by Jessica Gunn
“I’m fine. Besides, you need help too.” I pointed down to her still-glowing red hands. “You’re going to set the books on fire.”
“I won’t,” she said, but her voice was small.
“Krystin, it’s okay.”
She shook her head and hair fell across her eyes. “Yup. Help me identify this demon.”
“Okay. But first I need to call the twins.”
She sighed heavily, but nodded before heading for a large book on the back wall.
After a quick conversation during which the Ether Circle twins yelled at me for not informing them of Krystin’s leave, I hung up, promising them we were at Fire Circle Headquarters.
Krystin watched some of the conversation. When I hung up the phone, she said, “I found information about Giyano in the Tome of Demons a couple months ago. I bet this guy is in here, too.”
I glanced at all the books. This library, while small in square foot size, had more books than I could count. “What’s to say he is? You can’t expect to just open up any old book and immediately find out who this demon is.”
Without looking up from the book, Krystin said, “He’s mimicking Giyano’s favored form of killing people, but the victims are random. The two bodies we found months ago that had been Giyano’s doing were both normal humans.”
“Except for the demon Shadow Crest left us.”
Krystin shook her head. “Might not have been him. And the fact that it was a demon was meant to scare us, I think.”
I blinked. “You’re making a ton of assumptions.”
This time, she did look up at me. “Not once since joining this team has something not been connected to everything else. Kinder hates the Fire Circle but is Lady Azar’s mother, the latter of which stole your son, using Giyano, with plans to open a door to Alzan, a city which Shawn and I are meant to save. It’s all connected. So whoever this demon is, he has to be too. Somehow.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know, Krystin. Maybe you’re searching for links that aren’t actually there.”
“Ah!” she said, pointing at a page in the book. “There you go. Same scar and everything.” She lifted up the Tome of Demons. “Here’s our guy. Zanka? He’s an Old One, but on the young side. He’s a copycat trying to frame Giyano.”
I glanced down at the page. “That’s a big leap based on not much information.”
She shrugged. “That’s all that’s in here for Zanka. But a name we can work with to confirm these guesses.” Krystin tugged her phone out of her pocket and snapped a picture of the page. Then she shut the tome and returned it to its resting place. “Let’s go find Jaffrin.”
Krystin zoomed by me, but I managed to catch her on the stairs.
“Wait a second. You were just telling me not to tell Jaffrin about the attacks.”
She turned back to me with determination shining in her eyes. “It’s not Giyano, and that cuts me off the hook, too. And like Rachel said, tonight’s victim was a fellow witch. They’re going to investigate. If we bring this information to Jaffrin now, he can work with it.”
And then she was gone.
Jaffrin’s stare moved from Krystin to me and back again, his eyes narrowing. “So there have been two attacks, one of which occurred before tonight, that you didn’t or weren’t going to tell me about?”
“Yes,” Krystin said. “It was my idea, before you go punishing Ben for it.”
Jaffrin’s mouth thinned. He plunked down into his desk chair and ran a hand along his jaw. “If the second victim hadn’t been a witch, would you have told me at all?”
“Only if it’d been a Hunter instead,” Krystin said.
I looked to her. “What Krystin means to say is that we didn’t want anyone to jump to any unnecessary conclusions about her involvement, sir.”
Jaffrin tapped his finger on his desk. “But Giyano might be back in town, endangering the lives of not only the general public, but also my Hunters and those allied with us. Not to mention what kind of trouble he might bring with him to Cianza Boston.”
“It wasn’t him,” Krystin said as she held her phone out to him. “It was a demon named Zanka. We caught him in the act and identified him before coming up here to see you.”
Jaffrin took Krystin’s phone and examined the contents of the page she’d taken a picture of. “Another Old One.”
“Good news, I know,” I said, sarcasm thick.
“What are his ties to Giyano?” Jaffrin asked.
“I don’t know,” Krystin said. “That was the only information we found before coming up here. But he has to have some connection if he’s mimicking Giyano.”
“Unless he was hired by Giyano to be a copycat. To bait you and the team.” Jaffrin glanced at Krystin. “He’s played worse games before.”
Krystin’s eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t him. I swear.”
Jaffrin didn’t budge. “You can’t know that. And to be honest, Krystin, I don’t trust your word when it comes to Giyano. Or any demon anymore.”
Krystin swallowed hard and looked away. She laughed once bitterly. “Of course not. Why would you?”
“Krystin…” But I didn’t know what to say.
She shook her head. “No, Ben. Jaffrin’s right. Why should any of you trust me at all? It’s not like I’ve ever had a choice in all of this or anything.”
I reached for her hand. “I do trust you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Since when? Last I checked, you hated me for going to Giyano. Something about us not being a thing ever again? Is that right?”
Her words cut into me as if each were a physical blow.
“That’s enough,” Jaffrin said. “We’ll look into this demon, Zanka, but odds are that he’s not involved. I will also put the Fire Circle on alert for Giyano.” His stare focused on me. “If you see either of them and are able to do so without risking the lives of yourselves and your team, you are to exterminate them both on sight. Understood?”
“Wait a second—”
“Enough, Krystin!” Jaffrin bellowed. “We are under intense scrutiny from the Ether Head Circle. We do not have time for wild goose chases when there are enough things to worry about within the Fire Circle. If Giyano is at fault and he is found, you are to help facilitate his death. End of discussion. You’re both dismissed. Don’t either of you forget the oath you took when you became Hunters.”
“And don’t you forget that I didn’t have a choice,” Krystin growled at him before turning on her heel and marching out the door.
I watched her leave, my heart in my throat. What the hell is happening to this team?
“Keep an eye on her, Ben.”
I looked over my shoulder at Jaffrin. He held the receiver end of his office phone in one hand, fingers of the other hovering over the dial pad.
“I will.”
He held my stare for a while before looking down. “Good. Otherwise, we might lose her completely.”
Chapter 12
KRYSTIN
I stormed out of Fire Circle Headquarters and brought myself to Hunter’s Guild via teleportante. It was the one place I should be safe right now, except if my magik flew out of control. Good. Then I’d be zapped with energy and hopefully knocked unconscious where I could forget about this stupid-as-hell world.
Let it burn. Let all of Alzan, all planes of existence, burn. Starting with Jaffrin.
I sat in a booth as far away from the bar area as I could. This wasn’t my first choice for a refuge, since Drew had died here three months ago. But the rebuilt Hunter’s Guild was even more protected against magik and violence than it had been before. Even Aloysius, Emperor of Darkness, could walk across the lobby unscathed.
My fingertips burned, but it was the mark on my hand I was worried about. It was glowing again. Naturally. “Get the fuck to Hunter’s Guild right now.” I realized that talking to my own hand—or any hand, really—in public looked insane, but I didn’t care. I wanted answers and I’d get them right fucking now.
But minut
es passed into hours. And hours into sunrise. Giyano never showed up.
I shifted in my seat and threw back my last shot of whiskey. “Okay. Enough of this.” After paying my tab, I walked out of the Guild and into the woods beyond the wall of protection magiks. Only once I was past them did I use teleportante again.
This time, I landed in the living room of Giyano’s house in Maine. That was where I found him.
“Good to see you again, Krystin.” Giyano smiled up at me from a tan couch soaked in blood around him. A knife protruded from his abdomen, although there was no way it’d be fatal. Demons healed much too quickly for that. That was why you needed to get them in the heart or head or burn them with magik in order to kill them.
“What the hell happened to you?” I asked.
Giyano laughed but quickly stopped and grimaced. “An old friend who wasn’t happy to see me.”
“Clearly,” I said. “Does this ‘old friend’ happen to go by the name of Zanka?”
Giyano’s gaze cut to mine. “Excuse me?”
“Zanka,” I repeated. “About three inches taller than you, a giant scarred gash down the side of his… face.” Oh, god I was stupid. Giyano’s new wound. The victims in the city. “He is mimicking you.”
Giyano chuckled darkly. “That’s not exactly the case.”
“Then what the hell is going on? I’m getting eaten alive by the Fire Circle because this guy is going around killing humans and witches like you do. Did. Whatever. They think I’m working for you, or at very least, keeping you hidden.”
He shifted, coming closer to the edge of the cushion. He leaned forward with great effort and grimaced as he grabbed the glass of water sitting on the coffee table. “I warned you about the Fire Circle. Do not blame me for what happens now.”
“What happens now? Are you kidding me?”
Giyano sipped the water. “I told you not to trust your Leader. Jaffrin is a fool and a coward. His inability to stand up to the Ether Head Circle will cost you.”
“I won’t even get that far unless you explain to me exactly why Zanka is doing this. Jaffrin already wants me back in prison.” He hadn’t said that, but I could tell.
“Zanka is an old rival,” Giyano said as he eased himself back against the couch. I almost felt bad for him, but I was too angry to summon the energy to help him. “Back when I cared about the favor of Lady Azar, we vied for her attention intensely. He’s never gotten over it. Although I suppose since I utterly failed, he’s taken it upon himself to step up where I couldn’t.”
My eyes narrowed. “With killing random innocents?”
Giyano shook his head. “Think bigger, Krystin. I failed in helping Lady Azar reach Alzan. Riley got away. And now you’re back on the cianza because of it. The fact that you’re here at all after I went to great lengths to remove you. No wonder he’s trying to win back his place by Lady Azar’s side.”
Giyano coughed, but it soon turned into a fit. Still, I didn’t move to help. When he pulled his fist away, it was covered in blood.
“So Zanka is terrorizing Boston because he’s trying to draw us out?” I asked.
Giyano nodded. “To kill you and Shawn and dispose of Ben. Without the three of you, the prophecy will never come to pass and Lady Azar won’t have any other obstacles in the way.” Another coughing fit took him. He winced with each cough, bending over until he was almost parallel with the couch.
“Are you saying Zanka might be after Riley when he’s done playing with us?” I asked, watching him and trying not to feel any which way about it. He’s a demon. He’ll survive whatever Zanka’s done to him.
Giyano inhaled sharply, straightened, then gripped the blade and yanked it out of his abdomen. Blood flowed as he roared with pain. The blade had a faint blue shimmer to it—poison of some kind. But not elin. “What I’m saying, Krystin, is that if Zanka is toying with you and your team; he already knows where Riley is. Why else play with those standing in the way except for fun?”
My heart skipped a beat, but not in a good way. “Zanka has located Riley? Not even Ben knows where he is.”
Giyano’s gaze met mine, but instead of the pain I expected, I found sadness mixed with anger. Self-directed anger. I knew that look all too well. “Yes, he has. You need to move the boy to a new location before Zanka gets tired of jerking your team around. You need to hide the boy away so Lady Azar can’t find him. Zanka will do anything to get into her favor. He always has. He will attack your team, and when you are out of the picture, he will come for the boy, and then Alzan and all hope with it.”
He crumpled forward, writhing in pain as blood continued to ooze onto the cushions beneath him. The wound on his stomach wasn’t healing fast enough.
I frowned, sighing as I walked over to the couch and knelt next to him. “Can I help you somehow? Take you to an emergency room?”
He shook his head. “No. This house is protected. Hidden. The second I show my face, I’ll make myself a target. I’m not yet prepared to battle with Zanka again.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, do you have a first aid kit or something? Anything to stop this blood from staining every piece of furniture in your house?”
“You could cauterize the wound,” he suggested coolly, like it wasn’t an insane idea. “Stop the bleeding. The fire might also burn out the poison if I can get you to control it correctly.”
“Wait a second.” I thought he’d meant, like, go get a match and a metal spoon or something. “You want me to actually burn you?”
“Zanka is a poisons master and this one only responds to fire as a cure,” he said. “Flames take out the poison, but the afflicted can’t use their powers.”
“He developed it for you,” I whispered.
“Precisely.”
I looked Giyano in the eyes. His dark burgundy irises seemed to swirl with magik. Maybe they actually did, him being a demon and all. The more I interacted with Giyano, the more I realized I didn’t know very much about demons at all. I lifted my hand and hovered it over his wound. “Are you sure? I can’t control this magik. I’m as likely to burn down your entire house and us with it as succeed in what you want me to do.”
He chuckled again. “Then at least I won’t have to hide anymore.”
“Hey, no quitter talk,” I said as I called fire to my palm. And for the very first time, it answered—wild, but it was there. The flame swirled around my palm in tight, ever-quickening circles. “Tell me what to do.”
Giyano closed his eyes, breathing shallowly. “Think of the hottest fire you’ve ever seen. Blue. White.”
“Stars?” I asked.
He nodded. “That’ll work. Think of them. Picture the sun in your head. How hot it burns, how that burning goes on for relative eternity. That tenuous push and pull that keeps the sun alive. That is how our magik works. Fire-elementalists are a physical representation of that push and pull. The gravity keeping our magik inside and the explosion our emotions cause outward from within. Think of that, of the healing and transformative powers of fire, and your magik will do the rest.”
As he spoke, the fire in my hand turned blue, then to white. The hottest fire I’d ever seen or held. It seared my hand, but there was no pain. In fact, the pain was pleasure. A white-hot sensation of a thousand emotions slammed into one tiny flame, ever transforming, ever moving.
“Exactly,” Giyano said softly. He lifted up the bottom of his shirt to reveal the wound. “You’ve got it. I’ve done this before to others. Trust me. It’ll cleanse and then close the wound.”
Or kill Giyano. Which I supposed was a somewhat favorable outcome, depending on the person asking.
I lowered my palm above his abdomen, over the blood and mess of skin and muscle. As soon as the fire touched his skin, Giyano cried out in pain. He threw back his head, his body tensing as the fire cauterized his wound. But through the flame, I saw the blue poison start to leak out of the gash and from the sweat beading on his brow. Zanka’s poison.
Slow minutes passed, but I he
ld steady, ignoring Giyano’s shouts of pain, until no more blue came out of him. Only then did I pull back and stand up.
“I-I think I got it all.”
My breath came in shallow gasps as I watched Giyano lie there, not responding. His eyes were shut, his forehead and the top of his shirt soaked in sweat. The temperature in the room had skyrocketed. Belatedly, I noticed I’d sweated through my own shirt.
“Thank you, Krystin,” Giyano said, his eyes still shut. “You didn’t have to do that.”
I laughed once, shaking my head. I didn’t quite believe it myself. Help Giyano. What an absurd idea that was. Still… “You saved me. I saved you. We’re even now.”
“For now.” It was the last thing he said before he passed out.
I walked through the door of the team’s house at nearly 8 a.m. They were all awake in the living room, watching the morning news.
Nate waved me over and offered me one of his waffles. “You’re just in time. We’re waiting to see if our run-in with Zanka last night resulted in the world finding out about the Hunter Circles.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Rachel said.
Alexander and Iris glanced at each other, then over at Ben. Alexander said, “I don’t understand why your team finds this entertaining. This is the exact thing we were sent here to stop.”
“No,” I said, snatching a waffle from Nate. “You were sent here to watch over me.”
Iris glared at me. “And still you keep disappearing, Ms. Blackwood. It does not do anything to build a case in your favor. Where were you last night?”
“Honestly? Trying not to beat the shit out of—”
“She was at her mother’s,” Shawn cut in. “Whom she doesn’t get along with. It’s a long story.”
“Are you sure you weren’t out with demons?” Iris asked. “I hear that is a hobby of yours.”
Okay. She’s going down. “No.”