say, cease to exist.”
I frowned at him. “Define ‘something else’?”
“Say a demon for example.”
I swallowed past my disgust. “If Richard stabbed me with
that thing and removed my soul, what would happen?”
“Best guess? The demon would take full control and do
whatever it wanted without regard for anything else. Take red-eyed vampires,
for example. Hunger for blood drives their every action. Nothing else matters
except sating that one particular need. Women. Children. Animals. They don’t
care who they get blood from, just that they get it. They take and leave an
empty shell behind.”
“So you think without a soul, I’d go all evil and give into
my base urges?”
Eli shrugged. “Aren’t those the types of demons and vampires
we’ve been putting down all these years? Soulless for one reason or another?
The difference between the demons who live at the Vault and the hell-raisers?
Take human serial killers and compare them against agency hunters? Both kill.
One does it out of pleasure, the other to protect.”
Protect. At least that was the excuse they’d given us. But I’d
always differed from the other agency hunters. I understood and questioned the
difference between malevolent and benevolent, always had. I ruthlessly put down
those who deserved it and had no qualms about looking away from the ones who
went about their business in peace.
I ran a hand through my hair and returned my stare to the
bar through the windshield. The knot in my stomach was a hard ball of fire. Was
it even safe for me to be among humans?
“I didn’t tell Ella I planned on killing Richard.”
Eli reached to the floorboard and found his flask. He
unscrewed the cap and took a long swallow. He wiped his mouth with the back of
his hand. “You wouldn’t have done it.”
Second person who’s said that to me. Do they not
know me at all?
When he handed me the flask, I took it. The whiskey burned
on the way down and I welcomed the sensation. “If it had been the only way, I
would have. Castro told me not to touch him.”
“Listen to him. We know where Mom is—we’ve got an
alternative.” Eli glanced out the window. “Why are we here, Micah?”
“Because I wasn’t in the mood to sit down to a family dinner
and pretend like everything was going to be okay when in reality we’re all
fucked. Ella’s got that fucking party thing with Julian and then there’s the
trial. The vampires are revolting, the death count is rising and Ella is still
petrified of killing anything—afraid it’ll turn her into Lizbeth.”
“Doesn’t help you’ve been ignoring her. Or that you’ve been
lying to her.”
“I haven’t been ignoring her.”
Eli lifted an eyebrow.
“You know what happens when we fuck—we see into each other’s
heads. I’m trying to protect her, to step up and be what she needs. That meant
keeping my dick in my pants.”
Eli snatched the flask from me and drank deep, his Adam’s
apple rising and falling with each swallow. “You see Hannah tonight?”
Pain flashed in my brother’s eyes, a touch of vulnerability
that reminded me of the little boy I’d grown up protecting and sheltering from
Richard’s moods.
“I saw her,” I said after a minute. “Also saw Dante with his
tongue down her throat and his hand on her ass.”
Eli tightened his jaw before taking another swig. I was
surprised there was anything left in there.
“You think it’ll last between them?” Eli asked.
“I don’t think he’ll let her go, if that’s what you’re
asking. He asked her to move in with him—men don’t do that shit casually.
Tonight they were going to talk to Roy about it.”
My brother’s eyes darkened. “Them moving in together, that’d
be a mistake.”
I pushed open my car door and the night air swept inside. I
didn’t feel the cold, not like I used to before that succubus bitch had gotten
a hold of me two months ago.
“You had your chance, little brother, and you fucked it away
with about
I frowned at him. “Define ‘something else’?”
“Say a demon for example.”
I swallowed past my disgust. “If Richard stabbed me with
that thing and removed my soul, what would happen?”
“Best guess? The demon would take full control and do
whatever it wanted without regard for anything else. Take red-eyed vampires,
for example. Hunger for blood drives their every action. Nothing else matters
except sating that one particular need. Women. Children. Animals. They don’t
care who they get blood from, just that they get it. They take and leave an
empty shell behind.”
“So you think without a soul, I’d go all evil and give into
my base urges?”
Eli shrugged. “Aren’t those the types of demons and vampires
we’ve been putting down all these years? Soulless for one reason or another?
The difference between the demons who live at the Vault and the hell-raisers?
Take human serial killers and compare them against agency hunters? Both kill.
One does it out of pleasure, the other to protect.”
Protect. At least that was the excuse they’d given us. But I’d
always differed from the other agency hunters. I understood and questioned the
difference between malevolent and benevolent, always had. I ruthlessly put down
those who deserved it and had no qualms about looking away from the ones who
went about their business in peace.
I ran a hand through my hair and returned my stare to the
bar through the windshield. The knot in my stomach was a hard ball of fire. Was
it even safe for me to be among humans?
“I didn’t tell Ella I planned on killing Richard.”
Eli reached to the floorboard and found his flask. He
unscrewed the cap and took a long swallow. He wiped his mouth with the back of
his hand. “You wouldn’t have done it.”
Second person who’s said that to me. Do they not
know me at all?
When he handed me the flask, I took it. The whiskey burned
on the way down and I welcomed the sensation. “If it had been the only way, I
would have. Castro told me not to touch him.”
“Listen to him. We know where Mom is—we’ve got an
alternative.” Eli glanced out the window. “Why are we here, Micah?”
“Because I wasn’t in the mood to sit down to a family dinner
and pretend like everything was going to be okay when in reality we’re all
fucked. Ella’s got that fucking party thing with Julian and then there’s the
trial. The vampires are revolting, the death count is rising and Ella is still
petrified of killing anything—afraid it’ll turn her into Lizbeth.”
“Doesn’t help you’ve been ignoring her. Or that you’ve been
lying to her.”
“I haven’t been ignoring her.”
Eli lifted an eyebrow.
“You know what happens when we fuck—we see into each other’s
heads. I’m trying to protect her, to step up and be what she needs. That meant
keeping my dick in my pants.”
Eli snatched the flask from me and drank deep, his Adam’s
apple rising and falling with each swallow. “You see Hannah tonight?”
Pain flashed in my brother’s eyes, a touch of vulnerability
that reminded me of the little boy I’d grown up protecting and sheltering from
Richard’s moods.
“I saw her,” I said after a minute. “Also saw Dante with his
tongue down her throat and his hand on her ass.”
Eli tightened his jaw before taking another swig. I was
surprised there was anything left in there.
“You think it’ll last between them?” Eli asked.
“I don’t think he’ll let her go, if that’s what you’re
asking. He asked her to move in with him—men don’t do that shit casually.
Tonight they were going to talk to Roy about it.”
My brother’s eyes darkened. “Them moving in together, that’d
be a mistake.”
I pushed open my car door and the night air swept inside. I
didn’t feel the cold, not like I used to before that succubus bitch had gotten
a hold of me two months ago.
“You had your chance, little brother, and you fucked it away
with about
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