by Jessica Gunn
The knife’s blade slid easily between the demon’s shoulder blades as I glided down his muddy, wet clothes. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I stepped back and kicked his lower back. He stumbled to his knees, grunting in pain.
I slammed my palm against the back of his head. “Requirem!” There, his magik was temporarily gone. That should keep him from running away before I got answers. Touching the knife’s edge over where his heart would be, I said, “Tell me how you found me and who else might be after me.”
The demon laughed, a pitiful sound of surrender. “Your old teammates made it easy. And to think they call you the traitor.”
I inched the knife into his skin. The demon’s body went rigid. “I’ll end you. I don’t care about that world anymore.”
“That world is still yours. Whether you live in it or not.”
Anger bubbled in my veins. I tightened my grip on the knife as rain continued to fall, coating us both in cold water. “Screw you.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Krystin Blackwood, traitor of the Fire Circle, is scared to kill a demon? You have changed.”
I shouted something unintelligible. I’d never get any information from this guy. Not more than he’d already given me. “Save a spot for Lady Azar in hell, you bastard.” I slammed the knife down as hard as possible, slicing through muscle and sinew, until the knife reached his heart.
The demon’s skin turned grey and cracked in death. I kicked his body over and hoped the rain and mud would take care of decomposing his magik-less soul of a body before morning.
I stood there in the pouring rain, my chest heaving, adrenaline racing through every vein in my body.
It felt good to kill a demon again. But why it’d happened, what these Shadow Crest bounty hunters had wanted to kill me for…
Riley’s a demon. Shit. Did Ben know? And Alzan. Two weeks.
I wiped my face again but nothing changed. I needed to get home, find some dry clothes, and wash the mud off of myself. Then… I didn’t know.
My shower walls looked like they belonged to some insane movie scene by the time I finished rinsing all the mud off of me. Now, I sat on the floor at my coffee table with a cup of coffee and the last two pieces of toast I had in my apartment. My ribs ached, but there wasn’t much I could do about that at the moment.
So there I sat, eating my sad excuse for breakfast and staring at the knife I’d stolen from the earth-elemental demon.
I had to go tell Ben. He had to know what’d happened to his son. But it’d been six months since everything had gone insane and I’d left. He had to know by now if it’d happened a while ago.
Maybe it didn’t. Maybe Lady Azar just turned Riley days ago.
I leaned back against my couch and rested my head on the cushions. If I set foot in Boston ever again, if I so much as teleported into the team’s house for five minutes, they’d have me arrested and imprisoned for life. Or killed. And even if it was the former instead of the latter, I never wanted to see the inside of Ether Circle Prison again so long as I lived. But calling Ben or, worse, telling him via text message seemed like a super shitty, impersonal thing to do. And text messages often got misunderstood enough as it was, without the fate of a child hanging in the balance.
The demon’s knife seemed to mock me, reflecting early morning light streaming in from the window behind me. A reminder that no matter what I did, I’d always be a part of this war. If not by action, then by birth. I couldn’t change being one half of the Alzan prophecy. Or being a Blackwood witch.
Mom. There was an idea. I was reasonably sure she didn’t hate me for what’d happened. And there was that whole “unconditional mother’s love” thing, right? What if I went to her and told her what I’d learned, then she could go to Ben or Jaffrin or whoever was in charge of the Fire Circle if Jaffrin had died that night.
But as soon as the idea popped into my head a shower of dread fell upon me, running my veins ice cold for the first time in almost a year—since before Kinder had changed my magik from ether to elemental. No. I had to tell Ben myself—in person. He’d never believe it otherwise.
He still might not believe it.
“Then how?” I asked aloud as I crunched on the last bit of toast. My fingers trembled around the coffee mug as I thought of walking into that house again. Or Fire Circle Headquarters. After what I’d been an unwilling party to, after what they thought I’d done…
My free hand wrapped around the crystal hanging from my neck. If I destroyed the crystal, my magik would return and they’d be able to find me very easily. If they were looking.
I sighed and then threw back the rest of my coffee, steeling myself for the inevitable. Then I stood, my ribs screaming in pain at the movement, and threw the demon’s knife into my trash bin. If I showed up armed, Ben would kill me on the spot.
This is a shitty idea.
But I shook out my shoulders, grabbed my wallet, and headed down into town for the bus. Four hours and two Greyhounds later, I climbed off the bus and into South Station in Boston. There, I hopped the subway and rode it out to the closest stop I could get to the team’s house, looking over my shoulder every step of the way.
Clutching my still-aching ribs, I knocked on the townhome’s front door and waited, watching for the curtain on the window next to it to slide over and reveal a member of my own team. It didn’t.
Then the door opened.
Chapter 4
Ben
I scrubbed the sides of my tired face with my palms as I walked toward the door. Even at ten in the morning it was too early for visitors, considering how late Shawn and I had been out last night. Rachel hadn’t gotten home until sometime this morning herself. Which I only knew because I’d fallen asleep on the couch while trying to unwind to some mindless baseball game reruns.
Ignoring the curtains and blinding sun likely on the other side, I unlocked the front door to our townhome and pulled open the door. “Look, I don’t know what’s—”
“Ben.”
My body froze, my blood turning to ice the second her voice reached my ears. Coldness swept through me, binding my feet to the floor and my hand to my cheek. My gaze flitted up to hers, but my brain was working in slow motion, unable to process any one of the thousands of thoughts whipping through my mind in this moment.
The slow motion ended and sounds from the city street outside came crashing in. A car’s horn, a plane flying overhead. Our neighbor yelling at someone standing in the street. With the sounds, it was like color snapped back into reality, my blood and body heating to immeasurable levels. Lightning bloomed around each fingertip as my body thawed, moving so fast, I wasn’t sure I’d made a conscious command to attack.
I threw my hand forward and wrapped it around Krystin’s arm, pulling her off the street and into our house, where whatever happened next wouldn’t be viewed by civilian eyes. My lightning snapped around her as she fell to the floor, shocking her all over her body. Krystin writhed but didn’t fight the attack. Instead, she curled up into a ball and winced until the lightning storm had ended.
“What you want?” I spat, instantly on guard. She’d nearly killed all of us last time without lifting a damn finger. I wouldn’t let her so easily get a second chance, not without knowing if she was still working with Kinder. I reached with my free hand and pulled out my Fire Circle knife, brandishing it for her to see. “Why are you here?”
Krystin lifted herself to one knee, her arm wrapped around her middle. She winced again before meeting my eyes. “It’s Riley. He’s a demon. I was attacked by—”
“I know.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You know?”
I moved a step toward her, a ball of lightning growing in my palm, striking out against the nearby staircase and coat rack. “I’ve known for months about Riley.”
“And the attack?”
“What attack?” Why the hell was I talking to her? I looked up at the ceiling and called out, “Rachel! Shawn! Get down here right now!” I lowered
the intensity of the lightning ball and threw it at the ceiling right below Shawn’s room. Bits of plaster fell on impact. Hopefully, that’d wake them up.
Krystin rose to both feet, still clutching her middle. I now saw the abrasions on her arms… and her lack of a weapon. She’d come here unarmed, knowing we’d attack her?
My gaze focused in on the crystal around her neck, the same one Shawn used to wear. “You bound your powers?”
She nodded. “Shitty idea too since some demons nearly killed me.”
“Good.” The word was past my lips before I could think about it or how much I sort of regretted saying it.
A flash of hurt skipped across Krystin’s eyes, but she took it in stride. “If you know Riley’s a demon, then you also know about Lady Azar’s plan.”
I lifted a brow. “We’ve known about that since you joined the team. Did you lose your memories along with your mind?”
Krystin regarded me with an exasperated look. “No, idiot. She’s moving on Alzan in two weeks. You have two weeks to save your son.”
“You came all this way just to tell me that?”
Footsteps sounded down the upstairs hallway, followed quickly by Shawn and Rachel hurrying down the staircase. No Nate. He’d kick himself when he found out for all his searching and evidence gathering, Krystin now stood before us without him here to defend her.
Probably better off. I’d already almost lost him once to her. I wouldn’t allow her to ever get that close to any of us ever again.
Rachel backpedaled into Shawn the second her feet touched the landing at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes watched Krystin, mouth agape, as she froze. “Whoa.”
Shawn caught Rachel, righting her on the stairs. “Krystin?”
I threw a hand at them. “Don’t. I called you in case she attacks.”
Krystin stood her ground. “I’m not going to. I’m here to warn you about the attack on Alzan.”
“I don’t even want to know how you know something like that might happen,” I said through gritted teeth. Six months. She’d waited six months in hiding only to return with news we already knew? And this crap about Alzan, what were the chances that was true, too?
I turned to ask Shawn what he thought about all of this but was cut off by Krystin crying out. She yelped as ropes made of water slid around her middle, arms, and legs, dropping her to the ground.
Rachel stepped forward, her hands held in front of her, and squeezed her hands into fists.
Krystin cried out again, pain etching across her features. “God—stop! I’m not going to hurt anyone!”
Rachel held her ground. And so did I. Nate was the only one this entire time who’d been convinced of Krystin’s innocence. The rest of us… we’d seen the aftermath of her and Kinder’s attack. I’d sat by Shawn’s and Nate’s sides while we waited for them to wake up from their comas.
“Enough,” I said despite my thoughts. “Enough, Rachel. Drop your attack.”
Her eyes narrowed but didn’t move from Krystin. “Absolutely not. If Lady Azar was moving on Alzan, Jaffrin would have known and told us about it already.”
“You don’t know that,” Shawn said, his voice quiet. “He’s dead set on us patrolling only. And without…” His gaze landed on Krystin. “There’d be no point in telling us. We’re just magik-users, not strong enough to take down whatever army Lady Azar has.”
“Not… my idea… either,” Krystin ground out. Rachel tightened her hold on Krystin, and she yelped again. “Please stop. I’m already hurt. Moving hurts. Not going to attack.”
“Rachel,” I warned.
She looked to me with an exasperated expression, like letting Krystin free inside the house was the worst decision I’d ever made. Maybe it was. But at one point, Krystin had been a member of this team. And regardless of everything that’d happened and all the raw, hurt anger boiling beneath the surface of my skin, I wanted to know what she knew—in case she was right.
And then there was the elephant in the room: without Krystin, the Alzan Prophecy would never be completed, leaving the city—and the biggest cianza known to mankind—defenseless.
“We need to at least hear her out,” I said.
“No, we don’t,” Shawn cut in.
Krystin’s gaze settled on him. “You know I wasn’t in control, Shawn. You of all people know the hold that both Giyano and Kinder had on me. She used Zanka’s persuasion magik to make me her puppet.”
“You thought Kinder was right about what the Fire Circle wanted to do to us.”
She shrugged, a fire in her eyes. “I did—I don’t deny that. After what we know about what they did to anyone with the Power, after the fact that they still accused and imprisoned me, knowing full well I’d never willingly do those things, can you blame me for questioning them?”
“They’re not the evil ones here,” I said.
Her stare tore right through me to my soul. “Neither am I. Am I a good person? Maybe not, Ben. But I’m not evil. And I’m not a demon.”
But Riley is. The thought skewered me to the bone, such a force that I stumbled back a step. “I never said you were.”
“She used me,” Krystin said, looking at each of us in turn. “She used me because I was a damn good target. I’ll admit that.”
Shawn stepped forward, his eyes narrowed. “Persuasion magik usually isn’t successful unless the target is already predisposed to the given idea.”
Krystin nodded. “I know. And yeah, I did want to attack both the Fire and Ether Head Circles. They wrongfully imprisoned me and left me to die. And at the time, the only person who trusted me was the enemy. What the hell was I supposed to do?” She swiped at the air with her hand, but nothing happened. “I ran and I hid so I’d have enough time to figure out a defense, long enough to realize I have none.”
“What happened to your side?” I asked before Shawn or Rachel could continue their verbal assault.
Krystin looked down. “Like I said, I was attacked. The Shadow Crest bounty hunters mentioned Riley was a demon. I convinced them to tell me about Lady Azar’s plan but was forced to kill them before getting more information.” Her eyes softened. “I’m sorry, Ben. About Riley. But at least he’s still alive.”
“And a demon.” My gut twisted. I’d never known anyone before they were a demon. Was there a personality change along with their magik? Or did you simply become another person altogether, a monster?
Rachel called water to swirl around her palms again. “You risked your life to come here and tell us this vague information, knowing we might attack you on sight and bring you in?”
Krystin nodded. “It was worth the risk. Alzan always was.”
“Since when do you care about Alzan?” Shawn asked.
She looked up at him. “I always have. You know that.”
“You wanted to run.”
“Yeah, Shawn. To the city. To protect it.”
“To get on with your life and leave the Fire Circle,” he said. “You’ve always planned to leave.”
Her eyes hardened. “Because I was never given a choice about joining in the first place. Why the hell would I want to stay in a place that’s bound me, controlled me, since I was thirteen? When Alzan is saved and free, so too will I be. That’s always been the plan.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Rachel. She was already staring at me. That’d been our plan, too, once upon a time. Join the Fire Circle, find Riley, and then hightail it back to her parents’ house with Riley in tow, safe and sound with me and his mother.
But now Sandra wanted nothing to do with me, my son was a demon, and there was a decent chance I’d become a Fire Circle Leader candidate within the next few months. I didn’t even know if I wanted that position anymore. Or if I ever had. I sure as hell didn’t deserve it after what happened six months ago.
“What now?” I asked, turning back to Krystin. “Are we supposed to forget you showed up?”
She shrugged, shifting her weight onto her other foot. “I guess that’s up to yo
u guys. I doubt anyone else would give me quite so warm a welcome, Lady Azar’s plans or not. Even with the prophecy.”
“Screw the prophecy,” Shawn snapped. “That stone Kinder tried to steal and ended up crushing? That was mine, Krystin. It’s gone. The stone, my magik—all of it. It’s over.” His eyes darkened. “There is no saving Alzan.”
Her jaw set hard, although I saw the fear in her eyes. “I thought that stone might have been one of the two the Powers created.”
Shawn’s face turned a blotchy red. “Then why the hell did you help her steal it? For the hell of it?”
Krystin backed up a step and wrapped an arm around her middle again. “I told you: Kinder was controlling my every move. I didn’t have a choice.”
He shook his head and backed away toward the stairs. “You were weak, Krystin. That’s the fucking answer. Stop trying to pretend it’s not true. You’re weak and that’s why Alzan will fall. Because you’d rather run and hide behind everyone else’s magik than nurture and accept your own. Screw you.” Shawn turned and dashed up the stairs. Seconds later, his door slammed loud enough to cause everyone to jump. His heavy footsteps paced around the room and then, suddenly, there was utter silence.
He was gone.
I glanced up at the ceiling. “I give up.”
“Excuse me?” Rachel asked.
I righted myself and glanced over at her. “I’m not turning Krystin in and I order you not to. No one attacks anyone inside of this house, you got it?”
“Ben—”
I shook my head. “No. What happened in the attack on Fire Circle Headquarters that night was horrendous. People died. We all nearly did. But Krystin wasn’t behind it.” I just wasn’t sure where the lies ended and the truth began. “Nate’s the only one who ever believed you’re innocent, Krystin. Until he’s back, I’d steer clear of everyone.” I sighed. “If you stay. If you don’t, just let me know where to find you. If you want. Or don’t. I don’t know.”