Releasing the Hunter

Chapter 15

The sun was low in the sky as Ivy took the ramp from the I-80 E onto the I-5 N. They were almost four hours out of San Francisco and heading into Oregon. The trip so far had been quiet. Neither of them had really spoken much. Although deep down, Ivy had a ton to say. She just didn’t know what words to put together.

Something had definitely changed between them. Twice. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about any of it.

Best to keep her true thoughts to herself. Once they found Quinn, Ronan would get what he wanted and disappear. She had no doubt about that. Besides, it was best for everyone if he did. It wasn’t as if they were going to become friends, or partners, or...

Best to let it go. Best to let him go.

Seeing Jake’s reaction to Ronan’s presence made it clear to Ivy that her and Ronan’s liaison would not go unnoticed. And that the hunting community might not be so accepting of it. A community that she’d been part of since she took her first steps and spoke her first word.

Which just happened to be demon.

Mind made up, she drove in silence, every now and then changing the radio station to get something decent to listen to. Thankfully, that was one thing she and Ronan had in common, an eclectic taste in music from Motown to Metallica.

“Do you want me to drive?” Ronan asked. “You can catch some sleep. You look like you’re going to hit your forehead on the wheel any second.”

“No, I’m not.” She yawned. Then rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She pulled over onto the shoulder and parked the truck.

There was virtually no traffic on the road. She opened her door and jumped out to come around as Ronan just slid across the seat. Once she was back in, she fastened her seat belt and balled up her black hoodie. She crammed it in against the side window and leaned her head against it. “Wake me in a few hours to switch back.”

Ronan put the truck in Drive and pulled back onto the road. Ivy closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. She was usually pretty good about sleeping in various spots, having been on the road all her life. She could basically put her head down anywhere she felt safe and fall asleep.

And she was just about asleep when Ronan yanked the truck to the shoulder and squealed to a stop.

Her eyes flashed open. “What the hell?”

“Get out of the truck!” he shouted, just as he flung open the driver’s door and jumped out.

“What...” Then she saw the look in his eyes and remembered the incident in her garage. Without another word, she threw open her door and jumped out. She grabbed her bag from behind the seat just as Ronan was tossing their gear out from the bed of the truck.

“Take what you can and run!”

He snatched up as much he could. She helped him with the rest and they ran out into an open field. Ivy jammed her foot between two large rocks and took a hard spill to the ground. Ronan stopped and turned, running to her even as she scrambled to her feet. But her left ankle had taken a twist and couldn’t support her full weight.

“Go. I’ll follow,” she grunted as she tried to put pressure on her foot, wincing as the pain zipped up her leg like electricity.

Ronan dumped his personal bag and picked her up without any effort. He started to run with her in his arms.

“Don’t be stupid. You can’t—”

But her words were drowned out by the deafening boom of the truck exploding behind them. The force of the blast blew them forward. Ronan lost his footing and they both met the ground hard.

The heat wave blasted over them. Ivy could hear the sizzle of the ends of her hair burning. Before she pushed to her feet, Ronan patted at her head to stop the sizzle from turning into more. Then he was beside her, also getting to his feet, his arm around her, helping her. Once up, they grabbed their bags and continued running from the explosion.

Ivy looked back once over her shoulder. Her truck was completely engulfed in flames. It wasn’t the normal orange-and-red fire but had the green tinge of hellfire. Again, someone had tried to kill her and Ronan. And would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for Ronan’s keen ability to sense it coming mere seconds before it did.

“We need to get out of here before the cops show up.” Ronan gestured toward a copse of trees in the distance. “We can make it if we run.”

Ivy tested her ankle. It was definitely sprained. Possibly broken after her second spill to the ground. “Maybe if you carried all the gear. I could keep up.”

“I could carry you.”

She shook her head; sweat from the heat blast and from the pain swimming through her skull flicked off her forehead. “I can do it.”

He stared at her for a moment, searching her face, and then nodded. “Okay.” He took the bags from her and wrapped the straps around his shoulders so he could carry them on his back. Then he hefted the others over his shoulders and started to run toward the trees.

Ivy followed him. At first, she put her full weight on both feet. Pure agony seared her calves and shins and thighs every time she took a step. It felt like her flesh was on fire underneath her skin. Gritting her teeth and digging her nails into her palms, she put her head down and plowed forward. Sweat dripped from her face and soaked her armpits. The back of her T-shirt was plastered to her skin by the time she was halfway to the trees. She could see that Ronan had already made it.

Determined not to fail, she pressed on, putting one foot in front of the other. But she was putting less pressure on her left foot. She couldn’t help it. Her brain was succumbing to the pain she inflicted on it with her foolish running. It was fighting against her.

She could hear the high-pitched whine of sirens in the background. She imagined she would probably be able to see the red-and-blue lights down the highway if she turned and looked over her shoulder. But she continued on. She had to get to the trees before anyone spotted her. It was twilight and she was wearing black, so it would be harder to spot her in the field, but she knew some state troopers had sharp eyes.

Tears streaked her cheeks. She couldn’t keep them from rolling from her eyes. The pain was like a part of her now. A constant throb that seemed to ignite every part of her body. To endure much more, she felt like she might puke. She wiped at the sweat trickling into her eyes and kept on moving. She focused on the first tree in the copse. That was all she could see as she limped along the field.

Then she was floating. The pressure on her ankle disappeared, sweet relief spilled over her body and she sighed. Wiping at her eyes, she realized that she wasn’t floating but that Ronan had swept her up and was running full speed.

She didn’t argue this time. Instead she wrapped her arm around his neck and let him do what needed to be done despite her stubbornness. Within another minute they were well hidden inside the clump of trees.

He carefully set her down on a sizeable boulder. “Let me look at it.”

She shook her head. “Wait until we’re somewhere safer.”

“Ivy, you can’t even walk on it. It needs to be looked at right now or we won’t be able to get somewhere safer.”

Resigned, she huffed, “Fine.”

Ronan knelt down in front of her and unlaced her army boot. She had to grit her teeth as he pulled it off. Once it was gone, more relief set in. But then she looked down. Her white sock was bloodied.

She cursed under her breath.

So did Ronan as he peeled the sock down. He winced when it was almost off. “Your bone is broken.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure, because a piece of it is sticking out of your skin.”

She cursed again, louder this time. She’d known the second she saw the blood on her sock. A person didn’t bleed from a simple sprain or break. Only if the skin broke.

“I can fix it, but I need room to work, and you’ll need to lie down.”

“How can you fix it?”

He rubbed his hands together as if they were cold and he was warming them up. After a second or two, a light blue glow emitted from between his palms. Her eyes widened.

He stopped rubbing and set them to his sides. “More of my awesome demon powers.”

She heard the sarcasm in his voice, but if he could heal her with just his hands, she thought his demon powers were, in fact, quite awesome. He’d already used them to save her life, not once but twice. He had no idea how some people would kill to have amazing powers like that. The power to save lives. But she kept those thoughts to herself, knowing he wouldn’t appreciate them. He loathed himself too much to see the good inside.

She nodded. “Okay. Where to, then?”

He stood and gestured to the north. “I saw a farmhouse just past these trees. We can try there.”

“What if it’s occupied?”

“Then you can use that winning personality of yours to charm them into letting us stay the night.” He picked up one of the bags. “I can carry you to the bushes along the driveway, check out the situation then come back for the bags.”

She wanted to argue, wanted to refuse, but she was realistic enough to admit that she couldn’t walk on her ankle at all. She nodded, and he bent down and scooped her up again.

She put her arm around his neck as he walked her out of the trees and over a field to the farmhouse in the near distance. From this close proximity she could clearly see the dark gray flecks in his stunning eyes. His eyes never failed to make the little hairs on her arms sway to attention. She loved it when he set his gaze on her, studying her. It made her insides pulse pleasantly.

It didn’t take him long to reach the row of high bushes that lined the driveway up to the farmhouse. He set her down gently, then crouched beside her to observe the house.

It looked to be over sixty years old, with fading wood along the side, once white, now gray with age. The shingles on the roof were curled and flaking as if they’d seen many hailstorms over the vast years. The front had a veranda, and there was an old rocking chair out front. The house was right out of a forgotten era.

“There are no vehicles in the yard.” He squinted in the waning light. “No lights on, either.”

“There could be a garage around back, and they could be an old couple who went to bed early.”

“It’s our best bet.” He looked around the area. “And frankly our only option right now.”

She nodded. She knew he was right.

“Hang tight. I’ll get the gear, then I’ll give the house a closer look.” Then he was off running back to the trees.

Ivy shuffled a little on her behind, trying to get more comfortable. Her ankle felt like it was on fire. She’d had plenty of injuries over the years. A person didn’t hunt demons and expect to walk away unscathed. But she’d never broken a bone before. She’d been cut, slashed, stabbed once in the hand, burned, beaten and nearly had her head smashed in by an explosive wrath demon with a hammer. All those things had hurt like hell, but this pain shooting up her leg was something else altogether.

Gritting her teeth, she turned slightly so she could study the farmhouse. It didn’t look occupied at the moment, but that didn’t mean the owners couldn’t return soon. She’d really hate to be caught inside when they did. It wasn’t that she was opposed to breaking and entering; heck, she’d committed a long list of unlawful offenses that would likely see her in jail for years. She just didn’t want to hurt anyone else if she didn’t have to. Civilians always ended up getting in the way, and despite her hard-assed reputation, she didn’t like to see innocents suffer needlessly. Contrary to what everyone thought of her, she did possess a heart.

Ronan was back next to her, setting down the gear. He searched her face. “Are you doing okay?”

“I’ll live.”

“I’ll do a recon on the house then come back for you.” Then he was gone again.

She watched him as he approached the house. He was fast but cautious, always careful to stay hidden in the darkest shadows. He would’ve made a good hunter, she thought. He was smart, strong, patient and quick on his feet. And as she was discovering, so much more than that.

It was these other qualities—compassion, protectiveness and the intense way he looked at her—that she noticed about him and it troubled her.

At first, she’d seen nothing but the demon inside Ronan, but now all she could focus on was the man simmering inside. He was a man she knew her dad would’ve respected, and that was saying something. Her dad hadn’t valued many, and he called even fewer friends.

And maybe, just maybe, he might’ve given his blessing about their...

Relationship?

She shook her head to clear it. She must’ve been in more pain than she thought if she was labeling her and Ronan’s combative yet passionate back-and-forth a relationship.

But if not one, what the hell were they doing?