“Are you all right?” Eli asked. He stepped beside Kari and laid a hand on her shoulder.
Kari nodded but didn’t speak, holding tight to her lower lip with her teeth, and she didn’t even shrug off Eli’s hand. Like Kari, Turillia had been abused, hated by her own father—probably her own mother, too, since her mother had been a demon. Did the girl ever really have a chance? Kari had turned her life around thanks to the caring of a total stranger, a man who had instilled shame and guilt by an act of kindness, rather than punishment. There would have been no one to do that for Turillia, not when her father’s people had rejected her and her mother’s kind rejected everyone.
“They’re not demons,” Kari whispered, but Eli caught her words.
“What’s that?” he queried, glancing from Kari to the body and back again.
She sighed. “Her father was syrinthian. His people rejected her because she was half-succubus. The demons rejected her because she was half-mortal. She never had a chance.”
“Neither did you,” Eli said, and Kari turned to meet his gaze. “Neither did I. We make our own chances and our own choices, Kari. She chose to be rotten.”
“I guess she did.” Kari felt pity for Turillia, but that didn’t excuse the succubus’ actions or absolve her from responsibility. Turillia had been a murderer and conniver; she’d wanted to become a demon king or goddess to visit the pain and suffering she’d been through on countless others. Kari pitied her for the childhood she’d endured, but that wasn’t an excuse for the things Turillia had done. Turillia had earned her death, but the pity that Kari felt for the demoness helped her understand better just what love justice, but do mercy really meant.
Kari thought of Aeligos’ girlfriend, Eryn, one of the deadliest assassins in the entire city of DarkWind and likely beyond. What had Eryn been through that she hid so deeply and refused to speak of? From their conversations a few years earlier, when Kari got to know the enigmatic assassin, Kari didn’t think Eryn had been through the same things as Kari or Turillia. But something terrible had happened to Eryn, something that hardened her and turned her into a heartless killer a good deal of the time, however warm she could be when she was with Aeligos and his siblings.
Kari lifted up Turillia’s body, and Eli turned the succubus’ head to keep it from flopping to the side. Kari knew a similar fate awaited Eryn. One day, the bottom would fall out from under the Blood Order, whether it was by decree of the Duke of Brunswick, or by Kari’s own if she became head of the Demonhunter Order. One day, the guild would fall, and Eryn would meet a similar end as the succubus. And when that happened, Kari knew she’d feel the exact same emotions she felt now.
“Where are you taking her, ma’am?” a guard asked as Eli collected Turillia’s swords.
“To Lord Black’s tower,” Kari answered. “He’ll want to see the evidence that the hunt is over for himself.”
The guards saluted Kari and didn’t get in her way or ask any more questions.
Kari thought about how hard it would hit Aeligos if Eryn were killed, especially if it was by Kari’s Order—or more specifically, Kari’s orders. Despite the troubles their relationship entailed, Kari knew that each loved the other, truly and deeply. They loved each other so much that it transcended all of those problems: the differences in their races, moral codes, life goals, and especially the desires of Aeligos’ family. Despite all of it, Aeligos and Eryn were soulmates, and though everyone always wanted to compare their relationship to Kari’s and Grakin’s, that wasn’t fair.
She looked down at Turillia while she walked and wondered if Turillia had a family in the underworld. Was possible the demoness had a family, or children, or at least a few people who cared about her somewhere in the underworld? Who was going to pick up the pieces now that Kari and her friends had shattered Turillia’s life? And, more pointedly, would they come for revenge?
Kari sighed; there were enough problems with demons without adding in the ones who sought revenge for Kari’s hunts…
Eli pierced her thoughts as they walked. “Did you catch up to Sharyn?”
“Yes. She and I had a long talk,” Kari answered. “It’s a long story, though. Don’t say anything to Sherman until I’ve had a chance to talk to him.”
“Sure, of course. So, what are we planning to do with Kaelin Black? And what are we going to do with that demon once we drive it out of him?”
Kari glanced at Eli from the corner of her eye. “I’m not entirely sure. We’re going to need the help of a few of the priests of Temple Street—maybe all of them. After what Katarina and the priests did on Temple Street the other night, I know they can drive it out of him. I just don’t know how we can get rid of it once they do that.”
“After what I saw you do tonight, I’d say maybe you should just ask Zalkar for his help again,” Eli suggested. “Or maybe… your father.”
Kari balked, but grasped what he meant after a moment. She recalled her dreams in Lord Lajere’s castle and the way Sakkrass had held the sun in his hands. She hadn’t thought about it before, but Eli’s suggestion made perfect sense. If the priests had exorcised the demon by calling upon Kaelariel as the Ascending Dawn, and Sakkrass was a god of the sun, then perhaps the two forces working together could banish a creature of total darkness.
A confident smile crept onto Kari’s features, and she could see Eli looking at her from the corner of her eye as they walked. “Let’s go kill a demon,” she said.
23
Downfall
The others were all gathered in the waiting room of Kaelin Black’s tower when Kari and Eli arrived. They kept the celebrations quiet when they saw Kari carrying Turillia’s body, but everyone understood the victory Kari had achieved. Deirdre glared at Eli once again, and Piotyr, too, looked upon the half-corlyps with contempt. Kari could understand their feelings; it would be some time before they forgave Eli, if they ever did. Kari wasn’t exactly pleased with Eli’s motives or his methods, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things.
Eli took the body while Kari set her cloak on the floor near the hearth. Kari had him lay Turillia upon it. The majority of the room was only dimly lit by the fire, and Kari needed light to search for clues. She wasn’t sure what she should be looking for but had some ideas. She removed Turillia’s cloak, and then began taking off the succubus’ armor. The leather gear had protected Turillia’s weak points at the shoulders, elbows, knees, chest, abdomen, and loins. It was skimpy for a set of armor, but all Turillia had needed given her speed, agility, and skill with the swords. At the very least, it was easy to remove, though some of the looks Kari received said the others weren’t sure why she was stripping a corpse.
Their confusion was cleared up when Kari removed Turillia’s leather jerkin. The succubus had worn no halter, and once her breasts were exposed, everyone could see the tattoos upon them. Turillia’s skin was actually extremely fine scales, though they were milky white, which made the pale gray tattoos stand out all the more. It was not a symbol Kari was familiar with: A demonic skull with fangs, superimposed over four crossed swords.