by Linsey Hall
“All that blood is from superficial wounds, right?” Ana asked. “I mean, I figure they are since you’re standing. But doesn’t hurt to ask.”
“Minor stuff.” Bree grimaced. “But that monster had some sharp claws.”
“It seemed like the demons were there to capture the two men and hold them until the monster could get to them,” I said.
“Agreed.” Bree nodded. “They grabbed the victims early on but didn’t hurt them. And that beast wouldn’t stop diving for them.”
“Giant monster attacks.” Ana frowned. “Not ideal.”
“Weird as hell.” But not as weird as my new dark magic. I met Bree’s eyes, and she was clearly thinking the same thing. “Something else happened.”
Ana turned curious eyes toward me. “This is about your magic?”
“Yeah, and it’s dark. Really dark. I disintegrated a demon.”
Ana’s brows jumped. “Disintegrated?”
“Yeah. I’ve been feeling a pull toward The Vaults lately. Something in me likes the dark magic. But today, it burst out of me, and I destroyed a demon. Turned him right into dust.”
The memory made me shudder.
“That’s not the telekinesis magic you were born with, though,” Ana said. “Do you think you’re getting your Dragon God powers? Did you hear any voices giving you instructions when the power rose inside you?”
“No.” I shook my head.
Both she and Bree had gone through the transition to Dragon God. According to them, new powers would appear, along with a disembodied voice that gave vague instructions on how to use them.
“I don’t think this is the Dragon God magic. It’s so dark. Neither of you have magic this dark.”
“Do you think it’s a holdover from your time in captivity with the Rebel Gods?” Bree asked.
As much as I hated the idea that there was anything left in me from my time with those monsters, it was the most logical thing. “It could be. The demon said I was like him.”
“Demon touched?” Bree asked.
I swallowed hard, nodding. “Possibly.”
The Rebel Gods had stolen my telekinesis and given me some of their power in return, so I could do their bidding. I’d thought it was all gone, but apparently not.
“The demon said it would devour my soul until I was like them.”
Ana and Bree paled.
“When?” Ana croaked the word.
“Soon.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” Bree asked.
“I don’t know.” But not knowing was eating me up inside.
Ana frowned, then strode to the big wooden chest that crouched in the corner.
I stepped forward, hands outstretched. “No, Ana. I don’t want to.”
“I don’t care.” She knelt at the chest and opened it, then withdrew a rock.
I cringed backward.
She turned and held it up. “Just try, Rowan. Please. Your magic is in here.”
“It’s not.” When the Rebel Gods had stolen my telekinesis—essentially, my magical soul—my sisters had tried to get it back. They’d put it in this damned rock and were convinced that I could just take it back. “I’ve told you it’s not that simple. There’s evil in that rock along with my magic. The Rebel Gods polluted it.”
As long as I had a spark of the telekinesis deep inside me—which I did—I wasn’t going to risk taking the polluted magic from the rock. I already had enough darkness in me.
“There might be evil inside you now, too,” Bree said.
I flinched. “There is evil inside me.”
It was devouring my soul.
“We have to find a way to get rid of it,” she continued.
“I know.” Again, I shuddered. It’d been good to save myself from the demon, but the way I’d done it? No thanks.
“That’s not our only problem,” Bree said. “That man saw you.”
The memory of him made me warm and cold at the same time. I flushed. Damn it. I was a freaking adult, and that was teenager shit. I really needed to be focusing on the cold—the fear would keep me alive.
Ana’s eagle eyes darted from Rowan to me. “What man?”
“Some big strong gladiator-looking dude,” I said. “He was clearly a good guy. He took out the demons like they were made of paper, tearing off heads left and right. He was there to save the guys who were under attack.”
“And he saw Rowan use her new disintegration magic.” Bree’s eyes darkened. “There’s no way he missed your new magical signature.”
Panic flared in my chest, and my eyes darted to her. “What do you mean?”
“When you disintegrated the demon, your magic smelled like decay.”
Horror opened a hole in my chest. “I have a new magical signature?”
Bree nodded. “Dark, to go with your new dark magic.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. “That means there is no way this is the Dragon God magic. That’s never evil. This is something new. And worse.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Bree said. “I swear.”
“We’ll do whatever we can to help.” Ana turned and put the rock back in the chest, then shut the lid.
A bit of tension seeped from my muscles as I watched my own personal albatross go back into hiding. I couldn’t let go of the rock because it had my magic in it. But I also couldn’t try to get the magic out because I could feel how tainted it was. The Rebel Gods had screwed it up, and no way would I be messing with it. I had enough problems without inviting them back into my life. They’d kept my mind poisoned for years so I’d be a docile captive. I was finally free, and I was going to stay that way.
I’d started the morning with one problem—stop the murder. Now I was ending it with several. I needed to keep the gladiator quiet. I needed to figure out which demons were freaking murdering people with their giant monster pet. And I needed to get rid of the dark magic that was going to devour my soul. Oh, and I needed to figure out how to hide the darkness until I could get rid of it.
Damn, that was a lot to do.
3
The next morning, a pounding sounded on my door, followed by tromping footsteps coming up my stairs.
I popped upright from my crappy little bed on the floor and scrambled to my feet. I scrubbed my eyes, then stumbled down the metal spiral stairs.
Ana stood in the middle of my living room, grinning. “Morning!”
“It’s too early to be so cheerful.” I yawned hard.
She smiled even bigger and shoved a coffee mug at me. “I thought you might want this.”
I stared down at it. “You didn’t make it, right?”
She laughed. “Course not. I actually like you. No way I’m going to kill you with my coffee.”
“Good.” I sipped the coffee. It warmed my belly at the same time her gesture warmed my heart.
She shoved her way into my crowded little apartment. Muffin, her hairless cat, flew in after her. The battered looking old tom had gotten wings a few months ago and now preferred to fly everywhere. He greeted me with a low meow, his emerald earring glinting in the light.
I grinned at him. “Hey, Muffin.”
“You really do need to clear some of this out and make room for a coffee machine at least,” Ana said. “You don’t suck at making it.”
“No need.” I weaved toward the little open spot on the table to sit. “I can always get it from Hans. Just like you do.”
Hans was the castle cook. His kitchen was located under the entry hall and was the perfect place to pop in and grab a bite.
“That’s not really the point.” Ana’s gaze traveled around the apartment. “This place is getting a bit nuts.”
“Ah.” I put down the coffee. “So this comes with a lecture. Didn’t do enough of that last night?”
“I’m just worried about you, is all. It’s been tough adjusting. I know that.”
“I’m fine.”
“And you’re going to class?”
I scowled at her. I’d w
anted to skip to spend time figuring out what the heck was wrong with me, but now I realized what the deal was. She was here to drag me to class, not just to deliver coffee. “Of course I’m going.”
I wasn’t sure if I meant it, but I wanted to get her off my case.
“Good. You might not have magic, but you’re the best with weapons that the Protectorate has ever seen. You’ve got mad skills, Rowan. You deserve to be here as much as anyone else. It’s your first official day, and you need to stake your claim.”
My eyes prickled with tears. Leave it to my sister to see right into the heart of the issue and stab it with her dagger-like intellect.
“Thanks.” I looked to the side. “But I need to get to the library and try to find out what the hell is going wrong with me.”
“Bree’s already on it. She’s got the morning off, so she’s hunting for answers.”
I had the best sisters in the world. “I’ll join her after class, then.” I jumped off the table. “But I’ve got to grab a shower if I’m going to make it in time. Thanks for the coffee.”
“Anytime.” She gave me one last look. “I’m off to figure out who is releasing Lockert demons from their hell. I’ll meet you when I’m done.”
“Thanks. And be careful.”
Ana had just graduated from the Protectorate Academy a few months ago. In record time, just like Bree. She was now a member of the PITs, the Paranormal Investigative Team. It came with jobs like saving important people and solving mysteries.
Really cool, actually. Definitely a top job at the Protectorate, and one I wouldn’t hate having myself, if I could ever graduate.
Ana left, and I swung into the kitchen to grab some double chocolate cookies for breakfast. Bree might give me crap for such an unhealthy start to the day, but I didn’t care. After years in captivity, I was going to eat whatever the heck I wanted. More often than not, it was double chocolate cookies.
I ate them quickly as I climbed the stairs to my bedroom, then grabbed a quick shower. All cleaned up, I selected an outfit for the day. As usual, it was tight black jeans covered in holes, a hot pink T-shirt with an obscure band logo from my friend Connor, and a black leather jacket that matched my boots. For a while I’d been wearing all black, but as I got used to life outside of captivity—and became less worried about lying low, since all the Rebel Gods were dead—I’d started bringing a lot of pink into my wardrobe. Hot pink, normally.
I pulled my hair up into a messy knot and slicked on some pink lipstick. A spell would keep it from wearing off during the day. Potions came in handy for things like that, and people rarely saw the hit coming if you were wearing lipstick called Pink Power.
As the last—and most important—part of my preparations, I packed my miniature emergency kit. Carefully, I slipped tiny vials of different potions into a specially sewn black leather belt. The vials were so tiny that they hid fully beneath the belt’s leather. I never knew what I’d need, but these were the basics. Tracking, healing, divining—over a dozen different highly concentrated potions that I’d worked hard to develop over the last six months. I had a knack for it, fortunately.
Ready to face class, I hurried out of my apartment. The castle was quiet this early in the morning, with most people still in their apartments. I passed a couple of sleepy demon hunters. I didn’t know their names, but I’d seen them hanging around with Jesse Ammons, the leader of the demon hunters unit.
As I neared the huge room at the back of the castle that was used for Academy training sessions, my heart picked up speed just the tiniest bit. I tugged on my jacket, ignoring the nerves, and stepped into the huge room.
Jude, the trainer for today, stood at the far side of the room. Her dark skin gleamed under the light, and her braids fell halfway down her back. She was the head of the PITs, Ana’s division, and sometimes she took over training at the Academy.
Jude looked at me, her pale blue eyes full of sparkles that looked like stars. She had the most amazing eyes I’d ever seen—eyes that could see everything, it seemed.
Please don’t see my weird new magic.
I did my best to pull it tight to my chest. I wasn’t used to controlling my magical signature, but I was going to have to learn if I didn’t want to get thrown in the Prison for Magical Miscreants.
“Great. Glad you’re here, Rowan.” She turned back to the other Academy members, and I noticed them for the first time. “Rowan is officially starting with us today.”
There were only four in the class, all in their early twenties like me, and they murmured hello. It was a bit like a magical version of the FBI Academy.
I looked toward the students. Lavender stood with Angus. They’d been at the Academy when my sisters were going through a few months ago. Of course my sisters had graduated in record time and left these two behind, which made them hate Ana and Bree. They hated me, too, but I kind of liked the enmity. Distracted me from my nerves.
Lavender turned to glare at me, her dark hair flowing around her shoulders.
I grinned widely at her and waved. I might not feel like I belonged here, but I sure as hell could fake it pretty damned well. As long as it meant annoying Lavender.
Two other students turned to look curiously at me, but I didn’t pay them any attention. I thought they were called Carl and Lorence, but I wasn’t sure.
Jude gave me a studying look, one that made my skin itch. It felt like she could see right into me. Could she see the strange dark magic that was lurking in my soul?
“All right,” Jude said. “Since this is Rowan’s first day, we’re going to do a training exercise. Figure out where everyone is with their combat skills. And we have a new instructor to help with that.” She looked at her wrist, her brow furrowed. “He should be here any moment.”
Jude looked up toward the door, and her smile widened.
He was here.
I couldn’t hear him approach, but I could feel it.
Hot and cold raced across my skin as I turned. That whiskey taste and cedar scent…
Time slowed again as I spotted him, striding in through the door.
The gladiator from last night.
Holy crap, he was here.
And he’d seen my evil magic.
I wanted to run. My gaze darted around, but there was no reasonable escape. I tried to calm my breathing. There was no guarantee that he would mention what he’d seen to Jude. And if he did, there was no guarantee that she’d kick me out of the Protectorate.
I drew in a steadying breath.
I’d spent five years as a captive to evil gods. I’d learned how to suck it up and keep going, and that’s what I was going to do.
Just before I dragged my gaze away from him, he looked at me.
Recognition flashed in his eyes. Then something else.
Heat?
An impossibly small smile quirked at the side of his mouth, but was quickly gone.
I frowned. Did I imagine that?
Then his gaze hardened, and I knew I wasn’t imagining that.
Yep, this guy was wondering what the hell I was. Join the club, buddy. I had no freaking idea, either.
He strode over to join Jude, his powerful legs eating up the ground. For such a big man, he moved with leonine grace.
Next to me, Lavender whispered something to Angus. Whatever it was, the kid blushed.
If she was saying that the gladiator was totally hot, I had to agree. I didn’t want to agree, but it was like saying the sky was blue. It was just a fact.
He stopped next to Jude and folded his hands over each other in a relaxed waiting position. His gaze swept over the crowd of students. There were only five of us, so it didn’t take long.
When his gaze landed on me, it lingered. I scowled at him, determined to keep the blush at bay. It probably wasn’t the smartest move, given that I wanted to fly under the radar, but he got my back up.
Jude shot him a glance, then turned her gaze to the crowd. “This is Maximus Valerius. He’s here to help us with our
fighting skills.”
Maximus.
I’d called him a gladiator in jest, but maybe I wasn’t that far off.
A murmur rolled through the crowd, as if they recognized the name. I sure didn’t. He was powerful enough to be famous, but I didn’t know for what.
Unfortunately, Jude didn’t provide any more explanations. And Maximus seemed to be the strong, silent type. If I wanted to know more, I’d probably have to ask Lavender, who seemed to recognize his name.
No way in hell.
“We’ll start with a fighting exercise to examine your strengths and weakness,” Jude said. “You’re all welcome to use your magic.” Her gaze turned to me. “Or not, as the case may be.”
I shifted, slightly uncomfortable at being called out. But whatever. I was used to it.
Maximus waved his strong arm, and magic sparked on the air, smelling of cedar and sounding like a crashing waterfall.
In the middle of the massive room, the air began to shimmer. Objects appeared, huge towers and low boulders. A dozen of them soon dotted the space, providing cover for our fight.
Damn, he was powerful. Conjurers could create things out of thin air, but creating stuff this big? That took a lot of power. What the heck was he, besides a conjurer and general badass?
As he worked, conjuring more objects, Jude approached. She had a bag in her hand, along with a short, blunt sword. She held them out to me. “Since you don’t fight with your magic, I thought you could use these.”
I took the sword, the use of which was obvious, but had to dig into the bag to figure out what was inside. My hand closed around a smooth glass sphere, and I pulled it out.
“Meant to simulate one of your potion bombs,” she said. “Filled with a temporary sedative. It won’t put your target to sleep, but it should weaken them enough that they can’t walk well. You can finish them off with the sword.”
I grinned at her. “I can work with this.”
“I thought so.” Her gaze turned briefly to Maximus, who was still working on creating the setting for the fight to come. “We’ve brought Maximus here specifically for you, Rowan. If you aren’t able to access your magic, your fight skills will need to be unparalleled if you want to pass the Academy and join the Protectorate.”