Chapter One.
Max.
As soon as I landed on my back on the ground, I knew I'd made a mistake and cursed myself for messing up. I laid there, trying to catch my breath, waiting for the pain to recede.
After a moment, the pain in my shoulder eased and a hand appeared above my face, the slim fingers waving lazily in a way that told me to take it.
I reached up with my own hand and as soon as I grabbed it, I was hauled to my feet, coming face to face with my best friend, Grove. She flashed me a grin, looking pleased with herself.
"It's not often you mess up, Max. What's up?" She asked, a hint of concern entering her voice as her grin faltered.
The reason I didn't often mess up was because I couldn't afford to. I'd been hunting demons for as long as I could remember and I was one of the best, if I did say so myself. I hadn't gotten to that point by messing up.
I heaved a sigh as I dragged a hand through my long auburn hair, chastising myself once again for messing up something that should be instinct by now. I'd been doing this for enough years that I shouldn't even have to think about the moves before my body made them. If I'd messed up like this while on a hunt, I'd be dead. There would be no second chances. Demons were not known for benevolence or mercy; they were known for being vicious and blood-thirsty.
"Nothing. I just haven't been getting much sleep lately, that's all." I said, praying that she wouldn't start prying into my thoughts like she usually did. Don't get me wrong, I loved Grove to death, but she just didn't know when to leave things alone and now was one of the times I needed her to let it lie.
She opened her mouth as if she were about to speak, but when I flashed her a look of warning, she quickly clamped her mouth shut, obviously deciding that she didn't want to piss me off right now.
"Hey, Max! Got a job for you!"
I spun in the direction the voice had come from, my gaze landing on Shepherd standing at the opposite side of the Gymnasium, his gaze raking over me from head to toe.
Shepherd was technically my boss, although we were friends, even though he was constantly hitting on me. He was good looking, I guess, but he just wasn't my type; plus I had a rule about dating fellow demon hunters, even though it would probably be easier than dating clueless humans. I let my gaze trail over all six foot of him, from his shaggy blonde hair that seriously needed cutting, taking in his hazel eyes that were always hidden behind his fringe before trailing down his face, across his full lips and sculpted jaw. He wasn't the most muscular guy, but if you asked me, muscles were overrated; He had more of a lean, swimmers build and to be honest, I preferred that over muscles any day, but again, I didn't date people I worked with and he was totally not my type.
I glanced at Grove beside me and saw that she was smirking, which made me roll my eyes as I made my way over to where Shepherd stood, still checking me out shamelessly.
"What's up, Shep?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest when his gaze lingered there for a little too long. Sometimes I wanted to smack him upside the head for the way he looked at me, but at the end of the day, he was still technically my boss, so that idea was a no-go.
He finally managed to drag his gaze away from my chest and looked at my face instead, the edges of his mouth kicking up into a half-smile that I had to admit made me briefly wonder what kissing that infuriating mouth of his would be like.
"Got a job for you. Demon that's been on the run for a long time. No hunter has been able to catch him. The ones I've sent after him before disappeared." He said.
My brows rose in surprise because there weren't many demons that could evade multiple hunters. I'd heard of one in the last three years that had managed to avoid one hunter before getting caught by another but I couldn't remember ever hearing of one that had evaded more than one hunter before.
"How many?" I asked, beyond intrigued.
Shepherd crossed his arms in a mirror of my own pose, his lips twisting into a frown.
"Four. None of them came back and we never found their bodies either." He said, his frown morphing into a scowl as he spoke. None of us liked losing our fellow hunters and there was nothing that got us more riled up than going after a demon that had took down one or more of our own.
"Shit, I've never heard of a demon taking out that many hunters without being captured or killed." I said, my voice filled with a hint of grudging respect. If you didn't respect the things that could do you serious harm, then you were asking to be killed. I may not like demons but I respect the damage they can do. I know that I'm not invincible, despite how much I may claim to be and I know that I have to watch my back out there otherwise I'll end up just like those other hunters that never returned.
"This guy is vicious, but I know how much you like a challenge. Want me to send you his file so you can get started?" He asked.
I nodded my head in response and he pulled his phone out of his pocket, swiping and typing for a moment before my own phone buzzed in my pocket and he put his away.
I lifted my hand in a cursory wave as I turned to make my way back across the gym to continue training with Grove before I'd have to start my research on this new hunt.
"I know you like to think you're invincible, Max, but be careful. This guy has evaded hunters longer than any other I've heard of and he's more vicious than any of the demons you've hunted before." Shepherd called from behind me, a hint of concern edging into his voice.
I glanced back at him over my shoulder with a wide grin that probably made me look like a lunatic.
"He's evaded other hunters. He's never had to evade me before and there is no chance in hell that I'm going to let him get away." I vowed, even as I wondered whether I was getting in over my head this time.
Damn, he's gorgeous.
That's the first thought that crosses my mind when I open the file on my latest hunt.
Demons are usually good looking, despite the atrocity that hides beneath the surface, but this guy was off-the-charts, sell-your-soul-for-one-night-with-him kind of hot. With shoulder length midnight black hair that looked as if it were made of shadows, piercing grey eyes that seemed to see right through to your soul and full lips that practically begged you to come closer and kiss him; the tattoo that adorned the side of his neck, partially hidden by the collar of his T-shirt, only added to his appeal. He was the epitome of a darkly handsome male. He also happened to be exactly my type, although I pushed that thought into the dark recesses of my mind as soon as it had appeared, shaking my head as if to help rid myself of these stupid thoughts.
The picture was only a mugshot, so it didn't show his body, but I had a feeling that the rest of him would be just as drool-worthy as his face, which made me scold myself mentally once again.
He was a demon, for gods sake. It didn't matter how good looking he was, because he was a monster underneath that pretty façade. It was only a mask for the ugliness that lurked beneath.
I tried to keep those thoughts in my head as I scanned through his file, getting up to speed on all of the important details I'd need to know. There wasn't really that much information beyond the basics, like his hair colour, eye colour, build and height. There were a few notes on his fighting style and absolutely nothing about weaknesses, although I hadn't been expecting a list of things I could capitalize on anyway. I was used to going on little information and I didn't need to know every single detail about him to catch him.
The one thing that surprised me was that there was no name listed for him, even though he'd obviously been on our radar for quite a while. It usually didn't take much to get a name to put to the face, but no one had been able to get his, which struck me as odd. For now, I'd just call him Grey, on account of his grey eyes. It wasn't like I'd ever call him that out loud anyway; it was just a way to keep him straight in my head.
I spent the next hour looking through the sparse information I had on him and trying to come up with the best way to track him. He didn't have any locations that he frequented. He didn't have any associates listed. The only idea that I could come up with was beyond stupid and probably the craziest idea I'd ever had.
I was going to make up some story about him being missing and show his picture to people around town. I knew that it would eventually get back to him that someone was asking around about him and if I was lucky, it would lead him straight to me. Some people might say this is a suicide mission, leading a demon straight to my door, but it was the only thing I could come up with and I was pretty confident that when he did eventually show up, I'd be able to handle him. It was just a matter of setting my plan into motion and being patient.
It would just be a matter of time.
