Heart of the Hunter (2 page)

Gianna walked beside Jake as they followed Ryan to his car, parked three blocks away on a dark side street. They left her rental where it was. They didn’t need to take two vehicles.

She tried to keep from glancing at his profile. He was a good looking man, Jake. Built like a linebacker but not busted up like one. His nose was still perfectly straight, and he had an amazing smile. It lit up any room he was in. It also made her stomach flip to see it. Even after all this time apart, she found her belly clenching when he smiled at her. It was a dangerous feeling.

It was how they’d got involved in the first place. A smile across a dark and dirty bar, as both of them had been scouting out their next hunt.

She wouldn’t let it go down that road again. She couldn’t do it and not get hurt. There were still pieces of her heart missing. Pieces she knew she’d never fill again. And spackling them over with some amazing sex wasn’t a healthy choice.

It might make her feel extremely good and satisfied. And would definitely work off some of the tension and stress she’d been feeling lately. And frankly it had been quite a while since she had sex….

Gianna shook her head. She had to stop thinking about Jake. It was a bad idea. She needed to concentrate on the job at hand; taking down this demon was all that mattered. Everything else could wait until she had a clear head to figure out what she wanted to do with their relationship.

They piled into Ryan’s Toyota Camry and drove for maybe ten minutes, Ryan chatting the whole time.

“I realized that the demon would need a good quiet place to torture and kill his victims, and I figured his nice suburban condo probably wouldn’t work. So I cross referenced any holdings with the accountant’s name and any relatives.” He raced around the corner, tires screeching. “I came up with an address in Ogden. It’s an older area of town, which has had problems in the past with drug dealers and prostitutes. It’s being gentrified now, but there are still some houses that are nearing condemned status. One such address belonged to the accountant’s mother, who conveniently passed away last month.”

Convenient, my ass. Gianna bristled at that. The demon was systematically disassembling this guy’s life. Killing his relatives, and basically making him one of Canada’s most wanted. Even though the demon had only been possessing the host body, Brian Rose could never go back to his life. If he didn’t get arrested, the trauma of it all would definitely send him to the nearest nut house.

Ryan pulled into an older neighborhood, with huge trees lining the cracked road. In the dark, Gianna thought it looked peaceful and even idyllic. But she imagined in the daylight, a person could see all the potholes in the road, the craters in the sidewalks and the disarray of all the houses. Paint peeling, lawns unmowed, abandoned cars up on cement blocks. She’d seen countless of neighborhoods just like this one all over North America. It was a prime spot for demons and other undesirables.

Ryan rolled to a stop along one street and parked on the curb. He pointed to a house about four houses down.

“That’s it right there.”

Both Gianna and Jake got out of the car and came around to sit on the hood, as if they were doing nothing but minding their own business. Gianna eyed the small blue-and-white bungalow. It had two garage doors instead of one large one, which was common in the seventies when the house was built. The lawn was weed infested, and the walkway was cracked, a couple of the stones were even missing. It didn’t look like anyone had lived in it for years. But of course that wasn’t the case. If Ryan was correct, the demon inhabiting Brian Rose’s body was inside licking its wounds and planning its next move.

The demon was vulnerable right now. They needed a good plan of attack so they could take it out. This might be their last chance.

“So what do you think?” Jake asked.

She eyed the house and the surroundings. “We’re on his turf. There could be traps all over the place. He might have a bolt hole in the basement. It’s going to be dangerous.”

“It’s always dangerous, Gi.” He nudged her in the side with his elbow. “That’s why we love it so much.”

“True.”

“We can’t let this hellspawn escape again. We have to take it out here and now.”

She nodded. “How about we salt the front and back doors and the doors to the garage? We step over the lines, but essentially it can’t cross to get out. It would be trapped inside.”

“With us trapped in with it.”

She smirked. “Yup, just the way we like it.” She pushed off the car hood. “Let’s load up.”

They walked around to the trunk of the car. Ryan popped it open for them. Jake unzipped his bag and started pulling out all his tools of the trade. She did as well. By the time they were done, it looked like they were big-game hunters, with all their weapons and harnesses and bags strung over their shoulders.

Jake closed the trunk quietly, then went to the open driver’s side window to talk to Ryan. “Stick around as long as you can. Keep the motor running in case we’ve got to get out of here fast.”

“What if it comes out?”

“If it gets out of that house, then that means we’re likely dead and you should get the hell out of Dodge.”

Ryan nodded, then rolled up his window. Gianna could see him shivering although she knew the car heater was going full blast. She wondered if it was the kid’s first hunt.

Together, she and Jake crossed the street. As they approached the house, they stopped near the big oak tree on the east corner. It provided good cover for the moment.

“I’ll take the back,” she announced.

Jake frowned. “Like hell you will. I’ll take the back, Gianna. We don’t know what’s there. There could be a hellhound running around for all we know.”

“I told you I’d only share this job if you didn’t tell me what to do.”

“It’s not like that, and you know it. It’s the best way to go. I’m bigger and make more noise. In the back I’ll be away from prying eyes. We don’t need the cops all over this until we finish it.”

She sighed. He was right. She just hated having to admit it. He usually gloated about it afterwards. “Fine. Let’s do it.” But before she could step away from the tree, Jake grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. She looked up into his face. “What?”

“I just want you to know that I’ve thought about you every day for the past two years. For me, you and I will never be over.”

“Jake. Do you really think this is the best time to talk about us?”

“It may be our only time, and you know it.”

Gianna didn’t know what to say to him. What would be the point in admitting that she thought about him as well? That she’d kept pictures of them together, and to this day looked at them when she was alone. Telling him wouldn’t change anything. They couldn’t be together. It was too hard. Too much work.

She was about to open her mouth to say something, anything, but Jake pulled her closer. He wrapped a big hand behind her neck, his thumb nuzzling against her jaw, and tilted her head up to his. Leaning down, he claimed her mouth.

He kissed her hard. She wanted to push him away, knowing it would be the right thing to do, but she couldn’t. His lips felt too good on hers, his breath hot and steamy, and the taste of him was like ambrosia.

She lifted her hands and buried them in his hair and kissed him back. It was a long, wet, hot kiss that she wished would last for hours. But it soon ended and, out of breath, she ran a hand down his chest and tried to smile.

“I missed you, too,” she said. And then, dropping her hand, she turned and headed for the house.

They moved toward the bungalow, staying in the shadows. Gianna kept an eye on the house next door, where lights still burned bright in the windows. The last thing they needed was for the cops to show up and arrest them for trespassing or worse, breaking and entering, which is what they were planning to do.

Gianna took up a position in the front as Jake rounded the corner to head to the back. She told him she would wait five minutes for him to get prepared before she drew the last line and picked the lock on the front door.

But she was never one for waiting.

She took out her lock-picking tools and got to work on the lock. In one minute flat, she had the lock disengaged. She took out her salt bag and poured a thick line along the bottom of the door frame. There was no way the demon was getting out the front door.

Carefully she turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open, praying it didn’t squeak. She hoped that Jake was also gaining entrance to the back of the house. If he wasn’t, she might very well be in some deep trouble. Although she’d been in that kind of situation countless times before.

Once in, Gianna paused in the front foyer to get her bearings and adjust her eyesight to the dark inside. She also paused to attune her hearing. The house wasn’t completely silent. Nothing ever was. There were some noises she could discern. The hum of the furnace kicking in, the tick of a clock probably hanging on one of the walls, and the tell-tale creak of a door opening. Jake was inside.

Quietly, she crept across the living room and met up with Jake in the kitchen. He had his crossbow loaded with a silver-tipped arrow. It was ready to fire. He pointed to the closed door in the kitchen. It likely led down to a basement.

She nodded, and then put her hand on the knob. “On three,” she whispered.

He nodded.

“One, two…”

The door slammed open and the Brian Rose doppelganger came rushing out, pushing Gianna with the force of the door. She stumbled back hitting the far wall.

Before she could recover and come at him, the demon had already cut Jake. Thankfully it was across his forearm and not anywhere vital. Still it bled like a crimson river. And it was enough for him to drop the crossbow. It skittered across the kitchen floor.

“Gi, get the crossbow!” Jake yelled as he fought off the demon who was trying desperately to give him a matching gash on his face.

Gianna skirted round the demon and scrambled for the crossbow. She managed to scoop it up and turn in one swoop. Except Jake was in the way. She couldn’t get a clear shot.

“Shoot it!”

Grinning like a maniac, the demon had Jake up against the kitchen counter, its claws pressed to his throat. Even in the dark she could see the blood beading on Jake’s skin.

“I’ll hit you,” she said, her hands starting to shake.

“Do it! It’s our only chance.”

Gianna raised the bow and aimed for the demon’s back, just below his right shoulder blade. The arrow would pierce its heart, killing it, but the tip would go straight through and likely pierce Jake’s chest as well.

“Now, Gi!”

Holding her breath, she pulled the trigger.

The arrow sang, straight and true, through the air. A nanosecond before it hit its mark, Jake shoved the demon backward. The arrow shot into its back and the tip shot out its chest. The silver tip just touching Jake in the sternum.

Gianna let the breath she was holding out in a quaking rush as the demon collapsed to the kitchen floor, its eyes still open and staring lifelessly out through Brian Rose’s dead body, or what looked like him. She had to remember that it wasn’t really him. That she hadn’t killed an innocent. It was still sad to see.

Jake pushed away from the counter, letting out the breath he was holding as well. He looked down at the body. “That was damn close.”

She inspected his arm, which was coated in blood. “This looks bad. You’re going to need stitches.”

“We need to salt and burn the body first. My arm can wait.”

As she grabbed her bag from where she’d it dropped earlier and took out the bag of salt, Jake kicked the body over onto its back. Before she salted it, he took out his cell phone and snapped several pictures of the body. It was evidence that they had done the job for the client.

Starting at the head, she liberally sprinkled the salt until she reached the feet. She shoved the remaining salt back into her bag. Jake squirted lighter fluid all over, then lit a wooden match and dropped it. The flames were instant.

In silence, they watched the demon burn until there was nothing left but ashes. It didn’t take long as the salt and the demon’s own physiology increased the burn rate. Jake bent down and brushed the remains into a small wooden box.

When it was done, they collected their equipment and Gianna wiped up the blood Jake had dripped on the counter and floor. After everything was clean, she shoved the dirty cloths into her bag and followed Jake out of the house and down to the car. Jake got in the back while she slid into the passenger’s side.

Ryan glanced at her then at Jake. “So? Did you get him?”

“It’s done,” Jake said. “You can drop us at the hotel.”

“Okay.” Ryan put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.

Gianna turned in her seat to tell him where he could drop her off but she caught Jake’s gaze. All thoughts of going somewhere else, away from him, dissipated like fog in the morning sunshine. She had other things she needed to do, but this was where she wanted to be.