Releasing the Hunter

Chapter 20

The two human gunmen blindfolded Ivy and Ronan, stuffed them into the back of a car and drove them to their camp. Ivy wondered if that was where Quinn was. She imagined if there was a leader running this show it would definitely be him. That’s why she had used his name as a stalling method. It had obviously worked like a charm.

After about a ten-minute drive, a long time for such a small town, the vehicle came to a stop. She figured they were then just outside the town limits. The car doors opened and they were pulled out and pushed down a path of some sort, up four stairs and through a door. Ivy heard it shut behind them. Then they were ushered—she could sense Ronan with her still—across a floor and down a set of stairs to a basement, she assumed. Once there, they were shoved into hard wooden chairs and their blindfolds were tugged off.

She was right; they were in a basement of some older house, surrounded by about ten men and women, all with weapons trained on her and Ronan. She sniffed. Mildew, sweat and fear tainted the air. It was an old house filled with frightened people. She wondered how long they’d been holed up like this. Then she looked down and saw her chair was smack dab in the middle of a devil’s trap. She glanced over at Ronan and saw the same thing.

He lifted an eyebrow and a shoulder in response.

Another man stepped forward. He looked to be around thirty—dirty, sweaty and tired. There was a fresh bandage around his hand. “Who are you? And what are you doing in Sumner?”

“I’ll only talk to the man in charge,” Ivy said, looking around at the faces glaring at them.

“I am in charge,” he retorted with a sniff.

She shook her head. “No, you’re not. Quinn Strom is here somewhere. This totally looks like his operation.”

“Perceptive, as always, I see.”

The deep masculine voice came from behind her but she would know it anywhere. She sighed, then gave a little chuckle. “Enough to know that you haven’t had a bath in, say, over a week.”

Quinn came around her chair, stepping into her view. He looked the same. His hair was a little longer, flecked with a little gray at the sides. Dark stubble lined his pointy jaw. She wanted to punch that jaw.

“Hello, sis.”

“Quinn.” She gestured to the people with guns pointing at her. “Is this how you treat the last of your family?”

“When they could be possessed by demons, sure is.” He glanced at Ronan. And Ivy could see his amulet flare to life. Instantly, he drew his own weapon, cocked it.

“Don’t!” she yelled. “Don’t splatter him all over the place.”

Quinn looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Why, is he your demon lover?”

She saw Ronan bristle at that.

“He’s not full-blooded. He’s a cambion. Turned against his will.” She reached out a hand. “Just give us holy water to drink, jerk, so we can prove who we are and be done with this bullshit.”

Quinn nodded to the woman on his right. She rushed over and handed an open bottle of water to Ivy. She snatched it from the woman’s hand, tipped it and chugged half the bottle. She was definitely thirsty, and holy water or not, it hit the spot. After she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, she handed it back to the woman.

“There. You see. I’m not possessed.”

Quinn didn’t say anything, just nodded at the woman again. When she approached Ronan she was much more cautious. Afraid looking, even. Her hand shook as she handed it to him.

Ronan took the bottle, and after giving a cheers to Quinn, he chugged down the rest. He burped, wiped his mouth and tossed the bottle onto the floor. “Satisfied, big guy?”

“No, but I guess it proves you aren’t a demon. Doesn’t mean I can trust you.”

“He’s with me, so you can trust him,” Ivy said.

Quinn nodded to his men, who all lowered their weapons. He then turned to look at Ivy. “Nice to see you, Ivy.”

She jumped to her feet, crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back, tight. The familiar scent of him filled her nose and she sighed again.

When they broke apart, she took a step back, and fisting her hand, she punched him in the jaw. He stumbled back and, rubbing his face, he laughed. “Not bad. You’ve gotten stronger.”

“You’re an asshole.”

Once he recovered, he eyed her sharply. “Why are you here? How did you find me?”

“I came to bring you home, jackass.”

He glanced at Ronan. “So are you going to enlighten me on who this guy is and why you are running around with a cambion?”

“It’s a long story and frankly doesn’t matter. The fact is, I’ve been looking for you for the past three years and now I’ve found you.”

Quinn shook his head. “Yeah. I didn’t think you would.”

“You’re my brother, idiot. Of course I’m going to try to find you.”

“Didn’t you get my note?”

“Oh, you mean the one that said ‘Don’t try and find me’?” She snorted. “I saw it and tossed it away. Did you really think I would listen?”

He chuckled. “I suppose I should’ve known better.”

“Yeah, duh.”

Quinn’s gaze roamed over Ronan again. And he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I just have a real hard time accepting that you are running with this guy. I thought you hated demons like the rest of us.”

Ivy glanced over her shoulder at Ronan. He was leaning back in his chair, all casual-like. But she knew he was primed and ready to act at a nanosecond’s notice. He’d defend himself vigorously if attacked. She really didn’t want to be mopping up both his and her brother’s blood.

“I do hate demons. But Ronan isn’t one. So get that through your thick skull.”

“I’m just remembering the last time you brought a guy home, he turned out to be a demon.”

She glared at him. “Oh, grow up, Quinn. I was sixteen then.”

“What was his name again?”

“Nick,” she bit out between clenched teeth. “And you solved the problem, Quinn, you saw right through him and splattered him into a billion pieces in front of me. So what, that makes you a big hero, huh?”

She hated remembering that night. It was a turning point for her. The night she’d promised herself never to get involved with another guy. They could hurt you in more ways than one if they got too close. She’d learned that in all kinds of hard ways that night.

Just one more reason why building a relationship with Ronan was impossible. In the back of her mind, she’d always be afraid that Quinn would splatter him all over the room just as he did to her last serious boyfriend who turned out to be a demon.

“Besides, I’m not dating Ronan. He’s my business partner. It’s a completely different set of circumstances.”

She could see Ronan tense in his chair, but she didn’t want to face him. Not yet. Not now. She had to make sure her stupid brother didn’t kill him or something equally as inane.

Quinn laughed, then put his hands up. “Okay, okay. You don’t have to get nasty.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen nasty. I’ve taken nasty to a whole new level during the past three years.”

Quinn lost his indignant smile, and then ran a hand over his face. He looked tired, she thought. Worn out. Again she wondered how long they’d been hunkered down in this fight.

“Yeah, well, I guess a lot has changed, hasn’t it?”

She nodded. “Yup.” But the fight had drained out of her. She no longer wanted to beat the crap out of him for leaving her. Well, maybe still a little. She just wanted to know if he was all right, and how she could help him.

“Can I get up now?” Ronan asked.

Quinn nodded. “I guess, but I still don’t trust you, so don’t be doing anything stupid.”

Ronan stood. “Fair enough.” He came up along Ivy’s side. She wanted to lean into him, but with her brother still eyeing Ronan and her, she refrained and kept her feet in place.

“So what the hell is going on around here?” she asked. “Looks like a war zone out there.”

“It is,” Quinn answered.

“When did this all happen?”

He sighed, and then rested a hip up against a wood table along one wall. “About three days ago.”

Ivy flinched at that and glanced at Ronan. Three days ago she had just met Ronan in the dark back alley. The cambion didn’t meet her gaze; he kept his eyes on Quinn.

“How did it start?”

“Some people started going bat-shit crazy.” Quinn nodded toward the woman that had given them the water. “Started with Julie’s husband. He drove his truck into the police station and shot Sheriff Newman. Deputy Bradford shot and killed him.” He sighed again. “Julie came to me about it, and I went and looked at the body in the morgue. Saw evidence of possession.”

Julie started to cry. One of the other men hugged her close and patted her on the back.

“It escalated in a hurry.”

“We saw three demons earlier,” Ronan said.

Quinn nodded. “I’d say there are at least ten in town. Maybe more.”

“Why here?” Ivy asked, but she had a feeling she already knew the answer and was looking at it in his familiar face.

He shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

“Okay, I’ll make it easy for you,” she said. “Why are you here? What made you come to this town of all places?”

He didn’t answer at first, but shuffled his shoe on the floor. “I made a promise to Dad.”

“What?” That was the last thing Ivy expected to hear. “What promise?”

“That I would take care of things when he was gone.”

“Yeah, so? What needed to be taken care of here?”

Another woman stepped forward. She was older, in her fifties for sure, with a tanned face. Her dark hair was lined with gray and pulled back into a severe ponytail. “Me.”

Ivy swung around toward her. “And who are you?”

Quinn looked at them both sheepishly. “Ivy, this is Gloria. Gloria was Dad’s...”

“Mistress,” Ivy finished for him. “Yeah, I get it. And?”

Gloria’s eyes widened with surprise, and maybe hurt, but Ivy didn’t care. She didn’t have time to coddle anyone. They were all grown-ups, weren’t they?

“And Dad asked me to take care of her if anything happened to her.”

“So what happened?”

“I got cancer. The bad kind,” Gloria answered, her voice a bit gravelly. “So Quinn came to take care of me. Doctors said I only had a year, but I’m still here.”

Ronan put a hand on Ivy’s shoulder. Her first instinct was to shrug it off, but she didn’t. She liked that he’d offered it in support. As a way to lean on him.

Closing her eyes, she sighed, and then opened them. “I’m sorry for your trouble. I meant no offense.”

Gloria gave her a little smile. “None taken. I know this is a bit of a shock for you.”

“But it still doesn’t answer the question of why all the demon activity.”

Ronan squeezed her shoulder, then answered, “It’s because of the key.”

Quinn looked authentically surprised. “What key?”

“You know what I’m talking about.” Ronan met her brother’s gaze head-on as Quinn pushed off the table. She could feel the testosterone filling the room like a bad smell.

“Look, why don’t the three of us go somewhere private and talk about this?” she suggested.

The frantic pounding of feet on the stairs interrupted them. A young scruffy-looking girl burst into the room. “Quinn, we need you down at checkpoint two.”

Quinn sighed, then rubbed his face with both hands. “Okay, I’m coming.” He looked at Ivy. “Why don’t you get cleaned up?” He glanced at Ronan’s bloody, wounded shoulder. “Take care of your guy here. And we’ll talk when I get back.” He headed for the stairs. “Bill, make sure they get some food, water and whatever else they need.”

“Quinn, this is important,” Ivy stated.

“So is keeping these people safe.” He put a foot up on the first step. “Our conversation will keep for a couple of hours, I’m sure.”

She watched him ascend the stairs, followed by almost everyone in the basement. Except for Gloria and the gunman named Bill.

Bill nodded to them. “Come with me and I’ll find you some quarters and some food.”

Ivy followed Bill up the stairs, Ronan right behind her.