by Jessica Gunn
“Wait,” I said. “Why Krystin? We all have normal magik and we’re fine as long as we don’t use it over the cianza.”
Krystin lifted her eyebrows, her lips gnashed between her teeth. She nodded at Jaffrin and ignored me. “Understood.”
“As for why Krystin needs to take those precautions,” Jaffrin said to me. “We need to talk.” He sat down and gestured for us to do the same. When we had, he continued, “We didn’t cover it in your training—anyone’s, actually—but on the off chance, do you know what Alzan is?”
I wracked my memory. The name didn’t ring a bell, but that didn’t mean much. I’d always been better at memorizing the other football team’s offensive and defensive lines than my coursework. “No.”
“It’s supposedly some old city the Powers let die off thousands of years ago,” Krystin said. “Something about Darkness coming in and destroying it. And rather than help Alzan and its citizens out, the Powers left them behind.”
“We don’t know that they all died that day,” Jaffrin corrected. “The city was removed from this plane of existence before the end of the battle. Anything is possible now.”
“Plane of existence?” I knew the Powers were our equivalent to Aloysius and the higher-level branches of Darkness’s Empire. “I thought the Powers lived on the only one other than ours.”
Jaffrin shook his head. “Apparently not.”
“And why wasn’t Alzan included in training?”
“Because it’s supposed to be nothing more than a myth, this battle over magik,” Krystin said. “A joke. A rumor we whisper after a night of drinking. Unfortunately for us, I’m proof it’s not.”
What? That didn’t make sense. “I don’t get what you’re saying.” Was she some sort of half-human sent by the Powers? Half-humans didn’t exist. You either had normal magik and were on the side of the Powers, or your magik had been tainted by Darkness’s Empire and you were a demon. Black and white. There was no grey.
Krystin heaved a sigh. “There’s a prophecy that some stuffy Celtic druids made up about how Alzan still exists, its citizens are still alive, and that one day, two will rise up to save Alzan again from a certain shadowy destruction. That shadow is probably Darkness and, supposedly, I’m one of those two lucky fools who gets to risk their life for something I don’t even know about. No one does. Alzan was lost so long ago, only the Powers remember—and you’d be hard-pressed to find them helping with just about anything these days.”
I mean, I knew the general story about how the Circles had proven our half of the world to be created. Long ago, there was one giant consciousness. Everything inside it shared the same form, power, thoughts—everything. Then one day Aloysius got all high and mighty and decided he wanted his own castle to lord over, so he broke off, adopted dark magik, and created his Empire of Darkness. Good—what was left after the Split—formed three different beings and organizations: the Hunter Circles, the witch lines, and the Powers. And if what Krystin said was true, was Alzan some other offshoot?
“Aren’t the witch lines directly tied to the Powers?” I asked. It was the only response I could give. Lost cities, ancient wars. They meant little to me. I’d never been able to wrap my head around history like that. But if the Powers were involved in protecting something Darkness wanted for themselves, then it had to be big.
Krystin nodded. “Yeah. Doesn’t mean they talk to us any more than they do the Circles. Not my family, anyway.”
Silence swept the room as I digested what they’d said. “So Giyano wants you because you’re supposed to save Alzan?”
“He likely wants her power to open the path to the city himself, though that’s not how it works,” Jaffrin said. “Or he wants to use Krystin’s power to sway Cianza Alzan to evil’s side, to dark magik.”
“And Boston’s, too,” she said. “They’re neutral without influence. I mean, why else would this Giyano keep me alive when the wraith demon had almost killed me if it’s not about Alzan and the cianza?”
“We wouldn’t have let that happen,” I said.
“You were frozen solid.”
“Because of Giyano,” I said. “If he hadn’t been there, we’d have been able to take the wraith.”
Krystin nodded, but the frown on her face said she wasn’t so sure. Truth be told, neither was I. I didn’t know anything anymore, other than Giyano had Riley and I was no closer to getting him home and making him safe. Failure curled deep within my gut and began rotting my insides.
Jaffrin stood, resting his fingertips on his desk. “We need to be careful for now. With All Hallows’ Eve right around the corner, this area of the country will be lit up with danger and a turn of magik. Both Cianza Boston and Salem itself will have to be under watch. Once we get through next week we can figure out a way to track down Giyano and stop any plans he has for Alzan.”
“Because that’ll end well,” I said.
Jaffrin leveled me with a commanding look.
“Come on, he mutilated those bodies to send the Fire Circle a welcome message. He’s back in town on Shadow Crest’s behalf and who knows what they’re planning. The guy’s a living legend. And with Shadow Crest behind him…”
“Let’s get through All Hallows’ Eve first,” Jaffrin said. “One bridge at a time.”
Krystin clamped down her jaw. She was obviously not happy and neither was I. Jaffrin had basically dropped a bunch of bad news on us, sprinkled it with the truth about Krystin, and what—expected us to just wait to go after Giyano?
Krystin turned to me. I met her gaze and nodded in a small, barely visible motion. We’d have to wait to sort this out. But I’d already been waiting long enough to find my son and get him back.
I didn’t know how much more waiting I had in me.
Chapter 9
KRYSTIN
I clenched my fists but didn’t speak. Anything I had to say would bounce right off of Jaffrin’s arrogant face. The worst part was: he wasn’t wrong.
Ben and I stalked to the door with angry steps, but before we got through to the hallway, Jaffrin cleared his throat.
“Krystin?” Jaffrin asked. “Can you please stay for a moment? I’d like to discuss something with you.”
I glanced at Ben. A dark expression twisted his face into a dark, hard visage. It was good to know that at the very least, there was one thing we both agreed on: neither of us particularly trusted Jaffrin. “Go. I’ll catch up with you in a second.”
Ben nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
I turned back to Jaffrin. “I’ll stay off Cianza Boston. I know I shouldn’t have been that close the other night. The earth didn’t shake or anything, but I did feel the magik balance start to shift.”
Jaffrin settled into his black leather desk chair and folded his hands in front of him. “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
My gut hollowed. He had another one-off mission for me, that had to be it. “What’s the point of putting me on a team if you’re just going to send me on more solo jobs?”
“You’re on a team because I need you to be. That was the deal I made with your mother.”
I bit my tongue. The Blackwoods hadn’t gotten along with the Fire Circle since some of my ancestors had been “accidentally” burned at the stake in Salem. The Circles had covered up their involvement, sure, just like they had with many of those witch trial deaths. But bad blood didn’t evaporate overnight.
Jaffrin let out a sigh then shifted in his seat. “I apologize. That rudeness was uncalled for.”
Pretty sure that’s your normal, actually. I didn’t dare speak the words, though. Being one half of a prophesized savior duo didn’t excuse me enough to risk total insubordination. “I need to tell the rest of the team about the prophecy if you’re planning on keeping me assigned to them.”
“I am.”
“Good. Then I’ll tell them today.”
“And risk their lives by letting them know?”
I clenched my fists tight at
my sides. “They’re in danger by being associated with me. The entire Fire Circle is. I mean—god, do you realize what you’ve done by putting me on a team that’s linked to Giyano? Especially now that you admit he killed my father because of this fucking stupid destiny of mine?”
Jaffrin shot out of his chair and jabbed a finger toward me. “It is not a ‘stupid’ destiny, Krystin. You and whoever the Son named in that prophecy is are the last and possibly only line of defense for Alzan in the final war. And the city’s center, Cianza Alzan, is the size of North America. If that is swayed and explodes, the cianza will destroy this plane of existence right along with Alzan’s.”
I crossed my arms and fell back into an admittedly arrogant stance, my hip pointed out. “And whose shitty design idea was that, huh? Clearly not theirs. And last I checked, we didn’t know enough about cianzas to be one hundred percent sure they weren’t manmade. If anyone’s to blame, it’s the Powers. Not me. Not us. Not the Circles they left behind to clean up their mess.”
Fury bounced behind my eyes, dancing and banging to escape. My words might have been over the top, but I couldn’t let this go any further. Like it or not, Jaffrin was the Leader of the Fire Circle. My Leader. My boss.
For now.
Jaffrin’s steady eyes found mine. The coldness in them frosted my breath, stopping it entirely. “Need I remind you that no matter what you say or what crimes you commit in the name of… What did you call it? Gleaning information about Darkness from demon haunts? Despite all of that, you’re still the Daughter named in the prophecy. You are one half of the power that will save Alzan when the war comes. And don’t you fool yourself, Krystin. It is coming. The Alzan prophecy, Shadow Crest’s sudden resurgence, it’s not a coincidence. Our Circle has always been at the center of the Good and Evil conflict. Where will you be when it occurs?”
“Likely next to you, still attached to your leash,” I spat out before even a second of clear thinking kicked in.
Jaffrin chuckled once. “That ‘leash’ is the only thing that’s kept Giyano from coming back to finish the job all these years. If you want to run away now, I’m sure you’d at least get out of the city first before he hunts you down and disposes of you. And Alzan.”
Given that he’d saved me last night from that water wraith demon, I highly doubted Giyano’s ultimate plan was to kill me. But there was no way to know that for sure.
“I’m still playing your game, don’t worry,” I said. “Just know I’m aware it’s a game now.”
“Good,” he said. “Train the team I assigned you to. Your team leader will need your assistance as well. You’re solely responsible for getting them up to speed regarding magik, for building their powers to its full potential, because when the ending of this war comes, they’ll be at Alzan with you. Their lives depend on yours.”
“And what if they’re not ready?” I asked. Nate definitely would be. Rachel, too. But Ben… Ben couldn’t see past today’s source of blind fury, forget next week’s or anything further out than that. Besides, at some point Jaffrin was supposed to find the Son named in the prophecy and, given the way this was going, I’d probably have to train him, too.
“Then they’ll die,” Jaffrin said without hesitation or remorse. “And it’ll be your fault. We need a magikal failsafe for this city, a secret weapon. Your team is it.”
“How is it a secret if Shadow Crest and Lady Azar know about us?” I asked, an eyebrow raised.
“Because they don’t know the depth of your power, or theirs, or the strength with which the Fire Circle will propel you and your team to a place where you can use it.” His fists curled on the wood of his desk and he closed his eyes for a moment. Took a breath. “Leave, Krystin. Train your team. Get them up to speed or lose them completely. The choice is yours. But if you run from this, know that your mother and I—the Fire Circle as a whole—will be the least of your problems.”
My eyes narrowed and the rage inside me rose to the back of my throat. With a startling clarity, I saw it: my moment of freedom dangling precariously on the edge of Jaffrin’s lips. If I ran from my team, I wouldn’t be a Hunter anymore. I’d be nothing. A witch by birth, sure, and someone with an ancient power inside me. But I wouldn’t be a part of the Hunter Circles. I wouldn’t have his leash around my neck.
I stared at his throat, another path to freedom flashing across my eyes. As far as I knew, Jaffrin didn’t have magik. How easy it would be to slip my telekinesis around his neck and wring him dry. Ironic, even. He’d raised me to be this powerful against the forces of Evil.
Threatening me with the force of the entire Fire Circle seemed pretty evil to me.
Jaffrin swallowed hard, his eyes focusing on my slightly lowered gaze. I watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down, his jaw twitch. One moment. One single second. That was all it would take to kill the Leader of the Fire Circle. To take my freedom and parade out of Headquarters with it, head held high.
I closed my eyes and forced a breath in past my lips and deep into my lungs. The magik mark on my hand, covered by a long-sleeved shirt, burned with a renewed force of fire. Giyano must have forced dark magik into me, trying to twist my mind or something.
Swallowing down the murderous urge unlike anything I’d ever felt before, I stepped back away from Jaffrin, shoving my marked hand into my pocket. Another step. Each one carrying me closer to the hallway door.
“I’ll train them, sir,” I said, my words barely louder than a whisper. “I’ll make sure they’re ready.” And I wouldn’t tell Jaffrin about Giyano’s mark. Not after the past few minutes. I couldn’t guarantee Jaffrin wouldn’t lock me up right away.
Jaffrin’s face relaxed into something almost resembling satisfaction. Bile slicked my throat. “Good,” he said. “See to it that you do. Good day, Krystin.”
“Right.”
I made it to the staircase, battling a dizzy spell and hotness flashes at my neck and cheeks, before I had to lean against a wall for support. One heaved breath after another flew in and out of my lungs.
I’d almost killed the Leader of the Fire Circle. Almost committed treason. And for what? Freedom?
What had Giyano done to me?
Chapter 10
BEN
I woke up on the couch again, the team already gone to bed for the night. My sore back cracked as I straightened.
Another night. Another twenty-four hours without Riley.
Krystin had spent the rest of the morning and afternoon explaining the Alzan prophecy to the team, and how Jaffrin had threatened her. I hadn’t expected her to be so open about the latter. But then again, I’d never expected to find her having a panic attack in the stairway at Headquarters, either.
Everyone had called it an early night after we’d ordered pizza. I guess I never made it up the stairs to bed. The memories of Riley crippled me as they danced so front-and-center in my mind, accompanied by guilt and doubt and anger.
Trudging up the stairs to my room, I pushed away all of these thoughts. I didn’t have time for them to weigh me down, and I was pretty sure my therapist would say the same. Acknowledge and move forward. Too bad my therapist didn’t know the whole demonic side of the story.
The hallway was dark, and Rachel’s and Nate’s doors were shut. Nate’s snoring passed into the hall. Both were solidly asleep—lucky them.
My breathing hitched upon glancing at the last door in the hall. Everyone was asleep except for Krystin, whose door was wide open.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I said.
I walked down the hall to her room. And found it empty. What. The. Hell.
Why bother having her join the team if all she did was go off on her own all the time, especially after today with Jaffrin?
“Breathe, Ben,” I told myself.
But no. There’d be no breathing right now. Or sleeping tonight, apparently.
After a few minutes of frenzied, rage-powered thought, I realized there was only one place Krystin could feasibly have gone without breakin
g Jaffrin’s orders regarding Cianza Boston: Hunter’s Guild. It was the only place any Hunter went to blow off steam in a relatively safe environment far, far away from the Circles.
Powered by magiks that prevented violence and the use of magik itself inside of the building, Hunter’s Guild had acted as a centuries-old staple in our world, located in what was now northern New Hampshire. It pre-dated the witch trials at Salem and would likely outlive the Circles altogether. Mostly a pub, sometimes an inn, oftentimes a meeting place for mediators from both sides to come together and discuss whatever, Hunter’s Guild was the only place Krystin could have gone.
There, she’d be safe while also maybe looking for information about Giyano and Shadow Crest. At the Guild, no one could attack her without being severely injured themselves. And if she used teleportante to get in and out of the magikal wall around the building, no would be able to follow her.
She was safe. But still incredibly stupid.
I used teleportante to bring myself to the woods surrounding Hunter’s Guild. Close enough to still be covered by the non-violence rules but far enough away that no one had seen me appear. I walked up to the entrance and flashed my Fire Circle knife. Whenever normal humans came across this place, they weren’t allowed in. Rumor had it they’d even get their memories erased.
A few moments after the guard accepted my knife as identification, the door slid open and revealed the Guild inside. The interior looked like a cross between a cabin in the woods and a biker bar. Dark wood paneling covered the walls and floor with deep red carpet lining the stairs to the floor containing rooms for rent. Despite the promise of non-violence, there was absolutely zero reason I’d ever rent one of those inn rooms overnight. There were already too many demons in here for my liking—about two dozen or so ranging from magik-users to big brutes I’d never want to get into a fight with.
Then there was me. A Fire Circle Hunter. Out of place entirely.