by Jessica Gunn
But last night? That was a bad call, and I’d known it. And I’d still gone anyway.
“Because Jaffrin was pissed to hell when he gave me the recon order,” I said—slowly, so my team heard and digested every word. “He wasn’t happy about Krystin being back, and he definitely was not excited by the suggestion that we keep the Ether Head Circle in the dark about it until whatever happens with Lady Azar and Alzan happens.”
“Assuming the prophecy is true,” Krystin said.
Shawn glanced her way. “After everything, you still have doubts?”
She shrugged. “There’s no archaeological evidence for the city having ever existed.”
“Lady Azar’s been after the city for hundreds of years.”
Krystin glared at Shawn. “I’m aware. And people have been chasing tales of El Dorado for even longer. It doesn’t mean either are real.”
I cleared my throat loudly. “The point is, Giyano was not only surprised by the fact that Jaffrin had sent me to that Landshaft hideout alone, but he was spooked by it.”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
I shoved my hands into my pockets and shrugged. “Giyano was all about punching me and showing Riley how awful a person I was, telling him how I was some shit parent who just abandoned him to demons because I didn’t want him, and then—bam. He asked where you all were.” I looked to Krystin. “Where you were. And when I said Jaffrin had sent me in alone, he nearly ran out of the room with Riley.”
Krystin blinked. “Because I wasn’t there?”
“I don’t know. Probably not. He said something about wondering if ‘Jaffrin knew.’ That he must ‘also know,’ or some shit like that.”
“Riley being a demon now isn’t a secret,” Shawn said. “Neither is Krystin being back—not from Jaffrin or Giyano.”
“It’s something else,” I said. “And that’s the reason I don’t want Jaffrin to know I’m back. I don’t want him asking questions. Because at the end of the day, and this kills me to admit, Giyano has offered us more useful information in the past than Jaffrin. Something’s not right and, honestly… if it’s got an Old One spooked, I almost don’t want to know.”
Krystin’s eyes widened, her mouth falling open. Then she closed her eyes. “Son of a bitch.”
“What?” I asked.
She pushed off the door frame and walked into the living room. “Months ago, Giyano mentioned something about some secret he and his father had found before Giyano had been turned into a demon. They were archaeologists or something. And it was the reason Lady Azar had turned Giyano, but he swore he’d never told her a damn word about it. Maybe it was Alzan he found.”
“He never told you what it was?” That I found hard to believe. It seemed like Giyano had told Krystin a whole lot of things she’d chosen to keep to herself. Like how Zanka had known where Riley and Sandra had been hiding six months ago. It was because of Zanka, Giyano’s old rival, that Riley was now in Lady Azar’s hands. Unless that’d been the plan all along.
She shook her head. “He said I wasn’t ready. That we, collectively, weren’t ready to know.”
“Jaffrin told us the prophecy when we both became Hunters,” Shawn said. “We’ve each known about the city of Alzan for years. That can’t be what Giyano meant.”
“Then I don’t know.”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “How is that possible? You just called yourself his student, for god’s sake.”
“Yeah,” Krystin volleyed back. “Of magik. We both have the same fire-elemental power.”
“Wonder how that happened,” Shawn said, his voice thick with sarcasm. He wasn’t wrong.
“Beats me,” Krystin spat at him. “Not like any of that was my choice.”
“And how much of it was?” Rachel asked as she stepped toward her. “How much of Kinder’s control were you really under?”
Krystin froze, a fire blazing in her eyes. “I didn’t have to come back, you know. I could have thrown out the information that Riley was a demon and Alzan will be under attack soon and continued on with my life.”
“Krystin—”
She turned to me. “No. Stop. I know you’ll do whatever Rachel says, and if she doesn’t trust me, if Shawn doesn’t, then you don’t.” Krystin reached behind her and dropped a kitchen knife to the ground. It must have been sitting in the sheath she used to have her Fire Circle knife in. “I’m done. When Alzan’s actually under attack, come find me. I have no idea what Giyano’s planning or why he’s so terrified of Jaffrin. And it’s also been no fucking secret that I hate Jaffrin’s guts. I don’t trust him and I never have. So if he turns out to be some lying piece of shit, I’d be the least surprised.”
Rachel’s glare narrowed. “Is that why you let Kinder cut off his hand six months ago? Is that why you helped her tear Headquarters to pieces?”
Krystin’s jaw set hard, so much so that I swore I heard her molars grinding together from where I stood.
I stepped toward her, putting myself between Krystin and Rachel. “Krystin, don’t go. We need you.”
She shrugged flippantly. “Doesn’t seem like it. Besides, there’s plenty of others who do, right, Rachel? Giyano. Kinder. Hell, maybe I’ll help Lady Azar waltz right up to Cianza Alzan and blow it sky-high. How about that?” She scoffed. “Please. I didn’t have to come back here and I sure as hell don’t have to stay.”
“Krystin.”
She looked to me. “What, Ben? Have something you want to add? I know you hate me too, deep down. You can’t stand that I went to Giyano for help, that I trusted him, after all he’s done.”
“I don’t understand it, sure—”
“You hate it,” Krystin said. “Well, guess what, Ben. This war isn’t black and white. And that’s why the hell Giyano was so terrified of what Jaffrin might or might not know. Because none of us is actually a soldier for one side or another. I’m sure as hell not. Goodbye.”
Within the next breath, Krystin was gone, a shiny, shimmering teleportante trail in her wake.
One no one jumped to track.
Chapter 13
Krystin
I didn’t bother going to Hunter’s Guild first. By now, the team probably assumed I went there all the time, both to hide my teleportante trail and to be safe. But the truth was: nowhere was safe anymore. Even Hunter’s Guild ever since Kinder attacked it nine months ago. She’d torn right through the protection magiks and slaughtered everyone inside, turning this war’s one neutral area into a macabre sight that terrified me to this day.
There was zero point in going there and trying to hide. Instead, I headed as close to downtown Boston as I dared, careful to avoid the Commons and Prudential Center areas. I jumped from spot to spot, whatever was open during the day and sitting directly on top of Cianza Boston. Much as I’d grown to dislike the Fire Circle and its current leadership, I didn’t, contrary to apparent popular belief, want to see Boston destroyed. Or the Fire Circle.
I just wanted to be free from it all.
Why’d I even come back? If they’d known about Riley being a demon, then they should have put together the part about Lady Azar going after Alzan soon. It seemed like Giyano was pretty keen on involving himself either way, and through that, the team or the Fire Circle would have figured her plans out.
Besides, it was high time the Ether Head Circle get off their collective pompous asses and did something about this war between Good and Evil besides wrongly imprison their own people. When Kinder had attacked that warehouse with the Hydron operation nine months ago, they’d cleared out the remaining demons and took Kinder on with utter ease.
If they had that much power, then they should end this war and stop Lady Azar all on their own. They didn’t need me. Alzan didn’t need me. And my team sure as hell didn’t either.
I’d come back for no reason, and now I wouldn’t be able to hide again. Not nearly as easily as I had before.
As the sky turned orange and pink with the sunset, I strolled down a stre
et I used to know so well. Magik flowing from the nearby cianza caressed my skin. Goosebumps broke out down my arms and my mind started to get foggy. But still I walked, ignoring the cianza’s effects. I stopped outside a bar around 7 p.m. It was run by a demon named Sid, who used to buy dharksa from me. Dharksa was a mind-altering drug created by Landshaft’s poisons-master class of demons. Cheap to make, less cheap to buy. It seemed to be the main source of the demonic economy in not only Boston, but also the northeastern portion of the United States.
Without the color-changing eye contacts and spells to hide my aura, I had no idea if Sid would even let me stay long enough to explain myself. Although after Arnie’s bar had burned down nine months ago and he’d died, I was pretty sure anyone I used to interact with knew the truth about me. That I wasn’t actually a demon dealing in dharksa, but a liar working on vague orders from the Leader of the Fire Circle.
It was time to test that. I pushed open the door to Sid’s bar and focused on the goal of coming in here rather than the wave of faces that turned to me, wide-eyed. Thirty-some-odd demons, all lower-level with weak auras, looked on at me, most with confusion or sly happiness erupting on their faces. A few of them cowered. None attacked.
Lifting my chin, I stalked to the bar, weaving around tables and groups of demons. A couple flashes of steel and magic caught my eye, but I didn’t dare look away from Sid, who stood behind the bar, wiping out a glass with a towel, staring at me. Interesting. Not that I was about to question no one not attacking me. Maybe they thought I still used my magik. Even if my magik wasn’t bound anymore, I didn’t intend to use it. Least of all here.
Coming to Sid’s bar was the only play I had left.
“Hi, Sid,” I said, finally approaching the bar. “Tough crowd, huh?”
Sid was tall and lanky, but his high cheekbones and strong jaw were intimidating enough. If I hadn’t already known him and most of his patrons, I’d be more worried about coming in here. His burgundy eyes narrowed on me. “Get out of my bar.”
“Oh, come on.” I hopped up onto the last free barstool and leaned over the counter. “You don’t even want to talk to me?”
“I told you to leave, witch.”
The demons to either side of me turned in their seats, their red eyes watching carefully. I ignored them. As long as my magik still worked in here and as long as no one landed a requirem on me and blocked that magik, I’d win this fight. You know, as long as all thirty demons didn’t attack at once.
“Sid,” I said, leaning closer. “Please. I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m looking for dharksa.”
He laughed once bitterly. “The last time you came in here you were selling it. I find it hard to believe that a Hunter such as yourself can’t find it elsewhere.”
Except that the dharksa Sid and clientele often carried or sold came directly from demons attached to Landshaft. Which meant a higher quality product, a better high, and less of a chance of you trying to be a superhero and jumping off a building thinking you’d fly. Or, you know, having a bad trip like Ben had had a few months ago.
“I want quality, Sid.” I looked past him to the liquor on the bar behind him. Pretty much all of it looked good right now. “That’s why I came here. You also have the best alcohol. Rum and coke, please?”
Sid placed his palms on the counter. “Not happening. Leave, witch. I don’t want any part of whatever Hunter operation is going on.”
“No Hunters,” I said. “I’m not one of them anymore.”
“Once a Hunter, always a Hunter. Even if you’re telling the truth, you’re allied with the Betrayer, and that’s enough for me. Now, get out. This is your last warning.”
The demons beside me shifted, each producing a blade.
I rolled my eyes. “Sell me the dharksa and I’ll be on my way. That’s all I want.” I reached back into my pocket to grab some cash when the demons to either side of me jumped off their stools, blades brandished. “Whoa, guys. Just getting cash. See?” I pulled out my wallet and shook it in front of their faces. I pulled out almost all of the rest of the money that I’d taken before I left Hunter’s Guild six months ago. The last money I had to my name. “Here. Three hundred dollars for whatever amount you have.”
Sid’s eyes narrowed again. “All that for a dharksa trip?”
“A good one, yeah.” I held out the money over the bar counter. “Deal or no, Sid?”
He stared at me for a good thirty seconds as his henchmen to either side of me stood stock-still, ready for whatever order Sid might give. I didn’t budge. Neither Sid nor his buddies scared me, and I needed that dharksa a lot more than he’d ever understand. It was my last chance to take action in this war. My only option left. Without his dharksa, I’d never see my freedom. And freedom was what every dharksa user got, good quality or not.
Finally, Sid reached across the counter and snatched my money from my hand. He examined the bills, probably to make sure I wasn’t totally screwing him, and then turned to head into the backroom. “Wait here,” he said over his shoulder.
My body relaxed. There’d been no guarantee Sid even had any dharksa. Least of all that he’d give it to me for any price.
A minute or two later, he reappeared with a small bag of cinnamon-colored powder in his hands. “Here. Now get the hell out and don’t ever come back.” His red eyes were on fire, darting around from patron to patron. It was only then that I noticed how silent the bar had gone, the audience we’d attracted.
Grabbing the bag from him, I gave him a wink. “Thanks, Sid. I owe you one.” Easy words to say, but I shouldn’t have even spoken them. I guess it’d become habit after working with so many demons in bars like this.
“You can get the fuck out of my bar, then we’re settled,” he said, pointing to the door. “Out, witch.”
I nodded, pocketed the dharksa, and left without another word or any trouble from the other demons.
Now, hours after I’d first disappeared, I used teleportante to bring me to Hunter’s Guild. For a room on neutral ground.
For my freedom.
Chapter 14
Ben
The war isn’t black and white. That’s what Krystin had said. I knew that—we all did. On this team alone, that idea had been challenged ever since Krystin and Shawn had joined up. And with each and every demon we’d faced, others grew less evil.
I knew the war wasn’t black and white. Obviously, shades of gray existed. But to the extent Krystin was saying…
We were soldiers for Good. Maybe not for Jaffrin or the Fire Circle, but for the Powers. We fought demons; we didn’t ally with them. Which meant that maybe Rachel was right.
But it also wouldn’t matter in nine days. If Shawn and Krystin didn’t work together to unlock their magik or if we didn’t figure out a way to get to Alzan and stop Lady Azar, all planes of existence would burn when Cianza Alzan did. It was only a matter of time.
I’d spent most of the day waiting for Krystin to come back, as if she’d change her mind like that. I knew she wouldn’t, and I knew she was likely more gone than when she’d left six months ago. But still, I waited. Maybe I just didn’t want to admit how exhausted this all had made me.
Or maybe that was leftover aura sickness talking.
“She’ll come back.”
I looked over my shoulder. Nate stood at the bottom of the stairs looking at me as I sat, unmoving, on the couch. “Doubt it.”
“Krystin might hate the Circles—”
“And us,” I chimed in.
“And Rachel,” he stressed, “but she doesn’t want to see the world be ushered into an era of rule by Lady Azar, either. She’ll be back before the end of Autumn Fire.”
I rubbed my face with my palms. “Not sure it matters anymore.”
“We’ll see.”
I turned so I could face him straight on. “What makes you so positive about all of this? You were convinced of Krystin’s innocence and now you’re sure she’ll come back?”
He shrugged, though a shr
ug from Nate was never an admittance of apathy. He stepped closer to me and slid his hands into his pockets. “I wasn’t with the ether-shaper monks in Tibet for very long. A few years, most of it spent learning the advanced techniques. I also learned a lot about Buddhism and peace. Karma.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. I didn’t understand what any of this had to do with Krystin. “So you’re saying she’s doomed because she’s done horrible things?”
He shook his head, a small smile emerging on his face. “Unlike the Buddhist monks of the area, the ether-shapers didn’t believe in a karma-based fate, not wholly. They believed your alignment, whether you’re good or evil or something else entirely, was based on your actions. Your rebirth into this world. But the big stuff? The world-shattering events and ideas? You can’t base that on karma.”
Nate moved around to the coffee table and sat across it. “I can be confident Krystin will return because I know both her and the Alzan prophecy. Krystin might hate everything the Circles stand for, and she’s definitely expressed more than once that she’s not a fan of her life being based on this prophecy, but she’s never run from it specifically. At the end of the day, the battle at Alzan will happen and Krystin will be there because she’s meant to be. Good and evil don’t impact fate, not in the way Darkness and Lady Azar believe. That’s what the ether-shapers taught me. The magik that binds the ether tethers of this world don’t care about karma or morals. They care about fixed events. Prophesied events. Krystin will come back, whether or not Rachel wants her to.”
I had to admit, most of Nate’s words had gone straight over my head. Gods and wars, the intricacies of ancient history and destiny and all that—I’d never been any good with it. My brain simply wasn’t built for abstract thought like that. But I did get part of what he was saying.