The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers (12 page)

"Don't even try it." I savored the feel of his legs wrapped around
mine. "I'm on you like an Appalachian tick."

His chest rumbled. "I can see that." He wrapped himself around me
in a huge Dimitri blanket.

Ahh… good thing he'd surrendered because, frankly, I didn't feel like
moving much.

He ran his fingers down my spine. "So is frostbite the price of love
these days?"

"Something tells me you've got plenty of heat to spare." I planted
a soft kiss above his nipple.

The cuts had healed into a series of angry red slashes. I hated that. For
once, I wished for a bit of peace with this man—without soul-sucking
demons to battle or creatures trying to tear holes in us.

I traced one down the side of his abdomen and he inhaled sharply. "Now
that it's impossible for us to move," I said, trying for some humor before
I completely ruined the moment, "tell me. Honestly. What's happening to
you?"

No excuses. No kissing and pretending to forget. Something terrible was
eating him alive, even as we lay in his bed.

Dimitri didn't move, but I felt his muscles harden.

His voice was rough. "I can handle it."

"Oh really?" I fought a shiver as I dug myself out of his embrace.
He looked sinfully raw and downright frightening as he lay in the tangled
sheets. This wasn't my powerful yet gentle Dimitri. No. He was turning into
something else entirely.

"Level with me, Dimitri. I know something is corrupting you. Now tell
me how bad it is."

He brought his eyes to mine, and I almost fell off the bed when I saw the
flecks of red. "Oh heaven, I pushed you further, didn't I?"

H-e-double-hockey-sticks.

The she-demons were feeding off his lust. Mine too.

Goose bumps erupted up and down my body and I had to keep my teeth from
chattering. He'd—they'd—stolen my heat, my energy. I'd given it
willingly, not realizing the tight hold they had on him. They'd turned him into
some kind of a conductor.

I opened my mind and felt them, like a pounding at the door, as they stole
from him.

I scrambled for the nearest article of clothing and came up with my black
leather pants. I held them in front of me. "You have to get out of this
city. Now." I didn't know if it would lessen the hold they had on him.
Heck, for all I knew, it was too late for that. But we had to try. I wasn't
willing to risk the alternative.

He had the nerve to stare me down. "I'm taking a hit," he said,
bringing himself up like a giant cat accepting a challenge. "But it's
nothing I can't handle."

God, I was tired. Still, I forced myself to look at his defiant face.
"Your eyes are yellow."

He tugged the pants away. I pulled them back, well, at least to my belly
button.

Dimitri traced a finger over my stomach, his touch decidedly chilly.
"You think I'm going to leave you alone in this city with twenty-five
succubi on the loose?"

I resisted the urge to tell him that he had, indeed, left me alone when he
took off for Vegas without me. To most women, having a boyfriend help them
meant he'd act as a one-man apartment mover, or if she was really lucky, a
mechanic. I had to get the guy who'd put his soul on the line.

"How did you know there were so many?" I asked. I hadn't told him.

His eyes trailed down the column of my throat, down to my naked breasts and
back up again. "Let's just say I was able to connect with an individual
who shares our dislike of demons."

I stiffened. It couldn't be someone from the Department of Intramagical
Procedures. "Who?" I asked, crossing my arms over my breasts.

How did he even know where to go?

"There's a hunter," he said, his words cold.

Not Sid's hunter. I rubbed at my arms in a vain attempt to keep them from
going numb. "A DIP officer warned us about a rogue hunter. Where did you
see him?"

Dimitri didn't answer for a moment. The muscle in his jaw flexed before he
said, "He found me. And he'll probably try to find me again. I wasn't able
to finish the job."

"You mean you wanted to kill him?" I couldn't believe he'd be that
shortsighted.

If there were more of us, we might be able to fix what had gone wrong. At
the very least, I'd like to meet the guy. I'd be willing to help if it meant
getting Phil back and Dimitri gone from this place.

Dimitri looked like he wanted to punch the headboard. "You don't
understand, Lizzie. He's not a slayer like you. He's… a
thing
."
He ran his hands through his hair. With a shock, I noticed it had begun to
gray. "This hunter is more of a creature than a man."

Fine. I rubbed my temples.
Focus
. I couldn't hope to help Dimitri
without all the facts. "What is a hunter anyway?"

Dimitri seemed to know I was up to something. Still he answered,
reluctantly. "Hunters kill demons, but they aren't born to it, like
slayers. They're chosen. And with each kill, they lose a part of their
humanity. The one I met tonight is no better than the demons he
slaughters."

I found that difficult to believe. Anything or anybody willing to slay a
demon got a gold star in my book. "How can you make a blanket statement
like that? How do you know that hunters—"

"I've met my share of them, Lizzie." He drank me in like a cat
contemplating a particularly tasty snack. "I learned about this one years
ago when I was looking for a slayer—you."

Of course. Back when Dimitri would have done anything to kill the demon
who'd attacked his family. Now he'd shifted that loyalty to me.

"You attacked him, didn't you?" The old Dimitri would have tried
negotiation first. I wasn't so sure about this new man in front of me.

He snarled at the memory. "Actually, he went after me. He seems to
think I'm bad for the neighborhood."

The truth of it shocked me to the core. "He knows the succubi are
feeding off you."

It drove me nuts that he felt he had to be here—defenseless and alone—for
me, when facing the hunter was probably the one thing I could have done right
tonight. I was a demon slayer, and curse it all, I might not know the ins and
outs of the magical world, or who did what, but I knew how to throw a switch
star.

This was another area where I could—and would—take charge.

He eyed me suspiciously.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I demanded.

Dimitri secured a small, ornate box from the table next to the bed. It
reminded me of an antique snuffbox. "Stay away from the hunter," he
said, his back to me as he clicked the box open.

He rubbed an ointment along the scratches on his neck, down the angry red
slashes on his chest. My throat went dry as I watched his fingers glide lower,
over muscle and skin.

I forced myself to look away.

"We lost Phil," I told him.

I explained how we'd had him and how Serena had stolen him back right from
under us.

"We need to do something," I told him. "Figure out their
plans, even if it means forming an alliance with this hunter."

"No." He shoved the box back onto the dresser. "I know how
much you want to act immediately, Lizzie," he said, choosing his words
carefully.

He should. Dimitri was the king of barreling off. I'd seen him go after
black souls, possessed werewolves, you name it. He brushed back a lock of my
hair, and I almost felt like I was speaking to the real Dimitri, except for his
possessive grip, and the roughness in his voice.

He rubbed his thumbs over my palms and I detected some sort of oil.
"Did you get this from Battina?" I asked, catching a faint hint of
aloe and spice.

"It's an old family recipe. I told you I could handle this," he
said, his eyes fading to amber.

They still weren't brown, and I still didn't believe him.

"You need to understand," Dimitri continued, as if he wasn't in
mortal danger, "it's suicide to chase a succubus in this city, especially
if she's gained an immense amount of power. We wait for them to act."

I wanted to say something snarky, given who was dishing out that particular
piece of advice. But deep down, I knew he was right. I wasn't stupid. I was
desperate.

Tears welled at the back of my eyes. If we'd focused on freeing Phil this
afternoon… If we'd acted faster… I dropped my head, trying to
collect myself.

Now I was about to fail with Dimitri. "I'm going to ask you this once,
with everything I have. Please, for the love of… us. Leave this
city."

Dimitri drew his shoulders back, like an immense Greek wall. "I
can't," he said, resigned.

"I don't want to lose you," I pleaded. Surely, he had to see the
logic.

He took my hands, warming them. "I can do some things that other
griffins can't," he said. "I'm pure-blooded, and from a royal line.
That gives me extra strength."

I wanted to believe.

"You do realize I belong to a clan with some standing."

"But I thought your clan died out." I cringed as I said it. Like
he needed to be reminded he and his two sisters were all that remained of their
family.

"When I realized what we'd be facing here in Vegas, I pledged myself to
the Domonis clan in Rhodes. They have numbers, and the power of an old
family," he said. "We lend each other our strength."

"Is that what they get from you too?"

"When I have it to give. They also get my loyalty and my bloodline.
I've been too busy to start a family of my own." He fingers caressed my
arm, leaving goose bumps in their wake. "Now, I'm ready. Well, as soon as
we finish here."

I wasn't sure I wanted to talk about the future, not with what was happening
in the here and now. "You're being corrupted, Dimitri. I can see it."
It was more than the yellow eyes; he'd
fed
off me. When I thought of
how pale he'd looked before our lovemaking and how robust he was
afterward…

Dimitri's fingers found the sensitive nook behind my ear. A trickle of
warmth threaded through me and at that moment, I couldn't think of a better
place to be than in his arms. He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners as
he pulled me toward him.

Like a dash of cold water, I realized what I was doing and drew back.
Whatever he was using to treat himself seemed to be holding off the succubi for
now, but if the she-demons were feeing off his arousal, we didn't need to make
it worse.

He watched me, as if he knew. "I don't have much," he said,
stretching like a cat against me. "Except my pure griffin blood." His
thumbs traced circles along my spine. "But that will be enough."

I let him fold me into his arms. I found an unmolested part of his chest and
rested my cheek there as we lay back down. It seemed like he'd generated a
measure of strength from my closeness, at least that's what I told myself as he
leaned close and nibbled my neck, my earlobe. Mmm… I felt myself go limp
then delightfully stiff with anticipation as his fingers trailed through my
hair, found my scalp and pulled me toward him for a scorchingly perfect kiss.

"This is temporary, Lizzie. I meant it when I said I could handle
it."

Bless his loyal streak, I almost believed him… if not for the yellow
eyes.

"We're going to find a way to retrieve your uncle, and his power,"
he said like a promise.

I touched the edges of the raw pink wounds slicing across Dimitri's chest.
"I wish I knew how," I said. "And why she needed to marry
him."

"They seem to need more from him. There's something big going
down," he said. "I'll bet your uncle is involved somehow."

I didn't understand how. "My uncle wouldn't cooperate with
demons."

"You don't know him," Dimitri reminded me.

He would have to bring that up.

Still, I saw those marriage vows. Phil had been forced. Besides, in a way I
couldn't quite explain, I felt like I did know Phil. He'd always been there for
me, even if he hovered on the sidelines. He saved my life, but more than that,
he'd been a part of it. And I'd make sure he'd keep being a part of it. I'd
build my family, one member at a time.

"Listen, Lizzie. Whoever's behind this, they've got the nonmagical
world involved too."

Holy Hades.

I wished I had the power to stop all of this. Some demon slayer—I
couldn't even stop one demon without being swarmed, much less the multitudes
feeding on Dimitri, or the devil that married my uncle. If I didn't figure out
something fast, I had a feeling someone I cared about was going to get hurt
even worse.

Overwhelmed, I closed my eyes for a moment, and woke to find him gone.

During my short time in this magical world, I'd learned that first
impressions can mean everything. They can buy the respect you need to survive
or set you up for a whole lot of hurt. I dressed carefully the night I went to
meet the hunter. He might be on his home turf, and he had more experience. But
he had no idea what I could do to him.

Neither did I.

I scored a lavender dress in the hotel shop downstairs—shorter,
silkier, brassier than anything I'd ever owned. The neckline plunged between my
breasts and into a band of glittering silver beads. Some would have gone for
red or black, or gothed it up. Sue me, I hadn't quite been able to give up my
pastel roots.

The silk skirt lapped at my legs as I walked. I could run too. My low
sandals, in glossy silver, crisscrossed my feet like my Adidas Supernova
Cushion 6 trainers. I felt amazing. And I looked good too.

Pirate weaved between my legs like a cat, his tags jangling against one
another. "Say, you're awfully dressed up. You sure you're going to the
vet?"

My demon slayer utility belt felt cool against my hips. "You want to go
to the vet with me?" I asked, securing the crystal buckle below my navel.
I probably didn't need to lie when an organic doggie food bribe usually did the
trick. Still, I didn't want to take any chances tonight.