28. Ashe

This was not how I saw my night going. Ideally, this would not be how any night in a long history of bad nights would ever end up. And yet here I was, racing along a winding country road during the witching hour with only the lone headlight from my bike and the sliver of a Cheshire moon leering down from up above to guide me. A frightened barista at my front and harpies at my back.

This was hardly the wildest night I've ever had, but it definitely tops the charts for being my first high-speed chase with a human in tow.

“What are they?” Dani screams over the roar of the motorcycle. Despite the biting cold that claws at my skin as the wind whips through my hair, I can feel the warmth of her breath in my ear and it sends a chill up my arms that bites deeper.

“They're wind spirits,” I reply as I lean us into a curve. “Harpies, lechuza, whatever you want to call them. Does it matter?”

A high-pitched shriek reaches my ears as tendrils of air slither like icy fingers down my spine and I grit my teeth. They were getting closer. How in the hell was I supposed to outrun the wind?

“What do they want?”

“I don't know!” And I did not intend for us to find out. We were still miles away from the city limits of Trinity Valley, from the blinding lights and steel skyscrapers that would deter these demons of the woods from pursuing us any further. Out here under the open sky we were little more than sitting ducks.

I hit the next bend in the road too fast and the bike wobbles as I try to overcorrect. Dani tightens her grip, pressing so close that I could feel the panicked beating of her heart against my chest, and my own fear churns in my gut. Christ, at this speed I might end up wrecking us if the harpies did not get to us first. Fending off one demon would be hard enough even with the Reaper's mark at my disposal; contending with three pissed-off elementals while keeping Dani out of harm's way, however, was just asking for death. Her safety was my top priority right now.

A rustling of wings sounds overhead, drowning out the steady hum of the motorcycle, and in my peripheral I see a weightless form materialize beside me. A second figure flanks my left, feathery smoke wisping like black fire with each movement and long talons gleaming like razor blades as it swipes at my leg. Fire rips through me as it snags my thigh and I gnash my teeth against the pain. Another lash rakes across my back and it takes everything I have not to lose my grip on the handlebars—or on my mounting anger.

“Hold on!”

I roll the throttle, picking up speed as we crest a small hill. Dani buries her face in the crook of my neck, her stifled scream vibrating throughout my body as the tires lift off the asphalt. Up ahead I catch a glimpse of city lights shining in the distance like the beacon of a lighthouse guiding lost ships to shore in the middle of a storm, and relief washes over me. We had to be no more than twenty miles out. We were so close!

The bike lurches on the landing, the screeching of tires as they reconnected with the road mingling with the shrieks that assaulted us from all angles, but I dare not stop now.

Just beyond the glow of the headlight, a blur of shadow and wings gathers over the road, flocking before us like a murder of crows as they swirl together and take shape. The sharp angular face of a pale woman glares at us from the fringes of the surrounding darkness, long black hair billowing behind her as her winged arms fan out, blocking my view of the road. Talons like daggers scratch at the ground as she flies backward at a steady pace, matching my bike's speed and keeping herself at an even distance. Her squamous abdomen glistens like polished onyx as the muscles beneath her scales contract.

Before I can react, the harpy flaps her wings and parts her lips in an earsplitting screech. The force slams into us like an icy maelstrom and the motorcycle swerves as the supernatural tempest threatens to slow us down. I feel my cheeks split open as the wind cuts into me with the biting edge of a serrated knife and I gnash my teeth.

Motivated by the change in pace, the demons on either side continue their attack, yanking greedily at clothing and flesh as I do my best to shield the barista with my body. Dani cries out as one of them nicks her forearm and my blood spikes.

We would never make it at this rate. I only had one shot.

Twisting the throttle again, I steady the bike with my knees and balance us against the onslaught as I carefully extend my arm. The Reaper's mark crawls across my skin as the tattoo transforms into a bladed chain. One of the harpies squawks as a clawed foot touches the enchanted silver, smoking upon contact, and my lips twitch with satisfaction at the hissing sound.

I lash out with the blade, swirling it like a lasso overhead and fending off the harpies at my side. Then, without hesitation, I throw the chain, focusing all of my concentration on guiding it forward. The blade slices through the harpy's wail, snaking like a missile in the air as I fight to keep it on course. Just before it hits its mark the harpy dodges, unscathed, wings stretching as she spins around. The chain sails past but before I can call it back she leaps forward, talons extending as she latches on to her target and propels herself upward.

Black feathers caress my cheek a millisecond before Dani's knee slams into my chin as she is lifted off the bike and out of my grasp. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth as I squeeze the brakes, tires skidding as I swing the motorcycle around.

“Dani!”

She kicks her legs and writhes against her captor as her answering scream cuts through the sound of the wind. The harpy loses her grip on Dani's shoulders during their struggle and the barista tumbles to the ground a few yards away, tucking and rolling across the asphalt. She was quick to get to her feet and I rev the engine as the harpies circle back around.

Demons were hardly territorial creatures and could live for decades without feeding, but if these elementals were hungry then they picked the wrong fucking night to go hunting.

The chain encircles my arm like a snake poised to strike as the bike jerks forward. I lift myself into a standing position as another shriek pierces the night sky and the demons descend on Dani like hawks swooping in for the kill. The wind picks up, tearing at my skin as I accelerate and fueling the fire burning within me.

“Dani, move!”

The barista stumbles off the road as I whip by. With a strangled cry I pull on the front brake lever, using the motorcycle as a catapult to launch myself into the air just as the rear wheel lifts from the ground. I draw my arm back, the ink shifting as the Reaper's mark dissolves and then hardens into the form of a scythe.

“You can't have her!”

I smack shoulder-first into the closest harpy and plunge the scythe into her abdomen. Her otherworldly scream rings like a siren in my ear as smoke and black blood gush from the gut-wrenching wound, but I do not stop there. As we plummet to the ground the Reaper's mark shifts again and I ensnare the second harpy, wrapping the chain securely around its leg. Kicking off the body of the first demon, I swing full force into the third, my heels burying into its back and throwing it off course.

The momentum from the blow breaks the ankle that I was using as leverage and the chain slips. I hit the ground hard, grunting against the sharp pain in my shoulder as I tuck and roll to my feet. Two of the demons circle overhead, their enraged cries echoing in the squall as they dive again. The chain coils back around my arm and I shift my stance, poised to strike.

Before I can blink, before I can even comprehend what was happening, Dani throws herself in front of me and stretches out her arms.

“Leave us alone!”

My heart drops to the pit of my stomach as I reach for her in what felt like slow motion. “Dani, no!”

What the hell is she thinking!

“Stop!”

A cloud of dust swirls around us as the harpies slow their descent to hover mere feet from where we stood. Tresses of dark hair dangle in their faces as they tilt their humanoid heads, eyes as black as coal regarding us with unblinking curiosity. I grit my teeth and yank Dani behind me, brandishing a dagger as I brace myself for the impending attack. Instead, they utter one final screech before ascending the sky. As they make their way back to the depths of Goss Hollow Park, their retreating forms break apart under the moonlight until they are nothing more than a flock of birds.

No longer manipulated by the demons, the wind dies down to a gentle summer breeze and a sigh whistles from my nose as relief washes over me, easing the tension in my muscles. It was then that the pain set in.

“Jesus, Ashe. Are you okay?” Dani's fingertips gingerly brush along my back, tracing the outline of the claw marks and sending jolts of electricity through me.

“I'm fine,” I hiss. Or at least, I will be in a few hours when my wounds heal. I pull away from her touch, clenching my jaw as I pop my dislocated shoulder back into place. I swallow down my nausea as I meet her gaze. “That was a stupid thing to do. You could've been killed!”

She tucks her hair behind her ears. “I know.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I don't know, I just . . . I wanted them to stop.”

I quirk a brow, mildly amused at the absurdity of that statement. “And they listened?”

“I guess so.” Dani shrugs, pulling her bottom lip under her teeth in contemplation. Goddamn, why was she so adorable?

I've never seen anyone command a demon without wearing that demon's soul ring; not even witches had that kind of power. “How'd you know it would work?”

“I didn't.” She wipes her nose with the back of a hand and it was then that I saw the blood. “But it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. It was worth a shot.”

“Shit, are you injured?”

“I'm fine, it's just a nosebleed from the fall. I think I'll live.” Her eyes glance me over, taking inventory of the various cuts and scrapes along my own face and arms, and she sighs. “I feel like I'm always patching you up.”

I could not stop the grin that lifts the corner of my mouth, but she does not return it. Her eyes are trained on the ground behind me.

“So that's a harpy?”

I follow her gaze to the demon lying on the side of the road. The ground beneath the creature was stained as blood bubbled like tar from the deep gash in her stomach. Large feathered wings were spread out beside her, one bent at an awkward angle denoting that the limb was possibly broken.

“Yeah.”

“You called it something else, too.”

“A lechuza?” At her nod I shrug. “It's a creature of Mexican folklore, a myth down here in the southern states, but its roots stem from the Greek harpy. Which is really just another word for wind spirit, a name given by mortals to make sense of the nonsensical.” There was power in a name, after all. To name something was to eliminate the fear of it, to characterize it and give it a tangible shape, and humans were so good at naming their fears.

Once they named it, they believed they could kill it.

As if on some unspoken cue, the creature twitches one of its scaly legs and Dani jumps back. “It's still alive?”

It takes more than that to kill a demon.

Unlike vampires, who were once mortal and are still bound to the laws of this realm despite their ill-gotten immortality, demons had never harbored souls and so the rules were different for them. They kept their power locked inside their core, protected by their own supernatural gifts and otherworldly prowess. It was a difficult task, but not impossible.

To keep them from regenerating, you had to remove the very essence of their power.

To kill a demon, you had to rip out their heart.

I roll my shoulders, the dagger that still protruded from my wrist glistening in the scarce moonlight. If I was going to kill it then I needed to act quickly before it recovered. “Not for long.”

Dani grabs my arm and pulls me back. “Ashe, no!”

“If I don't kill it then the Tribunal will only send someone else to do it!” At least my hand would offer it a merciful death. I could not say the same of the other Reapers—it was not often that they had the chance to reap a demon. Besides, I was not about to leave them with another blood bank for their little Genesis Project. “This is my job, Dani. It's what I'm good at.”

“It doesn't have to be!”

Her words rock me to my core and I meet her gaze, her statement from the night before echoing in my mind. 'You aren't the monster you think you are.' How could she possibly believe that after everything she has seen?

“There's been enough bloodshed tonight.” She stares at me, those mysterious green eyes pleading softly as she adds, “Please, I just want to go home.”

The sorrow in her voice was enough to still my hand. But it did nothing to slow the rapid beating of my heart. “Fine.”

The dagger disappears into my skin as I right my motorcycle and turn on the ignition, frowning at the dented metal and damaged side mirrors. Dani settles in behind me this time, her arms wrapping around my waist and squeezing as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and it was all I could do to ignore her hot breath against my neck and the way my skin prickled with her every exhale.

We were safe for now, but as we make our way back to Trinity Valley and through the quiet city streets I could not help but wonder just how long that would last.

***

I was exhausted by the time we made it to Marco's townhouse. Most of the minor wounds had healed over but the soles of my feet were raw and blistered, and my back and thigh were killing me with each step.

“What took you so long?” the bear asks as I walk through the front door. His jaw clenches at the sight of blood smeared across my skin and I respond with a dismissive shrug.

“Don't ask,” I mutter as Dani pushes past me.

“How is she?” The barista leans over the couch to brush a strand of blonde hair from her friend's face, her brow narrowed as her eyes flick over the woman's sleeping frame.

“She's still unconscious,” Marco explains, his brow furrowing as his attention remains on me. I can sense his concern but I do not have the stomach for it tonight. “Ashe, what the hell happened back there?”

“Nothing that I couldn't handle.” I offer him what I hope is a reassuring grin as I ask, “Where do you keep your liquor?”

“If I had any, it'd be in the kitchen. But afraid I'm fresh out here.”

“But you're a bartender.”

“Sorry, sugar plum. I keep the Hidden Door fully stocked but I don't drink at home.”

“You're lying.” He merely shrugs in response and I huff. “Fine. What's the sleeping arrangement, then?”

He grunts at my change in topic but he knows better than to push it. “Well, I figured that I'd sleep out here to keep an eye on our sleeping beauty.” He scratches his neck, a mischievous glint twinkling in his eye. “Your bags are in the room upstairs.”

Great. I give him a curt nod and limp up the stairs to the only bedroom without another word. Pain sparks off and on throughout my body as my wounds begin the healing process and I let out a groan. I needed a shower.

“Here, let me help you.”

I glance in the mirror to see Dani's reflection standing in the doorway to the bathroom, her eyes wide with concern as they travel over my back.

“I'm fine.” I grab the hem of my shirt and start to lift it over my head. My muscles spasm with the motion and an involuntary wince sputters from my lips. Those goddamn harpies really did a number on me.

“Don't be stubborn, Ashe.” Dani's hands are at my side before I can protest. “Let me help you.” It was not exactly a command, yet I felt compelled to obey her all the same.

Reluctantly I nod, my throat tightening as I lift my arms. She carefully pulls off the shirt, letting it crumple at our feet as she applies that same level of caution in removing my sports bra. Her soft touch leaves a trail of fire in its wake as she examines every inch of me, the pads of her fingers gently poking at the scratches down my back and along my arms, and a heat stirs in my abdomen even as a nagging sense of apprehension pulls at the back of my mind.

I wanted her to touch me. And that scared me.

“Does it hurt?” Her face reddens as she visibly refrains from staring at me in the mirror and the ghost of a smile tickles my lips. So modest.

“No,” I lie as I reach over and turn on the shower. Broken bones and ripped flesh were a familiar pain that I could tolerate. The warmth of her skin pressed against mine, the feelings she awakened in me, the way her eyes looked at me—not through me but at me, like she was seeing who I was underneath the monster I am—was a pain that was almost unbearable.

“God, you're beautiful.” Her words were little more than a whisper but my shoulders tense all the same.

“You're hurt.” I flick my eyes to the cut on her forearm, hoping the sight of her own blood would remind her of the consequences should I stay in her life. At the very least, hopefully it would distract her.

Dani peels her gaze away and looks down. “It only stings a little. You fared much worse, though. I should probably—”

“Tend to your arm, Dani.” I avoid her stare as I gesture to the door. I was covered in blood, evidence of the life I ruthlessly took earlier tonight and a symbol of the countless lives I've taken before, yet she was still insistent on patching me up. Why was she so unafraid of what I am? Of what I could be? “I won't take long. You can shower after.”

Dani lingers for a moment longer before she slowly pulls away, taking her warmth with her as she closes the door behind her. But the heat still burns in her absence, twisting my insides as it dances across my skin.

Shit. I wanted to take a hot shower, to let the water wash away the events of the night and alleviate the aches that radiate throughout my body. But it would remind me of her touch, of the fire that it stirred within me, and of the ache that it could not relieve. So I take a cold one, instead.

***

“You can have the bed,” I say as Dani steps out of the bathroom dressed in her usual sleep attire. “I'll sleep on the floor.”

“Don't be ridiculous. This bed's big enough for the both of us.”

That is a terrible idea. “Dani—”

“Don't make me force you, Ashe. I won't have you sleeping on the goddamn floor.” Her tone is as sharp as stone as she pulls back the covers and slides in, and I cannot help but wonder if her irritation stems from exhaustion or something more.

I had refused her offer to treat my injuries when I finished my shower, assuring her that they would be completely healed over by the time dawn broke. She had looked disappointed then, and I briefly wonder if I should have just let her. She seemed to enjoy putting her nursing skills to good use, especially after learning that she had once aspired to be one. Who was I to take that away from her?

With a defeated sigh I swallow my pride and climb in on the other side. There were a few inches of empty space between us but her scent somehow fills the entire room and my stomach clenches. How the hell was I expected to get any sleep like this?

The minutes tick by as I stare up at the ceiling, the only sound in the room the steady breathing of a half-demon and a human barista filling the void. It hums like a lullaby in the air and I find myself sinking into the darkness as the promise of sleep kisses my eyelids closed.

“Those things that attacked us, those harpies.” Dani's gentle voice brings me back to the brink of consciousness as she rolls over on her back. “Were they demons?”

“Yes.”

“But they didn't look like, well . . .”

“Like me?” The pillow shifts as she nods and I rub a hand over my face. “I'm half, remember? But those things back there were full-blooded elementals. Very rare, and very unstable.”

“Why did they appear as a flock of birds?”

“Elemental demons tend to hide among nature, disguising themselves within their own element. Those harpies were air elementals, wind spirits, so I guess they chose to use birds as their skins.” I flick my gaze to the ring glistening on her finger and my lips twist into a frown. “Their kind was the reason the soul rings were created in the first place.”

“Why?”

“For power, why else? Most demons are only influencers, whispering in the ears of men to either help or cause mayhem. Useful to a witch if one was to be soulbound, but not nearly as powerful as an elemental.”

“What's the difference?”

“Despite their gift of magic, the elements that make up our world aren't native to it and so witches were never able to master them. The power to influence is fine and all, but if they could control an elemental then they could bend the very elements of nature to their will. Imagine the sort of power that comes with that. Or the type of destruction it could cause.”

Silence descends between us again and for a moment I wonder if Dani fell asleep. But then, after a long pause, she asks, “Do you think they were sent after us by a witch?”

“I don't know.” It would be hard to ever prove, anyway. After the Tribunal outlawed the art of conjuring and banished soulbinding, demons were hunted down and killed out of fear. Even those that were not soulbound were not safe from the slaughter and so they, and any witch who still possessed a soul ring, had gone into hiding. Many who happened to cross paths with an elemental rarely ever lived to tell about it.

“How could something like that even live right under our noses? How could no one have ever seen it before?”

“Demons aren't from this world, Dani. They only reveal themselves when they're looking to feed, or if they've been summoned.” A sigh whistles through my nose as I take a deep breath. “I didn't even know there were any left in this Ward. If I had known, I never would've let you follow me to Goss Hollow. I'd never put your life in danger like that. I'd never let you see me like that if I could—”

“I followed you on my own,” Dani whispers, her words stilling my tongue. “Don't put that on yourself. And don't think for a second that I'm not still mad at you for lying to me because I am.” She reaches over and interlaces her fingers with mine. My heart stills as she turns her head to meet my gaze. “But I don't think you're a monster, Ashe. Even if you were glowing and punching holes in a tree.”

I'm not sure exactly what to say to that, but as she gently squeezes my hand I know that words are unnecessary. As we lay there, hand in hand while we wait for sleep to settle into our bones, my thoughts start to wander.

We will see Nadia tomorrow and get answers on the magic behind the soul ring. If anyone could figure out a way to break the soulbinding it was her, and once that happens Dani would be free to live her life. She could go back to normal, to a world without Reapers and witches and demons trying to kill her. Back to a world that made sense. A world without me.

But as my mind succumbs to the siren call of sleep I find myself wondering for the first time since I've met her if I even wanted to be unbound at all. As much as I deny it—and I would never admit this to Marco, ever—I've enjoyed having Dani around. I have felt nothing but anger and pain, so lost in the monster that I made myself become that the spark she stirs in me is like a breath of fresh air. I feel like me again when I'm with her.

I knew how it could end if I opened myself up to it, if I quit fighting it and just let her in. I knew that it was better this way, safer if she left this world of darkness and danger behind. But after living in the dark for so long, could I really let go of the light?

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A/N: Dani, baby, what are you?! And is Ashe having second thoughts about unbinding the ring?

Phew! This was an intense chapter to write, but they aren't out of the (metaphorical) woods just yet! Don't forget to vote to show your love and support for Ashe and Dani's journey, and feel free to leave a comment! I love hearing from my readers :)