by Maya Daniels
Shit.
10
Although I didn’t “people” well, and I stayed away from them as much as possible, I was grateful for their ignorance and them being self-absorbed as we speed walked, weaving between bodies through the streets. Occasionally I threw a side-eye at Crystal, but she didn’t notice. Face set in determination, she was laser-focused keeping her eyes straight and her shoulders stiff. I wasn’t sure she even noticed when she bumped into people’s backs, mumbling apologies on autopilot without stopping.
“Slow down girl, you’ll get us noticed.” Inching closer to her, I kept my tone low. “Try and act normal.” Grabbing hold of her forearm, I tugged her back a little so I could slow her down.
“You sound like you’ve done this before,” she accused, but she did slow her pace to match mine.
“You’re not the only one who doesn’t want to be found.”
“Right.”
I had a feeling she was regretting agreeing to help me the longer we walked. If she was smart, she would leave me here and run, but I truly hoped she didn’t do that. It’d suck if I had to chase her, and instead of being nice like I was now, I’d have to threaten her. Or I’d have to break a bone or two until she saw things my way. I might be dumb enough to rush forward like an idiot and stick my nose in other people’s business, but I took care of myself first. I wouldn’t have thought twice about roughing her up a little to get my point across if the occasion called for it.
“We are almost there,” Crystal said over her shoulder, mashing the button on the streetlights so hard I worried her thumb would go through the metal.
Gnawing on the inside of my mouth, I focused on the people crowding around us and waiting for the light to turn green so we could all cross the street like a horde of sheep. Most of them had their faces shoved in their phones, the rest either talking with a Bluetooth jutting out of their ear like an antenna or with headphones in, their heads bobbing up and down to whatever beat they were listening to. No one paid us any attention, which was good.
I blew out a sigh.
The light turned green and the rattling sound coming from the streetlight made me jerk where I was standing before the sea of people dragged me along with them. My feet moved on their own, and it was a good thing because otherwise, I would’ve ended up stomped on by the stampede. To my surprise, Crystal reached back, snagging my hand so she could drag me along and we didn’t get separated.
A lump formed in my throat, and guilt choked me because I’d been debating roughing her up while she was being so nice. No one was nice for no reason. I’d always been wary of kindness because I knew there was always a price at the end of that road. A price I wasn’t willing to pay, thank you very much. Everything in life was a transaction. And there wasn’t a soul walking this earth willing to do anything just because. Expectations waited around the corner for the niceness. I wasn’t a fool to think otherwise, not even on best of days, so I wasn’t going to start now either.
“Which way?” The second my foot stepped on the sidewalk on the opposite side, I yanked my hand out of her hold.
“This way.” She gave me a strange look I really didn’t like, but wisely, she didn’t say anything. “It’s just around the corner.”
With a sharp nod, I followed her past the stores and restaurants bustling with people, acting like I wasn’t rattled to the bones by my thoughts. Chatter created a constant buzz in my ears, a background noise that if I wasn’t careful could lull me into becoming compliant. For all my smack talk and tough exterior, I hated to admit that I was internally freaking out. It hadn’t hit me yet in full force, but it would.
It'd be a bitch when that happened.
The unassuming building we were approaching looked so sad between the colorful fronts of everything around it that it hurt to keep my eyes on the gray faded walls longer than a second or two. Smudged windows and rusted metal brackets on the fire escape stood out from everything, but somehow blended with the three-story brick box with its cracked glass on the front door. Without missing a beat, Crystal pulled out a set of keys from her pocket, shoving one in the door and pushing it open. My hand shot out to stop the damn thing from smacking me in the face because she had no intention of waiting until I looked my fill. The girl was going up the stairs with stained crème carpet like the hounds of hell were on her ass. Taking them two at a time, I hurried to keep up, ignoring the holes in the walls and the scribbled notes someone had left on them with pencils or black markers. I didn’t give two shits if “Becca was here,” and I had no intention to “go fuck myself.” On a second note, that last part might not be such a bad idea.
There were five apartments on the second floor, and Crystal stopped at the third on our right, unlocking it and disappearing inside. A foot from the door, I froze, my skin prickling and the short hairs on my neck standing on end.
Magic.
A tremor passed through me, triggering alarms in my head, while everything in me screamed to get the hell out of there. Muscles clenching, my knees bent slightly in preparation to bolt down the way we came, but before I could move an inch, a hand shot out from the slightly opened door and yanked me inside with a sharp tug. I barreled inside Crystal’s apartment, stomping like a baby giraffe that was just born and couldn’t use its legs.
“Get inside.” Hissing, she slammed the door closed, and I watched, my eyes frantically tracking her hands as they moved from bolt to bolt, locking each one until that flimsy door was more secure than a high-security bunker in the restricted area 51. Metal chains and rods crisscrossed in all directions as they tightened to their limit. If that wasn’t enough, she pulled a swiss knife from her pocket, her jeans acting like a hat for parlor tricks with an endless supply, and she sliced her palm before slapping it on the door.
A whoosh of powerful magic washed over me like a wave.
Crystal leaned her forehead on one of the metal bars with a sigh, and her shoulders dropped. My body tensed to catch her, expecting her to drop like a rock, but she stayed standing. Impressed, I turned in a slow circle to see where she dragged me, stopping mid turn with a low whistle.
“Nice place.” She jerked her head up as if she forgot I was here.
Black sofas faced each other with a low wooden table between them. Three sides of the room were lined with bookshelves packed to the brim with mostly leather-bound books. From just a glance, I realized many of the titles were in Latin, Hebrew, Russian, and a few in French. At least from what I could see.
A potted plant was tucked next to a window, its leaves brushing against the low ceiling, while the walls were painted a pastel green that put me at ease. A rug of the same color stretched between the two sofas, leaving the rest of the floor bare, the wooden planks polished to a shine. An open entrance led to another space on my right, which I assumed was a kitchen, and on the left a narrow hallway stretched to what I guessed would be a bedroom and bathroom. Expensive looking paintings that I bet were originals decorated the empty spaces on the walls and were tastefully spread around the room. All in all, a very pretty, modern home inside a depleted building. I needed to remember that the girl had money coming out of her ass. Her father was paying a million to find her.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, stiffly bumping into my side when she moved, dropping her backpack on the floor near my feet. “Do you want tea?”
“I’m guessing you don’t have coffee?” I was right in my assumption that the kitchen was on the right as I trailed behind her for whatever reason asking for coffee.
“It messes with my magic, sorry.” Not turning around, she pulled out two mugs and a box of loose tea leaves.
“You must’ve been planning your disappearance for a while.” When she turned to give me a raised eyebrow over her shoulder, I gestured behind me at the living room. “To put enough money aside to be more than comfortable.”
Her eyes narrowed when she turned to fully face me.
I had no idea why I pried into something that wasn’t my business. I hated when someon
e tried to do it to me, so for the life of me, I had no clue why I was tossing around word vomit in her kitchen.
“I ran with just the shirt on my back, if you must know.” Her knuckles were white where she was clutching the mug as if debating whether or not she should throw it at my head. “Everything I have, I earned it myself.” Her chin jutted out, her eyes blazing with defiance and daring me to say anything about it.
Normally, I did.
“Damn girl, I’m barely scraping by and no one is looking for me.” Yet I kept silent, or maybe I should’ve said until now. “What’d you do? Strip? Not that I’m judging,” I rushed to reassure her.
“No.” I saw the moment she decided to trust me with at least one of her secrets. The battle lasted a split second, but her irises darkened, and it would’ve been better if she knocked me upside the head with the stupid mug.
“I sell my magic.”
Swaying, my knees buckled from her words.
11
“Are you fucking insane?” Sounding shrill was the least of my worries as I rounded on her, forcing her to take a step back.
Her lower back bumped into the white granite counter sprinkled with golden specks that sat next to the farm-style deep sink sticking out a couple of inches from it. Deep mahogany cabinets hung above the granite, their reddish color so dark it almost looked black. Stainless steel appliances made up the rest, the six-burner gas stove a highlight in the room. She even had a fucking cactus on the narrow kitchen window above the stupid sink.
“I’m quite sane, but thank you for caring.” Catching herself, she straightened, glaring at me.
“No wonder the Guild is after you.” Unable to hide the accusation in my tone, I grabbed her by the upper arm, shaking her. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“You’re not my mother.” Tugging herself out of my hold, she moved away in case I decided to make another grab. “Why do you care if I live or die.”
“I didn’t until, like an idiot, I rushed to save your ass, and now the fucking Guild might be after me too for that insanity.” I didn’t mean to snarl the words like that, but the cat was out of the bag.
“They are after you, too?” Blinking owlishly at me, she placed the mug she was holding on the counter with a shaking hand. “Because of me? For helping me?”
My mouth opened to say something. I tried to lie, to give her some believable excuse, but no words passed my lips.
“I thought my father was my only problem.” She glanced at her feet, a frown marring her porcelain face. “This is worse.” Her gaze lifted until it landed on mine. “Much, much worse.”
“No kidding.” Blowing out a breath, I scratched my head, frustrated at the turn of events. “But it’s not just your fault.” I couldn’t put the full blame on her if I was going to ask for help, as much as I’d love to blame anyone else besides myself for this shit storm. “I got cocky and waved my magic around like no one was watching. Now I have a tracker on my ass, one I’m trying to avoid at all costs.”
“What kind of a mage are you?” It was a legit question, but it left me mute, my cheeks burning in embarrassment.
“Umm … well …” Shuffling my feel uncomfortably, I rubbed a hand over my face. “To be honest, I don’t know. A shadow mage?” I supplied helpfully, holding my breath to see if she would confirm it, but Crystal was shaking her head before I was done talking.
“There is no such thing as a shadow mage. Even the mages who use dark magic can’t pull on the shadows like I’ve seen you do.” I knew it was a stab in the dark since I’d never heard anything about shadow mages existing at all, but I did hope I’d get something. Some confirmation that I wasn’t alone. She looked me up and down with renewed curiosity, making me feel like a monkey in a zoo. “I thought you were using a charm, or maybe an illusion spell. Did you?”
The moment of truth arrived, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for it. I’d been hiding my magic from the moment it decided to show up in my life uninvited, and old habits die hard. The problem was, I needed Crystal, probably more than she needed me, so I had to give her something or she’d turn her back on me. Gnawing on the inside of my mouth, I debated what to do, and thankfully, she didn’t rush me.
“I’m not sure that I am a mage.” Saying it out loud sounded ridiculous, even to my own ears.
“What makes you say that?”
“You are deflecting.” I stabbed a finger in the air between us. “We are not talking about me. No, I think your dumb idea of selling your magic should definitely take a front row seat here.”
“Yet I’m not the one with a tracker on my ass,” she snapped, snatching the mug she left on the counter to continue her tea making.
“Actually, it’s the same one who was there for you, if you must know.” Grinning like a menace, I bared my teeth at her. “Let’s hear what you have to say to that.”
“The man with the duster jacket?” She paused, a slight hesitation that lasted only a moment before she resumed preparing the hot drinks for us. “It still freaks me out to know it was real and not a dream.”
“You are quite strong to remember it even as that. You should’ve had a black hole for the entire night if you were human.”
“And you know this because you walk around wiping people’s memories?” I wanted to reply ‘More than you know’ to that, but I smartly kept my mouth shut. “And I’m the idiot for selling magic?”
I glared.
“The tracker will not be a problem.” Placing tea leaves into what looked like a small ball full of holes hanging on a chain, she dipped it in the mug, pouring hot water over it. The scent of jasmine and vanilla permeated the air around us.
“He is the one who tracked you yesterday.” I shouldn’t have sounded smug, but her dismissal of the jerk rubbed me wrong. I already underestimated him once.
No way in hell I would be doing the same thing again.
“Then he is not a tracker, but one of the ancients the Guild hires occasionally.” Handing me the tea, she brought her own mug to her lips, blowing gently on it. Steam curled up in front of her face as she stared over the rim, her calculating gaze burning through my retinas.
“I have no idea what that means.”
“There are five beings older than any other supernatural on earth.” Taking a small sip, I could tell she was debating how much to tell me. “No one knows how old they are, but I’ve heard they are the ones that brought magic to this world. It could all be a myth, but I doubt it considering my sources.”
When she pointed her chin at the tea I was hugging between both palms to remind me to drink it, I realized I was holding my breath while she talked. Everything I knew was whatever I found online and through forums, and almost everything read like a bunch of crazy conspiracy theories, probably brought to life by idiots with tinfoil hats. What Crystal shared with me at that moment was intel from the inside. Something I never thought I’d be privy to.
“Okay, I’ll bite. Who are they?” I asked after taking a sip and burning the shit out of my tongue.
“No one knows exactly who they are.” Trying not to laugh at my grimace, she hid behind the mug, but her eyes were dancing with mirth. “Rumors are, however, that one is a vampire, one a shifter, there is an angel—a fallen one—and a Fae, which is where our magic came from here on earth.”
I waited.
“And?” When the silence stretched between us, I got annoyed. “Even I can count to five on my fingers,” I told her dryly. “What about the last one?”
“The fifth, and this I believe is all a speculation because no one has confirmed in front of me that it’s true …” I could tell she was reluctant to say it, but I stayed quiet, my chest tight for some reason.
“I’ve heard him being called The Hunter.” At my cocked eyebrow, she chuckled. “Apparently, he is stronger than the other four because they tried to kill him many times, but he can’t die. He was sent to our world with them to keep the others under control if they move out of line.”
I
knew it at that moment.
My blood turned to ice that stabbed my veins, and my stomach soured and dropped at my feet.
“Do you know their names?” I breathed the question through numb lips.
“I’m guessing there’s one specific name you want to know?” Her gaze flicked over mine. “If I’m right, and the duster jacket is one of the ancients judging by the way he appeared in that alley, I’d bet my life that was none other than Elijah Hawthorne. The Hunter.”
With shaking hands, I brought the tea to my mouth, taking large gulps that should’ve burned the shit out of my throat. Not even the hot liquid could defrost the ice spreading through me. Out of all the shit storms I’d gotten myself into, this was by far the worst one, and I was not delusional. I knew I was going to die, and probably very soon. The question was …
Was I going to go down cowering like a little bitch?
Or was I going to go down swinging and trying my best to take the fucker with me before he dragged my ass to the Guild.
Crystal must’ve finally seen the fear that was clawing at my insides, because she placed the mug on the counter and took a step toward me.
“Grey, I swear I’ll help you stay under the radar. I don’t want to be found either.” She reached for me, but I flinched back.
“We can’t hide from this dude, Crystal.” Swallowing the tennis ball that decided to take residence in my throat, I took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly to compose myself. “Trust me, there isn’t a single hole he won’t find us in.”
“But I—”
“No.” My hand sliced the air between us. “We are not hiding.”
“What do you suggest we do? Go surrender to my father and the Guild?” I couldn’t blame her for her frustration. I had come to her for help to hide, after all. The problem was, I knew when I was in over my head, and at that moment, the surface was not visible from where I was standing. I didn’t need to know everything Crystal did. Out of all my shortcomings, I was not lacking in the self-preservation department much. My hormones might’ve muddled my brain for a time, but I liked breathing a lot more than I liked the jerk who’d turned my life upside down.