“I thought you said you didn’t want to play?” he said.
Panting, I scrambled to my feet and ran.
Raelynn ran. She ran and every muscle in me went tense as a coiled spring. The intoxicating draught of adrenaline flooding her only made it worse. I had to pause for a moment just to calm myself down, otherwise I’d catch her too quickly and the fun would end.
Humans were, and always had been, our prey. It had been far too long since I’d had the opportunity to hunt.
I strolled after her, following her scent after she disappeared from my sight. She’d walked to campus that day: I swear the woman had no sense of survival at all. The Eld had been swarming for days and yet she insisted on making an easy target of herself. The sooner the grimoire and I were away from her, the better.
She was my summoner, but she’d already, technically, dismissed me. The moment the grimoire was in my hands, I’d be gone from this awful little town and her life would go on as usual. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There was no guarantee the monsters would lose interest in her. And the Hadleighs weren’t just going to leave her alone either.
I frowned as I walked, irritation making me quicken my pace. With or without me, the Hadleighs would have Raelynn as their sacrifice, just another victim lost to Abelaum’s notorious bad luck. She’d disappear, her body never to be found. Her friends and family would search, they’d create campaigns and give interviews and weep on live television. But Raelynn would be gone, her soul consumed by a God.
That bothered me.
Whatever. I’d never met a human who wouldn’t leave me for dead and kick me while I was down for good measure. It wasn’t my business what went on in the human world once I was gone. Rae was amusing, but not worth the trouble of risking my life to stay. I’d already wasted time keeping the Eld away from her.
She’d have to fend for herself, and so far, she was doing a terrible job of it.
She was still running, but not towards home, and I was confused until I turned onto a side street and saw a flash of her disappearing — inside the thick oak doors of the Westchurch Cemetery chapel.
Of course she’d run to a church. Typical.
The sun had set, and the moon was a mere sliver. I breathed deeply from the cold wind that rushed around me as I reached the chapel steps.
Death was in the air. I had to be quick. In the night, the Eld were hunting.
The hinges creaked as I stepped inside. The chapel smelt of dried flowers and embalming fluid, the kind of place that felt sterile and cold. I let the door slam ominously behind me and meandered between the pews.
“Oh, Raaaelyn,” I called. “Come out, come out...I told you I wouldn’t let you get away — oh, fuck —”
My skull rang, courtesy of something heavy and wooden slamming against it. I turned, rubbing the back of my head, to find Rae standing there with a large wooden crucifix.
“Be gone, demon!” she yelled, thrusting the cross forward. She’d really put her strength into that strike. She would have laid out a human unconscious. Impressive.
I snorted. “Oh, stop. Your obsession with trying to bludgeon me to death is getting old.”
She wavered, but I was firmly blocking her exit, and her resolve hardened. “Do you deny it?” she demanded. “You’re a demon, aren’t you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, doll. Congratulations, you’ve done it!” I clapped my hands, making her jump. “You’ve caught the big, bad demon. What a marvelous investigator you are.” I snatched the crucifix from her hands, snapped it in two, and tossed it aside. “What now, hm? You look like you’re in a bit of danger, Rae. You’re looking a bit helpless.” I advanced, and she dodged around the next pew. I vaulted over it easily, startling her so badly she yelped and tripped back onto the seat.
I planted my hands on either side of her, leaning over her. She gulped, her legs squeezed together, her eyes wide, her lips parted as she stared at me — fury, defiance, and barely-suppressed desire on her face.
I’d always found it strange how desperately humans tried to hide their own lust, as if it was something to be ashamed of.
“You’re...you’re really…” Her voice cracked and she gulped. It was honestly cute how frazzled she was.