Any
characters you recognize belong to Sherrilyn Kenyon or Laurell K. Hamilton. I’m
just doing this for fun. This is rated PG-13 to be safe.
Thanks to my muse and my beta. You are fantastic!
I
had a quick second to remember that my knives were still upstairs, before Luna
opened up on the Daimons with her pistol.
They just sort of stood there and looked at her as the bullets passed
right through them. She was stunned. Hell, they all were.
When
the Princess recovered from the shock she turned to my host. “Asher we have a
problem. That was some of Death’s ammo.”
Noah
sounded worried. “Shit. Great!” He looked over at me and asked, “What the hell
are they?”
I
shook my head. We didn’t have time to waste but I tried to answer. “Daimons.
Bullets have no affect. You have to stake them.”
There
was a slight buzz in my head, a whisper I couldn’t quite understand. The
Daimons were getting their bearings, not good. The room was small. I'd much
rather fight them out in the open.
I
stood in front of the others. Why I felt the need to protect them I had no
clue. The Daimons cued on me.
The
golden haired leader smirked. “A lone Hunter. No back up?”
Luna
chose that moment to chime in. “We're his back up.”
The
Daimon laughed. “You? I can smell your
fear and his.” He added, nodding toward Noah. He turned toward Asher as the
female Katagaria emptied another clip.
“Damn!”
She sounded frustrated that her well-placed shots were having no effect.
Noah
tried to draw the daimon’s attention. “You gonna fight or talk blondie?”
There
was that whisper again in my head. I knew idle chitchat wouldn't hold them off
for long.
I
yelled, “Lamnia!” The daggers appeared
out of thin air. I twirled them in my palms. Grinning I turned to the lead
Daimon. “ Good day to die.”
I
launched myself into the middle of the four and the fight was on. I could hear
Luna pleading with Asher to leave but I knew he wouldn't. Noah and Luna took
one each. That left me with the leader and fourth daimon.
Two
Daimons against one Hunter can be painful but I wasn't about to let these
creeps out on the streets. It would be a whole new killing ground. There were
souls everywhere and no one to hide the bodies.
I
heard Luna exclaim “Oh my God.” I turned just in time to see her run a blade
through one of the bad guys. He was instant dust. There was a weird expression
on her face.
I
heard Noah yell just as I was blindsided by one of my dancing buddies. The
impact took me into the wall hard and I lost one of the blades. The lead Daimon
had one hand at my throat and the other pulled back into a fist. Then he was
suddenly yanked backward.
Asher
was holding the guy by his throat. His boots weren't touching the ground. Asher was just staring at the guy. I
wondered what the hell he was doing. I didn't have time to ask as the second
Daimon apparently had decided I looked lonely. He jumped and we hit the floor
rolling, knocking over all kinds of stuff I bet wasn't replaceable.
This
one was quick. Every time I thought I had the upper hand, he'd do something
very distasteful like try to take half my throat out. I was getting tired of
this dance quite literally. So I kneed the bastard in the crotch and drove the
blade home. More dust scattered on the ground where he had stood.
I
got off the floor just in time to see Luna take out bad guy number three. Noah was lying on his side by the bed. He
was breathing so I assumed it was a minor injury. Asher still had the leader in a vice-grip.
I
looked at Luna who was inspecting the pile of dust left by the two she had
killed. Something wasn't right here.
Meanwhile the lead Daimon was ranting and raving. He went on about how
he was going to mess us all up, that the city would be their new playground and
no one would be able to stop them.
I'd
heard enough. I walked up behind the Daimon and ran my dagger through his
heart. It caught Asher by surprise to say the least when he was left holding a
handful of dust. He looked at me, his eyes wide. I just shrugged and looked for
the other dagger.
The
French vamp had the nerve to scold me. “I had control of the situation.”
I
just shook my head. “You don't get it. If someone has found a way to bridge our
two universes, all hell is gonna break loose. Then what will you do when all
these dead bodies start showing up, all with fang marks or their throats torn
out?”
The
Goth Princess was the first to catch on. “They'll say it was us.”
I
nodded. “Exactly. They aren't like you. They only live to feed and show no
mercy.” I looked over at the male
shifter. “Is he okay?”
She
sighed. “I think so. He'll heal at any rate.” I nodded as she looked at me
curiously. She asked, “You have a thing with those blades. How did they just
appear?”
I
shrugged. “You got me Princess.”
She
pressed on. “You have any other hidden talents?”
I
started to tell her, “Didn't know I had that one…” when there was a knock on
the door.
Asher
told them to come in. The door opened and one of the security guys walked in.
The vamp didn’t look amused at the interruption as he asked, “What is it?”
The
muscle-bound guard told him, “Jean Claude and Anita are here. They asked for
you to meet them upstairs in your office.”
The newcomer looked from one of us to another then noticed Noah's prone
body by the bed. “What happened?”
Asher
waved away his question. “Tell Jean Claude that I will be there in a few
moments.”
The
guard didn’t move. “I believe they want you there now.”
The
French vamp had apparently had enough. “I will be there when I am there! Now
leave!” Mr. Muscle beat feet at that. Asher waited for him to leave them told
us, “We will discuss this further.” He turned to Luna. “For now, Mon Chat,
please take care of Noah.”
Okay
that covered them, but I didn’t want to stay there so I asked, “And what about
me?”
He
turned those vamp eyes my way. “You will stay here. Try the bed. It is most
comfortable.” With that he left.
I
turned to Luna. “He was kidding? Right?”
She
smiled at me. “Asher rarely kids.”
I
helped her pick Noah up and lay him on the bed. Then I asked her, “I couldn't
help notice your reaction to the way they died.”
She
shrugged. “Just strange is all.”
“Seems
like you've seen something similar.”
She
didn't answer my last inquiry. Instead she asked, “Can you sit with him? I need
to talk to Anita.”
“Sure.”
I agreed.
She
headed upstairs and I was left wondering what the hell had happened. I knew I
couldn't time travel. I had been sent here. So that meant that the Daimons had
been sent here as well but by whom? Artemis, for all her power and pettiness,
wouldn't unleash that kind of horror on an unsuspecting world. It had to just
be a cosmic mistake, a rip in time maybe. Hell I didn't know.
I
could just imagine the argument going on upstairs, threat, not a threat,
shackles, no shackles, friend or foe. I sat down on the edge of the bed. I was
suddenly very tired. It was bad enough
that I was trapped here and now this. I looked over my shoulder at what I
thought was a sleeping Noah.
He
was staring at me with half open eyes. He asked, “Did we get 'em?”
“We
got 'em.”
He
smiled. “I don't know why everybody's so wound up about you.” There was a knock
on the door. Noah sniffed the air before telling me, “It's Nathaniel.”
I
looked from the door to Noah. “Is it a good idea for him to be here? His
girlfriend doesn't like me.” He shrugged and closed his eyes apparently
drifting back off. I got up, crossed room and opened the door. He was standing
there in blue jeans and a white tee shirt. I warned him, “May not be a good
idea for you to be here.”
He
just grinned, handed me a black tee shirt and walked past me. I looked at the
shirt. It was the right size and it had security printed on the front in white.
I couldn’t help asking. “Wonder what Ol’ Buzz would think about this.”
“Huh?”
Nathaniel was confused. I shook my head and pulled the shirt on. I heard him
ask, “Are you in trouble?”
“Only
when I come here.” I turned to find him stretched out on the bed by Noah. “Not
performing tonight?”
“I
have already.” He lazily laid his arm across Noah's side as he explained. “It
helps us heal if we can touch.”
“I
see.” There didn’t seem to be much else to say to that.
“We're
both pard.” He told me like that explained everything.
I
picked up an overturned chair and sat down.
He was watching me.
He
sounded hurt as he told me, “You can sit on the bed. I won't touch you.”
I
sighed. “That's not it Nathaniel. I don't want you in trouble.”
He
looked surprised. “For what? Talking to you?”
I
nodded. “A lot of people here think I'm a threat especially your girlfriend and
her vampire.”
The
young stripper snorted. “Jean Claude thinks everyone outside his circle is a
threat. Anita, you have to prove yourself to.”
“Oh
no I don't.” I ran a hand through my
hair. It was getting long, past my collar. “I've told everyone from the start,
I'm not here to harm anyone. I'm just here until… Whenever.”
The
younger man looked at me critically. “That could be a long time.”
“You
have no idea.”
Nathaniel
asked me. “What's it like where you’re from? Are there people like me?”
I
smiled. “Lots. There's a place called Sanctuary. It's run by were bears.”
“Really?”
I
nodded and told him about the shifters in my universe. It felt good to just be
able to talk without being forced to. I asked him if he'd ever read about the
Greeks and Romans. He'd seen television specials.
He
asked, “Are you Greek? Or Roman?”
I
shook my head. “Neither. I was born in the U.S. A long time ago.”
Of
course he had to ask. “How long?”
“Eighty
years ago.” He frowned so I reassured him. “Honest.”
He
looked at me for a minute before answering. “You're like Asher but not as old.”
I
didn’t know how to answer that so I let it go. We talked about a lot of
different things, music, history, anything to pass the time. Luna came to get
Nathaniel and Noah about an hour later. It was close to dawn. I was sure.
I
looked over at the female shifter. “So what did they decide to do with me?”
She
sighed, sounding tired. “Jean Claude wants to have more tests run on you. Anita
thinks you had something to do with the demons showing up.”
Nathaniel
told her, “He didn't.”
She
raised an eyebrow at him. “And you know this how?”
He
shrugged. “I just do.”
She
just shook her head and helped him get Noah to his feet. After the three
shifters left I waited for the other shoe to drop. I was sure I was going to
end up in a cell or something but instead Asher came in to tell me to sleep
well. He said that he would see me when he woke.
I
checked the bathroom out, sure enough a tub. Were they afraid of showers or
something? I took a long bath. I just rinsed my mouth out seeing as how I
didn't have my toothbrush. I pulled back the covers on the huge bed and slid
the daggers under one of the pillows. Then I climbed in and pulled the covers
up. I reached over and turned off the bedside light. I was hoping against hope
that the Skoti would leave me alone.