“Sometimes life just ends up like that. Sometimes it’s best to accept your fate.”
I freaking hate psychics. There’s no way to tell if he’s just fucking with me or if he knows more than he’s letting on.
“And I can’t just burn the thing?” I step away from Trevor and walk towards Matt’s downed body. I kick him over with my boot, careful not to get blood on my shoes, and squat down.
“Well, you can…but you know how that goes with certain artifacts,” Trevor says as I study his friend’s remains.
“And I take it, this just so happens to be one of them.”
“Yup. We were at the same crossroad. To burn it or to keep it. Didn’t want to risk the fallout, so we opted to keep it. Could have copied some of the pages, but then that’d be more to keep up with. The whereabouts of that book aren’t exactly well-known. Yeah, we do our thing, but we don’t personally want the world to burn. We pick our battles.”
“Right,” I affirm as I continue to stare at his dead friend. “Organized chaos…but only when it suits your needs,” my words drag.
“Yeah,” Trevor responds weakly, “that’s the motto, more or less.” I have no problem having my back to him. He’s just about done for. He’s been shot twice and his abilities are nullified by the shells lodged in his body. There’s a knife plunged in the top of his thigh, too, marked with general runes against the supernatural to cover all corners. And on top of that, he’s cuffed to one of the chairs that I found after I knocked him out. He’s not going anywhere.
I reach for the tome and when I grab it, a faint pulse runs from my fingertips, down to my spine.
“…Know what I mean?”
“What?” Still crouched, I turn back to Trevor, confusion plastered across my face. I could have sworn he said something, but I missed it completely.
“Careful with that thing,” he muses. “It’s more powerful than you know.”
“I think I’ve got a handle on it,” I say as I stand and turn to face him. I draw my gun with my free hand while the other holds firmly to the book of spells.
“You’re going to bring her back, aren’t you?”
“How did you—”
“Bits and pieces. In the split second before you shot me, I got a vision. A flash. Heightened emotions and dangerous situations tend to do that with our kind.” He smirks. “It wasn’t much, but it was enough…Blaze. Guess you can say I lucked out.”
“Damn it…” In that vision of his he must have gotten my identity, too.
“So, are you going to try to bring back your dear Sailor Ray?” he asks mockingly. “Maybe there’s a way. Maybe there isn’t. There’re secrets in that book. With a little time and patience, you may find a way to get what you want. Or maybe, it kills you. Who knows. I certainly don’t.” I growl and jut my gun forward, as if killing him is as simple as a thought and had nothing to do with pulling the trigger.
I flex my grip, and my heart starts to pound.
“Ah. There it is. The look of a man who just realized how desperate he really is…you can kill me now.” Even in his weakness, he still sounds arrogant as hell. “I’ve seen all I need to see. Good luck, Blaze. You’re going to need it.”
I pull the trigger and his head bobs back, lifeless and hollow, just like the rest of his body.
Damn.
I remain in the same position, my arm extended and my gun pointed at his head. The smell of gunpowder fills my senses as I reflect on the words he said and what awaits. Can I really bring her back? And if I can, at what cost? How much is too much to bring back the woman I love? My family died as vampires…what about them? What about Roc? Is he even still alive?
I eventually return my gun to its hiding place and go for my phone. Four missed calls. They’re from Roc. The ritual was supposed to be happening by now. Obviously, it’s not. Well, not the whole thing. I still have the book, and with that, the key to everything. Fuck. I don’t even know what it’s called.
I dial up Roc and wait, my eyes still lingering on the corpse before me. I hope he picks up. If he’s gone…I…I don’t even want to think about it.
Come on, Roc. Give me something. The phone continues to ring, and I wait already in the middle of a massacre like an idiot, not knowing how to feel.
I wait in agony, and it isn’t till the third ring that I hear a voice on the other end of the phone.
“Everything good?” he asks first. Just by his tone, I can tell he’s okay.
“Yeah, Roc. Everything’s fine,” I respond soberly, the corpse still occupying my attention. “What about you?”
“I’m good. Turns out they didn’t meet here.”
“Yeah, because I ran into them. Don’t worry,” I say before he can interject. “I handled it. Trevor was the one responsible for Creshell’s death.”
“Just like you told me, eh?”
“Yeah.” I faintly chuckle into the phone’s speaker. “Guess I did.”
“You’re not hurt or anything, are you Blaze? He was telekinetic right? And he’d been dealing with blood magic…”
“No, I’m good, Roc. I’m good,” I say, dismissing his probing questions.
“Okay, well you sound a little bit off.”
“Just banged up a bit, but I’ll live. The son of a bitch tossed me around like a ragdoll before the bullet kicked in.” The weight of the grimoire in my hand stresses my fingers, almost like it’s trying to sink to the floor. “I’m just going to cover my tracks a bit and then I’ll be heading home. I’ll see you at the motel.”
“You don’t need help or anything? I was almost going to head your way if I didn’t hear anything back from you.”
“Yeah, well, it was complicated. Trevor brought a friend. Another witch.”
“Got it. Nothing you couldn’t handle, right?”
“You know I would have reached out to you if I needed backup. I had the jump on them. That was all I needed.” I pause. “Let’s talk about it after I get back. I’m kinda in the middle of a…well…yeah.”
“Sure thing. Be safe.”
“Will do.” The phone clicks and I place it back into hiding. Even knowing what I just did, there’s no guilt. Only a subtle anxiety regarding my next move.
Chapter 13: Separate Ways
I eventually make it back to my car and place the grimoire in the passenger’s seat. The walk there was risky, but I was more than willing to put up a fight. I had dried the blood on my head from my wound, and the looming threat of vampires had kept me on guard. Darius was hurt, sure, but his handy man wasn’t. After he was safe, Darius could have sent him to track me down.
It was unlikely, but so was everything else that happened thus far in my life.
I pull off from my parking spot and make my way back to the hotel, but only after driving about thirty minutes in the other direction to lose any potential followers.
When I make it back to the motel, I hide the grimoire under the driver’s seat before exiting my vehicle. I then head inside.
“Took you long enough,” Roc says as I enter through the front door. There’s a book in his hand. Lore, I’m guessing. He’s always researching something. Good for him.
“Surprised you’re this calm.” I plop onto my bed, face first.
“Worrying can only do so much, my boy.” He snaps the book shut. “So, how did everything go?”
“Well, I killed the bad guys, so now I plan on sleeping off this rad headache.”
“Anything else you’d like to share?”
“Not really. I killed some bad guys and will probably handle a couple more by next week. Same goes for you.”
“Okay, so what about the cryptic notes? You know, the bracelet and fertile blood…sacrifices? Where did the pipeline lead? Anything on that?”
“Trevor and his friend were trying to use it as a locator spell,” I lie.
“To find?”
“I have no idea. I’m guessing the bracelet. I couldn’t exactly sit around and wait for it to happen. I saw the opportunity, and
I seized it.” I draw my hand from underneath my pillow. “Bang.” I gesture. “Dead psychic witches. Failed magic.”
“Right,” Roc responds flatly. “So, is there anything to follow up on?”
“As far as I know, there isn’t,” I say with a straight face. “Woodrow and the others were the only ones involved. I stopped them, so the elusive bracelet or whatever still remains hidden.”
Roc’s brows furrow and he opens his mouth as if he’s going to speak. He starts to, but then he pulls back his words, like the essence of what he wants to say eludes him. “…Did you get a name on it? Maybe we can do some digging before we head out.”
“No. Didn’t get a name. But maybe that’s a good thing.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Well, for starters, you know your shit, right? You pride yourself on it, correct? So, the way I see it is, if you don’t know about it, I don’t know about it, and no one else does. Whoever hid it, did a damn good job. For all we know, it might not even exist. Some asshat could have destroyed it a thousand years ago or something.”
“I’m not following your logic on this one, dude.”
I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and sigh—anything to get him off my back. “What I’m saying is…we can’t waste our time following stale leads. I hunt what I know is out there. If a random dude pops up in a grocery store with a super powerful bracelet, then I’ll handle it. Until then, I go by what I know. Hell, if something fishy comes up, you’ll be the first one I call…but if that’s not the case, I’m gutting everything out there that doesn’t belong.”
“For Sailor?”
I pause, not to draw on the thought but what lies beyond it. Of course, for Sailor, for both our families, but for everyone else too.
“Come on, man. You know it’s not cool to drop that on me. Not after a hunt.”
“Losing her hurt everyone, not just you…and I get what you’re doing. I respect your decision. Just remember that Sailor doesn’t want you to die for her. Not when she’s already dead.”
“I know.”
“She’d want you to find happiness.”
“And I will, once I figure out what happened that night and who I need to kill to make it right.”
“It’s…it’s not that simple.”
“Well, it is for me,” I huff. “Are we through?”
“Yeah. We’re through.”
The silence lingers in the room for far too long, so I give into my urge to fill the void.
“I..I understand what you mean…and I’ll try to be careful…because if you lose me, that’s another loss. I get that, but there’s some things I have to do.” I sigh. “It’s like, in me. You know? Killing monsters won’t bring her back, no. But maybe I’ll feel better if the ones who did her in are dead… So, we cool?” I ask. “I just…have to.”
“Yeah. We’re good,” Roc says from behind his book in a dismissive manner. Not that I can blame him. It’s not on him to wait for a half-assed apology while I contemplate life.
He deserves more than that. Honestly, he does. He’s a true friend.
“Cool,” I say as I rise from my bed and take off my shirt. “I’m going to hit the shower and call it a day. What time you getting out of here?” I ask as I fish around my bag for a fresh set of clothes.
“Probably a little after sunrise. Got another case I want to check out.”
“Really?” I ask, my hand now on the knob leading to the bathroom. “What’s it about?”
“I’m not exactly sure. People are turning up dead, but they each have three holes on the back of their neck. Puncture wounds. Shaped like a triangle.”
“Vamps?” I ask.
“No. No, I don’t think so. The victims aren’t being drained, and there’s nothing I’ve been reading that says people are coming up poisoned or anything like that. The only common thread is that they’re dead. The details leading up to their deaths are kind of sketchy. You know how that goes.”
“Yeah,” I respond, my apprehension now dissolving. If Roc and I were after the same person, what a shit show that would be. Especially, if he found out why. “So, you’re flying blind on this one?”
“At least for now. Sonya sent me a couple of links, and I’m refreshing myself on obscure entities.”
“Sonya, eh? Well, look at you.” I smile. “Good luck with that.”
“Please. I’m just doing her a favor. She said she needed help.”
“I bet she did,” I tease.
“You’re impossible.”
“Best way to be.” I open the door to the bathroom and walk in to the other side. I close the door gently; my last sight of our room being Roc diving deeper into his book on monster lore. “Fuck…” I sigh and lightly tap my head against the door. What a ride.
I look at my reflection in the mirror and take note of my appearance. After the adrenaline wears off, it all comes back.
My cheek is slightly puffy and I have bruises all over. My right shoulder is a mess, my ribs still hurt on occasion, and my head’s killing me. The life of a hunter, eh?
I was lucky that guns weren’t involved. Both Matt and Trevor had one on them as a last resort. I wouldn’t have faired too well if they added that in the mix. Telekinetics can curve bullets on a whim. No explanation needed.
I fully strip and hop into the shower. What’s normally clear water is dyed red from the blood being picked up from the cut on my head. Nonetheless, the hot water is refreshing as it runs over me, soothing my aches and pains.
My body wants me to slow my break-neck pace, but I can’t.
I won’t.
Beyond the bruises and the cuts, there’re scars. Mementos for the things I’ve done; the monsters I’ve killed. The people I’ve saved. The ones I’ve also failed.
As heartless as it sounds, that’s the way of the hunter. I’ve come to learn that. You win some, and you lose some. Celebrate the victories and mourn the losses, but don’t let them slow you down.
What I’m about to do next is more than just your run-of-the-mill-hunt, though. I’m dealing with something dark. Ancient. If I want to bring Sailor back, there’ll be a cost. First, I’ll have to find Darius, which means slugging my way through vampire territory. Then I have to secure—
What am I even thinking?
I shake my head, dispersing the water within the shower’s confines.
I’m torn. Opportunity is literally at my fingertips and I don’t know what to do.
With a heavy heart, I turn off the water and slip into what I’m going to sleep in for the night.
“Power shower?” Roc asks as I walk out, the steam pouring into our living quarters.
“I think it’s what the therapists call ‘decompressing’,” I say, as I throw my laundry onto the floor near my bed. “It’s not like I didn’t just fight for my life.”
“Never gets old, does it?”
“Not really, no.”
“Night.”
“Night.”
Chapter 14: For Love
“So, you’re really going to do it huh?” I hear a voice…not from my surroundings, but inside my mind. Sailor.
I open my eyes and she’s right in front of me as a ghost. I can hardly believe it, but it’s her. I look to find Roc, but he’s still out cold. Either way, I won’t let this moment pass.
“Sailor? Sailor, what happened?” I ask. It’s so surreal that it’s hard to speak. “How did you…how did you die?” It still hurts to say it. Even more so with me looking face to face with her spirit. “Tell me where you were. Tell me where I can find them! Is my family with you? Why are you back? What do you need me to do? Is Joel dead, too?”
I spit my questions out as fast as I can once I get over the magnitude of the situation. For her to visit me, she must have something to say, right?
It’s hard to tell. Her face is blank. Emotionless…neither happy nor sad. “Bring me back, Blaze,” she says as I gaze into her eyes. As weird as it is to say it, I feel her words within my soul. “Please. Yo
u have to. I wasn’t supposed to die… Why didn’t you stop me?” Her words are monotone, but once again, I can feel them, and this time, they’re accompanied by a numbing sorrow that washes over me. “We were supposed to be together.”
“Wha-how? Sailor, are you okay?”
“The grimoire.” She walks over to me and strokes the side of my cheek and brings her face to my ear. “You have the grimoire. I saw you take it. Use it to bring me back,” she says and kisses me. “…It’s the only way. Do it for us.” She steps away from me and she begins to disappear. I reach out and call for her, but she doesn’t respond. Her solemn expression bends into a smile and she leaves me without saying another word.
“Sailor!” I scream her name and I raise up from my bed. A whiff of confusion runs over me, my body drenched with sweat.
Damn it.
A nightmare. Another one.
You killed me.
Sailor’s voice lingers in my mind and my core goes cold from the bitter sting of her words. She’d never say that to me. I know those weren’t her final thoughts.
I feel lightheaded from the sudden rush, but it wanes once my body calibrates to its new state of existence.
I wipe the sweat from my forehead and look over to Roc’s side of our motel room. He’s gone…that’s right… He said he was leaving early to work another case.
I glance at the clock and see that it’s ten in the morning. I didn’t even hear him leave.
I move to the edge of my bed and run my fingers over my hair and then my cheek where she touched me. Even though it was just a dream, part of me still feels like she was calling to me. It felt real. Too real…like she was a part of me somehow.
Maybe I can bring Sailor back, but I’d need that bracelet…and for that, I need to eliminate Darius. Hell, I don’t even know the first thing about the grimoire, either.
Sailor aside, Darius needs to die. He’s too dangerous. And I’m going to be the one to hunt him down.
He knows things. Things that have escaped even the sharpest minds out in the field. Lore from ancient times. If I wouldn’t have taken this case, who knows how screwed we would have been by now?
I need to find him.
Blaze Monroe and the Shattered Heart: A Supernatural Thriller (The Hunter Who Lost His Way Book 2) Page 9