Demon Huntress

The trip through the underground parking lot proved uneventful, though once they'd settled into Ming jie's sporty but unassuming silver BMW, he forced some sort of gem into Shu lan's hand. Instantly, she went blind, but for some reason, she couldn't drop the stone.

Clammy sweat coated her skin as he started the car. "What did you do to me?"

"The effect is temporary. I'll take back the artifact once we're clear of the hospital."

The BMW slid into motion, the smooth ride angling up some sort of steep incline. Once they leveled out, she wondered if they were out of range of the Haven spell, and then decided that pummeling him while she was blind and he was driving might not be the best idea she'd ever had.

Silence descended on the leather-scented interior like a shroud. Shu lan bounced her legs. Tapped her fingers on the arm rest. Chewed her lip.

Anything to keep her breathing even and steady when all she wanted to do was fight the darkness, silence, and unknown.

"I should have sedated you."

"I'm sure you'll regret it soon enough." Like when she drove a blade through his throat at her first opportunity.

"I already do."

She really wanted to glare at him. "Anything else you regret? Like saving me? I mean, why didn't you let me die?"

"I'm a doctor."

"Bullshit."

"I'm not a doctor?"

"You're a demon, smartass, so you can't tell me that the hypocritical oath applies to you."

"Hippocratic, and it doesn't."

"A, I was being sarcastic, and B, you didn't answer my question."

She felt the vehicle take a sharp turn and sensed that he'd steered a little harder than he needed to. "I don't owe you any answers."

"Christ," she muttered. "I hate demons."

His bark of laughter made her jump like a twitchy cat. "I didn't let you die because doing so would go against hospital policy, which I wrote and can't violate without losing the respect of my staff."

He sounded as if he might be telling the truth, but then, demons lied as easily as they killed. "Know what I think?"

"Please," he said drolly, "do tell me."

Ass. "I think you kept me alive to get information about The Berus. You'd have been stupid not to."

"That was part of the original plan, yes. But since you aren't hanging from razor wire in a dungeon with rubber floors that hose clean, you can assume the plan changed."

His tone told her there was a story behind the rubber-floored dungeon, a story she figured belonged shelved alongside the only books she owned, tattered, used copies of Stephen King novels. "Does the change of plans have something to do with the play-fair-Justice-Dealer thing your brother was talking about?" When he didn't answer, she pressed on, because the dark silence was making her nuts. "What's a Justice Dealer?"

"My former career. I was raised by the decarabia."

"Ah. Vengeance demons."

"Justice demons," he corrected. "Vengeance demons can be summoned by anyone, human or demon, to take revenge on another. Justice demons serve only other demons—generally species and breed Councils. And, unlike vengeance demons, decarabia must investigate the complaint before taking action."

Interesting. Demons had their own cops. "What happens after the investigation?"

"Sentences are meted out based on the crime. But if we find that the petitioner is in the wrong, it's the accuser who is dealt the punishment."

"We? So you still do the job?"

"No. Since I'm not decarabia my JD powers weren't inherited and had to be bestowed upon me as a fledgling."

"Did you like being a demon cop?"

"Are you always so nosy?"

She shrugged, making her scrub top rasp against the warm leather. "You got something better to do than talk? Besides drive, I mean."

There was a brief silence. "I hated being a Justice Dealer. But because I grew up in a decarabia household, it was expected of me. My species' innate gifts make us naturals in the field of medicine, so as soon as I earned my doctorate, I relinquished my JD powers."

"Your brother said you weren't raised together. How many brothers do you have?"

"Total? Dead and alive?"

Well, this was awkward. "Um . . . both?"

"I had forty-four." Another sharp turn had her sliding in the leather seat. "I'm down to two. I'm the eldest."

"Firstborn?"

"No. Twenty were born before I was, but only one survived to s'genesis. Hong was killed two years ago. Now, if I take back the artifact, will you shut up?"

"You betcha."

He pried the stone from her fingers. Bright, noontime sunlight nearly blinded her as effectively as the darkness.

"Obviously, daylight isn't an issue for you."

"My species isn't heliophobic."

Of course not, because sensitivity to the sun would be a weakness, and from what she could tell, there was nothing weak about Hellboy. Not with those muscles, that jawline, those eyes. Everything about him screamed strength. Intelligence. S.e.x. Definitely s.e.x. Her body reminded her of that fact with a wave of hot tingles across her skin.

"You got the heater on? It's like a furnace in here," she muttered, and he smiled as if he knew exactly what had jacked up her body temperature.

She huffed and glanced out the side window, where people were taking advantage of the mild spring day, dining in outdoor cafés and chatting on corners, clueless about the horrors that took place right under their noses. She didn't recognize the part of the city they were in, but she did make note of the street names. His vile hospital couldn't stay hidden. Not from The Berus.