Free (SPECTR 1) Hunter of Demons by Jordan L. Hawk Page B

worriedly.
    He let out a breath he hadn’t been aware of holding when she crossed the yard. He opened the door, stepping as close as he dared to the spirit ward. The chalk lines on the doorstep were protected by the overhang and hadn’t been blurred by the rain.
    What if he asked Melanie to erase them?
    She hurried up the brick path…then stopped abruptly when she saw the spirit ward. “Caleb?” she asked uncertainly.
    Just hearing her voice sent a wave of relief through him, even though he could make out the bulge of a bandage under her sleeve. “Melanie! Oh my God, I’m glad you’re all right.” Tears burned his eyes, and he blinked them back furiously. “You are all right, aren’t you?”
    “I’m fine.” She swallowed convulsively, her eyes darting between him and the spirit ward. Sparks rippled across it, in response to his proximity, but he didn’t think she could see them. “We’ve got a doctor who will treat us off the books, to keep the mals from finding us with a hospital search. You didn’t—didn’t tell them anything about us, did you?”
    “Of course not!” Not that he knew much to tell. Hell, he didn’t even know whom she meant when she said “we,” not really.
    Her lips pressed together, and worry pooled in her eyes. “You can’t tell them anything, Caleb. People’s lives depend on it.”
    What the hell had Melanie gotten herself into? “I just said we were there with some of your friends. I wouldn’t have even mentioned you if the 911 call hadn’t come from your phone.”
    “I know you wouldn’t have. The others worried, but…” she shook her head. “Damn it, Caleb, when I saw you fall…and you were just lying there. I thought I’d l-lost you, too. Just like Ben.”
    Shit. He blinked rapidly against the sting of tears. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”
    “I prayed, the whole time I gave you CPR. When you sat up, I thought God had answered my prayers, but then…”
    “I bit you.” He’d never forgive himself. Never.
    “I believed she was attacking us.” Was there shame in the defensive protest? “I did not understand.”
    Caleb fixed a smile on his face, trying to pretend Gray wasn’t there at all. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you. How did you find me?”
    “We left the house to…to get me treatment.” Her eyes shifted nervously from his face, and shame spiraled through him. “Dave went back later and watched from a distance while the Specs did their thing. When you left with the agent, he followed you here.”
    “And Starkweather didn’t notice?” Some federal agent.
    Melanie shrugged. “Dave’s a pro. Ex-NSA.”
    “Oh.” Presumably, the rampaging demons Starkweather went after didn’t follow him in nondescript sedans anyway. Checking for a tail probably never occurred to him.
    Melanie glanced back at him, then down at the spirit ward. “Why are you here? The exorcist got rid of the demon, didn’t he?”
    He didn’t want to answer her. Didn’t want to make it real by saying it aloud.
    “I do not understand you. I am real whether you speak of me or not.”
    “No,” he said quietly.
    Her eyes widened in horror, and she took a step back. “Leland said the demon still had you, but I didn’t want to believe it. Oh God.”
    “It’s not like that,” he protested frantically. “I swear, I’m still in control. And Starkweather—the exorcist—he’s trying to help. Nothing has changed. I haven’t changed. I’m still good old Caleb.”
    “Be silent!” Her voice cracked, and she backed up slowly, as if he might attack at any second. “I-I won’t listen to your lies, demon!”
    “Melanie, don’t—”
    “Get thee behind me, Satan!” she shrieked. Then she broke and ran, pelting away down the walk.
    “Melanie!” he shouted after her. But it was no use.
    She was gone.
     

Chapter 12
     
    “You wanted to see me, ma’am?” John asked from the doorway to Kaniyar’s office.
    The district chief glanced up from a stack of paperwork