by Jessica Gunn
“Debt.” Eldric barked a laugh. “You have no idea.”
His fingers twitched against my skin, clammy and cold. A primal energy surged beneath his fingertips, closing the already-small distance between his body and mine. Slowly at first, my magik seeped from me, through the blood and water in my veins, up through my chest, to his fingers. Eldric’s eyes glowed and his breathing ran ragged like he was making love.
“Holy—” He moaned headily. “The… power here…”
Disgust spiraled through my body as he siphoned the ancient magik inside me into himself. “Not sure that’s the word… I’d use…” I grunted out as my magik and life drained from me.
It was like donating blood to the Red Cross, only instead, I was giving away my magik to a water wraith who’d rather steal my life essence. Too bad Eldric was getting more than he’d bargained for and, judging by the pain now crinkling around his old, glowing eyes, he was starting to realize it as the pleasure faded.
“No,” he said, panicked. He tried to pull away, but I held his hand there.
“You wanted this,” I told him, my words shaky. “Stop selling dharksa in this area. And elin too, for that matter. No one wants your hallucinatory, power-zapping magik drugs. Humans have no business being superheroes for a day before they drop dead.”
Eldric snickered despite the smoke rising from his hand. My anger and heat—it must have been transferring into my blood. Water wraiths were revolting demonic creatures. Although the difference between his abilities and Rachel’s wasn’t that much, if one thought about it enough. Ether vs. elemental, that was what separated her magik from his.
“You didn’t seem to care when you took it,” Eldric hissed, although his words were starting to sound like a whine as I continued to hold his hand in place.
I looked over my shoulder but couldn’t see Ben. What did he make of this? I almost didn’t want to know. Actually, what the hell had he been doing this whole time? One show of his power, a bark from me, and he was kaput? Useless.
But as I looked around, I realized my entire team had been restrained by silence and the wrappings of a rope made of fire. Which didn’t make sense. None of us had fire magik.
“It’d be wise to let the woman go,” said a voice from the shadowed alleyway.
A man emerged from the darkness dressed in dark jeans and a dark red T-shirt. Trying to blend in with the sunrise, no doubt. Flames whipped around him, spiraling up above him before ending in wisps of smoke that billowed into the air above.
Eldric let his power slip from my body and he dropped my hand. “S-Sorry. I didn’t know you’d marked her. Sir.”
Marked me? “What kind of demeaning—”
“Hush,” the fire-elemental demon cooed in my direction.
Which only pissed me off more. “Who the hell are you?”
The closer he got, the easier it was to pick out his features. Fair skin, jet-black hair. Burgundy eyes, just like the rest of them. He carried himself with confidence, but loosely. Like he couldn’t be bothered to act in a threatening way, that it almost wasn’t called for because everyone should automatically know who and what he was. Curse me, it was almost actually attractive. A tingle ran down my spine as I took in his walk, his strong-jawed face. The careless arrogance.
My eyes wandered over his loose fist—the one that must have been holding my team hostage. He had incredible control to be able to hold three powerful magik users against their will while simultaneously walking amongst flames.
Flames. In an instant this demon’s aura ricocheted through me, bouncing off memory after memory. The second attack, the second mutilated body… that aura that’d remained burning after an hour of him being gone. That aura belonged to this demon-man standing in front of me. Dark and shadowy and bright red all the same, swirling in a sparking blackness that reached deep into my soul, stole breath from my lungs, and made my blood sing. My gaze fell to the tattoo crawling over his loose fist, full of curls and sharp geometric lines. A violet flame, magik-infused to appear as though it were an actual burning wave of embers.
He was an Old One. But not just any Old One.
This was the demon that’d murdered my father right in front of me when I was a baby. His aura, this sweeping darkness rippling from him, the rawness of his magik, had long been burned into my memory.
My gaze snapped to the demon’s, my stomach roiling over finding him even remotely attractive for a single moment. “You’re him.”
The demon’s face twisted with amusement. “I’m me?”
“The one who killed my father,” I said, my breathing uneven. “I remember your tattoo.”
Now free from Eldric’s hold, I stalked around the demon in circles. Something about this demon set my feet afire and caused ripples of sparking heat to ride up my arms and legs in waves.
“I’ve killed many fathers,” he said, then smiled slowly. “I do remember yours.” To Eldric, he said, “You know not what you’ve entangled yourself with. And now that you know the truth about her”—he tilted his head my way—“you cannot be allowed to survive.”
With a flick of his hand, violet flames enveloped Eldric. His screams of horror and burning were cut off by the demon’s blade finding a home in Eldric’s heart. His skin turned ashen, drying up until he died.
“You bastard,” Ben growled, suddenly able to speak. His face flushed an angry red as he struggled against the demon’s bonds. “You took him. Where’s Riley?”
I turned on Ben. “It’s the same guy?” The same demon had taken this guy from the video and killed my father. What were the odds? Pretty flipping high when I was involved apparently.
“Holy god,” Nate uttered, barely loud enough to hear over the roar of flames surrounding the demon. “Giyano.”
My blood froze, an icy insanity tidal waving down my body. Giyano. Was that this guy’s name? The same Giyano who’d murdered Nate’s parents was entwined with every person on this team?
What the hell, Jaffrin. He must have known. How could he not have?
The demon, Giyano, chuckled darkly at Ben. “I didn’t venture here to give you back your son. I came to lay eyes on this one.” His gaze found mine and roamed all over my body. My gut twisted with the unwanted attention. “I’ve been waiting for you,” he said, his words becoming a caress as they crossed the distance between us.
I couldn’t help the shudder that coursed through me. Something about the way he’d spoke, as if the words had been laced with magik that fit itself perfectly against every curve of my body, warmed the cold parts of my being, and gave them life. Despite everything within me screaming to knock this demon out, to fight him, to reject him, my mind cuddled up to the magik words whispering into my ear. The demon’s magik. Like something deep within myself was being drawn out by Giyano and was answering him.
Then a knife swung at my face and I had barely any time to duck or identify the source.
I wasn’t sure what happened next, but suddenly the demon was gone, my head was pounding, and my knees knocked against the pavement. I bit back a cry of pain when they connected.
“I’m going to kill him,” Ben growled. He wandered out of my line of vision. “I’m going after him.”
“Wait,” said Rachel. “What about Krystin?”
Nate’s face swam into view above me. “She doesn’t look so good.”
Ben peered down at me again. “Fine. You’re right. We need to get her home. What’d he do to you?”
I shook my head, an action that sent the world spinning. “I don’t know.”
But I did feel Giyano’s magik enter me and mix with mine… and that couldn’t be a good sign.
CHAPTER 8
BEN
For all the fire she carried, Krystin seemed innocuous in my arms as I carried her back to the team’s house. It was almost as if, when asleep or unconscious, she was a normal woman. No powers. No Hunter tendencies. Just a woman. A beautiful one.
But then I’d look down at her hand, see the tiny flame mark t
hat asshole Giyano had left on her, see the magik throbbing and twisting beneath the surface of her skin, and I’d remember: Krystin was no normal woman.
Why did Giyano protect her from that demon?
The question boomeranged in my head as I lay her on the couch in our living room. The same demon that’d kidnapped Riley had protected Krystin. And those demons at Arnie’s had all known her. Yeah, we’d all done things underage but… A demon haunt? Why go there and deal dharksa to demons tied to the Trade?
“Jaffrin will want to know about Giyano showing up,” Rachel said as she sat on the arm of the reclining chair.
I nodded, fists clenching at my sides. I hated Fire Circle Headquarters. Not because of some bucking authority reason, but because Jaffrin set me on edge every time I talked to him. And any building that looked like a white-collar business from the outside but contained training rooms and classrooms, a weapons closet, and office suites didn’t sit well with me. “I know. I’ve half a mind to go now—alone. Before she wakes up.” What the hell was Krystin’s actual story?
Rachel’s jaw tightened. “It could have been a coincidence.”
“That the demons in there knew her?” Nate asked. “Doubtful.”
“I’ll go alone,” I said. “Unless she wakes up soon. I want to see her reaction when Jaffrin loses it about Giyano knowing her.”
“Did he, though?” Nate crossed his arms over his chest, his brow furrowing. “She looked terrified of him. He caught all of us off guard.”
“Maybe.” Or maybe she was a fantastic actress.
Krystin stirred on the couch, her hands curling into fists. She winced as the burn on her left hand twisted. Still, I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“Damn.” Her eyes fluttered open, then narrowed. “What happened?”
“Arnie’s,” Rachel said, as if that’d explain everything.
Krystin’s eyes lit up. “Oh. Shit. I needed that demon hangout.” Her gaze snapped to mine. “Happy now?”
“That you’re well-known amongst demon circles? No. I’m not.”
“Ever think my reputation might be because I used to hang out there to try gleaning information from those bastards and not because I’m a Blackwood witch and a Hunter?” she asked. “Not like my kind and the Fire Circle are known to get along.”
That I did know to be true. Something had happened with the Blackwood witch line during the Salem Witch Trials that the Fire Circle either had had a hand in starting or had failed to stop. No one liked to talk about the details, and I didn’t care enough about the history to look it up.
“Fine,” I said.
This conversation had to end before an argument broke out again. As team leader I was supposed to keep everyone happy and working together—and to keep them alive—and so far I’d managed to fail almost all of those duties. But I got the feeling that no matter how hard I tried, I’d never level with Krystin. We’d both been cut from too much of the same arrogant, angry cloth.
“You and me are going out this morning,” I told her.
“Where?” Krystin asked.
“Jaffrin will want to know what happened earlier.” I glanced to my cousin. “You and Nate can handle cleaning up.”
“What Jaffrin doesn’t know won’t kill him,” Krystin volleyed back. “He’s gotten into enough of my business lately.”
I arched an eyebrow. Oh, really?
Krystin must have taken my expression as me issuing her a challenge rather than asking a question, because she stood from the couch. “You lead the way, then. If you want to see that jerkwad, you’re going in first.”
I shook my head at our shared opinion. I wouldn’t tell her we agreed on something, though. I wasn’t ready to give up that power yet. “Give me a few minutes. Check your hand while you wait.”
She glanced down at the twisting magik burn. “What’s this?”
“Giyano marked you somehow,” Nate said. “It’s faded since he did it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Shit. I think it’s a tracking mark. That’s a hard magik to work over far distances.”
“That means he’s staying close by, then?” I asked. Fantastic. Because I wanted Giyano close before I was ready to strike.
She nodded. Then, to my surprise, she said, “For now, at least. Even more reason to get to Jaffrin.”
“Right. Give me five minutes.”
I ran upstairs to change. If Krystin had changed her mind about wanting to see Jaffrin, then our run-in with Giyano must have bothered her more than she’d let on.
INSTEAD OF USING teleportante to get to Headquarters, Krystin and I took the long way by foot. Not out of need for a bonding experience, but because the sad fact was that the only people who actually wanted to spend time in that building was the Fire Circle’s flagship team. Avery and his powerless groupies could keep that title. They’d supposedly taken out over six hundred demons across Boston and its surrounding areas throughout the past seven years or so, but I wasn’t sure I believed that number.
For one, the Fire Circle had about three dozen teams of five in its company. This didn’t include the groups of contracted individuals—like the witch lines—who sometimes stepped in to help out. For another thing, there also simply weren’t enough demons to go around if every team of Hunters took out a few hundred a year. Creating a demon wasn’t easy work, and many of them didn’t live long enough to give birth to more. And I’d heard that demon babies’ magik was so unstable, not many survived infancy.
Riley’s face flashed through my mind. He’d barely survived infancy before Giyano had taken him.
My gust twisted, another knife into my back. I’d just stood there, powerless against Giyano that day. And he’d taken Riley as payment for my cowardice. My inability to act.
“I did take the dharksa,” Krystin said as we passed by various sky-rises and businesses.
A chorus of car horns and squealing brakes filled the air around us. Fall had set in quickly—harder to see here in the city than up north, where I was from. But it felt the same with people in heavy jackets and boots carrying pumpkin lattes and hot coffees as they hurried past.
Cool air swept through the wind tunnel created by skyscrapers and whipped across my face. I tucked my nose into the top of my jacket. “Figured as much. And before you say it, it’s not because I think you’re in bed with the demons.”
She scoffed. “I’ve never—”
“Joke,” I said.
“Clearly,” she said dryly.
“I’m aware I’m not a funny person. I’ll refrain from trying in the future.”
Her boots clicked along the uneven sidewalks. She had holes in her jeans. I wasn’t sure if it was a fashion statement or if she couldn’t afford new clothes. Hunters in the Circles didn’t make a ton of money—enough to live on, while the Fire Circle paid for housing.
“Probably for the best,” Krystin said. “And I’m not funny, either. We have that in common.”
I nodded her way, watching her walk on ahead of me. Her tight jeans hugged her in all the right places, combining with her strut to give off a “take no prisoners” vibe. “Are you always on? Or do you shut down and stop chasing demons at any point other than to sleep?”
Her gaze cut over her shoulder to mine. “Do you?”
I looked straight ahead. “Touché. And yes, I do. I have to.”
She laughed. “Or what, you’ll go crazy?”
“Sort of.”
More like I’d get obsessive. Right after I joined the Circles, after Riley had been kidnapped, I didn’t come home all night. I’d ditch my trainer team and go on hunting sprees that usually ended with me in the ER or in the Infirmary at Headquarters. Either way, I’d never gotten the answers I’d gone after or the demon-killing high I’d thought would snuff out my pain.
“Right, well, I did do dharksa,” Krystin said. “And it wasn’t because I was trying to fit in with the demons at Arnie’s and elsewhere. I mean, that was a good part of the reason.”
“Why tell me this?” It definitely didn’t do wonders for my opinion of her.
She looked up at me as we walked. “I’m trying to be honest here, build trust. We clearly got off on the wrong planet and despite the fact that I don’t know if we’ll ever be friends, we need to be able to at least work together.”
“Let’s just talk to Jaffrin.” I pointed to a shorter building stuck between two high-rises a block ahead of us. Fire Circle Headquarters. “Cheers to this going quickly.”
I wanted what Krystin did, a working relationship, but until I knew why Giyano had stepped in to protect her, all bets were off. The last thing I needed was a minion of his under my roof. No more members of my family would be claimed by him, blood-related or not.
“IT’S PARTIALLY MY FAULT,” Krystin admitted as we stood before Jaffrin for a second time since she’d joined the team. He wasn’t surprised when we’d showed up again, but Jaffrin wasn’t pleased to hear about the dead body Shadow Crest had sent us. “Ben got some video that irked him and before I realized where we were going because of that video, we were at Arnie’s. And I know you’re aware of what I did there without orders.”
Jaffrin didn’t so much as flinch. Had he known about Krystin’s activities at Arnie’s? I thought she’d said he hadn’t. “Shadow Crest sent you a message and you went asking questions that got you recognized,” Jaffrin said, as if we were the dumbest Hunters on earth.
Krystin shrugged. “I mean, yeah. It wasn’t the best career move ever.”
I wasn’t sure if she specifically meant this morning or the fact that she ever went there and posed as a demon at all.
“Giyano sure knew you,” I said.
Krystin stiffened. “Don’t think it’s Giyano that Jaffrin’s particularly worried about.”
Jaffrin’s gaze jumped between Krystin and me. “I know why Krystin’s pale about that, but what’s this about a video?”
Jaffrin knows. So there was something legitimate behind Giyano stepping in to save Krystin from the water wraith. Why? My initial guess—that her ties to Darkness ran deeper than a few teenage mistakes—couldn’t have been right if Jaffrin knew and condoned it. So what was her damn story already?