Page 2 of Demons in My Bed
The sound of a twig snapping had me spinning to meet Laurie as she attacked. I immediately went on the defensive—just in time too, because vines exploded from the ground and she laughed, her red hair blowing all around her face like an evil witch. I threw myself backward, narrowly escaping the vines with a back handspring.
One of Laurie’s biggest mistakes was that she continually underestimated me. She wasn’t the only one. My affinity was a strange one, and without having an element I could call on—the way pyros could with fire, or shifters with their animals, or hell, manipulating the weather and using lightning as a weapon—most assumed that put me at a disadvantage.
The fact of the matter was that every witch or mage had the ability to use magic, and I’d studied harder than my peers at mastering those spells since I didn’t have an attacking affinity like most of them. Even Laurie, a green witch, was able to use plants as weapons. Ridiculous.
Her eyes narrowed as she advanced on me, and thorns began to grow on the vines that were reaching for me. Muttering the word ”Indespectus,” I grinned when she shrieked. I was now invisible.
It wasn’t a spell that lasted very long, and I didn’t like to use it often because it drained me. Fast. But for right now? To best her? Yeah, it would be worth it.
“Well, look at you,” Laurie taunted.
I laughed. “Bet you wish you could.”
She followed my voice and charged, but I was easily able to evade her. “Didn’t take you for the run and hide type,” she baited me, letting vines curl around her arms as her eyes scanned the ground, probably looking to see if there were any impressions in the grass.
Unsheathing one of my knives, I stalked closer.
“Show yourself and fight me! If you think you’ll be able to beat—”
Her voice cut off abruptly as my blade gently kissed her throat. My spell wore off, and I stepped back, sheathing my weapon. “Good figh—” The world tipped as I was yanked off of my feet by my ankles. The breath was forced from my lungs when my back connected with the ground. Rage was the first thing I felt, the second being a foot stomping my chest down when I attempted to get up.
“Never take your eyes off of your opponent. There are no rules out there. There is no honor. If you’re in a fight with an enemy, then you better make sure you’re prepared to end them, because as long as they still breathe, they can andwillcome for you.”
I blinked up at Laurie as the clouds shifted, shining moonlight onto her face. Her eyes were the most intense I’d ever seen them, and I found myself nodding. The anger I’d felt just moments before dissipated to that familiar feeling between mentor and student. Respect. She was right, and this was something I’d remember in the field.
Don’t let them live if they mean to kill you.
She extended a hand down to me, and I grasped it, letting her pull me to my feet. “Any other advice?”
“Yeah. Just one thing. Do whatever it takes. You’re a woman and that is your greatest strength.” When I lifted a brow at what I thought she was implying, she huffed and smoothed down her clothes. “This is a man’s playground we’re in. They just haven’t figured out yet that while they’re running around beating on their chests, we’re the ones getting all the information we need from them,howeverwe can.” She placed a hand on her hip, and I felt eyes on my back.
Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled at Asrael, who was striding toward us like a savior. That’s what he’d been for me, ever since he took me in at age sixteen and helped me get to this level.
“Ladies, that was a good fight.” He smiled at me and then Laurie. I didn’t miss the way she slid beside him, leaving only a breath between their bodies.
“Thank you, sir,” I replied, my voice steady.
Laurie smiled up at him, brushing some of her rogue, red hair from her face. The wind picked up though, making her efforts futile. “Here,” Asrael offered, tucking her hair behind her ears and then turning to me. I shifted my gaze for a split second to Laurie, just long enough to see her wink at me. “Thanks for your assistance, Laurie.”
It was a dismissal. One I expected her to pout over. But she didn’t.
“Of course, Asrael. Good luck on your assignment, Palmer.” She started to head back to the castle. I was about to thank her, but Asrael spoke first.
“Laurie?” he called over the sound of the waves. She turned and looked back at us. “I’ll be back within the hour.”
The light of the moon had nothing on her Cheshire grin. She nodded at Asrael and then turned her attention to me. “Remember, Palmer—whateverit takes!”
My cheeks heated at the thought of her and Asrael doing gods knew what together. He was like a father to me. Nope, not going there.
“Are you ready to go, Palmer?” Asrael asked, offering his arm for me to loop mine through.
“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life, sir.”
He gave me a warm smile. “Well then, let’s get you to Port Black, Agent Vale.”
Chapter one
Iadjustedmytitswith a shimmy, boosting them up in my skintight, black, leather corset. Fog rose from the street, giving the illusion of what most normal people would imagine phantoms to be like. I’d learned from a young age that the undead weren’t that peaceful, or fucking quiet. The mouth breather who’d followed me the past five blocks was a testament to that.
