Chapter Eight

D erek braced himself for the reaction to Lou’s revelation, feeling shitty for all these people, knowing what they were about to hear was going to shatter them. His gaze shot to Gina. He wished he could hold her hand, do something to comfort her, but he knew she was just going to have to ride it out like the rest of them. There was nothing he could do to make it easier for her.

“Your paths have all crossed with the Sons of Darkness,” Lou explained.

“Who are the Sons of Darkness?” Olivia asked.

“The demons,” Lou said. “They are who we have spent centuries battling. They are, quite literally, descendants of the great evil.”

“So what you’re saying is the Sons of Darkness are the sons of the devil?” Trace asked, his voice indicating utter disbelief.

“No, though they are descendants. The great evil has sired many over the centuries. The branches are too complex to follow.”

“Holy Mother of God,” Shay said, crossing herself. “This cannot be happening.”

“I’m afraid it is,” Lou said. “The Sons of Darkness are real.”

“How have our paths crossed with them?” Gina asked, almost afraid to ask the question, but needing to know the answer.

“Through some unknown genetic anomaly or heavenly curse, we don’t really know which, for the past few centuries, female demons have been born sterile. This resulted in a fast regression of their numbers. As a result, the Sons of Darkness began capturing human females and using them to breed demon children.”

“Human females?” Trace asked. “You mean running off with young human women and using them to breed with demons?”

“Yes.”

“Holy shit,” Gina said, feeling a chill skitter up her spine.

“I don’t think I want to hear any more,” Jake muttered.

“I know you don’t. But you must, because this is how the demons tie into all of you.” Lou inhaled deeply, then exhaled, his shoulders slumping as if a great weight sat on them. “You all have mothers who went missing when you were very young.”

“What does that have to do with—oh God,” Gina said, her hand flying to her throat as she made the connection. “Oh, God, no. That’s not true.”

Derek winced as he watched Gina pale and tears glitter in her eyes over the realization of what Lou said.

“No. Not my mother. That’s a lie,” she said.

“I’m afraid it’s very true,” Lou said. “All of our hunters here, with the exception of Derek, experienced the loss of their mothers through kidnapping by demons.”

“How do you know this?” Olivia asked.

“My connection to the Sons of Darkness is strong, but it took us a while to figure out what they were up to. When reports of so many unexplained disappearances of young women started coming in, we investigated on our own and confirmed the presence of demons in each of your cases.”

Ryder stood and pushed back from his chair. “This is bullshit.”

“No,” Shay said, shaking her head and whispering. “No.”

Olivia didn’t say a word. Neither did Trace.

“See what I mean?” Jake said, his voice rising as he stood and lit a cigarette. “I told you this was all a lie! My mother’s dead!”

Lou shook his head. “No, Jake. Your mother didn’t die. She was captured by demons and she—”

“No! She was not captured! Don’t say it!”

“Are you trying to tell us our mothers were kidnapped from our homes and used as breeding machines for some kind of evil creatures from hell?” Gina asked.

Derek saw the horror and disbelief on Gina’s face, on all their faces, could well imagine what was going through their minds. He knew their pain, knew what they were going through, because he’d been there. Only it wasn’t his mother who’d been taken by the demons.

“All your mothers disappeared?” Olivia finally asked, looking around at the others.

Gina nodded. So did Trace, Ryder, Shay, and finally Jake.

“Christ,” Ryder said, shaking his head and staring at the ground. “Unfuckingbelievable.”

“So some of these demons running around could be our little brothers,” Trace said with a sarcastic smile.

“Oh, that’s so not funny,” Shay said, swiping away tears. “That’s not funny at all.”

“I know this is hard for all of you to take in, and believe me, this is not the way I wanted to break it to you. But I had no choice, given that the demons showed up so unexpectedly.”

“Just what exactly was your plan, Lou?” Ryder asked. “What was this fucking game all about anyway?”

Derek stood. “I can tell you that. Our plan was to test you, see if you could handle the physical aspects of becoming a hunter.”

“And if we couldn’t?” Gina asked.

“You’d be eliminated from the game and sent off the island without ever knowing what was really up.”

“And if we managed to pass your test? Then what?”

“Then we’d have told you about the Realm of Light and the Sons of Darkness, and invited you to become a demon hunter.”

“What if we refused?” Jake challenged.

“Then I’d have erased your memory of what you’d been told, and the only thing you’d remember is your time playing the game and that you’d lost,” Lou said quietly.

Gina sat up in her chair, not sure she’d heard that right. “What?”

Lou hinted at a smile. “I have the power to give a psychic hypnotic suggestion. Those who leave the Realm of Light or who decide not to join us will have their memories selectively erased. It’s perfectly harmless, I assure you.”

“Who the fuck are you people?” Jake asked, tossing his cigarette on the ground and stabbing it out with the toe of his shoe. He backed away from the table and crossed his arms over himself.

“Dear God,” Gina said. “This is unreal. This whole thing is out of this world.” She wanted to run away, to hide, go home and curl up into a ball and pretend none of this had happened. It was all a bad dream. Her mother hadn’t been taken away from her by demons. She wasn’t being used as a breeding machine for some evil creatures. She wasn’t. Gina refused to think of her mother that way. Fresh tears pooled in her eyes, but she blinked them back, unwilling to open the floodgate of memories to the only person she’d allowed herself to love.

“You are all insane,” Jake said, his hands shaking as he reached for another cigarette. “I’m not staying here. I want out and I want out now.”

“That is, of course, your choice, Jake, as it is all of yours,” Lou said. “Your memories of what happened tonight will be erased and the ship will return you to the mainland.”

“I don’t want my memories erased,” Jake said, his mouth set in a firm line.

“I’m afraid you won’t have a choice in the matter,” Lou said.

Jake looked to Lou, then to Derek. “You’ll force me?”

“It’s not like that. We just can’t afford to let anyone leave the Realm of Light armed with knowledge about us. You won’t be harmed, I assure you,” Lou said.

Gina closed her eyes for a second. How easy it would be to forget this, to go back to her life the way it was, to pretend this had all been nothing more than a game. She wouldn’t even remember any of it, would never know what had really happened to her mother.

She could forget again.

But when had she ever turned her back on a challenge? How many years had she wondered what had happened to her mother, had she wondered who had taken her—because she knew in her heart her mother had been kidnapped—she’d never have abandoned Gina of her own accord. How many years had she wished for vengeance against those who had ripped her mother away from her, and her own childhood along with it, her sense of security and belonging?

“And what if we decide to stay?” she found herself asking.

“Then we’ll train you, arm you, and you’ll become a demon hunter,” Derek replied with an upward curve of his lips.

“What about our lives back home?” Shay asked.

“You won’t have one any longer,” Lou said. “The life of a demon hunter is a full-time one. But you will be fully supported here. I have the funding to take care of all of you. We travel wherever the demons are, and we’re on the road a lot. It’s not easy, and it’s damned dangerous. I won’t lie to you. You have to make the choice yourself to do this. No one will make it for you.”

“Demon killers. Fucking unbelievable,” Ryder said. “I know, I’ve said that already.” He shook his head and stood. “I’m in. Fucking asshole demons. I don’t even need to think about it. I need some goddamn air. I’ll be back.” He stood and left the tent.

Olivia stood next. “I’d be honored.” She bent her head toward Lou. “If you’ll excuse me, I could also use a few minutes before we hear anymore.”

After she left, Trace stood. “Better than rock climbing, and I’d like some goddamn revenge myself. I’m in, too.” He shook Lou’s hand first, then Derek’s. “Looking forward to kicking some demon ass. Now I need a beer.”

Gina cracked a smile as she watched him leave, then looked at Shay, who was probably the most shell-shocked of all of them.

“I don’t know what to think of all of this,” Shay admitted. “For twenty years I thought my mom left on a business trip and just decided not to come back, that she didn’t want to come home. She was always so busy. Too busy for a family, really. I watched my dad shrivel up and die over losing her.” Her lower lip trembled and tears pooled in her eyes.

Gina’s heart wrenched for Shay, because she knew that anguish. Dammit, she didn’t want to feel that pain again, wanted to tune out the empathy, pretend her own heart wasn’t breaking all over again.

“And now I find out that some…demons took her away from me and my dad? That she didn’t have a choice? That I could have had a chance at growing up with a mother and she was taken away from me? I don’t like it. It pisses me off, dammit.” Shay sniffed and stood. “I’ve spent my whole life wondering what I wanted to be when I grew up. Well, now I know. I want to be a demon hunter. I want to kill them all. I don’t have anything to go back to. Count me in. And I need a freakin’ tissue.” She turned and left.

Gina only wished she could make an emotional admission like that. Instead, she was frozen inside, still unable to come to grips with the turmoil within. What did she want to do?

“You still want to leave, Jake? Are you going to turn your back on what they did to your mother? Or are you going to stand with us and fight?” Lou asked.

Jake opened his mouth to speak, but then Derek asked, “Have you seen the weapons we kill these fuckers with?”

“Uh, no. What weapons?”

“There’s another reason we brought you here, Jake. We’re quite impressed with your mastery of lasers.”

Gina watched the play of emotions cross Jake’s face. Shrugging disinterest at first, then curiosity. “Are you shitting me? You use lasers?”

Derek grinned. “We use weapons our own government doesn’t even use. Join us, and we’ll knock your socks off. No shit.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Gina, tell Jake what happened to the demon I killed out there.”

Gina shrugged. “Some kind of weapon I’ve never seen before. He told me to cover my eyes. There was a flash of light. After that, all that was left of the demon was a quivering, smoking blob on the ground.”

“Holy shit!” Jake said, an excited grin sprouting on his face. “Tell me more.”

“It’s pointless to inform you further if we must erase your memory,” Lou said. “The more knowledge you have, the more difficult it becomes to eradicate.”

Jake chewed his lip and took out another cigarette, looking first to Lou, then to Derek. “They really took my mom?”

“They really did,” Lou said.

“Join us, Jake,” Derek said. “We need you.”

Jake nodded. “I really wanna see those weapons. I’ll stay.”

“Excellent!” Lou said, taking Jake’s hand. “You won’t regret it.”

Crushing out his last cigarette, Jake said, “I need another pack. I’ll be back.”

Gina realized she hadn’t yet committed, that she was the only one left.

“I’ll be back in a little while,” Lou said, slipping out of the tent.

“Gina,” Derek said to her, “you have some scratches on your neck and the back of your shoulder. Did that demon hurt you?”

“I do?” She touched her neck. “Oh. No. He only held my hand and then I pulled away. Those probably happened when I was pushed away by one of your hunters. I hit the ground pretty hard. The demon never touched me.”

Derek blew out a breath. “Good. But still, some of those look pretty deep. Come with me to the first-aid shack. You need a walk and some fresh air anyway.”

He was probably right. She stood and followed him across the beach, grateful for the beacon of his flashlight. Suddenly, the darkness didn’t offer the peace it once had. Monsters lurked there now, just as they had all those years ago, the night her mother disappeared.

Oh, God. Demons were in her house that night.

She shook her head, cleared her mind, refusing to think about it anymore.

The shack was a short distance from the beach, a small, boxy room containing all the medical supplies, one small examination table, and a chair.

“Hop up,” he said, grabbing the kit and setting his weapon nearby.

She slid onto the table and waited, drumming her fingers on the tabletop, feeling every inch of how small this room was with just her and Derek inside. He tore open an antiseptic towel and wiped her face and neck, using slow, tender strokes along her cheek and throat.

“Shook you up pretty bad tonight, didn’t it?” he asked as he worked closely.

“Me? No, I’m okay.”

“You don’t have to play tough girl with me. I’ve seen stuff that left me puking in alleys, Gina. And I’m the toughest person I know,” he said with a slight curve of his lips as he straightened and faced her. “This is some scary shit, and most of it damned unbelievable.”

“Yeah.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, instead deciding to study her boots.

“I saw my first demon when I was ten years old.”

Her gaze shot to his. “You did?”

“Yeah. I woke up when I heard a sound in my bedroom, and there it was. Ugly motherfucker. Big and nasty and goddamn did it stink.”

Eyes wide, she asked, “What was it doing in your bedroom?”

“Kidnapping my little brother.”