Releasing the Hunter

Chapter 23

It didn’t take the demons long before they stormed the farmhouse. But like the cowards they were, they sent in their possessed counterparts. Regular people who had no clue what they were doing. Puppets for the demons to play with.

For the townspeople with Ivy, it was difficult for them to watch as their loved ones and neighbors sprang at them from the tall grass firing rifles or wielding pipes and bats that they would no doubt use to bash their heads in. So for that reason, Quinn had given every group tranquilizer guns as well as regular weapons.

At a distance it proved difficult to tell who was a demon and who was just possessed, so Ivy just started shooting everyone she could see with tranquilizer darts. One by one the attackers fell. They would be out for at least twelve hours, which would give Quinn time to go out and do a mass exorcism.

The first wave came and went, with about ten people charging toward the west corner where Ivy, Bill and a couple of others were stationed behind two beat-up pickup trucks. But she knew that was just the beginning. She knew an all-out offensive when she saw one, and this was it. The demons were sending out everything they had.

Ivy reloaded her shotgun and the tranquilizer, her heart sinking. She glanced at Bill. “We only have five darts left.”

He sighed. “What do you think we should do?”

“I don’t know. We can’t really start shooting townspeople. We could kill someone.”

“We need someone up front to take them out with a bat or something as they advance.”

She nodded. Made sense. Unless of course the possessed had a gun; a bat wasn’t going to stop the bullet.

“I’ll go,” Bill said.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I know these people. If I don’t recognize someone I’ll be more discerning.” He lifted his gun.

“Okay, good luck.”

With a nod to her and the other two, Bill slid around the side of one of the trucks, and then ran across the yard to a spot near the house behind some hay bales.

He got in position just in time for another wave of people to jump out of the tall grass and run screaming and grunting across the gravel driveway, brandishing all manner of weapons. Ivy picked up the tranquilizer and waited to see how Bill fared. If she needed to, she would put down anyone that got past him and hope for the best.

She held her breath as two men holding tire irons rushed toward Bill like madmen. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see foam spilling out between their lips. The looks in their eyes were ones of pure madness. As they approached, getting closer and closer, she picked up the dart gun and set her sights.

Then it all went wrong.

She lowered the dart gun and cursed up a storm. “Son of a bitch!”

“What?” The guy called Stewart or Chuck, she couldn’t really remember which, grabbed her arm. His eyes were as wide as dollar coins.

But she didn’t have time to answer him. She swatted his hand away, and then pushed him to the back of the truck. “Move.” He did, so did the other guy. They had no choice really, because she was forcing them forward.

“What’s going on?” the guy asked. “Did something happen to Bill?”

“Yeah, he switched sides.”

Both their mouths gaped.

Ivy ignored them and surveyed the situation. They had to move from their position or risk getting pinned down. She saw an outbuilding about ten yards to their right, but they had to cross the open yard to get there. It was a risk they had to take because staying where they were was going to get them killed.

She grabbed Stewart/Chuck by the shirt lapels. “Look, we need to cross the yard to that building. Can you do that?”

He nodded, but she still wasn’t sure he was listening. He had that glazed-over shiny look in his eyes. But she couldn’t wait to see if he truly got it or not. They had to move now.

“On my count.”

They both looked at her expectantly.

“One, two...”

Stewart/Chuck didn’t wait until three. He dashed across the yard. Sounds of gunfire exploded around them. And Stewart/Chuck went down. The other guy had been right behind him. Now he turned to dive back, but it was too late. He got nicked by a bullet in the leg and collapsed, grabbing at his knee and screaming wildly.

Ivy swore again, and was about to rush out and see if she could pull the injured man behind the truck, but the press of metal into the back of her head made her stop.

“Drop your weapons.” It was Bill behind her, stabbing the gun into her skull.

She tossed the shotgun down.

“And the tranq gun.”

She pulled that out of her waistband and tossed it to the ground. “You’re a traitor to your species, Bill. How does that feel?”

“You tell me. You’re the one sleeping with a cambion.” He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her to her feet.

It took everything she had not to turn around and jam her blade into his big gut. But she stayed still. She could feel the barrel of his gun quiver a little. Obviously, Bill wasn’t too sure about his convictions.

“He’s dead, by the way,” he said, as if she’d asked about the weather. “Had his neck slit down on Main Street. He thought he could take some of them out. But he was no match for them.”

She started to shake then. She bit down on her lip, trying hard not to scream, or rage, or turn around and scream in his face that he was a big fat liar. There was no way anyone had gotten the better of Ronan. She knew it in her heart. She wasn’t going to let anyone, especially not this traitorous piece of crap, tell her otherwise.

“What did the demons promise you to do this? To kill your own people?” she asked.

“Everything I want.”

She shook her head, still mindful of the gun pressed against it. “So you sold your soul for what, some money, a fast car, a hot vacation spot and some ass? Seems pretty lame to me.”

“Shut up!” He kicked her in the back of the knee, sending her to the ground. She landed on her hands. “Keep talking and I’ll put a bullet in your empty head.”

Ivy pushed up to her knees but kept her hands down on her thighs. She had a knife tucked into her boot. If she could get to it, she’d embed it into Bill’s femur. “Okay, Bill. No need to get angry. I’ll shut up.”

He grabbed her again, this time by the hair. He pulled her back up to her feet, keeping the gun pressed to her skull. He turned her around and marched her out into the main yard in front of the house where she knew Quinn had stationed himself.

There was a lot of commotion going on as he led her to the front. The others hadn’t seen Bill’s betrayal yet; they were still busy holding off their own sieges, manning their stations. Screams could be heard around them, and Ivy felt a bullet whiz by her left arm as they marched around the corner.

“Quinn!” Bill yelled. “Quinn, I have your sister!”

And just like that, all the commotion stopped. Bill had gotten everyone’s attention with that little piece of information.

He pushed her forward to face the house. “Quinn, I know you’re there. I know you can see her. If I don’t see you in five seconds I’m going to blow her pretty head apart.”

It was exactly four seconds before Quinn’s head popped up from behind the trellis on the roof of the house. Ivy was loath to admit that she breathed a little sigh of relief when she saw him.

“What do you want?” Quinn asked.

“Complete surrender.”

Quinn looked at her. Even from the distance she could see the pure agony on his face. The agony of the decision he had to make. “Ivy?”

She knew what he was asking. If she could take Bill out without getting killed in the process. She gauged the situation. The only weapon she had now was the blade in her boot. She’d used the others along the way. There was no way she could get to her weapon before Bill pulled the trigger. And even if she could somehow elbow him in the gut or take out his kneecap with a good kick, he’d likely mortally wound her even if it wasn’t a head shot.

If Ronan had been here, with his healing hands, she might’ve considered it. But as it was, she didn’t see a way out of this right now.

“No,” she finally said.

“No, what?” He knocked her in the head with his gun. “No, what, bitch?”

Quinn stood all the way. “You have my surrender.”

“I’ll believe you when I see you face-to-face without any weapons.”

“Fine. We’re coming down. No one do anything stupid.”

She knew he not only said that for Bill’s benefit but for the rest of the compound. She’d counted about ten weapons trained on her and Bill the second they’d stepped into the front yard.

About three minutes later, the front door opened and Quinn walked out, his hands out to the side, showing that they were empty. He came down the front-stoop steps.

“I’m unarmed.”

Bill snorted. “I highly doubt that, Strom, but as long as I have baby sister here, I know you won’t do anything dumb.” Then he put his fingers in his mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle.

Eight demons stepped out of the tall grass and shadows surrounding the compound and walked into view. They were all smiles. One of them, a redheaded woman, stepped up next to Ivy. She ran her hand down Ivy’s arm.

“Two Stroms for the price of one.” She laughed. “It’s a great day.”