by Jessica Gunn
Sandra kissed me once on the cheek, then kissed the top of Riley’s head. “Thank you,” she said to me. “He’s here. That’s all that matters.”
If only.
“TELL ME EVERYTHING.” Sandra rubbed Riley’s back as he slept in his old pack-and-play beside the couch. She’d reached over the side, refusing to let him out of her sight. We’d fed him lunch, then she’d settled him in for a nap. He appeared to remember her as his mother but stopped short of calling her “Mommy.” I didn’t want to know if that was because Lady Azar had taught him differently or if Riley simply hadn’t wanted to say it for whatever reason.
“Sandra.” I sighed, shaking my head, and scooted to the edge of my seat. “It’s complicated, and it’s a long story. All you need to know is that I took care of it. I fought the bad guys who took Riley and I rescued him.”
“Bad guys?” she asked, brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
She must not remember. Two-and-a-half years ago, I’d told her everything. That demons had taken Riley and that Jaffrin had given me a chance to fight them. But she’d either forgotten or had blocked it from her memory altogether. It was the same night she’d kicked me out of her house—and out of her life.
Maybe things would be better off this way, with her half-memories of my quickly delivered words. I’d already made my choice.
I smiled, though there were absolutely zero happy feelings inside me. “Riley is safe… for now. This isn’t over. And I’m afraid that me being near Riley, being close to you, will make things bad again. So I brought these for you.” I dug into my jacket pocket and tugged out a stack of folded papers.
Sandra blinked, her eyes widening. “Ben, I don’t understand.”
“I know,” I said. “I told you once, two-and-a-half years ago, and you didn’t believe me. So you may not remember now.” I held out the papers for her to take, and she did, as my heart broke over the words I hadn’t yet said. “I’ve made arrangements for you and Riley to move to Canada—near your aunt’s place. You’ll have a house and money, and when he’s ready, he’ll have a fund for preschool and everything after that. Including college. You’ll be taken care of. The Canadian border should keep you two safe and nothing will ever happen to Riley again. Someone I trust will always be there for you two, watching closely. And I’ll be there at the first sign of trouble.”
Sandra’s lips moved, but no words came out. Tears welled in her eyes. “Ben…”
A lump rolled up my throat, bringing tears to my own eyes along with it. “Don’t, Sandra. Please. I know you lost trust in me after Riley was… But he’s back now, and he’ll be safe as long as you go to Canada. I’ll follow—if you want. But first I need to finish the job here. I need to make the city safe for Riley again.”
I looked over the arm of the chair and down at the pack-and-play. Riley was still sound asleep inside, a thumb in his mouth. It near killed me, the thought of leaving him again. Like my very soul had been cleaved in two. But no matter how hard I’d fought for him, searched for him for the past two-and-a-half years, no matter how much I loved him… I had to let him go. With his mother. To safety.
It was because I loved the both of them that I could do this.
The only action in my power to keep Riley from Lady Azar’s clutches was to hide him away. Out of all the human laws, for one reason or another, Darkness obeyed country borders. Both Jaffrin and I were counting on that holding up in Riley’s case. And if not, a team of Hunters would be stationed nearby. At least until I had enough power to end Lady Azar’s life along with her world-ending plans. Whenever that would be.
Sandra’s tears spilled over, running down her cheeks in streams. “I just got you both back, and now you’re telling me I need to move to keep him safe? And that you’re not coming with me?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and wiped tears from my own face. “My job’s not done here, Sandra. It’s best for him, for you, if I stay here and finish it. Then they can’t follow me to you, and Riley can’t get caught in the crossfire again.” I sucked in a deep breath and stood from the couch, then bent down and touched a hand to Riley’s back as it rose and fell in a steady pattern. To think that at one point I hadn’t wanted to be a father killed me. How could anyone not want this? I’d barely known him, barely been in his presence for most of his life, and yet… I couldn’t imagine life without Riley.
But he was alive. And safe. That was all that mattered.
Sandra stood, too, and grabbed my arm as I turned for the door. “Ben—you can’t just leave us. This is insane. If this is about your parents, about your father dying and your fear of following in his footsteps—” A sob cut off her words.
My fists balled at my sides, and it took everything within me not to admit that Sandra was right. Because she was. This was insane. And I didn’t want to leave now that we were together again.
But there were still demons in Boston. And a crazed woman with a plan to end the world by destroying Alzan.
“This is the only way,” I said as I kissed Sandra on the forehead. “A man named Jaffrin will be getting in touch with you regarding the logistics of the move.”
I took a few steps toward the front door, each an immense weight on my heart. Each another step farther from Riley. From Sandra. From everything that had existed before the Hunter Circles came into my life.
I turned to her when I reached the door and glanced over my shoulder. “Goodbye, Sandra. Once I slay the monsters, I’ll come back.”
“Or you could stay for good,” Sandra said, desperate but firm. Still trying to reach me past a decision already made.
“The world’s not safe for him yet.”
She smiled solemnly, as if she’d accepted our temporary fate. “So make it safe.”
I nodded slowly, determination setting in my heart. A faith I’d see this through. And like Krystin had said days before, faith was the only thing that separated us from the demons. “I will, Sandra. I promise.”
I didn’t break my promises, no matter how long they took to fulfill.
CHAPTER 27
KRYSTIN
Ben pulled into the driveway around 8 P.M. that night. We’d been waiting around for him to return. Jaffrin had summoned all of us to Fire Circle Headquarters four hours ago, even though he’d just seen Ben this morning. Something urgent had happened. Something incredibly important.
The team and I waited in the kitchen for him to enter the house, his eyes wide and concerned the moment they found ours.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “What happened?”
“Not sure,” Nate said. “Jaffrin’s summoned us.”
Rachel lay a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “How did it go with Sandra?”
Ben’s face fell through guilt and sadness straight through to solidified determination. “She’s keeping Riley for now. They’re going to head up to her Aunt Betty’s in Toronto for a while before moving elsewhere in Canada. She’s not going to tell me the location until they’re settled—if at all.”
Rachel frowned and hugged her cousin. “I’m so sorry, Ben.”
He squeezed her tight. “I’m not. He’s safer that way. I’ll let Jaffrin know and he’ll alert the Canadian branches. They’ll be watched while we figure this out.”
“At least he’ll be safe,” I said. I didn’t know much about the Hunter Circles branches outside the United States, but that didn’t mean they were any less efficient. The Circles had started in Mesopotamia anyway, spreading into Europe and eventually over to North America. “The rest we can work on.”
Ben nodded, eyes hard. “Exactly. Now, what did Jaffrin want?”
“He didn’t say. But I figured we’d better wait until you were back to go find out,” I said.
“Probably a good idea. Come on; let’s go.”
The four of us joined hands and used teleportante to get us to the lobby of Fire Circle Headquarters instantaneously. Lissandra, Headquarters’ secretary, jumped.
“Sorry,” I offered with a sm
ile.
She smoothed down the arms of her blouse. “Jaffrin will be happy you’ve arrived, however nerve-wrackingly you’ve done it.” Ben smirked as Lissandra called Jaffrin’s office. “Yes, they’re here. Okay. I’ll send them right up.” She hung up and set the phone down again. “He’ll see you straight away.”
“Excellent,” I said.
We climbed the stairs to the second story and made quick work of the hallway leading to Jaffrin’s office. The door was open, so we strode on in and stood around his desk.
“Ah, good,” he said, standing as we entered the room. His mauve shirt made him look a lot less menacing than usual. “You’re here.”
“We are,” Ben said. “What’s with summons? I was here nine hours ago.”
Jaffrin nodded quickly. “Yes. I’m sorry to call you back so soon.” His gaze fell to me. “There’s been a development in your situation, Krystin.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “A development? Which situation in particular are you referring to?”
“The prophecy.” Jaffrin reached for his phone and called someone in another room. “They’re here. Please send him in.”
Him?
“Jaffrin—”
“We’ve found him, Krystin,” Jaffrin said, eyes wide and ecstatic over the news.
“Him who?” Nate asked. “Is this about the Son and Daughter of Alzan thing?”
I nodded. “You found the Son?” My mind whirled. Where had they found him? Was he raised in another Circle, waiting for the day someone figured out who he was? With any luck, he’d be as up to par as I was with all of this stuff and we wouldn’t have to waste time on the basics. The faster we fulfilled the prophecy, the quicker we saved Alzan, the less time either of us would have to spend in the Hunter Circles under Jaffrin’s watch.
Jaffrin’s focus shifted to the hallway and he smiled. “Come. Meet your new team.”
“Wait a second—” Ben said.
Great. He’d added me without telling Ben three weeks ago and now he’d added another person? “This isn’t exactly the best time for this, Jaffrin.”
But even as we all turned to greet the newcomer, a tall, built man my age with long, dark hair, my heart did this sort of flip-flop motion. And when his brilliant brown and golden eyes met mine, a lightning flash of recognition zipped across my subconscious. Like we knew each other somehow, even though I’d never met this man before in my life. It wasn’t attraction, not love, not magik. It was soul-deep, but that’s all it was. A recognition.
The man strode in on unsure feet, his dark jacket falling off one shoulder, a plaid shirt beneath it, and a chain hanging around his neck. Dog tags. There wasn’t a lick of magik to him, though. Not like when I first met magik-users, or when I’d met my team and felt the power rippling off each of them.
Hold on. If the two of us were supposed to save Alzan from Darkness and Lady Azar, he had to have magik. That’s how the prophecy went. One Son and one Daughter with the power to save Alzan from Darkness.
Power. Power meant magik. But this man, this “Son,” was the plainest, most human person I’d ever met. He didn’t even have an aura.
“Jaffrin, I don’t understand,” I said just as he started to introduce himself.
“I’m Shawn,” he said. “Shawn Jacques.”
I spun to Jaffrin, questions swimming through my mind. If Shawn didn’t have magik, he couldn’t be the other half of this ridiculous prophecy. Was Jaffrin screwing with me because I’d led the team into Shadow Crest’s lair without permission?
Jaffrin smiled and clapped his hands together once. He didn’t seem to have a worry in the world, and that alone was enough to terrify me. “The Son and Daughter Named are reunited. Perhaps we’ll save Alzan and stop this war after all.”
I looked to my teammates, hands shaking, wondering if maybe this was nothing more than a bad dream. But they had no more words than I did. So I turned to Shawn and said, “Uh… hi.”
He smiled at me, this non-magikal human that was supposed to save Alzan with me. Somehow. It seemed impossible.
And to think we’d just gotten out of an impossible situation, even if temporarily, with Shadow Crest.
At least this time I’d have my team behind me, magik or not.
BOOK TWO: THE TRAITOR
ABOUT THE TRAITOR
I’m Krystin Blackwood, and one week ago my father’s murderer courted me with dark magik.
I’m still dealing with the effects of Giyano’s power and no amount of demon hunting seems to get rid of it. Never mind that I’ve been tasked with training Shawn, the newest member of our team of Hunters and the other half to the Alzan prophecy.
But Boston has bigger problems. After an attack at Hunter’s Guild, a place of neutrality and peace in this war, leaves countless dead on both sides, no place in the city is safe. And the only clue to the perpetrator points directly at the Fire Circle’s most-wanted and most powerful criminal.
If my team can’t track them down, the demon might destroy the Fire Circle… and the entirety of Boston with it.
CHAPTER 1
BEN
The demons in this area of town had been given one final warning: get out. Sure, the Fire Circle was led by an often-vague man, but he wasn’t inarticulate. Jaffrin had ordered the demons to move—end of story. Their den sat dangerously close to Cianza Boston, a geological magik point where forces of good and evil converged peacefully. Unless, of course, one side’s magik grew more powerful than the other and disrupted the balance. Now, it was up to us and the Fire Circle’s other teams of Hunters to keep the cianza from tilting.
“Let’s make this quick.” I pushed up my sleeves as my team and I crossed the street, then pulled out my knife from the sheath behind my back. “In and out; minimal chance for anyone to notice us.”
Rachel snorted. “More like you want to get back in time for the game.” My cousin glanced up at me with a smirk.
While it was true—football junkie, guilty as charged—that wasn’t my reason for hurrying us along tonight. Unlike the rest of my team, I had a second job assignment.
In the days since leaving my son, Riley, with his mother, Sandra, after retrieving him from Lady Azar’s clutches, I’d taken all the extra solo jobs Jaffrin had on his plate. It wasn’t normal and Jaffrin knew exactly what I was doing, and what I was trying to avoid—stagnation, even just a week of it—but he let me go anyway. Good thing, too, because after being home for longer than twelve hours without a patrol or solo Hunting job, I’d started getting on everyone’s nerves with my restlessness. One could only train for so long.
“Rachel’s right,” Krystin cut in, returning my thoughts to the task at hand. “I shouldn’t be this close to the cianza, guys. Neither should Shawn for that matter, magik or not. I’m surprised Jaffrin okayed this at all.”
“We weren’t supposed to be chasing these guys,” I said. “The demons were ordered to move out a week ago.” But one of our Hunters had caught them still in the area, hence our mission tonight.
When peaceful requests of removal went ignored, the Fire Circle had had no choice but to back it up with a show of power. And in this case, that meant Jaffrin had had to send us, one of the few teams that were made up of nearly all magik-users. And with my lightning, Krystin’s telekinesis, Rachel’s affinity for water, and Nate’s ether-shaper abilities, we could handle a lot.
“Is this something that happens often?” Shawn asked.
He was the newest member of our team. And, admittedly, I hadn’t been around enough to get to know him. Nate and Krystin had taken charge of training him after his graduation into the Hunter Circles last month. Avery’s team had reportedly found him nearly dead on Boston’s streets after a demon attack. And sometime during his training period thereafter, Jaffrin had discovered Shawn’s true destiny.
Shawn was the “other half” of the saviors listed in Alzan’s mysterious prophecy, Krystin being the first. Supposedly, two would come forth from the Powers to save the ancient city of Alzan should D
arkness attack again, as they had thousands of years ago. And until Lady Azar had tried turning Riley into a living power conductor, I hadn’t believed the prophecy might be true. But Lady Azar’s vile desire to use Riley had proved that not only was the city real and in danger, but that Krystin and Shawn had very little time left to fulfill that prophecy.
Which first meant finding the magik Shawn was destined to have but evidently didn’t possess. Not even a single drop of his blood or spirit was magikal.
I nodded to Shawn as we approached the dark building, all cement on the first two floors with full glass windows rising to the roof above it. “Demons don’t like being told what to do at all, much less by Jaffrin.”
“Funny because neither do I,” Krystin said as she tugged out her three-piece sword and snapped it into place beneath the shadows cast by the skyscraper.
I shot her a look. “Ignore Krystin’s penchant for insubordination.”
Krystin barked a laugh. “Please, Sparky. Like you love Jaffrin any more than I do.”
Nate cleared his throat. He held up an open palm. Huh. His ether-shaping abilities must have been invisible. His magik had grown under Krystin’s tutelage over the past month. I knew it was Jaffrin’s directive she train us in the magikal arts since Nate was the only one who had received outside training, but I hadn’t realized how much she’d done until just now. Most ether-shapers, demons or not, couldn’t make the ether they wielded invisible, not totally.
“Think we should get a silent move on?” Nate asked.
“Seriously,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes. “At this rate, you’ll scare them away with your bickering.”
Bickering. It seemed that was the only way Krystin and I got along for any length of time, but it suited us well.
I took up position beside a side entrance to the building. The demon den would be somewhere inside, probably toward the center of the highest floor. Sure, they’d set up shop nearly on top of Cianza Boston, but they couldn’t have been stupid enough to stay where they might have a direct connection to it.