Broken Angel (Book 1 in the Chronicles of a Supernatural Huntsman series)

by Shannon Lee Martin

  When I knocked on Don’s door he opened it immediately. His hair stood on end as if he had ran his hands through it a hundred times in the last hour. It looked as if he hadn’t shaved in weeks, the gray in his stubble more prominent than before. The lines in his forehead were deeper, darker, and made him look more worried than ever.

  “Come in, come in,” he said in a hurry.

  “What’s going on with you?” I asked as he placed his hand on my back and shoved me inside the room.

  He locked the door behind us.

  “Been helping the Chamber investigate some things. It’s been…a challenge. I haven’t slept in a few days.”

  We made our way over to the table in the corner and sat down across from each other. Don rubbed his calloused hand across his forehead and then over his hair. He let out a loaded sigh.

  Neither of us said anything for a while. I sat there, letting the silence press down on me as I gathered my thoughts. After a few minutes, I dove right in. There was no way to beat around the bush. Don had to know what was going on, even if his plate was already full.

  “I need to tell you what happened today…with the traitor trying to steal the goblet,” I said, choosing my words and proceeding cautiously.

  Don’s eyes stared at empty space on the table. His head nodded slightly and continuously. “That’s exactly what I’ve been investigating.”

  “You have?” Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded.

  All along I thought I was the only one who knew what was going on, the only one willing to do something about it. Finding out I wasn’t alone should have settled my nerves, but instead there was a burning in my chest.

  “I didn’t want you getting involved,” he said as if he were far off in another world. His dull eyes stared absently. “But it’s clear you already are.”

  “Yes, I am,” I barked. “I saw the traitor earlier today in the Records Room. He got away from me, but I saw who it was. It’s David, the Weapons instructor.”

  Don’s eyes snapped up to look into mine. They weren’t mad or scared. They weren’t even surprised. Instead, they seemed to droop a little and glisten with the beginnings of tears. “I won’t ask you to leave this alone. I know you won’t. All I can ask is that you please be careful.”

  I didn’t know what to think. Don was behaving strangely.

  “I have to meet with Rashne,” he said standing up. When he saw my rounded eyes looking up at him he shrugged his shoulders and grimaced. “Sorry, Kammy. I’ll see you soon. I promise. Until then, stay out of trouble and out of the hospital ward, okay?”

  I nodded my head, but I didn’t get up from my seat. Unexpectedly, he bent over and kissed me lightly on the forehead. When he left the room, and closed the door behind him, deep silence enveloped his unkempt room. It smelled heavily of his scent—tobacco and a manly musk. My eyes closed as I breathed it in.

  Everything would change from then on out. I felt it in my bones. When I opened my eyes, Death was standing in the corner of the room across from me. I had seen the figure so many times in the months since Danny’s death I didn’t even flinch at the sight of it anymore. Instead, I stared as its dark, hollow sockets focused solely on me.

  It didn’t move or make a sound. Neither did I. My head told me I should be afraid, but another part of my body, a more irrational yet trusting part, told me there was nothing to fear—that the figure was there as a warning and not to harm me. Death had come to tell me we would not all make it through the night alive.

  The fact that someone would die didn’t move me. If I had any control over the matter, I knew exactly who would perish—David Yu. He would break into the Dark Artifacts room to steal the Goblet of Demons, just as my dreams had shown me. I would be the one to stop him. That was just the way it had to be.

  A knock on the door made me turn my head. When I looked back at the corner, Death had disappeared. I got up and cracked the door open to find an older woman in a black robe standing outside. She had long raven hair pulled up into a tight bun. The lines in her face were deep, but her eyes still retained their youthful green sparkle.

  “Don said I could find you in his room,” she spoke in a deep, womanly voice. “I’m Ramona, Holly’s godmother.”

  I opened the door and invited her in. She reluctantly shook her head and stayed rooted in the hallway. With her lips pulled back into a sad smile, she took out a tiny, purple velour bag from beneath her cloak.

  “I wanted to give you this for saving my Holly.”

  She held out the bag and I took it in my hand. It was heavier than I thought it would be. My eyes met her questioningly.

  “It’s a special concoction of mine to add to your arsenal, charmed to produce a thick smoky cloak to hide you, but won’t obstruct your breathing. It can be extremely useful when in need of a quick getaway.”

  “I can see why,” I said softly, staring at the purple bag with wonder. “I’m sorry, you said charm? I thought only witches used charms.”

  Ramona’s smile was coy. Her emerald eyes glinted with a secret deep within her. “We are not only one thing in this world, Miss Paige, and we are not always what we seem, even to ourselves. One can be a Huntsman of Darkness and a being of Light.”

  She paused, letting the words sink in. I didn’t know what she was trying to tell me. Was she a witch? But witches weren’t beings of Light. They were mostly evil, making deals with demons for their own personal gain. There was little good when it came to witches. But then what did she mean?

  “Use it wisely,” she said, nodding to the bag still clutched at my chest.

  With that, she turned and retreated down the hall. Her body seemed to glide while her dark cloak trailed behind her. She gave the double doors a shove and exited through them, back into a hallway off the main lobby.

  She left me dumbstruck in the doorway. Her gift would be immensely helpful in taking down the traitor. Had she known that was what I intended to do later that evening? There was no way she could have. I hadn’t even told Holly my plan yet. But that was my next move. I couldn’t take on David alone.

  I raced out of the residents’ wing and back to my room. Holly was leaning up against a wall of pillows on her bed with a book in her lap. She looked up and smiled when I came in.

  “Wondered where you’d gone off to,” she said cheerfully.

  I was glad to see that her injuries weren’t causing her anymore discomfort. It had been a difficult and excruciating few weeks of recovery for her. The scars it left behind didn’t bring her down one bit. She treasured them, like a memory she wanted to hold onto till the end of her days.

  “I was with Don, and then your godmother came to see me.”

  Her back stiffened and she set her book face down over her leg to save her spot. “Really? What’d she want?” If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a look of worry in her eyes.

  I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. “She just wanted to thank me for getting you to safety that night.”

  Holly leaned back against her pillows with a sigh. A look of relief washed over her face. She was an odd girl, but I loved her like a little sister.

  “I can never thank you enough for what you did, Kammy.”

  I smiled whole-heartedly as I stared down at my folded hands. “I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you. My heart can’t stand to lose anyone else I care about.”

  She didn’t respond. She didn’t have to. Her glistening eyes said it all. She crawled out from under the covers and wrapped her arm around my neck. I threw an arm around her back and we squeezed each other tightly. Danny’s face clouded my mind along with the pain I suffered from losing him. After a minute, I sniffed and released my hold.

  “I know you’ve been through a lot,” I said. “But I need to ask you for a favor.”

  “Anything,” she said without hesitation.

  “David is going to steal the goblet from the Dark Artifacts room tonight. I want to go in there and stop him.”

  This time t
here was no eye rolling, no protesting, and no demanding for explanations. I didn’t know if it was because she felt she owed me or if she had heard rumors from others in the Chamber about it, but she nodded her head and said, “I’m with you one hundred percent.”

  Just then, the room went dark. Red emergency lights came on a few seconds later as an alarm blared through the overhead speakers. We ran out into the hall to find all the other initiates standing in their doorways with looks of bewilderment on their faces.

  “Headquarters is on lockdown,” a voice boomed from the PA system. “Remain where you are until further notice.”

  The message repeated itself three times. Holly had her hands cupped over her cheeks as she stared up at the emergency lights above.

  A dull roar erupted from everyone else in the hallway. A few walked over to the double doors and yanked on them only to find them locked. There was an armed guard standing on the other side in front of the glass window, a large gun clutched in both his hands.

  “I wonder what happened,” Holly said as she watched the door refuse to open.

  The armed guard didn’t turn around to face them. He stood with his back against the door and his automatic weapon at the ready. Whatever was going on, it was serious.

  “It’s too late,” I said, more to myself than Holly. “David got ahold of the goblet. That’s what this is about. We need to go now and catch him before he gets away!”

  “How is he going to get away? Everything’s locked down. Look, there’s armed guards at every door,” she said, pointing down the hall.

  I ran to the door and pounded on the glass to get the guard’s attention. “Hey!” I shouted. His head turned slightly, but he still wouldn’t face me. It didn’t matter. I knew he was listening. “Hey! I need to see Head Buhari immediately. I know who’s behind this.”

  The guard’s jaw muscles twitched. He turned his head to the side before he spoke. “The Head is currently away on business. You will have to wait until she returns and when we are no longer on lockdown. Remain in your rooms until then,” he shouted through the thick glass.

  “What are we going to do? We can’t just sit here and wait for the demons to be unleashed!” I shouted to Holly as I kicked the door.

  She stood behind me, wringing her hands and looking around nervously. Then, she walked up beside me and stared at the lock on the door. “I think I can get us out of here,” she said just below the blaring of the alarm.

  “Really? How?”

  She gave a crooked grin. The same twinkle I had seen in Ramona’s eyes glinted in hers. She turned toward the door and knelt down so her face was flush with the lock.

  “What are you doing?” a voice called from behind us. “You’re going to get in trouble. You’ll be thrown out of here. I can’t let you do this.”

  Achilles stood firmly with his hands balled into fists at his sides. His face tightened into a formidable glower that said we had to go through him to get out those doors.

  It was something I hadn’t anticipated. I thought we could slip out somehow unseen, or that everyone would be too panicked over the emergency lockdown to notice us leaving. But our own loyal friend had seen what we were about to do and made the decision to stand in our way.

  “We have to do this,” I tried to explain. “We have to stop the traitor before he releases something awful that could destroy our entire world.”

  His face was unflinching. “The Chamber will take care of it. We were told to stay here until then, and that’s what we’re all going to do.”

  I looked over my shoulder at Holly, who was still kneeling in front of the door. “Get the door open,” I whispered to her.

  She nodded and turned back to the lock. I faced Achilles and raised my hand that still clutched the purple bag Ramona gave me earlier. “You’re right. We’ll stay,” I said taking a step away from the door and toward him.

  The tension in his shoulders released slightly as he let his hands unclench. The worry in his dark eyes faded away, no longer shadowed by his thick brow. He swallowed and tried to give a reassuring smile. “I’m just looking out for you, Kamlyn,” he said, pleadingly. “I don’t want to see you kicked out of here. I care about you.”

  “I know,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.”

  There was a metal clank from behind me as the lock mechanism shot from the door and landed on the hard floor. “I got it!” Holly shouted.

  With everyone distracted, I reached into the bag and threw a handful of powder onto ground. A thick, odorless cloud rose from the place of impact and filled the hallway instantly. Achilles stared me directly in the eyes until he faded from sight completely. A look of betrayal spread across his tanned face.

  I couldn’t see a thing, but neither could anyone else. The guard’s voice rang out with a loud warning. Holly and I followed his echo to make our way past and out into the hallway. We didn’t stop until the panicked voices faded into the distance.

  “That was amazing!” Holly said once we were in the clear, no longer blinded by the dark smoke.

  I panted as adrenaline rushed through me. “How’d you bust out that lock?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “Just a talent of mine, I guess.”

  I remembered when she asked Lance to show her how he picked the lock when we hunted the Shtriga. My eyes narrowed and a smile danced on the edge of my lips. But there was no time to go over the details of what just happened. We had to find David before he escaped. But where would he have gone after taking the goblet? There had to be somewhere he would hide out until the heat was off, somewhere no one would think to look for him. Headquarters was an endless labyrinth. I didn’t know how we would be able to search every nook and cranny before he disappeared.

  I quickly went over in my head everything that had happened since I found out about the goblet. My suspicions of Rashne, the dreams, the injuries I had sustained, the injuries my friends endured because of me, the times I thought I would be thrown out, the incident in the Records Room…suddenly it hit me. I knew exactly where to go.

  The Traitor