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diculous they sounded. Hunter was still confused, but the cat thought it was hysterical. He
howled with kitty laughter.
 Oh my, oh my. He wiped tears of laughter from his eyes with his paw.  Oh, I can t stand
it. Wait  til the cats on the fence hear this one. Hunter falls for a girl he thinks is a vam-
pire and not just any vampire, but the one prophesied to bring the end of the world.
Hahahaha.
I frowned at the cat. Hunter knew about the Prophesy? Then it clicked. Of course he did.
That s why he was  helping me. He thought I was the Protector and he wanted to see how I
was going to end the world. I should have been furious, but the idea wasn t so far-fetched.
After all, I wouldn t meet him during the day. The Protector was my best friend and the first
time we met she was injured. If he saw me stake that last vampire, it would be easy to as-
sume I was the one who did all the slaughtering. Plus he had gone to a vampire sorority
house to find me after seeing the Psi Phi House bumper sticker on my car.
I thought back to the vampire library, when he didn t seem at all surprised by all the weird
stuff around him and when the alarm went off and the bright sunlight burst over us, he quickly
threw his coat over me in an act of protection. Then he tried to get me to the House before
dawn and even asked if I made it inside okay. It was a very chivalrous gesture, if he thought
the sunlight would burn me to death.
And tonight he d been willing to let me bite him because he wanted me so much. Sure, he
thought I had hypnotized him, but I couldn t possibly have done that so he just really wanted
me to kiss him. He liked me despite the fact that he thought I was a vampire. Obviously he d
struggled with this attraction a great deal, and he didn t need some mangy cat laughing at him
for it.
I kicked out at the feline.  Knock it off.
The cat dodged my foot and I barely grazed its tail.
 No need to get physical, sweetie. It s just funny is all. If you knew Hunter like I knew him.
 I don t understand how you re not the Protector, Hunter protested.  I was so sure. I saw
you kill that possessed vampire in the parking garage. You live in a vampire sorority house
and you only come out at night. You dress all in black and you re so pale & 
 Hold on there. I don t look like a vampire, first of all. I have always been this lovely shade
of alabaster and I happen to like the color black. It s very slimming. Second, I don t live at Psi
Phi House, my friends do. I just hang out there. And finally, yes, I did take out one vampire in
the parking garage, but staking one vamp does not a Protector make, get it?
 But you hypnotized me, he repeated weakly.
I shook my head at him.  No, I didn t.
He seemed to absorb that statement then blurted,  Then who are you?
I scooted away from him a little.  Who am I? I m the same person I was thirty seconds
ago. The same person you were kissing. Is the fact that I m a normal human girl going to
change things for you? And what s your beef with the Protector anyway?
 Piper, I m sorry. Give me a second to get things clear. I m thrilled you re a normal, living
person. Really, I am. More than you know. He grabbed my hand in his, slightly mollifying my
anger.  But the Protector is another matter. She s going to bring upon the end of the world.
 Okay, I ve had it with this stupid Prophesy! Enough is enough. Listen, I know the Protect-
or. And she couldn t bring about the end of existence if she wanted to. She s not that kind of
girl, okay? She s sugar and spice and everything nice and except for staking the occasional
vampire who s out to get half-bloods, she s a very peace-loving person.
 But the Prophesy & 
I jumped to my feet and glared down at Hunter and the cat.
 Screw the Prophesy. The Prophesy is wrong. Did you ever consider that? Just like you
were wrong about me, the Prophesy is wrong.
Hunter stood up to face me.  Piper, I wish I could believe you. I wish I had the luxury of
believing everything is going to be okay, but I don t. I ve seen too much and know too much to
do that. Your friend is going to bring about the end of existence as we know it and I ve been
sent to stop her.
 What do you mean, you ve been sent? Who made you the boss? Vampires don t answer
to you. They have their own Council.
Hunter sat heavily and pulled me down to join him. I resisted for about three seconds. I
guess if we were going to have a long chat in the graveyard, it was best to be comfortable.
The cat went back to licking himself, which I pointedly ignored.
 Piper, I m a Demon Slayer. My father was a Demon Slayer, my grandfather was a Demon
Slayer and his father before him, et cetera, et cetera. I come from a long line of Demon Slay-
ers.
I waited expectantly for more and when he didn t continue I said,  So?
 So? So it s my duty to protect the world from demon invasion.
The cat stopped licking itself and looked up, suddenly interested in what Hunter was say-
ing.
I pointed out the obvious.  But vampires aren t demons.
 No, they re not demons but they re susceptible to possession. For centuries vampires
have been prey to demons.
 I don t understand.
 Piper, this is a demon. Hunter pointed to the cat.
 Are you saying all cats are really demons?
 No, I m saying this cat is a demon.
I shook my head at Hunter and the cat stuck his tongue out at me. Then he whipped it up-
ward to try and pick his tiny cat nose with it. Blech.
 Animals don t have souls. Demons can possess animals. They just don t like to.
I watched the cat go back to licking himself.  I can see why.
 The only reason demons possess an animal is to try to get close to an ailing human, so
they can slip into the body once the essence, or soul, leaves. The window of opportunity is
very small. Once in a human body, the demon can survive until the natural decomposition of
the body makes inhabiting it impossible, Hunter explained.
 Okay, so say Kibbles here jumps into a human body at the right time. He can walk around
and fake it for a little bit, but then people start to get suspicious when things get smelly and
body parts start falling off?
 In a nutshell, yes.
 Then what?
 Then the demon is forced to leave the body. Much like how air escapes a balloon once
the balloon is popped.
I made a face at the whole balloon-popping analogy.
 And there are different types of demons. Not all want to inhabit human form. Some are
content to be cats forever, like Kibbles here. Hunter referenced the cat, who continued to ig-
nore us.  Most are perfectly happy in their own plane of existence. They don t want to leave.
But once in a while, a demon comes along who isn t satisfied with the status quo. They want [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]