A Demon Made Me Do It (33 page)

I whap his arm and he
laughs.

“
I’d say overall, we dodged
a bullet,” I mutter. “I can’t
believe
Jax did that. If he wasn’t
already dead, I’d kill him myself—”

“
Hey, guys.”

I hadn’t noticed Kieron approach. I
stand up, brush off my dress and walk over to him. Then I give him
a hug and a kiss on the cheek, relishing how good his body feels
pressed against mine.

“
What was that for?” he
whispers as we pull apart. He glances over to where Bones sits and
gives him a small nod. Bones turns away.

“
For saving my friend. You
were the one who got him the Source Energy. I don’t know what
would’ve happened if…” My voice fades away.

He gazes into my eyes. There’s a
sadness there. Unspoken truths that I can’t read. Is it because
Liora is mad at him?

“
What is it?” I ask
quietly, moving my hand down the length of his arm until his hand
is holding mine. He gives it a gentle squeeze and pulls me over to
where Bones is staring out at the rippling fire.

“
Actually, I need to talk
to both of you…it’s about what happened last night.”

Bones looks over at us, his expression
blank.

Kieron sits on the grass, me beside
him. “I just wanted to say I don’t think it would be a good idea
for it to get out what went down last night.”

Bones’ laugh is more of a sneer. “Of
course it would. They killed one of ours when we went there on a
peace mission. I know you’re not from around here, so you don’t
really care if one of us lives or dies. But I care. I take it
pretty damn personal when one of my boys gets torn to
shreds.”

Kieron hedges. “Yeah…I understand
that. But there’s something you should know…last night, when we
re-visted the place where we found Cody and Ivy, I saw
something…something I hadn’t noticed before.”

“
Yeah, so?” Bones asks
flatly.

“
So, what I saw…what I
sensed, leads me to believe that I know exactly what kind of
demons
killed them.” He
eyes me pointedly at the word
demons
.

“
They are transient demons
with no home,” he continues. “They travel in particular patterns,
ones I’ve been trained to spot. They don’t come from the Hlbafa
side, nor were any of the Hlbafa responsible for what
happened.”

“
Okay, so maybe they didn’t
kill Ivy and Cody, but they attacked Jax.”

“
Well,” I interject, “to be
fair, Jax
did
attack them first. Besides, the ones who attacked us are all
dead now. Maybe Kieron’s right…maybe we should just let it go…” I
don’t know where my magnanimous mood is coming from; normally I’d
be down for any fight for any reason—good or bad.

Maybe it’s because I’m
sitting here beside a healthy and strong Bones, and next to Kieron,
who is still covering my hand with his beneath the waves of grass.
Maybe it’s Kieron’s words—that it was
demons
who killed Cody and Ivy, not
the Light-angels we’d first feared—that filled me with such a sense
of relief, I no longer feel like tempting the fates.

Or maybe because, with Liora out of
the picture, Kieron can focus his attention on me. Only
me.

“
Wait a
minute
,” Bones says, turning to Kieron. “If
you knew last night that the Hlbafa weren’t responsible, why didn’t
you say anything then? Why let us carry on?”

“
Because I wasn’t sure if
the demons responsible were still in the area. I thought we could
speak to the Hlbafa leaders and maybe get some information from
them…see if any of them knew anything. But, we all know how well
that went.”

Bones is quiet for a while. “I suppose
I see your point. No use in making something bigger than it needs
to be. I have things I’d much rather be doing than fighting and
killing,” he says, standing up. “But you should have told
us.”

“
Where are they now?” I
ask.

Bones and Kieron look at
me, both with blank looks their faces. I let out an exasperated
sigh. “The
demons
,
you idiots. The ones who killed Ivy and Cody.”

Kieron looks down. “They’re gone. Far
away.”

I feel like he’s not telling me
everything, but turn my attention back to Bones. “You off to mate?”
I ask, recognizing the look in his eyes. Kieron and I rise to our
feet as Bones nods.

“
Yup, right after I hit up
the Bar. Gonna treat myself to a few extra virgins tonight, too.”
He grins salaciously. But this time my stomach doesn’t wrench up
the way it usually does. I smile and give him a kiss on his
cheek.

I watch his retreating back as he
crosses the bridge and start to follow, but Kieron holds me back.
“Lucky, wait a second.”

“
What is it?” I turn to
meet his gaze. My heart does the wobbly flip-flop as he looks into
my eyes and puts his arms around my waist. Gently, authoritatively,
he pulls me closer.

His lips find mine, and my head begins
to spin. His kisses are soft at first, then stronger, more
passionate. We stand there by the river of fire, arms around each
other, kissing with an intensity I’ve never experienced before. My
insides smolder, and I’m sure my head must be melting. I feel
strong and weak at the same time.

I don’t want Kieron to ever stop, but
eventually he moves his lips from my mouth to my cheek, to my
forehead, finally kissing the top of my head. I rest my head on his
chest, a contented smile on my face.

“
I just needed to do that
first,” he says, his voice husky.

“
I’m glad you did…what took
you so long?” I ask as I snuggle closer. I don’t want to know if
he’s already kissed
her
; I don’t even want to think about it. I only want to be in
this moment, here and now. With him. Just the two of us.

But we both need to drink, so after a
few more kisses, we walk hand in hand across the river of
flames.

******

“
So, what’s on your agenda
tonight?” Kieron asks, his face inches from mine as I lean back
against a tree. As much as I love hearing the sound of his voice,
every moment he’s talking is a moment he’s not kissing
me.

“
This,” I say, pulling him
in for another. After we had our drinks at Demon Bar we’d returned
to my special spot on the hillside. But now I think of it as
our
special spot. The
Sirens seem to be singing especially for us tonight as Kieron and I
embrace passionately along the edge of the cliff.

My hands wander down the sides of his
body and under his shirt. My fingertips dance along the ridges of
his rock-hard abdomen. Tiny baby hairs make a trail down to his
jeans. He groans softly and pulls me closer.

“
I wish I could do this all
night, but I can’t,” he says.

“
Why not?” I give him my
best pout.

He sighs. “Well, I actually have to
work. I picked up the trail of a quarry last night, and I need to
see if it pans out. Not that I’m holding my breath,” he mutters,
looking away.

“
Well, I
was
planning on
tormenting tonight…but maybe I can go with you instead?” I trace
the side of his face with my finger.
God
he’s beautiful.

“
I might be gone a few
days…that’s why I had to make sure to do this before I left.” His
eyes sparkle, and he leans in to kiss me again.

I jerk back as if punched in the gut.
“A few days?” I whisper.

He nods. “I’ve been tracking these
demons for quite some time. I’d lost them for a bit, and then they
were hiding out in lands I’m forbidden to enter. But they’ve
resurfaced. In fact, they’re the ones responsible for Ivy and Cody.
I didn’t want to say anything earlier with Bones right
there—”

“
What?! Why didn’t you tell
me sooner? I’m
definitely
going with you!”

Kieron sighs again and takes a small
step back. “You can’t. Like I said, it might be a few days…maybe
longer. You know you can’t be away that long. But I need to act
fast and secure their position. It’s of the utmost importance that
I contain them before they have a chance to disappear
again.”

I’m disappointed because I know he has
to go, and I can’t follow. But something else is bugging me,
too…something I hadn’t put my finger on until just now. “Kieron,
when we found Cody and Ivy, you were convinced they were killed by
Light-angels. You said they had the markings, the energy and
everything. What made you change your mind?”

A haunted look shadows his face, and
his eyes darken. He studies me at length before responding. “I was
wrong. The demons who did it…they are a special kind that absorb
the powers and energies of their victims. They feed off those
energies; it’s how they survive and grow stronger. My best guess is
they’d had a run-in with Light-angels in the Mortal world shortly
before attacking Cody and Ivy in Dryndara.

“
I’ve only heard of two
demons who have that power…” My voice trails off.

No. I
cannot
process this. No. No.
No.

Kieron nervously runs his hands
through his hair, the pain evident in his face.

“
I’d really hoped to avoid
this. I’d considered just leaving and not saying anything to you,
but I couldn’t do it. But I
should
have…” He shakes his head, as if he’s angry with
himself. “Remember how I said I came here to kill you because you
were interfering with one of my quarries?”

“
Um, yeah…I just figured I
killed one of your bounties and you were pissed about the money.
I’ll pay you back if that’s what…” I mumble, still in complete
denial of where he’s going with this, even though I know
exactly
where he’s
heading. I want him to stop talking
now
…before it’s too late.

“
No, that’s not it. You
were interfering because you were hunting them, too. These
particular demons are highly sensitive and spook easily. I’d been
tracking them for several months. And just when I had them in my
sights, something scared them off—
you
.” He looks down at the
ground.

Suddenly, everything is spinning
around me and I begin to feel faint. My back slides down the side
of the tree until I’m sitting on the ground. But even that doesn’t
help. An achy sickness permeates my body, and my blood seems to
have turned to poison—slowly, methodically, killing me.

“
There have only been two
demons I’ve ever hunted who’ve evaded me,” I whisper, still in
disbelief.

Kieron nods, and shuffles his feet
nervously. “And I have a blood contract from the Supreme Legionary
to bring them in… Alive.”

I jump up. “What?! No!
You
can’t
! If
they’re here… if they’re somewhere and you know where they are,
Kieron you
must
tell me. I
have
to kill them. You
know
I do.”

“
I’m sorry, I can’t let
you. The Supreme Legionary decreed…” His voice is barely a
mumble.

“
The Supreme
Legionary…Kieron
, who are
you
?” My eyes feel ready to pop out of my
head, if it doesn’t explode first.

“
Lucky, this isn’t the time
to get into all this. I’ll explain after I get back…”

“
After you get back from
protecting the murderous monsters who killed my friends and
destroyed my life, you mean!”

He looks at me with pain in his eyes.
“I had no idea what the Amazèa had done to you when we first met. I
only figured it out after talking with you. Then I put two and two
together. No one would be stupid enough to hunt them if they didn’t
have a hell of a good reason.”

My quivering lips twist
into a snarl. “Oh, and I suppose
you
have a good reason?”

“
I’ve been bound to this
bounty for months. Finding them, containing them, and handing them
over to the Legionary is the only way I can win my
freedom…otherwise…” He looks away and nervously runs both his hands
through his hair.

I step into his line of
vision and glare. “What about
my
freedom? What about
my
justice?
My
revenge
?”

He lets out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry
Lucky. I really am. If it makes you feel any better, they’re being
held for high crimes and will likely be stripped of their powers
and banished to the Wasteland for all of eternity.”

“
No, it
doesn’t
make me feel better! They
need to
pay.
They
need to
die
! And I
have to be the one to do it. For Kayla…for Michael…Cody and
Ivy.
For me.”
I
stomp my foot so hard, the trees beside me tremble.