Vivi Anna - Releasing the Hunter

“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or an insult.” She shoved three fries into her mouth. She had to admit that she enjoyed their banter. It had been a while since she’d met a man that could dish it out and take it in equal measure.

“What would make you share those fries?”

She laughed out loud. A full guffaw. It felt good to let it out, to let go. She offered him the box. “Either remark will get you half the box.”

“Then it was a compliment.”

Ronan reached over and grabbed a handful, and set them onto his spread-out burger wrapper on the table. Happily, he dipped them into a torn-open ketchup pack and ate them with gusto.

She watched for a bit, wondering what his motives really were. Yes, he said he was after the same demon. For the first time, she wanted to know why. And why partner with her? Sure, she was the best, but given her reputation he must’ve known that she was impossible to work with.

Why would a man subject himself to her belligerent ways if he could’ve gotten information from another source?

He was obviously a glutton for punishment.

“So,” he said after chewing, “did you find out anything?”

“I talked to a source and he hasn’t caught wind of anyone asking around about me. But that doesn’t necessarily mean much. He’s not the only hunter out there. Though he is the only one that I can tolerate.”

“Anyone else you can contact?”

“Maybe.” She finished her fries and dumped the box into the white paper bag. “What about you? You must have contacts.”

He looked at her for a second, then wiped his fingers on the paper napkin. “I do, but you’re not going to like them.”

Demons. She should’ve known.

She got up, pitched the bag into the garbage bin, and then stretched out onto the bed. “No, I probably won’t.”

Ronan checked his watch. “It’s two now. I can’t talk to my contact until three. So catch some sleep while you can.”

Ivy smooshed up the pillow behind her head and closed her eyes. “I plan to.”

As she tried to relax her mind, she felt a dip on the mattress next to her. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked to her right. Ronan was fluffing his own pillow behind his head.

“Excuse me?”

He snorted at her. “Please. You can relax. You’re definitely not my type.”

“Oh, you probably like them with black irises and sulfur for blood.”

“Nah.” He rolled over onto his side, giving her his back. “I like women with souls.”

She flinched as if struck. The harshness of his statement threw her for a loop. She supposed she’d been treating him badly but she was sure she didn’t deserve such a scathing remark. Did she?

Ivy didn’t dignify his statement with a response, and she turned onto her side, as well. She punched the pillow under her head and closed her eyes again. She wouldn’t let him get to her. But after ten minutes of lying there listening to his rhythmic breathing, she realized he was already getting to her in more ways than one.

Ronan slept for about forty minutes. He had the ability to nod off quickly, go under for a deep sleep and wake up fresh and alert. He didn’t sleep much as it was. He attributed that to the demon blood running through him. Full-blooded demons never slept. Gave them more time to cause chaos and havoc on the world.

He moved carefully off the bed so as to not rouse Ivy. When he was up he looked down at her. She slept like she did everything else—with fierce conviction. Her forehead was wrinkled in concentration and it looked like she was grinding her teeth. Both hands were curled into fists. It looked like she’d bolt up at any moment and punch him in the gut.

But despite all that, she was riveting. She had the quality that made men stand to attention. Made men want to stare into those fierce blue eyes for an eternity, to wait, to hope that she would press those amazing full lips to theirs.

Not that Ronan was thinking of kissing her. It was just she possessed a mouth made to be kissed. It was hard to imagine wasting that tasty pout.

Grabbing his gun and both his knives, he crept out of the room and went around to the back of the motel to the barren, abandoned field that was there. It was a perfect setup for what he needed to do next.

He cleared a spot about six feet in diameter in the soil. After finding a decent stick, he drew a pentagram in the circle of dirt. Then he inscribed the symbol for one particular demon he knew. Daeva. She was a lust demon. Lust demons were more apt to make deals than the other denizens of hell.

Once that was done, he needed to activate the “call.” Taking out one of his blades, he cupped it in his palm and drew the blade across his skin. The immediate sharp sting of the steel made him suck in a breath. Holding his hand up over the sigil, blood ran down his hand and dripped onto the dirt. The black spots immediately soaked into the ground.

It wouldn’t be long before the call was answered. Daeva was usually quite prompt.

Ronan pulled out a thin piece of gauze from his pocket. He always came prepared. He wrapped it around his palm, stemming the flow of blood. Just as he finished tying it off, an audible pop sounded before him. The smell of brimstone and some exotic spices filled the air. He looked up to face the demon.

She smiled. “Well, hello, Ronan. What can I do you for?”

Ronan shook his head at her play on words. It was an old joke.

“Get it? What can I do you for?” She laughed; the sound was like tinkling bells.

“Yeah, I get it, Daeva. It just isn’t funny.”

She took a step toward him, mindful of the lines of the pentagram that she was bound inside. “So, honey, what can I really do for you?”

Out of all the demons he’d run across, Daeva was the only one he liked. She was fun and funny and sexy as all get out with her long crimson hair and startling gray eyes. And she really didn’t follow the usual demon code. She didn’t look for ways to get out of the pentagram and rip your innards out. As long as he’d been doing business with her, he’d yet to see her do any real harm to anyone. She just liked to seduce people. And he really didn’t see the harm in that.

“I need information.”

“About?”

“Sallos.”

“I see.” She tapped one long fingernail against her cherry-stained lips. “I heard he was being a really bad boy.”

“Yes, he’s murdering women. Lots of them. He needs to be stopped.”

“Oh, I agree, Ronan, no doubt about that. But what will you give me in return for my information?”

“What do you want?” He knew it was a mistake to ask an open-ended question to a demon, but he trusted Daeva. Sort of.

“I want to meet her.”

“Who?”

“Who do you think? Ivy Strom, of course.”

“Why?”

She pursed her lips, then fluffed her hair. “I have my reasons.”

“And those would be?” The voice that came was as frigid as the Arctic winds. Ronan whirled around to see Ivy walking out of the shadows to stand beside him.

“None of your business, really.” Daeva smiled at the unexpected arrival.

Ivy bristled a little, and Ronan sensed she was about to do something stupid, but at the last second she seemed to settle down and sighed instead. “Well, we’ve met, so now you can tell us about Sallos.”

“We haven’t been properly introduced.” Daeva looked at Ronan. “Will you do the honors?”

He sighed and shook his head. He had a bad feeling that he was going to pay for this in some way. Either from Daeva or from Ivy. There seemed to be some rivalry between them that he couldn’t figure out. “Daeva, Seductress of Shadows, this is Ivy Strom...”

“Hunter of all Demons,” Ivy finished for him.