Darius found some information about them on supes.com, the internet of the paranormal world, so I long onto my computer and do some searching myself. Considering how many articles turn up about the cainians being myths, I’m surprised Darius didn’t try that angle to dissuade me. Then again, he knows better than to try some lame crap like that on me.
There are a few cases where people couldn’t figure out who was responsible for the crimes against paranormal creatures. When I kidnap or kill someone, it’s pretty much known immediately that I’m responsible. Most clients aren’t quiet after the fact. Word of mouth is my friend. But an entire coven of witches had been killed. A pack of werewolves. Yes, I might’ve had a hand in killing off an entire pack with help, but that hardly ever happens. All of the merfolk who lived in a particularly large pond. No one could explain what had happened to them, and some suggested cainians. The others in the tread lambasted the idea, but maybe the cainians had been responsible. An entire coven of witches…
I shudder. What hope do I have to stand up against something as powerful as that?
Chapter 12
An entire week passes with no major development at all, and I am beyond frustrated. I’m ready to pull my hair out or throw my laptop out the window when there’s a knock at my door.
Who can that be?
My hand automatically reaches for my gun as I slowly stand. Without making a sound, I cross over to my door and am just about to peer through the peephole when a voice says, “Come on, Rebel. Open up already.”
“Vinca?” I relax instantly and unlock and open the door. “What are you doing here?”
“First, I want to know if you’re available tomorrow.”
“For what?” I ask suspiciously.
She giggles. “To help me figure out what to wear to the wedding!”
“I have no idea what fairies wear—”
"You can tell me yes or no, or ew, that looks hideous, what in the world were you thinking."
I glance down at my bounty hunter attire. “You should see my closest. I don’t have a lot of clothes outside of more of these.” I pull on my top and my pants.
“You could use a wardrobe overhaul, that’s for certain.”
“Ah, no. I kinda need this.”
“What about on your nights off?”
“I hardly ever take a night off.”
"You haven't been around lately." Vinca grimaces. "Are you working on a really important case?"
“The most important case.”
“Can you tell me about it?”
“A cainian killed my brother and his wife but left me alive, and now I’m going to make that cainian pay for that mistake, only I don’t know which cainian it had been. I don’t know how to kill one. Oh, and I don’t know how to find one either so…”
Vinca tilts her head to the side. “When did all of this happen?”
“My case into finding the cainians?”
“No, the murders.”
“When I was sixteen.”
“Is that why you became…” She lowers and raises her hand to encompass me.
“Basically.”
“Wow.”
“My backstory isn’t the point, Vinca. I need more information, and most people think cainians are a myth, and finding—”
“They aren’t a myth,” she says.
I blink several times. “You know something about them?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I don’t think anyone knows a lot about them except for the cainians themselves, but I know you. You’re most interested in what can kill them.”
I grip her shoulders. “You know what I can use against them? What is it?”
“A special scepter made of rocks and gemstones. Anyone who has that scepter can use magic from it. It’s one of the most powerful weapons in the entire world!”
“Anyone can use magic…” I gape at her. “Honestly, it sounds like a weapon like that should be destroyed!”
“A lot of people felt that way, but you should be happy it was forged. I don’t know if there is another means to kill them.”
“Who made it?” I murmur.
"That I don't know. I think part of the reason why people think cainians aren't real is because a lot of people don't believe the old stories are true. I mean, if there had been a flood, shouldn't the cainians have all died? But that's just it. The cainians are paranormal, and they do have powers. Why couldn't they have survived a flood? And there has been evidence found that suggests there had once been a worldwide flood. Whether or not there had been Noah and an ark, humans survived, and so did all sorts of paranormal creatures. I should ask my great-great-great grandma. She might have heard about the great flood."
“Heard about it?” My head is swimming. Just how long can fairies live for?
“Yes. I’m not sure when the flood actually happened, but… Well, that’s not the important part. I know where the scepter is.”
“Vinca, I love you!”
She bursts out laughing. “I know. I’m great.”
“Humble and modest too, don’t forget,” I point out with a grin.
Vinca’s wings flutter. “You know it!” She giggles. “A dragon guards the scepter.”
“A dragon.” I groan. Yes, I’ve killed dragons before, but it’s not easy to. I wearily rub my forehead.
“Not just any dragon. One of the oldest dragons ever. Don’t think that will make him easy to kill. He hasn’t slowed down any. He’s impossibly cruel and vicious, and he’s been known to cause earthquakes when he lands and even tsunamis if he lands in the water.”
“He can go in the water?” I ask, shocked.
“Oh, he’s not a fire-breathing dragon.”
“What can he breathe?” I ask even though I’m not sure I want to know the answer.
“Arcane energy,” Vinca says.
Arcane. That’s the weird energy Darius can wield. I don’t understand it at all, but I do know it’s powerful, and it’s likely to cause me massive trouble.
“Great. Where is this really old and really powerful dragon?”
Vinca shakes her head.
“You don’t know?”
“I do know,” she admits, “but I don’t want to tell you.”
“Vinca, come on. Please! You can’t just tell me all of this and then start holding back!”
“I don’t want you to die!” Vinca wails. “Do you have any idea how many people have tried to find that scepter?”
“People as in humans?” I ask, shocked.
“No, not humans. They don’t know about the scepter.”
“Other paranormal beings want the scepter? Why?”
“To become more powerful. To fight others. To defend themselves. There are hundreds of reasons to want the scepter, but there’s only one result from anyone who tries to take it away from… from the dragon.”
I grimace. She had been about to say the dragon’s name! But still, what she’s told me has to be enough for me to go back online and find out about the scepter and the dragon and their location.
“That result is death. Every time,” she says.”
“How did the dragon come to possess the scepter in the first place?”
“The witches who made it realized they had made a grave mistake by creating the scepter. Others hunted them down and killed the witches one by one. The last one gave the scepter to the dragon to safeguard.”
“Why didn’t they just destroy the scepter? I mean, they were the ones to create it.”
“That is not how magic works,” Vinca says. “Sometimes, what is done cannot be undone.”
I shake my head. “No. I will take it. I will use it to kill the cainians, and then I will find a way to destroy it. Throw it into a volcano or something.”
“Ah, yes, because salamanders need the scepter,” Vinca deadpans.
I grimace. “How could those fiery lizards do anything with it?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it could give them a human shape.”
“Oh.”
“All the more reason to find it and destroy it.”
Vinca shakes her head. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you about it,” she murmurs. “It might not even be powerful enough to take out a cainian anyhow. We should look for something else.”
“Vinca.”
“Yes?”
“Please.”
An uncomfortable silence falls over us. Normally, Vinca talks all the time, a mile a minute. Now that the conversation has slowed, I realize what she said. “I don’t want you to die!” Why am I all right with her saying that but not Darius?
Only, I’m not really okay with her saying it either. It’s as if no one trusts me to take care of myself. Yes, dragons are dangerous, and I’ve never faced one that didn’t breathe fire, but that doesn’t mean I can’t face this one and live. Besides…
“Vinca, can arcane witches absorb an arcane blast?”
"Depending on the force of the blast, yes," she says slowly. Her eyes widen, and her wings flutter so swiftly they're a blur. "Oh! You mean to fight the dragon with an arcane witch! Yes, yes, that might work!"
“Do you happen to know of any?” I ask eagerly.
“Any arcane witches? No, I can’t say that I do.”
“Seriously? No customers are the bar, no one?”
“No. You don’t?”
“I know of one,” I mumble.
“Well then, what are you waiting for? Wait! Is it that hot witch you’ve been hanging out with lately?”
I grimace. “Don’t get any ideas,” I warn her.
“Why not? This is perfect! Just think of it! You’ll both be in mortal danger, working together… You’ll slay the dragon and stand on its carcass and kiss!”
“You do realize that’s impossibly melodramatic, don’t you?” I ask wryly.
“Who cares? It would be romantic too.” She giggles.
“Romance and bounty hunting don’t go together.”
“Ah, but this isn’t bounty hunting. This is revenge.”
“Yes, but—”
“Romance and revenge do go together.”
“Revenge isn’t romantic!”
“Who says that it can’t be?” Vinca wiggles her hips.
“You’re unreal,” I inform her. “First, you tell me about the scepter and the dragon, and then you don’t tell me where to find them.”
“Still haven’t,” she chirps.
“And now you want me to go and fight because you want me to have some kind of moment with a witch who I’m currently fighting with?”
"A lover's quarrel!" She claps her hands together and holds them to her chest.
“You cannot be serious.” I smack my palm to my forehead.
“All you’ll have to do is tell him about the arcane dragon. Trust me. He’ll go with you, and then you two can make up and kiss.”
“There will be no kissing!”
“Sure.” She winks at me. “The dragon lives in a cave in the tallest mountain of the Rocky Mountains. Now, go call lover boy!”
Vinca waves and starts to leave.
“Wait!” I call. “Why did you come over?”
Gah. My mind really is slipping. She said something about her dress, but she doesn’t look hurt at all.
She just wiggles her fingers and says, “To see you, silly. You’ve been seen. I can go now.” She winks and flies off.
That fairy. She knew I was stalling.
Seriously, what kind of a sister am I? Stalling because I have to call up a certain witch. Yes, I’m sure El or another informant could hook me up with another arcane witch, but I’m not about to entrust a witch I don’t even know to keep me alive or to not steal the scepter. It’s Darius or bust.
Darius or going it alone.
No. I’m not stupid. Darius it is.
If he refuses…
He won’t.
But if he does…
I call him before I can change my mind and kick the door shut.
One ring. Two. Three. Four. It’s going to go to—
“Rebel.”
His tone is entirely void of all emotion.
“Hi, Darius. Look, I know we didn’t part on the best of terms, but I need you.”
“Need me.”
“Yes. I learned about a weapon that might be able to kill a cainian, but I need your help to get it.”
“Why me?”
“Trust me, if I could count on another arcane witch, I would ask him or her to go with me instead,” I snap. His cool tone is aggravating me to no end.
"You do know someone else."
“I do?” I ask, surprised. “Wait, is Mirella one?”
“Yes.”
I hesitate. “She’s probably busy.”
“You would rather go with her.”
"Let's see. Go with a friend who understands what I'm going through and won't judge me or go with a different witch who judges me every chance he gets and thinks he knows what's best for me. I wonder which I would pick. When I put it that way, can you blame me?"
“I’m done, Rebel.”
“Done what?”
“Done helping anyone on stupid crusades like this.”
“Oh. Okay. Cool. You do know that the cainians might have wiped out entire covens of witches, don’t you? And packs of werewolves and all kinds of other things. They didn’t just kill my brother and his wife. They’ve done so many terrible crimes, and they need to be stopped and not just because of my revenge.”
“I alerted HEX U about the issue.”
“You didn’t.” I gasp. “You would take my revenge away from me?”
“If all that matters is that they’re taken out…”
“Darius, I swear, I will—”
“You will what, Rebel? You could make a positive difference in the world. You have the drive and determination to be able to hold your own against all kinds of evil creatures. Why not go after some of them?”
“And what? Be a rogue human executioner? Or would I still be considered a paranormal executioner because I would be executing paranormal creatures.” I’m pacing. I do that when I’m upset, and I’m nearly running. The faster I’m pacing, the more upset I am.
“You know you could,” he says stubbornly.
"Ugh. You sound like Amad." I shake my head. "HEX U has to know about the cainians, or else they aren't the world-class organization they pretend to be."
“If they have been ignoring the cainians, it means they aren’t a threat.”
“Tell that to Mason and Gracie!” I shout.
“Or it means that they think that going after them will cost too many paranormal executioners,” he adds softly. “Rebel, it’s too dangerous to go alone.”
“Fine. Don’t ask me why I specifically need an arcane witch.”
I wait and wait and wait. Did he hang up on me?
He sighs so loudly I have to hold my phone away from my ear. “Why?”
“To go up against an arcane dragon,” I say cheerfully.
“Why do you sound so happy about that?” he demands.
“Oh, where’s your sense of adventure?”
“This isn’t an adventure. This is suicide!”
“That’s how I got through it in the early days,” I murmur.
“What?”
“By thinking everything was an adventure, and if I died, well, then I would be dead, but at least I would have been fighting. I would have been doing my part to try to fulfill my quest and have my revenge.”
He says nothing.
“This has been my life for years and years. I’m not going to change, and I’m not going to give up. This is who I am. This is what I’ve become, and this is me. Either you can accept me, or you can’t.”
“Or I can’t accept you for who you are but still not want you to die,” he grumbles.
I brighten and stop pacing. “So…”
“What weapon are we going after?” he asks and sighs again.
I grin.
Chapter 13
> Having a fairy for a friend is so convenient because I would rather not have to fly all the way to the Rockies. If I had to, I would, of course. Before befriending Vinca, I used to have to fly all over the place. I even considered maybe getting a small two-seater, but I never had the time to learn how to fly. I did always have to fly through private means considering the weapons I had to bring with me. Yes, I have a few storage units throughout the country with weapons and other supplies already but not everywhere and nowhere near the Rockies.
Luckily, one of my clients is a werewolf named Mike. Ever since I located the imp who pranked his daughter, he’s willing to fly me wherever I need to go if he’s available. Thankfully, he has time to now, and better yet, because he is paranormal, Darius and I can talk freely about our plans. Before Mike, I had to be really tight-lipped. Then again, back then, I did everything solo, so I wasn’t about to blab who or what I was after.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Darius says for the fifth time.
“I’m going to start charging you each time you say that,” I remark.
“It’s not as if I get anything out of this,” he grumbles.
“Keeping me alive isn’t enough payment for you?” I ask lightly.
“No.”
“What payment do you want?” I ask. “Hey, how are you making a living anyhow?”
"Being a paranormal executioner paid very well," he says shortly. "I saved up most of my money. Even with buying that place, I still have enough on savings to last me a while."
“And what are your long-term plans?”
Darius snorts. “I don’t even have short-term plans beyond breathing.”
“That is a good plan, though.”
He snorts again. “Considering you’re my biggest obstacle…”
“If you’re that worried, why are you doing this?”
“I’ve never met an arcane dragon.”
“Met. You act like you want to talk to it.”
“Some dragons can talk,” he says. “And since you opted to talk to that witch at the nightclub…”
“Wren, and that was different.”
“Different how?”
“Fighting her would’ve meant fighting all of those witches there, and that wouldn’t have been smart at all. I had to either steal it without her knowledge or convince her to give it to me.”
Hunter's Revenge: A Mayhem of Magic World Story (Rebel, Supernatural Bounty Hunter Book 2) Page 8