Lycan Blood (Alex Vane: Demon Stalker #1)

Late Night Talks

“Right, we should probably both share what we know about this werewolf then.”

“Of course,” he nodded, looking glad for my change of topic, “Well, I don’t know a lot admittedly. I know they’ll be in human form for about two more weeks and that they’re not afraid to kill people. Oh, and they’ll be wanting to make another kill soon. It’s been a while since they fed.”

“Agreed,” I sighed, “That’s basically all I know as well. Looks like we wasted a lot of time hunting each other. Although, I also know that the werewolf didn’t start hunting until after you and the other new kids arrived. That doesn’t mean it has to be a new person of course but it’s a place to start.”

“That seems like a good idea. We should check to see if there are any dead animals around. If the werewolf knows someone is on to it, then it might hunt near its home to keep a getaway near. We can target the new kids tomorrow. It’ll probably be easier if you take Jenna.” My heart sank. I’d almost forgotten about Jenna. Now Scott was cleared, that meant she was a suspect again. And just when I was beginning to think we might be friends.

“Yeah, Adam’s pretty scared of me anyway. He’d probably be more willing to talk to you.”

“Can you blame him? You’re a pretty scary girl.” He said it with a laugh but I think he was only half-joking. Not surprising really, considering I’d almost cut his heart out. It was a weird way to start a relationship.

We walked on for a bit in an easy silence, both of us clutching our weapons. I’d brought along my dagger as well as a handgun I had hidden in my pocket. Guns aren’t that effective against demons on the whole (mainly because you can’t cut someone’s head off with one) but I was confident it would do for tonight. It was doubtful we would encounter something. Anything the werewolf hadn’t scared off would have probably been driven out by the Bastet demon.

I shivered a little, gazing wistfully at the darkening sky. It was late autumn which unfortunately meant it was likely only going to get colder. Winter made my job easier in a way because I could start earlier without running the risk of being seen, but the freezing cold temperatures were definitely not fun and the forests always looked much worse. Every tree lost its soft green furnishings and grew claws, turning as unforgiving as the weather.

“So, how old were you when this all started then?” I jumped at the sound of Scott’s voice. So much for me mocking him earlier. I’d forgotten I wasn’t hunting alone. It should have been comforting but instead it made me anxious. I felt like I had two backs to watch.

“Nine.” I answered simply, bending down to check the ground. There were some feathers on the floor but it was probably nothing. After all, non-demonic creatures have to hunt too.

“Nine, really?” he let out a low whistle, “That’s rough. I was thirteen.” I tried to hide the intense jealousy his words awakened in me, but it wasn’t easy. He’d had four more years of normalcy than me.

“I thought most started earlier than that,” I shrugged, like it didn’t bother me in the slightest. Like those four years were nothing, “You can’t have had much experience then in three years.”

“Four years,” he grinned, “I'm seventeen. And I’ve had enough experience to kick your butt!” He sounded so indignant that I couldn’t help but smile. I got back to my feet, looking him straight in the eye.

“Oh really? Seems like I had you beat on Friday.”

“That was totally different,” he rolled his eyes, hitching up his crossbow. He kept his finger on the trigger the whole time, “You knew I was coming. I’m telling you, you should have seen me back home. That damn city got invaded almost every night and I’m still here.” He said it easily enough but his finger twitched slightly at the word ‘home’. It was painfully obvious he missed it.