Slayer(49)

I’m stuck looking into the pit. The werewolf I hit with the sword is bleeding heavily. I do my best not to look at the hellhounds.

I left corpses. My revulsion is almost as strong as the rush of adrenaline I’d had. And that’s what bothers me most: I was terrified, and it was awful, but . . . I also liked it. Loved it. The heady rush of battle. The iron tang of blood in the air. The way my body moved, a weapon in and of itself.

The power was intoxicating.

I’m a healer. I’ve dedicated my life to it. Fixing bodies is all I’ve ever wanted to do. But now? I have a body count.

Cosmina sounds indifferent as she answers Artemis’s question. “I got caught eliminating their supply of zompires.”

“Zompires?” Artemis asks.

If the term is new even to Artemis, that says something. I shake off all the thoughts about myself and what I did to focus on Cosmina’s reply.

“Zombie vampire. It’s what happens now when a vampire sires a new victim. With the hell connections cut off, any new vampire turns into those things. They form hives. I’ve got Dublin almost all clear. Didn’t realize these assholes were keeping them for a reason.” She stretches her neck, sighing. Then she starts gathering the money scattered on the floor, shoving it into her pockets. “They run this whole bloody town. Now I’ve got to figure out how to make this up to them.”

“Demons run Dublin?” Leo sounds surprised and concerned. We’re only a couple of hours from Dublin. Does that make it our responsibility? And why weren’t we already on top of it?

“Not demons. The people who organized this.”

“And you let them?” Artemis asks.

Cosmina shrugs. “They’re cleaning it up. They’ve made Dublin safer from supernatural beasties than it’s been in decades. I tip them off when I find something too big to handle.”

Artemis is rightfully aghast. “You work with these people? The ones that hold demon fights? That threw you in a pit to die?”

“There’s a saying where I come from: Hold hands with the devil until you’re both over the bridge. I haven’t found the other side of the bridge yet.”

“Come on,” I say. I’m overwhelmed, but there’s still a task that needs doing. I try to focus on it. “We have to help the werewolves. Get them somewhere safe.”

Cosmina scoffs. “You mean the things that tried to rip us limb from limb?”

“It’s not their fault! And I cut that one. I didn’t mean to. But I don’t think werewolves heal supernaturally fast.” I look to Leo and Artemis for confirmation, but neither responds. Rhys is the expert. I’m glad we left him and Cillian outside. They stayed safe, and they didn’t see what I did. I wanted Artemis to see so she’d look at me differently.

Now I find I want my friends to look at me the same. Cillian’s first instinct was to call me when a creature needed help. If he had seen this, he wouldn’t have. I’ve lost so much in the last couple of days. So much of who I thought I was, who I thought I was going to be. I want to hold on to what I can.

Cosmina finishes gathering what she can of the scattered bank notes. “You want to help those things, you’re on your own.”

“Excuse me?” Artemis says. “My sister saved your sorry ass, and you didn’t so much as turn around to help her. What kind of a Slayer are you?”

Cosmina whirls, her eyes narrowed sharper than my sword. “What kind of Slayer am I? I’m a living one, that’s what kind.”

“Well, today you’re alive because of us!”

The Slayer closes the distance to Artemis, leaning close to my sister’s face. Artemis doesn’t flinch. Cosmina pulls her long blue hair aside, revealing a mangled ear and scarring that goes down her neck.

“Werewolf?” I wonder if that’s where her animosity comes from.

“No, idiot. Another Slayer. So pardon me if I’m not interested in making friends. There’s a reason there was only supposed to be a Chosen One. We’re hunters. Killers. And we don’t work well in packs.” She pauses, studying me. “I know you. Dreams of a fire—purple flames—Mommy choosing to save someone else?” Cosmina smiles cruelly at the horror written on my face. “Dreams go both ways. I hope you get killed soon. I’m tired of reliving your fire.” She flips her hair back into place and stalks out.

The shock of the evening and everything that’s happened—everything I’ve done—catches up to me. I came here to help because I saw her, because I thought we had a connection. That she needed me. But she’s seen me too, and all she feels toward me is derision.

“You should have let her die,” Artemis says after a beat.

I blink. “What?”

“She wasn’t worth risking your life for. If you had waited a few minutes, Leo and I would have been here with weapons. We would have handled it. You can’t jump into fights.”

My heart starts pounding again and I struggle to stay calm. “Artemis, look at that pit. I did that. That was me.” However much it bothers me, it’s the truth. “I can handle myself.”

“No, you can’t! You would have been dead without the two of us here to help you.”

I open my mouth to argue, but then stop. There’s no point. I know she’s trying to take care of me, but she’s wrong. I shouldn’t have waited. I chose to wait upstairs and it made everything a hundred times worse. No matter how much of a jerk Cosmina is, I had to help. She didn’t ask me to rescue her, and she doesn’t have to thank me. Helping was the right thing to do. And I’m going to do the right thing again.