Chapter 24 Zane
Zane
The horned demon squealed when I stuck him in the shoulder with my blade. The fuckers were very difficult to kill without the right weapon, but this one was shit out of luck because I’d come prepared.
Thick green moss bloomed on the ancient stone walls all around us.
Water dripped from a broken pipe, pooling below the demon’s feet.
Each time I cut his leathery skin, his toxic blood dripped down and sizzled when it hit the water.
An interesting side effect of interrogating a demon in the crypt of a thousand-year-old church.
Not that I was deliberately trying to piss off ancient deities. It just happened to be the only suitable location for hundreds of miles.
The last thing I needed was some nosy human busting in on me questioning a demon. A viral video of this ugly fucker would literally break the internet.
A demon fang fell to the floor and rolled under the chair.
“Don’t mess with my teeth, dude! I paid good money for these crowns!
Look, I was just minding my own business, not hurting anyone.
” The demon struggled against the chains I’d wrapped around his scaly body, but unfortunately for him, I’d paid a mage to reinforce them to ensure they were resistant to demonic strength.
I snorted at the demon’s protestations of innocence. Like fuck he was just minding his own business. Demons were all pathological liars. This one wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him on the dick.
“Why were you hanging around the academy?” I’d picked up his scent on my return from the city. Lower demons like this one had a distinctive smell: a mix of copper and sulfur. Higher-level demons could mask their presence better, but this dumb fuck clearly had a death wish.
“I wanted to get laid, and slutty witches with pain kinks are my type, okay?” He shrieked in pain when I dug the blade in deeper.
“Try again.”
A huff of annoyance told me the demon wasn’t half as bothered by this interrogation as he pretended. “Fine! So I was looking for someone.”
The sound of glass breaking caught both our attention. For the first time in the last two hours, the demon flinched in genuine fear. A blur of darkness swirled into the cellar before he vanished in a fiery explosion, his agonized screams ringing in my ears for several long moments.
Luckily for me, I’d also paid good money for a protection spell, so my eyebrows were still intact when the fire died down.
Black blood dripped down my blade as the runes on the bone handle glowed.
Whoever took out the demon before I could question him further had used powerful death magic.
The sort of magic the council banned decades ago.
By the time I emerged into the cool night air, the spell wielder had vanished. Hardly a surprise. All that remained was a very faint magical signature. Not one I recognized, but I hadn’t expected them to leave a calling card.
I shifted into a crow and hung around for a while, watching and waiting to see if any of the demon’s brethren emerged from the shadows. Most demons worked alone because they didn’t trust one another, but a few of the more intelligent ones hunted in packs.
I’d run into this one in a roadhouse a few miles from the campus. He’d masked his appearance with a cloaking spell, but I had spotted him immediately. Unfortunately for the woman he’d lured outside, not soon enough.
At some point, the human cops would discover her remains.
When it became clear no other demons were hanging around the church, I shifted back and blinked through the academy wards. With my senses on high alert, I followed the path from the gate back toward the dorms, but before I reached my building, a large shifter crossed my path.
The bear shifter was tall and built like a semi-truck, but he didn’t intimidate me. Nobody did. Fear wasn’t something I felt. Lust, anger, and frustration, yes. But not fear.
“Something wrong, bear?” I asked, allowing a small smirk to escape.
He folded his arms and scowled. “Yes. You’re not her mate.”
Irritation prickled at the edge of my self-control. I didn’t want or need a mate, but to have him dismiss my claim on the witch rankled.
“Is that so?”
The bear growled despite the clear and present threat I presented. “Yes.”
Fucking bear. I rolled my eyes and went to move past him, but he made the mistake of grabbing my arm. In a flash, I pulled my blade and held it to his throat. “Back off, bear.”
The man won the fight against the asshole bear inside him, finally wresting control, and when he raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture, I lowered the blade.
This wasn’t a fight I needed. As we were both her mates, killing him might kill her, and while being soul-bonded to a fucking witch was problematic, I had no desire to subject myself to a lifetime of agonizing pain.
Losing his soul-bonded mate had made my father insane, and the consequences of that had followed me ever since he went on a murder spree in the middle of a psychotic episode.
“You killed them.” A statement, not a question.
“I kill often. You’ll have to be more specific.” If this were anyone else, I’d have knifed the asshole and left him for the security pricks to find, but like I said, hurting the fucker would only hurt me. Besides, I knew he wouldn’t report me to the council for crimes against magicals.
“I wanted to end the fuckers,” he grumbled. “You got there first.”
I belly-laughed, surprised by his honesty, considering he was a faculty member and bound by the rules.
“It’s easier for me to get in and out of places without being seen.” I winked, letting him know my stalking abilities extended to the witch’s room. Since the bear wasn’t dumb, he caught my subtext.
“You better not push her into anything before she’s ready!” he hissed. “She’s innocent!”
My brain processed his words. No male had been inside her pussy yet? How was that even possible? My face must have registered my surprise.
“The witch was raised on an isolated farm and protected from the world. Hell, she doesn’t even have a fucking phone.
” The shifter gritted his teeth in annoyance.
“I’ve bought one for her but not had a chance to give it to her yet.
It’s tricky with my being a teacher. Until we’re officially mated, I can’t act as I want to around her while in public. ”
Poor love-sick bear. I smirked. Luckily, the same rules did not apply to me. And because I was an asshole, I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“Give me the phone, and I’ll make sure she gets it tonight.”
His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You will?”
“Of course. We need to work together to keep her safe, and a phone is useful.”
He seemed surprised I was being so reasonable. No doubt he’d heard the rumors about me and my father, and like everyone else in this fucking place, he assumed I was a deranged psychopath one step away from a murderous meltdown.
I mean, he wasn’t wrong, but most of the beings I sent into the afterlife deserved it.
“Okay, fine.” He pulled a brand-new smartphone from his pocket. “It’s set up with the school’s apps and stuff.” No doubt he’d added his number to the contacts, but I’d look before I handed it over. And install some neat little tools of my own, like a tracker she’d never find.
“I’ll get it to her later. Just need to clean up first.”
The bear scanned me and frowned. “Why do you stink of sulfur?”
“Bye, care bear!” I blew him a kiss before I vanished.