by Jessica Gunn
“Jury’s still out,” Will said.
I sighed, exaggeratedly, to let them both know they were being ridiculous. “What, Brian?”
Brian leaned against the nearest wall and ran a hand over his mouth. His other arm, the twisted one, hung at his side. Maybe that was why Brian had never come back. I hadn’t seen him really use that arm the few times I’d been around him this week. Could Brian even go out hunting anymore? Without magik he’d never had, that’d make him essentially useless to the Fire Circle.
My eyes flitted to Kian, just for a moment. I knew that was Kian’s biggest fear, being taken out of commission. Watching it be played out in front of us in Brian was terrifying for me too. I might not have always loved the way the Fire Circle handled things, or me, but to not be a Hunter… or to be one, but be useless in a fight… I couldn’t handle that, not after everything I’d seen.
“What I’m about to tell you is sensitive information,” Brian said. “But I think it’s essential to what’s going on here.”
“So spill it,” Will said.
Brian nodded. “Hydron is starting to step away from the Headquarters side of things and become more under the control of the federal government. They still don’t know about the other three Hunter Circles, or really the depth of the war between us and Darkness. Somehow, the Water Circle and the Hunters within Hydron’s ranks are managing to keep that a secret.”
Kian’s mouth thinned, his lips pressing together in a hard line. “Then why lean more on the government than the Circles?”
Brian’s gaze traveled to Kian. “Because of exactly what we’ve been seeing in the Fire Circle over the last two years. Clearly, war is coming. And to be fair, though a lot of the resistance to acting and putting a stop to Darkness’s plans was mostly due to Jaffrin and his ties to the Neuians, the government doesn’t know that. What they see is an organization unwilling to act. But if we gave them all the information, if we told them every last detail about Darkness and the war, the power demons and magik-users have to completely destroy this world, they’ll come after us before we’re able to win against Darkness. They’ll see all of us as a threat rather than some of us as evil and the others as allies.”
Brian pushed himself off the wall and crossed his arms. “Hydron wants to put a dent in Landshaft before anything else happens. And because the Hunter Circles have repeatedly resisted this very action, they’re going to do it alone and with very little Hunter support.”
My breath hitched. “Wait. You mean Hydron is literally going to go in with guns blazing?” A human contingent with all the firepower of human weapons.
Brian nodded. “Yes. And depending on how they go about it, it might be a suicide mission.”
“They could just drop a bomb on Landshaft,” Kian commented darkly. “I’d almost be okay with that.”
I turned on him. “Except for all the innocents trapped there for Autumn Fire.”
“Exactly,” Brian said. “Which is one of many reasons the Hunter side of Hydron both opposed the plan and is also no longer a part of it.”
Guns in the Hunter Circles weren’t common. A lot of teams and freelancers chose not to use them because of the attention they drew with sound. There was also the greater chance of having to explain yourself away to police if discovered with a weapon like that. Knives could be hidden. Magik could be quelled. And it wasn’t like demons needed weapons like that when each and every one of them was born again with demonic magik. Then there was this whole honor thing that came with using what most referred to as a coward’s weapon in a war of magik and blades.
“From what I understand, anything short of a bomb isn’t going to help their cause at all,” Will said, then he looked to me. “Landshaft is an entire city filled with demons, right? Thousands and thousands?”
I nodded. “Yeah. That’s why the Hunter Circles never bothered before. Even if we had a means of wiping them all out at once, there are the innocents to consider along with aura sickness. But I guess Hydron has the latter taken care of too.”
Kian leaned far back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Hydron’s still got the right idea. Much as I hate to admit it.”
Will shot him a surprised look. “Excuse me?”
“Kian’s right,” I said, meeting Will’s stare. “If we let Mason and Talon hide out in Landshaft and complete whatever it is they have left to do, they’ll build an extremely powerful army of volatile Ember witches. Meanwhile, we’ll keep losing magik-users and Hunters to them because of it. And when they’re finished destroying the Neuians—if they succeed—they’ll come for the Hunter Circles next.”
“Or the Powers,” Kian said.
“Or they’ll come for us first, then the Neuians,” Brian said. “That’s the more likely scenario. Then they’ll have control over all the world.”
Kian’s eyes narrowed. “That’ll tip the balance of all the cianzas.”
As non-magik-users before recent events, Kian and I hadn’t been privy to a lot of information about cianzas. But those geological points were all over the world, leftover magikal weapons from the Neuians. Each had enough power to level cities or entire continents, depending on how bad the balance was off.
“If they don’t have a plan to balance good and dark magik, it won’t matter how much they succeed beforehand,” Kian said. “The entire planet will go up in flames.”
“We think Talon has that figured out too,” Brian said. “Although how, I have no idea.”
I had a hunch. But I didn’t want to bring it up in front of Brian.
I didn’t know much about what Ben, his team, and the others had dealt with when they’d saved the Powers’ city of Alzan last year. But I did know that Alzan had a cianza at its center. And if Lady Azar and her entire army had been able to get there and fight with Hunters and Alzanians without that cianza exploding and taking the city with it, something had to have balanced it out. And now that I knew Ben and his cousin Rachel were Neuians…
Talon wasn’t just planning to fight Neuians, to end them. Talon wanted to capture enough to level out cianzas.
I balled my hands into fists. “Ambitious bastards.”
“Exactly,” Brian said, as if he’d read my thoughts. At one point in our relationship, he’d known me well enough that he might as well have. “That’s why I wanted to propose another plan to you three.”
My eyes narrowed. “And go behind the backs of both the Fire Circle and your precious Hydron?”
His expression softened. I didn’t believe it for a moment. “Hydron saved my life, but so did the Fire Circle at one point. Both of them are making stupid mistakes right now, and neither has the ability to see this. So yeah, if it means helping things in the long-run, I’ll go behind their backs.”
“What’s your plan?” Kian asked. Like he’d be helping. Dark circles still hung under his eyes, and he sat favoring his uninjured side.
“The four of us take a hoard of aura sickness pills so that we aren’t affected,” Brian said, as serious as if he were holding a military briefing. “We act as a small strike force and take out a single Talon hideout. Mason’s. We hit Talon at the very core of their anti-Neuian army operation.”
My stomach twisted around itself at the idea of setting foot in Landshaft. “That’s crazy.”
Kian nodded. “Even if we could get inside the city with the aura sickness pills, we have no way of knowing where to begin looking for Mason, or one of his lairs.”
“I might have a plan for that too,” Brian said, then he looked at me with unease and guilt in his eyes. “But you’re not going to like it.”
“I already hate this plan,” Will said. “Just want that on the record.”
My spine tingled with anxiety. I could tell from the dark look on Brian’s face that even he wasn’t happy with his plan. “What is it?”
Brian stood for a moment, staring at me without words. Then he dug into his pocket and withdrew two vials of blue liquid that I knew too well. The potion that gave you a fake demon au
ra.
“I’m going to sell you and Will into the Trade,” Brian said, “And hope Mason hears about it so we can draw him out.”
Chapter 21
For a second it was like the entire world had lost sound and movement. As if I were moving through thick taffy.
My tongue felt swollen and unmovable with the shock of Brian’s statement. I’d heard him wrong. I had to have. “You want to sell us?”
Kian’s entire body went rigid next to me. And when he stood, he kicked the chair away from him and smacked his palms down on the table. “Are you fucking crazy?”
I wanted to reach out to Kian, to calm him down, but there was no point. Kian had already been Talon’s prisoner once. There was no way he’d let me become one.
Brian’s eyes narrowed sharply on Kian. “You think I’d risk her life just for the hell of it?”
Kian threw his hands up in the air. “Honestly? I have no idea what you’d do. Unless it involves running and playing dead for nine months.”
Brian slammed his mouth shut, his jaw locking in deadly silence.
I stepped beside Kian, the closest I could get to being in front of him. Less to shield him from Brian and more to keep Kian from doing something dumb.
“Kian,” I said.
His eyes met mine, his stare a molten gold. Almost like the eyes of an Ember witch. Maybe he had more of that poison still in his system than the healers and doctors here thought. “It’s not happening.”
I jabbed a finger into his chest. He winced. “You do not decide that for me.”
“I do when you’re my partner.”
Biting the inside of my cheek to keep from responding, I looked over Kian’s shoulder at Will. He was seething, glaring at Brian as redness flushed his face.
I leaned in, so only Kian heard me ask, “You sure it’s me being your partner that’s the problem?”
His fiery stare didn’t waver. “He’s going to get you killed. I’ve been prisoner to the Trade before. It’s not pretty. Or do you not remember the scarring?”
How could I forget? Kian’s Talon captors had practically written a textbook on his body. Some sort of reminder of what he’d endured.
“She won’t be killed,” Brian said. “Mason wants her, right?”
“I can speak for myself,” I snapped at him. “And yes, he does. Alive, preferably. Something having to do with Veynix’s initial obsession with me and my magik. For some reason, they think I’ll be one of the survivors of the poison that turns magik-users into Ember witches.”
“And if nothing more, Mason at least wouldn’t want anyone else to get the pleasure of owning or killing you,” Brian said. “Not after you took out Veynix.”
“It was a team effort,” Will growled as he, too, stood. “You’re not selling me or my best friend into the Trade. We spent six months hiding from them in a shitty apartment in New York City. It’s been almost a year since I last saw my parents and my little brother. And you think you can waltz in here after nine months and suggest a plan that will likely get us all killed, if not worse?” Will shook his head. “I think I’m okay waiting for the Fire Circle to make a decision.”
“I’m not,” I said. My words cut through the tension in the room. All of three of them let their shocked gazes fall on me. “I’m not willing to wait because Brian’s right. If we wait, Talon gains power. If we wait, the Hunter Circles are in more danger, and if we go in alone, we probably have a better chance than a big operation—not including dropping a bomb on the demonic city at the cost of innocent lives. Which I also am not okay with, for the record.”
Kian’s warm hand brushed against mine. I flexed my fingers, intertwining them with his. “No one wants that, Ava.”
I shrugged. “Hydron does. And I’m pretty sure Aloysius himself would get some sort of kick out of it, twisted as he is.”
“We’re not doing this,” Will said, glancing between Brian and me. “Stop talking like it’s going to happen.”
“You’re right, Will,” I said. “We’re not going through with this plan. I am.”
Kian squeezed my hand. “Ava—no.”
I pushed away from him. “All we need is to ensure Mason is the one who buys me from the Trade and then have a way to off him that doesn’t count on me getting the upper hand—or using magik. Because if they don’t have a way to control magik-users in Landshaft, I’ll probably be hit with a requirem on sight.”
Brian nodded. “Agreed. We have a way around that.”
My eyes narrowed on him. “Of course you do. Why the hell hasn’t Hydron sent in its own strike team, then, if you’re all so prepared?”
Brian’s face became a dark mask of bad news. “Honestly? They don’t see it as a threat to regular human populations. Not yet. And because they love their one-and-done idea a little too much to risk having casualties on their own side by going in without Hunters or magik-users.”
“Cowards,” Kian growled.
“Pretty much,” Brian said.
Kian scoffed and retook his seat. “I can see why they hired you, then.”
I clamped my mouth shut. Even though I agreed with Kian, I’d never say it aloud to Brian. Not again.
“What exactly is my part in all of this?” Kian asked. “Assuming I have one.”
Brian took a step forward and glanced down at the floor for a moment before saying, “You play yourself. You come with me under the pretense of knowing how the Trade works, showing me around. Then you help me trade Will and Ava in exchange for Demon’s Blood.”
My eyes grew wide, my jaw falling open. “No way. They’ll capture you quicker than you can blink if you walk into Landshaft as yourself.”
Kian winced but didn’t argue. “He’s right, though. They’ll take the bait… then the rest of the Talon contingent there will be distracted by me while you attack Mason. Save the witches they have in their custody, and it’ll be worth it.” His broken eyes, tight with the nightmarish memories that must be resurfacing, lifted to Brian. “Not a bad plan for a coward.”
“Kian,” I hissed, my voice low. I wanted to pull him outside this room, to tell him exactly what I was thinking without anyone knowing. “You don’t have to do this anymore. We’re a team.”
Before being assigned to me three months ago, Kian had been on his own for a year. Maybe more. And he’d taken increasingly risky freelancer missions because of the Demon’s Blood he was using. Even though he wasn’t on that poison anymore, I could see in his eyes the want to prove himself. Especially after what had happened last night.
And he’d do it at any cost.
Kian grabbed my hand and held it between both of his. “I know. Which is exactly why I need to do this. Playing my part allows the rest of the team to do theirs.”
I closed my eyes and let our foreheads touch. For a moment, it was like we were back in that room in Hunter’s Guild from last night. Nothing outside this moment existed.
Then Will spoke up. “And what about Ava and me? We’re just supposed to let it all happen?”
“Until we see an opening,” I said as I pulled away from Kian. “I’m assuming you’ve got something to hit Mason with.”
Brian nodded. From his jacket pocket, he withdrew a tiny syringe barely big enough to get his fingers around. “This.”
“And that is?” Will asked.
Brian stared at the syringe between his fingers, its body full of a bright red liquid. “Hydron’s own version of mutated platypus venom, highly concentrated. It’ll incapacitate and kill someone—even a demon—in a few minutes flat. Quicker than any cobra they have locked up in Landshaft.”
“You’re kidding me,” I said. “You took the thing that destroyed our lives and made it a weapon to use on someone else.”
“The bad guys, Ava,” Brian said. “Talon.”
Soon the entire world would be poisoned by Hydron or the Trade. That was what it felt like.
“When do we go?” Kian asked.
Will threw out his hands. “Wait—we’re actually do
ing this?”
“You’re not,” I said.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “If you are, I am.”
I shrugged. “Then it’s happening. It’s the only chance we have at Mason. And considering the number of witches we found in Crimson last night and that machine, I’d say we’re doing it close to the wire.”
“Tonight,” Brian said. “We’ll go tonight. Unless anyone has any objections?”
I glanced around the room of weary faces. “I think we can each list a few. But tonight works.”
“Good.” Brian pocketed the syringe full of Hydron’s homemade poison. “I’ll gather the aura sickness pills and a few other supplies. Where will we meet?”
“Outside the old house,” I said.
Brian’s face drained at my words. “Ava.”
I shook my head. “It’s a place we both know and one they won’t think to find us at.”
“Mason?” Will asked.
“Or the Fire Circle,” I said. “We’ll be AWOL for this.”
Kian shrugged. “It’s never fun unless you’re breaking at least one rule.” But in his eyes, I saw worry and—for the very first time—fear.
Chapter 22
Around eight o’clock that night, I collected Kian and Will from their rooms on the fourth floor of Fire Circle Headquarters and we teleported inside my team’s old house.
Darkness blanketed us in the living room, empty save for a few lamps scattered about. The stillness squeezed on my heart, a not-so-gentle reminder of what used to be. Friends. Loved ones. All three of them gone, and for what? A mistake on a mission that led us to accidentally overhear Talon’s plan?
My fingers began to shake. I balled them into a fist and made for the blinds at the front bay window. I drew them shut and flicked on a light switch, bathing the living room in light and reality.
My team was dead. Except Brian, who wasn’t here yet. For a brief flash of a moment, it was as if he were dead again, and I was standing here, letting Will and Kian into that part of my life that even Will hadn’t really been involved in. He hadn’t known about me being a Hunter until after Veynix’s attack had killed my team.