The Unlikeable Demon Hunter (Nava Katz #1)(67)

If I hadn’t needed my stupid sheets, Ari would never have been here in the first place. We would never have fought.

He would never have been taken.

I dug the nails of my right arm into my left wrist, welcoming the pain. Welcoming the distraction from my worst nightmare that my brother was in danger. I’d known this was a possibility when Ari joined the Brotherhood as a full hunter, but for it to have played out now in light of what had happened seemed like a needlessly cruel twist of fate.

Drio patted Rohan’s cheek gently, piercing Rohan’s flesh with the needle, the thread trailing off of it like the end of a comet.

I tore my eyes away.

“Who?” Kane’s voice was so low, it was practically a growl. His arms were crossed and his jaw was clenched so hard it could probably cut glass.

“Sakacha and dremla.” Rohan winced as Drio sewed up the last few stitches.

I squeezed my hands between my knees, shoulders tense, waiting to hear more, breathing through the antiseptic tang permeating the room.

“Together?” Baruch barked. “Those two are not known for playing with others.”

“I don’t care what the hell they’re known for!” I stamped my foot on the ground. “I want to know who they are and what they did with Ari!” My voice was a panicky screech but for fuck’s sake, talk to me like I was a child because I didn’t know all the ins and outs here.

Rohan gingerly flexed his arm. “Sakacha are pain demons. Physical pain. Dremla are soul leeches.”

“And?”

“I. Don’t. Know.” His breath rushed out in a hiss.

“Not good enough,” I snapped, swiping at my eyes with my hand. “Is he alive?” I could barely choke the words out through my tight throat and I dreaded the answer but I had to know.

Rohan’s bleak look conveyed his utter lack of knowledge. “There were five of them. They attacked his car as soon as it left the grounds and pulled him out. I ran over to help but…” He shook his head. “One of them dragged him out of the car, threw him over his back, and bolted.”

Kane rubbed his forehead with his fist. “They’re on foot.”

“But they’re fast,” Baruch said. “Who knows where they’ve gotten by now?”

“So I track.” Drio cut the thread with a small pair of scissors, tying the loose ends in a small knot.

“Take Baruch,” Rohan said.

Baruch was already in the hallway headed for the front door.

“I want to go with Drio,” I said.

“You can’t. You’ll just get in his way.” Kane slung an arm over my shoulder. “Why don’t you go move your dad’s car?”

It wasn’t up for debate.

Grabbing my Ryan Tedder sunglasses off the table in the foyer for courage, I jogged down the drive to the abandoned car, parked sideways right outside the gate.

I sidestepped the wreckage of Ari’s phone, smashed on the concrete. Even if Ari had still had his special Demon Club phone, Rohan wouldn’t have gotten to the scene any faster, but this broken piece of crap was a reminder of how helpless my brother was.

I pounded my fist on the hood.

The incessant chiming of the open driver’s side door taunted me. Gone. Gone. Gone.

A bloody streak ran from the shredded seat belt along the frame of the driver’s side door. I clamped my lips together, very glad my parents had left town and I didn’t have to tell them what had happened to their son.

Miserable, I got into the car, Ari’s blood literally on my hands as I drew the seat belt across my chest. The engine sputtered when I pushed the ignition button, but caught. My fingers tightened on the wheel, resentment burning hot and deep at being relegated to valet.

A one, a two, you know what to do.

I did know what to do. Let the boys pursue their leads, I’d pursue mine. I had to find Leo and get her demon insider knowledge. No one was going to sideline me when it came to Ari’s safety. Saving him was the one thing I could do right now.

I’m coming for you, Ace, I vowed. Stay strong.

With a glance up the drive to make sure no one was watching, I backed the car out onto the street. The world sped by in a violent blur as I drove like a madwoman to Leo’s place, streaks of traffic and barely-dodged pedestrians set to a cacophonic soundtrack of honking horns. Flicking on my signal, I made the final right turn onto Leo’s street. As usual, there was no parking, so I zipped into the alley to double park.

A black SUV T-boned me, spinning the car.

The air bags deployed. One second they weren’t there, the next PHOWOMP, the bags had exploded out of the front and side of the Prius, blowing my head back with a jarring snap of my neck.

I came to with my ears ringing, and three very cute paramedics crouching beside me. “Hello, boys,” I slurred. My arm burned like a son-of-a-bitch, covered in the world’s worst case of rug burn. Wrong day to wear short sleeves.

They held up the same three fingers in sync. “How many fingers do you see?” The three spoke in unison really well.

I squinted at them. “Are you guys identical triplets?” I closed my eyes because it was somewhat disorienting every time they moved. Also, my face throbbed.

“You’ve got a concussion. Do you know your name?”

“Nava. Katz.”

“Do you remember what happened?”