“We’re fine. We’re working a few things out with her new
boyfriend
, but other than that, we’re just trying to adjust.”
“Her new––” Sterling sighed. “You know, I had it so much easier with you.”
“You got that right. Gay is looking pretty sweet next to a demon, huh?”
The line was silent for a moment.
“It’s started then,” Sterling whispered.
“Pretty much. Let’s just say the doorbell’s ringing and it ain’t Avon calling.”
“Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?”
How much did Sterling know that she never let on?
“Let’s see. I’ve been attacked twice, had a demon implode in my face, almost decapitated myself with a weapon that actually has a given name, attempted a failed séance, and have yet to figure out how to get Rush back. All in all, I’d say I’m very far from okay.”
“Oh Golden, I’m so sorry. I wish...I wish I could be more help.”
Denny leaned forward. “You’ve known all along about the legacy haven’t you? I mean you knew what it really entailed. All of it.”
More silence.
When Sterling finally spoke, her voice was soft. “That’s a story for another time but, yes, yes I did know. I knew something resides in the hunter...that it was in Mom...that it would be looking for a host once she passed away.”
“
Resides
is a nice way of putting it.
You
chose to
reside
in the one place you thought they couldn’t get you, huh? That’s why you wore the triquetra. You thought it
kept
the demons away.” Denny shook her head.
“I’m so sorry.” Her voice was soft and Denny could barely hear her. “So, so sorry.”
“Sterling, it is what it is. No sorrys necessary, no apologies required, but
something
is after our family and there’s only one of us capable of stopping it.”
“I just...I knew I wasn’t strong enough to be a demon hunter. It wasn’t the life for me. When Mom survived the accident, I had no idea what would happen. I guess I expected it to move down the line to Quick. Gosh, that sounds horrible of me, but he seemed to be the best choice.”
“Not horrible. Realistic. He’s the only one of us who lacked direction, focus, responsibility. He might have been good at it but he lacks the substance the demon needs.”
“Can it...you know––”
“Move from me to him? I don’t think so. It’s had plenty on time to decide. I’ve had the Hanta since I was fifteen. I just never knew it.”
“All this time?”
“Yeah. Who knew? Its full name is Hanta Raya. That’s what it’s called, and let me tell you, that demon can open up a serious can of whoop ass.”
“So...
you
have it.”
“It’s not like I have a cold, Sterling. I am possessed by the same demon that possessed our mother and our grandmother. It just hangs out until it gets hungry and then I see all sorts of weird shit I never thought I’d see outside a movie theater. So, no,
I
don’t have it.
It
has me.”
“I...I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say. It’s been sitting there...waiting. And its wait is over. Time to feed the pigeons.”
Sterling sighed “And Pure? What does she know?”
“She doesn’t know anything, and I’d like to keep it that way for as long as I can. She needs to be a teenager free of worrying about her possessed sister.”
“And you’re sure her boyfriend is a demon?”
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“Really?”
Denny laughed. “No. Not really. It’s just...a knowing. The Hanta knows, and by extension, I know. There’s a whole lotta knowing going on in me right now.”
“Are you—”
“Gonna kill him? Yeah, I am, but I can’t just whirl around killing every demon in sight. There are a lot of them, you know? Ames wants me to wait until I am better trained, but mark my words, that boy’ll get his once I know what I’m doing. I can’t stand him.”
“Poor Pure. Her first boyfriend and he’s a demon. Not a very auspicious start to love. I’ll pray for her.”
“Yeah, you do that. And here you thought there could be nothing weirder than my relationship with a ghost.” Denny turned the page of the Black Book and stared at the picture of a demon. “As soon as I have a better handle on this, I’m taking him down.”
There was another silence.
“Sterling?”
“I’m here. I just...I wish I hadn’t failed her.”
“You didn’t. We’re a legacy family, Ster. There was a twenty-five percent chance it was gonna be me. I’m the one with it now. I mean it’s not like I have a choice. If any of us has a chance to live a normal life, it’s Pure, and I’m going to do everything in my power to give that to her.”
“I wish you didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, well one thing my older sister taught me was you play the cards you were dealt, and that is exactly what I plan on doing.”
***
I
t was four o’clock in the morning when Denny finally tucked her notes away and closed the Black Book. She’d been in the lair since around nine o’clock and had a seven o’clock appointment with Ames. She needed to shower, eat, and figure out what she was going to do about Pure’s boyfriend.
While Rush could still be in danger, she
was
already dead. Pure, on the other hand, had her whole life ahead of her. It was that life Denny knew she had to protect.
Time to take Mike Cockerton out of play and see what the rest of the rats would do. It wouldn’t be easy, especially since he had dug his claws into Pure, but Denny losing another family member wasn’t on Denny’s agenda. So far, the score rested at Demons 3, Silvers 0, but Denny would be changing that.
Denny had been reading the kills from a hunter named Peyton in New Orleans. He was incredibly skilled and quite a proficient hunter, always adding kills to the book. That was something she would have to get better at doing because she was learning so much by reading Peyton’s entries.
After closing the book, Denny threw on some sweats and grabbed her weapons before tossing back some cold coffee and checking on Pure. It was too early to swing by the coffee shop, so she figured she’d go to Winnie’s for some breakfast and coffee.
When she started her car, she felt it.
The Hanta Raya.
It seemed to come to life at the exact moment she needed it.
Checking the rear view mirror, Denny saw a pickup truck with three stooges in it tailing her.
She could never outrun them in a Prius, so she decided to pull into a parking lot and let the chips fall where they may. Getting out, Denny pulled out her weapons and stood feet apart, cylinders in her hands and watching as the truck stopped and the thugs hopped out. The Hanta filled her with a courage she could not have mustered on her own.
“I take it your broken little buddy dragged his sorry ass back to the mother-ship and you’re here to put me in my place.”
The three men stood shoulder to shoulder. Their glowing eyes proved what she already knew—demons.
“You got a big mouth for a rookie.”
“You shoulda kilt him. Leavin’ him alive was such a noob mistake.”
Denny held the cylinders tightly in her hands, but had yet to unleash them. They seemed to get warmer as the threat grew.
They had come to kill her.
“Well, this
rookie
must be a considerable threat for someone to send three of you yahoos after me.” Denny’s head tingled and a strange throbbing beat behind her eyes.
The Hanta was fully awake.
“Sending a warning was a stupid, stupid move, showing just how lame you really are.” This came from the tallest demon, a big, beefy redhead missing a neck. The other two looked like the brothers of Alvin the Chipmunk. One wore black-rimmed glasses; the other wore a ball cap. They were clearly from the university.
Denny made a mental note to run through campus and rid it of any others. That was a good plan.
That was what she needed.
“Nope, No Neck, you confuse strategy for inexperience. You came to me, didn’t you?” She felt her voice change. It was one of the more significant and obvious transformations of the Hanta––one she wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to. It lent an eerie, “is she possessed or isn’t she?” vibe to the moment.
“Yeah. You didn’t
think
about that, did you?” Snapping her wrists, Fouet and Épée came to life with a
thwap
followed by that weird electrical buzz. “Why don’t I start with you, you no-neck motherfucker?”
Denny had learned very quickly that her Hanta had a potty mouth that would make a sailor blush.
She kinda liked it.
“You’re crazy. We’re not low-level pond scum demons like those other two, bitch. We’re the A-team. The top dogs.”
“What does that A stand for? Asshole? Who starts a ballgame playing their second string, anyway?”
As they spread out, Denny cracked Fouet, which popped and crackled like a live wire. Truth to tell, Fouet scared the shit out of her with all those tiny blades and that eerie electrical buzz. “Come on, big boy,” she said to No Neck. “Make your move.”
To her surprise, No Neck pulled out a silver cylinder of his own. “You think you’re the only one with special weapons?”
“I think I don’t give a shit, asshole. Unless you’re packing a fucking rocket launcher, I’m gonna send you back to whatever hell you came from.”
This was when she felt the Hanta’s presence the strongest.
As the three surrounded her, she kept the sword pointed at No Neck and the chain blade at the chipmunk. The third guy was directly behind her and out of her peripheral vision and therefore, the most dangerous.
He would have to go first.
Whirling around and snapping Fouet like a whip, she sliced off the chipmunk’s arm above the elbow. He screamed and grabbed his bleeding appendage, but he did not implode.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she followed up the Fouet with Épée, cleanly slicing through his neck.
Then
he blew up, splattering blood and guts all over the place. Denny was stunned at the number of flesh bits that landed on her.
“One down, two to go, motherfuckers.” She held her weapons at the ready. “Next? Step right up, fellas. Who wants to die?”
“You can’t possibly think you can take us both out,” No Neck said.
“Umm...did you miss the opening show, dumb shit? I’m wearing pieces of it.”
The demons looked at each other. Clearly, they had not expected potty mouth backtalk from such a young demon hunter, but there it was.
And that was a huge miscalculation.
Denny
was young. Her Hanta, not so. They had completely underestimated its power. “What are you waiting for, dickweed? Make your move. But be warned, that little weapon of yours I’ll eat for breakfast.”
No Neck snapped his wrist to reveal a blade much like her own, only thinner and longer. “Then it’ll be the last thing you eat.”
His blade crackled and as it whooshed by her, Denny lifted Épée up to meet it. The clash sent sparks of energy flying in all directions. Hers was nearly knocked out of her hand.
Aware of movement from the periphery, she pivoted and plunged her heel into Simon the Chipmunk’s abdomen, sending him crashing against a lamppost.
Denny righted herself, barely getting her sword up in time to deflect the next blow.
He missed his chance to strike.
Denny quickly realized these demons were not accustomed to using their weapons. They weren’t hunters. They were merely armed demons.
Advantage Hanta.
As his sword bounced off hers, she snapped Fouet forward and severed the demon’s wrist. His weapon collapsed back into its cylinder as he cursed and howled like a wounded animal, his hand lying on the dirty pavement.
She kicked the cylinder into the gutter and returned her attention to Simon just as he was getting to his feet.
“You’re soft. Weak. You’ve been victimizing the puny humans for so long, you’re not used to someone who can fight back.” The voice was all Hanta now, and Denny felt herself get bigger, stronger.
“He...he said you would not kill us without compunction, that female humans do not kill as easily as males.”
“Well now, that might be true of
straight
females, but for lesbians? You got bad intel, motherfucker. We’re the top motherfucking dogs of the dog pound.”
He surprised Denny by turning and running, so she returned her attention to No Neck, who propelled himself toward Denny like a raging bull.
She barely cracked Fouet in time to slice right through him. He exploded before he reached her. Guts went everywhere, and for a moment, Denny had a hard time seeing through the blood and gunk. But once she wiped her face, she took off after Simon, who was lightning fast.
But not fast enough.
Denny had the Hanta advantage and ran much faster than Denny did solo, and she was on him before he could climb the cyclone fence.
“Running away? Really? What would the Brotherhood say if they knew you acted so cowardly? You don’t deserve this life or any other.”
Her demon voice was gravelly and deep but tinged with a bit of humor. It was enjoying this.
Simon faced her, his back against the fence. “You don’t have to kill me. I...I can be of use to you.”
She cocked her head at him. “Seriously? How so?”
“I know...I know who has your girlfriend.”
Denny lowered her weapons. “My girlfriend?”
“Rushalyn Holbrook. The ghost. I know who has her and where she is.”
“If you’re lying, I’m going to feed you your dick for breakfast and will follow up with your balls for lunch. Who has Rush?”
“You have to swear you won’t kill me.”
Denny tilted her head from side to side. “Really? Living means that much to you?”
He blinked several times. “I like living in this human world. There’s a lot for us to do.”
She sighed. “Fine. I swear. Who has my ghost?”
“Same guy who is with your little sister.”
“Go on.”
“He was sent to destroy the legacy.”
“My family.” Denny’s own voice returned.
He shook his head. “Your family is inconsequential. He is supposed to destroy the Hanta. Your family will just be collateral damage.”