Eve Langlais - Hybrid Misfit

Simon didn’t reply; he acted. The other night, busy fighting for my life, I’d not watched Simon in action. What a mistake.

If it was possible, he seemed bigger all of a sudden as he charged the nasty demon. His shirt strained around muscles that bunched and rippled. I caught a glimpse of long, almost silvery claws, extending from his fingers that he used to slash at the creature.

My would-be knight and the evil villain battled, their weapon of choice: claws, which they wielded like a many pronged sword. The clicking sound and grunts as they jousted back and forth held me riveted, until I noticed Gene standing still.

“What are you doing?” I hissed. “Help him before he gets hurt.”

Gene turned to me with a look of surprise. “You don’t actually think that thing can hurt him do you?” He chuckled. “Simon’s just toying with him.”

I fumed. “I don’t care. What if someone calls the cops? Or the slime ball gets a lucky shot?”

“Fine, I’ll help, but just so you know, I’ve had a protective shield around us since the fight started to prevent any humans from observing.”

Really? I looked around, saw nothing. A growl brought my attention back to the fight.

With a flurry of slashes and pivots that at times seemed physically impossible, Simon finally struck a killing blow, one that made the demon’s eyes widen as it sank to its knees, black ichor gushing from the fatal wound in its chest.

I rushed over to Simon and hugged him while furtively checking for injury, thus did I hear the demon’s last whispery words-even though I wish I hadn’t.

“Protect her if you will for now,” it hissed. “But know we will return for we are Legion, and we will kill her before she destroys us all.” Then the light in the demons eyes went out, rendering them dark and lifeless. A swirling black mist surrounded the demon and with a gagging sulphuric stench, the corpse disappeared, taking my previous arousal with him.

Reassured Simon was in one piece, I stepped back from him and, placing my hands on my hips, I glared at both men. “Does someone want to explain to me what the fuck just happened? Why does a demon from Hell want to kill me?”

“The information you are asking for isn’t the kind of conversation to be had over dinner. Do you mind if we adjourn somewhere more private?” Gene asked with a creased brow that told me without words I wouldn’t like what they had to tell me.

I wanted the security and familiarity of home and family. While Claire was still at work, Lana was home and would provide an extra pair of ears. “Fine, we’ll go back to my place. I’ve got hard liquor to soften whatever it is you’ve got to tell me.”

“Huddle up then,” Gene ordered. Simon tucked me under his arm, his warm solidity reassuring. Gene grabbed us in a hug and in a shake of Jeannie’s pony tail we were outside my apartment complex. They followed me upstairs. I led the way, my arousal slowly seeping back as I walked up the stairs, conscious of my short skirt and the view I knew they were enjoying. What they had to tell me must be serious, because Gene didn’t crack a single joke.

We walked in to find Lana, with her feet soaking, watching Jaws-a favorite of hers. She especially enjoyed grossing us out by saying she’d do the shark if she could ever figure out how to change into her tail. Another siren issue she was dealing with along with Thalassophobia.

Her eyes widened as she took in my two companions. I smirked at her and gestured absently at them. “Lana, meet Simon and Gene. Our dinner plans got waylaid because of a run in with a demon.”

“A what?” Lana’s screech followed me into the kitchen where I pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured myself a shot. I downed the burning liquor, before grabbing a few more shot glasses and carrying everything out to the living room.

Simon and Gene sat at opposite ends of one couch with a tempting spot between them just right for me. I bypassed the invitation and sat beside Lana.

I poured everyone a generous dollop of whiskey and raised my glass, saying. “Salut.”

My friends followed suit and we slapped our empty glasses down on the table. Fortified by the alcohol, I spilled the encounter with the demon to Lana, whose eyes grew rounder and rounder.

“Ah shit, Beth. That doesn’t sound good.”

“We’ll protect her,” rumbled Simon.

“Excuse me,” Lana said and I almost smiled knowing they were about to see why it was best to leave annoyed sirens alone. “But, first off, you just met Beth and I have a hard time understanding your motives in wanting to protect her in what is surely a deadly endeavor. Second, you both seem to know an awful lot about what she is and what’s going on, which I find pretty freaking suspicious.”

“Which we will explain if you give us a moment,” interjected Gene. He shut up though when Lana, with a high pitched, hummed note, glared at him. I snickered.

“And finally, exactly how are two guys supposed to stop the hordes of Hell if what the fiend said was true?” When the boys didn’t immediately answer-probably too cowed to reply-she let out a shrill whistle that would have probably caused a school of fish to commit suicide.

Gene winced at the strident sound. “Again, Beth, I must say your friends are interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever met a siren who lived so far from the sea.”

Lana blanched and I hastened to shut him up. “Ixnay on the biggay water thingy,” I said in very poor pig Latin. I think the finger drawn across my throat with the accompanying gurgle sound got the point across better as Gene clamped his lips shut. Simon said not a word, but I could read the mirth in his eyes. Okay, so my friends are special. It’s why I love them. “Now stop stalling with the attempt at idle chit chat and fess up.” As queries went, I should have probably been more specific, but there was too damned much I didn’t know, so I figured any information was better than nothing at this point.

“Where would you like me to start?” Gene asked. “You heard the prophecy. The demon thinks you might be the one mentioned in it and wants to kill you. What I don’t understand is how you don’t know about the message?”

“Humor me,” I said not willing to get into why I missed my membership to the supernatural club. “Why is there such a hoopla about some stupid message? Did it never occur to them that maybe someone was playing a joke-a really mean one?”

Gene appeared shocked at what I thought was a reasonable question. “You’re a creature of both light and dark, even if raised by only one side, you would know the message carved using the words of creation themselves; a power beyond even the Lord of Light and Dark means serious business.”

I squirmed. Their assumption that my state of being came from natural means made me uncomfortable, but exactly how should I explain my creation at the hands of mad scientists? I hedged. “So what if some unknown super dude posted a message? I still don’t understand why that demon and his friends want to kill me. And what’s this about cleansing others like me?”

“About two thousand years ago, when the words appeared on the walls around Heaven and Hell, there was panic. The forces for good and evil, fearing the end was nigh, set out to destroy those they believed the prophecy spoke of.”

“The cleansing?” Lana interjected.

“Exactly, “said Gene with a sage nod. “All Nephalim, whose blood by birth contained the seeds of both good and evil, were destroyed, hunted down like the vilest of vermin and eliminated. Once the world and the various realms were cleansed of their presence, a ban on matings between angels and demons was put in effect with the verdict of immediate death if anyone chose to ignore it.”