1 | Gods & Monsters ✓

Chapter 1

This wasn't normal. There were twice as many demons than she predicted. But it'd be fine. She just needed to concentrate on getting inside. That was it. All those years of training would finally pay off. Gio would use his abilities and take care of the rest.

Thunder crashed closer, ten kilometers out. Tremors ran up her grip. Ava was surprised the skyscraper's windows remained intact after collapsing nearly a century ago. She had to be lucky. Let's just hope my luck hasn't run out.

Ava tapped her earphone. "Get ready."

Gio's wary voice came in so crystal clear, she heard his frown. "Hey, are we really going to do this?"

"When have we ever backed down from a mission because of some demons?"

"Some?" he scoffed. "I'm counting fifty-six. That's not just some, Ava—it's suicidal."

She wished he was standing next to her, so she could slap him on the arm and yank down on his messy bun. They didn't fear death. They didn't run from it. They faced it head on. Instead, she had to settle with glaring at him through the binoculars.

He was positioned on a short, stilted building. Flat roofline. With his tall frame, crouching did little to hide him from the demons, but that didn't stop him from returning Ava's glare. Sometimes she just wanted to pluck those blueberry eyes from his pretty face.

"Yesterday, you promised you'd help me," Ava said. "This is what we've been searching for. My birth record has to be in there."

He stayed silent.

"Gio, don't you dare back out on me now," she said, whispering, "I need your help. I'm so close to fixing myself."

"Dude, chill out. Of course I'll help you." A grin formed on his conniving lips. "I'm just saying that my pay's been raised from dinner to lunch."

He can't be serious.

"I thought the whole point of you being my second guardian was to have my back. Not force me to fill your stomach, Sloth."

"Then consider it part of my duty as your older brother, Pipsqueak."

Ava and Gio were only a month apart—since Ava was adopted. They'd been together since infancy. Yet even during the most critical times he never failed to remind her how he was older, thus somehow wiser. At this point there was no use arguing with him. Ava needed his help. No matter how stubborn he was being.

"Fine. You win," Ava said. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Rustling noise came over the connection as the slick sound of a sword rang in her ears. Gio began their lucky chant. "May the stars be on your back."

"And on your fight."

"And on your shoes, as you take flight."

"Let's kill us some demons."

Squinting her eyes, Ava focused on the creatures, waiting, watching for Gio to strike. Wolf demons stepped into the park, noses high in the air. Obsidian hair spiked, moving with their carnivorous growls. They found Ava and Gio's scent and howled.

This is it. Everything is riding on this mission.

It was nerve wracking, watching from the sidelines, but Ava would only be in the way. So she waited, prayed to the stars her brother lived another day. Ava blamed Primordial for the demons, though no one truly knew where they came from. They appeared one day, in the midst of Earth's final world war. Like an ultimate weapon, they unleashed themselves upon the human race and devoured every soul until the remaining humans fought back. Now they were just a pest, like a grub worm, destroying their crops one at a time.