Hunter Circles Series Books 1-3: An Urban Fantasy Box Set

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Hunter Circles Series Books 1-3: An Urban Fantasy Box Set Page 10

by Jessica Gunn


  “Maybe he had massive family issues,” I offered. “You know, before he was a demon.”

  Krystin smirked, though none of this was funny at all. She stood from the booth. “Maybe. Either way, we should get out of here.” She paid our tab and we headed for the Guild’s front door. “I was serious when I said I’d be quick.”

  “Lead the way, then.”

  CHAPTER 11

  KRYSTIN

  I had a hunch about Ben’s son. Really, it was more like a mini-hunch. And not a good one. The Power. Problem was: that didn’t make sense. The Power hasn’t been seen in thousands of years. Supposedly, anyway. And because of the rarity of that magik, Hunters wouldn’t have been exposed to knowledge of it during training. The only reason the witch lines knew was because some of them, thousands of years ago, had that same rare type of power—a magik that could rival mine. And because magik types tended to run in family lines…

  Crap. I’d have to do a ton more research—real research, not go-get-a-drink-with-demons research—to be sure. But if I was right, if that’s why Lady Azar had had Giyano kidnap Riley…

  All of Boston was in big, big trouble. Because when a cianza blew, as they did from time to time, they didn’t go quietly. They made atomic blasts look like children’s sparklers on the Fourth of July. And that was without the Power being involved, that ancient force of nature only a handful of individuals had ever claimed to tame since the beginning of time itself. And if Riley had that ability to wield both elemental and ether magik at the same time, Lady Azar was absolutely going to abuse it for something big. Like tipping a cianza’s natural balance.

  But I wouldn’t tell Ben any of this. Not until I knew for sure. Jaffrin would laugh me all the way back to the first day of training if I came forward with my hunch—especially if I turned out to be wrong. That was the likely scenario after all. Even if it was the best explanation.

  The late fall air bit into my cheeks and lips as we left Hunter’s Guild. We walked into the woods, aiming to be on the other side of the magik wall as quickly as possible. I’d made enough enemies to never stick around too long outside of the Guild, and too many had heard Ben’s remarks about Jaffrin’s idiocy.

  “We should train more right away,” I said, filling the silence as we walked. “I’m fairly certain we’ll be asked to go up to Salem on All Hallows’ Eve. Not sure what his flagship team’s capable of doing, but Jaffrin knows he can count on the four of us for magik.”

  “Oh,” Ben said, turning to me with a smirk. “Now you trust our magikal capabilities?”

  I punched him in the shoulder. “Not a chance, sparky.”

  “Good to know,” Ben said, grinning. “Sparky?”

  Shrugging, I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Fits, don’t you think?” Something akin to butterflies flitted about my stomach, but I pushed them aside. I’d meant the nickname as nothing more than a joke, but the way Ben’s face lit up made me almost consider it something more.

  Thing was, Ben wasn’t as idiotic as I’d accused him of being. He was smart and calculating, but all of that seemed to disappear the one time we’d fought demons or when some sort of emotional squall brewed up. That’s when Ben became a storm of his own. Still, I admired his courage, no matter what that got him into or how easily it turned into blind arrogance. I knew I wasn’t all that different.

  No matter how volatile our tenuous friendship, if you could call it that, got, we were of the same spirit. That much was obvious.

  And maybe that’s why I let the butterflies fly around a bit longer than I should have. Ben was the first man I’d met who could not only handle me, but volley the challenges back. And it felt downright amazing, like I was finally able to be… not entirely myself, but something close enough.

  Rustling sounded behind us, branches snapping, crunching underweight. I darted my gaze to the surrounding woods. “Hear that?”

  Ben nodded, his hand already moving to the knife sheath I knew he kept on his waist. “Yeah. Are we past the wall?”

  I nodded. “It let me punch you, so I’d say so.” I looked around, but peering into the darkness of a forest at night was pointless. Ben’s form right next to me was barely visible, forget anything far off.

  “Think we should leave?” Ben asked.

  “And let whoever’s here chase us away?” I reached for my own knife and pulled it out of its sheath. “I think I’d rather find out why they’re stalking us.”

  A mighty roar sounded, a human voice but amplified somehow, and two figures charged out of the darkness. I ducked past the first one, leaving him for Ben to deal with, and knocked my shoulder into the other figure’s gut. Lightning sparked behind me, lighting the area from Ben’s palm, and a flash of burgundy eyes appeared in front of me before the demon disappeared into darkness. Not as if blending into it because it was dark again, but he literally shifted into shadow.

  “Uh—that’s new!” I shouted, turning to help Ben.

  He traded blows with the other demon and slammed a ball of lightning into him with a hiss, then dropped to the forest floor to knock his feet out from under him. Ben brought his knife up fast, slashing the demon’s chest and arm, knocking him into a nearby tree. Before the demon reacted, Ben charged and plunged his knife into the demon’s heart and twisted. The heart—home of all magik inside of a person.

  An easy mark. Too easy sometimes.

  The demon’s skin turned ashen grey, dried up like a mummy. Ben had the demon lit up with a cedo match seconds later, just in case.

  I peered into the darkness again, trying to sense where the second demon had gone. I’d never seen any magik user—demon or not—do that. It was like he’d turned into darkness itself. But that didn’t make sense. Darkness wasn’t an element, and ether magik typically imitated the elements and included mental tricks. But just because I didn’t know something didn’t mean it wasn’t true. I’d learned that the hard way far too many times.

  I reached out with my mind, though it was pointless. My Blackwood line traits didn’t do what I needed them to do. I read minds and got the occasional vision, but I couldn’t search for something out of nothing. There didn’t even appear to be a mind to read.

  “Where did the other one go?” Ben asked, whipping around as he searched for the demon.

  I shook my head. “Don’t know. He vanished.”

  An evil laugh permeated the air next to my ear. I turned just in time to see the demon reform, a wisp of dark grey smoke against the night, and strike out. I blocked his uppercut and jabbed him three times in return, but he held his ground, latching on to me with too-big hands and throwing me up into the air.

  I cried out as I sailed, grappling to catch myself with my telekinesis as a tree closed in on my personal space. I stabilize myself at the last second, the smell of pine enveloping me, and touched down, charging at the demon again the moment I stood straight.

  Ben lunged, another ball of lightning gathering in his palm. But his hold was weak; he was tired, or scared, and if I saw it, so did the demon. His darkness-shifting powers scared me, too, but I swallowed the emotion. None of that mattered here—fear or confidence or pain. None of it. It was us or the demon, as it had been for generations, and that was the only reality.

  I threw out my hand as I charged the demon, gripping on to air as though holding his throat with my fingers. With my other hand, I lifted him off the ground. A blind rage, untampered thanks to years of training, seeped through me.

  “This is Hunter’s Guild, moron,” I told the demon.

  “We’re outside the wall,” he replied. “Anything goes.”

  I tightened my hold on his throat. “Any last words?”

  The demon’s eyes narrowed.

  “Guess not,” I said, snapping his neck.

  Ben lit another magik match and we watched the demon burn up in purple flames. Two seconds. He’d been powerful. We’d been lucky.

  I glanced over at Ben. “We should leave before we get more visitors.”

  “Do
n’t suppose Giyano put the word out that everyone should go after us?” he asked.

  Shaking my head, I said, “It’s because of the Guild. If we weren’t here, we wouldn’t be massive targets.”

  “I’m talking about you,” Ben said. He pointed at me. “What you are. Giyano must know—”

  Ben’s eyes went wide as fire ropes wrapped around him and flung him into the woods. A loud thud sounded from where he must have landed.

  “Another demon?” I asked. Did these guys ever sleep?

  “Hello, Krystin,” purred a voice from the darkness. The figure stepped into the small clearing. Moonlight glinted off his dark hair, highlighting his strong jaw and high cheekbones.

  “You again?” I asked. “Find a new hobby.” I should be terrified of him. That fear should have been bone deep. Giyano was an Old One. But I stared him down, defiant.

  Giyano looked over his shoulder to where his fire ropes had Ben strapped to a tree. “A new hobby? You think I actually enjoy dealing with this constant thorn in my side?”

  “Me?” Ben hissed, his entire body trembling with rage. His eyes went wide with fury. “Are you fucking kidding me? Give me back my son, you bastard!”

  Giyano waved a hand in the air behind him. The ropes around Ben tightened and he gasped—in surprise or for air, I didn’t know. Probably both. “Silence. Krystin and I need to have a conversation.”

  I squeezed the hilt of my knife. No way in hell were we doing anything other than fighting. I glanced from Giyano to Ben and back again. Any move I made might result in Ben getting hurt—or killed. And as much as he annoyed and frustrated me, I couldn’t allow that.

  “What do you want?” I asked, but only to buy me some more time.

  “Are you aware of your destiny?” he asked, as if it were the most casual question in the world.

  “Let my friend go and maybe I’ll tell you,” I said.

  “Your cavalier attitude says you don’t know but think I’ll be baited, or that you do know and know you can’t beat me,” he said. “In either case: no. Do you know what you are?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What’s it to you?”

  His smile thinned. “I think you know.”

  “Hurray—yes, I know you killed my father. I know it’s because of my destiny to save Alzan.” My free fist balled. If I could just catch this asshole off-guard, I might be able to save Ben and get us out of here. We weren’t inside the anti-violence wall, but we might still be close enough that its dispersing effects might keep Giyano from following our teleportante. “What I don’t understand is what that destiny has to do with you, aside from the obvious.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “It’s for that obvious reason that I’m here. You’re dangerous, Krystin. Your destiny, everyone involved, whether they are on Good’s side or not… it all comes down to you.”

  That was the vaguest, most unhelpful thing I’d ever heard. “Why’s this city so important anyway?” I knew it was built on a cianza. But so was Boston. And Los Angeles. Alzan wasn’t special. Was it the power of the Son and Daughter from Alzan’s prophecy itself that Giyano wanted? I couldn’t use that power now, not without the other half. But the Son had kept himself hidden thus far.

  A slow grin crept across Giyano’s face. “Now you see.”

  “You’re insane if you think I’ll ever let you use me for your own agenda,” I said. “I don’t care what you hold over my head.” I might not have wanted this destiny, but hey, it was mine. And I got to decide how to use it and this power inside me.

  “Our agendas, as you say, are not so different.” His words were like black velvet. Smooth, enticing, powerful. Whatever his plan was, he was confident it’d work. “One day soon you’ll come to see your power wasn’t meant for Good. Not the way you were brought up to think.”

  In the blink of an eye he was next to me, his breath warm on my face. My skin burned, an orange glow dancing on our chests. I didn’t bother looking down to confirm. And with him this close, with the reputation he had, I didn’t plan on moving, either. Not without an opening.

  I forced a laugh. “After all the man-hours the Fire Circle’s put into keeping tabs on me, I highly doubt the Powers have been lying about my role in this war.”

  “It’s not your role they’re scared of, Krystin. It’s your power.” His gaze raked across my face, searching for something and apparently coming up short. “They should all be afraid. Lady Azar included. For all the ambition she has, I’m afraid she’s fairly clueless.”

  My stomach dropped. Lady Azar’s best weapon thought her stupid? Well, that was interesting. I’d known from all the written histories that she and Giyano didn’t get along—something that traced back to the Salem Witch Trials.

  “Man,” I said. “Whatever she did to you really screwed up your loyalty for her, huh?”

  The fire holding me captive squeezed impossibly tight, like I might burst if he continued. I cried out, but no one would save me. No other Hunters had been at the Guild tonight and no other demons would be stupid enough to cross Giyano.

  “Insolence,” he growled. “Here. Take this as a reminder of what we’ve spoken of tonight, for soon you’ll see I’ve been right all along.”

  He lifted a palm and pressed it to one of my shoulders. Fire flamed but didn’t burn my skin. The heat and pain tore into me. My veins burned white hot—no, not my veins. My magik. It burned within me, twisting with the addition of his, forcing his magik into a space in which there was no room. The inner vessel holding my magik seemed to expand to accommodate his elemental magik but refused to bend too far.

  What was he doing to me? Why?

  “Stop,” I croaked.

  “Not yet,” he snarled. “I need to—”

  Lightning cut off his words, striking Giyano with enough force to knock him sideways, off-balance and away from me. The burning stopped and suddenly Ben was there, freed during Giyano’s fall. He kicked Giyano in the side as Giyano twitched, electrocuted.

  I looked up at Ben, my eyes wide and tearing up. I curled over as the fire in my veins burned hotter, twisting my gut. My stomach roiled and emptied.

  Ben laid a hand on my shoulder and swept back a lock of hair that’d fallen into my face. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

  I nodded, relaxing into his teleportante. After we landed first at Fire Circle Headquarters—somewhere not even Giyano was stupid enough to follow our trail to—then hopped again to home, I turned my face upward toward Ben. If he hadn’t been there to teleport us out of there… I wouldn’t have made it.

  “Nice shot.”

  “Lucky shot,” he said.

  “How?”

  Ben lifted up his hand, his pointer finger out of place. He popped it back into the joint and chuckled to himself. “I got lucky. If I hadn’t been able to move my hand that slight inch, I couldn’t have called lightning to me.”

  “Fire wielders don’t always have to call,” I said.

  His eyes narrowed. “You complimented me before. That sounds like a turn of conversation.”

  I shook my head as my stomach rolled again. “It was, but only because I think I can teach you to do that with lightning.”

  He shook his head, a relieved smile on his face as his eyes roamed over me. Like what had happened back there with my magik had been a lot worse than I thought. Maybe it was. “Do you ever stop training?”

  I wanted to shake my head, to tell him that if I stopped, the demons would win. But instead, the world darkened, my vision narrowing down to a single pinprick of light. Then the light was gone and I succumbed to unconsciousness.

  My magik still scorched.

  I DREAMED I stood in a ray of multi-colored lights, a rainbow of bright energy swirling around me. A clearing in woods made of earth and air. Ether. All the elements. I spun in circles, taking it all in, though it was impossible because everywhere I looked, something new popped up. A flame. A wave of water. A white light, a dark light. One emanating from within me.

  But then the flame
sprung forward and attacked, engulfing me whole.

  CHAPTER 12

  BEN

  Krystin writhed around for hours and the only thing the three of us could do was watch. We’d been trained as Hunters, but not really as magik-users, and Krystin’s issue—whatever it was—had started when Giyano had burned her.

  Nate sat by her side most of the night, stopping short of holding her hand. His brow creased as though concentrating. I watched him, waiting for whatever sort of deduction it was clear he’d made. But he remained silent, her guard for whatever she was going through.

  Finally, Nate relaxed from his stone-still position beside her. “It’s backfiring.”

  “What?” Rachel asked from her seat on the ground. She’d been resting against a wall for the last three hours.

  “Krystin’s magik.” He pointed to the mark on her shoulder that Giyano had created. It’d faded considerably, and I was pretty sure it’d disappear by morning. “That’s the only explanation. But it can’t be that bad if she’s still alive.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Nate turned his head to me. “They didn’t teach you what happens when you expend a considerable amount of magik compared to what you’re used to? Or when your body has to handle a mix of elemental and ether-based magiks? Which, by the way, it normally can’t do even in the small dose Krystin was given. This is so weird, guys.”

  I shook my head. “No. Doesn’t sound good, though.” I knew the whole spiel about bodies—human and demon alike—not being able to hold both elemental magik and ether magik at the same time. Bodies couldn’t handle it, and you’d… burn from the inside out. “Oh.”

  “Yeah,” Nate said. “Exactly. I should have figured it out forever ago, but it’s not like Giyano’s attacked us directly more than a handful of times. He’s never gotten close enough.” He reached out and held Krystin’s hand. “Her magik is ether-based. I felt it the night we met. I… can’t use her magik or anything, but I recognize it. Ether to ether. It looks like Giyano tried forcing some of his magik into her, whether to track Krystin or brand her, I’m not sure. But his fire is elemental-based. I can feel it corrupting Krystin, burning her from the inside.”

 

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