September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)

My skin crawled. An unsettling sensation followed.

My hand kept going to the hilt of the Dragon Claw where it sat securely in its sheath against my hip. A long leather jacket kept it hidden. The curved blade was longer than my forearm. It wasn’t an easy weapon to conceal.

“Let’s keep going. We’ve got this.” I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other. Taking deep breaths helped to clear my head and combat the seed of fear that had sprouted. Too many things feed off fear. The only time fear was useful was if it aided one in staying alive. Most of the time it just got one killed.

The large red-brick building stood ahead in the distance looking a little like Hogwarts. The windows were dark. A fence surrounded the property, but it posed no real obstacle to anyone attempting to enter.

I grew uneasy as we went. Projecting an energy circle around the two of us took effort. The closer we drew to the old school, the stronger my certainty that we were sneaking up on something very evil. We reached the edge of the school property and stopped. Whatever it was, it was in there. Somewhere.

“Well, look on the bright side. At least it’s a break from vampires, right? You could use a break.” Jez didn’t sound convinced.

“Can’t argue there.” We crossed the small soccer field separating us from the front door.

Jez followed close but far enough to watch my back while I checked out the door. The locks were old, and the security system, non-existent. Manipulating the lock was unnecessary; the door swung open with a loud, horror movie-style creak. Fabulous.

Right away the scent of blood slapped me. The smears inside the entryway were fresh. Very fresh.

Together we entered, slowly, wary of making our target aware of our presence. I did my best to cloak our energy, but it was never a guarantee. Still, I preferred to have the element of surprise on my side.

The ceiling was high, filled with shadows that even my wolf eyes couldn’t completely penetrate. Paranoia gripped me. What if something was watching us from up there while we had no idea?

I had to give myself a shake to clear my head of such thoughts. Having little choice but to follow the trail of blood, I proceeded inside with Jez hot on my heels.

“You have to admit,” she whispered, her voice breathy. “This is pretty damn exhilarating.”

“I’ll admit that when we walk out of here alive.”

The trail led us down a long corridor, past classrooms, to a stairway. It smelled funny, kind of musty and dirty with the telltale scent of demon. More sulfur.

My hand automatically went to the cross around my neck. It was silver and very old, a birthday gift from Kale a few months ago. I didn’t like to take it out of my house much, preferring to keep it safe. Still, I had started wearing it on occasion and especially when I knew I’d be seeing Shya. It really pissed him off, and I loved that. It lay beside the black onyx amulet I now wore all the time.

I mouthed the word ‘demon’ to Jez who nodded and twirled her dagger again. This time she fumbled, and it hit the floor with a loud clatter. I sucked in my breath and waited for the target to find us first.

“Shit,” Jez hissed, her face scrunched up in mortification. The sound of the dagger slapping the hard floor had been loud. It had definitely announced our presence to anything that might have not yet been aware of us.

When nothing leaped out of the shadows, I continued on.

We followed the staircase to the second floor, suspicious that nothing had come at us. The thought did cross my mind that perhaps we should turn back. I was a big bad in the world of vamps and shifters, but as far as demons went, I was nothing. Something kept me moving. I’d like to think it was more than sheer morbid curiosity.

The second floor was also composed mostly of classrooms. The scent of blood grew stronger. For just a moment, the bloodlust threatened to rise. I fought it back, refusing to be made a slave when clearly somebody had just been killed here.

That’s when the noise started. A scraping, like a chair across the floor. It came from the far end of the hall.

I drew the Dragon Claw slowly to avoid the lovely metallic sound of a fast draw. It hummed happily in my hand. The large, slightly curved blade shone despite the dim lighting. It was hungry for blood.

We moved a little faster, approaching the noise before I could change my mind. Turning into the last classroom, we came face to face with the creature. A full on shriek spilled from me, echoing in the silence. Jez gasped and gave a shout. Unable to blink or breathe, I stared at the demon, dumbstruck.