Angie Fox - The Last of the Demon Slayers

“Unreal,” I murmured .Of course so was a zombie crow.

We stared at it, waiting for it to do something else, like I don’t know – make rope animals. I was up for anything at that point.

I wished Rachmort were here to see this. He not only had generations of experience mentoring slayers, he was also a necromancer who specialized in lost souls and spiritual apparitions.

Maybe there was a way to contact him. I’d have to talk to Grandma once she finished building the Budweiser tower of Babel.

Dimitri didn’t say a word about the reconstituted rope, which was telling. In our half year together, I’d learned he didn’t like to state the obvious. We both knew it was evil.

We watched the jar to see what it would do next. Yet once the rope made itself whole again, it seemed content to wind itself around the bottom.

Across the bar, the biker witches let out a collective hoot as Ant Eater launched a dart at the wobbling tower of beer cans.

“So listen to this,” I said, in a futile attempt to ignore them. I told Dimitri about my dad, the zombie crow and everything else he’d missed while he was out on patrol.

He placed his hand over mine. “I wish I could have been there.”

I nodded, swiping at a few tears.

“We’ll fix this,” he said.

The kicker was, he meant every word. Leave it to Dimitri to save the world.

I could do it on my own, but thanks to this man, I’d abandoned the notion that I should.

Single kick butt demon slayers who were mad at the world and did everything on their own were fine in the movies, or in books. But in real life, I needed a partner. I wanted Dimitri by my side. Not because I had trouble handling things on my own, but because I wanted someone to share this life with.

I ducked as a dart hit the wall between Dimitri and me.

“The beer can tower is that way,” Dimitri said, yanking the dart out of the wall and taking aim himself. His shot went wide. The Red Skulls cheered anyway.

The witches were getting rowdy, which meant it was time for Dimitri and I to turn in. It was either that or try to control them.

Ha.

We stood. “Thanks for killing banshees for me,” I said.

Dimitri brushed a kiss along my shoulder and let me step in front of him. “You do a pretty good job yourself.”

We waved at the witches, who toasted us and started giving us bedroom tips as we headed for the second floor.

Dimitri placed a protective hand on my back as we navigated the narrow stairs, lit by broken light bulbs. “I don’t want to judge my girlfriend’s family before I meet them, but let’s just say I have a few questions for your dad.”

Join the club.

I waited until we reached the top of the stairs before I leaned close. “You’ll never believe what Grandma discovered. Turns out I’m half angel.”

“Angel?” He nearly sputtered.

“Now why is that so hard to believe?” I asked, enjoying the sight of my mighty griffin nearly speechless.

He leaned back against the brown paneled landing, “I’m…”

“What? Shocked? Amazed? Freaked out? Take your pick. I’m still trying to decide.”

He took my hand and drew me close. “I always knew you were special,” he said, caressing the soft spot at the base of my palms. “But angelic?”

“Bona fide,” I said, running a finger down his arm. Maybe that’s why I’d always been so keen on following the rules.

We began walking down the hall toward our room. We had the third on the left, according to Grandma.

“Now tell me,” I said, “What do you know about angels?”

He seemed to search for the right thing to say. “I’ve never met one.”

“Until now,” I teased.

He tried to appreciate the joke, but was still too shocked. “Most view angels as agents of the divine, representatives of everything good.”

I snorted. “Instead of the things we usually run into.”

His mouth twisted into a smile. “You could say that.”

“Grandma says dad is a fallen angel,” I added.

”A being who has willfully turned away from the light.”

He came up with that a bit quickly. “Wait ‘till you meet him.” And until I was through with him.

We stopped in front of our room.

“It’s extremely convenient that your dad didn’t tell you what he’s done,” Dimitri said.

“He said he’d tell me in person. He didn’t want any supernatural eavesdroppers.”

“We’ll see.”

“Dimitri, he’s my father. I have to help him.”

And if I couldn’t, if I failed, would I have the courage to slay him?

“Your father tried to compel you to go see him,” Dimitri said.

I really didn’t want to talk about this. “What a power,” I said, trying to lighten things up. “It’s every parent’s dream come true.”

Dimitri didn’t take the bait. “You understand what’s at stake here, Lizzie. He wants you badly. He’s holding the threat of his damnation over your head.” He paused, as if he didn’t want to say the rest. “He didn’t search you out until he needed you.”

“I know.” It hurt to admit it even to myself: if my dad truly wanted me, he would have found a way to see me during the last thirty years. “But maybe this is a fresh start, a way to re-connect.”

Dimitri frowned. “I hope so. I want that for you, Lizzie. But just remember, he may be your dad, but that doesn’t mean you’re similar souls.”

“It doesn’t mean we’re not,” I reminded him.

For as long as I could remember I’d wondered what my real dad was like. I’d given up on the idea of perfection a long time ago. I wasn’t a child.

I’d also learned in my time as a slayer that things weren’t always as they appeared. Sure my dad hadn’t been there for me in the past, but he needed me now and I owed it to him and to myself to at least give him a chance.

Dimitri’s expression remained dark. He’d gone into full protection mode. Heaven help us. “It also says something about him that he’d rob you of your free choice,” he said.

“Kind of like the time you chained me to a tree?”

He looked unimpressed. “That was for your own good.”

It sure didn’t feel like it at the time.

I flicked the light switch in our room and was disappointed when the room remained dark. Grandma must have forgotten to hex our place. Or maybe the light-em-up spell didn’t have an off switch.

“Lizzie.” He brushed a lock of hair from my forehead, “I’m always behind you. No matter what.”

He truly was my rock, my other half.

“But I wonder if it is a good idea to get involved with your father.”

He was the bane of my existence.

I leaned against the door jamb and looked up at him. “You did it for your family.”

Dimitri went to hell and back to end the curse on his sisters. Then he fought a rival family’s army in order to keep them safe. He’d sacrificed years off his life to train me as a demon slayer, even when he barely knew me, so I could help the people he loved. He wasn’t in any position to tell me what I could or could not do for my estranged father.

A muscle in his jaw twitched. He realized it too, even if he refused to admit it. “I want more for you,” he said, towering above me in the narrow doorway.

“Believe me.” I ran a hand down his chest, stopping above the place where the creature had bitten. “I have everything I need.” Despite the mess with my father and the banshee, I was happier than I’d ever been in my life. For the first time, I knew what I wanted – this life, him.

Did he even know what having him meant to me?

His eyes narrowed down to tiny slits as he weighed the options. “If we do this, I want to protect you.”

“You already do.”