Any characters you recognize are the property of Sherrilyn Kenyon. She retains all rights to the characters and does not authorize this work. This is solely for mine and hopefully my friends’ amusement. No money is being made off of this story. This is rated PG for now….that may change.
This hasn’t been beta’d so keep that in mind…. Oh and I should mention that this story contains some spoilers through Seize the Night.
Hugs,
Maggie
Jenny went running the down the side street. She wasn’t sure of where she was going only sure that she didn’t dare stop. She could hear the footfalls of the men behind her getting closer. She was fast approaching the intersection of the next street. The sight of another pedestrian looking her way as she approached was enough to bring a grin along with another burst of energy to keep moving.
Momentary regret that she might be putting the stranger’s life in danger flashed through her mind but couldn’t compete with the sheer panic she felt. Getting closer, she realized the stranger could probably handle it anyway. He was very tall and muscular. As she came to a stop not far in front of him, she realized he was quite attractive too with his blond hair and… shit! Jon had once told her that daimons liked to travel in even pairs. It hadn’t occurred to her that there was probably a fourth lurking in the shadows until now.
The man gave her an odd grin. He apparently realized she had marked him as a member of her unwanted party. He hissed, “Run!” as he started moving toward her. Jenny turned and started running back the way she came. The other daimons were closing in from that direction. Looking around there were no shops or side alleyways to duck into. What the hell was she supposed to do now?
She looked back at the daimons only to find they had moved much closer while she was distracted. The leader of the group was a bit further back, stalking toward her as if he didn’t need to rush. His two friends were almost close enough to touch her though. She didn’t dare turn her back now to see how close the fourth guy was.
Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, another tall blonde came running down the street to join the trio in front of her. He grinned as he caught Jenny’s gaze. “Sorry I was delayed. I’m glad to see you held off the festivities until I could get here though.”
Okay how many more daimons were going to pop out of the woodwork? Maybe she should have listened to her brothers after all. She wasn’t sure which scared her more, the thought of these guys killing her for her soul, or having to listen to a tirade from Jonathan that would no doubt end in ‘I told you so.’ Looking up at the fanged faces crowding her space she realized there was no competition. She’d take all four of her brothers yelling at her at once right about now in exchange for safe passage home.
She started to back up when she heard the man behind her chuckle. “So glad you could join the party. Now who’s first?”
Jenny had a split second to see the leader snarl before the nearest daimon grabbed her by the arm, pulling her toward him. She tried to twist out of his grasp; he was too strong. She pounded on his chest but that had no apparent effect either. She reached up to scrape his face with her fingernails, going for his eyes. He grabbed her other wrist, twisting her arm around behind her. Her body was now flush against his and she could feel his breath on her neck.
Suddenly she felt strong arms grabbing her from behind, pulling her away from her first attacker. Great, now she was going to a pull toy for the daimons. If she hadn’t been so scared she would have laughed. Instead of another daimon’s breath against her neck, she found herself being thrown to the ground. Her palms stung from scraping the concrete. She turned around to see the man that had told her to run drive a knife into her attacker just before the daimon turned to dust.
Jenny could feel her heart beating in her chest as she watched the trio that was left circle the man who had just saved her. Two of the creatures raced at the man from either side. He turned and ducked, slamming his shoulder into the first daimon’s midriff. He scooped the creature up as he stood, tossing him over his shoulder and into the other daimon at his back. Letting go of the daimon as the pair fell in a heap of flying limbs he barely had time to turn before the leader was on him.
A quick roundhouse kick to the stomach had the leader backing up. He didn’t go far though. He had been too close for the man’s kick to gain enough momentum for full impact. The pair slowly circled the street, looking each other up and down, as if they were each searching for some invisible chink in the other’s armor. Jenny noted the two daimons on the ground were still fighting each other, arguing over whose fault their failed attack was.
Her gaze was jerked back to the circling fighters when she realized they were getting dangerously close to where she lay. She scrambled back to the sidewalk, trying to put some distance between them. The leader chuckled though his eyes never left her apparent rescuer. “Don’t go too far pet. I won’t keep you waiting long.”
The threatening man appeared to be a couple inches taller than her rescuer but the man didn’t appear too concerned about that fact. The men circled, trading punches to little effect. Both men seemed to anticipate the other’s move and block it before they could connect. There was an eerie silence in the dark deserted street, punctuated only by the grunts of the two men fighting to find purchase. The shorter man tried to use his size to his advantage, ducking the daimon’s blow. He had gotten behind the taller man but the daimon spun around before he could press his advantage. The man was fast, but for the moment at least the daimon was faster.
Jenny sat watching the deadly dance in horror. She was too scared to run but she sure the hell wasn’t stupid enough to jump in to help either. That would be a good way to become the midnight snack her brothers were always teasing her she was going to become. So she wrapped her arms around her bent knees, rubbing her palms against her arms to try to soothe the sting of her scraped flesh.
Her defender continued throwing punches at the daimon but he managed to dodge most of them. He seemed to be playing with the man, just waiting for him to tire or make a wrong move. Jenny wasn’t sure what to make of it until she finally noticed that the daimon was corralling the man toward his two cohorts. One of the pair had regained his feet and was moving dangerously close behind the man.
She screamed, “Behind you!” just as the second daimon rushed her ally. He turned, whipped his knife back out and stabbed the second daimon. As the daimon turned to dust the man spun back around connecting with a kick to the gut of the daimon leader. As the daimon stumbled back, the man moved back, turning so he could keep an eye on both remaining daimons. As the leader regained his bearings, the last remaining daimon stood. He looked from his leader to the man who just annihilated two of his comrades and went running down the street into the darkness.
The leader looked shocked by the other daimon’s cowardice. Enraged he charged the man, fists flying. Jenny’s defender dodged him, tripping the daimon and laughed as the creature went flying to the concrete. “What, are you upset because none of your friends want to play anymore?” He taunted the daimon.
The daimon jumped up and snarled at the man as he stalked toward him. He punched the man in the chest but before he could pull out, he got a slug in the jaw for his efforts. The daimon rubbed his cheek as if he was shocked the man could hurt him. The two continued to trade blows, both of them starting to look ragged around the edges. Apparently the fight was starting to catch up with them.
The daimon kicked the man in the gut. He fell down on his knees, hunched over. The evil creature grabbed the man by his shirt with his left hand, lifting him up to face him as he pulled his right fist back. Before he could deliver his next blow, the man smiled. Jenny could see the gleam of the knife in his hands as he raised it, stabbing the daimon in the chest. A second later all that was left of her original attacker was dust.
The remaining man stood, brushing stray dirt and dust off his clothes as he nonchalantly walked over to the girl. He held out a hand to her, his expression grim. “What part of run do you NOT understand?”
The young woman looked from his hand, to the scattering dust, to the darkness and back to his face. “The part where you explained which way was safe to run. You all looked like daimons to me.”
The man pulled his hand back and leaned against a nearby bike rack. “Same damned thing Tabitha said when she stabbed me. I would think my superior nature would be obvious.”
“You’re a dark hunter I take it?”
He eyed her suspiciously. “Who’s asking?”
She brushed her hands off on her jeans and smiled at the
man. “Jennifer Elisabeth Hearson, Dorian Squire. Well I’m actually more of a
tech squire currently. I help out with research. One of my brothers, Jon, is a
Blood Rite Squire though if you need references.” She giggled then put her hand
out, “Hi.”
The man smiled and stood, grabbing her hand to pull her up off the concrete
before she knew what he was doing. “Jean Luc, Dark Hunter at your service. I
thought you looked a bit familiar. Does Jonathan know his favorite baby sister
is wandering the Quarter alone at night?”
She frowned momentarily. “I’m his only younger sister and certainly old enough to be out alone.” She smiled then. “But you know Jon and he’s mentioned me to you? I’ve wanted to get more involved in hands on stuff than the occasional library search, not that anyone ever listens.”
The hunter chuckled. “Yes I know Jon, and of course he’s mentioned you. I get the feeling all of your brothers are rather protective of you. It might have something to do with your librarian squire status. Do you think your family wants you in the company of your recent escorts on a regular basis?”
The blonde woman sighed. “Well when you put it that way, I guess I can understand that. Having met my first daimons, I must say they were not what I expected. I thought they would be easier to pick out in a crowd or something.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You thought they’d look like Nosferatu out of some old horror movie with rags from the grave or something?”
She nodded. “Yeah, they looked so normal, attractive even
until I got close enough to feel the bad vibe pounding in my gut.”
He smiled. “A great writer once said that true evil most often looks fair even
when it feels foul.”
She shrugged. “I guess they wouldn’t get many souls if they looked like extras from Tales from the Crypt.”
He laughed. “How true. Come on. Let’s get you back to wherever you’re staying.” He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and started walking down the street the way she had come. It was a gesture of times long past that had her wondering about his origins.
“How long have you been a hunter? How did you become one?”
“I’ve been wandering coast for a few hundred years. As for how I came into Artemis’ service… I think you’ve had enough scares for one night. Some once called me a pirate.” He winked at her. “Which way are we heading?”
“The Pontchartrain
Hotel. It’s in the..”
”Garden District. Yes I know the area. What are you doing in here?”
“I’m an archaeologist for the Denver Natural History museum.
I’m here picking up some artifacts.”
He stopped and looked at her. “Ah, so you are a treasure hunter as well. I
thought I sensed a kindred spirit.”
Smiled and gestured for him to continue walking. “Something like that. Though
there aren’t any graves to dig here so I can only raid your museums.”
“True. That explains what you’re doing in New Orleans but what are you doing in the Quarter?”
She hesitated. “Sight seeing?”
The man sighed. “Don’t insult my intelligence.”
”Well I have always wanted to see New Orleans. A friend of mine, another squire
that lives down here, is missing. I was hoping to find some information on
where to look for him.”
“Who’s your friend?”
”His name is Nick Gautier. His mom…”
”Yeah I’ve heard the story. I don’t think anyone around here has been able to
find Nick and that’s saying something.” He gently told her.
It was her turn to sigh. “So I’ve heard but I have to try. He’s a good friend and a good person. I know he didn’t have anything to do with his mother’s death.”
The hunter stopped and looked at her before nodding and walking on. “Jon said you have a big heart. I hope it doesn’t lead you into trouble. Have you ever been to New Orleans before?”
She admitted she had often wanted to come but that her family had managed to keep her away from the city. They continued to walk back toward the Garden district as Jenny told the man of the places she had visited in her work and he shared a few of the spots she might want to visit in daylight before she left town.
They came to stop in front of the hotel, just out of earshot of the concierge. The young woman turned to the pirate hunter. “Thanks for the company, not to mention saving me from being a late night snack.” She turned to head into the hotel but he grabbed her arm, pulling her back as he took something out of his pocket.
He handed her a card with a number on it. “That’s my cell. If you promise not to go hunting after dark alone again, I’ll see what I can find out.” When she nodded he smiled, “Great. Give me a couple nights then call.” She smiled and thanked him again.
She was halfway in the door to the hotel when she heard him call. She turned to look at him down the street. “Jennifer! You’re welcome. Talk to you soon!” He smiled and was gone.