by G. Bailey
Now that wakes me up.
I straighten so quickly that a rush of dizziness slams into me and my head hits the pillow again. Alaric chuckles and wipes a damp cloth over my temple. In the dim lighting, the harsh lines etched between his brows are as deep as the ones on his forehead. He’s either lost in thought or really, really pissed off.
“What happened after I jumped?” I ask, my voice still hoarse.
“You nearly died, that’s what happened,” he grumbles. “But don’t worry. I caught you before you leapt to your death.” He pulls back and dumps a bloodstained cloth into a bowl of water beside me. “I hate to break it to ya, kid, but you ain’t got no wings! The fuck did you think would happen when you hopped off that building?”
He stares at me so seriously that I struggle not to laugh.
There’s a flash of humour in his gaze, too, but he quickly replaces it with a serious expression again.
“What were you thinking?” he repeats, his tone laced with concern.
I straighten up in his bed and rest on my elbows. “I was thinking I could beat you on the leader board. The wendigo was a level-three demon.”
He stares hard at me, his dark eyes pinched. “You’re that competitive you’d risk dying, huh?”
I don’t even hesitate when I reply, “Of course am. I want to win. Why else would I be competing in the trials?”
Picking the bowl off the floor, he carries it over to the chest of drawers pushed up by the window. “Maybe the prince didn’t explain how the trials work, love, but you need to be alive to win. Remember that deal you and I made?”
I narrow my eyes at his back. “Deal? You mean blackmail.”
He holds up a hand, revealing the tattoo of a kelpie just below his thumb. I never noticed it before.
“Call it what you will,” he says gruffly. “But the deal requires you to be alive.” He turns and leans against the dresser, his arms folded over his muscular chest.
“What is it you want from me, Alaric?” The question is so quiet I scarcely hear the words myself.
The male studies me through half-opened lids. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Ooh, cryptic.” I snort at him, buttoning up my coat, though I can’t deny how his reply spiked my pulse a little.
He watches me adjust my clothing, his stare heavy.
“You know, my last mission was in Scotland,” I say, breaking the silence. “The human we met sounded a little like you, now that I think about it. Are you Scottish?”
“Aye.”
I grab my weapons from the side of the bed and tilt my head at him. “Are you from the Rivermare?”
He nods, and a dead silence follows the mute reply.
“I take it you’re not the sharing kind?” I get to my feet and smile at him. “Of course you’re not. My partner isn’t either. Wait a minute…” My smile fades. “Where’s Caspian? He was on the roof when I jumped.”
Alaric scoffs and drags a hand through his messy hair. “Outside, the last time I checked.” His hand pauses in his hair. “He’s a bit pissed off after I knocked him out.”
“You… knocked out… my partner?” I repeat the words slowly, then their meaning dawns on me. “Why the hell would you do that? Oh, my goddess! Is he all right? I’ve seen the size of your hands. They’re like freaking spades!”
Alaric waves a hand dismissively. “He’s fine, he’s fine. He just lost his shit when he came through the portal and saw you in my bed, covered in blood.” He cocks his head and rubs his chin. “He got real possessive over you, almost like a mate would.”
I stare down at the floor, my cheeks heating. “He’s not… we’re not… We’re just partners.”
A low, deep chuckle carries to my ears, and I lift my gaze.
“So you are. Anyway, I only knocked him out a bit.”
“As opposed to knocking him out a lot?” I snap, my heart thrashing against my ribs. Caspian freaked out over me? Sure, I’m his best friend’s little sister, yet a part of me can’t help but hope Alaric is right and that Caspian was jealous. An even bigger part of me is glad. Now he’ll know how I felt in Paris when he flirted with the receptionist. “I better get go—”
The door smashes open, sending splinters of wood pinging across the dark wooden floor. A gust of smoke envelopes the entrance, and then Eziel appears, his expression murderous like a man intent on killing. His features soften when he looks at me, and the red fire glowing within them dims.
“Autumn, you—” He marches over but stops short, casting a grimace at Alaric. “You brought her here?”
Alaric inclines his head. “Indeed I did, Your Graceful Lord Eminence. Healed her, too. No more injuries from the building when she fell. She’s as right as rain now.”
The muscle in Eziel’s jaw moves in his irritation. Not only did Alaric use a title but the completely wrong ones to boot. Something tells me he did it on purpose.
The prince turns narrowed, steely eyes on me. “And are you? Healed?”
I swallow my unexpected nerves. “Y-yeah. I’m fine now, thanks.”
He nods once. “Then report to my study in fifteen minutes.”
He marches back over to the door, pausing by it for a second. “I’ll replace that.” And then he’s gone.
Alaric chuckles again, watching me from the corner of my eye. “Looks like you’re ‘just partners’ with the prince, too, huh?”
Chapter 14
Lilith Thornblood
The literal Prince of Hell, sole heir to the Stormfire Pack, is not someone I want to get on the bad side of. I haven’t forgotten our first meeting, or how he told Caspian to watch out for me. The look the prince gave before he left Alaric’s room sends another shiver through me. I knock on the future alpha’s door.
“Come in,” he calls out curtly.
I turn the metal door knob and push the heavy wooden door open. I shut the door behind me before turning around to glance at Eziel’s private study. It’s a cosy room with thick red curtains lining the three windows and a massive desk that takes up most of the space. The desk is empty other than a spinning red crystal that doesn’t stop moving and a pile of books in a straight line.
In fact, I don’t see any dust anywhere or a single stain on the dark-wood floors.
“Sit down,” he commands from his throne-like seat behind the desk.
The only other seat is opposite him and just a simple plastic chair that seems like it’s seen better days.
It squeaks when I sit, and an awkward noise fills the room. I clear my throat and smile at him. “I want to apologise for what happened with the wendigo. I made a mistake.”
“Yes, you did,” he states, linking his fingers as he rests his elbows on the desk. “Why did you jump off that roof?”
I look up and meet his sharp green eyes. Sharp and passionate eyes. I just wonder if it’s a passion for violence or death. It’s not romance, that’s for sure. “Because I knew the wendigo would escape, and I wanted to capture it.”
“It?” He leans back. “Do you not think demons are real people? They are not ‘its’.”
“That wasn’t what I meant,” I counter. I need to clear this up. “I believe demons, like every creature in the world, have the choice between being evil and good. That wendigo was evil.”
He tilts his head to the side. “For demons, the choice is much harder. The demonic blood is like an addiction. An addiction begging to be freed, no matter what the cost is to humans or their morals. Demons who choose to be good, as you put it, are fighting a battle within themselves every single day.”
“That’s why they are free and not hunted,” I reply.
“The job of hunters is to capture demons who leave Hell to kill humans. Every pack has its promises it made to the Crescent Mother when they were created hundreds of years ago. And our hunters must be the best. The very best. Or humans would soon be dead and wolves not long after them. It’s a careful balance.”
“It has been for many years. It’s why I wanted to be
a demon hunter.”
“But you cannot fight well enough to beat a wendigo, a simple level-three demon. You have no basic knowledge of demons, from what I’ve seen, and overall, you are failing,” he tells me, his words cutting deep because he is right. “You’re almost as bad at being in a team as Caspian is.”
“I’m well aware our team-building needs work,” I reply.
He laughs and stands up off his seat. Eziel walks around his desk as my heart pounds. “That is an understatement. “I’m half tempted to kick you both out of the trials.”
Panic flares through me. “Kick me out. Not Caspian. It’s not his fault I’m shit at fighting and following orders,” I quickly say. “Please. This is all he wants, and he is a good guy under all the assholeness.”
“Assholeness?” Eziel repeats my made-up word before chuckling.
I can’t believe I just said that word in front of the Prince of Hell. He must think I’m a total donut.
“How unusual you are.”
We drift into silence, then he says. “I’m going to personally train you. Every day. It’s going to be painful, but you will be the best hunter I’ve seen by the end.”
The blood drains from my face. “Why would you do that?”
“I see your potential. You threw yourself off a building to catch a demon.” He leans against the desk. “Not many hunters would go to that extreme for a level three. In fact, most of them would shit themselves.”
His gaze drifts up and down me. “Be at the courtyard at five a.m. I will be waiting. You are dismissed.”
I climb to my feet and walk to the door. I open it and I turn back. “Thank you.”
“Get out of here before I change my mind,” he warns.
I don’t think about it before opening the door and rushing out into the corridor.
I think being kicked out would have been better than this. The last thing I need is to be close to the alpha’s son because his father might find out. It would take one photo, one mess-up from me, and this is all over.
I’ve messed up. Royally. Fuck.
I rush back to my apartment and walk in, locking the door behind me. I run to knock on Caspian’s bedroom door.
“Something bad happened, Caspian.”
He opens the door, looking like he has seen a ghost himself. I pause when he places his hands on my shoulders. “What happened? Did Alaric not help you? The fucker punched me out of nowhere, and I didn’t see it coming.”
“No, it’s not that. Alaric helped me and likely saved my life from the fall—”
“Yeah, the fall we can talk about later,” he cuts in. “But tell me what has you freaking out.”
I shake my head. “The prince wants to personally train me every day,” I tell him. “He might know who I am if we get close. I’m scared.”
“Eziel doesn’t play games, and he occasionally takes on a new student to train every few years,” he tells me, looking a little relieved. “I was the last one he trained. Don’t worry, he doesn’t know.”
I bite on my lip. “Okay.”
“Songbird, I’ve got to tell you something,” he says. He takes my hand and pulls me over to the sofa, sitting at my side.
I really panic when I see his worried eyes.
“I asked a friend to find Leo and get a coded message to him… but Leo is missing. His place was raided and covered in blood.”
My heart feels like it drops into my stomach. “The alpha must have him. Or he killed him.”
“I don’t know,” Caspian softly replies.
I turn away from him and drop my face into my hands before I sob. “The alpha is going to kill everyone I love and never stop hunting me! My life is over, and I don’t know why I’m still fighting for the scraps I have left.”
Caspian moves in front of me and pulls my hands from my face. He holds them tightly as I look up. “You’re stronger than you look, songbird, and you’re not alone. I’m going to make sure you find a way to escape him, and we are going to start working together. I’ve been trying to save you on my own, and it’s not working, but together, we can do this. We can trick the alpha and every hunter here. We will win our place and your freedom.”
“Why help me?”
“Fuck knows.” His mouth tilts into a crooked smile. “Maybe I’m going crazy.”
“There are pills for that, you know,” I reply, making him laugh.
I lean forward and wrap my arms around his shoulders, holding him tightly. Eventually, he embraces me back, and I seek comfort from him I didn’t know I desperately needed.
“Leo will be okay,” he says after a moment. “That man is a master at surviving. You’ll see.”
Crescent Mother, please save my brother.
I can’t lose anyone else.
Chapter 15
Lilith Thornblood
My time in Japan feels like a quickly fading dream once I return to Hell.
A small part of me wished I could’ve stayed in that onsen with Alaric forever, but life doesn’t work like that, and I have an alpha to teach a lesson.
Alright, kill.
I step out of the portal and descend the stairs with Alaric at my side. He escorts me to the courtyard where the prince waits for our delightful little training session. I glance at the leaderboard, amazed to find my name so close to Alaric’s. Caspian is going to be livid.
“You’re late,” he grumbles, pushing off his throne.
“I humbly beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty,” I say with an innocent smile, bowing at him. I know he hates when people use his title. “I was a little predisposed capturing a level four demon.”
“Where is it?”
I set the bell on the blood-stained stone. “All snug in his new home.”
Eziel tilts his head, his lips hinting at a smile. “Not bad. That puts you, what, three points behind Alaric? You’re in the running now for top spot. Caspian must be delighted.”
His eyes flick to the side, but when I follow his line of sight, I don’t see anything hiding under the archway.
I turn back to him. “He will be. Caspian and I are a team, so we’re both in the running.”
“Do team mates really go about fucking their enemy?”
My heart lurches. “Who in the hell do—“
He lifts a hand in supposed supplication. “I’m just asking, is all.”
“Well, don’t.” I narrow my eyes at him. “What I get up to in my personal life is none of your concern.”
He grabs my arm when I slide past him and pulls me close, our noses almost touching. “It becomes my concern when they put a member of the DHT’s life at risk.”
“Alaric saved my life,” I point out. I thought he’d dropped this when he summoned me to his study?
“Because Alaric was stalking you,” he counters. “How else do you think he was there at the right time? He’s had his eye on you since the feast.”
I pull my arm free and step back, frowning at him. “Jeez. I thought I was here to train, not get a lecture.”
Eziel lowers his voice. “Just be careful, that’s all I’m asking. Alright?”
I stare at him for a moment, taking in his sincerity. “Alright,” I say, my cheeks warming under his stare. It’s clear he’s only looking out for me, even if I do find it a little overbearing. He’s exactly like Caspian in that sense.
Something moves in the corner of my eye.
I glance at the archway, and I just catch the back of Caspian storming around the corner. My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. How long has he been standing there? Did he hear what the prince said about Alaric? I mean, it wasn’t true; I did only kiss him… and get a massage from him. Cold dread creeps over me. I’ve got a terrible feeling this won’t go down well with Caspian later. He’s crazy protective over me.
“Let’s get started,” Eziel says, nodding to the pile of weapons across the courtyard. “Pick your poison, Firewolf.”
Curiously, I head over to them and sift through the various kinds of weapons. The academy onl
y trained us in combat in our wolf forms. Luckily, my dad taught me how to fight using daggers and swords. It’s one of the few times we ever bonded. Even then, my mum practically begged him to teach me, and he’d made his reluctance abundantly clear the whole time. I really did never matter to my dad. I was just a nuisance to him, right from the moment he laid eyes on me.
I push the sting that thought causes to the side and pick up a sword. It’s surprisingly light and easy to wield. Once I clip some daggers to the holsters around my thighs, I head back. Eziel watches me twist the sword in my hand while walking over to him.
“So, what’s the plan?” I ask.
He arches a brow and smirks. “Don’t die.”
“Isn’t that comforting?” I call after his retreating figure.
He laughs and sits back in his throne, snapping his fingers.
One, two, then four shadows appear in the courtyard with us. They barely reach my waist, but damn they’re fast. They move around me in a series of dark blurs, their movements forcing me to spin and lose my balance.
“They’re only level-one demons,” the prince explains, leisurely crossing an ankle over knee. “I want to see how you handle them.” An amused glint flashes in his eyes. “Feel free to use your thighs like you did with Caspian. That shit was hot.”
Rolling my eyes, I grip the handle tighter and wait for one of the giggling little fuckers to come at me again. I strike down, but it slips past me and climbs onto the roof of the archways. The sword burns against my palm and the entire blade turns crimson before slowly melting. I throw it away before the liquidised steel touches me and the demons’ high-pitched cackling echoes around me. Damn it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to catch them. I might need my wolf to do this.
“Terrible posture,” I hear Aamon mutter to the prince. “Did you see how her back was arched? She’ll never land a hit at this rate.”
Oh, so Aamon is here to watch too, huh?
Alright, alright, alright.