Brianna leaned forward. “Denny, I’m a witch. How crazy does that make
me
sound?”
Denny wiped her eyes and grinned. “Tit for tat, eh?”
“We live in the most haunted city in the country. Only a fool would refuse to believe in the supernatural and paranormal activities that happen on a daily basis. Although––” Brianna let her words fade.
“What? Although what?”
“I can’t say I’ve ever heard of someone having a ghost for a girlfriend. What’s it like?”
Denny picked at her pastry, conflicted about how much to tell Brianna and how much she had already told her. “By
it
, I assume you mean sex.”
“You have––” Brianna glanced around before lowering her voice. “Sex?”
“Not just sex. Mind-altering, bed-rattling sex. It happens on a different plane in a different manner.”
Brianna leaned back and whistled. “Wow. I never thought––never even considered––so she really
is
your girlfriend in every sense of the word.”
“Every sense.”
“Well, that totally explains you getting drunk, Denny. You’re grieving, frustrated, angry, scared and, to top it off, you’re worried that Pure is making poor choices with her life.”
“I said that, too, did I? Damn, did I leave no stone unturned?”
Brianna rose. “I can help you with one of these issues, if you’ll let me.”
Denny finished off the morning bun and licked her fingers. “I’d like that, Brianna. I really would, and seeing as I’ve pretty much barfed my life out in your lap––”
“Good. Then consider it done. I’ll let you know when we’re ready to go.”
Before she went back to work, Brianna did something only Denny’s mother had done: she kissed Denny’s forehead. “You’re a gem, Golden Silver, and no matter how it feels, you’re not alone.”
***
A
fter Victor dropped her off at her car, Denny sat staring at the silver tubes she’d left on the passenger side floor. Getting drunk when she had so many secrets was not only stupid, but irresponsible. Completely, totally, irresponsible.
She’d been lucky this time. Brianna had kept her from doing something really, really stupid.
She’d never cheated on Rush, not that she hadn’t had the chance. She had, but cheating wasn’t in her DNA. Besides, she loved Rush, and even though she knew it had to end one day, it was finally
her
turn to be there for Rush, and she wasn’t going to drop the ball.
She called Ames, and thirty minutes later stood in his enormous underground complex facing him.
“Let me see it.”
Denny pulled her necklace out. Ames’s reaction caught her off guard as he took a step back.
“What? What is it?”
Running his hand through his hair, Ames Walker recovered his composure. “I’m...I’m sorry. I almost forgot the level of your family.
“What level?”
Ames reached out and held the necklace, his eyes never leaving it; as if it were hypnotizing him. “You...you are a rare breed, my dear. I knew your mother was special, but this...” He shook his head. “You have no idea.”
“Oh, I think I do, Mr. Walker. Lately, I’ve had some extraordinary feats of strength where I have pretty much bested men almost a hundred pounds heavier than I am. Is that what you see?”
“I see a great deal, Golden, a great deal, indeed. My job is to train you to the best of my ability, to make sure you know how to use your weapons and how to get the most out of what you know. My job is to help you stay alive.”
“I don’t know jack, Ames. I know less than jack.”
“Good thing you don’t need to know jack. You need to know demons. You need to know how to live your life with one foot in both worlds. There’s a lot you need to know, Denny. This isn’t a part-time job, a hobby, or a vocation. It becomes your life, like eating, drinking, and breathing. You don’t play in this world. You don’t put one foot in the river and then pull it back out.
You
, especially.”
“Why me especially? What aren’t you telling me?”
“A whole hell of a lot, but especially you because of the legacy.”
“The legacy. The damned Silver Legacy.”
“It’ll be in your lair along with other books. You’re going to need to eat, sleep and drink this stuff until you have a vise grip on what being a legacy demon hunter is about. Your mother knew, but I never...she never revealed her necklace to me. And now, I totally understand why she tried to get your family out of it. For the first time in forever, I understand why she was so good...and so invested in trying to get you out.”
“To save our lives?”
Ames shook his head. “Oh, hon, there’s so much more to it than that. Nothing is ever that simple in a hunter’s world.”
Denny nodded. She wondered if she should tell him about Rush, but decided not to. She figured he would say they had bigger fish to fry, and that would just piss her off. “I’m ready. I think.”
Ames laughed and shook his head. “You aren’t even close to being ready, but the fact that you’re here tells me much about you. You are either very brave or you’ve seen enough to know you’re a born hunter––the chosen hunter of your lineage.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them. They’ve seen me. We’re preparing to enter the dance and I don’t want to have my toes stepped on.”
Ames smiled. “Oh yes. I’m quite sure they have, and your toes are the least of your worries. Well, it’s time. Come.”
Denny followed him into a room that looked like a Tae Kwon Do studio. Dummies lined the back wall, foam mannequins that bounced back up after being hit. There were weapons of all kinds lining one wall. The place was spotless and the floor was covered with blue wrestling mats. The fluorescent lights were almost too bright for the room which gave off a hollow, empty sound as she walked in.
“Wow.”
“Oh, the party hasn’t even started.” Ames handed her the silver tubes. “Let’s see what these babies’ve got in them.” Walking about twenty feet away, he nodded. “Go ahead.”
Denny looked down at the tubes in her hands. “Go ahead and do what?”
Ames shrugged. “Whatever will activate the weapons. You saw what I had to do. Each is different. Feel the weapon. They are a part of you as long as you wear the necklace.” He nodded to her. “Go on.”
“I thought you trained my mom. Don’t you know how these work?”
“I wasn’t that kind of trainer for her. She learned from a trainer in California. My job was to train her in the ways of our demons here in the south.” He nodded at her with his chin. “Let her rip, kiddo. Let’s see what these things can do.”
Denny looked at the cylinders and closed her eyes.
One thing she’d learned from Rush in their years together was the power of visualization. She opened her mind and felt a tingling sensation in her hands and in the back of her neck. The feeling that ran up her arm was the similar to what she felt when she hit her funny bone, only this went up her neck and jolted her brain like a drug.
Denny opened her eyes and moved both hands as if she was cracking a whip. The weapon in her left hand, Épée, sprang from the cylinder. It was a sword that seemed more like a scimitar. Curved and glistening, Épée appeared sharp enough to cut your eyes just for looking at it.
“Whoa. Awesome!”
Fouet came whipping out of its cylinder, crackling with white energy like a living snake. Tiny scalpel-like blades lined the whip, making it bite at the air around it.
“Holy shit!” Denny held Fouet away from her as though she was holding a live wire.
“It’s a chain-blade,” Ames explained. “A rare combination of whip and blade. All you need to do is cast it like a fishing rod and it will slice through just about anything.”
Denny stared at it as the electricity crackled. “Anything?”
“Yes. The Fouet is one of the hardest weapons to master because it whips like a leather whip but also cuts with those chainsaw-like blades. We’re going to need some time to work on that one or you could do some serious damage to yourself.”
“And Épée?”
“Straight up demon sword. It will cut completely through a body like the proverbial hot knife through butter. Now, drop them both.”
Denny did as she was told. The weapons reverted back to cylinders before hitting the mat.
“Unless they are connected to you and the triquetra, they will go back into hiding. So, when you are fighting a demon, you
must
hold onto your weapons.” Ames motioned for Denny to pick them back up. “Again.”
With a flick of her wrist, she was able to unveil both weapons.
“Very good. Today, we will work with Épée. To retrieve Fouet, you need only reverse the opening action.”
It took Denny a moment, but she finally got the chain-bladed genie back in its tube.
“This is amazing.”
Ames smiled. “And we haven’t even begun.”
***
S
he wasn’t prepared for the surge of energy that surged through her body when she held the weapons. It was like they became a part of her and supplied her with a weird electrical power that coursed through her veins.
“My god, they’re so...powerful.”
“Yes, they are. Get a feel for them. They’ll be like an extension of your arms once you know what you’re doing.”
Denny knew she had no idea what she was doing.
“Careful of Fouet. It tends to come whipping back. They’ve been known to take off an eyebrow or two.”
Denny could see that happening. Fouet crackled as if alive, and moved independently of her like a living snake. “So when do we go after one?”
Ames laughed hard. “You’ve got a lot to learn before you are ready for a face-to-face encounter. Read the Black Book. Study the writings. Understand that every demon is different and no two fights are the same. The hunts are as vast as grains of sand, and the moment you think you have nothing more to learn will be the moment you sign your own death certificate.”
Denny flicked her wrists and the two weapons disappeared. “These are super cool.”
Ames handed her a calendar. “First thing we need to do is pencil in training times. Take that home, figure it out, and come back. Then we have to talk about what you’re seeing. After that, you’ll need several hours a day to learn how to make those weapons the most effective weapons in demon hunting history. So...what are you seeing?”
Denny stared at him, somewhat relieved he didn’t think she was crazy. “I’m seeing red eyes, like those laser pens.”
“Ah, excellent. Very observant of you. Good. Until I clear you, you are not to take any of them on. They’ll sniff you out and might even come after you, but you need to stay clear until you’ve seen what both those weapons can do. Do not think you know what you’re doing until I tell you that you know what you’re doing. Understand?”
Denny nodded.
“So...are you ready?”
Four-and-a-half hours later, Denny was sweaty, sore, and felt like her muscles had been stretched beyond repair.
The Tae Kwon Do would help, he said, and he shoved several books and tapes at her when they finished.
When Denny finally got home and dragged her tired ass into the shower, she bent over to let the hot water run on her back, then she started crying.
One minute her life was running along smoothly and the next, she was in a subterranean training facility learning how to fight demons while her lover was missing and her family was in danger.
It was almost more than she could take.
***
D
enny woke up with her face on the cold green marble of her mother’s desk. Books were piled all over, some open, others waiting their turn. She’d been up until three-thirty in the morning reading the Black Book, taking notes, and cross-referencing everything she could. There was so much to know, but she was finally beginning to understand where she fit in the scheme of this supernatural world. It was an enormous responsibility; greater than anything she had ever imagined.
What were they doing here?
Well, she learned that, unlike demons of Christianity and Judaism, demons in the real world weren’t after angels, or merely the dark side equivalent. They were spirits, yes, but there was so much more to them than that.
Pre-Islamic mythology, as well as other Far Eastern myths, did not differentiate between gods and demons. Jinn were considered divinities of inferior rank with human capabilities. While most jinn tended to be peaceful, there were those who, for whatever reason, wished to cause chaos and harm to the living.
Denny sighed and then ran her fingers through her hair. She wished she had paid more attention in school.
She continued reading.
Jinn was an Arabic word meaning hidden from sight. The Hmong people in Southeast Asia believed in evil spirits and have well-established rituals and traditions for encountering and destroying them.
Denny wiped her eyes and refocused on her notes. She reread what she’d last written.
~~~
P
ractitioners of ceremonial magic would often attempt to call, constrain, and command demons to do their bidding. They deployed them in order to obtain their goals, whatever those goals might be. Lesser demons could be commanded and used by the summoner, but higher-level demons were not.
When regarded as spirits, they could be human or nonhuman, separable souls, or discarnate spirits which have never inhabited a body.
Nearly every religion and region held some belief in demons, and though they differed somewhat, the basic premise was the same.
~~~
D
enny stood up and stretched before she flipped her mother’s journal open again.
The things her mild-mannered mother had done, the places she’d gone, were unbelievable, and Denny realized she really hadn’t known her mother. It was disheartening to know the life she thought they had, the childhood she thought was hers, wasn’t. Nothing was as she had thought and her heart hurt for it.
Skipping to the entries made when she was about eight years old, Denny read:
~~~
I
t is evident that the legacy skipped over my first two children and straight to Golden. I should have known––should have suspected as much. She is the third, a powerful number. I am not surprised. She has always been the most spiritually sensitive, even when she was a toddler. She sees the spirit in the house––Rushalyn Holbrook, but does not appear afraid of her. She is harmless, that ghost. She watches the children, mostly Golden, who wants to interact with her, but for some reason, Rush won’t.