by E. J. King
“Hello?” I called out to the empty room.
“Welcome!” The response came from a dark corner in the back, behind a row of bookshelves. The woman that appeared was not Violet.
“I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I was looking for a… friend. I thought I saw her come in here.”
The woman stepped into the light, a dull light radiating from a tinted chandelier that was covered in a layer of dust. “A friend?”
“Sort of, yes.” I didn’t know how else to describe my non-existent relationship with my biological mother.
“The woman who birthed you into this world is surely more than a friend.” Her voice actually cackled.
“Do you know who I am?” I wasn’t normally so paranoid, but something about this woman made me anxious.
“Of course. You’re the key to everything.” She grinned, revealing many missing teeth. “I’m Allya, Kaylie. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Rafe shuffled forward, reflexively positioning himself between me and Allya. She didn’t look dangerous, but then again neither did a lot of monsters we faced.
“How do you know my name?” I did my best to keep my voice from shaking.
“The mystical world has known about you since before you were born.” Allya moved slowly across the room, almost like she was gliding just above the surface of the dusty floors. “Your arrival was prophesized.”
“Prophesized?” My mouth dropped open. “By who?”
“The Oracles of the supernatural world.” She shuffled past me toward the counter that was nearly hidden beneath an array of candles and potions.
I hesitantly stepped further into the shop. “What else did the Oracles tell you about me?”
Allya’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. “I’ve been entrusted with their wisdom. It is not mine to tell to the human world.”
“What?” I already didn’t like this woman.
“If you really do know who Kaylie is, then you know she’s not exactly human.” Rafe sounded as annoyed as I felt. “I’ve never even heard of Oracles. How do we know you are telling the truth?”
The strange lady chuckled. “You are wise to be cautious with your trust. You were too trusting with the Weres at Haven and look where that got you.”
“What do you know about Haven?” I didn’t want to encourage her further, but it was like she knew the exact thing to say to keep me engaged.
“I know that Haven holds many secrets. I know that you aren’t safe there.” Allya no longer looked amused. “You need to leave there for good. If you stay, you will die.”
“Is that a threat?” Rafe asked in a clipped voice.
“It’s good that you are protective of her,” she said, like I wasn’t standing right there. “She is going to need a guardian if she’s going to survive long enough to defeat the Evil.”
I officially had enough of her cryptic declarations. “If you’re not going to explain what you mean, you’re no good to me. I don’t have time to play games.”
“The Evil is not a game, dear.” Allya reached under the counter and retrieved a book that looked as if it hadn’t been opened in centuries. “If you are going to carry out the prophecy, you need to know exactly what you will be facing.”
“Nothing you’re saying makes any sense.”
“Then let me put it more simply. You think your mission is to kill your father. You believe that ending him will end the battle. But what you don’t know is that you are meant to do so much more. You can end it all.”
She held out the book, one wrinkled hand laid across the cover.
“I’m just a Hunter.”
“You don’t really believe that.” Her pale lips cracked into a knowing smile. “The truth is in the book. Read each word and you won’t be able to deny your destiny any longer.”
Rafe tugged on my elbow. “We need to go, Kaylie. Slade will be expecting us back soon.”
Very slowly, I backed away from the counter. Allya’s eyes followed me each step of the way, her smile never fading. It wasn’t until Rafe opened the door and the sun hit my skin that I finally let out the breath I was holding in my lungs.
“I’ve seen a lot of weird creatures in my life, but that woman might have been the weirdest.” Rafe exaggerated a shudder.
“I know I saw Violet go into that store, Rafe.” I angrily shoved the book into my bag. “Allya was hiding her. I’m sure the book and her crazy predictions were all just part of an act to distract me.”
Rafe nodded. “Well, she was telling the truth about one thing. We need to get our asses out of Haven as soon as possible.”
We had been gone long enough that the Weres were getting ready to head out on patrol again. I saw a few faces in the crowd that I didn’t recognize and guessed that they were members of the Stokely pack. They stood out with their hulking frames, full beards, and tattooed skin. If there was such a thing as a Werewolf gang, these guys would’ve been the ringleaders.
Rafe made his way to the kitchen to find some food while I headed off to my room. Now that my buzz had worn off, I was crashing fast. Sleep came quick and easy even though the afternoon sun was still streaming through the window. My sleep schedule had been chaotic since moving in with a bunch of nocturnal Weres.
When I opened my eyes a few hours later, the sun had almost completely set. Rafe was sleeping deeply next to me, not so much as flinching when I climbed over him to get out of the bed.
I had tried to convince myself that Allya had been speaking nonsense, but now I was overcome by the need to see what was in the book she had given me. For so long I had been focusing on one thing- killing Benton. It hadn’t even occurred to me that a larger evil might be brewing.
A lot of what was written in the book I didn’t understand. For one, it written in old English. Even the books in my parents’ Hunter Chronicles collection weren’t that old. But also a lot of the entries were faded and nearly illegible. I could make out about half of the words and had to piece together the rest.
I was so busy trying to translate words and piece together broken phrases that I lost track of how much time had passed. When it got too dark to see, I switched on the desk lamp. When the wolves began to howl, I pushed away the sound.
Allya had been right about one thing- there was a big Evil that none of us were prepared to face. The writings referred to it as Primum Malum, roughly translating to “first evil.” In my head, I took to abbreviating it to Primal. All of the supernatural things that walked the Earth could be tied back to Primal.
“Reading again? You are such a nerd.” Rafe’s voice was heavy with sleep.
“Literate does not equal nerd,” I said distractedly. “Allya was right. There is some pretty intense stuff in here.”
“You’re actually reading that?” He groaned. “She was a crazy lady, Kaylie. Nothing more. Now put that down and get over here and spoon me.”
As tempting as I found that idea, I stayed focused. “Rafe, have you ever heard of Primum Malum?”
“Is that a comic book character?”
I tried to give him an annoyed look, but when I turned around his disheveled bedhead and sleepy smile pierced my shields. “No, it isn’t. Now who’s the nerd?”
“What is it then?” He sat up and swung his long legs off the side of the bed.
“Good question.” I turned back to the book. “Literally it means First Evil. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.”
“Like the First Evil?” He came to stand behind me, hands on my shoulders as he leaned over me to read. “The Primum Malum imbued its blood into the human race, thus giving birth to all supernatural creatures.”
“Vamps, Weres, Shifters… everything came from this one evil creature.” I flipped to the next page. “Allegedly, the Primal is still alive. It lost a lot of its power when it started spawning children. Over the centuries, it rebuilt its strength by drinking Hunter blood.”
Rafe clucked his tongue. “Why is it always Hunter blood?”
“I still don’t get wh
y Allya wanted me to read this book. It hasn’t exactly made anything clearer for me.”
“Well you’re only halfway through. I’m sure the good stuff is at the end.” He reached down and flipped the book closed.
“Hey!”
“You’ll have to finish it later. The Weres are out in the woods. We need to make our move.” He moved back to the bed and retrieved a bag from underneath. “I grabbed us some supplies from the armory.”
“When did you have time to do that?” I watched in amazement as he unloaded guns onto the bed.
“I made a stop on my way back from the kitchen.” He grinned proudly.
Hunters didn’t use guns very often. A good steel blade took care of most monsters. “Why guns? I’m not going to shoot the Were guards, Rafe.”
“Relax.” He rolled his eyes as he grabbed the ammo box and opened the lid.
“Darts?”
“These are tranq guns. No Weres will be killed tonight.” He gestured to the pile of weapons. “Take your pick.”
I greedily grabbed the most powerful looking gun. “Thanks, babe.”
“Just don’t point that thing at me.” He quickly tucked one gun into each boot and another into the waistband at his back. “Load up. We’re only going to get one shot at this.”
“We still don’t have a key to the cell,” I reminded him.
“We don’t need a key.” He grabbed some items that were still in the bag. “I can create a small explosion in the lock. It will do the trick.”
I knew better than to question Rafe’s criminal-leaning skills. Creating small explosions sounded like the type of thing he would be good at. “Alright then. Let’s get to the roof.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
This time Rafe handled the jump with just the briefest of hesitations. I didn’t have time to be proud though, because we had a lot of work ahead of us. We skipped all other floors this time, heading directly to the basement with a brief stop on the first floor to check on the guards.
I spotted two of them, one on each side of the door. I was sure there were other guards, but I didn’t know if they were also outside or if we were about to run right into them in the basement. We both retrieved a gun just in case.
I led the way since I knew where they were keeping Ethan. A quick check down both ends of the hall didn’t reveal any guards, but we moved quietly anyway. At first, the cell appeared to be empty. Then I spotted Ethan, curled up on the edge of the small cot.
“Ethan!” I hissed.
He jumped to his feet so quickly it was like he had known we were coming. “My heroes,” he declared.
“I guess this makes you the damsel in distress.” I took Rafe’s gun while he removed his bomb supplies and started packing the lock with gunpowder. “So here’s the deal. Rafe needs to make an explosion to get you out of here.”
“Oh great. I’m going to die.” He sighed dramatically. “And here I thought you were going to rescue me.”
“Shut up, little brother.” Rafe quickly unwound a long piece of fuse. “Just stand back and be ready to run.”
After he had a good five feet unraveled, he struck a match and waited for the fuse to ignite. It burned quickly and Ethan moved to the far corner of the cell. Somewhat unnecessarily, Rafe backed me up against the wall and shielded me with his body.
“Is it just me, or does it feel like sparks are about to fly?” he asked with a cocky smirk.
I was debating whether to answer him or just push him away when the fire hit the lock and the metal exploded. It was quieter than I had expected. The guards outside likely hadn’t heard anything.
“How’d you like that?” Rafe asked smugly.
“Overhyped and over too soon,” I shrugged. “Good thing I’m used to that.”
I hurried to the cell door before he could react and knocked the lock away. The door was heavy, but it swung open easily. Ethan stepped through the opening and I handed him a gun. “If you see a Were, shoot.”
“Gladly.” Ethan greeted his brother with a hearty slap of his shoulder. “I’m in the mood for a little payback.”
The whole thing was going off a little too easily. I should’ve been suspicious, but I wasn’t. Instead, I was thinking about the girl I had seen them carry inside the night before. She had to still be in there somewhere.
“Kaylie!” Rafe whispered loudly as I continued past the stairs. “What are you doing?”
“We have to see who else is down here. I’m not leaving people behind.” After seeing the science lab upstairs, I couldn’t pretend that the other prisoners would be okay if we didn’t help them. It was clear that Haven was doing some experiments and it was highly likely that they were using the unwilling participants in the basement as their subjects.
“We don’t have time for this, Kaylie.” Rafe grabbed my arm and I yanked it away.
“Feel free to leave, but I’m going to help the other prisoners.”
I kept walking without waiting to see if they were going to join me.
Ethan said, “She’s right. We can’t leave anyone behind.”
This end of the hallway had more cells than Ethan’s. The first cells were all empty, but a low growl echoed from the last cell.
I expected to find a monster when I peered through the bars. I certainly didn’t expect to find a familiar face.
“Hope?”
Fangs were immediately retracted and now there was no denying that the monster in the cell was actually my best friend.
I clawed at the lock and desperately tried to yank open the door. Hope didn’t move from her cot.
“Rafe. Get this door open,” I demanded frantically.
“I don’t have any supplies left.” Rafe looked around helplessly. “Maybe I can pick the lock.”
“That won’t do any good.” Ethan’s face had gone pale as he stared at Hope. She still hadn’t moved. “She’s been chained to the wall. Even if you somehow got the door open, we’d still have to unlock those chains, too.”
“Fine. Let’s do that.” My eyes darted between them.
Ethan tore his eyes away from Hope. “The guards. They each have a key ring on their belts.”
“Stay here.” Rafe sprinted down the hall.
“Either he wants to do this on his own, or he decided to leave us here,” Ethan joked. “You didn’t do anything to piss him off today, did you?”
“I plead the fifth.” I nodded toward the cell. “Is she okay? She hasn’t moved.”
Ethan grimaced. “I think she’s been drugged. I thought I heard a girl screaming last night. I had no idea it was Hope.”
“Rafe and I found a room on the second floor. It looked like freaky supernatural science.” I didn’t even want to think about what experiments they might have done on Hope. Her Soul blood was just the type of thing they would hoard in their blood coolers.
“Weres are even dumber than they look.” Rafe had reappeared without either of us noticing. Either we were too distracted by Hope or he was even stealthier than I remembered. He triumphantly rattled two key rings. “Impressed yet?”
I grabbed one of the rings. “I’ll be impressed if we actually get out of here.”
Rafe unlocked the cell easily. One of the keys was clearly larger than the others. Figuring out which of the twenty other keys would unlock Hope’s chains was an entirely different matter. Rafe worked on her hands while I tried fitting keys into the lock that bound her legs to the wall. Ethan kept watch in the hallway.
“I thought these Weres were supposed to be the good Weres,” Rafe grumbled, trying a different key. “What a load of crap.”
“I’ll be sure to lodge a complaint on your behalf.” The fifth key I tried clicked. “Finally!”
It took a few more seconds to unwind the chains from around her ankles and Rafe was able to get the other locks removed in that time. Through it all, Hope hadn’t moved once.
“Can you carry her out?” I didn’t bother checking her vitals. Vampires didn’t exactly have the same vitals that huma
ns did. The fact that she hadn’t disintegrated was enough proof that she was still alive. Or undead, rather.
“Yeah, I’ve got her. You and Ethan need to go first and clear the way in case the Weres caught on to what we’re doing here.” He lifted Hope easily in his arms.
“What did you do with the guards?”
We started down the hallway at a quick pace. I wanted to be gone from Haven immediately.
“Stunned them. I don’t think these darts are very strong though so they won’t be out for long.”
Ethan and I took the stairs ahead of Rafe, racing to the top to check for any signs that the Weres were on their way to stop us. It was eerily quiet upstairs. I couldn’t even hear Weres howling in the distance.
“Is it just me, or is it a little too quiet?” Ethan asked, reading my mind.
“The Weres must be deep in the woods.” I stepped over to the closest window and squinted through the grime to look for the guards. “I don’t see anything out there.”
“What’s the plan?” Ethan hefted his gun. “We run outside, guns blazing?”
“Easy, killer.” I moved to the door. “My car is in the parking lot. Slade brought it here. You need to go directly across the square and use the exit next to the medical building.”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t you mean we need to leave?”
“I’ll be right behind you. I just need to run upstairs first.” I moved past Rafe who had been watching us from the stairs, Hope still unconscious in his arms. “I’ll meet you at the car.”
“What the hell?” Rafe glared hard at me. “I’m not letting you go off on your own.”
“You’re not letting me?” I willed myself to stay calm. We didn’t have time for a full-blown fight. “This isn’t debatable, Rafe. I’m not leaving my blood in that lab and you need to get Hope out of here.”
“Ethan, take your girlfriend so I can handle mine,” Rafe snapped.
“Whoa.” Ethan chuckled and backed away. “If she decides to shoot you with one of those darts, I’m not going to stop her.”