Page 14 of Blood of a Huntsman

Greer assisted the vampire. They were a great duo; he barely had to say a word for her to pull out the right flask or instrument. Blair stayed out of the way, handing Greer whatever tool she asked for, holding wounds closed, preparing bandages and threads for stitches. Cat felt like she was watching a surgeon, his intern, and a nurse at work. The only one in the room with no purpose was her.

"Anything I can do?" Cat asked, feeling helpless.

"Fresh water, if you would,” Alexius said. “And the girl will need a bed when we're done. I don't want her to move for a day or two."

She was glad to have been given a task.

The house was still in perfect condition; Cat suspected her aunt paid cleaners from Adairford to maintain the premises regularly, even though no one had used it for a whole century.

She'd never been here, but the place was so similar to Stormhall that she had no issue finding bedding, glasses, and everything else she needed.

When she returned to the dining room table, the makeshift operating station, the vamp and witch were both covered in blood and apparently done. The girl was in one piece.

"That was amazing," Cat admitted.

Greer grinned and winked, while Alexius shrugged indifferently. Blair nodded her agreement.

"What did this to her?" Cat asked.

"Yes, pertinent question."

Levi had slipped inside the house without making a sound. Cat was annoyed at herself for not sensing or smelling his presence, but her mind was elsewhere.

On the poor girl, on the unfortunate newborn who'd found her and unknowingly saved her. Above all, on what it meant.

The girl had been attacked by a demon, that much was clear. It could have been a god, but that wasn’t their style. The massacre had been too barbaric, too unrefined. Nothing from this world could have left wounds like these and fled fast enough for vampires to lose their tracks.

A demon, here in Oldcrest, testing the borders. That was entirely unheard of, as far as she knew. Demons came in all shapes and sizes, some smarter than others. Like any other sentient creature of this world and the next, they'd been shaped by the gods. But unlike humans, their little entertainment; witches, their descendants; and vampires, an accidental creation, demons had been bred for one specific purpose: to serve them as soldiers.

Most demons, like the gods themselves, were gone from this world. Those who lingered in the shadows knew better than to show their faces anywhere near vampires and huntsmen.

So, what sort of demon was it, and what the hell was it doing here?

She couldn’t answer the first question. The second, however…

"These were demon wounds," Greer stated, confirming Cat's suspicions.

She glanced toward her mentor, who nodded.

"Oh, yes. Shadowclaws, perhaps. Maybe something worse. The victim was lucky she got away in one piece."

"Two others weren't that lucky. I just looked at the mess." Levi wrinkled his nose. "It wasn't pretty."

The alchemist sighed. “Demons have no style, no finesse. It's all gore and blood with them.”

Cat glared at the insensitive prick. She didn't think it could be possible for him to sound any more cavalier about the whole thing.

"Cat, do you know where Jack's dorm room is?" Levi asked.

She nodded. Jack, like Chloe and Cat, stayed in the right wing, along with the other students who were considered either too dangerous or too powerful to live next door to the rest of the flock. Cat was in control, but as a vampire turned only one year ago, she'd automatically qualified.

She hadn't complained. The right-wing rooms were considerably more spacious, given the fact that only a dozen students lived there.

Everyone knew where everyone was. Jack had taken the attic.

"Good. He can examine the body. Demons are his area of expertise."

Alexius snorted. "Really now? The boy calls himself a huntsman."

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