Among Demons : Succubus Divine

Ch. 20 : A Hunters Merchant

Another day passes as we continue to work the case of the dead Vampire with nothing more than a few more interviews to show for it. And even the Demons that had recognized the victim had very little to tell us so things were moving much too slowly for my liking.

A few Vampire families were able to give us a tad more information about our victim but it was more in the sense of where he had come from and where he had been. They had spoken to him about the places around the city that provided aid to Vampires and one young woman even joined him at a Blood Cafe in Demon Village the day before he had been found. I had also been in talks with the Coroner about the blood-typing of our victim and requesting that they use a certain combination of herbs on a sample of his blood so that I could learn his Birth Age. So all I needed to do now was wait another day before I could find out the answer I needed while also working with Nyla and my brother. They were helping me find any loose ends in the investigation by looking through the hidden parts of the Demon world that Humans wouldn’t think to question or look too closely at.

Sadly, my focus was pulled in a different direction when I got a call from my brother as I settled into my office in the morning.

“Good morning Matron.” I stiffened in my seat as I picked up on his tone, glancing over to make sure that my door was closed and that the curtains were shut tight.

“Report, Lieutenant.” I answered back, knowing that this wasn’t a family call if he was addressing me by my title instead of my pet name.

He went on to give me the information he had gathered on my Aunt and how she had obtained all of that Black Salt that she had used to torture me and it all made my blood boil.

My Aunt had somehow gotten in contact with a high ranking member of a hidden and very active branch of Hunters that had been killing my people throughout the west half of the United States. This person then connected her to others that held on to small amounts of Black Salt as well as other tools and herbs that hurt Demons. And with some unknown financial backing, she was able to purchase large quantities as well as pay her way into becoming a middleman for Hunters who needed to replenish or replace their weapon supply.

This effectively made my Aunt a Merchant for the Hunters and granted her a certain level of protection in the Human world as well. So even if I had said anything to the Detective or anyone else about the things she had used on me, nothing would’ve happened to her thanks to those connections.

Nick also went on to tell me that he was able to capture some of a coded conversation between my cousin and someone else thanks to one of our Demon operatives.

This conversation was transcribed and sent to my personal email for me to look at and see if I could figure it out a little faster since Nick was having some trouble with it. But the conversation that had been taped wasn’t all in code so the pieces that could be understood were jotted down quickly and without trouble.

“Sam talked to someone about getting some secret building prepared for a ‘special guest’ and that this ‘guest’ was very obviously Demon.” Nick said, nearly choking on his anger as he paused for a moment. “They talked about… he said…” My brother huffed and something in the distance rang out as if he had moved away from the phone to hit it before he returned. “The bastard plans to defile the Demon he spoke of and talked about testing out the place with a few others before aiming for their true target.”

Icy spilled into my veins and I swallowed hard as the silence stretched on between us.

“Devin…”

“I know…”

We both knew about my pathetic cousin Sam and his barely hidden thoughts and fantasies about me. He had been stupid enough to let his crazed emotions loose a few times around Nick when he would find us close together, acting as if he were jealous of Nick for touching who he viewed as ‘his’. And with this thinly veiled conversation with whom we could only guess to be one of the Hunters they knew, it was nearly guaranteed that I was his target and ‘special guest’. But my anger and disgust was more for the victims that the bastard was thinking of practicing on, while my dear brother was fuming over what the deranged f**k wanted to do to me. It helped me feel a little better that Nick was looking out for me and I took a moment to calm him before ordering Nick to have my cousin tracked and followed at all times. I also wanted to see if any of our operatives could look into the identity of the Hunter on the other end of the call.

“You need to increase security around you too, or move to some place else.” He added, still sounding pissed off. “I can make a few calls and have some of our Enforcers return from Oregon too since we need that added man-power.”

“That’s not necessary Nick.” He huffed on the other end and I shook my head, picturing his face as he glared at the phone in his hand. “I’ll be fine where I am and I can’t just pick up and move again either.”

“You have that unlisted apartment near the Hospital.” He suggested, sounding annoyed and so very tired. “Or better yet, move back in with me and Holly! Your old room hasn’t been touched since you moved out so you won’t need to pack much.”

“That apartment is closed off for renovations right now.” I told him, reminding him of the fire that had broken out a little over a year ago after my neighbor failed to break into my place. “And I can’t just ambush you and Holly with my problems either! My hours are erratic and you both could end up as targets if that bastard does go through with his plans.” I mentally flinched away from my memory of Holly and how uncomfortable she acts around me. “Plus, Holly won’t really be ok with me when I need to leave to feed or bring in other Demons that need my help.”

Another bout of silence follows and I take that time to look through the email he had sent me, knowing that he needed a minute to collect himself.

“Devin, you know you can’t be left alone like this.” He started again, his tone now sounding a bit more desperate and filled with worry. “Those Hunters have been getting more and more active lately and that prick teaming up with them only makes things worse.” He sighed as he paced, his voice ringing out differently as he walked in and out of rooms. “Adding on the Curse and the fact that you’ve found your Match and the situation turns into a blinking neon warning sign… I don’t like it.”

“I know Nick.” I wanted to say something else, something that could alleviate his worries or soothe the tension he no doubt was feeling, but the truth wasn’t something that would help ease either of us. “But I won’t risk putting you, Holly, Nyla or any other Human or Demon in danger by seeking refuge with you.” A faint sting pricked my eyes and I fought to compose myself, not wanting to cry mere hours after clocking into work. “The Curse will latch on to those that spend too much time around me and the Detective together and that’s already placed Nyla and her boyfriend at risk. Not to mention the third partner and his wife and child who have nothing to do with this mess that’s mine, and mine alone to take care of.”

He complained and tried to convince me to move back in with him and Holly but I shut him down every time, returning his focus to the rest of his report and the other pieces of information that he managed to gather.

Thankfully, with a bit of cursing and grumbling from my big brother, we were able to press on with the other things he needed to report to me.

He had managed to confirm that my Aunt's husband, a member of the city’s School Board, and her two college attending daughters weren’t involved with the Hunters. And the names and aliases of a few of my Aunts friends were proven to be connected with the trade and movement of valuable information regarding Demons. This made me panic more than learning of my possible k********g, since Hunters would need to know information about Demons that could be easily killed without the notice of others. It was still against the treaty to openly support and hunt my kind even if most Humans look the other way. But selling information on Demons that could be easily separated, kidn*pped and disposed of was a punishable offense.

All we needed was hard proof of their involvement and a possible testimony from a victim or turncoat to imprison them all for years.

“Try to gather as much as you can to turn over to the authorities.” I told Nick, feeling a rush strike me as I thought of dealing a major blow to the Hunters that were actively killing my people. “Make sure to make copies for the Council as well.” This was necessary so the Humans in high positions don’t just brush off the evidence as nothing important. “Have those following my Aunt and cousin make the call if they can retrieve anything of value without their notice. But stress that their safety needs to be taken into account before they make a move.” I racked my brain a bit more, wondering if there was anything more I could have my people do before hanging up. “And make sure that our people check in on time too. I don’t want any of them to become targets of Hunters at any point at all, so if they think, for even a second, that they’ve been caught, call them in and replace them.”

“Yes, Matron.” Nick chanted back, sounding a bit more like himself before hanging up.

Once I set my phone aside, I looked closer at the emails I was sent, my already fried mind trying to figure out the coded message on my screen before I backed away from the brightlight.

I sat back a moment later thinking over everything I had just been told.

My Aunt, the last living connection I had to my mother, was now teaming up with Hunters to help rid the city she grew up in of the creatures she deemed unworthy of living. It wasn’t surprising to hear that she hated my kind this much, but whenever I thought about all of the things she said and how often she cursed my father, I question whether or not my mom would’ve had the same opinion, had she known the truth about my dad.

Would I have been born if he had told her the truth?

Would she have stayed if she knew?

Would they have even gotten together at all if my dad didn’t hide what he was from the world like most all Demons do?

Those thoughts took over me for a long moment as I blankly stared at nothing in my cramped little cave. But I shook myself free of those thoughts after a while and quickly shoved the new information I had just gained to the forefront of my mind so they would stay away.

I jotted things down that I needed to look into for the case before clearing my screen of my Matron tasks and leaving my office. Danny and Detective Izaak joined me from the little lounge area with cans of soda and chip bags in their hands, greeting me as we entered the team room. Inside Detective Marcus was on the phone pacing and running his hand through his hair, looking frustrated in his partially unbuttoned shirt that showed off a little more of his chest.

I quickly whirled around to face the board away from him and pretended to look over the minimal evidence we had on it, hating that I was having such a visceral reaction to him over a flash of skin.

“I’m pretty sure they’re all just f*****g with me.” He groaned, tossing his phone onto his desk as I turned to face them.

“Who is?” I asked, wondering if they had found something new in the case that could help us.

“We talked to some of the Demons again.” He began, pulling his seat back and plopping down. “The ones that had extended interactions with our Vic, and two of them were able to give us a bit more information about the guy after we asked if he had been seen with someone else that looked out of place.” I nodded along, making my way towards the open seats on the little couch by his desk. “But the last guy I just talked to said the same thing as the other one without any explanation at all… just a weird word that I’ve never heard before going mute or acting strange.” He shook his head and sighed, rubbing his eyes with his palms for a moment. “I was hoping you’d be able to make sense of it.”

His head rolled towards me before he pushed away from his desk, an expectant and almost eager look in his eyes while I flinched, struggling to look into those eyes of his without drowning. I ended up going mute myself and simply nodded, waiting for him to repeat the word he heard while I continued to hold his gaze.

The room grew heavy and warm while my body squirmed underneath the flood of emotions that he was showing in his eyes. I couldn’t deny that he was confused and curious about many things involving me. And I’d be stupid to deny that my behavior change after that kiss didn’t just add on to the mans questions about me. There was also the tiny little voice in my head that was wondering if he was feeling any of the effects of a Bond when I was around. I had been numbing my senses throughout my time at work so that I wouldn’t feel anything, but even with the weak potion drops I was taking in the morning, I could feel something whenever he’s around. And my body very obviously responded to his presence every single time too. Yet this man hadn’t stopped treating me like he had been before. In fact, it was almost like we hadn’t kissed at all and we were nothing more than coworkers that knew little about each other.

“It was a weird word.” He started calmly, finally breaking the hypnosis I was under and looking away from me. “I can’t really pronounce it without sounding stupid, so I had one of them spell it out.” He flipped through his notebook for a bit before finding the page and stretching it out to me.

I got up and took it, turning the little book around to read the word he had written in his bold cursive writing.

“The f**k?” Danny called out, seeing how I had jumped back and shoved the book away from me, clamming it onto the floor. “The word bite you or something?”

Panting, I glared at the notebook on the ground as I backed away, my body coiled and ready to fight as my Demonic Core reacted to me, pulsing just under the surface. I could feel my head entering a terrifying fog of nothing but bright crimson blood and my fingers tingle with the urge to strike at something to protect myself. When I finally tore my eyes away from the book on the floor I looked at the three Human men who were watching me cautiously, unsure of what to do. I reminded myself then that I was around Humans and nowhere near those vile creatures of darkness, shuddering as a faint memory flipped through my mind before I sucked in a deep breath.

“Carnicula…” I muttered, swallowing hard and clearing my throat as I continued calming myself. “It’s Latin for Flesh…” All three of them flinched, eyes widening a bit as I slowly sank into the loveseat behind me. “It’s a word Demons use when talking about the monsters that have turned their backs on their own kind.” I glared at the book again, feeling my rage ignite again. “The ones that have willingly let themselves be consumed by the Demonic Core within them…” My fists clenched and fought to take in a deep breath again. “Those that crave nothing but the suffering and demise of their own people…” Finally I looked up and locked eyes with each man in the room, wondering if they were ready to face monsters that even Demons were afraid of. “Flesh-Eaters.”