Daegelus | Volume One: Subject 0333

Chapter Five | Bounty

He spun around, but then the sound came from his left. When he turned that way, though, they came from his right. He followed the sound, turning with it as it circled him.

But then he saw it. A pair of red eyes gleamed through the green liquid, and as the distorted beast grinned, baring a mouth full of sharp teeth, Elijah felt a cold hand grip his arm. He spun around to fight, but a man with no face snatched his throat—

Elijah opened his eyes again and shot up with a confused yell; his heart was racing, and his body was trembling. But he quickly realized that he was in the hotel room, and Zoe's voice echoed to his right.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He glanced over there and saw her and Jake gawping at him from her bed.

"Dude?" Jake questioned.

The demon snarled irritably and turned his back to them, sitting on the edge of the bed. For a moment, he'd forgotten those two idiots were with him.

"Is that a yes?" Zoe mumbled.

Elijah sighed and dragged his hands over his face. "I'm fine," he grumbled and looked at his leg. The wound had healed, leaving not even a trace of a scar. To his relief, his body had recovered, and he could feel his ethos again.

"I can get you some water or tea or something if you'd like," the girl offered.

"Or some booze," Jake added. "I could go for a drink right now."

"I don't think we should," she said sternly.

"How long was I asleep?" Elijah asked, looking around for a clock.

"About...three hours," Zoe said, glancing at her laptop.

It didn't feel like three hours. But now that he had recovered, it was time to get to work. He looked for his trousers, but they weren't on the floor with his shoes and socks. "Where are my trousers?"

"Oh, I tried to get the blood out of them while you were sleeping."

He looked over at the clothes rack she pointed to, and when he saw that they were still wet, he scowled irritably. "Why the hell would you do that?" he snapped.

She frowned at him. "Because there was blood on them. I can dry them with a hairdryer if the room came with one."

He wasn't going to sit around waiting for that. If Jake were the same size, he'd take his, but the guy was at least half a foot short than him. So, he got up and snatched the damp trousers. Then, he pulled them on and grimaced. He hated the feeling of tight, damp fabric against his skin.

"Uh...are you going somewhere?" Jake asked.

"Did I do something wrong?" Zoe called. "I was just trying to help."

Ignoring her, the demon got his socks on and then his shoes. He grabbed his coat, made sure his knife was in his pocket—it was the only weapon he had left other than his claws and strength—and then tucked his ammo tin under the blanket.

Elijah walked towards the door and put his jacket on. "Stay here."

Zoe frowned again. "Where are you going?"

"To get back as much of what I lost as I can," he grumbled, pulling the door open.

"We can go with—"

"No," he snarled, and then he pulled the door shut behind him. The last thing he needed was those two slowing him down even more than they already had.

Money and information weren't the only things he needed. Despite the fact that his body had recovered, he needed to make up for the energy that healing took from him. He could sit around and wait for the energy to regenerate on its own, but that would take several more hours. Why wait when he could get it back in almost an instant?