---

As I suspected, the day dragged on forever.

A lot more neighbors stopped by, bringing casseroles and offering condolences. I saw Tessa walking around, studying the house, looking at furniture and portraits and in the closets, as if trying to understand, to get to her father. Meanwhile, she acted like a perfect daughter by playing host in the manor I had grown up in. She smiled, a tight, closed curl of her lips, at the neighbors as they told her stories they shared with her father. It must have been hard, hearing all those stories, even the brief, casual ones, and to know all these people had had more contact with him than she ever did.

For a moment, I pitied her.

I also had seen her talking to some of the hunters. Douglas, Aidan, Nathan, Ash, Cole, Owen, Luke, Caleb, Amber, and Sophia.

Thankfully, after the sun set and the crowd dwindled, she said something about being tired and getting a hotel on the way back home. Trying to be polite, I offered her the same room she had stayed in last night. She refused and left without saying goodbye.

I was lounging by the dimly lit stairs when Aidan appeared by my side and offered me one of the drinks in his hands. A mug of coffee or a healthy dose of scotch. I could use the coffee since I had barely slept since the incident, but at a time like this, the alcohol kept me going more than caffeine could.

“Thanks,” I muttered, taking the scotch from him. Fifth shot? Maybe sixth …

He dropped the mug on the accent table beside the staircase. “How are you holding up?”

I shrugged. How was I holding up? Was I holding up? I wasn’t so sure. I hadn’t gone after the damn demon right then because I had been hurt, too hurt to walk. I would have been killed instead of avenging Isaac’s death.

“My dad is all the way across the country,” Aidan said. “He would be here if he could, you know that, right?”

“I do.” Hendrick, Aidan’s father, was a good friend of Isaac’s. If he hadn’t gone to Nevada for a case, I knew he would have been one of the first here after the incident. One of the first to avenge Isaac.

I sipped my drink, my thoughts running a million miles per seconds.

I had so much to do. I had to check on Tessa in the morning and make sure she got back to college safely. I had to contact the lawyer and see when he would contact Tessa again. I had to go back to Isaac’s office, pull all the evidence and clues he used to locate those demons from the closet behind the painting, and study his journal so I could track the bastard and kill it myself.

“Here you go.” Nathan joined our group with another glass of scotch.

I downed the drink I was holding and took the new one. “Thanks.”

Nathan nodded. “Sure.” He glanced around us. “I haven’t seen Tessa in a while. Where is she?”

“She left an hour ago.”

“Left?” Aidan asked. “What do you mean? I thought she was going to stay the night again.”

“I offered, but she didn’t want to.” I nursed my drink, relishing how the liquid burned my throat and numbed my senses.

I was so freaking done with this day.

“I talked briefly to her,” Nathan said. “She looked worse than you.”

In some manner, she was worse than I was. I was mourning a man I knew and loved. She was mourning a man she didn’t know. She didn’t even know how much she meant to him. I wished that, along with his will, Isaac had left a letter for her, telling her why he did what he did, explaining to her why he kept away, even when it clearly hurt him to do so.

Maybe I could tell her, but would she believe me?

I sighed. “I guess it’s tougher for her.”

“Why do you think that?” Aidan asked. “She barely knew him. You, on the other hand …”

“Exactly. I have a past with him, good and bad memories, a lot to hold on to. She has … fleeting moments.”

Nathan nodded. “That makes sense.”

“What makes sense?” Caleb asked, joining us.

I shook my head. “Nothing.” I glanced around. Most of the neighbors had already left and some of the hunters too. Only the members of our little group had stayed.

Douglas; Aidan and his sister, Amber; Nathan and his cousin, Ash; Cole, Caleb, Owen, Luke, and the youngest, Sophia, were all hanging around the manor, being the support and strength I needed right now. Unfortunately, Hendrick, Aidan and Amber’s father, Helen, the third female and oldest member in our group, and Roman, our lone wolf, were away working separate cases.

“I talked to her earlier,” Nathan said. “She sounded nice.”

Caleb looked from Nathan to me. “She who?”

“Tessa,” Aidan answered.

“I saw all of you talking to her earlier,” I said. A little jealousy made its way into my chest. What the hell? “I saw her talking to Douglas and Owen and Cole and Luke and Ash too.”

“Someone has been keeping tabs on the boss’s daughter,” Aidan teased. Isaac had always loathed that nickname, though everyone, including Douglas and Hendrick and Helen, called him that.

I shot him a glare. “I’m not keeping tabs on anyone.”

One corner of his lips tugged up in a defying grin. “Right.”

I groaned. “What were you all talking about anyway?”

“She said you refused to give her any details, so she was asking me where it happened,” Nathan said as if that was the most normal thing in the world.

Caleb nodded. “Yeah, she asked me what kind of demon it was.”

Aidan scratched his neck. “She asked about the victims. She wanted to know their stories.”

A cold rush swept through me. Oh shit. “And you all answered?”

Aidan shrugged. “Why not? She knows about us; she knows about what we do and what is out there. I thought we owed her some sort of explanation. Even if we don’t know many details yet.”

I turned on my heels and marched into the kitchen. Owen, Cole, Luke, and Ash were there, snacking on a couple of casseroles on the counter. “What did Tessa wanted to know?”

Owen frowned at me. “What do you mean?”

They really hadn’t noticed, had they? I groaned. “She talked to each of you. I know, I saw. What did she ask?”

Cole shrugged. “No questions, man. We talked about all of Isaac’s hunting gear. I told her he had a few personal items, which were separate from the main weaponry downstairs, but he left it all to you, so you had probably taken it all out of the closet already.”

Shit. I hadn’t.

“No questions,” Luke said, opening another bottle of scotch. “But we did talk about sightings of demons in the area.”

“It’s a shame Isaac wanted to keep her away from all this,” Ash said. “The way she was interested in it all, she would make a good hunter.”

Groaning, I shook my head. “No, you jackass! She was collecting information.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Shit. She’s probably on her way to do something stupid right now.”

I turned around to leave.

“Landon!” Douglas called after me, and I glanced at him. “Maybe we should come with you.”

I glared at him. At all of them. “You guys have helped enough.”

I rushed to the underground garage, intent on finding out what the hell Tessa was getting herself into.

---

---

My little Mazda couldn’t take me fast enough.

Willow Harbor was a small town, but as I drove through, it stretched on forever. With the help of the GPS app on my phone, I easily found the house. The white two-story house, with a wraparound porch. Where my father had been murdered.

I had no idea why I was doing this. I had no idea why I had stolen a dagger and a gun from the hidden closet, why I had left the gathering early, or why I had driven to this house. All to avenge a man I barely knew. Why? He certainly hadn’t showed any emotion toward me in the handful of times I had seen him in my life. He had pushed my mom and me away. He hadn’t loved us. He hadn’t loved me. So why did I care so much?

Because … he was my father. Despite all his flaws, he was still the man who had made me, who shared my blood, who even when I thought he had given up on me showed up eventually, even if it was only for five minutes.

A tear escaped, and I wiped it away.

Enough nonsense. I wouldn’t cry for him. Not anymore.

He had been killed at this house while working on a case, tracking a dangerous demon—one the Sanctum of the Seven hadn’t classified yet. They still hadn’t figure out the demon’s MO, or why he was killing the people he was killing.

There was no evidence said demon was still around, but hopefully it was. Hopefully it was inside this house. If it was I would find it, and I would kill it. I wasn’t the perfect adopted son Landon, but I knew how to defend myself. Years of Tae Kwon Do and self-defense classes ensured I wouldn’t fail.

After I left my father’s house—and lied to Landon about staying in a hotel—I had stopped by a gas station and changed clothes in the bathroom. I was sure I would have some brawl with whoever was at this house, and wearing a little black dress and high-heeled pumps wouldn’t help. So I quickly put on comfy, stretchy jeans, a short-sleeved tee, a leather jacket, and my beloved Timberland boots. They weren’t combats boots like Landon wore, but they would have to do.

I took a deep breath, stashed the dagger in one pocket of my jacket and the gun in another, and got out of my car. I halted and stared at the house. Yellow tape surrounded the place, and without any light, not even nearby street lamps, the place looked like something out of a horror movie.

I gulped, hoping to swallow the fear threatening to rise.

Nonsense. My father and Landon did this all the time. I might not have their experience, but I had their drive and I was a good fighter. My master always told me I was agile and quick on my feet, which I learned to use to my advantage.

And I was determined. Landon wouldn’t let me help? Fine. I was going to do this by myself, before he even thought about moving his ass and coming down here himself.

I took a step toward the house. Then another. And another.

With each step I took, my hands started shaking and my heartbeat accelerated. I told myself I was nervous. This would be my first time facing and killing a demon. Damn my father for shunning me and not teaching me anything. This was his fault. If he had kept me close, if he had raised me like a real hunter, maybe, just maybe, he would be alive today. Maybe, just maybe, I could have been the difference in the equation. I could have kept him safe, and he would be alive and well. And I wouldn’t be climbing up the front porch steps of a creepy house alone.

The front door was unlocked, and I stepped inside—right where it all must have happened. I sucked in a sharp breath as I took in the upturned couch, the broken coffee table and lamps, the ripped curtains, and the deep red stain on the beige carpet.

The scent of rot and decay filled my nostrils. I gagged.

Oh, God, this was crazy. I was crazy. I couldn’t even look at the blood absorbed by the carpet; I couldn’t stand the smell of it. How did I think I could face a demon?

I turned around to leave the damn house and the door slammed shut.

On its own.

The air rushed out of my lungs, and I took a step back. My foot caught on a leg from the broken coffee table and I tripped, landing on an armchair.

“What the …?”

A low shrill echoed through the room, like a train rushing past in the distance. But this was no train. The sound, the hair-raising sound, was coming from the perimeter of the room. I glanced around, trying to follow the cursed whistle but saw nothing.

My heart sped up and my breathing came in shallow gasps.

Okay, okay. I closed my eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath. Whatever this was, whatever it was trying to do, I wouldn’t let it. I was stronger, and I would make it regret playing with me.

Determined, I opened my eyes and stood only to have something jump at me, at my stomach, pushing me back into the armchair from the force of the impact. The air fled my lungs. I coughed and half-gasped as a creature crawled over me and sneered its pointy teeth at me.

I stared at it, wide-eyed. Bluish-gray skin, protruding belly, and a round face with pointy ears and oval eyes with yellow iris. Dark veins lined its short, thin limbs.

What the hell was this creature?

It made a clicking sound with its tongue and teeth, and then sniffed at me.

Before I could recover from my shock, other creatures like the first appeared by my side.

Damn it.

I wouldn’t die with my heart being ripped out by an evil demon. No, I would be eaten alive by little nymph-like monsters.

Hell, no.

I slapped the creature away, and it flew across the room. Ready to bolt from the house, I shot up and took a step— then landed on my face as the rest of the creatures jumped on my back.

The clicking sounds rang louder as they ran their claws or teeth along my back, scratching or teasing, I didn’t know.

I rolled onto my back. A few monsters were smart enough to jump to the side, while a couple remained underneath me. I pressed my weight down on them. The creatures came back at me, but this time, I pulled the dagger out and used my blocking techniques to push them away. Pain and heat flashed from my shoulder. One of the creatures under me pierced its claws through my skin.

Little shit.

I angled my dagger and stabbed it from behind. The creature’s wailing rang loud, and I had to clamp my ears so my eardrums wouldn’t burst.

More creatures jumped at me, and I kept fighting. They moved too fast and too often for me to count them. Eight? Ten? Twelve? Even more, if that were possible. And the worst part? They were little and everywhere! It wasn’t as if I had a fair opponent—my height and build—so I could actually hit it.

Rage swept through me, and I slashed the dagger to one side and another, really disappointed with all the years of martial arts I couldn’t use.

One creature jumped at my face with its mouth open, ready to bite me. I turned my head to the side, blocked its attack with my forearm, and then slapped it away. But it quickly rejoined to the sea of creatures crawling over me.

United the creatures pushed me down, holding my arms and legs. One of them, a little bigger than the others, crawled over my chest and snarled those sharp teeth at me. Real fear snaked through my stomach and chilled my spine.

I closed my eyes and prayed it didn’t hurt too much.