Virgin Sacrifice to the Last Lycan - Chapter 178: Chapter 178

Helen’s POV
Five minutes before the end of Lisa’s shift, a young werewolf walked in and tied an apron around his waist, taking a place behind the counter. “Is everything going all right today, Lisa?” he asked.
She nodded. “This is my friend, Helen. I’m going with her after work.”
He smiled at the two of us. “I’m thrilled to see you making friends, Lisa. I’ve always worried that you were going to be a little bit lonely. Are you working the closing shift tomorrow?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m off tomorrow. But I’ll see you again the day after.”
The bells on the door jangled as another customer opened the door and walked to the counter.
“Hi, Brad,” the male werewolf now working the counter greeted him. “The usual for everybody at the store tonight?”
Brad nodded his head, and the werewolf got to work fixing cups of coffee which he already seemed to know. Lisa hung her apron up on a hook at the back wall and came around the corner to join me.
“Let’s go meet these friends of yours,” she said.
My excitement helped cut through the cold of the evening. Now that the sun was down, the full force of winter soaked the air and sank into my clothes, drawing out involuntary shivers. I’d packed a scarf and hat, and gloves and then foolishly left them in my bag, which Russo had taken back to the hotel. They weren’t doing me much good there.
Lisa and I kept up our conversation, our breath coming out in front of our faces with each word in little clouds of white fog. Much like with Julianne, I could tell that I was going to like Lisa. Maybe when all this crap was behind us, we could kick out Justin, Russo, and Peter, and the three of us ladies could have a girls’ night. I’d never had a girls’ night.
Russo waited for me in the hotel lobby, lounging in one of the squashy chairs. He stood when he saw me come in, confusion spreading across his face.
“You brought a friend?” he clarified.
I gave him a wide grin. “Yeah. Russo, this is Lisa. She’s new in town, and there’s something that I’d like to discuss with her when we’re back in our rooms and private, with you too.”
He raised an eyebrow without saying anything. We were all practiced at the art of keeping our secrets now.
“Justin and Randy aren’t back yet,” he said, “but my room is all ready for us. If you ladies would like to come up and get out of the lobby, we can wait for the others there.”
“That would be perfect,” I said.
We followed Randy back up to his room, and I was rather excited by the whole idea. I’d stayed as a visitor with local households, and I’d stayed in hiding, and I’d been a servant in my parents’ house and then a captive guest in Juden’s household. But never in my life had I stayed at a hotel.
For the first time, I felt like some sort of celebrity or another important person. After all, important people stayed at hotels, right?
The plush carpet in the hall absorbed the sound of our footsteps, and Russo held up a key card, pointing at the door to room 312. “This is the one Randy and I are going to share,” he said. “The one for you and Justin is right next door. It’s 314, but I think the rooms are identical.”
He held the key card in front of the electronic lock, and It beeped. Russo opened the door, letting us in. The inside of the hotel room wasn’t necessarily the fanciest room I’d ever been in. After all, Juden’s place was a mansion, and even though he had kept his son in despicable conditions, the accommodations there were fancy. But here, two large beds took up the bulk of the room, and a window looked out over the street with a view of the town spreading out before us.
Beneath that window sat a chair and table set up so that if Randy and Russo wanted to do work, it would be possible. Which would be good after we finally got some of the information on Solomon’s Key that we needed. At least, even if mine and Justin’s room didn’t have the space, we’d be able to spread out in Randy and Russo’s room.
Russo motioned to the chairs and invited Lisa and me to sit. “Make yourselves at home, ladies,” he invited.
Once we were seated, he settled in on the foot of the bed, looking expectantly at me. “So what was so important that you needed to bring this young woman along? Something so important that we couldn’t discuss in the lobby?”
“She’s actually a witch,” I said. “Lisa moved here to hide from the Huntsman.”
Russo’s eyes widened, and I could see he understood everything that implied. “She could be really helpful to us,” he said.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I agreed.
I didn’t tell him what my other plan was, but Lisa outed at least part of it. “I thought you just wanted me to be his friend,” she said.
Russo looked startled at this, and I blushed, looking sheepishly at the floor. “That’s a big part of it,” I admitted. “The fact that you might be able to help us is just frosting on the cake. But, as I said, Russo has spent all of his time living amongst witches and wizards. I thought knowing a kindred spirit here might help him feel more comfortable.”
“I wasn’t aware that my social life was in need of help, but thanks, I guess,” Russo said.
“I do what I can to make the lives of those in my pack more comfortable, one lonely heart at a time,” I teased. More seriously, I added, “Neither one of you can possibly be enjoying the isolation the Huntsman has created. This brings me to the next topic we should talk about.”
I caught Lisa in a stare. “I couldn’t tell you about why we’re here when I was in the coffee shop,” I explained. “But we’re trying to get information so that we can finally take down the Huntsman once and for all.”
She looked intrigued. “Do you have any idea how you’re going to accomplish that?” she asked.
“Yes and no,” Russo said. “We finally figured out how the Huntsman got the sort of power needed to wipe out all but one of the lycans and all but me from the fae, and start systematically taking out the witches and wizards so that you had to go into hiding. We’re sure that the werewolves are next. He’s done a number on the pixies, and Lord only knows what poor souls he’ll be tracking down once he’s finished with those species.”
“It turns out,” Russo said, staring straight at Lisa, “that our Huntsman is actually a half-demon.”
She gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. “Are you sure?” her question came out with a whimper.
I nodded my head. “We’ve done a lot of research into it. He’s over one hundred and thirty years old, which is far too old for a human. And he’s not any breed of supernatural creature that we’ve run across. His middle name is the same name as a demon. So we’re pretty positive that he’s half demon.”
Lisa crossed her arms, looking sour. “Well, I’d fully agree that he’s straight from hell. No wonder you guys don’t have a plan,” she continued. “Let me guess. You have no idea how to take down a demon?”
Russo and I shook our heads.
“That’s why we’re here. We’re hoping Juden’s old library has the Key of Solomon in its original form,” I said.
Russo nodded. “I think if I can get my hands on that, we might be able to find the right spell to either bind him, or send him to hell, or destroy him. I’d be fine with any of those options.”