Angie Fox - ADS 01 - The Accidental Demon Slayer

As if he could sense my fear, Dimitri leaned closer. “Having second thoughts?” he asked, his voice edged with concern.

Um, yeah. I watched as shimmers of light danced in the upstairs windows. How about third, fourth and fifth thoughts? At least Dimitri was starting to treat me more like an ally than a ward to be protected.

Maybe I was getting through to him. I could use a partner right about now. A low moan sounded from somewhere inside the house, and I fought the urge to run far, far away. If I had this much trouble even looking at the house—imagine how Pirate must be feeling if he was still inside. Hang on, little guy .

Now that he wasn’t trying to hold me back, Dimitri could turn out to be my ace in the hole. “Let’s,” I choked. Embarrassed, I cleared my throat to make it work right. “Let’s circle around front to see if we can learn anything.”

We ventured as far as the trees and shrubs would hide us. A violet haze enveloped the street out front. The precise line of bikes we’d seen on the way inside tonight lay scattered like matchbox toys. I took heart that about half were missing. At least some of the witches had gotten away. Dimitri’s SUV lay on its side with the windows smashed in. It was impossible to know what hit it, but if I didn’t know better, my first guess would have been Godzilla.

I didn’t see the bike with the sidecar. I hoped Bob had made it out okay. I wished I knew whether Pirate had gone with him. One thing was certain. Grandma would not have left the bar with any of her coven members still inside. That meant two things. Number one, we had to check this place out whether we wanted to or not. And number two, I had a confession to make.

Dimitri stood beside me, dark and strong. This wasn’t going to be easy. I blew out a breath and hoped I wasn’t about to torpedo our fledgling truce. “I have to tell you,” I said, practically wincing. “I was supposed to receive the coven’s protection tonight, but it didn’t happen.”

Dimitri stiffened, anger pouring from him in waves. Good going, Lizzie .

“I thought they were smarter than this,” he hissed. “If you were a member of our clan, we would have conducted a protection ceremony as the first order of business. They have no right to have a slayer in their ranks if they can’t defend what’s theirs.”

Theirs ? Hello, twenty-first century calling. Oh who was I kidding? I had bigger things to worry about. I’d set off his protection vibe. Big mistake. “It wasn’t their fault,” I said, thinking of the botched ceremony in the basement. “It was mine. When it came down to it, I just couldn’t drink that nasty potion. Look, I’ll explain it all later. The point is—”

“The point is we’re closing in on a demon infestation and you don’t have the proper knowledge, training or security.” He loomed over me until I had to crane my neck to see his stormy expression. “You refused your own grandmother’s protection. And now you’ve shunned my efforts to spirit you away from this hellhole until we pursue a dog that may or may not even be inside.”

The way he said the word dog ticked me off. I opened my mouth to tell him and winced as screeches echoed from the house, like metal rubbing glass.

“We gotta do this,” I told him. I didn’t know what was happening in there, but it wasn’t good. The sooner we snuck in, the sooner we could run like heck.

He drew in a hard breath. “We’ll go in there,” he said, his gaze trickling through me, “if you accept my protection.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. Dimitri wanted something from me. He hadn’t told me what, which in my mind meant it was probably something I didn’t want to give. It made me nervous to think of him having power over me.

“No. Let’s go.” I was doing fine on my own, wasn’t I? Eek. I didn’t want to think about it.

“Lizzie,” he prodded. “You know it’s the right thing to do.”

Oh, I knew . I sighed, torn between the urge to get this over with and the knowledge that he was right. I’d refused to drink the witches’ protection potion. I didn’t want to make the same mistake again. I clenched my jaw until it throbbed. Grandma said I shouldn’t trust him. But I needed him. And without the protection of the witches, I was probably crazy to even think about being as close as we were to whatever lurked inside that house. There was bravery, there was independence…and then there was pure stupidity. I didn’t need to go into this half-cocked. And if Dimitri could help me prepare, well, I had to accept that gift.

“Fine.”

He tried to hide his pleasure, but I could tell he was as happy as if I’d told him he could keep me in a lock-box and throw away the key. I’d let him enjoy his little victory.

“For now,” I added, wishing I could scrub the crooked smile off his face.

Warning bells sounded in the back of my mind. He’s too happy . Of course those were the same warning bells that told me not to drink Grandma’s protective potion. I buried my concerns. I had to, or we weren’t going to get anything done here. “How long will it take?”

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small, velvet pouch. He tipped it into his palm and out slid an emerald the size of a grape. I whistled despite myself. It was shaped like a teardrop and glowed from the inside out, like it had its own energy, which of course was impossible—like everything else that had happened.

“This is an ancient stone from the Helios clan. My clan. A proud and ancient order of griffins from the island Santorini. I will offer it,” he said. “You will accept it.”

No problem.

“And my protection.”

He had to throw that in.

“With free will,” Dimitri added.

Ah, so that was the key. Okay. I was willing. For now. “Let’s get this over with,” I told him, eyeing the blue and red orbs cascading from the bar’s rooftop vents.

Dimitri held his hand under mine. His callous fingers sent a rough heat spiraling through my veins as he placed the gem in the center of my palm. It felt toasty, whether that was from his pocket or from something else. I felt its energy flow through me like a soft touch. “I offer you the protection of the Helios clan, freely given, freely taken.”

A bronze-colored chain, as thin as a spider’s thread, snaked from the tip of the teardrop. “Um,” I began. The unexpected intimacy of the moment caught me off guard. I wasn’t quite sure how to proceed.

“I accept.” I paused for a heartbeat. “Freely,” I added, fighting my reluctance.

It must have been good enough because the emerald glowed warm in my palm. My hand shook as the chain wrapped itself around my wrist. I resisted the urge to pull it away, to break the hair-thin band.

“Relax.” Dimitri’s touch reassured me as he pulled me farther into the cover of the woods. A breeze caressed my shoulders as I leaned back against the trunk of an old walnut tree. His emerald felt heavy on my wrist. It was strange, but I did feel closer to Dimitri, connected somehow. He narrowed the space between us. Was he going to seal the deal with a kiss? It occurred to me that I should keep my distance. He’d already bound me to him with the emerald. I didn’t need any more complications, but I couldn’t quite make myself walk away.

I should have been afraid of what would happen next. Instead, I found myself anticipating it. Dimitri was the kind of man who made women want to touch him. Too bad I wasn’t immune. I knew Dimitri wasn’t entirely human. And I wasn’t sure I trusted him. But we did want a lot of the same things. And I had to admit he fascinated me.

Dimitri hitched one leg against the tree and drew a long bronze knife from a holster in his boot. The thing was ancient, with strange carvings and green gemstones wrapped around the hilt. The polished blade gleamed razor sharp. There’d better not be blood involved in this ceremony.