Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter 11)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Sin flashed himself out of the shower and into clothes before he snatched open the door to find Kish standing in the hallway.

"What?"

"Downstairs, boss, now. Gallu eating people."

It wasn't in Sin to follow anyone's orders, but for once he didn't question it. He did just what Kish said-he went straight downstairs.

As soon as he was in the casino, it was easy to find the gallu. Even though the gallu looked human, his true demon form was reflected in the mirrors around them. There was chaos everywhere. People were screaming and running for the doors. Stools were overturned and the human employees were joining the patrons while the Daimons and Apollites were trying to cover those who fled.

And that was why he used them in his casino. Unlike human help, they could be relied on to stay calm in a crisis and to assist in the event something "unnatural" happened. Credit had to be given to the Apollites and Daimons. They seldom panicked.

Sin turned away from the doors to the back corner.

It appeared Damien and his guards had the gallu trapped by one of the roulette wheels-although "trapped" might be more hopeful than true. Sin reached the demon just as he grabbed one of the guards and bit into him. Luckily he was a Daimon and not human-at least that was the thought until the Daimon turned instantly into a gallu.

Holy shit. Their metabolism sped up the change. Whereas a human took about a day to complete their conversion. Daimons were virtually instantaneous.

Oh, the things you learned when you ran a casino...

Now they had two gallu to fight.

Damien took his suit jacket off. "Cover their heads so they can't bite you, and beat the shit out of them."

"Screw you!" one of the Daimon guards shouted before he ran toward the door.

So much for not panicking...

Damien curled his lip at the fleeing coward. "Yeah, run home to Mama, little girl, and don't come back". He paused as he saw Sin.

Sin didn't speak. He kept walking toward his targets. He held his arms out to his sides as he manifested his weapons on his biceps and hips.

The gallu Daimon was the first to come at him. Sin flipped him over, onto his back, and held him in place with his knee. He jerked the knife from his belt and plunged it between the Daimon's eyes and then buried a second knife in his heart, just to be sure.

The Daimon didn't burst apart, which let Sin know that when a Daimon crossed with a gallu, they were serious shit.

But Sin would deal with this one later. The knives would keep him dead until they could burn him. Right now, Sin had the gallu to finish.

"Come to Papa", Sin said, rising slowly to his feet.

The demon did, but he was smarter than the gallu Daimon. He didn't run at Sin, he approached him slowly. And when the demon was within striking distance, he punched. Sin clocked the strike and delivered a fist of his own straight to the demon's solar plexus. It didn't even faze him. The demon moved forward to bite Sin, but he stepped right, out of range.

"Who taught you to fight? Your sister?" Sin struck the demon's back.

Spinning, the demon caught him with a solid punch so hard that it knocked him up, off his feet. He hit the ground flat on his back.

Sin flipped himself back to his feet, ready to battle. But before he could move, a steel spike appeared between the demon's eyes.

It was jerked free as the demon slid to the floor to show him Deimos.

"Nasty little bastards your family created. Now it's time to finish the fight we started earlier."

"Looking forward to it."

Deimos swung at him. Sin blocked and the next attack came so fast he barely had time to counter it. He jerked his head back just before Deimos would have hit him. His fist came so close, Sin could feel the windburn of its passing on his cheek. He swung at Deimos's chin, but the Dolophonos jerked his head to the side. Sin missed him by only scant millimeters.

In spite of that, Sin smiled. It'd been a long time since he faced someone he considered an equal.

Kat popped in just as Sin landed a staggering blow to Deimos's chest. The Dolophonos reeled back.

She paused beside Damien. "What did I miss?"

"Not much," he said dryly. "Killer Daimon that was eaten by a gallu. Sin killed the gallu Daimon on the floor over there. Then numb-nuts popped in, killed the gallu, and attacked Sin." He glanced askance at her. "Want to wager on the winner?"

She was appalled by his suggestion. "Damien!"

"What?" he asked, his face a mask of confused innocence. "I mange a casino. Gambling is my life. If I were smart, I'd start running odds and bets right now. Trust me, Sin would not only appreciate it, he'd approve."

The sad thing was, Damien was probably right about that.

"You are so amoral"

"No. I'm a Daimon. Morals don't become us."

Kat made a feigned sound of disgust at him before she turned her attention back toward the men who were fighting. She had to give Sin credit, unwounded, he was more than holding his own against Deimos. She truthfully couldn't say who would win.

At least not until Sin kicked Deimos back so hard, Deimos went flying into one of the mirrors, shattering it. She cringed in sympathetic pain as Deimos slammed to the floor.

Deimos paused as he saw Kat. A sinister smile curved his lips as he started for her.

Kat braced herself for his attack.

But he never reached her.

His face filled with the wrath of hell, Sin went for Deimos and pulled a barbed cord from around his wrist. Just as Kat moved to strike him, Sin wrapped the cord around Deimos's throat and snatched him back from her.

"That was you fatal mistake," Sin snarled in Deimos's ear as he tightened his grip.

Deimos's eyes bulged as he tried desperately to pull the cord from his throat. But Sin gave him no quarter.

"Don't kill him," she said.

Sin scowled at her. "Are you insane? He won't stop otherwise"