Chapter 69
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
Freja linked the others in her group, telling them to freeze. She would handle this as the demon huntress. The demon in front watched her in amusement.
“Huntress. To what do we owe the surprise of your company in OUR territory?” the demon she had her blade up to hissed out.
Freja smirked and raised her blade, taking a step back. She didn’t want to provoke a fight … yet.
“As always, a job. I think your boss has my target. We’re going to need to negotiate.” Freja’s voice dripped with hard-edged irritation.
The demon scoffed. “Lord Harley may just decide to kill you, little huntress. You have taken a number of our guys.”
“I can’t possibly remember every demon I’ve killed. But yes, I’m sure I have killed your guys. If they get in the way or are on my list. It’s business. And I’ve never failed a client yet,” Freja said, a hint of a threat in her tone.
The demon looked at the wolves and the tall man behind her.
His eyes locked onto the abnormally large silver wolf that had a suffocating aura pumping out of him.
“I can see you brought some muscle for this job.” He then looked at Freja.
“Can it wait? The boss just took a new mate, and he won’t be happy getting disturbed. ”
Freja’s green eyes pierced the demons. “Either take me to your master now or enjoy an eternal nap.”
The demon clicked his tongue. “You have no patience. Fine. Doesn’t matter to me if he up and kills you.”
Freja rolled her eyes. “As if I’m that easy to kill. Don’t you think they would have done it already if it was that easy? I’m useful, even among you demons. I have my own value. Let’s get going. We’re wasting time.”
“Easy, huntress. I don’t take orders from you.” The demon growled lowly. “Rhett, run ahead and let the boss know the demon huntress is here to see him. I don’t want us interrupting anything when we show up with company.”
Easy, Chasen, easy, Freja linked to Chasen, who was shifting side to side in agitation.
The demon looked at Chasen, noticing his irritation. “What’s his problem? What is he anyway?”
“Chase, shift,” Freja said coldly. She wanted them to see the werebear. It would definitely make them think twice before trying anything. She watched the demon’s eyes widen as the massive bear formed before their eyes.
“His only problem is that he isn’t sinking his fangs into you right now. Though depending on what your lord says, he may still get his chance,” Freja said flatly.
“You don’t mess around, do you?” The demon shook his head and turned.
“Follow me.” They hated that the huntress was in their territory.
But his boss had never wanted to kill her before.
He fancied her as a pet or a tool that could come in handy.
And here she was, walking into the devil’s lair, all on her own.
Though she might not be walking out of it.
Freja could sense Hunter’s apprehension.
He was walking behind her, side by side with Chasen’s bear, with Winston and Sam directly behind them.
They were following in line with the huntress as if she were their boss, but Hunter didn’t like not being at her side or being able to stand between her and the demons.
She might be a demon huntress, but she was still his mate.
She was the one who had the experience with demons and dealing with them, though.
This was what she determined would be the best way to achieve what they wanted, and all they could do was act according to Freja’s plan.
A barn owl suddenly took off from the trees and flew away from the savage beasts below. Luckily, the group wasn’t jumpy and continued on like nothing happened. They had to act like they feared nothing. They were ruthless mercenaries who always fulfilled their marks.
Freja was surprised to see the stone cottage in the distance. Most of the demons she knew didn’t live in modern society or in modern houses, at least none that belonged to the horde. This was intriguing to her. She expected a cave or swampy hut, but not this.
The demon walked up to a thick, wooden door with silver bolts securing it and fitted with a large, antique silver handle. He knocked loudly and waited.
The door opened and Rhett stepped out. “He will see just the huntress. You lot stay put.”
Freja nodded her head and looked back over her feral companions. “Wait here while I work out the details.”
Hunter growled lowly and pawed at the ground impatiently.
Freja smiled. “No killing any of the demons until I say. Unless they start it, of course.” She smiled poisonously at the other demons, then slipped back into her poker face. She knew Hunter hated this, but this was their shot and they had to take it.
Freja walked inside and Rhett shut the door behind her.
“You’ll find him at the top of the stairs,” Rhett said.
Freja raised a brow in annoyance at the demon and began climbing the stairs.
The place was very elegant inside. A red carpet ran across the floor to the wooden stairs, and a chandelier provided soft light above her.
This did not seem to fit a normal demon's taste. But Jin was a demon and didn’t fit the norm either.
Jin’s scent was in the air, and she knew she was just up these stairs.
Taking a deep breath, she braced herself.
She needed to stay composed no matter what she came across.
At the top of the stairs, she found a door directly in front of her. She reached out and knocked.
“Enter.”
Freja pushed the door open and looked over the room.
The walls and floors were all wooden, and a rectangular carpet was stretched in the center of the room.
Beyond that was a large, mahogany desk. A man sat at the desk with his hands folded together, his fingers interlaced, and his chin resting on them.
“Shut the door.” His voice was deep and commanding.
The man wore a dress shirt and had a black suit jacket on the back of his chair.
He looked to be about her age in appearance, in his young twenties.
He was a large man, which she could see even though he was sitting.
But his appearance was not at all how she’d pictured.
He was in his human form, of course, but still sizable and very well kept.
She pushed the door behind her until she heard it click.
She took a few more steps into the room and a green blur crashed into her chest. She looked down to see Jin clinging to her.
“I knew you would come for me,” Jin said, sniffling.
Freja wrapped her arms around Jin but kept her eyes on the demon in front of her. So much for keeping up her demon huntress persona.
“Are you okay, Jin? You aren’t hurt, are you? If someone hurt you, then I’ll—”
Jin shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” She pulled back and looked up at Freja as tears formed in her eyes.
Freja smiled at her and patted her head. She wanted to let Hunter and Chasen know that Jin was okay, but mindlinking now would be a problem. The demon wouldn’t know what she was saying, and it might inadvertently start a fight. They would have to wait until she knew what his intentions were.
She looked up at Harley. “What’s your game here?” Her voice sounded like a whip cracking into the air.
Harley smiled first, then began laughing. “This is a very interesting side of you, huntress.”
“Funny, I could say the same about you.”
“Freja, be nice. He isn’t a bad one,” Jin said with a small smile. “He rescued me from Lionel and the other demon that was with him.”
“They’re dead now,” Freja said simply, which made Harley chuckle quietly again.
“Is it so weird for a demon to be a businessman?” Harley asked, a small smile remaining on his lips.
“A demon like yourself? Yes, absolutely,” Freja said, as she tried to figure this demon out.
“You’re very suspicious of me, aren’t you?” Harley leaned forward and rested his head on his hands again.
“No offense. But you are a demon,” Freja said matter-of-factly.
He lifted his hand, pointing at Jin. “So is she.”
Freja smiled. “But she’s Jin. I’m convinced she’s one of the only demons of her kind.”
“She is dangerous if you have chocolate, though.” Harley frowned as he lifted his empty box of chocolate candy. “These were imported, you know.”
“And they were delicious,” Jin said, beaming back at him.
Freja’s gaze flicked between Jin and Harley, who were acting like good friends. Jin was treating him like he was a good guy. Harley, another original demon’s son … there had to be some sort of catch.
“I don’t understand. I thought you took her as a mate. What is it that you want?” Freja felt agitated. She hated when things didn’t add up, and this did not make sense. She definitely needed more information.
“It seems like you’re not what everyone thinks you are, either.
Well, the same can be said for me as well.
I knew your father, Gilbert, and Jin’s father, Jhett.
I wouldn’t say we were friends, but we were on good terms. We’d heard that Jhett’s whole family had been killed, and that Gilbert’s daughter was the only survivor from his family.
Had I known that the little wind demon had been captured, I would have freed her. ”
“You would risk your neck just because you were on good terms with our fathers?” Freja quirked her brow at him. This didn’t make sense.
“No, because Leoric annoys me. She just would have been the perk of it. I had men always around keeping tabs on you, letting me know what you were up to, and your reputation—until recently, when you vanished.” He gave her a crooked smile.
“When I saw the green-haired girl, I immediately knew who she was. Her unique green hair … plus, she has a similar scent to her father. So I claimed her as a mate. Something no one could refute. Not that they would.”
“Then he brought me here and we talked. He took the element-sealing cuffs off me, too. He was only keeping me here until you arrived. I told him you would definitely come for me. Either you or Chasen,” Jin said happily.
“He’s here, too.” Freja gave her a soft smile and could see Jin’s eyes water in response.
“How is he? Is he worried?” Jin asked with a small frown.
“Of course. He’s worried sick. He’ll be much better once he sees you’re okay, though.” Freja then looked back at Harley. “So, whose side are you on then?”
Harley scoffed. “I’m a true demon. I don’t do sides. I’m uninterested in the war. I do what I feel like doing and that’s it.” He grinned and looked at Freja. “I’m not for yin, yang, demon, or whatever.”
“And you felt like saving Jin?” Freja wasn’t sure how she felt about Harley yet.
“Have you ever thought it weird that I never retaliated against you for the men of mine that you’ve killed?”
“I assumed it was because you figured there was some use for me,” Freja answered honestly.
“I find you interesting. There is the element of you two being Jhett and Gilbert’s kids, but overall, it’s because there’s an interest there.
With Jin, I didn’t know her, so I took her.
I was curious about what she was like. And you, dhampir, you interest me.
Of course, now I find you even more interesting, what with the werewolf blood coursing through your veins.
” He smiled at her shocked face. “I’m not a low-level. I can smell what you are.”
“Okay, just so I’m understanding this correctly.
You took Jin because you were curious, and you’ve left me alone because I interest you.
Are you saying we’re free to leave, then?
” Freja watched as his eyes flickered, and she began to prepare herself for whatever it was he was going to say next.
He’d said it himself: he was a selfish demon that only did things that interested him.
She had a feeling he was about to ask for something else.
She just hoped it was something they could do.