The Hunter

by Jessica Gunn

  “Damn,” I said.

  Jaffrin cracked a smile. “Indeed. There are five Circles in total, one for each of the four naturally-occurring elements and a fifth that oversees us all.”

  “And how exactly does this fit in with organized demons kidnapping children?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Long ago, Good and Evil were at war over power and territory. They still are. But instead of fighting on behalf of themselves, both the demons of Darkness and the Powers turned to humans to be their gladiators. Demons scoured the earth, turning humans into more of their demon-kind.”

  “And the good guys?”

  “The Powers created the Hunter Circles to combat Darkness.”

  “And because Hunters don’t always have magik, you need me to help even things out?”

  Jaffrin dipped his head—not quite a nod, not quite an admission of agenda either. “It is part of the reason I sought you out. Your strong ability in combination with Darkness abducting your son is of interest to not only me, but to the Ether Head Circle.”

  A hot flash of anger swept through me. “Meaning what, exactly?”

  “Giyano hasn’t come to Boston in over a hundred years. But he’d been sent to do this. This concerns me greatly. Now, come this way.” He gestured to a door on our left. When we stepped through it, my breath hitched.

  It was like this entire building had been created out of illusions. From the outside, no one would have guessed a much shorter, older building lurked within. And knowing Boston’s tight quarters and history, I never would have assumed the basement of Fire Circle Headquarters reached forty yards out.

  Blue and grey mats covered the floor from the entrance where we stood to the other side. Punching bags and weight training equipment were scattered about at varying intervals, sprinkled around marked-off sections where people sparred against one another. Bright fluorescents hung from the ceiling, dispelling any and all shadows.

  Jaffrin led me through the space, dodging thrown knives and splashes of water. My mind kept alert, as if every attack was meant for me. Buckets of what appeared to be dirt and water had been strewn along each sparring mat, leading right up to walls of weapons. Swords and knives, bow staffs and even handguns. Sabers, recurve bows, axes. Name it and it was present.

  They were preparing for war all right, but a war effort made up of older teenagers and twenty-somethings didn’t bode well against demons. Especially if half of them—more, maybe—didn’t also have magik like me.

  “Do you have any adult Hunters?” I asked. Everyone in here appeared to be younger than thirty, or at least moved with the nimbleness of a young adult. Especially the magik users.

  Jaffrin stopped next to a squared-off section, where a team of five people sparred against one another. All five of them at once. “Some, yes. I regret that this war is a dangerous one. A war that takes too many casualties. That said, with age being a factor in fighting well, retirement from the Fire Circle begins at forty years of age, and is enforced at forty-five. For Hunters at least. Many choose to stay on in support and political roles after that.”

  Forty-five. I wasn’t convinced Jaffrin himself was older than his late thirties. And if the Fire Circle’s Leader wasn’t old enough to retire as a Hunter, that didn’t send a fantastic message.

  The upside: If I did stay in this Fire Circle thing to help find Riley, I’d be done soon. So I guess I only had one real question. “Does this gig pay? Not that I’m not grateful you’re offering to help me find and recover my son. Because I am. It’s just…” I had student loans to pay off. Hospital bills to help Sandra pay. Rent. Things like that.

  Jaffrin smiled. “Of course.”

  I nodded. “Okay then. This sounds good.” Well, not good. But doable. Just until I found Riley.

  “Now,” said Jaffrin, “let’s meet your trainer team.”

  Jaffrin cleared his throat and called for the team currently sparring on the mats in front of us to stop and come over. The group consisted of one woman and four men, one with a fire-red mohawk. He came over first and snapped to attention right in front of Jaffrin.

  “Good morning, sir,” he said.

  Jaffrin nodded. “Avery. This is Ben Hallen. He’ll be joining the Fire Circle shortly as he attempts to recover his son from Shadow Crest.”

  Avery’s eyes went wide. “Sir?”

  Oh, fantastic. Jaffrin had said the demons responsible for Riley’s kidnapping were ‘high up.’ But this guy’s reaction suggested that was only the tip of that fucking iceberg.

  “That bad?” I asked.

  Avery’s eyes met mine as he fixed his expression into something less terrified. “Yeah, dude. What’d you do to piss her off?”

  “Her who?”

  Jaffrin shook his head. “Perhaps another time, Avery. I’d like you to assess Ben’s current capabilities and get him up to speed. He’ll officially start his training period tomorrow once we’ve got the paperwork taken care of.”

  Avery clapped my shoulder, black-painted nails digging in. Was this kid stuck in the 90s with punk rock bands? “Sure thing, sir.”

  “Good. See to it.” Jaffrin briefly introduced me to the rest of Avery’s team, then left the basement. On to more pressing matters, I assumed. Though I wasn’t sure what was more pressing than rescuing my son from demonic clutches.

  Avery walked to one of the weapon cabinets and plucked out two bow staffs. Like this kid knew how to use one. My own experience had been limited to the occasional video game after football practice. Those knives on the other hand…

  “Here,” he said and tossed me one of the bow staffs.

  I snatched it out of the air, the wood heavier than I expected. Did demons really fight with these things? The demon-man who had taken Riley hadn’t needed weapons. A few flames, his buddy’s water attacks, and I was prone. Useless.

  Avery started circling me, so I moved, too, unsure of what to do. But if I stood still, I’d be an easy target. That much I knew.

  God, this was so strange. Why couldn’t I have not been struck by lightning? Why couldn’t my senior year have just been me and Sandra having fun and partying? And even if we’d gotten pregnant anyway, at least Riley wouldn’t be caught up in this mess and alone with demons because his father had to be a freak of nature.

  “So,” Avery said, “Lady Azar, huh? That’s quite an accomplishment.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Most of us tend to piss off the locals at the most. Breaking up their feeding or drug ring habits,” he said, still moving around me. I watched his feet and arms, waiting for him to give me an indication he was about to attack.

  I shrugged. “Guess I’m good like that. Who’s Lady Azar?”

  The woman laughed from the sidelines. “Are you kidding me? Jaffrin didn’t tell you?”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. No, Jaffrin hadn’t. In fact, he hadn’t been anything but vague, really. “He approached me after Riley was kidnapped and said demons were responsible, demons that were high up in their hierarchy. Something about a demon named Giyano.”

  Avery’s eyebrow raised and his bow staff dropped an inch. “Giyano. Are you serious?” He looked to his team, whose pale faces spoke volumes. “He hasn’t been seen in Boston for over a century.”

  “So what, he’s super powerful or something?” I asked.

  Avery dropped his staff, one end pressed against the mat. “Lady Azar is Aloysius’s daughter. He’s the guy who created the Empire of Darkness because he got all power-hungry one day. If his daughter and her organization took your son…” He shook his head. “I can train you until the war ends and you might not be able to get past her to your kid. Especially if Giyano’s back in town.”

  “What’s so special about him?”

  Avery raised an eyebrow. “Giyano? He’s had it out for the Fire Circle since we moved here when the Colonists came over from England. He was sent by Lady Azar to establish a new home for Shadow Crest, her organization, on her behalf. Ever since then, he’s terrorized the
Fire Circle territories across New England.”

  “Up until the late 1800s anyway,” one of his teammates added. “Then he disappeared.”

  “Until now,” I said, my mouth dry. Shit. Why, Riley? What makes so you so valuable to them?

  Avery nodded. “Until now.” He righted his bow staff in both of his hands. “Guess we better get you trained right away. Sounds like you’re going to need it.”

  Chapter 13

  Two months later…

  The streets of Boston looked different now. Darker, full of demon nests and Hunters if you knew where and how to look. And now that fall was setting in, the demons were out in droves despite somehow remaining hidden enough that the rest of the normal human population still didn’t know they existed. Even after two thousand years.

  I made eye contact with everyone I passed as I walked the streets of downtown Boston. A demon’s burgundy eyes were their greatest giveaway. But colored contacts were popular, not just with humans, and now I had more doubts than ever about not only my safety, but also my future. And Riley’s.

  That’s what had brought me out here tonight. For the last two months, Jaffrin had kept me on a short leash. Train for seventeen hours a day, go out in the field with Avery and his team for two, then sleep for five hours. Every. Single. Day.

  It hadn’t taken Sandra long to figure out something was going on. Between the daily commute to Boston and coming home exhausted, I’d had to come up with some sort of story. And since she’d never believed what I said about demons and my magik, the only thing I’d told her was I’d finally gotten a job after graduation. Which wasn’t even technically a lie. And it was a job that’d lead to Riley.

  When I brought him home and told her the truth, that’s when she could be as mad as she wanted. Then, it wouldn’t matter.

  I quickly tapped my pocket to make sure my knife was still there. The sheath dug into my side like a solid reassurance of my safety. Just like my powers. In two months, I’d learned how to call lightning on command. So what if Avery still got the best of me in hand-to-hand combat more often than not? He didn’t have magik.

  Still, they babied me when we went out into the field. So tonight, I’d come out alone, the only time to myself I’d ever get anymore. I needed time to think. To practice my magik in a real fight against actual demons.

  To find a path to Riley while Jaffrin jerked me around.

  A scream cut through the night, shrieking out from an alleyway. No one stopped to even look except for me. But from two months of training, I knew this place was a hot zone of demon activity. It didn’t look like it, but plenty of the seedy dive bars in the area were actually fronts for things less normal.

  Hand on my blade’s handle, I took off in the direction of the scream and found two women in short dresses being cornered by two men.

  “Hey!” I shouted. “Leave them alone.”

  Four pairs of eyes turned to me and the women screamed again.

  “Help us!” one shouted.

  Trying.

  When the men met my eyes, theirs were a deep red. Demons. Both of them.

  I gulped. I could take two, right? Yeah. No problem.

  I drew my fire-and-gold blade and leaped across the distance separating us. I tackled the smaller guy to the ground, my shoulders digging into his middle, and rolled with the momentum before he had a chance to use his magik on me, whatever it might be. When I came up, the other guy punched me across the jaw, his fist connecting with a loud crack. Pain sliced up my head.

  The women screamed again and the sound of their heels clicking against pavement echoed down the alleyway. Good. At least they’d gotten out alive.

  “Now look what you’ve done,” the first demon, a guy with blond hair and neck tattoos, said to me. “You scared off our offering.”

  “Offering for what?” I asked before I thought better of it. If they knew I had no idea about pretty much anything on this side of the world, they’d know I was new. Which, from the sweat dripping down the back of my neck and sides of my face, I figured was pretty evident. Fear. It screamed through me, warming my fingertips to the sound of lightning crackling. I squeezed my fist, feeding more juice to the lightning ball.

  The other demon, much bigger than his friend, raised an eyebrow. “On second thought, perhaps we can use him.”

  “More power for the Lady,” said the demon with tattoos.

  Lady. Lady Azar? What were the odds of that? Rage surged through my veins at the very thought.

  Riley.

  “Where is she?” I asked. “And Giyano? Tell me!”

  The demons looked at me, deadpan, then broke into laughter. The tattooed demon flicked his finger and some unseen source lifted me off my feet.

  Wind whisked past my face as I flew through the air until my back slammed against the side of a building. My head snapped against the brick along with my shoulders and back, pain radiating outward as I slid down the wall to the top of a closed dumpster. I groaned as my lungs seized, making breathing harder with every inhale. With a heave, I rolled off the dumpster and onto my knees.

  The second demon came over and kicked me in my side. “Never speak their names, you unworthy, insolent Hunter.”

  I coughed and something coppery coated my tongue. I spit it out. Blood. “Where is my son?” The words came out croaked, weak.

  The tattooed demon knelt down to my eye level. “Your son? What do we look like, the lost kids service?”

  He reeled back his arm to punch me again, but I saw it coming and threw my own up to meet his. Lightning sizzled through the air, exploding with energy when our fists met. The demon went flying with the impact, a streak of lightning following him as he sailed farther down the alleyway.

  I swung my arm again and hit the second demon straight in the leg with another ball of crackling electricity. He fell, crying as his body convulsed.

  I forced myself to stand and cringed against the ache in my side. “Where is my son?” I asked again, kicking out at the second demon that’d fallen. My knife lay a few feet away. I hurried over and picked it up. What good was this against demons again?

  The tattooed demon laughed as he picked himself off the wet ground. “If the Heiress of Darkness kidnapped your son, he must be important. I shudder to think what might become of him in the coming months. But you, however…” He held up his hand, palm facing me, and pushed into the air in front of him.

  I had enough time to narrow my eyes and wonder what was about to happen when my body rushed backward, feet skidding against the ground, until my back hit a wall. The pressure continued as the tattooed demon walked toward me, his friend at his side. My throat closed, cut off from the air as though I were being strangled. I reached up to my throat, wiggling my fingers to find the source, but the air was empty.

  My eyes met the demon’s and narrowed.

  His grin widened and he laughed. “Stupid Hunter. Your death will be a blessing to the Fire Circle by putting an end to your incompetence.”

  “Hey, what’s going on down there?”

  The demon’s gaze snapped down the alleyway. Was what Avery said true about the demons being as terrified of the rest of the world discovering their existence as we were?

  The hold on my neck loosened with his distraction and my knees and arms wobbled. I pulled my power together in its absence, drawing on every bit of strength within me to force energy down into the tips of my fingers, up into my palms, and push both of my hands out before me. A beam of lightning formed in my hands and I shot it out at the demon. It slammed into his back as his feet beat against the pavement, bringing him closer to the cover of darkness. Before he teleported away, the lightning beam slammed into him, lighting his clothes on fire to the sound of ominous cracking and splitting.

  The world burst into light and the demon burned to a crisp. Darkness swallowed the space he and my magik once occupied, leaving a hallow feeling within me. But that emptiness was swiftly being replaced by anger.

  Flashlights bounced off the al
leyway walls as I heaved one breath after the next. Something dripped down my neck, hot and sticky. When I reached back to wipe it off, my hand came away dark red with blood.

  He’s dead. Dammit. No way I could question him now. But—I’d beaten him. I’d won.

  The world around me spun as two cops appeared in my vision. It was all I could do to keep lightning from my fingertips as the world narrowed to a single pinpoint of light.

  Someone touched my shoulder, my arm. “Stay with us, kid. Stay with us.”

  But every word they said got fuzzier, as though I were hearing it from behind a wall.

  And then the world went black.

  Chapter 14

  The ambulance ride was a total blur, much like the one I’d experienced over a year ago after the lightning strike. The next thing I knew, I’d woken up in a recovery room, IVs strapped to my arms, and a nurse hovering nearby, checking my vitals.

  “What happened?” I asked her, my mouth cotton-filled and dry.

  She offered me a sip of water from a nearby cup and smiled warmly in that false sense of safety medical professionals gave you. “You were brought in after being assaulted downtown. I’ll send for a doctor right away.”

  And that was the last I’d heard of my condition. The nurse had left some time ago, though without a clock or my phone, I wasn’t able to keep track of time.

  Phone. Shit! Sandra—she had no idea where I was or what was going on. Panic slammed through my veins as my breathing quickened. Pain ricocheted through my chest with each heavy breath. I forced my breathing to slow and become shallow. What had happened? How badly was I hurt?

  I cataloged my memories and every pain or ache throbbing all over my body. My ribs. My head.

  A knock sounded on the door. I looked up and found a young doctor standing in the doorway, a clipboard pressed against his chest.