“Yes, that is the basis of it, but it’s more than that. There was a binding contract. Signed in our blood. What we didn’t understand is that demons have more ways around blood contracts, especially with their use of vampires, than angels do. Most angels do not have the power to even find loopholes in contracts. They are bound to their word. Literally. So, much like demons we need an entity or entities here on Earth that can influence others. But it has to be something and someone powerful enough to survive such a thing. Also, we wanted to find someone where, when we asked them to do we need to do, they were going to comply. They would have a reason to do it.”
“Because being tortured and experimented on wasn’t enough? I know you’re trying to start at the beginning, but I feel you’re delaying the inevitable here, Adriel. Just tell me; what’s my reason? Why did you do this it me? What do you want me to do?”
I stand up, frustration coursing through me. I don't even care how hot it is that Dru is smirking at me in all his dark glory for my reaction. I need to know. I don't want to play games anymore. It’s getting old.
“You were powerful, or at least we assumed you would be. Your family has been for at least a millennia. Your parents, particularly your father, were famous for their techniques and their kindness. You and a few others were considered, and I watched you from afar. The motivation came when your parents died.”
During all of it, his head is down. Even in this confined space he won’t look at me.
“What the hell does my father have to do with any of this?” I grit out, and Dru suddenly pulls my arms back behind me, holding me like a prisoner. Maybe he doesn’t know what these emotions will do with my new chemical make-up, or maybe he knows whatever Adriel is about to say is going to have me finding a way to murder an angel.
“Your father didn’t agree with everything the Magistrate did, especially toward the end. We think that he died as a direct or indirect result of his likely insubordination.”
I am fuming. I don't like the way he is beating around the bush. “Are you saying that the Magistrate…his best friend had him killed?” I screech, not realizing how badly I am fighting against Dru’s hold until he breaks my skin with his nails, causing me to bleed.
I am temporarily distracted, turning around to yank out of his arms, but all Dru does is pull me back so I am facing him now, chest to chest. He takes his thumb and runs it through the blood on my arm, sending shivers through me. Then, he holds it up for me to see. “See, it doesn’t hurt so much now. Just don’t go bust an artery on me.” The skin sizzles a little but nothing like I would expect.
I would have thought this would make me stronger, but maybe it has weakened me. Maybe I am useless now.
“It wouldn’t be the first time, Riley.” Adriel looks up at me then, and my heart stops. So, my father didn’t just die in the line of battle. There was possibly more to it. “We wanted you to start a revolution somehow, even just your existence and your voice if that’s all you’re willing to give.”
I don't think he is expecting an answer now, just spewing information that would have been good to know the night he handed me wine laced with his blood.
Dru begins to talk, fluidly moving to his part in the conversation. “The group that Jake and I were a part of, it wasn’t just about going down into demon lairs or vampire dens. It’s about creating weapons. And, in particular, Blood Witches make easier weapons because they can survive magical experiments better, same with vampires or demons like me. Jake is like that because they infused him with Hellfire.”
“What reason would the Magistrate have for wanting to create a weapon using Hellfire? It won’t hurt demons.”
“You know the answer, Riley,” Adriel says darkly.
I don't know if I can force myself to compute this, though. “Either they want to kill angels or…”
Adriel sighs and finishes my sentence at the same time he walks out of the little storage shack, unable to face the reality of it any more than I can. “Or they want to kill you.”
And it hits me. This is my best friend they did this to. What better way to kill me than that?
Dru holds me firm as I begin to cry, leaning over so my bloody tears land on the concrete floor and not on my uniform. Even when I feel like the world is falling apart, crumbling around me, I still have to keep up appearances.
“I will give you ten minutes for this, Riley,” Dru hisses out. “Ten minutes to fall apart, but then you need to train. You need to find out what these new powers mean and how you can use them to stay alive.”
I beat on his chest in anger, my hair going wild with my fit. He stands his ground, barely phased.
What he said made me angry, but it doesn’t make him wrong. It’s the one thing only Dru can give me: the absolute and brutal truth.
When the tears dry up, I have one more question.
I am let go, and I walk out onto the field to find Adriel is there. Ursula has joined him at some point without my noticing. He looks up at me with a sympathy I can’t bear as I say it.
“How can I know for sure what happened to my father?”
Chapter Three
He doesn’t know. Nobody does.
I am supposed to be motivated by the fact my father might have died at the hands of the Magistrate, maybe even Reyes himself, and there is no proof. Nothing for me to go on.
At least it gives me anger enough to keep up these double training sessions, though Adriel’s presence has been few and far between for the past week. I am sure the fact that I asked him not to come has something to do with it.
I miss him. I want him to come back.
But mostly, I want to be able to kick a demon or vampire’s ass if I need to.
“Familiars can do many things. They can fight for you and with you, strengthen spells, and they can even heal you when you need it most.”
“Can’t Ursula take a form?” I ask Kagan as he paces back and forth, his cat by his side. He is in full on teacher mode, and it reminds me so much of those early days when I still thought he was an ass. Now, I just want to pull him to me and kiss him. Seize the moment where and when we can since it isn’t always going to be this way.
This is the first time I have seen him in days, between his duties as a teacher and him trying to get information underhandedly from his father about Jake and what to do about him. The Magistrate has recently declared him missing, and it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out that we know where he is and that he attacked me and somehow I lived.
Ursula whines at me, and I look down at her. I can’t imagine a more amazingly beautiful and powerful creature to have by my side, but she has still been shy when it comes to choosing a form. She has also been withholding from me any information I want to know about my father and his death.
If he was killed, she would know, wouldn’t she? She would have been there to see it.
It’s not something I had thought about until the moment Adriel revealed his death might not have been some tragic accident.
I am afraid this distance between us will make training that much harder, and I have never felt an urgency like this to learn. “Taking on a form is not something familiars are always comfortable with. Some have been forced to do it, others lose some of their powers or coordination when it happens. It should never be rushed as it could hinder any chances of it being to your advantage,” Kagan scolds.
I take a deep breath, and Ursula’s tongue swipes across my hand. That has to be a good sign.
“Fine, I’m ready. What do I need to do?”
“Willow!” he calls, and I look around to see who he is talking to. There is no one else around here, though I can sense Dru’s presence nearby, hanging around and waiting for his turn with me.
I smile to myself at the sound of the innuendo in my head, realizing more than ever this demon blood is driving me crazy. I don't know why I thought I had any in me before. This is entirely different. Untamed, wild, prickling underneath my skin in a pleasurable but unsatisfied way.
Onto the field runs an animal I have never seen. I know instantly by Ursula’s tension, placing her weight from one foot to the other, that this must be another familiar. One we don't know.
“Willow is a very special familiar – my family’s familiar. When Julian became a member of the Magistrate, his family was allowed special permission for an extra familiar since he would typically need his at all times. Willow is on loan to us for these training sessions because he has a full form and is quite powerful. He will be who you and Ursula are fighting.”
I can’t help but to gasp at Willow’s beauty, equal to that of Ursula but in a different way.
He is a fox, but he is dually colored. His red is the most vibrant, like fire itself, but down his center is an inky black, finishing it off with a pair of glowing, amber eyes.
Ursula growls at him, and I look down at her, wondering why she is on the defensive so quickly. He’ a training partner, not an actual enemy.
“He belongs to one of the Magistrate,” Ursula corrects in my head. “Wouldn’t that make him the enemy?”
I shake my head. “I don't think Kagan’s father is our enemy, and certainly not a familiar. Don’t familiars have more of a conscience than that?”
Ursula looks up at me, her eyes sparkling today like someone placed the whole cosmos in her eyes. “They do, but if the connection is already made, then it's too late for them to sever themselves from their owner. It is a bond that almost hurts to break. Many even die or become ill when they lose their owner in certain circumstances.”
“My father…”
Ursula growls and races forward towards Willow, leaving me in the dust. “Ursula!” I scream out loud as she takes Willow by surprise, but then Willow becomes a man, a young one with black eyes and clothes and bright red, shocking hair. He throws Ursula to the ground, but more of her pride is hurt than her body.
I go to her, accepting her into my arms.
“You can’t just go off like that. We are supposed to be a team. If you aren’t ready to talk about it, I’ll leave it alone, okay? Just, work with me here.”
She whimpers, the first moment of weakness I have seen from this magnificent being, and then stands up straight, leaning against my side a bit to show me how she feels. She’s ready to fight with me.
“Okay, what do we do?” I ask, squaring my shoulders in a determined stance.
“He’ll attack you like he’s an enemy. Don't hold back. He’s much too powerful to be easily thwarted right now,” Kagan says with a nod.
We stand proud as a pair, spells in my mind at the ready as well as defensive moves against a demon I have learned in my usual classes. Everything I have done has prepared me for this, but I am still nervous, still behind from everyone else my age when I need to be ahead.
So far ahead I can kill any diversion that the Magistrate might send my way to keep me off their trail.
Willow comes at us, racing at us straight. For such a powerful being, his methods are much too predictable.
Ursula goes for his leg while I plan to miss him, get behind him, spin around and attack from there, but then he tricks us.
At the last possible moment, he shifts to his fox form, bounding between us to the other side of the field in a single, graceful leap.
“See what I mean,” Kagan says, one of those cocky grins of his on his face. One I just want to lick off.
“Again!” he calls as the sound of his phone going off tries to break my stride.
I turn my attention back to Willow who is bearing his teeth, some kind of magic emanating from him. I can feel it through my connection with Ursula. How he can do that without Julian right here I don't even know.
He’s special, this one.
I work with Ursula on a counter spell, but just as we are about to release it, we have to dodge a ray of light, almost like a laser beam, that rolls off Willow’s back like a ripple effect.
There’s no defending against him after he shoves quick spell after spell after us, Kagan still pacing around on his phone. I am distracted and get knocked down by one of the beams. It crashes into me hard but does nothing more than leave a small bruise on my skin – and on my ego.
“You’re thinking like someone new would. By textbooks and not by the feel of it. Ursula, you know what to do. You need to show her.”
Willow was in his human form again, speaking to us. His tone was raspy but higher than I would have expected. It is strange, knowing only a moment ago he was an animal. I wonder if Ursula will ever get a human from and speak to me like that.
“It is fear that holds me back,” Ursula admits, and I don't know if I am the only one who can hear or if Willow can hear too. “I am afraid of so many things. That I will not be good enough for your strong powers, that I will move to fast for you to handle, that I will fail you and allow you to be killed right under my nose like your father. You are the only reason I stayed here and survived. He told me, asked me that if anything ever happened to him, I would fight with you and look out for you, his daughter. I should have known he felt something coming, but I didn’t feel it. Not like he did.”
She lays down in the grass, and I realize that Ursula has emotions just like I do. She is still heartbroken over my father and feels it's her fault.
I sit next to her, raising her head into my lap. I slowly slide my hands through her fur, humming a soft tune that I don't even remember the words to.
Willow shifts again and comes to listen, his head bobbing with the soft sound next to me.
“He must have hidden it from you, that is, if he knew anything for sure. There’s no way for any of us to imagine that those who employee us to fight against evil are those that will be our end. And unless you saw something that night, we still don't even know that for sure. I do know you will always be more than enough for me. I am with you. Show me what to do,” I ask her softly.
I feel her mood pick up a little, though there is still that sadness in the background. It may be back there for some time. If I know Ursula, she is duty bound, more so even than most familiars. She won’t rest until vengeance has been served.
Kagan shoves his phone back into his pocket, looking troubled. “What was it?” I ask, but part of me already knows. He has been trying to use his connections to the Magistrate to get in their good graces, possibly convince his father he wants some part in that life even if he is passionate about teaching. He thinks it will help us.
By us, I mean me. Not us as a couple. Because it also has the Magistrate throwing women at him of their choosing. Evidentially, it doesn’t mean much to them that I have been spotted with him. Even Julian who has been there for me and knows for a fact we are together has tried to encourage social status for Kagan by at least befriending some of these upper crust witches.
Technically, I would be on par with them as a Graywood. Only, I will be bound to fight for them the rest of my life, however long they think that will be. And I am a freak.
“I have to go. I am supposed to be meeting some people for dinner.”
“You mean a girl. Just call it like it is,” I challenge, goosebumps rising on my skin as I get a little angry.
“Not just a girl. A couple of the Magistrate and her family will be there too.”
“Who is she?” I don't know who I’ve become – this mistrustful, horny, angry bitch. I want to blame it on the demon blood, but I think there is a deep rooted insecurity there. Especially with Kagan. Because he could have something normal. No sharing with other men, no constant danger and drama. And I am so selfish that I feel like losing just one of my men would leave an irreparable hole in my chest.
He sighs as if he might protest, but then he says the name anyway. “Mariam Cottrell.”
“A Cattrell?” The Cattrells are cousins of Phaidra, another one of the members of the Magistrate, and known for being quite powerful and rich. Mariam is one of seven children, three of which are daughters eligible and within our age bracket. “Look, I’ve told you already it’s not worth it. You
don't have to do this. Tell him no. Tell them all no.”
“Anything is worth keeping a target off your back or at least giving us fair warning when something is going to happen. It could even gain us allies. You may think what you are makes you invincible, but we don't know that. I can’t risk it.”
I hear all the unspoken things in there.
How, if it came down to it, he would marry someone else to save me. And I don't like it.
When I have nothing else to say, he makes a call, mumbling in the phone to tell whichever other guy needs to come babysit me to be on their way.
I look at Willow with a newfound purpose. “Let’s try again. You ready, Ursula?”
“Yes. We need to be fluid, powerful, unpredictable. Using offensive magic, not defensive, using your skills as an angel.”
“What do angels have that witches don’t?” I ask her in my head as I try to at least dodge Willow’s expert attacks until I see an opening and have a strategy.
“Angels can shift matter, curse others, heal, and conjure holy fire, sometimes called Angel Fire,” she tells me.
I don't know even where to begin with those, and I suddenly feel Adriel’s been holding out on me.
“Angels have agility an intuition like no other as well,” Ursula adds, a snarl escaping her as we yet again fail to get a hit on Willow, and he scrapes me on the shoulder in human form.
“Ugh!” I scream in frustration, boring my fist into the ground.
“Giving up already?”
As always, he’s snuck up on me. My eyes follow his black skinny jeans that should be illegal, all the way up to his white-blonde hair, finished off with an evil smirk that never leaves his face.
“So, you’re the one sent to babysit me.”
“Hey, I don't babysit,” he says, holding his hands up. “I came to train you since your other boyfriend had to run off again. Sorry to disappoint you by not being an angel.”
Demon Witch (Paranormal Hunter Academy Book 3) Page 2