Play with Fire
I woke this morning, wrapped in Zeke’s warm embrace, with a new outlook. Earth will be what I make of it, and certainly, having him by my side, it won’t be all bad. After our talk, he held me. It was everything I didn’t know I needed.
With my new outlook, I managed to drum up a storm. Energy is stored and ready to go, so I can get back to hunting demons. That is normal, and some sense of normalcy is what I need right now.
“What are you smiling about?” Zeke asks from across the table at a small café in the Garden District. We’re seated on the patio, enjoying the fresh air.
“I’m excited to hunt.”
His eyebrow quirks. “Hunting? That’s all?”
“It’s been a while.” I wink.
“It’s been a few days.” He chuckles, leaning across the table and taking my hands in his.
“Is there nothing else that excites you?”
“I think you could give me some reasons.”
Lifting my hand to his mouth, he places a kiss on my knuckles that’s a promise of more to come.
“Would you look at that. Our man Zeke’s been keeping secrets,” a gruff man jests as he walks by the café with a group of people.
Zeke’s eyes close. “Shit,” he says under his breath.
They beeline to the door, and I know it’s a matter of time before they join us on the patio.
I remove my hand from his, putting some distance between us. “Who are they?” I ask, not turning to see if they’re already behind me.
“People you’ve made it clear you have no interest in knowing.”
Human hunters.
I turn to find four sets of eyes staring me down with varying degrees of interest—and hostility. Three men and one woman. A woman who is definitely plotting my murder in her head, if her deep scowl is any indication. Interesting.
“Guys, this is Tori. She’s a … friend.”
The short, stocky blond man raises an eyebrow. “Friend, eh? Is that what you call it these days?”
The other two guys laugh, while the lone woman continues to throw eye daggers my way.
“What are you up to?” Zeke asks, trying to steer the conversation into different territory, and I’m grateful for it. I don’t need these humans, who are already attuned to too much of the celestial world, working out what Zeke and I are.
The blond shifts on his feet, looking to the tall, muscular, brown-haired man to his right, as if to defer to him. This must be the leader of their rat pack.
“We’re heading to the north end. A pack of wolves was spotted there last night. We’re going to remove them if they’re still there,” the man explains, standing tall and never once looking in my direction.
I internally huff a laugh at his ridiculous story.
Of course I know that wolves equal demons.
If he’s not exaggerating about it being a pack, that’s ambitious for a group of powerless mortals to take on.
This human is either extremely brave or entirely too stupid.
Which is exactly why I’ve chosen to stay away.
That type of unjustified bravado will get them killed.
“We’d ask you to join us, but, well, it looks like you’re otherwise detained.”
“Detained?” Zeke chuckles. “I’m in no way being held against my will.” Zeke looks at me and winks.
“Leave them to their date,” the girl barks. “I want to grab something to eat beforehand.”
The leader levels her with a glare. “We probably should go. I don’t want the d—err, wolves getting away.”
“You can speak freely about demons to Tori. She’s a hunter too.”
My head snaps to Zeke’s, and I laser him with my best what the fuck face. He shrugs, which only makes my spine straighten more. Thankfully, we’re alone on the patio, save for the human hunters.
“She’s a hunter?” the tall redheaded beauty spits out, crossing her arms over her chest. “I doubt that.”
“Maeve, knock it off,” the blond guy chastises. “Your jealousy is showing.”
“I’m not jealous,” she lies. “You’re drooling enough for the both of us.”
Zeke smothers a laugh behind his closed fist, and I glower in his direction.
“My bet’s on Maeve throwing down before the night’s over,” the third guy, who looks an awful lot like Maeve, chimes in. “This one’s lethal when she’s pissed.” He gestures toward the girl.
“I might murder you in your sleep,” she threatens, and the rest of their group hoots in laughter.
While the blond and possibly brother-and-sister combo argue about who’d come out on top, I squirm under their leader’s intense gaze. I don’t know what he’s looking for, but he’s sizing me up, and based on his narrowed eyes and downturned lips, he finds me lacking.
Good. Let him underestimate me.
“Let’s join them.” The words are out of my mouth before I can even consider what I’m suggesting. Zeke’s eyebrows both shoot up in surprise.
“Are you sure? You don’t have to do this, Tori.”
I stand, straightening my shoulders. “I’ll fight with you, but if any of you do anything stupid, it’ll be the last time you hunt in New Orleans.”
Maeve harrumphs. “You going to take that sass, Danny? We are the hunters around here.”
Danny—the blond—hushes her.
The leader steps forward, extending his hand. “I’m Blaine. Zeke’s vouching for you and I trust his judgment. He’ll vouch for us too. We don’t take risks.”
There’s nothing but sincerity in his words. I’ve never been for hunting alongside mortals, but I’ll make an exception this once.
I shake his hand. “Tori. You help take down these demons and you can call me Tori.”
Thirty minutes later, we’re walking up to an abandoned house in the north end.
The windows are boarded up and the paint is peeling away from the wood.
It’s hard to know how long this house has been vacant, but by the looks of the entire block, this area has been shut down for years.
Not a soul is in sight, which is great news considering a horde of demons lie in wait behind those walls.
“Ready for this, blondie?” Danny jests, and I smirk.
He has no idea just how ready I am. I’m powered up and ready to kick ass.
“Do you plan to use Solis?” Zeke whispers into my ear, and I shake my head.
I’m going to try not to. Solis isn’t your typical sword, and it would be hard to hide its power from the group. I have enough pent-up anger and frustration to tear this entire building down. Hopefully, I won’t need him tonight.
“Let’s do this,” I say, motioning for the humans to enter first. Even though the area seems deserted, I don’t want to take chances. I place a glamour around the house, shielding us from any passersby. There will be no human casualties tonight.
As soon as I step through the threshold of the dilapidated structure, I feel the evil.
It pulses through the room, vibrating the walls and shaking the unsteady floorboards under my shoes.
The peeling wallpaper gives way, and that’s when I see the blood trickling down the walls and pooling onto the floor.
How many people have been dragged into this place, never again to see the light of day?
How many unknowing victims came of their own free will, simply following the lure of sin and sex and false promises whispered in their ear?
A literal house of horrors is where these demons have lured us.
It has no effect on angelic beings, but the humans aren’t protected.
I rush through the foyer and down a dark hallway, following the scent of demonic muck.
Rounding a tight corner, I nearly trip over the redheads, who are at the back of their pack.
With their ears pressed against the wall, they attempt to make out what lies on the other side. How many are we up against?
It doesn’t matter, and the longer we stand here, the more likely we’ll give ourselves away. Having the element of surprise on our side gives the humans a better chance of making it out of here alive.
I walk right past them, but Zeke’s arm shoots out, stopping me.
“What are you doing?” he hisses. “You can’t just bust in there.”
“Why?” I whisper, my brow peaked in confusion.
His eyes dart around at the humans, seeming to convey that we can’t use our typical abilities while in their presence. Which only reminds me of why I haven’t hunted with them before. I’d momentarily forgotten, but what does that matter anymore?
I have done everything in my power to conceal my celestial heritage, because it’s the law, but I’ve been banished from Heaven. Their law no longer applies to me. If I’m going to be stuck on this Godforsaken Earth, I’m going to embrace exactly what I am.
I lean in close. “Maybe we shouldn’t hide anymore.”
With that, I kick open the door that separated us from the demons. Quickly scanning the room, I note that there are over a dozen of them crammed into this one section of the house. Who knows how many more are lurking?
“Ah … something angelic this way comes,” a red-skinned demon sings, sniffing the air afterward. “And she’s brought dinner.”
The way he slurps his tongue has Maeve gagging.
“Sweetheart, you’ll need to push down the revulsion and get your head in the game if you’re going to be of use to me,” I shout at Maeve.
She growls, glaring at me in response. Good. That was the point of goading her. She needs to be good and pissed.
“Brothers, we have a show to go with our meal.” The demon claps and the others laugh and jeer at us.
“You want some? Come get it.”
The two beefiest of the demons charge my way and I almost laugh out loud. The bigger they are, the harder—and faster—they fall. With a simple roundhouse kick to the jugular and an elbow to the side of the other’s head, they’re both on the floor groaning.
“Maeve, dagger,” I shout, knowing full well she has a small dagger hidden behind her shirt at her back.
It won’t disintegrate these assholes like Solis would, but it will kill them nonetheless.
My energy is all that’s needed, and the dagger will act as a conduit.
However, that leaves the need for cleanup afterward.
She purses her lip, wasting time.
“Now,” I demand, and finally she complies.
The dagger flies through the air and my hand snaps out, catching it by the hilt. I slam the blade into the heart of the first and then the second, while three more demons rush toward me.
I kick the closest dead demon into the feet of those heading my way and they topple like bowling pins. Maeve’s blade slashes through skin and marrow to pierce each of their hearts.
“Are you guys going to help?” I call over my shoulder to the group of hunters, who’ve stood around watching bug-eyed as I single-handedly took out five demons.
From there, it’s a cacophony of fists hitting flesh and blades slicing through the air as the humans join the fray. Demons drop all around us, and within minutes, the place is silent. The smell of rotting evil permeates my nose.
“Ugh,” I groan. “This is so damn messy.”
“As opposed to?” Blaine asks with a raised brow.
Yet another reason I don’t fight with humans. Too many damn questions.
“What do we do with all of these? We can’t dump this many bodies in the landfill,” Danny states.
“You dump demons in a landfill?” My voice pitches.
“Not usually,” Blaine cuts in, but he doesn’t offer an explanation or go into detail about how they typically dispose of the bodies.
My guess is that’s always been Zeke’s job, and he’s never really shared what he does with them. It’s not likely he can simply say, “No worries, guys. I used my heavenly sword and disintegrated them.”
While they all fight about who’s going to clean up, I make the decision.
“Everyone out,” I yell. “We’re burning the place to the ground.”
Several sets of eyes turn to me in confusion.
“Won’t that draw unnecessary attention?”
“As opposed to?” I throw Blaine’s words back in his face. “This entire area is deserted. By the time the fire department arrives, the place will be toast. They’ll never uncover any of the demons’ remains.”
“What about the humans they killed here? Don’t their families deserve closure?” Maeve practically spits in anger.
“Have you gone upstairs or downstairs to see what’s left of those people?” She doesn’t answer, so I decide to fill her in. “You won’t find anything to determine who they were, and neither would the police. Demons devour every part.”
“They could case the place for fingerprints.”
I laugh bitterly. “I understand your need for closure, but sometimes people don’t get closure.
What’s more important for the greater good?
Identifying a dozen or so dead people, or keeping the human population in the dark about literal demons roaming among them?
You open that Pandora’s box, and there will be much more bloodshed on your hands. ”
Danny’s face pales and Maeve’s turns a bit green, but nobody argues with me past that.
“Out. I’ll take care of this,” I order, and they all obey.
We didn’t bring gas or anything else that could help to light this sucker on fire, so my power will be necessary.
I call upon the wind and draw a storm to me.
Within moments, lightning strikes overhead and thunder rolls.
I throw my hands into the air and summon the energy down around me.
A bolt strikes the house, and I direct the flames to encircle the room filled to the brim with the dead.
In a matter of moments, the house is on fire and flames are licking at my legs.
I walk through the door just in time for the house to begin to crumble to the ground.
It’s all happening far faster than what’s humanly possible. Damage this great would result from something more in line with an explosion, but that’s exactly what my powers created.
How I’m going to explain this to Blaine, who seems too curious for his own good, is beyond me, but right now, that’s not my problem. I might be playing with fire, but I won’t be the one burned in the end.