Demon Huntress

"It's what he is."

Realization slapped her upside the head. "You know him. Dear God, you know him."

ren fu regarded her coolly. "I've met him."

"Met him? Like, what, for tea and crumpets? He tormented our mom, ren fu! For years. He r.a.p.ed her, God knows how many times, and then he tore her apart in front of my eyes. And you met him?"

shu lan must have been yelling, because the door burst open, and ming jie filled the doorway, fists clenched, concern branded in his expression. "You two all right?"

ren fu ignored ming jie to move closer to shu lan. "What he did was horrible. But it was his nature. We all do things we're programmed to do . . ."

Whatever ren fu was saying melted into a whirlpool of meaningless words. A cry tore from shu lan's throat and then she was launching herself at the other woman. Her hands closed around ren fu's throat as ming jie's arms caught shu lan around the waist.

"How can you defend him?" shu lan screamed, fighting wildly against the set of arms—no, two sets, chen had grabbed her, too—dragging her off ren fu.

"You'd better go," ming jie told ren fu, who nodded.

"shu lan, you've got to look at who donated your DNA if you want to know who you are. What you can be."

Something dark and oily gurgled through shu lan's veins, an evil industrial sludge that threatened to leach the humanity right out of her. "Oh, I know who donated it. And I want nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with you. I will never—never—integrate that shit into myself. Go. To. Hell."

"I'm sorry," ren fu whispered to shu lan, and then she looked up at ming jie. "I . . . I have to go. I'm sorry."

shu lan stopped struggling, and gradually, chen's hands eased away, but ming jie only held tighter. Grateful for an island in the middle of the nightmarish sea she'd been swimming in, she folded herself into his embrace and wondered how much longer she could tread water before she drowned.

If Ren fu had been part Trillah demon she couldn't have run away from ming jie's apartment any faster. She had really, really messed up with ren fu. As if things weren't bad enough with her parents already, now this.

"Stupid," she muttered, as she hoofed it down the sidewalk in search of a taxi. Raised among humans, she had a tendency to eschew the Harrowgates in favor of more traditional means of transportation.

"Idiot!"

First, she'd been antagonistic about ming jie, something that had been totally uncalled for and more than a little childish. Didn't matter that she knew where her behavior had come from—her jealousy. Not jealousy of shu lan's relationship with the incubus—well, maybe a little, since ren fu couldn't have the man she loved, someone who might be responsible for her parents' kidnapping—but mostly of shu lan's relationship with their mother.

ren fu had never had that. She'd seen her from afar, had taken pictures. And once, she'd worked up the guts to speak to her at a bus stop. ren fu had been terrified, fifteen years old and dressed like a punk, but her's voice had been soft and musical, with a hint of southern drawl that went down like sugar, a far cry from the clipped, stern voices of her adoptive parents.

Yes, she loved her parents, would always be grateful to them for saving her life and then giving her a great one, but deep down, she'd resented the fact that shu lan had been given sole rights to being her daughter.

How f.u.c.k.i.n.g petty. Especially considering how ren fu had grown up wanting for nothing, but shu lan . . . she'd suffered.

Once ren fu was old enough to venture out on her own, she'd tracked shu lan down, had followed her from school to the rusted-out trailer where she'd lived with three other foster kids. When she saw her the next day, she'd been wearing the same clothes. shu lan had bounced around between foster care and the streets so much that she couldn't keep track. It wasn't until their mother got clean and regained custody that, for once, shu lan had a stable home. Granted, the apartment they shared was a roach motel, but they seemed to be happy for two years.

Until that night.

News reports had blasted the gory details nonstop, had shown pictures of the crime scene and made a big story of how their mother had been torn apart by a vicious serial killer, and that her daughter, shu lan, was missing. she had eventually been found, but she'd never spoken to the authorities about the murder. Afterward, she'd gone again into foster care, but by the time ren fu had located her sister, wanted for the killing of her foster father, shu lan was already with The berus . . . which was around the time the Soulshredder had come to ren fu.

She'd known instantly that the creature was her father. It had slipped into her bedroom in the middle of the night, its goal beyond comprehension. It had intended to sire young on her, its own flesh and blood.

Her struggle to keep her inner beast at bay had been lifelong, something that had required discipline and protective tattoos. But that night, for the first time, she'd let her demon side reign, had used every trick in her book to kill the thing that was her father.

So, yeah, she knew firsthand that "we all do things we're programmed to do." Because like it or not, thanks to her sire, she was hardwired to torment and kill.

Every day was a battle, a tug of war between her two halves. And every morning she wondered if that would be the day her human half finally lost.

ming jie paced in the kitchen while shu lan showered and chen whipped up some dinner. yuan lounged on the couch, playing video games on the X-Box, Mickey tucked into one armpit. It had taken half an hour and three shots of Cutty Sark to calm shu lan down, and then the adrenaline crash had turned her into a noodle. All she'd wanted was a shower, bed, and food, in no particular order.

In the meantime, he wanted to hunt ren fu down and string her up. she had been their best shot at convincing shu lan to integrate her demon side. Now that was blown all to Hades.