Free Savior (The Keepers of Hell Book 1) by DANIELLE JAMES Page A

that meant he could never give any part of himself away.
         Nevertheless, he knew he already had. Dr. Elizabeth Rone had touched his heart, both literally and figuratively. He was sure there was some kind of Freudian disorder associated with the feelings he had for her, but that didn’t make them any less real.
         Ash wasn’t accustomed to feelings. He had no room for them in his line of work. It was best for everyone if he just went on back to the life he had, hunting and killing demons and evil fuckers for hire. That’s what he was. The demon provided all Ash could ever need, and in exchange, he killed.
         Ash hailed a cab in front of the hospital and rode in silence back to his home. Once inside, he changed out of the borrowed clothes and into his normal black on black. He bundled up the scrubs and started to throw them in the trash like all the other clothes he wore, but he couldn’t do it. He brought them to his nose and sniffed. As he expected, the smell of the hospital was still strong on them, but that reminded him of Elizabeth. They didn’t bear her warm, inviting scent, but it was as close as he was going to get. Instead of tossing them, he folded them neatly and dropped them into an empty drawer in his chest.
         Then he went to his weapons stash. He palmed two blades and secured them to his beltline. Then he looked for his favorite. It was gone. Ash remembered having it the night he was shot. Oh hell no. It could be anywhere! He jammed his feet into his boots and pushed out the front door. His first stop was going to be that fateful alley. Maybe he dropped it during his near death experience, and by some miracle, nobody had found it. That was the best case scenario. The worst case, someone did find it and Ash was going to have to spend an exceptional amount of time retrieving it by any means necessary.
         That was his blade.
         He troughed through the streets until he found himself nearly back at the hospital. The alley was just a few blocks from it. As he turned the corner, he saw the yellow police tape lying on the ground. Shit, he thought. The police had probably searched the alley and they probably had his knife. Now what was he going to do?
         He picked his phone out of his back pocket and dialed Lele’s number.
         “Why the hell did you leave the hospital?” she demanded when she answered. “You are nowhere near ready to be out. Get your ass back there right now.”
         “I love you too, Sis,” he grumbled. “I need to know, what happened to my personal things at the ER?”
         “Like I know,” she answered. “Why did you leave?”
         “I can’t explain right now,” Ash told her. “I need to find something of mine. Can you ask your man if he found my knife?”
         “That great big thing you always insist on carrying?” she asked. “Yeah he found it. He did what he was supposed to do and turned it over to the police. You’ll have to call them and ask about getting it back. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to carry one that big though. You sure you want it back?”
         Was he sure? Duh. “Yeah, I want it back.”
         “They’ll probably arrest you,” his sister warned him.
         “I’m gonna risk it,” Ash told her before hanging up the phone. Fuck and fuck. How was he supposed to get a six inch blade from the evidence locker at the police station? It was the fucking Blade of Darkness! And it was locked up tight in the police station. He didn’t want to admit it, but he might have to ask that fucking demon for help.
         But first, he was going to try and do it his way. He stuck his thumb and first finger in his mouth and whistled, waving at the same time. The oncoming cab pulled over to the curb in front of him and stopped. Ash yanked the door open and folded himself in the backseat.
         “Police station,” he grumbled at the cabbie.
         “Sure thing,” an amused