‘I’m going to need some proof of that,’ he said, wiping his hands on his trousers.
‘She barely moved and watched the door the whole time you were gone.’
‘Maybe she likes your brother. Or your uncle. Hell, even Tobias.’
Lira made an exasperated noise.
Ezra sighed. ‘She hates me, and she has the right to.’
‘Yes, she’s angry, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t care,’ Lira said with gentle firmness. ‘Analise doesn’t trust people easily. She’s spent the last five years looking over her shoulder. She’s hurt, but she does care.’
Lira left him in the ringing silence with the chaotic tumble of his thoughts.