Page 26 of A Hunter Cursed
“Oh, that’s so fucking helpful,” Kane spat. Disgusted, he turned away and strode down the alley.
Destin cleared his throat as he snapped out a pristine white handkerchief to mop his brow. He was actually sweating and Keegan didn’t think she’d ever seen the big man so discombobulated. “Is there anything else you can tell us? Perhaps how to exorcise these demons should we find them? Do we need to alert the church?”
Cam raised his arm and reached between his shoulder blades. Suddenly, a gleaming silver broadsword was gripped in his fist. Where it had come from, Keegan had no idea. It was as if he’d manifested the thing out of thin air, and his voice when he spoke, held echoes that sent chills down her spine. “You call me,” he said, his eyes glowing and the silver color surrounding the pupil seemed to churn as if they truly were comprised of liquid metal.
“There has to be more,” Archer Langley spoke up with a growl. “Some way to tell.”
Planting the tip of the sword to the asphalt, the angel leaned into the pommel. “A smudge can hide for a very long time. They’re sneaky that way,” Cam told them, his voice back to normal. “But personality changes, increased aggression, odd behavior, those are typically the first indicators.” He glanced over at Keegan. “When their eyes go black, that’s when the demon is fully in control. Now, tell me about your vision. I know you must have had one.”
All eyes were on Keegan and she cleared her throat. “A dark, abandoned street, cracked asphalt oozing tar, the buildings dripping with the stuff.”
“Did you recognize the area?” the angel asked.
“Bourbon Street.”
Cam nodded, raised his sword as if to re-sheath it down his back, only for the thing to disappear once more. “Then we go to this Bourbon Street.”
Falling into step beside the angel, Keegan practically had to jog to keep up with his ground eating pace, but that didn’t stop her from once more attempting to figure out how he knew her. “So, is it just my bloodline that you recognize?” she asked, slightly breathless. “My… kinship, I guess, to this Zeph person?”
“Can we walk to this Bourbon Street or do we need to enclose ourselves once more in the metal machines?”
Metal machines? She almost snickered. “You, ah, haven’t been around much have you?”
He stopped at the end of the alley and glanced both ways before his eyes landed on her. “I’ve been in the thing that rolls across the land as well as within the belly of the machine that flies.” He grimaced. “I didn’t care for either mode of transport, but I understand why creatures without wings would find them useful.”
“Cars,” Keegan informed him gently, “are the machines on the ground. Planes are the ones that fly.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “I believe I was told that.”
“And yes, it will be quicker if we take a car,” she said, motioning to Destin who was already unlocking the doors to his Cadillac.
Her statement elicited a sigh from the angel. “Very well.”
He went to move in that direction, but Keegan forestalled him with a hand on his arm. She quickly snatched that hand back and shook it, having received a shock from the contact. “Sorry,” she uttered, swiping her still tingling fingers down the front of her shorts. “I shouldn’t have touched you, but, my question?”
The angel crooked a finger under her chin and lifted slightly, the contact not causing a shock this time, so the zapping, she figured, was a one-way thing. She looked into those silver eyes that were swirling once more and her breath caught in her throat.
“Have you heard the story of Pandora, child?”
Keegan swallowed hard and nodded.
“Some things,” he told her, “are best left alone.”
Stepping back from her, the angel shot her an indulgent smile. “Now,” he said, “ask me what youreallywant to know.”
How had he guessed? Yes, she was curious as to how he’d known her, but as soon as she’d seen those wings, realized what he was, a voice in the back of her head had whispered that here was a being who might be able to tell her, irrefutably, if she was indeed cursed, and if so, how to break it. It had been a question, however, that she’d been too afraid to ask.
Licking her lips, she tried to form the words but fear clogged her throat. What if there wasn’t a way to break it? What if she was doomed to forever watch those she got close to die? Up to this point, she’d at least held on to a tiny glimmer of hope. Having an answer from an angel might extinguish that, leaving her bereft.
Taking pity on her, the angel gently told her, “You are not and have never been cursed.”
Her breath left her in a whoosh and hot tears tracked down her cheeks, as a low keening sound emerged from her throat. Were it not for a steadying hand on her elbow from the angel, she would have collapsed to the pavement, her relief was so great.
Chapter Fourteen
Jeremiah was whistling as he approached the front door of Keegan’s apartment building. He felt great. He still didn’t know what had happened last night, and Marguerite hadn’t been able to figure it out either, but whatever it had been, it was gone now and he was better for it. How fucked up was that?
There were four lit doorbell buttons for him to choose from, but before he could make his selection, the door swung open to reveal a grinning Keegan. His wolf practically preened at the joy on her face at seeing him, her obvious excitement palpable, and okay, his chest puffed out a little in response.
