show.
Right?” I looked to Lucas and Nicholas for confirmation.
Lucas shrugged. “Sometimes you hear the current ruler referred to as the
devil, but it’s usually just demons who’ve managed to gain control; it’s not a
red guy with horns and a pitchfork.” Lucas and Nicholas started laughing.
“I thought Magnus was king of Hell?” Lucas questioned Nicholas.
“He was, right up until Aurora died,” Nicholas said.
“What have I got to do with Hell?” I whispered. This didn’t sound good.
“Leon had been trying to overtake Hell for years. He went to a
soothsayer, asked her to look into the future and see if Leon ever became the
ruler of Hell. The soothsayer told him that his future could go two ways. There
was a sixteen year old girl he had to kill in order to take over Hell; if he
didn’t kill her, he was going to die.”
“What?” I shrieked, finally losing my cool.
“Wait.” Lucas looked confused. “The soothsayer said Leon was going to die ? Have I missed something? Demons
can’t be killed; that’s why we send them to Hell.”
“That was my response,” Nicholas said. “Lucky for me, this demon was
loose-lipped. He told me everything he
knew, and it was quite enlightening.”
I was perched on the edge of the couch, my hands gripping the cushion so tightly
that I thought I might poke a hole in the fabric with my nails. How is my future wrapped up with Leon? I
wasn’t a bad person before I died. I didn’t even know supernatural creatures
existed back then.
Nicholas was speaking again. I willed my mind to stop spinning and focus
on his words.
“He said, according to the soothsayer, this girl was going to become a
hunter. But not just any regular old hunter. Of
course, the demons on earth hate hunters because they don’t want to go back to
Hell, but the ones already in Hell don’t particularly care one way or another.”
“What was so special about this hunter, the demon told me, was that she
had a way to kill demons ,” Nicholas
continued. “As in, she was going to make the demon population extinct. No
demons on earth. No demons in Hell. So it wasn’t just Leon she was going to
kill, it was all demons.”
Chapter 18
Everyone was looking at me. Trying to gauge my reaction to Nicholas’
announcement that I was going to exterminate the demon population.
“Are you okay?” Henry asked. He reached out to touch my arm, to comfort
me.
But I didn’t need comforting. I had never heard anything so insane in my
life!
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could start talking, I dissolved
into laughter. I pitched forward, placing my head on my knees, and laughed so
hard that my whole body was shaking. Surely I had heard Nicholas wrong. Or the
demon gave him bad information.
I could have laughed all evening – literally – considering a person who
doesn’t breathe also doesn’t have to stop to gasp for air.
Forcing myself to sit upright, I tried desperately to gain control. I
didn’t need everyone deciding that I’d finally lost my mind from the stress of
everything. I looked around the room. There was a sea of faces staring at me
with worried frowns.
Just their expressions alone almost sent me back over the edge, but I
managed to only let out a few giggles before I clamped my hand over my mouth.
Lucas was the first to speak. “I could understand you having a strong
reaction to Nicholas’ news, but I didn’t think you’d find it quite so funny.”
“Don’t you find it hilarious?” I asked. “I can’t believe I’m the only one
laughing here! Do you realize how utterly ridiculous this is? Someone’s lying –
or they got their facts confused and killed the wrong person. I was a normal
sixteen-year-old girl, for Christ’s sake. I didn’t even know hunters existed.
How, pray tell, was I going to make a leap to demon killer ? Something normal hunters haven’t even figured out!”
“I think she’s going through the first stage of grief – denial,” I
Right?” I looked to Lucas and Nicholas for confirmation.
Lucas shrugged. “Sometimes you hear the current ruler referred to as the
devil, but it’s usually just demons who’ve managed to gain control; it’s not a
red guy with horns and a pitchfork.” Lucas and Nicholas started laughing.
“I thought Magnus was king of Hell?” Lucas questioned Nicholas.
“He was, right up until Aurora died,” Nicholas said.
“What have I got to do with Hell?” I whispered. This didn’t sound good.
“Leon had been trying to overtake Hell for years. He went to a
soothsayer, asked her to look into the future and see if Leon ever became the
ruler of Hell. The soothsayer told him that his future could go two ways. There
was a sixteen year old girl he had to kill in order to take over Hell; if he
didn’t kill her, he was going to die.”
“What?” I shrieked, finally losing my cool.
“Wait.” Lucas looked confused. “The soothsayer said Leon was going to die ? Have I missed something? Demons
can’t be killed; that’s why we send them to Hell.”
“That was my response,” Nicholas said. “Lucky for me, this demon was
loose-lipped. He told me everything he
knew, and it was quite enlightening.”
I was perched on the edge of the couch, my hands gripping the cushion so tightly
that I thought I might poke a hole in the fabric with my nails. How is my future wrapped up with Leon? I
wasn’t a bad person before I died. I didn’t even know supernatural creatures
existed back then.
Nicholas was speaking again. I willed my mind to stop spinning and focus
on his words.
“He said, according to the soothsayer, this girl was going to become a
hunter. But not just any regular old hunter. Of
course, the demons on earth hate hunters because they don’t want to go back to
Hell, but the ones already in Hell don’t particularly care one way or another.”
“What was so special about this hunter, the demon told me, was that she
had a way to kill demons ,” Nicholas
continued. “As in, she was going to make the demon population extinct. No
demons on earth. No demons in Hell. So it wasn’t just Leon she was going to
kill, it was all demons.”
Chapter 18
Everyone was looking at me. Trying to gauge my reaction to Nicholas’
announcement that I was going to exterminate the demon population.
“Are you okay?” Henry asked. He reached out to touch my arm, to comfort
me.
But I didn’t need comforting. I had never heard anything so insane in my
life!
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could start talking, I dissolved
into laughter. I pitched forward, placing my head on my knees, and laughed so
hard that my whole body was shaking. Surely I had heard Nicholas wrong. Or the
demon gave him bad information.
I could have laughed all evening – literally – considering a person who
doesn’t breathe also doesn’t have to stop to gasp for air.
Forcing myself to sit upright, I tried desperately to gain control. I
didn’t need everyone deciding that I’d finally lost my mind from the stress of
everything. I looked around the room. There was a sea of faces staring at me
with worried frowns.
Just their expressions alone almost sent me back over the edge, but I
managed to only let out a few giggles before I clamped my hand over my mouth.
Lucas was the first to speak. “I could understand you having a strong
reaction to Nicholas’ news, but I didn’t think you’d find it quite so funny.”
“Don’t you find it hilarious?” I asked. “I can’t believe I’m the only one
laughing here! Do you realize how utterly ridiculous this is? Someone’s lying –
or they got their facts confused and killed the wrong person. I was a normal
sixteen-year-old girl, for Christ’s sake. I didn’t even know hunters existed.
How, pray tell, was I going to make a leap to demon killer ? Something normal hunters haven’t even figured out!”
“I think she’s going through the first stage of grief – denial,” I
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