Alarms blared and lights flashed as Quentin towered behind the doctor. Quentin reached around the quivering man and said, “Here, let me help you.” After typing in the code, he stood back.
The door opened, and Tinari gaped up at him, his eyes like saucers. He started to make a run for it when Quentin grabbed him from behind and snapped his neck. The man crumpled to the floor, and Quentin looked at him for a long moment before glancing up and seeing his reflection in a stainless-steel paper towel dispenser.
His eyes were solid black like wet ink. His hair, tangled and unkempt, hung in patches, and he had the beginnings of a sparse beard over a purple, swollen jaw. His lips were cracked and bleeding, and his nose had been broken numerous times.
He didn’t recognize himself. Amber didn’t recognize him either, and she almost blacked out from the pain the image caused.
Quentin grabbed a handful of the demon’s dust and sat back on the chair they had tortured him in for weeks as though it were his throne. He curled the dust into his fist and held it to his mouth as tears slipped past his lashes.
A small army dressed in full tactical gear filed into the room. The guards pointed their entire armory at him. Thirty guns aimed right at his head as he waited. And grieved. Finally, three men in suits came in. The guards parted for them but kept their aim steady. The men looked around, and the one who was clearly in charge, a fair-haired man who spoke with an Italian accent, said three words to Quentin: “Name your price.”
And from that moment on, Quentin worked for the very men who had kidnapped and tortured him, but he got to keep Rune safe. And Amber. He got to keep Amber safe because if Rune could take over in the span of a heartbeat and kill so mercilessly, he could not risk her life by going to her. At the same time, he would not be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent entities who had never harmed a human in their lives.
Until now.
Amber felt tears on her face and didn’t know if it was real or not. On this plane or hers. The sadness emanating from Rune—or the single entity talking to her—stole her breath. “You knew the one they killed.”
After a long moment, he answered. “My son.”
More tears slipped past her lashes. “I’m so sorry.”
“You call us demons. We call you monsters.”
She nodded. “That’s fair.”
“That’s fear. Nothing more. We are sorry we almost killed you earlier.”
She shook her head. “Did you?”
“Your throat. We took over. Quentin was bleeding to death. We had to stop it.”
“Then I’m grateful.” She looked out at the sea of faces. Yes, they were the stuff of nightmares with razor-sharp teeth and large, glistening eyes, but they didn’t want to kill her any more than she wanted to kill them. “Rune, do you know anything about this demon he’s been tracking? What it wants?”
“Besides us? No.”
“You?”
“It is starving. It could live for centuries off our essence. And now it has seen us. It will kill Quentin to feed.”
“That’s why he was attacked.”
“Yes. Please don’t worry, Traveler. We will relinquish our lives before that happens.”
“What? No. Rune, we’ll figure something out.”
“Perhaps. But we will not let Quentin die for us. He has done so much already.”
She thought about it. If she could talk to this entity like she was talking to Rune, maybe… “Rune, can you keep Quentin here for a little while? Like, under your thrall?”
“I can, but he will not be happy about it.”
“Good. Let him sulk.”
“Traveler, have you ever heard of a demon hunter sulking?”
“No.”
“That’s because no one has ever caused one to sulk and lived to tell the tale.”
She laughed and mentally lowered her head. “Thank you, Rune, for saving his life.”
“And almost taking yours in the process? Any time, Traveler. Be careful. This demon is furious.”
“Yes, I could tell.” Amber didn’t know if she rose out of the dive of her own volition or if Rune had released her, but suddenly she was back at the Tavern.
“Are you getting anything?” Dora asked.
Amber blinked and glanced around, waiting for her pupils to adjust. Quentin was staring at her, but his eyes were pitch-black. “Son of a bitch.” She patted the jacket and felt the sunglasses she’d found in a pocket earlier. She unfolded them and pushed them onto Quentin’s handsome face—the one that had taken so much abuse—then she looked at Dora. “How long was I out?”
“Out? What do you mean? You just flipped over two coasters.” She sat back in disappointment. “You’re not getting anything, are you?”
“Oh, I got tons. Did I ever. If Quentin comes to, tell him I went to the bathroom.”
Kyle panicked and stood when she did. “Wait, where are you going?”
“To the bathroom. That way, you won’t have to lie. I’m just going to do it at Dora’s house.”
“Oh, good heavens.” Dora covered her eyes like that would somehow stop Amber from leaving.
Amber laughed softly and then remembered what she was about to do. This could be the biggest mistake of her life. And her last chance to do something she’d been wanting to do since that morning. Risking Quentin coming to, she cupped his scruffy jaw, bent over, and brushed her mouth across his. He was warm and slightly feverish, a fact that spurred her into action.
Sarah brought their food just as Amber grabbed the coasters and turned to leave. “Wonderful, I’ll be right back. Don’t take my plate away. Oh, and Quentin is taking a quick power nap. But really,” she said as she rushed out, “don’t take my plate. I’ll just be a minute.”
She tore out of the Tavern and ran all the way to Dora’s house, gasping for air when she got there. She went around to the back door to find Kyle blocking it. Literally. He held his arms across the doorframe, clipboard in one hand and pen in the other. “I can’t let you do this, Ms. Kowalski. If anything happens to you, I’ll be out of a job.”
“Your concern is touching, Kyle,” she said between gasps. “And it’s not like I pay you.”
“But you do. In other ways.” He pushed his round glasses up his nose then returned his hand to the frame.
“Kyle, look… Wait, what ways? Have you seen me naked?”
He bit his bottom lip and shook his head.
What the hell? “Never mind. You realize I can just walk through you?”
“Yes, I do. But that’s rude, and you would never…”
She walked through him and opened the back door. Kyle gaped at her, appalled.
“Sorry, Charlie. I’m on a mission.”
“You’re going to get killed.”
She narrowed her eyes and looked up toward the attic window. “I don’t think so.”
“And how many demons have you befriended lately?”
The grin that crept across her face could not be helped. “Hundreds of thousands.”
He scoffed, then said, “Wait, really?” before dropping his ghost clipboard. It didn’t make a sound.
Amber stepped into the house, careful to stay inside the black salt lines. She walked to the center of the small kitchen. Having no idea how long she had, how long Rune could hold Quentin, she drew in a deep breath and stepped out of the circle. Then she closed her eyes and waited.