Runes of Truth (A Demon's Fall #1)(5)
“But killing demons for money? How is that right?” she asks me.
“I don’t kill good demons, if there even is such a thing. I’ve explained all this to you a dozen times, Hali,” I tell her.
“Yes, I know you have. Demons come to earth all the time. Protectors send any back to hell that break the laws and the ones allowed to live still do bad things in secret and you have to stop them, blah, blah, blah.” She leans against the door, “But, you aren’t a protector, and I’m scared one of those demons you go after is going to kill you before you can kill them. You go after evil ones, and they do evil things.”
“Don’t worry about me, I know what I’m doing,” I say, ignoring the annoyed stare she gives me.
“I know you’re fast, you’re powerful, but you don’t have anyone to save you when things get rough. You need that, or you need to stop going after demons for money.” She gives me a slightly sad smile before opening the front door, and I don’t have a reply for her. Killing demons is all I know, all I’ve ever known. I was trained to do that, and it’s a damn sight better than being a thief like I used to be when I was a kid. I can’t tell Hali any of that. I can’t even explain what the demon has done, and why I’m going to kill him tonight. Let’s just say he deserves to go back to hell.
“Contacts! You forgot to put your contacts in!” I shout, just before she can shut the door, and she opens it again.
“Crap,” she mutters, running to her room. I grab my coat, clicking my daggers into place underneath it and sliding my other daggers into my knee-high boots. After pulling my hair up into a high ponytail, I hear Hali shutting the door as she leaves without saying goodbye. I pull my phone out, checking the address of the club the demon will be at just as I hear a small clicking noise. I lift my head, searching for the unfamiliar noise, but not hearing anything else as I slide my phone back into my pocket. Only seconds later, I hear a loud scream, a scream I recognise. I run out the door, jumping down the stairs, and slamming the door open.
“Evie . . .,” Hali cries out, as I stop just outside the door in slight shock. I keep my face calm when I see five Protectors in hoods, one of them holding Hali with a dagger pressed against her throat. I can’t see the faces of any of the Protectors, only the black hoods covering them, and the Protector symbol on their hood to mark who they are. Their cloaks sway in the breeze, in the silence of the empty street.
“You will come with us,” the Protector on the far right says in a deep voice. I chuckle, reaching into my cloak and sliding out a dagger as I weigh up my options. Five against one, not fair, but not impossible.
“I really don’t think so,” I reply simply. Hali cries as the Protector holding her bends her head, pulling her hair up, and showing me her witch mark on the back of her head.
“A witch mark . . . a mark that says she will kill a royal witch. She is a monster, and you still protect her?” the Protector holding her says, lifting his head, but I cannot see his face under the large hood.
“A mark doesn’t make her a monster. Now, let her go, or I will show you what a monster really is,” I say, twirling my dagger in my hand.
“This mark means she must be killed, and no law would stop us. You will come with us, with no fight, or we will kill the witch,” the man holding her says, and his cloak hood falls down. His white eyes meet mine, matching his white hair. He is much older than I thought he would be, with his wrinkled face and old eyes. Protectors don’t age like humans, or even like witches. We live thousands of years. I’ve heard it takes two thousand years before your hair and eyes lose all colour. It’s a sign you are near your end.
“Or I could kill you all?” I ask, with large smile.
“You won’t be able to get to her before I slit her throat. I have killed thousands of witches, demons, and even an angel once . . . . Do not test me, child,” he says, and I believe every word in his cold stare. I lock my eyes with his as he pulls Hali’s head up and holds the dagger in his other hand. I’ve seen the looks of killers, ones who will never stop until they get what they want. Ones who have killed so many that death means nothing to them anymore. I will have to come up with another plan, but for now, it seems going with them is the only option. They clearly want something. I carefully roll my eyes over the four other Protectors here, seeing their big builds, the shine of their swords under their cloaks. I will need to take them out slowly, one by one. Not all at once. And then portal me and Hali out of here.
“Fine, but you let her go now,” I demand, dropping my dagger on the floor. I can’t fight my way out of this, not without hurting her. I won’t let them do that, she is all I have.
“The girl comes with us,” the Protector says, moving the dagger away from Hali and nodding his head at the Protector on his left. The Protector walks up to me, pulling out two small silver wrist bands.
“Wear them, now. We know you can portal like us,” the Protector says, and I look over at Hali who shakes her head constantly.
“Don’t, run!” she pleads with me, but one look at the Protector holding her, and I know running would cost me her life. A life she hasn’t even gotten to live. I’m twenty-five, I’ve had more years than she has, and this is my past catching up to me. I hold my hands out, and the protector snaps the silver bands on both my wrists. They burn instead of feeling cold like I thought they would, sending a fire-like feeling straight up my arms, and my four runes burn like crazy.