by Jessica Gunn
“What’s the problem, Ben?” she singsonged. “Can’t find a way to hit me?”
“Hit you,” I echoed, shaking my head as I wiped my face. It wasn’t about hitting her. It was about tagging the wall.
“Yes. Hit me. That’s exactly all you can do right now to get past me to the wall. Hit me, Ben. With the best shot of whatever you’ve got cooking in that power of yours.”
No. Absolutely no way was I hitting Krystin head-on with lightning. Most of my opponents either had seizures and were unconscious for a good amount of time, or they simply died of electrocution. And I’d already hurt Rachel once by accident, years ago, when I was in a coma and shocked her with lightning.
No way in hell was I doing that to Krystin, not after so long.
She pointed a finger at my head. “See! That right there. That’s the hesitation I’m talking about. Stop thinking of me as a teammate, Ben. When we spar, I’m a demon. When we talk through scenarios, I’m a demon. Hit me with everything you have.”
She was crazy. Certifiably nuts. “No.”
“Do it, Ben,” she said, her words firm and unforgiving. “Light me up. Burn me with your lightning magik. Pretend I’m a demon. Giyano. Whoever.” She lifted her left hand, two fingers pressed together like a wand, and she started to move them through the air. She swung and my body slammed into the mats. “Do it now or I’ll keep smacking you down and you’ll learn nothing. Attack me.”
Every word sent a rock of frustration tumbling down my throat. I didn’t want to hurt her in any way. But…
There it was again. I assumed I would hurt her for whatever reason. But if I tried, if I really focused, maybe I’d control the power enough to ensure that it’d never happen.
I concentrated on the lightning, the strike that gave me my powers, and the magik flowing within it.
Krystin backed up a step, eyes widening. “There you go.”
Control. I had to control this or she’d be dead. Possibly me too. But my fear was gone. Or at least it was hidden away for now. I lifted my hands and held them up, watching the bright white lightning spark and sizzle.
“Now attack,” Krystin said.
I looked up from my hands to her round face. “I’ll hurt you.”
“You won’t,” she said. “Know why? Because you’ll have control. Finally. Go ahead.”
I pushed my arms forward and sent lightning straight at Krystin, full speed. She snapped the first half of the bolt out of the air with her telekinesis. The bolt soared into a nearby wall with the loud crack of stone splitting. She took her eyes off of me for one moment to look at the strike. I lifted my other hand and released a much smaller bolt of lightning, something small that’d almost burn. The bolt hit her arm and she squeaked as red bloomed across her skin.
I stepped back and watched her check her arm over, eyes wide. She hadn’t expected me to actually do it. I smirked. “Relax; you’re fine.”
“Right,” she drawled, fingers poking the now-forming welt on her arm. “You weren’t the one almost struck by super lightning.”
“I already did that once. I’m all set on repeats,” I said wryly as I walked over to her. Her arm looked like she’d been sunburned, but otherwise Krystin appeared to be okay. I hadn’t given that strike too much power.
She looked up from her arm and into my eyes. The shock of her bright blue irises hitched my breath. “See. That wasn’t hard, was it?”
I grinned as warmth lapped at my neck. Krystin was intimidating as hell, but I’d never turned down a challenge before. And for the first time in a while, I’d found someone willing to go toe-to-toe with me. “Guess not. You’re a good teacher.” I lifted a finger and ran it along her reddened skin. “We could call the healers back to take care of this.”
Krystin shivered, though the air was stifling and sweat glistened her brow. “I’m good. I’ve taken harder hits.”
Careful, you idiot. I hadn’t dated anyone since Sandra had kicked me out of the house. Hadn’t had time to even consider it. Then in came Krystin, fists up and swinging.
My heart pounded in my chest at that realization, so hard I thought it might fly out altogether. I forced my shallow breaths to deepen, to impart common sense before I lost myself to the heady way Krystin was looking at me. Like she and I were a hairsbreadth from making a stupid decision given our positions on the team.
Krystin’s smile faltered. She backed off a step, looked away and straightened. “We should go another round. You had control there, but you need more practice.”
I wanted to laugh. Her words were ironic. But I kept my mouth shut and nodded before taking my place at the starting line once more.
KRYSTIN and I had trained through the night, not speaking about whatever moment we’d had, until I’d worked on my control. I still hit with the full force of my power but in tinier bursts to smaller targets. And when we tired out, we slept and went back at it again in the morning. Over and over again for three straight days. At the end of it, Nate and Rachel had joined us until we’d managed to work as one.
I had to give credit where it was due. Krystin was good with magik. She knew how it worked, its intricacies and motives. Its ebbs and flows. It didn’t matter if she worked with Nate, a fellow ether-user, or with Rachel and me. Somehow, Krystin just got magik in a way we didn’t understand. But we were learning. It wasn’t a ton of prep work, but it would have to do for now. If we got Riley back, there’d be forever to study our magik. And even longer to fight the rest of Darkness.
At the end of the third day, we ordered takeout and sat around the coffee table. Papers and notebooks had been scattered across it in between pizza boxes and drinks. I tossed back half a beer, then focused my attention on the main list of information.
“So, we know the main chamber is round,” I said. “And made of stone, with a dais at the center.”
“That’s about all we know,” Rachel added. “Thanks to that video.”
“You can count on every demon in there to have powerful magik,” Krystin said. “Shadow Crest is a tough club to get into.”
“Okay. So one known room in the center of an unknown complex filled with powerful demons,” Nate said. “Sounds good to me.” His tone held a hint of doubt, but I couldn’t blame him. This was probably a fool’s quest.
Riley was worth it.
I leveled him with a look. “We’ve got this.”
He nodded. “I know. It’s… shouldn’t we at least let Jaffrin know what we’re planning?”
“That we’re going to go headfirst into certain death to save Ben’s son from Lady Azar?” Krystin asked. “Eh, no. You know what, let’s not tell him. I’d rather save the Fire Circle’s form of court martial for after we save the day. At least then it’ll be worth something.”
“We should take backup,” Rachel said. “If this goes south, we’ll want it.”
“If this goes south, the mission can be blamed on me wanting revenge,” I said. “Not the Fire Circle wanting to start a war. We have to go in alone.”
“This is utterly insane,” Nate muttered.
Krystin tapped a pen against her lips. “If we wait to move until the night before All Hallows’ Eve… there might not be many demons there, except for whoever they’ve got guarding Riley.”
We all looked to her.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“All Hallows’ Eve is the last night of the year all the celestial magik lines up correctly to change people into demons,” Krystin said. “I know the whole process is still a bit of a mystery to the Circles, but I believe it. Except for the solstices, it’s the one night out of the year that my magik soars. You might have felt it too and never known.” She nodded. “If, and that’s a strong if, I’m right, that’s our best bet.”
Rachel leaned forward, a pensive look curling her brow. “If you’re wrong, Lady Azar will kill us and then change Riley into a demon the very next night. And since we’re not telling anyone where we’re going, no one will be there to save him when we’re dead.”
“We can’t tell Jaffrin,” both Krystin and I said at the same time.
“How are we even going to get to Shadow Crest’s lair in the first place?” Nate asked. “Last I checked, no one knows where it is.”
I locked eyes with Krystin. “She knows someone who might know.”
“Might,” Nate echoed. He leaned back into the couch and ran a hand through his black hair. “Well then. If we’re operating on one hundred percent uncertainty, I’m in.”
“Me too,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes at Nate. “But only for Riley. And I still think we should tell Jaffrin or Avery. Or at least leave them a note or something for them to find if we don’t make it back.”
“We will return,” Krystin said. “I don’t have plans to die anytime soon.”
“Neither do I.”
I plucked my phone from my pocket and opened up the calendar. “We have two days until the night before All Hallows’ Eve. I say we keep training. Keep learning. Then rest the day before.”
Nate nodded while Rachel wrung her hands. I should have never dragged her into all of this two-and-a-half years ago. I knew that now. But once this week was over with, we could both run away from the Hunter Circles if we wanted. Seemed like that was Krystin’s plan anyhow.
“Sounds like a plan then,” Nate said.
Krystin grinned, an all-knowing glint shining in her eyes. “I know the perfect place we can go to practice your new skills.”
CHAPTER 19
KRYSTIN
Late afternoon sun followed us through the door inside Hunter’s Guild, two days after I’d gotten through to Ben. After I’d finally helped him realize that the amount of power he had didn’t come from anger, but from control. The same control he’d almost lost the moment we’d stood inches apart.
I’d almost lost control, too. Kissing your team leader is not the most brilliant of ideas. And yet, I’d almost gone and done it.
I shook out my shoulders as we walked, trying to work the memory out of my mind.
Not many demons were inside the Guild and even fewer Hunters. I didn’t recognize any of them, and this far out in Northwest New England, they could just as easily be Canadian Hunters as they could be from the western Earth Circle.
It’s better off this way. The last thing we needed was to be recognized. I had the distinct feeling Jaffrin knew something was up but not what. That seemed to be his general mode of operation. He’d called the house two days ago and asked us to assist with All Hallows’ Eve patrols around the city. Nate had hesitated to answer. There was a good chance we’d be dead before tomorrow morning, and I was sure that’d tipped Jaffrin off to something.
But without the location of Shadow Crest’s lair, there was nothing he could do to stop us short of sending a team to intercept. Except he hadn’t known how much our team had improved. It’d take a lot more than Avery’s gun-toting squad of normal humans to stop us now.
Drew looked over from the bar as soon as we walked through the door. The other upside to not many people being in here was he could tell us what he’d found without anyone hearing. As for the demons present, hopefully none would put two and two together after our attack on Shadow Crest.
Either way, my cousin might need to find a new job after tonight.
“Hey,” Drew said, waving us over to the bar. We met him where we wouldn’t be within earshot of any other patrons. “You’re early.”
My stomach dropped. “You didn’t get the info?”
“No,” he said. “Well, yes. I did. But that’s not why. You’re early. Why are you going before All Hallows’ Eve?”
“Because no one’s home, Drew.” I hopped onto a barstool. “Drink please?”
He reached behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. Pouring me a drink, he said, “Just be happy I found where that home is.”
Ben’s eyes lit up. “You did?”
Drew nodded and passed me the glass. “Oh yeah. A bit of a hike. It’s out in Northern Vermont, but thanks to Krystin’s penchant for whiskey and road trips, we’ve been to a place nearby.” He looked to me. “If you teleportante to Pop’s favorite distillery and head northwest for a good ten miles you’ll make it. Rumors say the residual magik is detectable up to three miles away.” He dug into the pocket of his apron and pulled out a piece of paper, offering it to me.
I glanced over the map. “It’s a straight shot from the distillery.”
Drew shrugged. “I mapped it that way. I’m not sure it’s an easy hike, Krystin. But if you’re going to get close without being caught, doing so on foot is the only way.”
Ben nodded. “We know. We’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? Because quite frankly, I think you’re all insane.” His gaze settled on me when he said, “Especially you.”
I patted his arm. “So are you for working here. Don’t worry. We will make it out of this alive.” He didn’t look so convinced. “Thank you for figuring out where their lair is. Will you be safe?”
He shrugged, a dark mask falling over his face. “I plan on leaving the country once I know you’re safe. I’ll call Jaffrin from there and admit my part in this. Maybe he can get me some sort of protection from the Ether Head Circle if your mission goes south. And if not, I’ll get to live out my Paris fantasies with my wife.”
I threw back the rest of my drink, then leaned over the bar counter to hug him. “Leave now,” I said into his shoulder. “Let me know where you are when you get there and I’ll send money and anything else you need.”
He nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Krystin.”
I pulled back. “No. Thank you. We’re going to do this. We’ll win. And when we come back with Ben’s son, you’ll get to come back, too. You did good by the Fire Circle helping us like this.”
He smirked. “Minus the whole AWOL thing, right?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah. That. Ignore that charge until we’re back, okay?”
“Sure thing.”
Ben reached over, offering his hand. “Thank you, man.”
Drew returned the shake, then wiped a towel over the bar. “Time for us to go. Be safe.”
“We will.”
WITH TELEPORTANTE AS OUR AID, we were at Pop’s favorite distillery in Vermont within seconds. The magik wall around Hunter’s Guild should have hidden our trail long enough for us to get long gone from the area. With only backpacks and our weapons, Ben, Rachel, Nate, and I left the small town the distillery called home and ventured into the woods in the Green Mountains.
The forest air curled around us, crisp and sharp, as mile after mile passed us by. When the town disappeared into the distance, lost among trees and rises along the mountainside, I knew there was no going back. Even if we got into Shadow Crest’s lair and only then discovered we were surrounded and doomed to die, any teleportante would be trackable. And if we led them back to Fire Circle Headquarters, Jaffrin would have our heads—if we won that fight.
Assuming, you know, that this wasn’t a wild goose chase to begin with. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a compass. Well, we were heading in the right direction according to Drew’s instructions, at least. So we marched on, not talking much. When we did it was about anything other than the mission at hand. No chance for jinxes or second thoughts.
Around sunset, my heart rate picked up speed. Like my body sensed something I didn’t. Anticipation and anxiety balled within my stomach, rising up through my throat until I wanted to scream.
Nate stopped walking, so abruptly that I almost slammed into him. “I don’t know about this.”
Rachel and Ben stopped and turned around.
“You feel it, too?” I asked him.
He nodded to me, lifting a palm. “The magik here, it’s a literal wall. I’m worried the closer we get, the harder it’ll be for me to control my ability.”
“Assuming they’re mostly ether-based magik users,” Ben said. “Right? What if they’re not?”
“Then I’ll be fine; I’d rather just say it now.”
Nate looked up at the sky, then straight ahead down the sort-of path we were following. Not exactly a trail but not dense woods, either. “They’re powerful. Incredibly more so than we thought. Than any of the Circles might know.”
“And we’re walking into their death trap,” Rachel muttered. “We’re the smartest Hunters around.”
“We will be fine,” I snapped. “We’ve come too far to back out now. And everything I’ve ever learned points to our hypothesis being true: there won’t be many demons there, not if they’re hunting transference energies for tomorrow.”
But in my heart, I knew Rachel was right. Giyano had been challenge enough. But I felt I knew him now, in some ways, better than I’d known some of the people in my life.
Or I was as crazy as Drew claimed me to be.
Probably the latter.
“Let’s keep moving,” I said. “Nothing worse than being a sitting duck.”
Another two miles passed us by as the sun finished setting and the full moon came out.
Oh shit. The full moon was one night away from All Hallows’ Eve? Jesus. An unsettling creep crawled down my spine like a long-legged spider. Slowly, touching each of its legs to my spine.
It wasn’t just Riley. It wasn’t about making demons. Lady Azar had something else planned. Something big and powerful and dependent entirely on the coinciding of these two events: a full moon and a sacred magik day. And whatever power Riley possessed that had made him a massive target to the Empire of Darkness.
“Krystin?” Ben asked. He’d been ahead of me before, but I must have slowed down. He jogged to my side. “You okay?”
I shook my head and sped up, passing Nate and Rachel. The last thing I needed was his concern, or another intense moment with him that might end questionably. He was our team leader and we were out here trying to save his son. Ben was about as unavailable as it got. “We need to get there faster. We need to save Riley before tomorrow night—”