Breed of Innocence (The Breed Chronicles, #01)

by Jordan, Lanie

As I started to get to my feet, Linc came over and pushed me back down. “Sit.”

  “When did you get so bossy?” I muttered.

  He ignored me. “Just be good and stay here. Maybe I can get you two slices.” He winked, gave me a wicked grin, then strolled away before I could stop staring at the smile and get enough brains back to argue.

  I watched as he stood in line with his hands in his pockets, swaying back and forth on his heels slightly as he talked to one of the servers. He was different from other guys I knew. Bossy, as I just discovered. And confident without being annoyingly cocky. Definitely hotter, too. His eyes were gorgeous and I’d already found myself staring into them at awkward times and could foresee it happening again.

  Often.

  He wasn’t as built as some of the other guys I’d seen, even here, but he was leaner. There was no denying his strength, even if it didn’t scream muscular. His hair was cut short, not quite shaved but not quite…not. It fit him.

  I blinked a few times when Linc slid back into his seat. “You know,” he began, placing a plate of pizza in front of me, “you getting hurt has earned us both two slices of pizza. Maybe you should fight more often. I can boss you around and get extra pizza for it.”

  I laughed before I could stop it and reached across to slap him. He dodged out of the way, so I settled with stealing his second slice. “Don’t even,” I said, pulling my plate out of reach when he grabbed for it. “You want me to get hurt more often, you jerk. And all because you’re greedy and want more food.” I slapped his hand when he tried stealing it again. “I’ve earned this pizza. All three slices.” And to prove it, I took a big bite of one and made a mmmm sound to rub it in.

  “Fine.” He sat back in his chair, pouted. “I’ll get hurt and you can boss me around. Win/win.”

  I tilted my head to the side as I considered his proposal. It had merit. “Deal.” I handed him back his slice. Maybe he did deserve it. He had gotten me the pizza in the first place. And, okay, he’d suckered someone into giving us both an extra slice. “But only because you’ve been here longer and obviously have better connections.”

  “I feel so used.”

  “You’re getting two slices of pizza. You’ll get over it.”

  “I earned my extra piece too, you know.”

  “Maybe. But only because you’re being kind of nice, in an annoyingly obnoxious-boss-you-around kind of way.”

  “Hey, bossing people around burns calories.”

  I shook my head softly and fought a smile. “I can’t decide if I want to maim you or steal your pizza again.”

  “Maybe that’s a sign I should be quiet.”

  “Probably,” I said with a grin.

  When we finished our pizza, Linc walked me back to my room because he refused to let me go alone. I’d tried to get him to give me a tour, but since I was still limping slightly, he wouldn’t. It…was sweet, I decided, but still kind of annoying.

  “Take it easy for the rest of the night, will you?”

  “Nag, nag.”

  “You’re lucky you weren’t sent back to Doc. If Greene had seen it, he would have made you go.”

  “Shh,” I whispered, glancing around conspiratorially. “She might hear you.” He started to laugh and I glared. “Don’t laugh, or the next time I’m forced to go, I’ll make sure you have to go with me.”

  “Are you threatening me, Hall?”

  I smiled serenely. “Nope. I don't like threats. I try to deal in promises only. And I do keep my promises.”

  “You're kind of mercenary,” he said after a minute. “I don't know why, but I think I like that about you.”

  Chuckling, I shoved him aside and opened the door to my room. “Go away. Go far, far away.”

  “I’ll show you around tomorrow.”

  “Alright.”

  “Hope the knee feels better.”

  “Thanks.”

  He nodded, waved, and went maybe ten feet down the hall before stopping.

  I frowned. “What are you doing?”

  He pointed to the door. “I live here too, you know,” he said, then swiped his card and went inside.

  I didn't know why I expected his room to be somewhere else, on another floor or something. Maybe I shouldn't have. This place didn’t exactly have ‘normal’ written on it.

  Shrugging, I went inside. The lights came on again as I walked in. I didn’t need so much light, so I went to the closet and dug out the lamp. Since I was there, I grabbed out the sheets for the bed too and tossed them on the mattress. I plugged in the small light, then went back to the door. There was a small brushed-metal panel to the right that had a narrow LED display, two buttons, and a knob. Something had to turn off the main lights. I pressed buttons and twisted the knob. The lights flashed, dimmed, then shut off.

  “Do you need help?” a slightly-staticy voice said.

  I jumped back, clutching my chest, and twisted in a circle. There was no one there.

  “Miss Hall?”

  I took another step back. “Um, yeah?”

  “Did you have a problem?”

  The voice was coming from the panel. “Er, no. Um. I was just trying to turn off the main lights,” I muttered, cautiously taking a step toward the panel. No one had mentioned talking panels.

  I heard a chuckle and made a face. “The button on the right is for the menu. Click it once, use the knob until you see the setting you want, and then press the knob in to select it. The button on the far left is to reach us at the security office.”

  Shit. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “It’s fine. Did you need anything else?”

  A paper bag to cover my face, I thought. “No. Thank you.”

  “Have a good evening, Miss Hall.”

  “Why didn’t anyone warn me about talking wall panels?” I muttered to myself.

  “You need to press the button again to turn the intercom off, Miss Hall.” There was a note of laughter in the tone.

  I ran forward and slapped the button.

  The lights were off now, and they were staying that way. I wasn’t touching that thing again. I let out a breath and brushed my hair from my face.

  I only panicked slightly when I’d seen the demon earlier, but put me in a room by myself with some kind of intercom system and I turn into a freak. “Way to go, Jade. You’ll be a great demon hunter—you just better hope they don’t talk.”

  I looked around the room. I hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a small card leaning against the base of the lamp. I walked over, picked it up, and then flipped it over in my hand. On the back was a blue post-it note.

  This is your permanent ID—keep it on you at all times unless you want locked out. I’ll pick up the temporary one tomorrow. –Director Greene

  I pulled the note away and, as I started to set it back down, caught a glimpse of something. There was a picture of me on it, one I didn’t remember having taken. And—I brought it closer to my face, grimaced. Was that grass in my hair? Ugh!

  That was just wrong. They must’ve taken it before I’d managed to clean up. Maybe I could pretend to lose it and get another non-grassy-hair one taken? Probably not, but I had to try.

  I tossed it back to the desk and then grabbed my bag. I carried it into the bathroom. When I came out twenty minutes later, I felt clean and marginally better, but my knee still ached a little. It’s going to be better by tomorrow, I chanted to myself. It had to be. There was no way I was going to see Doc for a medical reason again. Not until I was forced to.

  I looked at the bed, tilted my head to the side. I wasn’t even tired yet, not really. I was kind of revved up.

  I sat down at the desk and picked up the tablet. They’d had similar ones when I’d been in school, but those had been bigger, clunkier, and a lot heavier, with a mini keyboard at the bottom. This one was light and sleek, shiny silver. I didn’t see any keys, which meant it probably worked by touch only.

  And something I quickly discovered: they were freaking complicated.
After ten frustrating minutes, I still couldn’t figure out how to turn it on, so I grabbed it and left. Linc had to know how the darn thing worked, since I obviously wasn’t smart enough to figure it out.

  I walked the ten feet to his door then knocked. He answered in under a minute. Shirtless.

  He had nice abs. Really nice abs. I stood there for a few seconds before my brain kicked back into gear and worked. “Er…” My fingers tightened around the small computer as I struggled not to bang it against my head. He was obviously getting ready for sleep. “Sorry, it’s late.”

  He grabbed my hand when I started to walk away. “It’s okay. What did you need?”

  I held up the tablet and practically shoved it in his face. “How does this thing work?” I said, ending on a long sigh. It sounded stupid, like an excuse Stephanie (one of the Tadpoles from The Pond) would’ve used to get attention from a guy.

  I had to give him credit. He didn’t comment on my staring, and he had to have noticed. Instead, he turned away, motioning me to follow. Our rooms were pretty much the same in layout, but his actually looked lived in. He had posters and actual color on the walls. I was only slightly jealous.

  He handed the tablet back to me, then went to his closet and grabbed a shirt. “It’s easy,” he said, pulling the shirt on. “On the right side, use your finger and slide it down. You’ll feel a little bump. It’s a small cover for the power button.”

  I did as he suggested. “Found it.”

  “Just flip it open and press and hold the button down for a few seconds. It’ll power up.”

  “How the heck is anyone supposed to know that without an instruction manual? The ones from school just had a red switch on the top.”

  He chuckled and my cheeks heated. “There is a manual. It’s probably in the case.”

  “It didn’t come with a case.”

  “It’s probably in the closet.”

  “I looked in there and didn’t see it.”

  “Top shelf.”

  I made a face. “How the heck is anyone supposed to know to check there?”

  He looked up and his tone was full of laughter. “Orientation, my dear, Hall. Orientation.”

  “Yeah, well, I…kind of skipped that part.” I frowned. “And that’s a stupid time to tell people, anyway. What’s the point when they won’t be coming back for five months?”

  “There are two Orientations. One for Prospects, and one for…prospective Prospects, or something.”

  “Okay, so I skipped both. Besides, I think Greene figured you’d give me the rundown on everything.”

  “I didn’t think about the tablet thing.” He sat down on the edge of his bed. “What are you looking for anyway?”

  I shrugged and leaned my hip against his desk. “Greene mentioned a few files he wanted me to look over, and I wanted to check out the stuff on the classes.”

  “Why do you need files on the classes?”

  “Oh.” I bit my lip, gave a small smile, then told him what Greene had said.

  “You’ll have classes with me,” he said when I’d finished telling him I’d be starting early. “But you’re insane.”

  “Probably.” I shrugged again. “But the sooner I start, the sooner I finish.”

  He shook his head. “I can give you the run-down on what the files say. They're not exactly late-night reading material. It’s pages and pages of boring stuff.”

  I held the power button in, released it. After a few seconds, the screen lit up in a light blue with the CGE logo on the background. There were icons for different apps and folders, so I tapped the Textbooks folder. The screen split and showed another row of icons. I swiped my finger upward on the screen and closed the folder.

  I looked up, grinned. “Not a problem. I read fast.”

  “Well, everything you need to know about this place is on there. And I mean everything. The history of the CGE, the locations of the other facilities. The DDB is on it, too.”

  “DDB?”

  “The Demon Database.” He took the tablet from me and tapped on a demon icon on the screen. “Every demon the CGE knows about is in here. Any time they find a new species, or there’s a new development on one, they put it on this online database. It’s mostly used by CGE personnel, but some of the law enforcement agencies and non-CGE demon hunters use it. We have access—obviously—but Prospects can only view info on certain demons.”

  “There are people hunting demons that don’t work for the CGE?” I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me. I’d searched for them by myself, even before I’d known about the CGE, and with or without them, I would have kept trying to find demons.

  “Yeah. There are a lot CGE’s around the world, and hundreds, maybe even thousands of hunters, but even so, demons still outnumber hunters five to one. We need all the help we can get.”

  He handed the tablet back to me as my eyes widened. “Greene mentioned there were about fifty demon species, but is that including hybrids or excluding?”

  “Including. At least, those are the ones they know about. But think about it. Even if there are only fifty right now, if even half of those species creates a new hybrid…”

  “That’s a lot of potential species.”

  He nodded. “Exactly. They keep track of the ones they know about.” He rose from the bed and came to stand beside me, so close I could feel his arm brushing against mine. He tapped the screen again. “See this map?”

  “Yeah. That’s Florida.”

  He nodded. Using two fingertips, he pressed the screen and moved his fingers apart. The map zoomed in on the New Orlando area. “The big circles with slashes through them? Those are hot spots for demons. They’re usually patrolled pretty regularly. The X’s are demon nests. Red means active; black is contained. The little comma looking horn things are tagged demons. Red are usually the most dangerous demons. Cops and other hunters usually just tag those and leave them for us. The black horns are a lower class of demons that aren’t really after people.”

  “Good demons? You can’t be serious.”

  “Well, I don’t know if anyone would call them ‘good’ demons, but they’re not as bad as some of the others. They’re low priority because they avoid populated areas or hunt animals and not people.” He pressed an icon at the top and the same map reappeared with different symbols. “There are a few different maps: recent attacks, old attacks, closed cases, open cases, etcetera.”

  “So it’s the Idiots Guide to Demon Tracking and Hunting?”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

  “That’s a lot of information.” Hopefully information I could use to find the demon that killed my family. “The open and closed cases—do they list the demon type, if it’s there? Are any of those tagged?”

  “How far back are you talking?”

  “About two years,” I said, speaking softly and lowering my head.

  “It’s possible,” he said slowly. “If it was a CGE case, then it was probably updated almost immediately. That’s what the computer nerds do. If it wasn’t one of ours, then there’s no telling how accurate it is or if/when it’ll be updated.” He looked down at me, gave me a small understanding smile. “Do you want me to run a search?”

  “No, it’s okay. I’ll figure it out.” I smiled. “But thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  “And thanks for helping me, Linc. I appreciate it.”

  The sides of his mouth lifted. “No problem, Jade. Go get some sleep. I’ve got a long day planned for you tomorrow.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Shouldn’t you, say, ask what my plans are?”

  He snorted. “It’ll be your second day here. My plans are your plans.” At my shocked look, he laughed. “Go on.” He went to the door, opened it, then came back to me and all but shoved me out of his room. “Get some sleep, Hall,” he said, shutting the door in my face.

  Torn between laughter and thoughts of strangulation (which would definitely be against the rules, I was sure), I shook my head and w
alked back to my room.

  Instead of starting my demon search (because I knew I wouldn’t stop once I started), I forced myself to glance at some of the other files Greene had mentioned. In one of the files, I found my class schedule. We only had classes four days a week, five hours a day. Demonology on Mondays, Tracking on Tuesdays, Combat on Wednesdays, and Weapons training on Thursdays. While I didn’t have any classes on Friday, I did have my weekly check-up then.

  Another file had a map of the CGE that listed every room in the North Tower.

  “Who needs Linc to show me around?” I muttered under my breath. I’d just give myself a virtual tour.

  I checked where all my classes were located first. It wasn’t that difficult since they were all on the fifth floor, along with a gym, the auditorium, and other rooms.

  The third and fourth floors were where the Prospects stayed and each had a laundry room. The second floor had other random offices and med rooms. Greene’s office, the main infirmary, the café court, and security were all on the first floor.

  When I was done snooping, I set the tablet down and tapped my foot. My finger hovered over the DDB icon for a minute, and then I gave in and reopened the app.

  I typed in my search parameters: state, town, date, and year. When the results popped up, I frowned. The map showed two brown folders. After a quick glance at the map legend, I learned the folders were cases and the color meant they were inactive ones—not closed but not current, either. I opened the file associated with my address and read it. Other than giving the basic info—witnesses, fatalities, and police statements—it didn’t reveal anything new.

  I looked for a copy of the statement I’d given, but it wasn’t there. One of the policeman—the one that supposedly took my statement—basically said I didn’t see a viable suspect. I snarled. “I gave you a viable suspect! It’s not my fault you didn’t believe me!”

  So where was the statement? They’d kept me for hours, questioning me over and over again. Why wasn’t anything I’d said here?

  Linc had said the files weren’t always complete, but if this much was there, shouldn’t the rest have been, too? What was the point in only updating some of a file?

  And since my statement wasn’t there, how had Greene found out about it? How had he known what I’d told the cops if they hadn’t reported what I’d said?