Page 26 of Demon Hunter

Matt

The helicopter touchesdown in the middle of the desert, just like Marc said it would. I don’t know why I doubted him—he’s been in complete control of this situation from the second my gurney got wheeled out of my hospital room. Nobody questioned him coming out to the helipad with us, and nobody questioned him getting into the helicopter.

A lifetime of training—not to mention my ethics—hates that he’s messing with people’s minds, even at the most surface level. But since Dylan has confirmed from the code on the job sheet that the attack was targeted at me, not just any hunter, I’m not really in the mood to hang around the hospital, injured and vulnerable. I’d rather be in another state and in full fighting form.

The crew member riding in back with us opens the door, and Marc turns to me. “Are you ready?”

I nod.

There’s asurgein my body, and even though Marc and morphine have been keeping my pain dampened, I suddenly feel the difference between that and no pain at all.

I also feel like a wet noodle.

“Whoa.”

Marc frowns. “Damn humans,” he mutters. “Nutrients.” His eyes narrow, and energy slowly returns to my limbs. “Apologies. I didn’t allow for the amount of strength that would take from you.”

I’m so preoccupied with the remnants of that trippy healing surge that I almost don’t realize he just admitted to making a mistake.

Almost.

“Aw, look at you! Living with humans has rubbed off on you. We fuck things up all the time, and now so do you!”

The look of utter disgust he gives me just makes me grin. I can do that now without my face hurting. “Unstrap me from this thing.”

He quirks a brow and appears to be thinking about just leaving me strapped to the gurney.

“Please? Ian will be mad if you don’t.”

Sighing, he waves a hand, and the crew guy comes over to unfasten the twenty zillion straps holding me to the gurney. I’ve still got casts on my arms and legs, but that’s not gonna stop me from making like a tree and leaving this chopper. I’m sure one of my brothers can get them off me.

I sit up, then gracefully swing my legs off the gurney and hop down.

Or at least, that’s how I envision it. The reality is that I’m sprawled face down on the floor of the helicopter, and my newly healed face does not appreciate being slammed into sheet metal.

“Ow,” I mumble.

“Must you?” Marc asks. “Ijustfinished repairing you. Honestly, you humans have no respect for fine craftsmanship.”

Rolling to my back, I scowl up at him. “Shut up and help me. I’m weighed down, and these things weren’t designed for moving around in.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Connor yells from outside, and I twist my head around to see him and the others standing about twenty feet away with a couple of cars—including mine.

Marc reaches down and hauls me up. “Come on.” He shoves me out of the chopper, then uses his demon magic to stop me from sprawling in a heap. Instead, I’m standing in the dirt, listening to him give orders to the crew. Then he jumps down, grabs my arm, and half carries me far enough that the helicopter can safely take off.

We turn to watch it go, and not until it’s a speck in the sky do I glance over at him. “Than— Hey, how come you’re not dirty?” I’m covered from head to toe in dust, and I’m pretty sure my hair is a windblown mess. He, on the other hand, looks like he just stepped out of a day spa or something.

He sniffs disdainfully, examining the sleeve of his suit jacket and flicking away something only he can see. “Dirt is for other people.”

Believe it or not, that’s actually an attitude improvement for him. He’s acknowledged that he’s people.

“What the hell, dude?” Dylan reaches me, his hands coming up to cup my cheeks and then trace out the contours of my face, as though checking that everything’s been healed. “Why were you lying on the floor?”

I grin and turn my head to kiss his palm. I love that I can do that in front of people now. “It wasn’t a choice I made. All this extra hardware is awkward.”

He frowns at the casts. “Shit, how do we get them off?”

“Marc’ll take care of it,” Ian confidently assures us as he strolls over. “Epic faceplant, bro.”

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