Chapter 7 Chapter Seven

Riven’s POV

I threw the vampire back with my sword when I no longer felt her presence in the room. I retreated from his swinging claws, charging for my face, and I glanced past him to where the demon had just been. It was empty of her. She was gone.

The vampire swung his claws for me again, his face tightened with so much fury. His strike would have gone wild if he weren’t already a trained fighter himself. He stopped when he realized I was more interested in the room than the fight. He glanced back, too. His jaw clenched noisily, finding out she had gone.

“You caused this, demon," he growled, whipping his face back to me, murder making his eyes tremble. “If you hadn’t distracted me, she wouldn’t have left.”

“I should be saying the same for you. If you hadn’t been playing captain save the pesky demon, she would be living in my gourd now, not roaming wild with her killing tendencies."

He tried to growl at me, and he stopped, clicking his teeth with rage. “This fight is postponed. Next time we meet, demon, I wouldn’t be so lenient.”

“Wouldn’t be so lenien” I repeated, a sneer on my lips, who does he even think he was. Sure, he was skilled, but for most of the fight, I had had the upper hand. I tried to tell him that his speed was the only thing he had going for him; otherwise, I would have defeated him a long time ago, but the bastard traced away before I could.

I grunted, staring at the gust of air that replaced him where he had just been. I sheathed my sword, and I prepared to move too. I needed to find the demon before she kills again. Every minute she spent in this world was an affront to my reputation. No one must know I hadn't caught her yet, no one.

I traced out of the vampire's place and into the forest again. If not for fate playing a cruel joke on me, how could she just blood a vampire at random? That was the only reason she wasn't trapped in my gourd, concealed from the world as the rest of her kind. But that didn’t matter. I was going to get her back. And I have to do that before she starts killing again.

I squatted low when I found a trail of footprints that undoubtedly had to be hers. Where she must have landed here before tracing off again into the wild. I straightened when I got to where the footpaths stopped, and I looked over the long expanse of forestry around me, while I mentally calculated where she might have traced to next. The moonlight illuminated much of the greenery for me, most of which was now stained silver as the moonlight glided over it.

Every indication pointed north, the direction of her footsteps, the direction of the wind, and the scents of blood that had soaked her when she left, and I moved in that direction. It was a gamble, but it usually pays off. It always does. I advanced deeper into the forest, making the same calculations again, which landed me on the forest edge, bleeding into the road. The lingering smell of exhaust in the air stole most of her scents, but I wasn't tracking her by scents alone. I took off the eye patch covering my demonic eye, and I stepped into the road, hunting for any hint of her. I pretended to be oblivious to the furious honking of the car, racing down the road for me. The bastard wouldn’t hit me. The folks around here know me, Riven the demon exorcist, and they knew not to mess with me.

The car crashed to a halt just some inches from my legs and just right before I spotted the small footprint on the floor. The car had driven over the footprint, but I had already seen what I needed to see. I walked into the trees on the other side of the road. It was the silent rule of the lore for immortals to keep their powers from humans since humans were the most populous species and the most fearful. Personally, I don’t give a damm the mental state of any human if he or she sees me tracing away, but since they consisted of most of my clients, I try to obey as much as I can.

Once I was in the cover of the trees, I traced the direction I thought the demon took. I found another track of footprints, which led me into the town, and another set of footprints, which ended at a clothes store, and another, which led down the street, and then another, until I was staring at a trailer park. There were many footprints, yet I could pick out hers from the multitude through my demon eye.

The coppery scents of blood hit me just after a step into the park. It was so clear and strong that I could trace it. I landed in a dark trailer with five male corpses and a shivering girl. She darted more into the corner, hiding at the sight of me, while covering her mouth with both hands to smother her screams. I could tell it wasn’t the girl's doing at first glance. The demon had been here.

The girl was too shaken by whatever had happened to speak. I didn't bother questioning her. I dropped to a squat before one of the corpses, and I touched the neck. Blood stained my fingers. It was still fresh, very fresh. The claw wound on his neck was still leaking blood. The demon must be barely a minute away.

Perfect. Just perfect.

I traced away from the trailer, tracking her scents, which were stronger now, thanks to the new blood. I landed back on the street, the scents leading me back to the alley. Then I spotted her, her small, petite frame shrouded in the darkness of the alley, her back to me. I traced to her just when she was about to turn back at the sight of something.

She collided into my chest before she knew someone was behind her.

“Hello, demon,” I grinned at her. Her face had already tightened with a frown even before she glanced up at me, and our eyes met.