Demon Hunters 3: Tainted (Stand Alone Series) (Demon Hunters.) (11 page)

Gabe dropped a scoop of ice cream into his coffee cup before he turned to Cassidy. “So where can we train? Before you make a decision let me point out the walls will probably need repairing and repainting before you’ve learned how to use all my weapons.” He stirred the ice cream into his coffee, his eyes still on Cassidy who was at the kitchen table with a plate of eggs, fried tomatoes and toast.

“I don’t know.”

He took a sip of his coffee and placed his cup on the kitchen counter he leaned against. “What about the other bedroom.”

“No.” She drew in a shaky breath, trying to calm herself after shouting the word at him.

“Whoa.” He held up a hand. “Give me a chance to remove the dagger from my side.”

“Shut up,” she muttered.

“What’s in there?”

Cassidy ignored him as she ate the rest of her breakfast. Once she was finished, she looked up to see he still watched her, sipping his coffee. She shook her head. “No.” This time she managed to say the word calmly.

“I didn’t say anything.”

She pushed away from the table. “Yeah, but I know you now. You just go ahead and do what you want anyway. Or keep at someone until they give in. Like water on a stone.”

“Self-defence against your stubbornness.”

Cassidy spun away without replying. She stalked towards her bedroom, stopping when she reached the room in question. She placed her hand on the timber door, looking at the large nails she’d hammered through the door and into the frame at an angle. She felt Gabe come to a stop behind her, but let the silence stretch out. She finally turned to meet his gaze.

“They’re not coming back.”

“I know.” Her words were as quiet as his.

“We could empty out the garage,” he offered.

She shook her head, leaning against the door. “There’s a hammer in the bottom kitchen drawer.”

“Well of course, everyone knows that’s where you keep them.”

She smiled slightly. “I needed to break some ice.”

He grinned. “Perfectly logical.” He held out his hand. “Let’s go and get it then.”

She stared at his hand. A mixture of smooth skin, calluses and faint scars. She rubbed her thumb across her own fingers and the top of her palm. Already she had calluses. Reaching out her hand she took his. “Okay.” She liked how he didn’t automatically want to take over, even with his pushiness. Liked that he believed she was as capable as him at doing things.

“Although if those nails are as long as they look you’re on your own with your demon strength. A mere mortal can’t be expected to remove a nail as long as the Great Wall.”

Cassidy laughed. “Wuss.” They reached the kitchen and she let go of his hand to retrieve the hammer. Her laughter faded when she was again facing the bedroom door. She took a deep, unsteady breath, her fingers tightening around the handle of the hammer. When Gabe’s hand rested on her shoulder, she turned to look at him.

He met her eyes for several minutes before he smiled. “How about I do the top ones and you do the ones at the bottom since you’re shorter than me.”

“I’m not that much shorter.” She shrugged off his hand and put the claw of the hammer around a nail and levered it out. The nail dropped to the ground and she started on the next one. Her vision blurred as she removed it.

Gabe reached past her and took the hammer. “I thought we were sharing the job. Must be my turn.” He guided her out of the way, a hand on her waist. “Typical,” he muttered. “You had to let me be the one kneeling on the ground, didn’t you?” He knelt in front of the door. “You’re probably going to expect me to kiss your feet too while I’m down here.” He levered a nail from the door.

Cassidy wiped the back of her hand across her eyes and joined him on the floor. When he turned to look at her, she reached for the hammer. He hesitated then with a nod of his head handed it over. “Thank you.” She continued to meet his eyes.

“Isn’t that my line since I’m getting out of the chore?”

“Move over.” She quickly finished pulling out the last few nails once he moved then stared at the door, wondering if she had the strength to open it.

Gabe’s hands rested on her shoulders. “How about we go clean out the garage?”

She shook her head. “It’s just a room.”

He helped her to her feet. “Don’t give me that crap. Do you know how long it was before I could sleep in my bedroom after I nearly killed my sister?”

“How long?”

“I’ll let you know when I finally do.”

She opened her mouth then closed it, shaking her head in disbelief. “Now who’s speaking crap?”

Gabe grinned. “I’m serious. I moved into the lounge room, refused to go back in that room and my mum just closed the door and told me to let her know when I wanted it back again. When I was at uni I moved in with some mates.” He shrugged, “It was like the room didn’t exist anymore. None of us even thought about it after a while. Like there was nothing beyond the door but a black hole.”

Her look of disbelief increased. “You went to uni?”

Gabe threw back his head and laughed. The sound filled the hallway and he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. “Out of all I’ve said you find that the hardest to believe?”

“Then why are you stuck here if you don’t even live with your family normally? What about work?”

“I work for my family, hunting demons. And Mum took all my ID home with her. She only left me with my phone. I’m working on getting stuff sent to me. It isn’t easy to prove who you are without references. And it’s not the kind of thing I’d tell my mates. I’d never hear the end of it.”

“What is going on here?”

Cassidy tried to pull away from Gabe at the sound of Remedy behind her. All she was able to do was turn in his arms to face the demon. She sighed. “Is that all you can ever say?”

“When all he ever does is place his hands on you then that is all I can say.” His gaze went over her head to Gabe. “Now get your hands off her. You are trying my patience, human.”

Gabe’s arms dropped away from Cassidy. “Do you have to interrupt every quiet moment? Where were you when we were facing down demons?”

“It is the quiet moments that are the most worrying. When she’s fighting demons I can feel her life flowing through her.”

Cassidy winced. “I think I’ve had enough of this conversation.” She turned and flung the bedroom door open. Anything was better than listening to unnerving comments from Remedy. She took a single step into the room. A rush of memories hit her. Running in to wake her parents on Christmas morning and bouncing on their bed. Playing with her mum’s jewellery, which she kept in the crystal containers on her duchess, when she was almost a teenager. Wobbling around in her mum’s high heels when she was in preschool.

Gabe rested a hand on her shoulder. “Do you want everything moved out or set to one side?”

The warmth of his hand and the tone of his voice dragged her back to the present. “One side. I guess. Maybe at the window.”

“What are you planning?” Remedy demanded.

She was tempted to leave Remedy wondering, but Gabe had already annoyed him enough. “A practice room. Gabe is going to show me how to use his weapons.”

“You will need something for a target.” Remedy gestured towards the mattress. “You could use that.”

Cassidy stared at it for a moment before she nodded sharply and strode forward to strip dusty linen from the bed. Along with the duchess, bedside drawers and wardrobe, the linen was moved to the wall with the window. Once the mattress stood against the wall, ready to be used as a target, the bed base joined the rest of the items. Cassidy stared at the mattress before she strode from the room to her own bedroom. Rummaging in a drawer she pulled out a permanent marker and turned to find Gabe watching her from the doorway. She held up the marker.

Gabe’s smile contained relief. “You draw a bullseye while I grab some weapons.”

Cassidy nodded. She reached the doorway but he still stood there so she couldn’t pass. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you okay?”

Cassidy thought for a moment then nodded. “I think so.” She hesitated. “But if I’m not, I will be.”

Gabe grinned. “Good.” He stepped out of the way. “Give me a minute and I’ll show you a whole new definition of fun.” He stepped close. “And once we get rid of Castigate I’ll show you yet another one.”

Cassidy couldn’t help laughing as she pushed him away. “Let’s start with the weapons and I’ll see what I think about your first definition of fun before I even consider thinking about the second definition.” She strode down the hallway, feeling his gaze on her. She glanced his way as she turned and entered her parents’ room. No, the training room. It was much easier to think of it that way.

By the time Cassidy had finished drawing a bullseye on the mattress, Gabe was back with his toolbox. He set it on the floor against the wall opposite the mattress and opened it. He looked up at her. “What do you want to start with first?”

Cassidy shrugged. “I don’t know. The ones you seem to use the most. The little ones.”

Gabe rose to his feet with a handful of blades. He stood near her, opposite the mattress, and gave her a quick lecture then a demonstration. His blade hit the centre of the bullseye and he handed a blade to her. She looked down at it and mentally shrugged as she threw it. She came nowhere near her target. She frowned. It wasn’t as easy as it  looked. Taking the next blade Gabe handed her, she took careful aim. She nearly growled in frustration. Remedy did. She glanced at him where he stood in the doorway, arms crossed. After a glare, she took another blade from Gabe. This time she didn’t bother aiming. It hadn’t helped last time. She might as well close her eyes for all the difference it made.

“I can’t watch this,” Remedy muttered.

“Then go away.” She took another blade and threw it at the mattress again, wincing when she was still nowhere near the target. “They just don’t feel right.”

Remedy strode towards her. “Of course they feel right. You are the problem.” He reached out to cup her face, his fingers at her temple.

“What are you doing?” Cassidy tried to pull away.

“Putting me out of my misery. Now shut up.” Remedy’s fingers tightened on her.

“She didn’t agree to this,” Gabe argued.

Cassidy opened her mouth to agree with Gabe, but she was swallowed up in the blackness of Remedy’s eyes. Then image after image bombarded her like physical blows. Sensation, weight, feel, action. Weapon after weapon in her hands, used correctly. Daggers thrown fluidly from her fingers, arrows let loose to hit targets, swords swung at opponents, numerous guns fired and staves wielded expertly. She stumbled backwards, running into the wall of her parents’ room, gasping for breath as her ears seemed to ring with sound.

Hands reached for her, supporting her when her legs would have given out. Then the sounds became intelligible and she heard Gabe calling her name.

“I’m okay.” She tried to straighten and the room spun around her. “I think.”

“Do you want to sit down?” Gabe peered at her intently.

Cassidy shook her head. Then winced when the room spun again. “Give me a minute.”

“Here.” Remedy shoved a glass of liquid at her.

Cassidy peered into it, sniffing the contents.

Remedy growled. “It is water from your own fridge. Do you think I would kill you off after all that effort?”

Cassidy sipped and felt more centred. Her body began to feel more her own and not like something that was too small for her frame. She pulled away from Gabe and turned her attention to Remedy. “What effort?”

Remedy took the glass from her and handed over one of Gabe’s small blades. “Centre yourself. Feel the blade. Use the memory. Then throw.”

“Okay.” She drew the word out as she turned away from Remedy, wondering if demons could become mentally unstable or if that was a normal state for them. She took a deep breath and felt the blade in her hand. A sense of familiarity rushed through her. She knew how to throw this, had thrown ones just like it a million times before. No, not her. Her mouth dropped open as she turned stunned eyes to Remedy.

He reached out and tapped under her chin to make her mouth close. “Now throw it properly. Not like you’ve closed your eyes and crossed your fingers.”

Cassidy grinned at the fairly accurate description of her earlier attempts. With a nod she faced the mattress and the blade flew true. A buzz of excitement raced through her when she hit the bullseye. “Yes!” She punched the air and grabbed a shuriken. Again familiarity filled her and she threw, barely needing to aim. Her grin widened as she turned to Remedy. “Thank you.”

Remedy nodded. “Now try and not get yourself killed.”

Her grin faded. “Thank you.”

“What for this time?” Remedy asked.

“Reminding me that I’m supposed to hate you.” She glared at him. “You stabbed my father.”

Remedy sneered. “But you were the one who killed him.”

“Whoa.” Gabe grabbed her around the waist when she would have attacked Remedy. “Calm down. Everything’s okay. Well, as much as it can be when you’re buddying up with a demon.”

“Like I had much of a choice,” Cassidy snarled.

“There is always choice,” Remedy said.

“Dying is not a choice.” She stopped trying to break free of Gabe’s grip.

“It is always a choice. It doesn’t have to be one you like, but it is still a choice,” Remedy said.

She sagged in Gabe’s arms. “Go away, Remedy. I can’t deal with you tonight.”

“You are staying in?”

Cassidy answered Remedy’s question with a nod. He stared at her a moment longer before he turned and left. Cassidy pressed a hand to her mouth when she wanted to call out after him.

“This is too confusing.” She faced Gabe. “How can he want to kill me one day and the next help me?”

“Demons aren’t like humans. They think on a whole other level. It doesn’t matter what is done between them as long as things are kept equal. Once payback is made, as long as all is even between them, then it is left at that. But if one of them thinks things aren’t still equal then it will continue. And a demon can hold a grudge for a very long time.” He ran his forefinger down her lips to stop on her chin. “Want to take a break?”

She shook her head, dislodging his finger. “No. I want to try every weapon then I’m going to read the ritual until it’s time for bed.” She reached for another blade.

“Which bed?”

Cassidy sent him a sidelong glance. He grinned at her. She shook her head and threw the blade at the target. Satisfaction bloomed at her accuracy. She wondered what else Remedy could teach her. She pushed that thought aside. When she figured out how to deal with Remedy then she might ask him. For now it was all too confusing.

“Are you even thinking about answering my question?” Gabe handed her another blade.

“Nope.”

“It might be the safest place to be. At least you don’t have to worry about how dangerous it is to wake me.”

“But what about the danger to you? Remedy was very specific in his instructions.”

“He’s never about during the day and what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Cassidy took another blade from him, staring at him for a moment. “Don’t you ever worry about dying?”

“No more than most people.”

“Why not? I mean, you hunt demons for crying out loud. Aren’t you terrified each time will be your last?”

He shook his head. “Not terrified. But yeah, I do wonder. But then anything could happen. At least with hunting demons I’ve got the skills to stand a chance against them.” He nodded towards the blade still in her hand. “You going to throw that or would you rather try a bow now?”

Cassidy barely glanced at the target before she threw the blade, turning back to Gabe once it struck dead centre. “I want to try a bow next. And then how about those swords of yours?”

Gabe laughed. “If anyone ever shows you where to buy all this gear I’m going to hide all your bank cards from you. They wouldn’t have any stock left once you’d finished.”

“I don’t need to know where to buy this stuff from. I just tell Remedy what weapons I need and he leaves them on the kitchen table for me.” She took the bow and arrow, the familiarity of it settling into her body. Maybe she had a chance against Castigate after all. Letting the arrow fly towards the target she grinned as it hit dead centre. There was definitely a chance she could win. Possibly only a slim one, but better than no chance at all.