Page 20 of Orion: Galaxy Huntress

Chapter 10

Orion

“Good night.”I stuffed the eight hundred-dollar bills, as Vice called them, into the pocket sewn into my leather skirt. Hard earned from hunting the cow and cutting it into steaks.

“Night, kitten.” The demon twisted a key to lock the door of his darkened establishment and pocketed his keys.

Chills settled into my bones from packing away the meat in the large cold room Vice called a ‘freezer.’ I rubbed at my cold bumps springing over my flesh. Practices of this new world truly baffled me. They froze steaks solid in ice bricks to stop it from spoiling! Ancient Greece never saw a day of snow. Too warm, except for the few times we’d angered the gods and they plagued us with strange weather. We preserved our meat in brine, salt or smoke and stored it for a season or two. Dried our fruits and grain in the sun for storage. Now I understood why the witch, Myra, had large, white, upright box to stockpile all her food. Strange.

I glanced up at the moon, my only source of light to guide me to find shelter for the evening. Yet there was no shelter in this foreign land. No rocks, caves, forests. Nothing for miles. After cutting up the bovine, I didn’t feel like walking that far back to the forest. Resting in the heavens for thousands of years had made me lazy, my feet soft, and I longed for the durability I once had.

“Need a ride home?” the demon asked softly. The first time he’d sounded genuine and not playing games with someone.

Home. I’d never really had one. Nomadic life led me to travel all across Greece and the ancient world. The only time I’d ever settled down was when Zeus cast me into the heavens as a star. There I existed, slumbered, burned, provided light for the galaxy and planets. The only home I’d ever known, and it had been taken from me. Missing it, I slung my bow and arrow sheath tighter over my shoulder.

Vice gently touched my shoulder and I shot back a few paces at the spark that jumped between us. “You don’t have a place to stay, do you, kitten?”

I bent my head. No. I didn’t belong here. This land, its practices, strange objects, and language were so foreign to me and made me long for ancient Greece or my place among the stars.

I scanned the street, spotting a lot with boxed wheels, a shop selling alcohol and wine, something called an osteopath and an accountant, but no inns. “Is there an inn somewhere to rest my head?”

“Don’t waste your money on that, kitten.” The demon took my hand, stroking it with his thumb. Heartfelt. Sincere. Concerned. No lies. No trickery. The contrast with earlier alarmed me and I almost pulled away. Almost. For a moment, I got lost in the gold flecks in his dark eyes, shining as bright as any star in the night sky. “I’ve got a bed for you to crash in.”

Crash. Yes, I could do that. My body groaned with exhaustion. I hadn’t worked my human form in thousands of years. As a star, I existed as gas, light, and heat, and circled, twisted, and delighted in beautiful patterns. Force from nearby planets kept me in a constant state of rotation, and I didn’t have to exert myself. I could just exist, a being of light and space, providing life to an entire galaxy and feeding from their power to sustain me. Back in my human form reminded me of the aches and pains of being mortal.

My mind hiccupped, reminding me of the demon’s earlier trickery and deception, trying to cheat me out of my hunting takings and binding me to Stormy. For all I knew, Vice planned to make good on his promise to have me slice him up. Too bad. I was too tired for that.

“No nonsense,” I warned him, resting my hand on my dagger belt.

“Is that the best dirty talk you can muster, kitten?” The demon grinned, splitting his wickedly sultry mouth, which I hadn’t taken much notice of until then. “You must be exhausted then.”

Shame on me. I hadn’t appreciated him at all. His hard jaw, high cheekbones, prominent brows, proud nose, the neck-length chestnut locks, and eyes that held me captive every time he pinned me with his gaze. Wings tucked to his spine that were almost beautiful in a robust, formidable way. Tail lazily swaying behind him that shimmered like a dancing flame. The demon certainly had a seductive quality about him. Handsome in a roguish, devilish way. Very unlike his demon brethren. Most hell spawn I encountered were grotesque, hideous things with darkened, burned flesh that smelled of ash, charred wood, and the pits of the volcano on the Santorini Island. They also tried to kill me and eat me and were far from charming like Vice.

Hades, was he growing on me? Did he deceive me with magick? I scanned my body with starlight for any devious magick but found none. This was the demon. Soul bared. Kind. Considerate. Sweet, even. That made me worry. A demon was never kind unless he wanted something.

“What do you want, demon?” I posed, glued to my blade to remind him I wasn’t in the mood to play or threaten him.

“Well you did promise me foreplay with knives,” he joked, making me shake my head and bark out a laugh. Tonight, he’d escape being cut up. I was too tired to see to his punishment. All I wanted was a soft, hay-stuffed mattress and a sturdy pillow to rest my weary body and mind.

“You’re incorrigible.” I shoved at his chest and felt the spark I’d felt earlier, only this time, it jumped along my arm, shot over my shoulder, and traveled down to my heart, shocking it. Troubled, I rubbed at my breast, the warm afterglow that tingled setting my body at ease.

Vice winked and grinned at me. “It’s what Dad created me for.” His arm slid casually around my shoulder as it had around Stormy’s, filling me with instant comfort and relaxation. “Come on, kitten. Before you pass out.”

I was sure this was a trick, demon magick luring me into trust. A check-in with my hunter instincts detected no prickled warning to be alert. The demon posed no threat. And if he did, I had my weapons as well as my starlight to protect myself. Reassured, I let him take me to his wheeled box, pausing by the door.

“I’ll cut off your balls if you dupe me.” I spelled it out for him just so he knew where we stood and what would happen if he tried anything on me.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, kitten.” Grinning wickedly, he opened my door, settled me into the box’s passenger seat, tucking my bow and arrow in my lap … well, as best as they fit in the cramped space. “Hope you don’t mind speeding. I never travel at the limit.”

Gods, no. The inertia of traveling with the witch had made my stomach lurch, and I’d almost thrown up. Nervous all of a sudden, I grabbed onto the handle on the roof.

Gods. I should have walked to the forest, because when the demon pulled over in front of a brightly lit house, I threw the door open and vomited on his pavement. He hadn’t been kidding about the speeding. Devil took the corners too fast and sharp. His almost flipped three times as he drove over the round features in the crossroads. On at least four occasions, I thought I was about to die and said my prayers to my maker. Sadly, Zeus didn’t save me, slow the demon down, end my torment or soothe my churning stomach. Dizzy and nauseous, I stumbled out of the box, to my knees on the pavement.

Vice hurried around to grab me by the shoulders and steady me. “That’s the worst case of motion sickness I’ve ever seen.” He rubbed my back, easing the queasiness, stilling my thudding heart and wildly skipping pulse.

When I recovered and stood straight, I thumped him in the gut with a fist, making him hunch and his back hit the box. “If you ever do that again, I’ll kill you.”

My strike bent him over, clutching his gut, face reddening and he groaned. “You’re very strong, kitten.” Moments later he recovered with a rub to his abdomen. Unbothered by the threat as usual, he regrouped with a wicked smile. “You sure you’re not a shifter like Ace?”

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