HELLSPAWN HUNTER

Chapter 4

# HELLSPAWN HUNTER

## Chapter 4: Smoke and Mirrors

The Millbrook Public Library had always been Kael's refuge. When his dad died, when school got overwhelming, when the whole world felt like it was pressing down on him—he'd come here. Mrs. Patterson, the librarian, never asked questions. She just pointed him toward the fantasy section and let him disappear into other worlds.

Now Mrs. Patterson was dead, torn apart by something with too many teeth, and Kael was hiding in the stacks trying not to have a complete mental breakdown.

*This is pathetic,* Vex'thul observed. *We just fought off a pack of shadow-hounds, and now you're cowering behind the romance novels.*

"I'm not cowering," Kael whispered, though he was definitely crouched behind a bookshelf. "I'm... regrouping."

*You're having an emotional crisis.*

"My neighbor got killed by a spider-thing made of bones. My town is being overrun by monsters. I just breathed fire at a demon dog. Yeah, I'm having a crisis!"

*Welcome to the supernatural world, boy. It's all crisis, all the time.*

Kael slumped against the bookshelf, suddenly exhausted. The adrenaline was wearing off, and everything was starting to hit him at once. The pain from his injuries. The memory of tearing those creatures apart with his bare hands. The look of terror on those survivors' faces when they'd really gotten a good look at him.

"They were afraid of me," he said quietly.

*Good. Fear keeps people alive.*

"They were afraid of me, not the monsters. Me."

*You are a monster now. The sooner you accept that, the easier this will be.*

"I'm not—"

*You have supernatural strength, enhanced senses, and the ability to channel hellfire. Your eyes glow silver when you're angry. You just killed seven hellspawn without breaking a sweat. What part of that sounds human to you?*

Kael didn't have an answer for that. He looked down at his hands—normal hands, with normal fingernails, except for the faint scars across his knuckles that definitely hadn't been there this morning.

"My dad would hate this," he said.

*Your father was a Hunter,* Vex'thul replied. *He killed things like me for a living.*

"He was a security consultant."

*He was Marcus Draven, Knight-Errant of the Order of the Silver Dawn. He specialized in demonic incursions and dimensional breach containment.*

Kael's head snapped up. "What?"

*Oh, did I forget to mention? I knew your father. Professionally.*

"You're lying."

*I'm many things, boy, but I'm not a liar. Your father was the one who banished me to the Seventh Circle fifteen years ago.*

The words hit Kael like a physical blow. His father, the man who'd taught him to ride a bike and throw a curveball, had been some kind of supernatural warrior? It was impossible.

Except it explained so much. The long business trips. The way he'd always known exactly what to do in a crisis. The combat training disguised as "father-son bonding time." The way he'd looked at shadows sometimes, like he was seeing things that weren't there.

*He was hunting a cult that was trying to open a permanent gateway between dimensions,* Vex'thul continued. *They were using demon-binding rituals to create super-soldiers. I was... recruited for the project.*

"Recruited?"

*Tortured into compliance. The distinction matters.*

"So you're saying my dad was one of the good guys, and you were working for the bad guys?"

*I'm saying your father was a zealot who believed the only good demon was a bound demon. And I was a fool who thought I could change the system from within.*

Kael was quiet for a long moment, processing this. Outside, he could hear the sounds of continued chaos—screaming, explosions, the inhuman howls of things that shouldn't exist.

"If he was a Hunter," Kael said finally, "why didn't he train me?"

*Because he wanted you to have a normal life. He wanted you to be better than him.*

"Well, that worked out great."

*Sarcasm doesn't suit you.*

"I learned from the best."

*Touché.*

A sound from the front of the library made them both freeze. Footsteps. Human footsteps, not the skittering or shuffling of hellspawn.

"Hello?" a voice called out. Female, young, with a slight accent Kael couldn't place. "Is anyone alive in here?"

*It's a trap,* Vex'thul said immediately.

"How do you know?"

*Because nothing good ever starts with 'is anyone alive in here?'*

"That's paranoid, even for you."

*Paranoia keeps us breathing.*

The footsteps were getting closer. Kael could hear the person moving methodically through the library, checking each section. They were being careful, professional. Either they were a survivor who'd learned to be cautious, or they were hunting.

"I can smell you," the voice said, now with a hint of amusement. "Demon essence mixed with human fear. Quite the combination."

*Definitely a trap.*

Kael stood up, his muscles tensing. "I'm not afraid."

"Oh, but you are," the voice replied. "You're terrified. Of what you're becoming, of what you might do, of what others might think. It's written in your scent like a book."

She stepped into view then, and Kael's first thought was that she looked like she'd walked out of a Gothic novel. Pale skin, dark hair, wearing what looked like a leather jacket over a vintage dress. She was maybe nineteen or twenty, with the kind of beauty that made you forget to breathe.

And her eyes were completely black.

"Vampire," Kael said.

*Obviously.*

"Hello, half-breed," she said with a smile that showed just a hint of fang. "I'm Vespera. I've been looking for you."

"That's not ominous at all."

*Run.*

"Why?" Kael asked, ignoring the demon's advice. "What do you want?"

"To talk. To offer you a choice. To save your life, potentially." She tilted her head. "Though I suppose that depends on how reasonable you're feeling."

*She's stalling. There are others nearby.*

Kael could feel it now—that same predatory presence he'd sensed with the shadow-hounds, but more controlled. More intelligent.

"What kind of choice?" he asked.

"The kind that determines whether you live through the next five minutes," Vespera replied. "You see, the supernatural community is very interested in you. A human bonded with a demon, but still maintaining his free will? That's... unusual."

*It's unheard of,* Vex'thul corrected. *Most humans either die from the process or become puppets.*

"So some of us think you're an abomination that needs to be destroyed," Vespera continued. "Others think you're a potential ally. And a few think you might be useful."

"Which camp are you in?"

"The pragmatic one. I think you're going to be trouble no matter what, so I might as well try to point you in the right direction."

*Don't trust her.*

"Why should I trust you?" Kael asked.

"Because I'm not trying to kill you. Yet."

*That's not reassuring.*

"It's not supposed to be reassuring," Vespera said. "It's supposed to be honest. The truth is, half-breed, you're walking into a war you don't understand, carrying power you can't control, with a demon in your head that has its own agenda."

"Vex doesn't have an agenda."

*Don't be so sure.*

"Vex?" Vespera raised an eyebrow. "You're on nickname terms with Vex'thul the Unbound? That's... cute."

"You know him?"

"We've met. He tried to eat my face once. It was very romantic."

*I was having a bad century.*

"So what's this choice you mentioned?" Kael asked.

"Simple. You can come with me, and I'll introduce you to people who can teach you to control your abilities. Or you can stay here, stumble around on your own, and get yourself killed within the week."

*It's a trap.*

"What's the catch?"

"The catch is that my people have their own ideas about how your power should be used. And they're not always aligned with human interests."

*Definitely a trap.*

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I leave you to figure it out on your own. Though I should mention, the Hunter response teams are already mobilizing. They'll be here within the hour, and they have orders to kill anything that isn't fully human."

*She's not lying about that.*

"How do you know?"

"Because I've been monitoring their communications. They're calling it a 'Class Five Demonic Incursion.' They're bringing exorcists, holy warriors, and enough firepower to level a city block."

Kael felt something cold settle in his stomach. "They'll kill the survivors too."

"Collateral damage. It's how they operate."

*This is why I hate Hunters.*

"So what do you say, half-breed? Ready to learn what you really are?"

Kael looked around the library—at the books that had been his escape, at the reading nook where he'd spent countless hours, at the place where Mrs. Patterson had always made him feel welcome. It was all gone now. His old life was over.

"I have conditions," he said.

"I'm listening."

"Those survivors I saved earlier. The ones at Murphy's Diner. They need to be protected."

"That can be arranged."

"And I want answers. About my father, about what's really happening here, about what I am."

"Knowledge is dangerous, half-breed. Are you sure you want it?"

*No, he's not. But he needs it.*

"Yeah," Kael said. "I'm sure."

Vespera smiled, and this time it was genuine. "I think I'm going to like you. Try not to disappoint me."

*This is a terrible idea.*

"Probably," Kael agreed. "But it's my terrible idea."

*Our terrible idea. We're in this together now.*

"Unfortunately."

Vespera was already moving toward the exit. "Come on, then. Time to see how deep the rabbit hole goes."

As they walked through the ruins of his hometown, Kael couldn't shake the feeling that he was crossing a line he'd never be able to uncross. Behind him lay everything he'd ever known. Ahead lay... what? Power? Answers? A different kind of death?

*Having second thoughts?* Vex'thul asked.

"Third and fourth thoughts, actually."

*Good. Doubt keeps you honest.*

"Since when do you care about honesty?"

*Since I'm stuck with you for the foreseeable future. Your stupidity affects my survival.*

"That's the most touching thing you've ever said to me."

*Don't get used to it.*

Kael grinned despite everything. Maybe having a demonic roommate wouldn't be so bad after all.

Though he suspected he was about to find out just how wrong that assumption could be.