Page 64 of Demon Hunter

Raum follows him out into the hallway, apparently curious to meet a food delivery person, and I glance toward my boyfriend. “Coming, Dyl?”

“In a minute. I just want to double-check these company ownership documents—it won’t take long; we already have back doors set up into those agencies.”

That would frighten me more if I didn’t know how many human governments had been influenced by higher demons in the past. Better for us to have a back door and be able to get what we need to stop them faster.

“Okay. If you’re not out by the time we sit down to eat, I’ll come back,” I warn, but he’s already tapping keys.

This is my chance. I grab Marc’s arm and drag him from the study across the hall into the downstairs bathroom. As bathrooms go, it’s a nice one, but it’s not huge, and we’re a little cramped. That doesn’t matter, though—I just need two minutes of privacy to get some answers.

“What do you mean, evolved?” I hiss.

He looks around with distaste. “This really isn’t the place for conversation.”

“So help megod, Marc, tell me what you meant before Ian starts to wonder where we are. What’s happening to me?”

“I’m not entirely certain,” he admits with a little shrug, and my heart drops to my feet. “I’d need to look into the theory some more. But, since you’re so impatient, my best hypothesis is that when I healed you, it showed your body and brain what it would need to do to… continue healing you. To make you… better.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “To evolve me, in other words.” When I look at him again, his expression holds… concern?

“Essentially. You’re reporting better senses—sharper hearing, eyesight, sense of smell. Increased strength.” He raises a brow. “Telepathy?”

My jaw drops. “What? No!” Fuck… “How would I even know?”

“If the ability was developing, you’d be picking up stray thoughts of others—not hunters, so much, since you all have decent mental shields, but people on the street. It would be like hearing snatches of conversation even when they hadn’t spoken.”

I shake my head in relief. “No, nothing like that. I can hear better, but… like, last week, that dream I had where the little kid vomited? I ran into Dylan’s neighbor from two floors up the other day, and she mentioned that her kid had been sick with some stomach bug. So I think that could have been me hearing it?”

“Entirely likely.” Marc nods. “In the middle of the night, things are quieter and sounds carry more, plus your mind was in a relaxed state, so it may well have been that you heard the child being sick… and also the couple who were fighting. They were still fighting the whole weekend Ian and I were there. I heard them multiple times.”

I sink down onto the toilet and bury my face in my hands. “How do you cope? How do I block out the noises and stuff? And…” I look up at him. “Is it going to get worse?”

“You’ll learn to filter, the same way you did before. Your brain will choose what sounds to focus on and which ones to tune out. As to the rest of your question… I need to do more research, I’m afraid. No demon has ever healed a human before and let them live.”

I don’t know what’s scarier, the sentence or what it means for me. I’m not meant to be a pioneer. “So I’m… enhanced. I’m still human?”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re definitely still human.”

“But I could still be in a coma.”

“You arenot… I can see I won’t be able to convince you of this, so if you choose to believe you’re in a coma, that’s your prerogative. However, I can assure you that you are not a demon and not a… superhero.” Disgust drips from the last word. Ian told me that when he made Marc watch theAvengersmovies, Marc sided with Thanos. “I will speak to some friends who specialize in the study of humans and see if they have any insights, but to my perception, you are still wholly human.”

I can hear Ian calling for us, which means time is severely limited. “Is it safe to talk to Dylan about this?” Things I never thought I’d do: Ask Marc for relationship advice.

He looks faintly surprised. “You haven’t already? I thought that was the reason for the tension between you.”

“No, I didn’t want him leaving me because I’m a demon!”

“Not a demon,” he repeats, just as Ian pounds on the bathroom door.

“Is someone in there? Seriously, where’d you guys go?”

Marc dismisses me with a wave. “You should speak to Dylan—and to Ian. They’ll notice sooner or later.” Then he opens the door, partly blocking me from sight, and catches Ian’s fist raisedto pound again. “Human, how often must I tell you that a knock should be genteel?”

Ian makes his “are you shitting me?” face. “It’s a knock, Marc. Not a character from a period movie. Dinner’s ready. Do you know where—” I move forward, and his eyes widen. “Dude. What the fuck? Why are you both in the bathroom at the same time?”

If it were anyone else, they’d be suspicious or jealous, but Ian knows I’d never do him dirty like that. “Marc’s thinking of redecorating and wanted my opinion on tiles.” I stroll past them both into the hallway, ignoring Marc’s appalled horror and Ian’s grin. “Let me get Dylan, and we can eat.”

Chapter 28

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