Book 1: Honor and Grace Part 2

Honor is a demon hunter traveling with Alexander, the vampire prince. Looking for information on Rinzer, the Demon Lord, she decides to go visit her sister, Grace, who is a preist of the Great Goddess Ashnye.

“Now, let me get this straight,” said Alexander as he watched Honor place her horde of weapons on her person. “You were going to meet your younger sister, Grace, tonight. You believe she has information about Rinzer, the Demon Lord who we are currently trying to take out.”

Honor adjusted her heavy belt. It was leaden with throwing knifes, daggers and a few small magical items. Weapons were also placed in pouches and on straps on her arms and legs. She had changed out of her gray gown and was wearing an outfit much like Alexander’s except her shirt was black and her boots had already lost their shine. She turned to her bed to get the black robe she had laid there. Alexander held it and from his expression Honor knew he wouldn’t give it to her unless she answered his questions.

“Yes,” she answered with a nod. Knowing his next query, she said, “My sister has a Lis who can find out just about anything.”

“I know what a Lis is, love,” the vampire said crossly. “I have been around far longer than you have. I also know that, if your sister has a Lis, it means that your little sis is a Matron of Light, second only to the Earthly Mother of Light and the Light Goddess herself.”

Honor nodded. She stood just out of arm’s length from him, but it wouldn’t help her if he really wanted to grab her. Alexander moved faster than human, demon, and immortal eyes could see. He was strong enough to throw a carriage-sized boulder through two solid brick walls and not breath heavily from the exercise. Most times he was so silly and goofy she forgot how dangerous he could be. His stern expression reminded her.

“My younger siblings and I are all top of our chosen fields,” she explained. “We never do anything halfway.”

“Younger siblings?” Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow. “How many siblings do you have, Honor dear?”

She poked at the carpet with her toe. She couldn’t look him in the eye while she said softly, “There’s nine of us, including me.”

She waited for him to yell at her. She had, after all, practically lied to him. After she had first met him in an ally where she was cornered by fire demons, he took her out to dinner, tricked her into going to a fancy restaurant. Her robe had been stained with blood during the short fight with the demons, after all, and she had to take it off, something that bugged her to no end. So, when he needled her about her past, she had told him only half-truths, leaving out the fact that she was the oldest of the Nine Masters, a group of siblings prophesized to change the world. Alexander had told her before that he hated liars above all other kinds of people because it was because of a liar that his family had been murdered.

Slim, slightly cool fingers gently tilted her face up. Her green gaze was caught by his golden-tented eyes. “One day, my love, you will trust me completely and fully,” he whispered calmly, his voice and face as gentle as his fingers on her chin, “but we do not have the time to argue. Your sister is in danger and we cannot leave the priestess Masters captured, now, can we?”

Honor smiled brightly at her vampire friend. He smiled back, kissed the end of her nose, and skillfully spun her into her robe. She strapped her scythe to her back and hopped onto Alexander’s back. She wrapped her arms tightly around his nick and she managed to squeeze her eyes shut just as the vampire used his inhuman speed to get them out in the streets unnoticed.

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