different demons in a week. It has to do a number on the ole melon.”
“But…” What is there to say? What words could I possibly say to make any of this okay? What words can Hart say?
“But nothing, Gracen.” His tone has changed, as has his disposition. He’s not happy go lucky or jovial or even compassionate. He’s very, deadly serious. “They had to die, don’t you understand that? You needed blood. Demon blood. And I sure as hell didn’t have enough to give you. Think about it. You were hurt; you were healing! You drained fifteen bodies in three days!”
“I did this,” I barely whisper.
Hart rakes his hands through his hair. “It’s like talking to a child.” He mumbles under his breath. “No, you didn’t kill them. I did. I killed them. I drained them. I gave you their blood so you wouldn’t die.”
“You should have let me.” I’m mad, voice-shaking mad, and I hate it. I can feel the anger filling me, and I know that no matter what, I have to keep the thing inside me on a leash. I don’t know what it’ll do.
“No.”
“Yes, Hart! You should have let me die.”
“You can’t die!” he yells back. His eyes are wide, and his chest is rising and falling rapidly.
I can’t tell if he looks like a man who has lost everything or a man who is scared to death. Maybe both.
“Then why feed me the blood?”
Hart’s shoulders slump, and he tosses the knife down on the table next to Gabriel. Poor Gabriel. Poor Gabriel’s family. I hate it all.
“Sweetheart, I know you don’t know much about any of this, so let me explain it to you as slowly as I can. The world out there—” he points out the window where the eclipse is taken over the sunlight “—went to shit. Let’s just be frank about it. The Hell gate opened and things got out. Demons and other creatures I don’t even want to think about escaped. I--my brother--closed it before everything got out, but honey, a lot of stuff did. Scary things. Nightmare things.
“These demons weren’t even the worst of it. They aren’t the worst. The worst is out there. Outside that door. The things out there, Gracen, you have no idea. Things that will try to hurt you if they get a chance. They might not succeed, but it won’t stop them from coming after you. You have to be strong.” He runs his fingers through Sam’s hair. “Look, you were hurt. You needed blood. You couldn’t heal without it, and I knew that I didn’t have enough blood in me to heal you. So I did what I had to do. Do you really think it was that hard to get this many demons?”
I want to say yes. I shake my head no.
“No, it wasn’t. Demons are a dime dozen out there now. There’s been an eclipse going on for three days. People, the not so lucky ones who aren’t the suits for demons, are freaking out. Running. Hiding. It’s bad. Everything stopped on that day. There’s been no more school. No more businesses open. A few of the chains tried to stay open that first day, but people raided them. From what I can tell from the news, the humans have killed more people than the demons ever thought of… so far.”
I slump down on the bottom step and pull my legs toward my chest. Three days. The world died in three days. Here I thought we’d saved it.
“And it’ll just get worse. I promise you that. Unless we keep our heads together and don’t do anything stupid. The Hell gate is closed. That’s a very good thing. No other demons can get out. That means the more demons and things I kill, the more likely the world will go back to normal and write this off as a case of mass hysteria.”
“Do you really believe that?” Because I needed to.
“I have to,” he says simply.
I take a second to process everything. I understand it in as much as I can. Demons. Possession. Freaked out humans. Darkness. Confusion.
Me.
“So, you are a demon-hunting good guy?”
He shakes his head. “A disappointment to my kind. If only my mother could see me now…”
“I’m sure
“But…” What is there to say? What words could I possibly say to make any of this okay? What words can Hart say?
“But nothing, Gracen.” His tone has changed, as has his disposition. He’s not happy go lucky or jovial or even compassionate. He’s very, deadly serious. “They had to die, don’t you understand that? You needed blood. Demon blood. And I sure as hell didn’t have enough to give you. Think about it. You were hurt; you were healing! You drained fifteen bodies in three days!”
“I did this,” I barely whisper.
Hart rakes his hands through his hair. “It’s like talking to a child.” He mumbles under his breath. “No, you didn’t kill them. I did. I killed them. I drained them. I gave you their blood so you wouldn’t die.”
“You should have let me.” I’m mad, voice-shaking mad, and I hate it. I can feel the anger filling me, and I know that no matter what, I have to keep the thing inside me on a leash. I don’t know what it’ll do.
“No.”
“Yes, Hart! You should have let me die.”
“You can’t die!” he yells back. His eyes are wide, and his chest is rising and falling rapidly.
I can’t tell if he looks like a man who has lost everything or a man who is scared to death. Maybe both.
“Then why feed me the blood?”
Hart’s shoulders slump, and he tosses the knife down on the table next to Gabriel. Poor Gabriel. Poor Gabriel’s family. I hate it all.
“Sweetheart, I know you don’t know much about any of this, so let me explain it to you as slowly as I can. The world out there—” he points out the window where the eclipse is taken over the sunlight “—went to shit. Let’s just be frank about it. The Hell gate opened and things got out. Demons and other creatures I don’t even want to think about escaped. I--my brother--closed it before everything got out, but honey, a lot of stuff did. Scary things. Nightmare things.
“These demons weren’t even the worst of it. They aren’t the worst. The worst is out there. Outside that door. The things out there, Gracen, you have no idea. Things that will try to hurt you if they get a chance. They might not succeed, but it won’t stop them from coming after you. You have to be strong.” He runs his fingers through Sam’s hair. “Look, you were hurt. You needed blood. You couldn’t heal without it, and I knew that I didn’t have enough blood in me to heal you. So I did what I had to do. Do you really think it was that hard to get this many demons?”
I want to say yes. I shake my head no.
“No, it wasn’t. Demons are a dime dozen out there now. There’s been an eclipse going on for three days. People, the not so lucky ones who aren’t the suits for demons, are freaking out. Running. Hiding. It’s bad. Everything stopped on that day. There’s been no more school. No more businesses open. A few of the chains tried to stay open that first day, but people raided them. From what I can tell from the news, the humans have killed more people than the demons ever thought of… so far.”
I slump down on the bottom step and pull my legs toward my chest. Three days. The world died in three days. Here I thought we’d saved it.
“And it’ll just get worse. I promise you that. Unless we keep our heads together and don’t do anything stupid. The Hell gate is closed. That’s a very good thing. No other demons can get out. That means the more demons and things I kill, the more likely the world will go back to normal and write this off as a case of mass hysteria.”
“Do you really believe that?” Because I needed to.
“I have to,” he says simply.
I take a second to process everything. I understand it in as much as I can. Demons. Possession. Freaked out humans. Darkness. Confusion.
Me.
“So, you are a demon-hunting good guy?”
He shakes his head. “A disappointment to my kind. If only my mother could see me now…”
“I’m sure
Similar Books
