Page 69 of Demon Hunter

“Some of the clients were regulars, which helped to track them down, but as far as I know, there’s somewhere between a thousand and fifteen hundred demons, mostly carnarius, that we don’t have a location for.” He winces. “And they’ve been in servitude for a long time.”

Hundreds of years. That’s going to make for some angry demons when they’re freed.

“What about those you do have a location for?” Dylan asks intently. “Do you have access to that list?” He glances toward me, then Marc. “I think we need to prioritize freeing those we can immediately locate, and then begin the task of searching for the others.”

“There may be a faster solution,” Raum says coolly. “What would happen to the circle necklaces if everyone of the family bloodline was dead?”

Gus’s face pales, but to his credit, he doesn’t falter. “I don’t know for certain. My ancestor was the vindictive type, though, so probably the same thing that usually happens when the creator of a circle dies—the circle will fail. He wouldn’t have had a problem with unleashing furious demons for the Collective to deal with, as long as his family wasn’t affected.”

From the look on Raum’s face, he thinks this might be the best option, and I exchange a glance with Ian. “Bringing that kind of attention from the Collective would be counterproductive,” I say. “The last thing we want is for them to discover the existence of the necklaces. If we can deal with this under the radar, that would be better for both sides.”

“And safer,” Ian adds. “Demons freed after hundreds of years of slavery will be angry—rightfully so—and cause a lot ofdamage. They’re not likely to stop when faced with the hunters who’re sent to deal with them, and that could end with dead demons. I’d rather see them returned home.”

Raum only looks partly convinced—we all know an angry demon can be hard to contain or kill, and with thousands on the loose, hunters will be stretched thin—but Marc says firmly, “We protect lives and the truce. August, where is the most current list of demons and their locations?”

A single tear rolls down Gus’s cheek. “My grandfather has it. I tried to convince him to let me digitize it, but he refuses. It’s an old ledger, and he keeps it in his safe.”

“Do you have access to his safe?” I ask, but Marc scoffs.

“There isn’t a safe in existence that can keep me out.” His stare bores into Gus. “Is there anyone in your family who is likely to aid us?”

Another tear follows the first. Gus knew this question was coming. He knows what it means. If we want to prevent chaos and wholesale slaughter, Geoffrey Martenson’s bloodline can’t be killed off. But only one of them needs to be alive to assure us of that… which means that right now, Gus needs to decide which of his family members live or die.

“Incarceration isn’t an option?” he asks desperately, but I can see in his face that he already knows the answer. The Collective doesn’t keep prisoners. Even if we weren’t keeping this whole operation highly classified, there is nowhere we can put prisoners—and no way to stop them from talking about what they’ve spent the last centuries doing.

The only way to end this permanently is to kill everyone who was involved. Gus’s survival is dependent on his willingness to help us search for and free the lost demons.

“I’m so sorry,” Dylan says compassionately. “If any of them can be trusted to help us, we can protect them—you. We’ll set up somewhere for you to live, and once all the demons havebeen found, help you move on with jobs. If you want to join the Collective, we can possibly arrange that….” He trails off, because we all know there’s a “but” coming, and it’s not a happy one.

For a long moment, Gus says nothing. Then his head gives a single shake, and he closes his eyes.

Fuck.

Marc crosses the room unhurriedly and crouches in front of the chair Gus is sitting in. “August.”

Gus opens his eyes again, the picture of misery. He’s just condemned his family to death.

“If you believe any of them can be shown the error of their ways and eventually join our efforts, I can keep them incarcerated for the short term. What you are doing, difficult as it may be, is the right thing. You see people where they see chattel. Your actions not only protect humanity and the truce, they serve a higher purpose in saving lives. If any of your family can be made to see that, we will do what we can for them.”

The offer surprises me—I hadn’t expected that kind of compassion from Marc. Raum looks like he’d just as soon revert to his preferred plan of killing the entire bloodline and letting the demons get some vengeance. Gus, though, takes a deep breath and thinks about it.

“P-Possibly my cousin Rachel,” he ventures at last. “Her parents are in charge of the branch in New Hampshire, so I don’t see her that much, but we chat online a lot. Sometimes I get a vibe that she feels like I do, but it was too risky to…” He swallows. “One of my aunts questioned once. I was a little kid still, but I remember. She had doubts about the ethics of… everything.”

We wait while he stares into the distance, remembering.

“Grandfather had one of the visier demons kill her. His daughter. Because the family legacy has to be protected.”

Okay, I totally wanna watch while Marc kills Gus’s grandfather.

“We will see how Rachel reacts,” Marc promises. “If she can be trusted, she will come with us.”

Gus nods.

“Let’s make a plan to get phase one done, then,” Dylan declares. “The sooner we’re sending demons home, the better.”

Chapter 30

Dylan

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