Demons: A Hunter's Novel, Book 1 Read Free

well.
    The
only time I had ever received love unconditionally was with my Demon. Since I
had never received love like that, it took me an extra long time to realize
what it was. What the ache in my chest meant every time he left the house. What
it meant that every time he got hurt on the job I wanted to rip apart whatever
had touched him. Rationally, I knew he’d be fine, but I just couldn’t let
things like that go. I had lost it once and actually torn a Demon apart because
he had hurt what was mine .
    I
knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I saw him right now, my emotions and
everything I had bottled up and stuffed down would pour over every nerve ending
in my body. I would crumble. Learning to stand again would be a long and trying
process. I would need an electric scooter to function in my own life, just to
move around the tiny pieces left behind.
    As
all of these feelings and thoughts fled through me, my feet tried to carry me farther
away from this place. I was running like a bat out of hell. Which, I think, I
technically was. I didn’t look back, knowing that would only slow me down. I
just hoped beyond hope the strong Demon behind me couldn’t teleport or as the
Demons called it clarity bend .
    It
was exactly what it sounded like. A Demon that took you on a clarity bend could
make you think you were trapped in a corner while standing in an open field. Those
Demons could also take you from one place to another with simply a touch of
their hand. I liked to call them mind-fuck Demons.
    I
darted down an alleyway a few buildings away and hit a wall, a wall of heavy
steely muscle. A wall I had been under and on top of enough times to know by
touch, by feel, by taste, by smell. I jumped back, making sure to keep my eyes
on the ground. I scrambled away quickly. I could see the toes of his shiny, patent
leather black shoes.
    Too
close, he was too close. Without touching me he had me backed into the corner
of the alley, where two brick walls met. I was breathing heavily and I could
feel a tightness in my chest. My heart was going to give up and break apart
again.
    “Look
at me Delaney.” The deep command was so familiar, yet so cold. I almost didn’t
recognize it. Almost. I fought the urge to look up into his eyes, but quickly
lost. My eyes met his without my permission. When they did I could feel myself
coming back to life and dying all over again in the space of a breath. His name
slid over my tongue and between my lips like a lover’s caress, and completely
out of my control.
    “Azrael.”
My Demon. My heart.
     

~II~
    “You can doubt, you can hate, but I know no matter what it takes, I’m
coming home, I’m coming home…”
    – Skylar Grey, Coming Home
    Azrael’s
eyes were hard and cold, something unfamiliar to me. It was an overtaking
feeling that twisted in the same place that had been filled with a familiar
darkness for the past six months, giving me pain where there had been nothing.
    He
gripped my upper arms. Oh God, please let him stop touching me. Instantly, I’m
melting. Instantly, I’m burning. The way he used to make me feel was flooding
back and I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t do this again, couldn’t walk away
again.
    “Good
of you to join me, Delaney.” I had forgotten how weak his eyes could make me. He
looked even better since I had last seen him. A little more cut where he had
been soft before. I guess it was only fair. More torture for me.
    My
Demon was sex on a stick and I wanted to lick every piece of him. He had black
hair, a light complexion and severe hard-lined features with the lightest green
eyes I had ever seen. They were like looking at grass, sunlight shining on it,
right after it’s rained. Dark features were common amongst Demons, I had never
seen another with eyes like his. They set me on fire and melted me.
    “Az.
Lookin’ good. I mean it hasn’t been that long – but you know. Good because you
don’t look like crap.” Shit. I had word vomit and I couldn’t