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“Did you beat up Caleb?” I demanded, hating that I had to ruin our first good moment together, but I needed to know.
“Whatever happened, he got what he deserved, choosing such an easy opponent on the first day. Besides, it’s how things work around here, Dove. You better get used to people challenging you, especially when you don’t have any real kills yet. And anyone who challenges you is challenging all of us.”
I nodded as I watched him edge to the door.
“I’ll be back late.” Kairos closed the door behind him and I was left alone in the dorm. I pulled out the phone, opening the contacts.
Kairos had entered Enko and Seven’s numbers as well. A twisted chortle escaped at the thought of calling Seven. Why would I ever need his number?
My eyes shifted to his untouched bed, then out the window to ponder where he’d gone.
My dagger and knives glinted against the light, the bleak twilight skies, the night drawing the demons out of their caves and hovels, sewers and brothels.
The darkness called me to hunt the creatures that had begun to prowl. To hunt the archdemon who haunted me.
11
Dove
I grabbed my dagger and set of throwing knives. My muscles screamed from the hellish workout that morning as I dashed out the door and through the halls of the academy.
My long wavy white hair contrasted nicely with the black of the top, and the jeans were my favorite pair, black. The boots went to my midcalves. Preened in case I ran into my Fated mates. Particularly Seven.
Outside, the crisp fall air cleared my sinuses. A gust of wind rustled the yellowed leaves from the trees, a fire of color twirling against the green forest and the darkening gray skies.
The campus crawled with students as I winded along the cobblestone path between boxy hedges. The forest thickened further from the academy.
Once I was out of sight, deep in the forest, I tensed. A hand rested on my dagger in case anything with black blood and sharp teeth showed up, but all that surrounded me was the sounds and smells of a blissful fall evening.
The breeze couldn’t break the thick trees. My own breath and each step would register like a firecracker to any of the nearby creatures.
The canopy of the forest made the twilight as dark as night. A wrought iron fence topped with spikes marked the perimeter of the campus, a magically-guarded boundary that no demons could pass. I sprinted at the fence, grabbing hold of two of the bars and propelled myself upward. I crouched at the top of the fence before leaping down to the ground on the outside of campus.
The landing caused a sharp pain to shoot up my spine. I squatted, taking several deep breaths as I waited for the lingering pain to subside.
A path hid under the layer of leaves and pine needles, leading toward the lights reflecting against the clouds. When the trees cleared, the city of Lethe came into sight. A Hellgate was concealed deep within.
The city’s population was mostly human, despite the demon slaying academy as a next-door neighbor. They wouldn’t know that kitsunes and demons were all around them. Humans couldn’t see most demons unless they had some magical ancestry. Even then, a sighting would only make them look insane.
They didn’t know their entire city was infested with lesser demons like a termite colony in a rotten log, like maggots on a wound. Feeding on blood, filth, fear, and sorrow.
A good place to score some demon kills.
Despite the hour stretching later, the city grew louder. Horns beeping, lights beaming in all different colors of neon. Bars, raves, and strip clubs. Nightwalkers, gangsters, and criminals. Dark figures in darker alleys. Fumes, grease, and sewage consumed the fresh air of the nearby forest.
Definitely a good place for demon kills.
Leaves rustled behind me and I snapped my head around, finding no movement, but the bright city lights impaired my night vision. Nothing. I kept one hand on my first throwingknife, tugging it up and pressing it back down to make sure the corroded metal hadn’t snagged on the cheap polyester scabbard.
I hurried down the hill, across at least a quarter-mile of industrial buildings and warehouses, keeping my eye out for any demonic activity. The occasional artifact appeared, chalk circles and the distinct odor of a sulfuric flame.
As I reached the center of town, more people wandered the streets. I forced myself further into the dingier parts of the city where demons prowled.
The back of my neck prickled. People crowded the street, but nobody noticed me. Even with my dark clothing and unusual hair, I didn’t stand out compared to the eccentric others.
I picked up the pace and peered down an alley. Trash cans took up space on either side, the ground coated in an algae-like slime. Two large men in black suits guarded a door by the lone bit of light in the alley. Neither moved their heads as I hurried by, seeing the comms in their ears. Both wore clothes far too expensive to be in such a dingy place.
I scurried between the streetlamps. Demons hated light that wasn’t the indigo heat of hellfire.
