by Jessica Gunn
“Wait,” Will said as he turned in place. “Are we actually inside the house? Ava?”
I nodded and crossed my arms to hug myself. “Yeah. The Fire Circle hasn’t sold it yet.”
Kian’s eyes wandered from the empty room to me. “How did you know?”
“I keep tabs,” I said. “Always have.”
“Well, it’s nicer than what my team was living out of,” Kian said.
“It’s smaller than you think.”
Kian was trying to make conversation, but this was the last thing I wanted to talk about. I hadn’t suggested the house to allow a walk down memory lane. I’d suggested it because this was the last place both the Fire Circle and Talon would expect me to be.
Will walked toward the archway that separated the living room from the kitchen, pausing just before it. He laid a hand against one wall of the archway and stared, his body sagging as though suddenly weighed down by something heavy. As if he were seeing the blood all over again.
I swallowed hard, my stomach hallowing. “That was almost a year ago, Will.”
His head shook in little motions. Denial or agreement, I wasn’t sure. “Feels like yesterday to me.”
We never once talked about that night after it had happened. When I’d finally been discharged from the civilian hospital, before the Fire Circle had gotten around to holding me for questioning. The only acknowledgement either of us had given to that night was that if Will hadn’t gotten here in time, I wouldn’t still have been alive.
The air shimmered next to me. Static electricity caressed my arms, sending the hairs there on end. In the next breath, Brian appeared. His teleportante trail felt like it had come from Headquarters.
Brian was wearing dark pants and a deep red shirt beneath a black leather jacket. He had a small bag slung across his chest. When he lifted the strap over his head, his jacket shifted, revealing a number of knives—and one gun—holstered at his waist. Brian had come ready to fight.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “Had to grab a few extra things.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Like a gun?”
“Insurance,” was all he said as he nudged past Will and me and stepped into the kitchen. Brian deposited his bag onto one of the counters and waved us all over. He unzipped the duffle bag, then reached into it. As he pulled out each item, he said, “One demonic-aura-producing potion each, courtesy of witch friends. Potent enough for a few days. One packet of pills each. This should be enough to get us through a day or two. Any longer than that, and we’re all probably dead anyway.”
“Assuming the pills can handle the sheer weight of demonic auras rather than just a couple dozen demons,” Kian said.
Brian met his stare. “They should. We’ll probably have to double up the dose to be sure.”
“And what exactly is a dose?” Will asked.
“A pill twice a day, depending on where you’re going and what you’re expecting to find,” Brian said. “And they’re chewable.”
“Oh,” Will said. “There’s some good news then.”
I blinked. “You know, the Hunter Circles really could have used these months ago. From their creation, even.”
Brian nodded, frowning. “I know. Me, others—we’ve all told the higher-ups at Hydron that hundreds of times. But it looks like they’re as game to keep secrets from the Hunter Circles as we are to keep things from Talon.”
Kian’s eyes narrowed as he looked over the aura potion and sickness pills. “I thought you weren’t a Hunter anymore.”
“I’m not,” Brian said. “At least, not officially. I have no idea what Dacher will do with my Fire Circle Hunter title since I’m still alive. But I’m not holding my breath.”
“Probably a good choice,” Will said.
I stepped between Brian, Kian, and Will. “Okay, enough. What’s done is done. We’re here to complete this mission, and if for no other reason, I need you all to get along so that I’m confident you won’t intentionally leave each other behind.”
Will looked away sheepishly while Kian met my stare. “You know I’d never do that.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Pretend I don’t.”
Kian’s lips pressed together into a thin line.
“Got any other gadgets for us, Q?” Will asked.
A ghost of a smile crossed Brian’s lips. “Just the one.” He pulled out the syringe from yesterday, and then another. “I managed to get two. That way Kian and I can have one, and you and Ava the other.”
Kian held out his hand. “I’ll take that. If I’m giving myself up as bait, I want something to protect myself with.”
Brian handed the syringe over without hesitation. “No arguments from me.”
I looked at Brian. Like, really looked him over. Nothing about his demeanor said he had something else planned, but he must have. Why give up the one surefire way to take out any Old One or powerful demon like Mason that we might run into?
Will took the other syringe from Brian. He looked down at it, frowning, then held it out to me. “You should take this.”
I shook my head. “You need something to defend yourself with.”
“I’m with you,” he said. “I’ll be fine. This is your crusade.”
Blinking, I stared at my best friend. How did he have so much faith in me to keep him safe when I’d barely been able to keep Kian alive last night?
“I trust you,” Will said. “We’ll do this together.”
I took the syringe from him and held in it my hands. Such a tiny thing would really kill a powerful Ember-witch-demon? For all Talon had done to me, I was ready to find out. “Then let’s go.”
Chapter 23
Brian’s teleportante landed us in a wooded area swathed in nighttime darkness. A bitter summertime chill slid along the bare skin of my arms. I wrapped them around me, peering into the trees around us, lit only by the full bright moon overhead. The smell of pine and dirt, moist moss, and rain filled my nose as I pulled in a deep breath to attempt steadying myself. My fingers shook anyway, anxiously twisting around each other as I wrung my hands before me.
This was a bad idea.
The thought churned a million times over in my mind, faster than the speed of light. A creeping feeling of dread accompanied the mantra, caressing my cheeks and neck before sliding over the rest of me. It felt as though darkness was wrapping around my arms and legs, soon the entirety of my body, then deeper, much deeper. To my soul.
A cold sweat broke out on my brow, followed by the twisting of my stomach as nausea claimed me.
Definitely a bad idea.
“Where are we?” Kian asked. He didn’t appear as affected by demonic auras as I was, standing there all alert and scouting the tree line. We must have been close to the city, and holy hell there must have been hundreds of demons in there. Thousands.
“Almost in Canada,” Brian said as he pulled out his packet of aura sickness pills. “About three miles from the city border.”
I leaned forward, bending over and resting my palms on my thighs as my vision began to swim. “I can’t believe you guys actually found this place.”
“Took Hydron’s agents the better part of a decade,” Brian said as he turned to me. “Ava, are you—?”
“About to hurl?” I asked without opening my eyes. Every motion, even speaking, set off another bout of nausea. It was like I’d drunk a ton of liquor and then hopped onto the most twisted 3D rollercoaster known to mankind. “Yes.”
Someone touched a hand to my back. “Here. Take the pills.” It was Kian. He was holding two of Hydron’s aura sickness pills up to my mouth.
Now I understood why they made them chewable. I wasn’t sure I could swallow anything right now. But this I could do. I took them from Kian and downed them as fast as possible. Brian and Kian did the same.
“Will?” I asked as I righted myself. Almost immediately, the overwhelming weight of dread was gone, like somehow whatever these pills were made of acted as a ward against the demonic auras. It must have mitigated e
ffects. Which meant that even though we’d be able to concentrate and function while on them, Hydron’s miracle pill wouldn’t stop what the demonic auras did to our souls. They’d still be tainted at the end of the day.
And one step closer to being demonic.
“I’m good,” Will said. His eyes were on the trees. “I’ve never felt this before.”
And yet the rest of the us were the ones doubled over and taking the pills.
“You wouldn’t in Boston,” I said. “The demons that live there, especially around the cianza at Boston’s center, generally aren’t going to be powerful or numerous enough in one concentrated area to cause aura sickness.”
“Take the pills,” Kian said to him. “Before it really hits you.”
Will nodded, his face starting to turn green, and downed two pills from his own packet.
“Shall we, then?” Brian asked. He and Kian were both now dressed in dark jeans and leather jackets. Hopefully they’d blend in well enough that no one would question their slightly tainted demonic aura. They’d both downed their potions before we’d used teleportante to bring us here. But as soon as someone recognized Kian, they’d know the aura was fabricated.
As for Will and me… I glanced at my best friend. I couldn’t see auras, most people couldn’t. Only demons and certain witches were blessed with that ability. But Krystin had informed me Ember witch auras were like fiery clouds, whipping like the flames their magik manifested as.
Will would be a bright beacon to any demon that also saw auras. And there was nothing he could do about it.
“Yeah,” I said. “Might as well get this over with.”
Brian tugged two sets of handcuffs from beneath his jacket and turned to both Will and me. “I’m really sorry about this.”
“I’m not a fan either, I assure you.” I lifted my hands. “Just do it.”
Brian cuffed Will while Kian did the same to me. Kian’s fingers lingered too long on mine after the cuffs were slid shut. And when our eyes met, his were tight, his lips pressed into a frown.
“It’ll be okay, Kian,” I said, though I wasn’t sure either of us would believe it.
His warm hands tightened around mine. “I’m cuffing you and walking you into Landshaft to sell you. Tell me what part of that is okay.”
“The ultimate goal, when we end Mason and Jerrick’s anti-Neuian program before they start a war,” I said.
Kian drew my hands closer to him. “I don’t like this.”
“None of us do,” I said. “But we’re doing it so no one else has to lose their lives. And honestly, I’m partially to blame for this getting bad.”
Kian’s jaw locked, but he didn’t speak. It wasn’t entirely my fault. Veynix had been working toward this goal long before my team had gotten involved with him. But I should have killed Veynix when I’d had the chance. Turns out Mason would have taken over anyway. Veynix had trained him for it.
“Ava, I…” Kian’s gaze held mine for a moment that seemed to span minutes. His mouth opened for more words to come out, but none did. He squinted with the effort, blinking, but ultimately closed his eyes, a ghost of a smile sliding across his lips, and he shook his head. My heart hammered in my chest, my thoughts trying to unravel what Kian was thinking and feeling. What the words were that he wouldn’t say.
Kian dropped my hands. “Be careful.”
“You too.” I went to reach up to kiss him but forgot I was handcuffed and abandoned the action.
“We’ll go in and head toward Talon’s Drum,” Brian announced.
Kian stepped back from me and cleared his throat. “What’s that?”
“The bar where our operatives found out most of the selling and trading of witches and magik-users takes place,” Brian said. His eyes flitted from Kian to me, then to the ground for a moment. Then he lifted another length of chain. “I need to tether you two together and then use requirem.”
My eyes narrowed. “No way. I can fake not having access to my magik. There’s no way you’re actually taking it away.”
“Seriously,” Will said.
Brian used the extra length of chain to tie Will and me together. Without looking up while he did so, he said, “Ava I can trust not to accidentally use her magik. But, Will, yours is innately volatile and unpredictable. We can’t risk it.”
“I’ll show you volatile and unpredictable,” Will growled.
“Guys,” I snapped. “Just do it. Will, requirem affects others differently. The word-magik will wear off eventually and you’ll get access to your magik again, but it could be anywhere from a few hours to a few days.”
“Can’t say it’s a total loss,” he said, his eyes weary. Will disliked his magik. It allowed him to enter the world I’d kept from him for so long, but it was so out of control. And I knew Will would never totally accept that it was the brand of magik created by Veynix and Mason’s poison.
Brian paused before each of us. “I’ll be quick. Then we need to go.” He touched a hand to my arm. “Requirem.”
As soon as the word-magik was past his lips, a rush of chills swept over me from the very top of my head, down through my arms and chest, straight to my toes. My limbs felt fatigued, as if I’d worked out all day, and my eyelids closed. Just for a moment.
No wonder this universal word-magik utterly shut down most demons.
“Requirem,” Brian said, now touching Will.
“I hate this,” I said to Brian, watching him.
He nodded. “I know. Now let’s move out.”
We spent the next hour trudging through the forest surrounding Landshaft. The full moon above us lit the tree line, making it easier than it could have been to traverse the area. It didn’t keep me or Will from occasionally stumbling or bumping toes on rocks or fallen logs. But with the threat of running into demons very real, we had to keep up the prisoner act.
Good thing there was no one else I’d rather be chained to.
“You know, I’m sort of glad it’s you,” I said to Will. “You already know how to deal with me as if we’re chained together.”
Will shot me a half-grin over his shoulder. He was walking ahead of me, and although the grin split part of his face, the mirth didn’t reach his eyes. “Merit badge, I deserve one.”
“Ha ha,” I said to him.
“I don’t know, Ava,” Kian said. “I think he might have a point.”
Kian was walking behind me—which I preferred, as I didn’t trust Brian to watch my back in the least anymore—so I could stop to nudge him with my elbow. Instead, I said, “If that’s true, then you’d be the last to get one.”
That shut him up.
“We’re here,” Brian said, coming to a sudden stop. Will nearly slammed into him, and me into Will. “It’s at the bottom of this hill.”
We’d stopped on the crest of a larger hill, where the trees cleared and revealed the valley below. At the bottom, I barely made out a path that weaved up to a gate in a wall that wrapped around a cluster of dozens of buildings in a vaguely circular shape. I couldn’t tell from here how tall the walls were, but the roofs on the buildings right up against them were the only visible structures. Beyond, low fires and the lights from windows streaked out into the darkness. Faint music and people’s voices were carried on the nighttime wind, though none of the other normal city sounds were here. No cars, no horns. No buses that I could see or any modern mode of transportation. But several of the dozens of buildings rose high into the sky.
My heartbeat thundered in my chest, quickening my breath until I was sure both my lungs and ribcage would burst. Sounds became muffled. And when I tried to swallow, my mouth ran dry.
Landshaft. The demon city.
“I guess the term ‘city’ is relative,” Kian said.
“Guess so,” I agreed.
The four of us continued our trek down toward Landshaft and the entrance on this side of the wall. The closer we traveled, the tighter the knot in my stomach wound. And it wasn’t the aura sickness pills or them failing.
No, this was pure anxiety. Even my subconscious was against being around this many demons.
Remember you’re trying to stop a war.
I briefly lifted my chains and rubbed the front of my chest. I’d hid the syringe with the poison to end Mason on the side strap of my bra. I prayed it didn’t break between now and the window of opportunity.
Finally, Brian led us up to the front gate. Two demon guards outfitted in the standard deep red inlaid with violet armor of Talon stood at the door, with large swords hanging in sheaths at their sides. Both of them had halos of fire swirling above their heads like some ironic declaration of what they weren’t. Both guards had leather masks over their noses and mouths, so only their burgundy eyes were visible beneath dark red hoods that also hid their hair.
The one on the right lifted a hand as we approached. “State your business, humans.”
My throat seized. He knew? How did the guard know? Was the potion Brian and Kian had drunk not strong enough to block their auras?
He must be an Old One. Maybe the older, stronger demons could see through tricks like that.
Brian met the guard’s gaze without hesitation. “My associate and I intend to sell them.”
“You have an Ember witch,” the other guard announced.
“One of the few not previously found,” Kian said. His voice was surprisingly strong. I had no idea how he was keeping it together. This was like me facing Veynix three months ago after all he’d done to me, but worse. Veynix had, in comparison, done very little to me specifically compared to what Kian had endured at the hands of Talon. Yet here he was, putting on a brave face and playing his part without a single tremor in his voice to indicate the fear I knew he was harboring.
I swallowed hard, dropped my gaze from the guards to the ground, and slouched. I’d play my own part, too, and hopefully this entire mission would go quickly and smoothly.
“Hmm,” the first guard said. Boots scraped against dirt and the metallic ding of his sword bouncing off a metal belt sounded as he walked closer to us. “You armed?”