The Dark-Hunters (482 page)

Gloria nodded. “I heard the noise and then tried to cross the street to get away from it.”

“Good,” Simone prompted. “You remember anything else?”

Gloria shook her head. “I really don’t think I’m dead. I mean, I know you went through me with your hand earlier, but I remember this movie I saw with Reese Witherspoon—”

“Just like Heaven,”
Simone supplied.

“Yeah, that was it. Everyone thought Reese was a ghost, but she was just in a coma. Maybe that’s me.”

Simone really wished that were the case. She looked at Jesse, hoping he could help her make Gloria comprehend that this was final and there wasn’t any coming back from it no matter how much they all wished otherwise.

He gave Gloria an understanding smile. “I know how you feel. That disbelief that keeps telling you it’s a dream, but you have to face the fact that you’re not in a coma.”

Simone sighed as she skimmed the empty alley. There was only a piece of paper and a crushed Starbucks cup. Nothing else.

“I really don’t see anything helpful,” she said to the ghosts. “The police must have gotten everything. Let’s head back to Tate and see what his people have unearthed.”

As she took a step toward her car, she heard a tsking sound behind them that sent chills over her. No one had been there before …

“Surely you don’t want to be leaving us so soon. After all, we just got here … and we’re looking for a good bite to eat.”

Simone turned her flashlight on the man speaking.

Correction, it wasn’t a man. It was a Daimon.

And he wasn’t alone.

TWO

Jesse’s cheeks paled. Not that, as a ghost, he had much color to begin with, so whenever he lost what little he had, it scared her.

He gave her a cheesy grin. “Looks like I was wrong about the Daimons choosing this spot, huh?”

Simone stepped back. “Yeah, Jess, bad call.”

The Daimon turned toward Jesse and smiled. “How thoughtful. We have three for the price of one, guys. Guess Apollo is in a good mood tonight.”

As the Daimons made a move for Gloria, Simone pulled her stun gun from her pocket and rushed them. There was no way she was going to let them hurt the poor ghost. “Stay away from her!”

The first Daimon dodged the electric prongs that flew from the stun gun toward him, and knocked her back. Before she could counterattack, he had the stun gun out of her hand. “Don’t be jealous, baby. We’ll get to you in a jiffy.”

“Jiffy?” The malevolent, mocking tone sent a shiver down her spine. “What kind of pathetic wuss uses the word ‘jiffy’?”

Simone froze at the voice that was so deep she felt it resonate inside her bones.

Out of the darkness moved a shadow so large, it dwarfed her. An instant later, the Daimon went flying over her head to slam into the wall next to Jesse. The Daimon hit it so hard, she was amazed he didn’t splatter like a bug. And he was quickly joined by another Daimon who landed on top of him.

“Open the portal,” the stranger growled at the third Daimon he now held in his fist.

“I ain’t opening shit.”

“Wrong answer.”

The Daimon joined the other two.

The shadow bore down on her like a mountain. Sinister. Angry. Cold. Determined.

She shone the light on him and felt her breath leave her in one sudden gasp. Easily over six feet tall, he had long, black hair that was tousled around features as perfect as any actor she’d ever seen and eyes so blue they all but glowed in the darkness. He had his jaw set as if he were attempting to keep his fury leashed, and failing miserably. Every sinew of his body rippled like a feral beast on the prowl. He was seduction and he was death.

Wearing only a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, he appeared immune to the cold. His shoulders were wide, his waist narrow, and there was an aura around him that said absolute killer. No fear.

No mercy.

Those icy blue eyes penetrated with hatred and warning. And they sent shivers over her. “This is the part where you need to run, little human. Don’t look back.”

Those words angered her to the same level he appeared to operate at. She wasn’t incompetent or weak. “I’m not little.” She elbowed the Daimon who was running at her in the throat before she flipped him onto the ground and kicked him.

The newcomer scoffed at her show of power. “Then let death become you.” He turned and pulled the Daimon she’d attacked off the ground. He plowed him into the wall so hard, it left a dent in the brick. The Daimon grunted and cursed.

“Open the portal,” he demanded of the Daimon, whose nose and mouth were bleeding profusely.

As if in response to his words, a bright light flashed at the rear of the alley, right in a corner.

The man dropped the Daimon in his hands and headed for the light, but before he could enter, a giant, blond Daimon came out of it.

This wasn’t one of the normal Daimons she’d seen before.

Dressed in black leather, he had the aura of a trained fighter. Of someone who was used to killing and making the death as painful as possible.

Simone couldn’t move at the frightening sight. At least seven feet tall, the Daimon actually laughed and exposed his long sharp fangs at the dark-haired man an instant before he attacked him.

Fists and kicks were flying faster than she could follow. Apparently no braver than schoolgirls, the other three Daimons ran toward the street to get away from the combatants.

Simone stumbled away as the Daimon knocked the man against the wall. The man let out a huff as he collided with the stone. The Daimon landed a punch against his jaw so solid that she could feel it herself.

The man took it with a grimace before he head-butted the Daimon, who staggered back. But the Daimon didn’t go far before he reached into his coat and pulled out a large gold bracelet. He snapped it around the man’s wrist.

The man hissed as if the bracelet burned his skin. The Daimon kicked him back, then turned to her.

This would be a good time to take the man’s advice and run like hell.

Simone didn’t know what the Daimon intended, but whatever it was, it boded rotten for her. She ran for the street. The Daimon caught her and slung her to the ground. She scrambled to get away, but he was inhumanly strong and much faster than she was.

He grabbed her arm and shoved her over onto her back. She tried to kick him. It didn’t work. He pushed her sleeve back to expose her forearm.

Rather than bite her, he snapped another bracelet onto her wrist. Pain tore through her arm with such ferocity that she wouldn’t have been surprised to see her arm shredded.

She struggled to breathe for the pain of it.

Meanwhile the Daimon laughed at the tears that gathered in her eyes. He smiled evilly. “Time for you to die, human.”

Before he could carry out his promise, Jesse picked up her toolbox and hit him across the back. The Daimon turned on him with a hiss made rabid by his razor-sharp fangs and lunged.

One heartbeat later, the stranger was there, pulling her off the ground and shoving her toward the street. “Move your ass.”

“What do you think I was doing?”

“Picking your nose.” He paused to sling his hand out at the Daimon after them. The leather-clad Daimon recoiled as if something invisible had blasted him.

An instant later, that same invisible force slammed into her and sent her flying. She landed on the ground with a thud so hard, it knocked the wind from her lungs.

“Breathe, Sim, breathe,” Jesse said as he appeared beside her. He grabbed the keys from her pocket and put them in her hand. “Now get your butt up!” He ran to her car and opened the door for her.

Simone followed him as fast as she could. As she got in, someone shoved her from behind. She looked back to see the dark-haired stranger. He pushed her into the passenger seat and climbed into the car after her.

Even more surprising than that, he glared at Jesse, who was still outside. “Get in, ghost-boy, or get eaten. I don’t care which and I’m not waiting.”

Something struck the car.

Turning to look out, Simone gasped at the sight of the leather-clad Daimon perched like a giant ornament on her white hood. He moved to punch the windshield. The man beside her gunned the engine and knocked the Daimon face first into the glass before he slammed on the brakes and sent him flying from the hood.

The man jerked the wheel and sent the car careening into traffic, over the median. Tires squealed. Cars crashed around them as horns began blaring.

Simone crossed herself and prayed as she watched headlights coming at them, fast and furious. Her hands shaking from fright, she buckled herself in while Jesse screamed out like a terrified child in the backseat. As if
he
could die.

The man snatched the wheel an instant before they would have hit a dump truck head-on, and sent the car back into the correct lane. Still, cars around them slammed on brakes and swerved to get out of their way. “This would probably be easier if I knew how to drive, huh?”

Her eyes widened as she looked at the man beside her. “I hope you’re joking.”

“Not really,” he said as he clipped the fender on a parked car.

Simone didn’t know what horrified her most. The man beside her or what her insurance rates would be if he didn’t stop hitting things.

“Watch out!” she screamed as he headed for another truck.

He swerved a heartbeat before it would have plowed into them.

By the time he turned into an alley and slammed on the brakes hard enough to put a bruise on her shoulder from the seat belt, she was ready to jump out of the car and take a chance on the road rather than die in a twisted heap of burning metal.

The man turned in the seat to look at her. With near perfect features, he was ruggedly handsome. Blue eyes showed intelligence, if not kindness. He had one muscular arm braced on the dash and the other on the seat. He would be gorgeous if he wasn’t so frightening. “I have no idea what I’m doing. Given that, I think I should surrender this thing to someone who knows how to properly operate it.”

Simone gulped for air as she tried to get her heart to stop pounding. She pried her grip loose from the door handle. “Who the hell are you?”

He glanced at the bracelet on his wrist, then snatched at it as if trying to jerk it off. “Xypher, and you are?”

“Pissed off. You wrecked my car, shoved me around, and are a complete and utter dickhead!”

“Dear God,” he said dryly, “what a mouthful—your mom must have really wanted a son. Mind if I call you ‘Pissed’ for short? The rest of that is just too much to say every time I want your attention.”

Jesse laughed from the backseat.

Simone glared at him.

Jesse at least had the good grace to look contrite. “Sorry, but you should be in my shoes. You two are hysterical.”

“Careful, ghost-boy, or I’ll summon a Daimon and feed you to it.”

Simone was stunned. “You can hear him?”

Xypher gave her a blank stare before he replied dryly, “Can’t you?”

“Yes. But no one else has ever heard him before.”

“Guess you’re not so special after all, huh?”

She screwed her face up at him. “You are so rude.”

“No shit, human.” He started tearing at the bracelet with his teeth.

She cringed at the sound of enamel on metal. She hated to hear teeth scrape like that. “What are you doing?”

He let out a frustrated sigh before he went back to pulling at the bracelet. “You have no idea what happened to us just now, do you?”

“Aside from being assaulted by you and a group of the damned, is there something else I should know?”

He held her arm up to show her the bracelet that matched his. “Yeah. Since both of us are wearing these I’m going to take a wild guess that they bind us together somehow. ’Cause, let’s face it, the Daimons don’t usually tag you before they bite. They’re not Marlin Perkins out to study us.”

Simone looked down at her arm as a bad feeling went through her. “What are you saying?” She actually knew, but she wanted to hear it from him before she was willing to believe it.

“I’m saying that if I were you, I wouldn’t get too far away from me until we figure out what exactly these are and what they do. Knowing the gods as I do, I’m sure we’re fucked somehow.”

Knowing the gods …

Oh, this was going from bad to worse. “What are you?” she asked, terrified of what answer he might give her.

His look was as cold as the wind outside. “Don’t ask questions you don’t really want answered.”

“Um, guys…” Jesse said, interrupting them. “The Daimons have a car and they’re coming after us.”

Xypher cursed.

In the blink of an eye, Simone went from the passenger side to the driver’s.

Xypher was now in her seat. “Can you get us out of here?”

She should probably question what had just happened, but given the fact that one of her best friends was a ghost and the other worked for immortal vampire slayers, she was used to the unusual on a daily basis. What mattered right now was getting free.

“Defensive Driving 101. Fasten your seat belt.” She threw the car in reverse and headed for the Daimons, who quickly swerved to miss her. Simone did a quick K-turn in the center of the road and headed back toward the alley where they’d met.

“Nice work.”

She was amazed that the surly Xypher was capable of giving her a compliment. “It pays to hang around the police. You pick up all kinds of useful things.”

Jesse popped his head up in the front seat, between them. “They’re still behind us.”

“Not for long.” Xypher rolled down the window and he pulled a gun out of his pants pocket. He opened fire on the car following them.

Simone’s eyes widened as she heard the tire blow out. The car skidded sideways before it turned over in the street. “Nice shooting, Tex.”

He pulled the mag out and replaced it with another one. “I have an unfair advantage. I can make the bullets go where I want them to. I took out the Daimons before I KO’d the car.”

Simone cut into a small parking lot, then stopped again. She turned in the seat to face him. His cheeks were reddened from his exertion and the wind burn on his skin as he’d fired on the Daimons. The color made his eyes stand out even more.