My eyes started to lazily open. A sharp pain stung my back, specifically near my shoulder blade. And the frantic thumping of whatever I was in or on wasn't helping.
I groaned, hoping someone would hear me.
"She's awake," a voice called.
Please don't be Angels, anything but Angels. A human girl appeared in front of me. I could deal with that, probably.
Something touched my back and I flinched. After spending a few years as an arms for hire, yes, a mercenary, being touched was a bit...horrifying, to put it nicely.
"Hey, you okay?" My eyes focused in on a girl who looked to be about my age. She had curly brown hair and bright blue glistening eyes. Her soft face gave you the idea of a perky personality, but, who knew. All humans were deceptive. Well, I was part demon, so I couldn't complain.
"No."
"Well, that's better than dead," a male voice chimed in.
"I'm not so sure," I replied.
I earned a small chuckle from a voice I'm sure I've heard before. Not being able to move was slightly irritating.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You don't remember?" Zero's voice asked from somewhere.
"No, I'm just asking for fun."
He let out a long, exaggerated sigh, making sure that I heard. "Well, you fought the Angels that attacked the town and won, obviously or you would've been dead. But, an Angel, with his final breath, shot you in the back with an arrow. I remembered them saying that they owed you one, so I tracked their scent and brought you to them."
"Hmm. Alright. Thanks for the help, we'll be going now." I pushed my body up, ignoring the throbbing pain in my back. How dare you betray me, body. We've been through so much together.
"Whoa," the girl said, pushing me down. Thank god I was wearing a shirt. "You're not going anywhere."
"Zero, attack, they're holding me captive."
"You're fine."
And now you're betraying me too? How dare you.
The carriage, cart, whatever we were in, stopped. The girl helped me sit up and kept me up with a hand on my back. Ouch. Well, at least now I could see my kidnappers.
The girl behind me and Peter, I think was his name, I'd already met, kind of. There were two other boys I'd never seen before. One of them, the one I'd almost killed in the small town, who looked like he was about eighteen. The other was a man who looked to be in his early twenties. He had sharp features that made his green eyes stand out, as well as light blond hair. And then, there was Zero. He just sat there, like a giant dog. Oh, wait, he was. Only, a dog with sharper fangs and claws. Not to mention that he was five times bigger.
"Right," Peter said, "like you know, I'm Peter. The one holding you up is Jessica. The kid's James, and the flirt's Luke."
"Hey!" Luke and James chimed together.
"Right, I'm Akira and that's Zero. Now, we'll be leaving."
Again, I attempted to move. I say, attempted. Along with being held down by Jessica, my body ached in protest.
"You're in no condition to move," Peter said. "Let us take care of you for a while." Wow, kind humans, that was a first for me. Anyone else?
"Look, you paid back you debt. You've done enough. Now, I'm leaving." Before I pull you guys into my danger.
"How about a deal?" James asked, a bright smile on his face.
"A deal?"
"In exchange for us taking care of your wounds, you can do something for us."
"Like what?"
"Well," Peter said, "I'm guessing you know a lot about Demon and Angel history."
"Why do you say that?"
"Your name."
"What does knowing about that stuff have to do with our deal?"
"In exchange for us taking care of you, you can teach us about Demons and Angels."
"Why in hell would you want to know anything like that?"
They exchanged worried glances with each other.
"What? I don't understand your secret language."
"See," Jessica started, "we're demon hunters."
Oh. Shit. "So?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, for demon hunters, we figured it'd be good to know about their background."
I looked at Zero and, before I could say anything, he spoke up. "We accept."
"Good."
"Wait, what?"
"Lay back down."
"I never agreed to this."
"Goodnight."