Demon Hunters 2: Retribution (Stand Alone Series) (Demon Hunters.) by Avril Sabine Read Free Book Online Page A

She took one look at the crowd gathered there, grabbed a book and fled to the gazebo.

Chapter Six
    There was no peace to be found in the gazebo either. She paused in the entrance and glared at Des. She turned away and dropped down to sit on the edge of the gazebo and let her head rest against the post next to her, placing the book on the timber floor behind her. Des sat beside her.
    “Wh-” Scarlett clenched her fists. A growl in the back of her throat ended the word. “I can’t talk to you. Leave me alone. All I have is questions. I’m trying to sort this problem out and I can’t. I just can’t.”
    “Twenty minute’s grace. Don’t waste it. And it’s mutual.”
    Scarlett stared at Des in surprise.
    Des grinned. “You’re wasting it.”
    “You have to promise to tell me when the time’s up.”
    Des shook his head. “And take away part of the fun? Not likely.”
    Scarlett pulled out her mobile phone and set the alarm to go off in seventeen minutes, just to be on the safe side. “What happens if we can’t find the information on how to unmake you?”
    “Then I have to answer Retribution’s call when Nathan makes his sacrifice.”
    “What kind of sacrifice?
    “Human of course. But Nathan is being smart this time. It’s an assisted suicide. He’s promised them they’ll feel no pain, only bliss.”
    Scarlett stared at Des and her mouth fell open. She swallowed hard. “But that’s terrible. We have to talk to them-”
    “You can’t save the world, Scarlett. They only have a couple of months left to live. I don’t blame them not wanting to live their final days in agony.”
    Scarlett shook her head. “You won’t convince me. It’s wrong. They-”
    “Lady Knight, not everyone wants you to protect them.”
    “I’m not-” Des pressed his fingers against her lips and she pulled away from him.
    “That’s the way I see you. Your Gran, she was a great hunter in her day, well and truly lived up to the family name. But you, you’re a protector.”
    “No, that’d be Alex. Or even Blake.”
    “Is there a reason you find the idea of being a knight and a protector uncomfortable?”
    “There are no knights in this day and age.”
    Des chuckled. “You may have packed away the armour, but I noticed you’ve kept the sword.”
    Scarlett sighed. It was so easy to get off track when you talked to a demon. “What are you going to do when Retribution calls you?”
    “Nothing.”
    “But Des-”
    “I will not torture you.”
    “He’ll torture you if you don’t.”
    “Concern for me, Lady Knight?”
    Scarlett shook her head. “I don’t want your pain on my conscience.”
    “If I hunt you, what will happen?”
    “My family will protect me.”
    “And what are my chances of getting past your family to you?” Des smiled wryly. “Even you can see I’m still going to end up being tortured no matter which path I take. So why go to the trouble of hunting you just to postpone the inevitable?”
    “If we don’t unmake you in time, I can’t help you in any other way.” Scarlett twisted the ring around on her finger as she tried to get it to sit comfortably.
    “I haven’t asked anything else of you.”
    “How long will he torture you for?”
    The silence stretched out. Des finally answered, his voice toneless. “At least a century.”
    Scarlett stood up abruptly. “I can’t… you can’t…” her eyes closed and she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “You’re a demon!”
    Des chuckled. “I fail to see what you’re trying to get at.”
    “How-” the alarm on her phone cut her question off.
    Des rose to stand beside her. “I warned you not to waste time.”
    “There must be another option. You can’t tell me we have only the one.”
    “It’s the only option that will fit in with your black and white view of life and sin.”
    Scarlett’s hands tightened into fists. “Don’t you start on me about sins. When you make a commitment for life, it lasts for life. You don’t discard