The Demon Within Read online

  Ames hadn’t been pleased when I told him I’d run the demon off and didn’t kill it. He said to fight so that they can’t ever live again. I said I chose to live to fight another day.

  It wasn’t the first argument Ames and I have gotten into.

  Ames.

  There are times when we work so closely together, I can feel his heartbeat and smell the muskiness of his scent. Those light blue eyes are mesmerizing and I can’t help but wonder why he doesn’t have a girlfriend or a wife. He’s a wonderfully charismatic man with a rock hard body and the patience of a saint. I’ve learned so much from him. His knowledge has kept me alive, kept my kids safe. I owe him. He says I don’t, but I do.

  Anyway, I’ve been fielding more calls than I’m used to, been busier than usual, and all the while, Denny’s eyes never leave me. I can tell she’s curious about where I go at night and what I do.

  Just yesterday, I caught her sniffing around my closet. She must have seen me going in there one day. I’ll have to be sure to keep the lair door closed at all times.

  Today, I’m helping a young man chase down a demon who’s been bullying him—blackmailing him, treating him like an ATM machine.

  That seem so odd to me. Demons used to plague people’s spiritual world, where they basically ran amok bothering the newly baptized Christians. Now, they want the same things humans want: power, control, money, even things. I wonder when that changed. When did they become greedy bastards? When did they want to do more than just wreak havoc?

  I don’t know the answers. I just know that throughout the ages, my family has tracked, hunted and destroyed those who would harm my fellow human beings. It is harder than I ever imagined and more rewarding than I could ever believe. I wish Robert understood my obligation…my responsibility. There’s just so much I can’t tell him…so much he needs to know.

  I’ve saved dozens of innocent folks so far, and I imagine I will save dozens more.

  At least...that is my plan.

  As much as it is my duty.

  ****

  After the fourth phone call, Denny pocketed her phone and turned to Ames. “That’ll do it.”

  “Good. From now on, you don’t bail on me, you don’t bail on your people, you don’t creep around at night. You don’t ask for trouble. You don’t look for assholes. You. Just. Don’t. Are we clear?”

  Denny nodded.

  “Good, because there will be no second chances with me. I can’t stress that enough.” Ames started for the front door.

  “Where we going?”

  Punching his arms through the sleeves in his jacket, Ames replied, “Hospital. We’re going to see Iris and then you’re going to go home and get your life in order. Clean yourself up. Get back into the lair and start educating yourself about Hantas and this path you’re on. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. You’re a hunter now, Goldy, and that means you are responsible for those hunted by demons. You are either all in or you’re out. You don’t get to play in the grey zone. You don’t get to be Switzerland. You don’t get to risk your life because you’re sad or bummed out or brooding. You have a job to do. It’s a job. You got that?” Straightening his jacket, Ames headed for his car.

  Denny got into the battered Range Rover’s passenger seat and buckled up. “I got it.”

  “It’s my way or the highway. Period. You are a legacy hunter, and that means this is your life. You don’t get to play fast and loose with it like you’ve been doing. So, are you in or out?”

  Looking out the window, Denny sighed. “I’m in.”

  “Good, because that little gal in the hospital room needs you. And there will be others who need you as well. They will come from all over the country seeking your help. You better get used to that, and you better learn when to pick your battles, otherwise you’ll spend every waking day fighting. You understand?”

  “I do.”

  “So we’re going to the hospital to see if you can still be of service to her. She’s come to you for help. So you turned her away and something terrible happened to her. You can’t bathe in the guilt, Goldy. What’s done is done. Are you ready for this?”

  Turning to him, Denny nodded “I am. Let’s do this.”

  ****

  Twenty-five minutes later, they were standing at the doorway of Iris’s hospital room. Monitors beeped and wheezed and the lighting was dim, but it was bright enough to see her battered and bruised face.

  Ames peered into the room. His hand slowly covered his face. “Jesus, Goldy, whoever did this did a number on this kid.”

  Denny stared through the window at Iris’s purple and red face with its cuts and scratches. “Yeah. Yeah, they did. I...I should have stopped it.”

  “You could have, should have, but didn’t. Move on. There’s no future in guilt, kiddo. You have a chance to right that wrong, not wallow in your bad choices. Not everyone gets that chance in life.”

  Denny stood outside the room and watched Iris’s chest slowly rise and fall. She looked so frail in the big white bed, so young.

  “Go on.”

  Denny stared at him.

  “I’ll be out here. No sense in scaring the poor girl. I doubt she wants any man in her room at the moment.”

  “Yeah. Right.” Inhaling a breath of courage, she nodded once and walked in.

  Denny hated hospital rooms with a passion. She was fifteen when her mother had lain in a bed similar to this one, fighting for her life. Denny had come every day after school and stayed until the nurses kicked her out, usually long after visiting hours were over.

  Those dark days had been the worst of her short life. The waiting and wondering if Gwen would live or die—then the waiting to see if living like a coma patient was all the life she had left.

  Watching a parent waste away in a hospital was akin to a slow torture for a child, and when Quick snuck in one night and pulled all of the plugs, Denny understood why.

  But Gwen didn’t die.

  At least, not in the conventional sense. The doctors could find no reason for her catatonia. None. So when the time came to move her, sister Sterling stepped up and found an assisted living home. Quick had called it assisted dying. He hated the place and never went to visit. Once Gwen left a hospital room like this one, all four of their lives had changed forever.

  Pulling a chair up to the bed as she’d done so many times before, Denny sat next to Iris and held her hand. To her surprise, Iris opened her one good eye. It took her a moment to register who it was.

  “Oh. It’s you.”

  Denny blinked to keep the tears at bay. “Yes, it’s me, and I am so very, very sorry I let this happen.”

  Iris licked her stitched lips and asked for some water, which Denny held for her while she sipped from a straw.

  “It’s not your fault. It was too much to ask. I just thought—”

  “It was the right thing to do. I was...wrestling with my own demons, and losing, but I’ve got it under control now. I’m just...so, so sorry.”

  Iris released Denny’s hand and laid her palm against Denny’s cheek. It was a gesture her mother would have made.

  “But you came. You came to see me.”

  Denny shook her head. “More than that. I came to help you. I came to do what I should have done before.”

  Iris smiled slightly. It made her face lopsided. “Really?”

  “Really. Please…please forgive me for being such an ass.”

  “Everyone has their own burdens in this life, Golden. Please don’t apologize any more.”

  Denny squeezed Iris’s hand. “Are you up for some questions?”

  “If you’ll hold my water for me, I’ll answer whatever you want to know.”

  Denny turned the straw toward Iris. Her lips looked like hamburger and her left cheek was horribly swollen and bruised. Half of her face was purple and black.

  “Tell me about yourself—your family—your background.”

  “Well, I come from a wealthier-than-most
family in Boston. I’m the youngest of seven kids. My parents are still together. I’m eighteen and I left home as soon as I knew what was happening to me.”

  “And just how did you know a demon was tracking you?”

  Iris thought about this. “Red, glowing eyes. At first, I thought it was just weird lighting, but the second time I saw them, I did some research and knew I was in trouble.”

  “So you left Boston because?”

  “Wow, you really weren’t listening. I didn’t want it near my family. I didn’t know what it wanted, so I came to the city with the most knowledgeable folks there are in regards to the supernatural.”

  “Why not New Orleans?”

  “Too many hacks making a tourist dollar. I don’t need a hack. I need the real deal.” Her one good eye stared hard at Denny. “And you’re that deal.”

  “And how did you hear about me?”

  “A medium told me.”

  Of course.

  “She said to search for silver and I would find one who could help me with my problems. It took me several weeks to figure out what she was talking about. Then, your brother was all over the news and I wondered if maybe that was what she meant.”

  “That was months ago.”

  She nodded. “When the demon finally found me, I left Savannah, hoping to shake him, but he was like Velcro. When I finally got back in town, it took me a couple of weeks of laying low before I took the chance to come and see you.”

  “And that chance gave him the opportunity to find you again.”

  She nodded. “Not your fault, Golden. Don’t look so distraught. I rolled the dice and they bounced up and smashed me in the face. It happens.”

  Denny squeezed her hand. “You’ll never know how sorry I am.”

  “Sure I will. It’s all over your face. If it’ll make you feel better, he didn’t get what he was after.”

  “Your life?”

  Iris shook her head. “My pussy. He knocked the shit out of me because he intended on raping me. I kicked his balls so hard, I’m pretty sure they’re firmly lodged next to his tonsils.” Iris laughed and immediately regretted it. “Ouch. My ribs are killing me.”

  Denny was on her feet the second a pained look came across Iris’s face. “I’m...fine...sit...sit.”

  Denny slowly sat back down and held her hand once more.

  “Cracked a few ribs, which are not happy with laughter...or breathing.” She smiled at Denny. “It was a joke.”

  “And you’re certain he wanted to rape you.”

  Releasing Denny’s hand, Iris gently moved the covers aside. On either side of her inner thighs were fingernail scratch marks and bruises.

  The Hanta stirred. Denny forced it back down.

  “Jesus, Iris. I...I’m so—”

  “No more apologies, Golden. He could have killed me, but he didn’t. He didn’t get what he wanted, but we both know that doesn’t mean he’s given up.”

  “Right. Has your family been notified?”

  Iris shook her head. “I don’t need them running down here. My father believes he can throw money at anything to fix it. We are…well…estranged is the best way to put it. No, I’m on my own, and that’s how I want it.”

  “Not anymore, you’re not.” Denny squeezed her hand. “You came to the right place. I’m going to do everything I can to protect you.”

  Iris smiled softly. “I know. Rochelle called you a hunter. Said if anyone could take care of my problem, it was you. Are you really a demon hunter, Golden?”

  Denny rose and set the water on the table. “As a matter of fact, I am.” The words made her smile. Perhaps self acceptance was the key she needed to unlock herself from her self imposed Hanta prison.

  Closing her good eye, Iris let out a relieved sigh. “Oh, good. Maybe now I can get some rest.”

  Denny lightly brushed a stray hair from Iris’s forehead. “You rest. I’ll be back later with some kind of plan, okay?”

  Denny waited for a reply that never came. Iris had fallen sound asleep.

  ****

  Denny filled Ames in on the way back to his place. As was his way, he listened patiently while the story unfolded, waiting until she was finished before saying, “You want to help her, Goldy, it’s going to require tracking skills you don’t yet possess. It’s going to require more knowledge than what you have.”

  “Then teach me.”

  Ames couldn’t contain his smile. “If I teach you tracking skills, you have to promise me one thing.”

  “Okay.”

  “No more hanging out in bars or cemeteries wasting your time and considerable talents on low level scumbags.”

  “Junk food.”

  He chuckled under his breath. “Yeah. No more junk food.”

  Denny watched people jogging on the shady sidewalks. “That’s a deal, but how did you know I was out prow—”

  “It’s my job to know. You think just because you’re not my student that I wouldn’t pay attention to your activities? I know just about every stupid decision you’ve made since you left training.”

  “So...what? You’ve been following me around waiting for me to come to my senses?”

  This brought a bark of laughter from Ames. “Me following you? Hardly. You think you’re the only student I have?”

  Denny turned to him. “I...I never thought about it.”

  “Well, think now. You beat that steroid-infused ape of a man in arm wrestling, then nearly crippled him in that alley. That was when I was certain you were this close to losing control of your life. I was pleasantly surprised you didn’t kill him. I know you wanted to.”

  “But, I didn’t.”

  “And you won’t, but you’ve got to master all of it, Goldy. You need to become mentally and physically sharp in all things demonic. You need to spend more time learning about the many different demons. More time learning about the history behind your family’s legacy. You need to eventually know more about demonology than even I know.”

  “Is that possible? You’re an expert.”

  “And so, my dear, will you be.”

  ****

  Six sweaty and grueling hours later, after Ames put her through her paces on the mat and in his own personal library, Denny opened the door to her empty house and just stood there staring at the carnage that had been her life the last three weeks. The house stunk of old food and body odor, and the containers were encrusted with a variety of sauces and dressings. A trail of ants made a conga line along crusts of stale pizza.

  The house was a pig sty.

  “Jesus, how in the hell did I live like this?” Denny glanced around at all of the used food containers, discarded napkins, and overflowing trash containers. “Rush, if you hadn’t left me before, you sure as shit would have after this mess.”

  For the next three hours, Denny vacuumed, scrubbed, washed, and dusted. And with every inch that became clean once more, Denny felt more and more in control of her destiny, and less and less attached to a past that could no longer be.

  When she finished, she sat at the table with a glass of Bailey’s over ice cubes that she kept pushing down into the beige liqueur. Looking around the clean house, Denny sighed.

  “I made a lot of mistakes, Rush, but one thing I really messed up was getting mad at you for not telling me the truth about myself. I understand now why you didn’t. I was neither mature enough nor wise enough to handle that scary truth.” Denny sipped the Bailey’s. “Forgive me for that. Forgive my impetuous anger for actions that were meant to protect me.” Denny didn’t expect Rush to answer. “I know you can hear me. I count on it, actually. I also understand why you left. You always did know me better than I’ve known myself. You knew I’d cling to you until...until I couldn’t anymore, and I couldn’t do that and be the demon hunter. I don’t want to be possessed. I don’t really want to be a hunter, but I don’t see as I have much of a choice. I mean, I don’t know how I compare to my mom, but I’m doing my best. That girl who came by? I didn’t help her. She got her
ass beat pretty badly. Well, I’m going to help her now...like I should have the first time.” Rising, Denny picked up her drink and walked around the room. “There’s so much to learn...so much to know. I could use your help, you know? I could use your friendship right now. I feel so alone in all of this. Of course, it’s no one’s fault but my own. When you’re ready to come back, don’t hesitate. Don’t second guess. I know we’ll never be lovers again, and while I’ll miss that, I miss your friendship more. Just know that, okay?”

  The doorbell rang and Denny set her glass on the table to go answer it. She was pleasantly surprised to find Reese at the door.

  “Oh good, you are home.”

  “Come in,” Denny said, opening the door.

  Reese stared at her a minute before entering. “You cleaned up.”

  “Yeah. I did.”

  Reese shook her head. “No, I mean you cleaned up. You look...more centered than I’ve seen you. To be honest, you were looking a little ragged around the edges. I was beginning to worry.”

  “I won’t ask what being un-centered looks like.” Leading Reese into the dining room, she offered to pour her a Bailey’s.

  “I’m good.” Sitting down, Reese opened her briefcase and withdrew a large file. “Okay, I’ll cut right to it. There’s something rotten in Denmark, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say it could appear that the DA and Counselor Jones were in cahoots. Your brother was poorly represented by Jones. Very poorly.”

  Denny flipped the file open and read the section Reese was pointing to. “Cahoots? You mean these guys could be the two people we’re looking for?”

  “I’ve been through this list, and one of Quick’s buddies, Adam Owny, recanted his testimony about Quick not liking Lisa’s parents.”

  Denny looked up from her reading. “Recanted?”

  Reese nodded. “Said he never really admitted that Quick hated them—just that they were a pain in his ass. The DA said, “So life would be easier if they weren’t around, eh?”