The Unlikeable Demon Hunter (Nava Katz #1)(37)

Sparks literally shot from my eyes.

Baruch blocked Drio from me, saving him from being turned into a human tiki torch.

The proverbial straw had hit this camel’s back. “I’m out of here.”

The guys did that annoying silent communication thing. Seriously could kill the alpha brood right now.

“Home it is,” Ms. Clara said, with an undecipherable look at them. I didn’t know what I was missing here and frankly, I didn’t care.

Ms. Clara helped me up. I didn’t have it in me to make polite small talk, so I grabbed my shoes and left the room without saying goodbye. Ms. Clara accompanied me, retrieving my messenger bag, along with my hoodie.

“Thank you.” I pulled out my phone as we exited onto the porch, calling home for a ride and determined to keep my shit together until someone from my family came and got me.

The second I hung up, Ms. Clara held out her hand for the phone, giving me a slip of paper from her pocket in return as my receipt. “You’ll get another one when you hand in the laptop,” she assured me. Because that was such a concern right now.

We sat outside on the top step, waiting. The sun provided a welcome warmth and the sound of a car driving by blasting Top 40 went a long way to making me feel normal.

“Is that going to happen to me every time?” I threaded my hands in my hair, weary beyond belief.

“The instability or the heart problem?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Magic takes a while to master, but you’ll get there.” Her expression grew distant. “The thing about magic powers is that there’s a cost.”

“How come you’re a part of all this?”

She blinked back to attention. “My dad was Rasha.”

Past tense noted. “Sorry.”

She shrugged. “Not your fault.”

Kane joined us, his footsteps creaking the weathered boards. “Rest easy tonight, babe.”

“Thanks,” I said, peering up at him, one hand shielding my eyes from the sun.

My dad’s Prius fishtailed up the driveway. Ari threw open the driver’s side, engine still running. He raced over to me in his frayed T-shirt and jeans. I’d never seen him this upset.

“What did you do to her?” he spat at Kane.

Ms. Clara squeezed my hand and went inside.

“Danger comes with the job,” Kane said. He braced a hand on the top of the railing. “She knows this.”

Ari led me to the car. He bundled me in, then slammed my door so hard I jumped. “You were supposed to take it easy on her,” he said.

Had they discussed me before? I shamelessly eavesdropped through Ari’s open door.

“Around here we do what has to be done.” Kane sat down on the top step, almost insolent in his indifference. “That’s how it works at the adults’ table.”

Bastard. I put my hand on the door handle ready to lay into Kane but Ari surprised me.

He threw Kane a cool smile. “Keep telling yourself that.” On that note, he got into the car and we drove away.





10





I lasted all of ten seconds before I opened my mouth to demand an explanation but Ari cut me off. “Rest. We can talk later.” I would have protested, but the next thing I knew, he was shaking me awake. “Rise and shine. We’re home.”

The sky flamed gold for one brief instance before relaxing into the pink and oranges of sunset. That was pretty. My mother’s scream of horror at the sight of me stumbling into the house, not so much. She tried to backpedal but you know, there’s no coming back from reacting to your kid like she’s something out of a scary movie.

“Bath,” she proclaimed and marched me upstairs to my room.

Sitting on the edge of my tub, testing the water, I caught sight of myself in the mirror. Mom’s reaction was not unwarranted. My hair snarled in rat’s nest fashion. Giant sweat and pit stains graced my T-shirt. All I needed was a Pig Pen cloud of dirt to complete the look. Any confidence, any pride in my accomplishments today disappeared.

First I took a fast shower, then I plugged the tub, shivering and waiting impatiently for it to fill. Finally, inching into the hot water, I slid onto my back, fully submerged except for my nose and lips.

I brushed the underside of the tap with my big toe, catching the final tiny warm drops.

The inset LEDs smudged a soft luminescence like a milky way across the ceiling. I lay there staring up at the world through my watery lens until my overwhelmed panic subsided. The same trick I’d used since I was a kid and hadn’t wanted anyone to know that I wasn’t tough enough to keep up with my brother, who generally took everything in stride.

Being thrown into Demon Club was like playing the world’s craziest game of Survivor, except with no defined rules and a funeral service for a consolation prize. And now I was planning on taking on a major big bad. Was I crazy?

Submerged in doubt as much as the water, only the water grew cold before I pulled the plug. Cocooning myself in a massive towel, I gave a curt nod to my reflection then headed into my room to slip into my softest worn cotton pjs. Rehashing today was not on the table.

A while later, I was lost in the study of all the books I’d brought home, alternately fascinated and disgusted by the forms demons took, their various abilities, and the ways in which they could be killed. While none left any physical evidence once killed, some, like ghish demons, died in a whoosh of sulphuric stank so noxious it had been known to induce temporary blindness. It was all important information, but I’d gotten no closer to finding where Asmodeus’ sweet spot lay. He was a Unique. Maybe no one knew.