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Immortal
Hunter
Kait Ballenger
www.millsandboon.co.uk
For my dad, Rick Schulz, who has always supported me in everything I do, and who has provided me with all the opportunities I needed to succeed in life. I love you, Daddy.
“Ballenger offers an extremely promising high-voltage start to her series about superheroes and their adversaries.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review, on Twilight Hunter
“Paranormal fans have a new voice to check out with the debut of Ballenger’s terrific first book in her Execution Underground series.”
—RT Book Reviews on Twilight Hunter
“Debut author Ballenger shows awesome potential and talent.”
—RT Book Reviews on Shadow Hunter
“Kait Ballenger is a treasure you don’t want to miss!”
—New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter
“Nonstop action, pulse-pounding suspense, and red-hot romance … Kait Ballenger’s Execution Underground series delivers in spades!”
—Jaime Rush, New York Times bestselling author
“Action and romance in one mesmerizing story. A phenomenal start to the Execution Underground series. Shadow Hunter will leave you breathless and demanding more.” —Cecy Robson, author of Sealed with a Curse
“Taut with action, suspense, and romance that sizzles, Shadow Hunter is an evocative prelude to what’s certain to be an exciting new series! Fans of J.R. Ward are going to love the sexy warriors of Kait Ballenger’s Execution Underground.” —Kate SeRine, author of Red and The Better to See You
Also available from Kait Ballenger
TWILIGHT HUNTER
AFTER DARK
“Shadow Hunter”
Look for Kait Ballenger’s next novel
MIDNIGHT HUNTER
coming soon
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Dear Reader
CHAPTER ONE
DAVID ARONOWITZ UNSHEATHED his dagger and steadied the weapon. The serrated silver blade glinted in the dim amber glow of a nearby streetlight as he slipped into the shadows. He ran his thumb over the edge of the knife. New. Spotless and unused. If he had his way, it wouldn’t be unused much longer.
That demon piece of shit was going down.
He crept farther into the darkness, ears attuned to the slightest noise. The distant sounds of sirens from Strong Memorial Hospital echoed through the night, mixed with the sounds of occasional car horns and passersby. The damp scent of March’s latest snowfall-turned-brown-slush filled his nose. He had only a few minutes until his target arrived, and he couldn’t afford to mess this up.
He didn’t want to leave Allsún. It killed him to leave her bedside. But he had no choice. Jace had agreed to take over his vigil. In his absence, David trusted Jace to keep Allsún safe.
He patted the pocket of his Harley jacket. As he felt his Beretta holstered beneath the leather, a grim smile curved his lips. If there was one thing he loved it was new weapons, and tonight he had two brand-new toys: his dagger and, his personal favorite, the new bullets he’d loaded into the Berretta. Months of trying and finally he’d crafted a bullet that exploded on impact, releasing holy water inside the demonic target. A small part of him couldn’t wait to see the look on the monster’s face when he tested those little beauties.
His current assignment was to trail a demon he suspected was an Abyzu. One of those sick bastards had popped onto the Execution Underground’s radar when an infant girl was murdered two weeks ago. A dull ache pulsed through his heart every time he thought of the horrifying pain her parents had experienced, and would for the rest of their lives.
That baby-killing son-of-a-bitch would pay—no doubt about that, he’d make certain of it. But he had different plans for tonight. An Abyzu wasn’t his target. This was personal.
He shifted behind the Dumpster. A sharp pain shot up his leg, reminding him—as if he could forget—of his last major job gone horribly wrong, and the price of his failure. He deserved the pain. It was a just punishment, because he’d failed her. The one time Allsún had needed him, and he’d let her down. Left his ex-fiancée to the mercy of a sick, sexual sadist.
He gazed in the direction of the hospital, picturing her as he’d left her. She looked so peaceful, lying in the hospital bed with her eyes closed as if she were sleeping, though he knew better. She’d been imprisoned and tortured, and he’d been helpless to protect her. Sure, there were circumstances beyond his control. And, as his fellow hunters liked to point out, he had been the one to save her. But she’d suffered. She continued to suffer.
And knowing her pain was driving him insane.
He kicked the Dumpster with his injured leg, welcoming the sting it sent through his leg. Discovering a demon had possessed the doctor caring for his suffering ex-fiancée while she helplessly lay in a coma had been the chocolate icing on the shit cake.
The demon/doctor was no fool. He surrounded himself with humans, keeping to the busiest sections of the hospital. Shit, David had come close to losing his fucking mind, waiting for the right moment to take the sucker down. He’d been watching the bastard for weeks, and his patience was about to pay off. Any time now the monster would be cutting through the alleyway after the end of his shift.
David paused, and listened. Footsteps approached. He forced himself to focus. It was time. In three, two, one. L’chayim, bitch.
His eyes locked on to the open mouth of the alley, illuminated by a nearby streetlight. As his target rounded the corner and moved toward him, David held his breath and raised his knife for the attack. The sound of footfalls filled the alleyway’s narrow walls, and the whistling wind echoed through the backstreet. With his damaged leg, one wrong move and he would be toast.
The demon’s steps grew louder as David waited to strike. He had one shot to pin the hell-crawler before the monster attacked, or, more likely, turned tail and ran like the little bitch it was. And if the bastard ran, David’s jacked-up leg would make pursuit near impossible.
David focused on his enemy. Suddenly the demon halted mid-stride, on alert, as if sensing the threat lurking in the shadows. David froze, not a single muscle moving. He couldn’t screw this up.
The demon took another cautious step forward. A ray of light from one of the nearby streetlights cast on to the doctor’s face. Shit. This situation was a mess. David had no idea how long the physician had been possessed or, more importantly, whether or not he was still living somewhere inside that skull. He bit back his frustration and reminded himself of the plan. He didn’t want to kill the thing, just pin it down, get the information he needed and exorcise the demon from the doctor’s body. As much as he wanted to carve the monster’s face up for even looking at Allsún, he couldn’t bring himself to go for the kill. Not with the possibility of the body’s original owner being alive.
The demon’s eyes darted around the alley, scanning his surroundings. After several long moments it continued on its way. David smiled. Perfect. He allowed the monster to walk several feet past him, farther into the shadows. Shifting his weight, he prepped for a lunge. The side of his hip brushed the brick wall he stood against, making the slightest sound.
Fuck.
The bastard paused again and turned around.
David didn’t have time to think. He threw himself on to the demon. His torso collided with the lanky physician’s, and he knocked the monster to the ground. He shoved the blade of his knife against the hell-crawler’s throat. The demon struggled beneath him. It wriggled an arm free and clocked David square in the cheekbone.
David’s head snapped back from the force of the blow. His vision blurred. Though the demon’s chosen body was human, the monster’s strength was still of supernatural proportions. The demon possessing the doctor packed one hell of a punch. Damn, that would hurt in the morning.
The hell-spawn seized the free moment, bucking David off and scrambling to its feet. Vision still blurred, David followed suit, quickly regaining his footing. He slashed his knife through the air, backing the demon into a corner between the Dumpster and the wall of the alley.
The demon laughed. “You think a blade will hurt me, hunter?” It put both arms out in a welcoming gesture. “By all means, carve up this nice doctor I’m wearing. You won’t cause me any permanent harm.”
David frowned. Now he was pissed. He hated demons, especially smart-ass ones. He slashed across the demon’s face. A sharp hiss echoed through the alley as the blade seared through its skin. The creature clutched its cheek as steam billowed off the burning wound. David slammed the demon against the wall, pushing his knife flush against its throat.
He smirked. “A blessed blade, you sulfur-sucking fucker.” David pushed the knife harder against the demon’s skin. “And that’s ‘exorcist’ to you.”
The demon swore. David choked back a laugh. What kind of dumbass was this thing? He wasn’t one to brag, but with a reputation like his, the demon should’ve known stepping foot inside Rochester put him smack-dab in the middle of David’s hunting territory. If there was one thing demons hated more than anything, it was dealing with exorcists like him. He sent them back to hell every time—and every demon he’d ever encountered had been desperate to escape Satan’s hellhole for good. It was no easy feat to get here, so they sure didn’t want to be sent back.
David leaned the slightest bit harder into his blade, drawing blood. Another hiss sounded as the cut on the demon’s neck burned and smoked. It writhed against David’s weight.
First for the personal business. “What were you doing at Allsún’s bedside, you freak?” David growled.
A small smile curved the demon’s lips. “Who?” it taunted.
With his free fist David punched the demon in the face. From the crunch beneath his knuckles, he could tell the physician’s nose had broken. The poor guy would have to deal with the pain of the injuries David inflicted, assuming he was still alive, but it sure beat the alternative. David threw another punch, and blood gushed from the demon’s nostrils.
He needed answers, and he needed them now. “Don’t get cute with me, princess. You know exactly who I’m talking about.”
The demon’s eyes shifted from a human brown to a burning bloodred. Its anger showed in the hint of its true form. “You mean the delicious girl I plan to gut from the inside out?”
“If you touch a single hair on her head, I will skin you alive and pour holy water across your open wounds until you’ve sizzled to nothing more than a piece of smoking, rotting flesh,” David hissed. His blood was boiling. The thought of Allsún hurting any more than she already was sent pure rage coursing through his veins. He’d already failed to protect her once. He wouldn’t let it happen again.
The demon grinned through the blood pouring down its face. “And kill this sweet doctor I’m wearing, a man who has saved countless lives? I don’t think so.”
David growled. “You underestimate my hatred for you hell-whores.” He shoved the knife harder against the demon’s throat. More smoke burned from the wound. “Tell me why you’ve been riding her doctor or I’ll exorcise your sorry ass back to hell right this second.”
The demon didn’t respond.
“One last chance.”
The demon grinned. Blood from the doctor’s nose gushed into its mouth and stained its smile a putrid shade of crimson. No answer.
David clenched his teeth. Fine. If the demon wanted pain, he’d give it pain. He cleared his throat and began to recite the exorcism ritual. The Hebrew words fell from his lips with familiar ease.
The veins underneath the demon’s skin darkened until the varicose lines covered the doctor’s whole body. The demon’s eyes blazed an even more fiery red, and he shook in uncontrollable jerks. David didn’t stop chanting, not even to catch his breath.
The demon let out a strained cry. “All right already,” it interrupted him. “Don’t exorcise me and I’ll tell you what you want.”
David waited. The little shit had called uncle sooner than he’d expected.
The demon coughed blood as the blue-and-purple veins covering the body it possessed slowly faded. “She’s the last Fae creature outside the Isle of Apples. I came to kill her, and I would have, if you hadn’t been permanently glued to her bedside.”
Fuck. David fought back a long string of profanities. As if Allsún didn’t have it rough enough already—lying there unconscious while her injuries healed. Now this demon knew what she had been hiding for years, her half-Fae bloodline. Her pixie bloodline, to be more specific. As earthly angels, the Fae were the demons’ only true natural enemy. As one of the last of her kind remaining on earth, Allsún was a danger to them, and she’d gone into hiding several years ago during the last mass exodus of Fae from Earth.
David forced himself to remain calm for Allsún’s sake. He couldn’t let the demon know it was on to anything big. “Who sent you?” he asked.
The demon shrugged. “It’s just me.”
David let out another low growl and slid the edge of his blade across the demon’s throat.
The monster yelled in agony. “I’m on my own. I swear it. I possessed the hospital janitor, and I was riding him for some fun when I came across her. I knew what she was right away, so I decided to toy with her and possessed the doc. I wanted to say I was the demon to kill the last faerie on Earth.”
David met the demon’s eyes and assessed the worthless piece of filth. From its mild strength he could tell it was no head-honcho. Just another lowly bottom-feeder. Probably a Belial demon, if he were to wager a guess. A Belial would be dumb enough to go after someone as valuable as Allsún without orders from its superiors.
“Did you tell anyone else about her?”
The hell-spawn shook its head. “No, no one. You have my word. Just let me go.”
David scoffed. “Your word is worth less than a dead man’s ball sack. I know you demons chatter like gossiping schoolgirls with one another, so unless you can tell me something useful about the demon that murdered that poor infant girl two weeks ago, you’re taking a one-way trip back to hell.” David began to recite the ritual again, his words slow, deliberate.
The veins throughout the doctor’s body bulged again, and the demon shrieked. “Send me back to hell and I’ll tell every demon there about her!”
David froze. Rage filled him as he considered the demon’s words. He was so not in the mood to play around with this sulfurous piss-ant.
The demon grinned from ear to ear. “Looks like you’re just going to have to let me go, exorcist.”
David laughed. “In your dreams.” He punched the demon in the gut. The demon/doctor let out an audible “oof.”
He would exorcise the demonic piece of shit as painfully as possible. He reached for the chain around his neck, pulling the Star of David he always wore from underneath his shirt. He pressed it into the demon’s forehead as he mumbled the ancient words of the ritual.
The demon’s body seized. The screams that reverberated from its throat were anything but human. “For that, I’ll spread the word about the faerie and I’ll kill the doctor, too. He may need to breathe, but I don’t.”
The doctor’s chest quit moving as the demon intentionally stopped breathing, suffocating the body it wore. David quickened the pace of his chanting, mumbling the words as fast as he could. He prayed the doctor was able to fight somewhere in there, was able to force the demon to take a breath.
He was halfway through the ritual and still the doctor wasn’t breathing. Playing out all the possible scenarios in his mind, David calculated his next move. He was damned either way. If he exorcised the demon, he would be putting Allsún’s life in danger once again. Allowing the hell-spawn the opportunity to share the news of her existence was not an option—though for all he knew the others were aware of her existence already. Still, could he take the chance? His only other choice was to kill the demon for good, but that meant he would be killing the doctor, too.
His loyalties clashed—his duties as a hunter to protect the innocent, and the loyalty and devotion he felt for the woman who’d once been the love of his life, even if she no longer returned that love. David gritted his teeth.
Shit.
He shoved the Star of David harder against the demon’s forehead and recited Psalm 91 in Hebrew as fast as he could. Three times. That was all he needed. Just three recitations, and then the ritual would be finished. Allsún would want him to save the doctor if he could. He knew it, but how could he knowingly place her in danger again? And would the doctor already be dead by then anyway?
The demon gasped. The doctor’s face cleared for barely a second. His eyes flashed to their normal shade. The red disappeared as he fought against the demon. “Kill it! I don’t care if you kill me, too!”
For a moment David hesitated. Then, without thought, he plunged the blade into the doctor’s heart. The man’s body seized and shook beneath David’s hold. Blood gushed from the wound in thick spurts. The veins darkened beneath the doctor’s skin as the demon fought unsuccessfully to hang on to its existence. A pulse of energy emanated from the doctor’s body, a signal of the demon’s death. The doctor’s veins faded. The red of his irises transitioned into his normal brown color. His body went limp, but the light hadn’t left his eyes. He coughed up blood, the red liquid oozing down his chin and face.
He opened his mouth to speak. “H-he already told the others,” he rasped. “About...h-her.” The doctor’s body jerked one last feeble time before his eyes went dark, and the muscles in his face slackened.
Blood poured on to the cement as David lowered the doctor to the ground. He stared at the man’s limp form as guilt rushed through him. Shit. He’d wanted to save the doctor. Damn. In situations like this, he always knew it wasn’t his fault, and that he needed to get the job done, which he had. But it didn’t matter. He always blamed himself anyway. Damn it all. Following his first instinct, he clutched the Star of David at his neck and muttered the Mourner’s Kaddish. As the last words fell from his lips, he released his necklace and stepped away from the body.
CHAPTER TWO
THIRTY-SIX HOURS of torture wasn’t exactly easy on the body. Neither was waking up after nearly a month in a trauma-induced coma. Allsún O’Hare found that out the hard way. A pulse of energy shot through Allsún’s body, and she jolted upright, gasping for breath. Every inch of her body ached with a dull throbbing pain. The smell of too much sterilization and cleaning agents assaulted her nose. An incessant beeping sounded like a siren inside her head. She covered her ears as she stared at a white-washed room, her vision blurred.
Shite. Where in Morgana’s name was she? She blinked several times until her eyes cleared, then she took in the scene around her.
“Paging Nurse Robson to the labor and delivery unit,” a female voice echoed over nearby loud speakers. Labor and delivery? She knew there was no way in hell she was in labor and delivery, that was for sure. The last time she’d been there had been when... Oh, God.
Her head spun, and she clutched the sheets over her. Labor and delivery...that meant she was in a hospital, right? Her vision blurred again. Holy faerie dust. No. No hospitals. She hated hospitals. She needed to get out of here. Now.
Her vision spun again. Boy, was she feeling loopy or what? What the hell had they given her? She glanced down at her arm and saw an IV sticking out from the back of her hand. Her eyes followed the tubing up to a clear bag. She squinted at the small printed label on the side of it. Ativan. What kind of drug was that? Nothing she was familiar with from the humane shelter, that was for sure.
She flopped back on to the not-so-fluffy pillow propped behind her head. Why was she in the hospital anyway? Slowly her eyes drooped, as if the lids weighed more than her muscles could bear to handle. How had she gotten here? She...
The image of David’s handsome face flashed through her mind.
With a fresh round of determination, she sat upright in bed again. Though it felt as if she’d lost all muscle control in her hands, she pawed at the IV. She grasped at the tubing in desperation, until finally she ripped it from her hand. She let out a sharp yelp at the pain. A heavyset nurse walking by her room paused at the sound, then turned to see Allsún fiddling with the IV.
She hurried to Allsún’s bedside. Clara, as her badge read, sported platinum blond hair up to the two-inch roots at her scalp, which showed a dark, sharply contrasting brown—clearly her natural color. She smiled with lips that had a little too much burgundy lip liner and placed her hand on her hip. “Oh, no, you don’t. You have to leave that in, honey.”
Allsún shook her head. No way was she letting that human poison run into her veins for another second. Clara left her bedside for a moment, searching a nearby cabinet for supplies. Supplies she wouldn’t need. Scooting to the end of the bed, Allsún swung her legs over the edge. She dangled on the side of the hospital mattress until finally her tiny feet touched the cold, hard tiling of the floor. Still clutching the bed, she stepped forward. Her knees wobbled beneath her and...shite. She crumpled to the floor, her legs so weak she couldn’t even support herself. How was she supposed to escape like this?
At the sound of Allsún hitting the floor, Clar...Clarese?—Allsún’s mind went fuzzy. What was the nurse’s name again? Before Allsún could think about it much longer, the woman was at her side, hooking her under the arms and hauling her to her feet as if she weighed no more than a doll. Maybe she did weigh that little...she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten.
“All right, honey. Let’s get you back in bed, okay? We don’t want you falling again. I’m already going to have to fill out a nice big pile of paperwork just because of that little spill. So let’s take it easy, okay?” She eased Allsún back toward the bed.
Allsún planted her feet as firmly on the ground as she could. With every ounce of strength she had, she pulled against the woman’s hold. “No, I’mmm not ssstaying here,” she said, suddenly very aware of her slurred speech.
The nurse frowned. “I know you don’t want to, but you really need to lie down and rest.”
Allsún pulled against the nurse’s hold again, trying her hardest to make her voice sound firm. “No.”
The woman grabbed hold of Allsún’s left wrist, gentle but commanding. “You have to—”
“I said no.” Allsún wrenched her arm away from the nurse. She stumbled several steps sideways, away from the woman’s hold.