Page 4 of My Bounty Hunter is a Demon (Demons for Hire)

4

DORIAN

The moment Aspen shoved me away, the breath left my lungs in a rush. It wasn't from the force of her push. The split second I touched her skin, something sparked between us—a jolt of raw, primal energy that had nothing to do with the adrenaline of battle. It pulsed in my veins before the sounds of fighting crashed over me again, drowning it out. Whatever that connection was, it would have to wait. If we survived.

I recognized her from photos I’ve seen in Laris’ office when I went snooping for intel. Of course, Aspen was older now, but there was no mistaken that she used to be one of Laris’ kids. From what I read in Laris’ notes, she could undo spells and curses. His anger stemmed from the Drach clan’s takedown of Laris ten years prior.

Laris’ voice cut through the chaos, barking orders at his men. The ring of enforcers tightened around us, weapons at the ready. I saw Aspen grit her teeth, a muscle feathering in her jaw. She was shoving down whatever that moment had stirred in her, too. The air practically vibrated with her tension; the demonic power coiled inside her, straining to be unleashed.

There was no time to think. I fell into step beside Aspen and the woman I recognized as Harland Drach, my magic already crackling in my palms. We moved as one, a unit forged in the heat of battle. Aspen fought like a woman possessed, her strikes fluid and brutal. Darkness lashed from her hands, sending bodies flying. Her eyes glowed with molten gold, promising violence.

Harland was a blur of deadly efficiency, her daggers finding chinks in armor and flesh with cruel precision. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a dart of magic slamming into an enforcer's chest. He crumpled like a rag doll, blood trickling from his lips.

I let my power flow through me, casting shields to deflect the hail of spells raining down on us. The sigils burned white-hot as they absorbed each impact. In the gaps between, I hurled counter-curses, binding limbs and shattering weapons with incantations honed over centuries.

An enforcer lunged at Aspen, swinging an axe crackling with entropic magic. I spoke a single-worded incantation and the man's arm wrenched backwards with a sickening pop. Aspen capitalized on the opening, slamming her knee into his solar plexus. As he doubled over, she brought her elbow down on his spine, snapping it like kindling.

Damn, she was hot.

We moved in a deadly synchronicity, our powers intertwined. I felt the mate bond thrumming between us, guiding us, sharpening our instincts. Aspen pivoted, and I was there, guarding her flank. I faltered, and she filled the space, dispatching the threat with ruthless clarity. It was as if we'd fought side by side for lifetimes.

But for every foe we felled, more seemed to take their place. The shadows at the edge of the clearing writhed, and enforcers poured out from between the trees. The taste of dark magic coated my tongue, acrid and coppery. A fresh wave of attacks battered against my shield, the effects sending pain lancing up my arms.

I caught Laris' gaze over the fray, his mouth curled in a smirk. Reinforcements. The bastard had planned for this. Dread knotted in my gut as I realized we were outnumbered. Badly. We fought with everything we had, but it was only a matter of time before we were overwhelmed entirely.

"Harland!" Aspen roared over the clamor. "Get the kids out of here!"

I saw Harland hesitate, torn between her loyalty to Aspen and her battle-lust. Then she gave a sharp nod, sheathing her daggers and sprinting for the van. An enforcer took aim at her back with dark magic. I deflected the curse with one of my own.

After closing the back door and saying something to the kids, Harland wrenched open the driver-side door and jumped inside. The engine roared to life, tires churning up clods of dirt as she floored the accelerator. A cluster of enforcers moved to block her path, murder in their eyes. Aspen stepped forward with her hands wreathed in flames. With a wordless shout, she cast a billowing wall of demonic fire across their ranks. The men screamed and scattered, flesh melting from the bone.

The van careened through the opening, tearing off down the dirt road. The children were safe, at least for now. But Aspen and I still had to survive long enough to keep it that way.

Aspen moved with fluid grace and coiled lethality. Her power lashed out like a tsunami that scattered the enforcers like driftwood. I watched as she engaged three men at once, her limbs a blur of strikes and counters. Aspen fought with a savage economy of motion, every movement calculated for maximum damage.

With a twist, she had one man's arm locked. Then I heard bone snapping. She rode his falling body down, using the momentum to lash out with a kick that caved in the second enforcer's knee. The third snarled as he swung his blade at her. Aspen caught his wrist before the blade made contact. Smoke curled from her grip as the stench of singed flesh filled the air. The enforcer screamed. With a wrench, she tore the blade free from his grasp and buried it in his eye.

I was momentarily transfixed, morbidly fascinated by the ruthless efficiency of her violence. The mate bond purred with each display of her strength.

An enforcer lunged at Aspen from behind. In his hand was a short sword flaring with entropic magic. I reacted on instinct, stepping into the path of the blade. I threw up a shield a second before it hit. The metal screeched against the barrier, scoring the air with sparks. A moment later, the sword exploded into black dust.

Aspen dispatched her current opponent with a snap kick to his throat. She spared me a glance over her shoulder, eyes narrowed. A question and an accusation. I met her gaze steadily, daring her to say something. The moment stretched taut between us, heavy with things unspoken, before the onrush of battle shattered it.

We fell into an easy rhythm, defending and advancing. With each breath, each flex of magic and muscle, we wove a tapestry of violence. I felt the shape of her at my back, an elemental force barely leashed. Together, we were a maelstrom, untouchable and devastating.

The last of the enforcers fell to Aspen's fists and my spells, blood seeping into the churned mud. I bound the survivors with conjured silver chains, their links sizzling against flesh. Aspen kicked a fallen blade away contemptuously, her boot leaving a smear of crimson. She turned to face me, her skin spattered and smudged, knuckles raw. A Valkyrie in the fading embers of war. So beautiful.

And mine. Just as long as she didn’t kill me first.

It took me a moment to realize the battle had gone silent, save for the groans of the wounded. We'd won, if you could call this carnage a victory. I looked to Aspen, a hard smile forming on my lips. But her expression made it freeze in place. She whipped her head around, eyes flashing with something like fear.

"Where the hell is Laris?" She shouted.

Icy dread trickled down my spine. I scanned the still bodies around us and then the trees, searching for any sign of the cloaked figure. Then I saw a flicker of motion. "There!" I barked, pointing into the forest.

Aspen snarled, a sound more animal than human. Her eyes met mine, twin pits of melted gold. In that shared look was an unspoken agreement, a promise of violence to come. Then we were running, tearing through the underbrush like wolves on the hunt.

The forest was a blur of shadows and darker shadows, punctuated only by the occasional shaft of moonlight. My pulse pounded in my ears, urging me faster, faster. But it wasn't just the thrill of the hunt singing in my veins. No, with every stride, every ragged breath, I was achingly aware of the woman beside me. Aspen moved like a panther, all sinew and deadly grace. Her hair streamed behind her, a rivulet of ink in the darkness.

I reached for my magic, casting a seeker spell into the gloom ahead. The energy pulsed and bounded, an arcane bloodhound straining at the leash. There. I caught the oily residue of Laris' aura, the astringent tang of dark magic. "He's heading for the road," I gritted out, leaping a fallen tree.

Aspen put on a burst of speed, blurring past me in a whirlwind of flying hair and pounding feet. "Not for long," she growled.

The forest thinned, revealing a dirt road. Aspen and I burst from the tree line, gasping and sweat-slicked.

The growl of an engine, followed by the screech of tires, drew our attention. Twenty yards ahead, brake lights flared crimson. The silhouette of Laris' car roared forward, fishtailing in the loose dirt and gravel. Aspen screamed a curse, the sound torn from the depths of her as she watched the vehicle careen away.

For a long moment, we simply stood there, the only sounds our labored breathing and the distant keen of night insects. I was painfully conscious of Aspen, of the inch of charged air that separated us. It took every shred of my will to keep still, to not reach for her.

She turned to face me. In her eyes, I saw the same dark yearning, the same fierce desire barely held in check. "We'll find him," I told her, my voice rough in my throat. It was more than a statement. It was a vow, a covenant sealed in blood and magic.

"You're damn right we will." Aspen's eyes never left mine.