Demon Hunt: Kyra Bell: Book Two Read online

No, as Kyra Bell, my true self, I’d always dressed conservatively to avoid drawing attention. But Bell dressed a little more risqué.

  It was yet another change, between my old and new self, dressing a little more sexily was just one more thing Bell didn’t have in common with Kyra. I just wasn’t used to it yet, and I felt a little exposed and uncomfortable even if I wasn’t. Exposed, that is. Ironically perhaps, my softer cheekbones gave me a more innocent wholesome beauty than my stronger cheekbones. I looked just as good in my opinion, but so different at the same time I wouldn’t have recognized myself if I hadn’t designed the look.

  “Who are you?”

  I smiled bashfully at all the attention, but only slightly given the seriousness of the situation. My dulcet voice was more solemn and concerned, “Bell. No one of importance, but I’m a supernatural and I promise the half-demon is gone. There are people hurt in here, in pain, and the council’s team is dead.”

  “We didn’t see him leave,” he noted carefully, as if wary of calling my word into question.

  I nodded, “He opened a gateway. I don’t know where he went, but it isn’t anywhere on our world.”

  Chances were, he was already back, somewhere else in the city and hiding again. Bouncing to hell to move locations would be insanely dangerous. I couldn’t imagine that he’d linger there for more than a second or two. Not that he had a choice, direct gates across the same dimension was impossible.

  The cop approached warily, and he scanned the room from the doorway with a focused look in his eyes, then he pointed toward the EMTs and waved them forward.

  “Miss, don’t go anywhere. I’m sure when the supernatural council rep arrives, they’ll want your statement.”

  I suppressed the urge to swallow, and not look freaked out by the idea. I wasn’t sure if I pulled it off perfectly, but a little bit of nervousness in a young woman in this situation wouldn’t be unreasonable or stand out.

  “Okay, officer,” then to the EMTs when they were close, “The two burn victims received a healing potion, but they’ll still need to be made comfortable for a few hours.”

  Damnit Kyra, I berated myself, what’d you get yourself into now? I trusted my new disguise but getting myself involved with the council even peripherally hadn’t been in my plans, at all. Still, about thirty cops could identify me thanks to me stupidly standing at the doorway and calling for them, not to mention about ten EMTs and a whole gaggle of firemen. I’d also probably been caught on camera by the press on the other side of the barricade.

  I hadn’t considered any of those things, in my empathy for all the shocked and hurt humans in the church, and my desire to get them help as soon as possible. I needed my mind in the game. The false confidence of wearing a disguise had degraded my vigilant common sense, and distracting thoughts of Vic and the half demon I had no idea how to track probably hadn’t helped either.

  I’d be more careful next time.

  Point being, running would just get my new and shiny identity on the council’s hunt list too, if not as critically as a half-demon. I’d only paid for that professional identity job two days ago too, when I’d left my mound. Better to just roll with it, and trust to my disguise.

  I didn’t resist, or even hesitate, when the cop led me down the stairs and to one of the vans for me to take a seat and wait.

  Chapter Two

  Two people joined me at the van, I was in the seat and they stood right outside the sliding the door. It was a little intimidating and made me feel trapped, but I shrugged that off. if they figured out who I was it was them that would die in the resultant fight, not me. That thought helped calm me.

  “I’m Agent James Caldwell, liaison to the council, this is Tara Davis, an air witch on the council.”

  James looked about twenty-two, so he must’ve been a very new agent. He had light brown hair, clear hazel eyes, and a medium build. He had one of those handsome boyish faces, but he somehow managed to pull off that government agent non-expression the FBI usually had. He didn’t look hostile, but he didn’t look friendly either. He was dressed in a black suit with a subdued red tie.

  Tara looked around twenty-eight, which put her somewhere in her late forties or early fifties as a witch. She had shoulder length dirty blonde hair, and light brown eyes that were narrowed in suspicion. I was definitely getting hostile vibes off of her, and I had no idea why. Although, the dead hunter team in the church was probably more responsible for said attitude than I was. She was five foot four and quite curvy, and she wore a flower print summer dress of all things.

  “Bell, Bell Lyons.”

  He asked, “Do you have I.D., Bell?”

  I frowned, “Am I in trouble?” I asked in a confused voice as I pulled out my identification. It was a Texas state I.D.

  He asked, “You’re from Texas?”

  I shrugged, “Most recently from there. I’ve been wandering for about seven months, looking for a new group. I’m only a quarter fae, and not welcome with my kind.”

  Not a lie, I just let them assume the other three quarters were human, instead of half-demon and quarter earth witch. I also had been to Texas, to pick up the ID, they’d just assume I’d been living there for a while. I was walking a tightrope of truthful dodges.

  Tara halfway accused, “So you have no approval from the council to be selling potions here, much less highly regulated healing potions.”

  That pissed me off.

  I snorted, “I haven’t sold any since I left Texas. The healing potions I provided to the wounded humans were from my personal supply. I depend on potions for myself. Since my magic is weak, alchemy seemed like a good path for me. What’s with the hostility, I didn’t do anything wrong. If it wasn’t for me, you’d have more victims of hellfire, and the two that were burning would’ve been long dead before your slow asses got here to clear the scene for the fireman and EMTs.”

  I was done being shy and retiring, it just wasn’t me. I’d like to think I was polite in the main, but for me retiring and cowering are words that would never apply. I’d also meant the slow part, I’d been sitting in the van for fifteen minutes, that whole cornered crowd would’ve slowly burned to death if it wasn’t for me.

  James took a step back, both figuratively and literally as if to reassess me including as a threat, but I kept the cold look on my face and stared them down. The fae could teach the FBI a thing or two about non-expressions, and I had nothing to apologize for.

  To my surprise, it was the irritable Tara that took it down a notch.

  “I’m sorry. I just lost some friends, and it isn’t every day that a weak outsider supernatural steps forward to help.”

  Yeah, I wasn’t sure I bought that though. She still looked a little suspicious, but she was obviously trying to undo the damage of making me close up. This was too close to an interrogation, wasn’t I supposed to be the good Samaritan and hero in this case?

  “I imagine today has been hard on a lot of people,” I allowed, accepting her apology in a neutral voice.

  James asked, “What did you see?”

  I frowned, “The half-demon was gone, and the council team was dead when I arrived. I used my magic to strangle the fire, of which there wasn’t much. Then I gave two of my healing potions to the teen boy and the older man. That’s about it.”

  James shook his head in sudden confusion, “You weren’t there from the start? In your earlier statement to the police officer you said the half-demon left by gateway?”

  I nodded, “I didn’t actually see it, though. I just inferred, based on the fact he wasn’t there anymore, and the people burning weren’t dead yet. I arrived a little earlier than the police did to cordon off the church, when I realized they were waiting for the all clear before sending in aid, I provided it.”

  Tara asked, “Inferred?”

  I shrugged, “There wasn’t enough time for him to leave by foot, I’d have seen him leave. The two humans on fire would’ve been consumed by the hellfire in what, half a minute if that? They wer
en’t, so he couldn’t have been gone long. On the other side, if he hadn’t been there a moment before, then they wouldn’t have been on fire at all. My guess would be those two were collateral damage when he killed the last of the council team.”

  James nodded thoughtfully, “I can buy that logic. So you just ran into a building, not knowing if an evil half-demon was still there?”

  His voice hadn’t been doubtful, or at least there was more confused admiration in his tone than doubt.

  Did people not do the right thing anymore? I was no hero, and I’d been there for selfish reasons, to prove to myself half-demons weren’t evil. That said, I imagined if I had just been passing by, I’d have helped merely because I could. I’d faced too much horror and persecution in my life to blithely turn away and ignore it.

  I replied, “People were screaming in pain, and I could see the smoke coming out. There were no responders present yet, and hellfire chases life. I knew if the fire wasn’t snuffed out fast that they’d all burn. It wasn’t that heroic, I didn’t risk my life for them. I just used my magic and saved their lives, out of empathy.”

  James asked, “It didn’t occur to you he could still be there?”

  I blushed, “Well, I guess I was a little brave, but if he had been then I would’ve seen from outside before I went in. The door was knocked askew,” I waved at the church entrance, the doors were still that way.

  It was kind of a mess, but I couldn’t tell them I felt he was gone. Fae couldn’t do that without a spell. I was also trying to avoid outright lies, because Tara was an air witch like Abby and could probably feel a lie in the air if she had the spell active. Which is why I didn’t just lie and say I cast a spell. I suspected the woman was a tracker too, air magic was great for that. Point being, everything I said was true, if entirely misleading.

  More than just the witch, I really didn’t lie at all. Although I obviously had no trouble misleading with misdirection and false assumptions on their behalf, it came naturally to me.

  James said, “Most wouldn’t have gotten involved,” and there was definitely admiration in his voice that time. Enough that it drew an annoyed sideways glance from Tara.

  I gave a tentative and bashful smile. It wasn’t hard, because I was feeling a little self-conscious at his implied praise. I didn’t have to fake it at all. I slipped my identification in my pocket when he handed it back.

  I also wanted to ask them questions. To question their assumptions. Did no one else really see what I saw. Was I crazy, or was everyone else blinded by their fear and prejudice? The scene in the church was horrific, but it was also obvious the boy was trying to hide and only fighting to protect himself.

  It was obvious the collateral and innocent deaths were the fault of the council hunters.

  I also wondered why they’d sent in a team without a Nephilim. Did they not have any in this city? Not every city had half-angels in it, they were pretty rare actually, even if they weren’t hunted like half-demons were. They must’ve thought they had enough numbers to take him down. Apparently, they hadn’t.

  Of course, I couldn’t ask questions that would lead to them suspecting I sympathized with the victim of their manhunt. Truthfully, I couldn’t ask questions at all and expect to be answered, not from a snooty and suspicious council witch, and the human liaison and an FBI agent who was assigned during this hunt. He wouldn’t share any information from an active investigation either.

  I thought I might be able to make a human see reason, since they’d only known about the supernatural world for four years, and they were properly suspicious of the talking points the council shared. They hadn’t grown up being indoctrinated and they weren’t afraid of the council. But it’d be a hard sell, and impossible to sell to a council witch, so the point was moot unless I got him alone.

  I wondered for a moment why I even cared what he thought, but then I realized it was because I needed help and it had nothing to do with him specifically. If I was to find and talk to this half-demon, I needed help to track him down, otherwise I’d always be a step behind the council hunters.

  I just had no idea how to make that happen, or how to even explain it without being regarded with suspicion. Any offer to help them further would be met with suspicion and outright refusal. How could I explain that half-demons were just like Nephilim? They just needed to be trained to control and focus their magic, and warned of the magic’s dangers. Sure, some would still go bad, but that was true of all the races, and a human trait and failing.

  It’d been hard for me to accept what happened in Manhattan four years ago. To accept responsibility and feel guilt had been easy, but to lay the lion’s share of the blame on those that hunted me and attacked me in crowds had been harder for me to swallow. It felt like my fault.

  But in this case, when the half-demon was someone else, it was painful obvious to me the death and suffering was caused by the council team, not the half-demon. The council wouldn’t even talk to a half-demon, or simply ask them to surrender. No, we were killed on sight, no matter the cost or the danger of collateral damage.

  He’d just defended himself, as was everyone’s right.

  James asked, “Is there a way to contact you, if we have further questions?”

  I gave him my cell phone number, which was also a Texas number, Dallas area to be specific.

  James nodded, “Thank you. Will you be staying in town for a while?”

  I replied, “I just arrived today. I haven’t even had time to look up the local groups yet, so I’ll be here for a bit before moving on, if I don’t find a place.”

  All true, even if I had no intention of contacting the local groups, or of finding a place. In never said I’d look after all, I just said I’d move on if I didn’t find one.

  He turned to Tara, “Is he back yet?”

  I was surprised by that, that he’d ask her right in front of me. Did he trust me, or was he still fishing for a sour note? Tara’s next actions told me I was right about her being a tracker. She pulled out a small vial with some hair in it, and then started to cast.

  I wondered where she got it, and then the obvious hit me in the face. The teen had grown up here, knew the city, because he’d lived here all his life. I wasn’t an investigator after all, so I forgave my slow mind, but perhaps I’d learn something useful if I made contact with the half-demon’s family. That wouldn’t be easy though, I was sure they were being watched.

  Tara said, “South, still in the city, but too far away for an exact location. That will firm up as we get closer though.”

  He grunted, “We should figure out where he is and then watch, hold off until the Nephilim arrive in the city. He’s obviously got enough of a clue how to use his magic that he took out one team, let’s not risk the rest of your people.”

  Well, damn, now I was tempted to follow them. There’d even be time to act and find him before they moved in, but could he be setting up a trap hoping I’d do exactly that? Did he not really believe I was brave, or that I’d get involved for a human’s sake, and was somehow in cahoots with the demon? I’d thought he was admiring, but maybe he was just feeding my story on purpose to draw me out?

  Damn, my head hurt. I wasn’t cut out for this shit, at all. All I knew was the FBI lied to suspects all the time, it was on all the shows. On the other hand, my distrustful thoughts about his motives made me feel paranoid.

  The ironic thing was he wasn’t wrong, exactly, if he thought that. I wasn’t aiding the half-demon, or at least, I hadn’t yet. I was also ashamed to say he wasn’t wrong to be suspicious, outsider supernaturals took care of themselves, didn’t trust very easily, and rarely put themselves on the line for others. It was the way it was.

  I’d like to think I was different, and I was, but that was a fairly recent development. My time in the Chicago area, and finding out the truth that Nephilim were the same as I was, had changed things for me. I no longer doubted myself.

  I knew I wasn’t evil. It wasn’t just a hope anymore. Half demo
n or not, like the teen.

  Karl Jameson, I corrected myself. The teen had a name after all, and I’d been calling him half-demon in my head for far too long. He was a person, not a thing, and I wasn’t thinking of James as the human either. Doing that kind of thing was a way to lessen a person. Apparently, even I hadn’t been completely immune from all the rhetoric against my kind, which was majorly screwed up.

  Karl was a frightened young man. A man with a family who probably loved him. He was hunted and reviled by almost everyone in this world, and I was going to save him if I could. It was the least I could do.

  I couldn’t change the world, but I could control my own actions. If half-demons weren’t evil, I needed to do something about it. Because in the end, killing half-demons on sight was nothing less than evil and institutionalized murder. I also needed to be careful, I couldn’t help anyone if I was dead.

  “Umm, am I free to go?” I asked tentatively, with a hint of annoyance in my tone, as if I couldn’t give a crap about their current conversation. The annoyance wasn’t a lie, or hard to pull off, because I was frustrated in that moment. At the world.

  Then he shocked me, and he made me think he wasn’t suspicious at all, after all, with his words.

  “Actually, Bell. I was wondering if you needed a job. Seven months has to be a long time with no income. I want to hire you as a consultant.”

  I gaped at him.

  The truth was that I wouldn’t ever be short on cash. I had inherited a fortune along with the family grimoire, and I was a very frugal spender. Still, it gave me an opening, so I wasn’t about to point that out.

  Tara snorted at that, as if she didn’t believe my earlier assertions and suspected me of being a black-market potions dealer, but I ignored that for the moment. All my brain cells were focused on James and trying to figure out exactly what he’d meant. More than that, what was driving his insanity.

  He just couldn’t be serious. What kind of FBI agent hired a self-proclaimed homeless outsider, or a witness to a violent crime for that matter?