The Unlikeable Demon Hunter (Nava Katz #1)(15)

Baruch swung his gaze to me.

Uh-oh. I’d put myself back on his radar. “Yes?”

“What did you do to her brother?” he asked. “What was the demon referring to?”

Picked up on that part of the story, had he? Mostly I’d done with her brother. Just a little bit of to at the end of our time together. “Nothing worth recounting.” In front of my parents. “She was an evil fiend,” I continued. “Talking crazy. Back to Ari.”

“Nava killed him as well,” Ari piped up.

I slapped my hand over his mouth. “As I was saying, back to Ari who is humble, which I believe is the first rule of Demon Club. He’s so humble, in fact, that he’s willing to lie like a rug to throw the spotlight off of him.”

“There is no Demon Club,” Baruch pronounced.

Ari yanked my hand off him at the same time that I said, “Fine. Sorry. Not Demon Club.” Seems they were touchy about their nickname. “The Brotherhood of David.”

“No,” Baruch corrected me, “The first rule of Demon Club. It’s ‘there is no Demon Club.’”

I crossed my arms. “Really? You’re going to get a sense of humor now?”

He mirrored my stance. “Really? You’re going to keep avoiding my question?”

I mimed zipping my lips and throwing away the key.

Tree Trunk turned to Ari. “How?” Such a popular question this evening.

My brother opened his mouth, blanched at the realization that we’d neglected to create a parent-friendly version of events, then pointed at me. “Ask her.”

I tugged on my lips to show they were still zipped.

The rabbi said a few words in Hebrew.

This time Baruch’s blink conveyed such disapproval that everyone leaned away from him. Who was this guy? Some kind of Zen eye master?

Rabbi Abrams said a few more things. None of them the ten words of Hebrew still imprinted on my brain from summer camp.

Baruch’s hand shot out and grabbed my right hand. He pulled on the ring so hard I howled in pain, attempting to jerk away. Emphasis on attempt. Vises were easier to escape. He leaned in close, his fingers tightening. “Give. It. Back.” His blue eyes darkened in menace.

That was it. My limit on bullying for today. I was exhausted and I’d kill for a shower because the demon dust on my skin was starting to itch. I leaned in until our noses practically touched. “Bite. Me.”

The room fell into shocked silence. Then Baruch laughed. A rusty bark of surprise. “Beseder,” he said using the Hebrew word for okay. He patted my head. “Sleep. Tomorrow you start.”

“Uh, no. Tomorrow you figure out how to fix this.” I pointed at my brother. “He’s the one you want, not me.”

“True,” Baruch said with a smile Ari’s way that made him preen. I gagged. “But you are who we have,” Baruch said to me, his smile gone. “So we will keep you alive and you will kill many demons.” Before I could present any further arguments, he strode out the back door and into the night without a look back.

Rabbi Abrams gave us a kind of half bow and shuffled after him. “Baruch, wait! You drove.”

Dad closed the back door after making sure the rabbi had made it down the stairs unharmed.

“I think that went very well,” Mom said, rising. She grabbed a rag from the sink and started vigorously wiping down the counter.

I slumped into a chair. “In what way?” When I’d left the house this afternoon, my parents had not been onboard with this new reality.

“You made a positive impression on Baruch. Today was a bit of a shock. For all of us. But now we’ll readjust. This could be the new start you’ve been looking for.” Interesting that she was spouting all this positive affirmation crap yet hadn’t once met my eyes.

Plus, I hadn’t been looking for a new start. My present stagnation was warm and cozy.

My father gathered up the espresso cups. “Your mother is right.”

I side-eyed Ari. He sat at the table, toying with a linen placemat. My rock of a brother looked deflated. Like sorrow was the only thing holding him together. “What about Ari?” I asked. “What’s he supposed to do now?”

Mom stopped wiping. Her voice wavered as she said, “Ari will be… The world is still his for the taking.”

Ari flinched.

I slid off the stool, and snatched up my aloe, bound for hot water and then bed. “I haven’t agreed to this.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Dad said. There it was again. Not, “You’ll be great.” Not even, “You can do this.” Just, “You have no option.” Everyone had made it very clear they were stuck with me. Maybe it was time for me to make it clear that I may have been chosen, but I still very much had a choice.

I shrugged. “There’s not any way you can force me, is there?”

My parents froze. That fact hadn’t occurred to them.

I lay my hand on Ari’s shoulder. “Hey, Ace?” I murmured. “Thanks for the rescue. But the next time I run away, ignore my calls, stay out of the Find My iPhone, and let me stay gone.”



Minutes later, I stood with my head bowed while scalding water pounded down the back of my neck. Hot showers might be evidence of the existence of angels and if they were, then the glowy buggers could show up any time and corral their wayward relations.