The handsome face flickered away. She could see the true thing behind those human features. He was one ugly son of a bitch. Red, glowing eyes, pink, wrinkled skin. Ellie’s lips lifted as she resisted the unnatural urge to growl. Another first.
Slowly, his head turned, his gaze catching hers. No shiver of fear swept over her body. Nope, just the worst craving to kill… kill him, the thing that was a threat to her. Kill him and suck the life from his body, his soul, if he had one. She wanted to rip his head off. She wanted to sink her teeth into his flesh. Drink his blood like a fine wine.
No! No, she didn’t! Oh God, what was wrong with her?
As if sensing her confusion, his lips curled into a slow, wicked smile. Her stomach roiled even as her craving intensified. The fluorescent lights above seemed more harsh. The scents of the wrapped food in the store were too strong. And there, hovering underneath the scent of food was the scent of… blood. Not just any blood. Devon’s blood. Fear shot through her body.
“Devon!” Ellie cried out.
There was the slightest movement to her right. She jerked her gaze toward the end of an aisle of candy bars. A pulsing, white light…encompassed Devon. Pure energy.
“Ellie, stay down!” Devon snapped.
Ellie turned back toward the demon, ignoring Devon’s command. The beast started toward her. No shelf was a threat. With a growl, he tossed the first aside, throwing packages of cupcakes into the air like confetti. She didn’t know much about the supernatural world, but she had learned one thing… demons were solitary creatures who hunted alone. She was in his territory and he didn’t like it one bit.
“Oh fuck, it’s coming this way!” the employee behind her muttered.
“Just stay behind your counter,” she told him, worried he’d bolt and get in the way. He looked like a scared rabbit.
Slowly, she straightened, drawing her body to its full height. She knew she wasn’t tall at 5‘4, but today she felt seven feet.
“Damn it, Ellie.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Devon jump to his feet, his movements stiff and jerky as if he was injured. She narrowed her eyes and breathed deeply… the metallic scent of blood entered her nostrils, making her mouth water. Injured indeed. It was Devon’s scent. But how badly was he hurt?
“You don’t realize what you’re getting into,” he said.
Silly man. He hadn’t a clue what she was capable of and at the moment, she felt like she was capable of beating anyone, anything.
The demon held his arms wide, his grin deepening. “Ignis.”
Fire, her mind replied.
She hit the ground just as a fireball appeared. She felt the heat as it swept over top, heard the swoosh of fire through air and then the shattering of glass. She spun around to see the window behind the counter busted, shards of glass pattering to the ground like wind chimes on a warm summer breeze.
“Oh God, help me!” the clerk cried from behind the counter.
But Ellie was barely aware of the clerk, barely aware of even Devon. Fury shook her very body. Kill or be killed. The words whispered through her head. Ellie jumped to her feet with a boundless energy that vibrated from her very core. Kill or be killed.
She hadn’t lived this long to sit passively by. Ellie launched herself forward. The demon swept his arm through the air and Ellie suddenly found herself flying backward. She slammed against a shelving unit, then slid to the floor with a thud. Candy bars tumbled down around her. Her anger mounted. Her need to kill intensified. It was a black hole in the pit of her belly and she wasn’t sure she could ever fill the need. Growling, she jumped to her feet.
“Ellie, stay down!” Devon snapped.
But Ellie stood her ground, knowing no fear. A darkness she’d never felt before swept through her body, leaving her trembling with the need to kill. Kill. Kill.
Devon lunged forward, hitting the beast with a thud that sent them both stumbling back. The demon shook him off as if he weighed nothing. Devon hit the window and slid to the floor, broken shards of glass raining down around him. The anger she’d been trying to control, flared. An unnatural need to protect the stupid man surged through her. Almost as if…she owned him.
The demon hissed, a thin trail of smoke seeping from between his lips as he started toward her. He had no concern with Devon, not when he sensed better prey. “What are you?” he demanded.
A slow smile lifted the corners of her lips. She welcomed the demon, welcomed the ensuing fight. “Come and find out, you sick fuck.”
Vaguely she knew her thoughts, needs and words were not her own, but she didn’t care. Only cared about wrapping her hands around his neck, killing…killing.
His lips lifted, pointed teeth glistened with saliva. “You’re not his kind.” He shoved a shelf of nuts out of the way. “The energy coming from you hints demon, yet…”
She could take him. Easily. She didn’t contemplate her sudden bravado, she only knew that she would win. But there, deep down, ringing an alarm bell was a tiny bit of humanity. She needed to think rationally. And it wasn’t rational to attack him straight on. No.
Ellie dove behind an aisle of soda drinks. Hidden from view, she glanced up at the security mirror behind the beast and watched his back as he approached her.
“Come out, come out,” he taunted. “Not a full demon then.” He chuckled. “No demon would hide.”
His words had their desired effect and she had to resist the urge to prove just how demonic she could be. She curled her hands, waiting to attack him. At times, one had to wait. She was a hunter and he her prey. She was aware of Devon jumping to his feet and hoped he wouldn’t get involved. Silly man thought he could take on a demon.
“Look over here, you bloody bastard!” Devon swiped his arm wide and a bottle of orange Fanta flew through the air slamming against the back of the Demon’s head.
So, he could move things with his mind. Ellie narrowed her eyes, wondering what else he could do. What other secrets did the bastard hold? The demon spun around and Devon started toward him. Ellie sighed, knowing he was trying to distract the beast from attacking her. Stupid hero. She jumped to her feet and gave a quick jerk of her head, warning him off. He didn’t listen, but surged toward the demon. Damn him! She didn’t have time to deal with an annoying human!
Startled by her thoughts, she actually paused.
Human? As if she wasn’t? She shook her head, trying to clear the invasive thoughts peppering her mind. As if sensing her approach, the demon turned, facing her. That handsome face faded and the truth was revealed.
“Prepare to die, half breed,” he growled.
He thought she was half human, half demon, but he was wrong. So very wrong. She lifted her lips into a snarl. “Bring it on.”
“Ellie, no!” Devon sprinted toward her.
“Stay out of it!” With a growl, she shoved her hand into his hard chest and he flew back, hitting the wall.
His heart is in his neck.
The thought whispered through her mind. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. The demon’s heart was in his neck. Lunging forward, she grabbed a broom that rested against the counter.
“Dear Lord, I’m so sorry for smoking pot that one time. If you could just help me out, I swear I’ll do anything…” The clerk was huddled behind the counter, hands clasped, eyes squeezed tightly shut, of no use to her.
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Stupid human.”
With a growl, she slammed the broom handle over her knee, breaking it in two. The demon had Devon in a headlock that would have killed a lesser man. As it was, Devon was gasping, barely hanging on. The human inside her cried out in protest. The beast within surged to the forefront, and burst forward.
With a warrior’s cry, she lifted her arm, the homemade spear tightly in her grasp. Using all her strength, she shoved the broken point through the demon’s thick neck. It sank into his gray flesh easily. The demon stumbled back, releasing his hold on Devon. The beast was dying, no longer of any importance.
“Are you all right?” She slipped her arm around Devon’s waist and easily lifted the large man.
He didn’t look all right, his face pale, sweaty, his gaze glassy. “Y…yes,” he managed.
They fell back against the counter. Vaguely she was aware of the clerk mumbling prayers to God. The demon cried out, stumbling as he clawed at the broom handle in his throat. Tar-black blood poured from the wound and trailed down his chest, soaking the fine suit.
The energy in her body wavered, a rippling tingle that swept through her, tearing at her insides. Ellie’s knees grew weak. She released her hold on Devon and slid down the wall of the counter to the floor.
“Ellie?” Devon’s voice was a mere murmur as he knelt before, as if they were underwater. His warm hands gripped her shoulders and shook her slightly. “Ellie?”
Pain branched from her stomach and shot through her body. She was vaguely aware of a scream ripping from her lips as she hunched forward, curling into a ball in an attempt to lessen the pain. Warm hands were cupping her face, murmured words that were meant to comfort. She heard none of them, the pain too consuming. Her fingertips and toes felt afire, burning from the inside out. Light above flickered, in and out.
Just as suddenly as the pain had come, it swept away, seeping from her body like a receding wave. The world went black. For one heartbeat, the entire world went black as if she’d died. She had no body, merely a consciousness as she floated through oblivion. No sound, no feeling, no sight.
“Ellie,” a voice called out. “Ellie, come back.”
Light burst into her mind, brilliant white light. On a roaring wave, the world came back. Tingling feeling shot through her being, bursting through her arms and legs. Ellie arched her back, gasping for air. Devon was kneeling in front of her. For the first time since entering the shop, she finally looked at him, truly looked at him through her own eyes. The demon’s black blood combined with his red, and was splattered across his t-shirt. His pale face was tense, wavering in and out of focus as she attempted to make sense of her world once more. Someone was crying in the background. But she only noticed Devon.
“You’re hurt.”
“Just a cut on my arm. I’ll heal. Are you well?” His hand trembled as he reached out to her, stroking the side of her face.
He looked so serious, almost as if… he cared. But he couldn’t care. No, they’d only just met yesterday. She managed to nod, her gaze slipping from him to the demon who lay in a massive, putrid pile of pink flesh upon the floor.
Unmoving. Silent. Dead.
Her stomach clenched and she had to look away.
“Your eyes,” Devon whispered. “They were glowing red like the…”
He didn’t need to say it. She knew. Like the demon. She’d been a demon, for a few moments. Her skin crawled, her stomach tightened as bile rushed to her throat. All the vile thoughts she’d had rushed back to mind. She shoved Devon away and stumbled to her feet.
“Ellie?”
With no explanation, she pushed the doors wide and rushed outside. The cool morning air provided some relief from the putrid scent of death. But the sun was bright… so damn bright. Her throbbing temples flared to life. The door opened and Devon stepped outside.
“What are you, Ellie?”
The compassion on his face was gone, replaced with a weary hardness.
She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments. Exhaustion pulled at her limbs, tested her patience. “I told you, I don’t know!”
She spun away from him, stumbling toward the bathroom sign, following the white cement building. Broken glass crushed under her feet, proof of their war, as if the dead demon wasn’t enough. She shivered, her body attempting to understand the invasion it had endured. She hadn’t been herself. Disgust ate at her gut. She’d been him. The demon lying prone upon the shop floor. She had to clean, wash her hands, something, anything.
“You must know what you are.” Devon latched onto her arm, jerking her to a stop.
She attempted to pull away from him, but felt too weak. “Let the hell go!”
Devon held her firm. “What are you?”
With what strength she had left, she shoved her hands into his chest, sending him stumbling back. “I don’t know.” She wrapped her fingers around the door handle and jerked open the bathroom door. A tiny room with a toilet and sink.
Devon followed her inside, his tall form filling the small area. “Try again.”
With trembling fingers she turned on the faucet and lathered her hands with soap. He wouldn’t relent until he had his answers. She was too damn tired to fight him. “I’ve always been this way. Odd things happen.” She scrubbed her hands with such ferocity, a person with OCD would be proud. She must get clean, had to scrub the remains of the beast from her flesh. But how could she ever clean her insides?
“What odd things?”
“It varies.” She grabbed a few paper towels and dried her hands. She’d never told anyone about her strange ability. Truth was, she wasn’t even sure how to explain her powers. What would he believe? She rested her head in her hands, so confused, so unsure of whom she could trust.
“And you’ve seen… demon’s before?”
She swallowed hard. A demon. She’d always assumed that’s what the evil monster was. She’d defined it as a demon because she hadn’t known what else to call it. A demon. But to hear another call it so… Dear God, it was truly a demon. A real demon. Her stomach clenched. Dizzy, she pushed Devon aside and stumbled into the brilliant light of morning. A semi truck zoomed by, the sound distorting.
She felt Devon behind her, his reassuring strength. “I think…” she said, “I think I saw a demon once before.”
The clerk stumbled from the building, tears streaming down his pudgy face. “What is that?” He pointed a trembling hand toward the demon that still lay upon the ground, unmoving, rotting faster than a normal human would have. “What are you people?”
“Good question,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What happened, when you saw your first demon?” Devon asked, ignoring the clerk.
She stared unblinkingly at the demon. “I was six.” Odd how she felt nothing now as she recalled the event. Perhaps enough time had gone by, or perhaps she was too damn tired. Lord, her hands trembled, she couldn’t stop them from shaking.
“Bloody hell,” the clerk mumbled, grappling with his cell phone. “Shite, shite, shite.”
“What happened, Ellie?” Devon asked.
A cool breeze swept through the parking lot, sending garbage tumbling and turning across the asphalt. “The demon killed the foster family I was living with. They blamed me…the fire… they thought I’d started it.”
Devon didn’t say a word, but the silence was welcome, needed. She’d never told anyone this story. Not even the police. At six years old, she’d known they wouldn’t believe her. Twenty years later, she could still see the monster. Not exactly like the one that oozed upon the shop floor, but close enough. The vibrations she’d felt had been similar… anger…desire…evil. Dark feelings that had invaded her soul. Feelings she hadn’t understood and still didn’t.
In the distance the high-pitched sound of sirens pierced the still morning. Devon rested his hand on her shoulder. “We need to leave, now.”
“And that?” She nodded toward the beast. “And the cameras? We’ll be on the security footage. They’ll have police looking for us. Probably already do.”
Devon frowned, glancing from the road to the shop. “You,” Devon called out to the clerk.
Startled, the man stumbled back, watching them with wide, nervous eyes. “Yeah?”
“When they ask you what happened, it would be best to make up something, anything, but the truth.”
“What do you mean?” He shook his head, his gaze jumping from them to the store. “I don’t understand.”
Devon lifted his hand. A fireball appeared, hovering over his palm, much like the demon had produced. “Don’t worry,” he said to E
llie.
He lifted his arm and tossed the fire toward the building. It swept through the broken window and hit a shelf. Packages of pastries burst into flames, quickly spreading down the aisle.
“Shite!” the clerk cried out, dropping to his knees.
Devon latched onto Ellie’s arm and led her toward the car. “They’ll never know we were here.”
Chapter 7
Devon had never been particularly good at discussing feelings. He was a man, for God’s sake, therefore, in his opinion he shouldn’t have to discuss much of anything but war and politics. But as the day went by and night fell, even turning into morning once more, and the silence grew to an uncomfortable level, he was eager to think of something, anything, to say to the woman sitting beside him.
As the sun peeked over the horizon for the second time, he slid Ellie a wary glance. Yesterday in that shop, she’d been anything but human. He agreed with the demon, she wasn’t a full monster. But then, what was she?
He’d never, in his multiple lives and many years, come across a being like her. She had a strength like no other, the ability to move in the blink of an eye. For a brief moment, he’d thought she was a warrior. Yet here, now, she sagged against the seat in exhaustion. Although she’d managed to keep them on the road, most of the time, she’d barely shifted, barely said a word. If he hadn’t been able to feel the magic pulsing from her, he would have sworn she was a typical human.
He spotted a sign for Leeds and his instincts pulled at him. “Take this exit.”
She slowed, rolling off the highway, onto a side road and into the light of the rising sun. The rays so bright, it actually hurt his eyes. He’d been so worried about Ellie that he’d almost forgotten he was human again. Around him, life pulsed. Beautiful, wonderful life. Never before in his past incarnations had he noticed the yellow daisies growing alongside the lane, or a flock of sparrows flying overhead. Never before would he have noticed the exhausted stoop of Ellie’s shoulders.