Blood Prize {Bloody Dance Series #1} BoyxBoy

FIVE

"Stop the car, we all need to talk." I could see Shu giving a quick nod of his head. A few minutes later he pulled off to the side of the road. We each stepped out of the car. I stood in front of our small group. This wouldn't be the first time that I knew things that no one else should.

"I had a vision." That was how I always explained these things away. "Kenji and Ban are with Maya." There was no need to sugar coat it or beat around the bush. Aya gasped stumbling back as if I told her they were in front of us.

I could smell her fear. It was sour with notes of earth tones. Was she scared of Ban or the thought that both of the demons were together? I knew it wasn't for Maya or Kenji. We've gone after Kenji and she was never so . . . scared before. Turning from Aya, Shu was my biggest worry. His answer was my answer.

"So we finally get a shot at him." His fingers were clenched into a fist. I inhaled a sharp breath before letting it out. I already knew what his answer was going to be. It didn't actually come as a shock to me. Still, I think a small part of me was hoping Shu would be smart about this.

"I'm in," Dante said, "taking on two of the greats. We'll go down in history if we pull this off." Was it sad that I didn't think we could pull this off? Maybe we could kill Kenji. I knew that if the other two weren't around Maya was as good as ours. Ban was the wild card. We couldn't beat him.

"Are you all crazy?!" Aya yelled drawing our attention to her. "It's the Great Demon Ban. He's with the Blood Demon. No one has ever beat either one of them alone. And you all want to take them on together. With a third demon in the mix. It's . . . It's suicidal." She was right, of course.

"Aya," Shu spoke her name as softly as he would have done Rai. "You're still young. No one is asking you to come. You have your whole life ahead of you. You have to decide what's best for you." If she chooses to come, her death will be on her. She needed to be willing to fight for her life. That was what being a Demon Hunter was about. Always fighting for your life.

"What about you, Zero?" I could feel their eyes on me. What about me? What would I do? What was my choice?

"I'm going with Shu. I'm going to meet Ban again." I couldn't avoid it. A part of me even looked forward to it. It's been a long time since I last saw Ban. Forty years was a long time to go without looking at someone. It was about time we met up again.

Aya made this defeated sound. She was pushing her fingers through her hair again. Her eyes were on me before she nodded her head. What did that suppose to mean? She was in?

"If Zero is brave enough I can be too." I shut my eyes against her words. She wasn't me. I had died already. I didn't have any reason to fear the death that Ban could give me. Aya just thought I was some brave kid. I wish I could tell her. I wish I could make her understand she shouldn't base her choices on me. I was so much more than she could comprehend.

It was night when we made it to Dragun. Standing in front of the trunk we checked our weapons. The club that Maya was inside was across the street from the parking lot. I could already see a line of men and women gathering, waiting to get in.

Carrying weapons into a club was common practice. There were dangerous people, dangerous monsters all around us. You were crazy if you didn't walk around with some kind of protection. I knew for a fact that most of the people in the line had weapons. Yet still we were all going into the wolf's den.

Three demons were inside waiting for their prey. I haven't seen them kill anyone yet though. I've kept my third eye open for the ride to Dragun. So far, Maya sang, Kenji spoke a few words. Ban didn't show his face. So what were they doing? We were about to find out.

Moving across the street we all fell in line with the others. At least an hour had passed before we were close enough to see the bouncer at the door. Standing outside of the line talking to the second bouncer was three people. I could . . . smell them. They smelled sweet, like flowers and . . . hope.

Two of them were males and then there was a woman. Even though the woman was pretty, it was the smallest of the group that drew my eyes to them. He was . . . beautiful. The kind of beauty that I've only seen in Ban before. Unlike Ban his beauty was bright; there wasn't any darkness inside of him.

Long strawberry blonde hair stopped at the center of his back. He was so tiny, petite even. When he turned, his eyes locked with mine. They were a soft blue color and I could see the power he held inside. It wasn't the elemental kind of magick like Aya, nor was the black magick demons possess.

This boy had the rarest of all magick. White magick meant that his soul was pure. That he was untouched but all things evil in this world. This boy had no sins, he was unblemished. A dark part of me wanted to taint his pureness. A darker part of me wanted to drink the sweet blood that rested in his veins.

When he looked at me, I felt something. Something inside of me called to him. Something inside of me knew him. That was . . . impossible. He didn't look older than fifteen, sixteen at the most. How could I know him? I was with Shu and his family for the last forty years. Turning away from him, I looked to the boy beside him.

This boy had blackish-blue hair. His eyes were a dark green. He was tall, built, maybe in his twenties. He was looking towards me as well. There was a frown on his face as he glared. Who were these people? They looked at me as if they knew my secret. Could they? Could they somehow guess that I was a demon? How?

Turning from the two boys my eyes shifted to the woman they were with. She seemed old enough to be both of their mothers. As pretty as she was she paled next to the pure boy. She was talking to the bouncer. Maybe trying to get the underaged kid inside of the club.

Why were they here? What were people like them doing here? Maybe they were Demon Hunters too. I could see the sword on the black-haired boy's hip. If you're going to wear a sword, you better know how to use it.

There was power inside of the woman as well. Element powers like Aya. I could smell the blue magick inside of her. Water base magick always smelled like the ocean. That was the scent that came from her.

"What's up?" Shu asked and I shook my head turning away from the group. I didn't know what to make of them. The best thing to do was to ignore them for now. If they didn't get in our way, then it didn't matter. Maybe if they were Demon Hunters having them in the club with us would improve our chances making it out alive.

"It's nothing," I told him. I could feel a nervous energy around Shu. This was his big moment. This was the closest that we've ever gotten to Kenji. "Don't forget your earplugs." I didn't want Shu to fall under any spell Maya was going to cast over the people inside.

"Don't forget yours either." I didn't need them. I outclassed Maya. I would still make a show of putting my earplugs in so Aya and Dante couldn't question it. I watched as Shu's eyes shifted around the crowd falling on the strange trio. I noticed a lot of people were looking at them. They had this pull about them. I was surprised that alone didn't win them a ticket inside of the club.

"Are you ready for this?" Shu asked me and I shook my head.

"We're about to take on three demons. Two of which are S class. Sure, what's not to be ready for." Could he hear the sarcasm in my voice?

"I wish we knew what they were planning." That would have been a lot of help. If we knew what they were planning then, we could come up with a plan as well.

"To do evil things," I offered. Shu gave me a look that said I was stupid. Of course, they were going to do evil things. They were demons after all. "No matter what they are planning we have to be smart about this, Shu. We can't let our emotions blind us." He couldn't see Kenji and attack without thought.

"I know," Shu said as the last set that was in front of us past into the club. Our turn was next. My eyes shifted to the odd group again. The woman was still talking to the bouncer. The two boys were looking at the crowd of people waiting in line. Once again, my eyes locked with blue ones.

"Zero, come on," Aya called me as she walked into the club after flashing a fake ID for the two of us. She grabbed my hand pulling me behind her as I kept looking at the pure boy. Who was he? What was he to be so . . . perfect?