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“Jude?” I stepped cautiously forward. “Are you okay?”
He labored to catch his breath, his chest rising and falling in quick succession. He gripped his sword, a rough iron-made weapon, in a tight fist. The tip rested on the pavement, dripping dark red into a puddle at his boot.
An acrid stench of sulfur and something else—rotten and putrid—lingered around the distorted body of what was Fabio. Even worse, a malevolent presence moved in the space around Jude. Darkness, tangible and breathing, skirted up the front of his body, almost petting him.
I heard a snap and shrill cry behind me but couldn’t tear my eyes away from Jude. Recognizing the distinct sound of a demon’s painful exit when ripped from its host by a Dominus Daemonum, I realized Kat had taken care of Fabio’s friend.
“Jude?”
Nebulous mist hung in the air for a second longer before settling onto his chest and torso, fading away. The broiling flame of light wrapping his body dimmed, seeping into the taut shoulders, broad back and slightly bent form of my demon hunter. Golden-orange fire evaporated and vanished altogether.
It was as if he simply sucked the elements back into himself. Jude unclenched the fist, not gripping the hilt, cracked his neck, then peered at me with irises drenched in obsidian. Not a glimmer of gold.
“Are…are you okay?”
My voice shook. He wiped the flat of one side of the blade on his jeans, then the other, sheathing it in the scabbard across his back.
Kat marched directly toward Jude, gripping his jaw and forcing his eyes down to meet hers. She leaned so close, I thought she was about to kiss him. If he hadn’t just staked an unmistakable claim on me back in the bar, I would’ve been jealous. But Kat examined him. For what, I don’t know. The inspection took all of three seconds before he pulled out of her grasp.
“Take care of it,” she murmured in an uncharacteristically grave tone, then spoke to me when I stepped closer. “Good job, Genevieve.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, feeling strangely like an interloper.
“We better get back to your friend before we have to scrape her off the floor of Tartarus. And trust me, you don’t want her onthatfloor.” The lightness was back in her voice as she swished back in the direction of the club, blonde braid flying as she tossed it over her shoulder, “You might want to dim the lights too. Don’t think we can explain that away.”
I glanced down at my arms, shimmering with a faint white glow. Closing my eyes, I willed the stars to pull center, orbiting the core where my power spun and beat to the rhythm of my heart and the flow of my blood.
“Here,” said Jude.
He untucked his black shirt, wiping my forehead, left cheek, and nose. Fabio’s blood. The pained expression Jude wore concerned me.
“What just happened?” I asked, voice shaky.
“I thought it was fairly obvious. We beat the hell out of a pack of demons.”
He had flipped my palms up, brushing lightly to remove dirt and a bit of gravel. I winced.
“That’s not what I meant. What happened after?”
“You were wonderful. You kept calm under pressure.”
“I didn’t feel calm at all, and I wasn’t wonderful. I got myself completely pinned in. Now stop evading, Jude.”
“Your mission was to scrounge up a demon to battle. But no. You corralled five of them and faced them with courage.”
“I was scared shitless. Now tell me what I sensed hovering around you after you killed Fabio.”
I gestured to the heap without looking at it. The sight was pretty revolting. My stomach squeezed with nausea.
“Does this hand hurt much?” he asked, seemingly unconcerned with my manic questions.
I shook my head. He twined his fingers through mine and led me away toward the club. “Jude.”
A heavy exhalation of breath. “Let’s get you home.”
My own sigh nearly matched his. Would I ever win a battle with him? “Okay.”
Kat exited the club with a sloppy, stumbling Mindy on her arm when we made it to the door. Sunshine glanced at us, me in particular next to Jude, giving me the oh-well-your-loss shrug.
