Hidden Runes

by G. Bailey

  “Evie . . . Protectors don’t come after me now, but you know I will be hunted when I’m older. It’s why you teach me how to fight, and it’s why we live in the middle of Scotland. I want to know why they come after you, as you already know why they will surely come after me,” she says, seeming much older than she should. I’ve always known why they will come after Hali one day, but I won’t let anyone touch her.

  “I don’t know why they come after me, Hali, but I know they can find me because of my rune name. Protectors can always find one another if they know their rune name,” I explain to her the little I actually do know. I don’t even want to think about my asshole ex who is the only reason I know this much about my own kind.

  “Like a tracker?” she asks, thinking about it. “Why don’t you just remove the rune name off your skin? It doesn’t give you powers like your others.”

  “The problem is, I don’t even know what my rune name says, and have no clue how anyone else could know it. I won’t remove it, not until I know. I was born with it, and whether it’s a curse or not, it’s mine. It's the only potential answer I have to my past, and one day I will find out what it says,” I explain to her, and her eyes cloud over in sadness. I often forget what she was born with herself, and how she lost everything because of it.

  “Could it be your family that knows? That send their people to kill you?” she asks.

  “I don’t have any family, not other than you,” I reply quickly.

  “I mean blood family. You had to have had a mother and father, and it would make sense they would know your rune name,” she says.

  “I don’t get why the person hunting me doesn’t just come after me themself, but that’s not your problem,” I say. “Now let’s change the subject to something less depressing.”

  “Like watching the new Catfish episodes?” she says, thankfully agreeing to the subject change, despite the sadness I still see in her eyes. I smile at the big, fake grin on her face. She is hooked on these shows, and I can’t say I don’t find them funny and addictive as well.

  “Go on, then,” I say, smiling at her overly excited face as she grabs the remote.

  Three

  Evie

  “Faster. You need to hit that quicker and jump a tad higher next time,” I warn Hali, and she nods, listening to me for once. That’s a surprise; since she became a teenager, she’s stopped listening like her ears fell off or something. I watch as she steps back, runs, and jumps in the air, while throwing her dagger at the same time at the moving targets. She hits one dead in the centre. That’s my girl. I hold my hand up, high-fiving her before picking my own daggers up. “Perfect!”

  “It only took five tries,” she says proudly, and I pat her shoulder. It would have been two attempts if she’d listened to me the first time I offered her advice.

  “How’s school?” I ask her as she sits down on the bench. I glance at the other five demons in the training room at a local private gym, each training their demon children. It’s the only safe place to train around here, even if the demons act scared of us. Well, more like scared of Hali. They know what she is, and that she shouldn’t be training with demons or me.

  “Crap, as usual,” she claims and rolls her eyes at me. I step onto the marked ‘x’ and hold my dagger up. Keeping my eyes on the moving targets, I throw one and hit the head of the target perfectly.

  “Come on, there must be more,” I push her for more of an answer, and she sighs.

  “Fine. The human kids are crap to me because they know I’m not one of them, and all of the supes just ignore me. I basically go to class, eat lunch alone, and then come back home,” she says. I pause at her lost, lonely tone, putting the daggers down, and going to sit next to her. I bump her shoulder, making her look at me like I’m mad.

  “You don’t need friends, you have me,” I respond with the only thing I can think of. I didn’t go to school, so I don’t have a clue what she is going through. I do know she can’t leave that school. It’s the only place there are no witches, and no one to notice her. It’s safe there for her, and I won’t be able to find another school like it. It’s why we live in a sleepy Scotland town, just outside of Inverness. Inverness is busy enough that no one really notices Hali and me when we come here to train and buy stuff.

  “But you’re too old to be my friend,” the cheeky little shit replies. I ruffle her hair, making her laugh. I allow her to push me away before putting my arm around her shoulder and pulling her to me for a hug.

  “I’m not old, so don’t try that with me. I know school's shit, but people are like that. It's best you learn it now and not later,” I say, and she sighs, hugging me tightly for a second before standing up.

  “I know that, but it still doesn’t change that I get lonely sometimes. I don’t really have a future to look forward to,” she says, turning around, and walking away quickly. I want to tell her she does, but lying to her never feels right. She is growing up, and it’s hard to accept. I pick up two of the daggers, when I hear a shout, and then a loud gunshot followed by a scream. Just as another scream fills the training room, I turn around and see an alleyway door open. The noise seems to be coming from there/that direction. The demons all run away as I run straight towards the door. Slipping outside, I find a dead male demon on the ground with a gunshot hole where his heart should be. Then I see the two men holding a struggling young demon woman between them. They are pushing her into the wall and ripping her clothes as she screams. Blood pours down from a cut on her forehead, and her petrified eyes meet mine before she mouths “help”.

  “Oi! Assholes!” I shout, making the men turn towards me.

  “You want to join in, demon bitch?” the man on the right says in a thick Scottish accent. Honestly, I can barely understand the idiot. Their gun is on the floor next to the dead demon. They must have dropped it...seriously bad move. I purposefully step on it as I move forward, making it clear that it’s now mine. I look at both of them slowly, realising they are just humans. Ugly and clearly stupid ones at that. I glance back at the demon, taking in her pink skin and red hair. I would guess she is a succubus demon. Human men can’t resist them and will lose their minds over one if they get too close. She shouldn’t be out on the streets, so why is she?

  “I will count to ten. When I get to five, if you're still here, I will stab you. If you still haven't run away by the time I get to ten...well, I will be chopping other parts off," I purposely look at where I’m thinking of chopping as I spin the daggers in my hands.

  “One,” is all I need to say before they turn and run away. Cowards. The demon woman crawls across the floor, picking up the man’s head and placing it in her lap.

  “Don’t die, please. I need you,” she pleads as she starts to sob, resting her forehead against his. I don’t want to interrupt, so I pick the gun up and empty the chamber of the bullets inside before snapping the gun in two and throwing the pieces away.

  “You should leave, the humans could come back any moment,” I eventually say to the succubus demon.

  “I don’t have anywhere to go. I lived in a demon compound in Spain, but it was raided and destroyed. We came here because we heard there might be somewhere safe, but it’s even worse. I can’t live around humans, so what am I supposed to do? I might as well just die with him rather than go back to Hell,” she says, breaking into sobs once again.

  “I can take you somewhere safe, with other demons, and the humans there are in relationships with demons, so they won’t hurt you. We have to leave now. The human police will come soon, and we don’t want to be here for that,” I tell her. They will kill her, and me, for disturbing the peace. She nods, shakily standing up and walking over to me. She follows me into the training room, and I close the doors behind us.

  “Evie?” Hali’s quiet voice comes from behind me. I turn to see her looking at the succubus demon, and then back to me.

  “She needs to go to you know where. Get the car started, Hali,” I chuck her the keys from my back pocket,
and she nods, running to the entrance and out the doors.

  “Can I trust you? Are you a demon?” she asks, clearly guessing demon because of my blue hair. My blue hair let me fit in with them when I was younger and helped hide me.

  “You can trust me, but I’m no demon. I’m not going to lie to you,” I say, and she pauses, giving me an anxious look. I walk to the entrance, seeing the other demons near the door shooting me nervous looks.

  “She is the assassin. The one we all hear whispers about,” one of the other demons says, fear creeping into his voice.

  “Then you will know to stay silent about her mate, and what happened here. You never saw us,” I tell them all and they all look away, tense and uneasy. I know they won’t speak, but we can’t come back to train here anymore. I look back at the succubus demon still standing behind me.

  “Are you coming or not?” I ask, knowing I don’t have a lot of time before the police arrive. Or worse, Protectors.

  “Yes. I’ve heard of you, and you protect demons. At least, that’s what they say,” she says quietly, walking out the door with me.

  “I protect people like you, that had no choice. Nothing more,” I tell her firmly.

  “But to us . . . it is something that no one else freely gives, and demons never forget,” she says. I immediately spot Hali and my car right out in front of the car park; my old Rover is hard to miss with its dirt-covered hood and the awful noise it makes. I’m surprised it still works, considering I can’t remember the last time I took it to a garage. The succubus demon climbs in the back as Hali slides over to the passenger seat, and I get in the driver’s. I frown when Hali hands me a red rose, with a small white note attached to it.

  “Where did you find this?” I demand.

  “On the wheel,” she replies, and I grit my teeth as I open the note. It doesn’t say anything, there’s just an ‘A’ written on it. I open my window, chucking it out before winding my window back up.

  “Why do you throw such a lovely gift away?” the succubus demon asks.

  “When the sender is your ex, and he is pure evil. Literally,” I say, and her eyes widen as she sits back in her seat, as I watch her in the rearview mirror. Hali whacks my arm, huffing.

  “Azi isn’t evil,” she exclaims.

  “Don’t,” I warn her, and she sits back with a scowl on her face as I start the car and drive off.

  Four

  Evie

  “I’m going to be back late tonight. You will need to get your own dinner,” I tell Hali, who nods as she picks up her bag. I look out the window at the foggy morning, not even able to see the end of the street as the fog is so bad. I finish the last of my bacon sandwich, before putting the empty plate in the sink.

  “Work?” she asks as she grabs a drink and some fruit off the side. When she finally looks at me, the disappointment I heard in her voice is reflected in her eyes as well.

  “We have to survive somehow, so don’t look at me like that,” I roll my eyes at her.

  “But killing demons for money? How is that right?” she asks me.

  “I don’t kill good demons, if there even is such a thing. I’ve explained all this to you a dozen times, Hali,” I tell her.

  “Yes, I know you have. Demons come to Earth all the time. Protectors send any back to Hell that break the laws. The ones allowed to live still do bad things in secret, and you have to stop them, blah, blah, blah.” She leans against the door, “But, you aren’t a Protector, and I’m scared one of those demons you go after is going to kill you before you can kill them. You go after the evil ones, and they do…well, evil things.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing,” I say, ignoring the annoyed stare she gives me.

  “I know you’re fast, and you’re powerful, but you don’t have anyone to save you when things get rough. You need that, or you need to stop going after demons for money.” She gives me a slightly sad smile before opening the front door, though I don’t have a reply for her. Killing demons is all I know, all I’ve ever known. I was trained to do that, and it’s a damn sight better than being a thief like I used to be when I was a kid. I can’t tell Hali any of that. I can’t even explain what the demon has done, or why I’m going to kill him tonight. Let’s just say he deserves to go back to Hell.

  “Contacts! You forgot to put your contacts in!” I shout, just before she can shut the door, and she pushes it open again.

  “Crap,” she mutters, running to her room. I grab my coat, clipping my daggers into place underneath it and sliding my other daggers into my knee-high boots. After pulling my hair up into a high ponytail, I hear Hali shutting the door as she leaves without saying goodbye. I pull my phone out, checking the address of the club the demon will be at just as I hear a slight clicking noise. I lift my head, searching for the unfamiliar noise, but not hearing anything else as I slide my phone back into my pocket. Only seconds later, I hear a loud scream, a scream I recognise. I run out the door, jumping down the stairs.

  “Evie!” Hali cries out, as I stop just outside the door in slight shock. I keep my face calm when I see five Protectors in hoods, one of them holding Hali with a dagger pressed against her throat. I can’t see the faces of any of the Protectors, only the black hoods covering them, and the Protector symbol on their hood to mark who they are. Their cloaks sway in the breeze, in the silence of the empty street.

  “You will come with us,” the Protector on the far right says in a deep voice. I chuckle, reaching into my cloak and sliding out a dagger as I weigh up my options. Five against one, not fair, but not impossible.

  “I really don’t think so,” I reply simply. Hali cries as the Protector holding her bends her head forward, pulling her hair up, and showing me the witch mark on the back of her head.

  “A witch mark . . . a mark that indicates she will kill a royal witch. She is a monster, and yet you still protect her?” the Protector holding her says, lifting his head, but I cannot see his face under the large hood.

  “A mark doesn’t make her a monster. Now, let her go, or I will show you what a monster really is,” I say, twirling my dagger in my hand.

  “This mark means she must be killed, and no law would stop us. You will come with us, with no fight, or we will kill the witch,” the man holding her says, and his cloak hood falls down. His white eyes meet mine, matching his white hair. He is much older than I thought he would be, with a wrinkled face and old eyes. Protectors don’t age like humans, or even like witches. We live for thousands of years. I’ve heard it takes two thousand years before your hair and eyes lose all colour. It’s a sign you are near your end.

  “Or I could just kill you all?” I ask, with large smile.

  “You won’t be able to get to her before I slit her throat. I have killed thousands of witches, demons, and even an angel once . . . . Do not test me, child,” he says, and I believe every word in his cold stare. I lock my eyes with his as he pulls Hali’s head back up, still holding the dagger in his other hand. I’ve seen the faces of killers, ones who will never stop until they get what they want. Ones who have killed so many that death means nothing to them anymore, and his is one of them. I will have to come up with another plan, but for now, it seems going with them is the only option. They clearly want something from me. I carefully roll my eyes over the four other Protectors here, seeing their big builds, the shine of their swords under their cloaks. I will need to take them out slowly, one by one. Not all at once. And then I could portal Hali and me out of here.

  “Fine, but you let her go now,” I demand, dropping my dagger on the floor. I can’t fight my way out of this, not without Hali getting hurt. I won’t let them do that, she is all I have.

  “The girl comes with us,” the Protector says, moving the dagger away from Hali and nodding his head at the Protector on his left. The Protector walks up to me, pulling out two small silver wrist bands.

  “Wear them, now. We know you can portal like us,” the Protector says, and I look over at Hali who shakes her
head forcefully.

  “Don’t, Evie. Run!” she pleads with me, but one look at the Protector holding her, and I know me running would cost Hali her life. A life she hasn’t even gotten to live. I’m twenty-five. I’ve had more years than she has, and this is my past catching up to me. I hold my hands out, and the Protector snaps the silver bands on both my wrists. They burn instead of feeling cold like I thought they would, sending a fire-like feeling straight up my arms, and my four runes burn like crazy.

  “Fucking hell, this is why I’m not into bondage,” I grit out, making the Protector who cuffed me laugh a little.

  “Connor, take her to the car,” the Protector holding Hali says. Connor goes to grab my arm, and I step back.

  “I can walk to the car. You don’t need to pull me like some caveman,” I say, walking forward, with Connor following me, still lightly chuckling. Damn, he has a sexy chuckle, and that’s not what I need to be thinking about. I keep my eyes on the Protectors as they drag Hali into a different car, shutting the door behind them, and the car takes off silently. Three Protectors stay near me, one opening the door to a sleek, black Mercedes. I slide in, watching the door shut behind me, and two of the Protectors get into the front seats as the last Protector opens a portal. No doubt he is going ahead to tell them I am on my way.

  “If they hurt Hali, if any of you do, I’m going to murder you all. One by one, and that’s a damn promise,” I tell them. I try to keep my voice calm, unlike my emotions, as I recline back in the seat.

  “I don’t doubt it. We all know who you are,” the man driving the car says, his purple eyes catching mine in the mirror. His cloak hood falls down, showing off his rugged, strong-looking face, a five o’clock shadow, and a seriousness to his tight-lipped expression. The grumpy Protector looks like he has a stick up his ass.