Page 48 of The Firebrand
When he didn’t answer, she drew up straight, threw off the shakes, white-knuckled the arms of her seat. “I know you think I’m just a weak human, but I’m not fragile. I won’t fall apart. You’re going to make me forget anyway. Where’s the harm?”
Despite unexpected protective urges, he admitted she had handled the mythological-beings-exist thing damn well. “Malok, the hairy wilding you saw me with in the alley, had used a stolen portal jumper to get to Earth. The body’s the nymph he took it from. Someone murdered her.”
“She’s mutilated. What could do that to a person?”
“A hedon demon.”
“What’s that? Don’t say later.”
“Okay. Your Christian religions talk about the Seven Deadly Sins, but those are…” He paused, looking for an explanation that made sense. “They are ideas inspired by demon tribes. Gluttony is a hedon demon.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Gluttony, Pride, Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Envy. The Catholic Church named the big sins after the seven demon tribes. Gluttony did the damage here. We call them Eaters when they go bad. They lose control and … um … cannibalize their victims.”
She shivered, but no longer had a death-hold on the chair arm. “Did you know her?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry. This must be hard for you.” Braelyn touched a palm to his hip.
The warmth from her fingers seeped through the fabric of his pants. Was Melia’s vicious murder hard for him? After all, he had screwed the nymph. He should feel something.Truth? No.His vampire Awakening, endured centuries ago, had stripped him of pity, empathy, love.
Except, Braelyn stirred emotions best buried.
“Your realm is violent,” she said.
“So is yours.”
Chay, his right hand resting on the head of a war hammer holstered in his belt, strode out of the nymph’s bedroom, his nostrils flaring as he ground his teeth. “This is so bent.” He pulled Rein aside. “Brak and Sabine will investigate the scene more thoroughly. They’ll let me know if they discover something new.”
“Tell them to check her bank records. See how she afforded this house.”
“Sure thing.” He tapped his D-chip to relay the message. Then, because the ylve was as changeable as Lady GaGa’s hair, he asked, “On another note, what’s happening between you and the tall lick of a sucker?” He tipped his head in Braelyn’s direction.
“Nothing.”
“Really? ’Cause strong vibes are rolling off you two. Brak sensed them. Carnal demons are never wrong.” He peeked around Rein at Braelyn. “That little piece of nice is sizzling.” He jabbed an elbow into the vampire mix’s ribs, chuckling.
“Fuck off, Chay. Sometimes you’re not as funny as you think.”
“I’m hysterical. Everybody thinks so. I believe the legendary man of control has the hots for aHomo sapiensfirecracker.”
Chay had joined the Scion Firebrands about five years ago, a newcomer. At that time, Kole had assigned him to work with Rein, whose previous partner took an all-expense-paid trip to the Evermore. Thanks to a harpy who escaped from Darque through a portal, killing the witch Firebrand named Wynnfrith. What had the commander been thinking? The two warriors couldn’t be more mismatched.
Rein fought hand-to-hand, preferring up close and personal, the bloodier the better. Chay, like most of his breed, excelled in the use of long-range projectile weapons. Arrows, spears, throwing axes, stars. With lightning-fast reflexes, he planted bolts in his target with ease, his aim spot-on.
Rein was serious, rarely laughed, and used words as if they cost per letter. Chay, on the other hand, loved to joke, talked nonstop, and called each Firebrand by name. Having seen too many deaths, Rein didn’t care if he learned the new guys’ names or not. Though he griped to the ylve about the incessant chatter, truth be told, Rein sometimes found his banter a welcome distraction.
When the other Firebrands joined the confab, Rein instructed Sabine to notify Philia once they wrapped up the crime scene. “She can prep Melia for the Purification Ceremony when you don’t need the corpse anymore.”
Rein’s D-chip vibrated. His father. He answered and listened. “No problem. Just finishing an assignment. When?”
Tapping his wrist to break the connection, Rein faced Chay. “I’m taking Braelyn to Alarik tomorrow. He thinks he has a solution.”
“You sure you want the skirt to head back to Earth?” Though Chay asked the question, Brak and Sabine lent their nods to the it’s-none-of-your-business convo. “Before you say it, man. I’ll say it for you. ‘Fuck off, Chay.’ Okay, I’m on my way to see if I can get a little nymph action lined up for tonight.”
Rein fingered the scar through his brow as the unmistakable flirt swaggered off to meet up with the females.
