The Demon-Eater: Hunting Shadows (Book One, Part One (11 page)

“
No.” Her voice was hardly more than a whisper and Renette
seemed surprised herself that she had said it. “
No
,” she said again, in a stronger
voice. “I will not go.”

“
Renette,” Gabriel said, “it's not me, you know. It was your
father's wish for you to—”

“
No,” she snapped, shooting him a glare. She shrank back, face
going pale, when she realized at whom she had snapped. Gabriel
wished she was not so frightened of him. Looking into Renette's
wide eyes—
her
eyes—, it was almost as if...
she
...were fearful of him. “I will go
nowhere. Not until my father is buried.”

Gabriel sighed, but he did not particularly
fancy arguing with a mourning girl.

“
Fine,” Gabriel said. “But we bury him tonight. And then we're
off.”

Renette opened her mouth, looking as though
she were about to argue. Then she closed it and merely nodded.

“
Sorry, sir,” the guardsman began. “You said
we're off
?”

Gabriel nodded slowly. “I
might as well ride along with you. At least, for a short while.
Just in case.” Gabriel looked down at his hands when he noticed
himself searching for the wedding band that was no longer there,
then pulled them apart.
Just in
case
.

Gabriel started toward the library exit.

“
I
hate you.”

He paused. Strangely, Renette's words
pricked him inside. Somewhere too near to the heart.

“
Or, at least, I want to,” she said in a softer voice. “I'm
sorry.”

Gabriel kept his eyes planted on the library
door.

“
Let's get digging,” he said, then pushed the door open and
walked away.

* * *

Lord William Baryon, the man who apparently
made it his business to kill servants and steal souls from old
friends, shoveled the last of the dirt onto the mound which was now
her father's grave.

Renette's guardsman, Riggins, drove his own
shovel into the ground, where it stuck. Standing rigid beside it,
he stared down at the grave with a solemn face. He shook his
head.

Renette had never asked the man how he came
to be one of her father's personal guards, but it had always been
clear to her that the guardsman had been indebted to her father
somehow. She turned her eyes away from Riggins and to the lord,
William, whose face was equally solemn. Unlike Riggins, there was
no hint of pain behind the lord's solemnity. It was only grimness,
as though the look befit him.

What had he lost this night that she was not
seeing?

What is the man's
game?
Renette wondered.
Why kill my servant, then try to save my father?

William raised his eyes to meet hers and she
quickly glanced away, down at her father's grave.

Why had her father even
been...
She could not even think the
thought. She was too numb to even cry anymore.
And by his oldest friend?

None of this entire night made sense to her.
It was all just madness. Madness which was, as far as she could
tell, brought by William Baryon. It was not right to place all the
blame on Lord William. She knew that. However, she needed someone
at whom to direct the anger she felt beneath the numbness.

What about
yourself?
she asked herself.

The ball had been thrown
for her, after all. If she had only just done her duty and found a
suitor, without throwing a tantrum every time it had been mentioned
to her...
Perhaps my father would still be
alive.

“
How?” Renette asked the question before she even realized her
lips were moving to say the word. She glanced up toward William,
who seemed to suddenly tense. The lord began fidgeting with his
hands, then looked down at them and pulled them apart.

“
How...?” he asked after a few seconds.

“
How did you know my father was being...targeted...tonight?”
William's demeanor relaxed a bit at the question. He had been
expecting her to ask something else. Renette frowned.
How could he steal souls?
“And how did you know my servant was a assassin—as you called
him?” she asked instead.

“
I've been tracking these assassins, these...”

“
Monsters?” Renette finished. “The one that...did something to
Charles's body.”

“
Yes,” William nodded. “I've been tracking these monsters for
quite a while. I assume you've heard of the past two noblemen to
have been killed while hosting events such as this?”

Renette nodded, feeling shocked. “The
mysterious murders,” she said. “They were done by...?”

Again, William nodded. “They take over a
person's body, and cause him to do whatever they want him to do. A
de...a monster had taken your servant.”

“
Why do you not name the monsters?” Renette asked. “It's clear
you know what they are.”

“
Some things are best kept secret, Miss Renette,” Riggins
answered, instead. “I think the lord's got the right idea. The less
we're involved, the safer it will be for you. That means less
answers for the both of us.” At that, Riggins gave Lord William a
hard look.

“
Yes,” William said, “less answers.”

“
How do I know it was not
you
taking control over Charles and my servant?”
Renette asked. “I mean, I saw...I saw you...his soul.”

William tensed again.

“
You will just have to trust me, I suppose,” he
said.

“
I
don't.”

“
Good.”

Renette furrowed her brows. Then, her eyes
trailed back to her father's grave. He was gone. She was alone,
never to hear his voice again, never to share the day's events with
him, never to laugh with him. She felt her anger seeping through
the numbness.

“
Will you continue to track them?” she asked, setting her
jaw.

“
To the ends of the world,” William said, his expression
growing even grimmer.

“
Can I come with you?” She knew it was a foolish question the
moment she asked it, but she did not care. She wanted to see the
monsters who killed her father in pain. She wanted to cause the
pain. Images flashed in her mind, of things so violent that they
frightened her. Things she wanted do to the monsters. Things she
had not known herself capable of thinking. She was supposed to be a
lady.

“
No,” William said, at the same time Riggins said
it.

Both men looked to one another, as though
trying to decide on which should speak first.

“
I
dedicated my life to protect this family,” Riggins said, taking the
lead. “My oath does not void because your father was... Anyway, I
must think of your protection above all else, at all times, Miss
Renette. Going with the lord would be suicide.”

“
He is right,” William said. “What skill would you have against
these monsters?”

Renette was silent. She knew they were both
right.

“
I
can promise you,” William continued, “that, though I could not save
your father, I will avenge his death for you—and every other man or
woman dead because of them. I will put an end to them.”

Renette found that she believed him.

“
Now,” William said, pulling a pocket watch out from his suit
jacket and checking it, “we really must be getting ready. The
morning train leaves within the hour.”

Renette looked toward the horizon, the pale
light of dawn painting the sky an eerie grey. Had so much time
really passed already?

“
Leave me a moment, please,” she said, looking back to the
mound of dirt at her feet. “I would like to give my farewells.”
From her periphery she saw William check his watch
again.

“
All right,” he said, “but try not to be too long.” Renette
heard the rustling of the grass as Lord William started back toward
the house.

“
I
will have one of your servants pack your things for you, Miss
Renette,” Riggins said. Then, he was following behind Lord
William.

Renette watched them go, until they were
inside, and then she collapsed to her hands and knees. She could
not cry, she could not even make a sound. She merely closed her
eyes, drove her nails into the packed mound of her father's grave,
and waited for the incessant aching to leave her chest. It
remained, however, just as strong as it had been atop that balcony,
as she knelt beside her father's headless corpse. Perhaps even
stronger now.

Rage and despair and emotions she could not
quite name hurled themselves at her wave after wave, crippling her
very ability to move. It was a physical pain she felt in her heart.
She wanted to claw both the pain and her heart from her chest, but
she just knelt where she was. Frozen by emotion, just as she had
been on the balcony, when her father had been helpless.

“
I
could do nothing,” she was able to croak out, finally. “I am sorry,
father, I could do nothing to save you. I could do nothing. I could
do nothing. I could do nothing... Nothing. I could... I'm sorry.
There was nothing I could do. I'm sorry.”

I could have tried,
she told herself.
I could
have done more than scream. I...

Renette lowered her head,
until her forehead was pressed against the dirt. “Father Truth,
please stop the pain.
Please.
”

Get up,
a voice that was not her own told her. She used to
speak back to it, until what had happened with her mother...
Get up.

She usually ignored the voice, but this time
she listened and forced herself back onto her feet. She needed to
get to Grey's. Her father had wanted her to go there. And, there,
she might be able to find answers as to what exactly her father had
gotten himself into. She needed to know that much, at least. And
she had to move in order to do that. She could not allow her
emotions to freeze her up.

She looked down at her dress, stained with
dirt and blood. Her hands were the same, and trembling. She
clenched them into fists.

Get up,
the voice said.

“
I'm up,” she whispered back to the voice. “I'm up.”

Continued in Part Two...

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