Hunter Kiss: A Companion Novella (14 page)

"Man of hope," he replies. "So are you."

I do not know what I am, I
tell him silently. I do not understand how I exist, or what my purpose is except to be a prison for crea

tures that are mine to command, who cannot be killed, who make

me a killer. I am a demon hunter. I am a demon.

And I had thought, until tonight, that I held some sliver of the

truth of my life, some hard-earned sense of place in this world, how

ever small.

I realize now that even that much was an illusion.

"I've been running for such a long time," I whisper. "I don't have

a home. I don't have anything."

"You have me," Grant says.

Claws clutch at my ankles, tugging. My boys wrap their skinny

arms around my legs, red eyes glowing. "And us," Zee says, voice

reedy and sad. "You have us."

Tears burn. Grant kisses my brow and points at the first blush of

dawn. The sun will crest the horizon soon; I can feel it in my bones, a beautiful morning. "Are you ready, Maxine? Are you ready to be
gin again?"

The boys hold their breath, eyes shuttering closed. I remember my mother, family gone and dead-and now, here, another chance. A miracle. Miracle enough for me.

I think, too, of what Blood Mama said. That there is a war com
ing, the same war promised millennia ago when the veil was raised and the demons locked away. A dark future.

But that future is not here yet, and I have love. I love Grant. And I am willing to fight for that love, for him. For us. For the child who will take my place when my time is done.

"Yes," I say, taking his warm hand, pressing it to my lips. "Let's do this."