I hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “The perp might’ve found what she was looking for in the closet in the bedroom. Or maybe it was supposed to be there and wasn’t. I don’t know, but I gotta go. We got something. Something big. Garret better step aside—a new king is in town.”
“Wait a minute, Ms. Somerset. I have a few questions.” Sean took a step toward me.
“I was just helping out,” I said as I tapped into voicemail. “Clarissa knows what’s up. She can hold the fort.”
“I have to go, too.” Clarissa’s face turned white as she held her phone to her ear. “Dear God. There is anaswangin the city.”
Chapter Three
“What’s anaswang?” I asked as I led Clarissa out of the house. Adrenaline spiked in my blood.
“It’s a type of…demon, I guess you could call it, from Filipino lore. Not a true demon, like from the underworld, but…evil. Filipinos think of it as evil. I only know about the creatures from books. I’ve never actually seen one. They are immensely powerful, and eat babies and the organs of adults.”
“Holy crap, they eat babies? That’s messed up.” I grimaced. “Well then, that is definitely a green light to kill it. Right? I can kill it?”
“You’ve just seen the horror of violence in action, and you’re eager to go kill something?”
“Is that a trick question? Because I feel like you should know the answer to that based on my personality…”
“Fine. Whatever. Okay, so you’ll be going into the heat of battle. That’s your job. You signed on to be the front line—”
“I’m not complaining,” I said, patting my gun. “I’m in it to win it.”
“You’re worrying me.”
“Wise. What should I expect?” Not that it really mattered. I’d run right at the beastie with a snarl turned smile regardless of how vile it was. That was what I did. It was what I excelled at.
Hell, it was why MLE had hired me. We both climbed into the car.
“If we are being called, it has tried to feed. They like intestines the best, I’ve read, and will move from person to person if they have the option, getting their fill. They like preying on the weak.”
She leveled me with a serious look from behind the wheel. “They are hard to kill, Reagan. You have to stab it in the back with a sword.”
“How is that hard to kill? Sounds pretty easy to me.”
“Not as easy as you’d think. They can shape-shift. Some might look like large wolves. Others might turn into a flock of birds. They travel extremely quickly, almost as fast as a vampire, I’ve read. And they spook easily, taking flight or running when they think they’re outnumbered or can’t get an easy feed.”
“Got it. I need to be quick like a bunny, so I can stick a sword in the creature’s back before it flies away.”
She blew out a frustrated breath and checked her phone. A glance at the address told me we were headedinto the heart of the French Quarter. Talk about easy prey. Get a drunk person, of which there were a great many, on their own, and the creature could have its fill.
“If it bites or scratches you while in its humanoid form,” Clarissa continued, stepping on the gas, “you’ll die if I don’t get to you fast enough. They kill really easily.”
I doubted it. I was absolved from most evil, especially the demon variety. Daddy Dearest had given me a lot of his powerful gifts. Not like I could tell her that. I’d just have to hide any wounds I took until they healed over.
“Okay, then. Don’t get killed, move quickly, and kill the thing.” I nodded decisively and entwined my fingers in my lap. The adrenaline pulsed in my blood now, something that would make me as fast as a vampire, increase my strength, and keep me moving. I was made for action, not a cubicle.
“You really are crazy,” she muttered. “Or ignorant of the extreme danger you’re about to face.”
“Neither. I’m just good at my job.” And a different breed—literally—than the others in the MLE office.
In the French Quarter, she tried to navigate around the milling crowds, jeering and laughing as they swigged drinks and slung beads.
“It’ll take us forever to get through here,” she said, pounding on the wheel.
I fired a quick text message to Smokey.Working. What’s up?
Almost immediately I got a message back.Supernatural creature was in cemetery. Eating stomach. Changes into flock of birds. It’s gone now, but might come back. Tourist just found it. Cops called.
