by Jessica Gunn
Krystin tensed beside me. “What is their obsession with trafficking witches right now?”
Avery peered over his shoulder quickly, masking the action by flagging down our waitress for another drink. Before she arrived, he asked, “Isn’t that what demons in this area do? Kidnap people?”
My fist curled around my beer. “Doesn’t mean it’s right.”
“Obviously,” Avery said. “Nothing we can do about it in here, though.”
“Bullshit.” We could tell someone. Or follow them out, confront the demons, help the witch by providing a distraction, but he didn’t have many options. And, as much as it killed me to admit, neither did we. Without getting out of the building and away from the range of the protection magiks keeping things civil in here, the witch wouldn’t be able to teleportante to freedom. And inside, none of us could use our abilities to fight back. Outside of that barrier and you were looking at a brawl.
“I’m not walking away,” Krystin growled at Avery. “This is wrong. Hunter’s Guild is neutral ground.”
“Nothing’s neutral in this war, Krystin,” Avery said as the waitress approached. He paid her for this beer, too, and gave her a wink. She rolled her eyes and retreated from our table before I could apologize for Avery being a dick.
Krystin pushed her drink his way. “Shove off, Avery. You’re an asshole. How the hell are you the leader of the flagship team with an attitude like that?”
Oh, here we go. Sure, I’d come out here to help Avery, but that didn’t mean we were normally friends. And if Krystin was in for a brawl, I supposed I’d have to take her side by principle.
Avery held up his hands. “I’m just saying. There’s a whole lot of woods between them and safety if they don’t let us back inside the Guild after we act.”
She rolled her eyes. “Retreat must come easy for a non-magik-user like you.”
Avery’s eyes cooled, his lips pursed. His fingers twitched toward what I was sure was a gun holster at his hip. Weapons were allowed inside the Guild. You just weren’t allowed to use them.
“Back off,” I said, watching the demon group more than my fellow Hunters. “Both of you. Looks like they’re getting ready to move. Should we follow?”
The group of demons and the captured witch stood and walked toward the door, the witch dragging his heels as much as possible. We, along with other onlookers who looked equally not ready to act, watched as the demon holding the chain yanked it, pulling the witch forward.
“He’s a Cassano,” Krystin said. “Shit. I can feel it.”
“Can you ID him?” Avery asked as we also stood.
I held up a hand signal. Hold. “Krystin?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t seen him before, but—look!”
As the witch was pulled forward, his shirt rode up his back, where a Water Circle knife had been sheathed. The demons were so sure they’d gotten the witch under control that they hadn’t bothered taking away his weapon. Which meant the witch still had a chance.
“We have to help him,” I said.
Krystin nodded. “So let’s go. We’ll follow their trail.”
Avery hesitated, looking between us and then back to the door, which the group was now hurrying through. “You sure about this?”
Krystin shot him a look. “Yeah, unless you think you can’t handle it?”
Avery’s eyes hardened. “Okay. You’re on.”
We followed the group out the door but gave them space as we all reached the woods. A path led straight from Hunter’s Guild into the dark, tree-laden area. We walked down it, following their footsteps without seeing them in the dark, until Krystin stopped.
“Here,” she said. “The teleportante trail starts here.”
“Good. Let’s go.” I held out my hand and she took it, followed by Avery. “Bring us there, Krystin. Avery, get ready to attack. Who knows what we’re going to find.”
Hopefully not what we had found the other night—a house in the middle of the woods filled to the brim with demons, including Tatiana Viynar.
Krystin teleported us to a new location, following their teleportante trail. We landed in the middle of more dark woods, sure enough, outside of that same house from the previous night.
Krystin placed her hands on her hips. “Well, then. Guess we’re not going in after all.”
I frowned, stepping closer to the house. “They might not all be home.”
“Look,” Avery said as he drew two of his guns and readied them both with silencers, like some stupid action movie. Guns were so cheap. And dangerous. “They’re not inside yet.”
I bit my lip, watching the group approach the door. We only had a few seconds to act or not and… “How fast can we get in there and save the witch before they call for backup from inside the house?”
Krystin shook her head. “Not fast enough, I’d wager.”
“Good thing I’m a gambling man,” said Avery. “You wanted to save him? Let’s do it. We only have right now to act.”
I shifted my weight from one foot to another. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Lightning sparked in my palm on my command, growing into a glowing ball of electricity and power. Krystin drew her Fire Circle knife and stood beside me. I grabbed her hand and she placed her free one on Avery’s shoulder, then we charged.
One teleportante landed us directly behind the group of demons, which Krystin pushed away from the witch with her telekinesis. She came up short, one hand on the witch, and the other holding demons back, though one took a swipe with a blade before she’d gotten to him. Red bloomed across her shoulder as the slice split the arm of her jacket.
I threw my lightning ball at the closest two demons, who’d fallen in a huddle in the snow with Krystin’s attack. Two soft clicks went off as Avery shot one demon, then two more clicks as another fell to the ground, both with bullets in their heads.
He crouched as a third demon, this one taller than he was, attacked him and was forced to block hand-to-hand attacks. I slid around my current attacker, cracking an elbow into the demon’s temple before frying him with lightning, and kicked Avery’s demon in the side. Suddenly, the demon lifted up into the air and then sailed into a tree, impaled on a tree branch, with something gold glittering around his neck.
Wait a second… no. I peered closer, as well as I could through the nighttime darkness. “He’s Shadow Crest!”
Their medallion dangled at his chest, the chain it rested on twisting in the moonlight.
I looked around. Krystin stood, one hand raised as though holding the demon impaled to the tree in place. Her other hand clutched her Fire Circle knife.
“Look out!” Avery yelled as Krystin almost spun right into the last demon.
I shot out a lightning strike, freezing and burning the demon in his tracks.
Krystin looked up at me, thankfulness shining in her eyes. It lasted for a single moment before she turned, grabbed hold of the Cassano witch she’d saved, and ran with him to Avery and me. We joined hands and used teleportante to bring us outside Hunter’s Guild once more.
“Coming here should dilute the trail enough,” she said, though I had doubts considering she’d followed the demon’s trail well enough to find them. We used teleportante a few more times, jumping around to Boston, then Vermont, before landing at Fire Circle Headquarters.
The Cassano witch tore his hand out of Krystin’s grasp when we landed, sputtering his words. “You shouldn’t have done that. You shouldn’t have gotten involved. They’ll figure it out and they’ll come here and—”
“Save it,” Avery said, jumping in on Krystin’s behalf before I’d even processed the witch’s words. Shouldn’t he be happy we’d saved him?
No. He was right. The reasons he listed were all reasons we’d backed off saving the Ember witches the night before.
“We had to,” I said. “They were Shadow Crest, not Landshaft bounty hunters. We’ll be fine.”
“Except that’s the same damn house from the other night,” Krystin said
. “Tatiana Viynar’s hideout. We’re screwed.”
I shook my head and paced away, trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together. I froze, my pulse thudding loudly behind my ears. I looked up at Krystin. “Maybe Lady Azar has got Shadow Crest working with Tatiana Viynar; maybe she has her looking for Riley. Lady Azar is still after my son.”
Krystin’s eyes widened, her face paling. She didn’t have to say it.
If Jaffrin wouldn’t update me on Sandra’s whereabouts, on her safety, I’d go up there and take Riley back to Fire Circle Headquarters myself. Canadian non-demon border be damned to Hell and back.
I ran up the stairs to Jaffrin’s office and banged on his locked door until my knuckles bled.
“He’s not here,” Krystin said from behind me, quietly, slowly. “Ben, you have to wait until morning.”
I spun on her, rage boiling dangerously close to the surface. “That bitch is still after my son. No way in hell am I waiting until morning. We just got him back. I’ll keep her away from him or die trying.”
“Because that’ll help the situation,” she said dryly.
I sucked in a deep breath and felt lightning sparking around my fingers.
Krystin’s gaze dropped to the mini-lightning strikes. “Cool it, Ben. I’m not the enemy.”
“No,” I said. “But Lady Azar is. And she won’t survive the week.”
CHAPTER 12
KRYSTIN
Ben’s statement was a bold one, and I knew we’d never see it through. But still, we called Jaffrin in and told him what we’d found. Avery related the story, how he’d asked Ben to accompany him and what we’d discovered. That was when Jaffrin pulled Ben aside to video conference with Sandra and Riley.
I stood off to the side, watching them. I didn’t have to stay, but Ben had asked me to, whether for moral support or to keep him from throttling Jaffrin, I wasn’t sure.
“Hey, buddy,” Ben said, his hand pressed to the large television screen. “You doing okay up there?”
Riley nodded, grinning. “Yup, Daddy!”
Ben laughed, though his back remained rigid. “Good. I miss you guys.”
Sandra sat behind Riley, bitterly staring Ben down like this was his fault. But it wasn’t—not all of it. Even after two and a half years of training and experience, I doubted Ben could take Giyano with a group of demons at the same time. Or even one-on-one. That bastard always seemed to have something up his sleeve to escape.
And yet I’d constantly sought him out anyway. I shifted uncomfortably, swallowing tightly. Eventually, I’d have to tell Ben what I’d been up to. I dreaded having that conversation.
“We’re fine, Ben,” Sandra finally said. She had her hair up in a loose bun. It was still early in the morning, clearly before she’d had a chance to put herself together. But the stern, unforgiving face she gave Ben seemed to be an everyday thing.
I didn’t really blame her. She hadn’t asked for any of this. None of us had. But her especially.
“Good,” Ben said. He glanced over his shoulder at me, his expression unreadable. His thoughts, too. Then he looked back to Sandra. “I just wanted to check in.”
“Everything okay there?” she asked, though it was clear she didn’t really want to know.
I was happy to be off-camera. Ben had gone to great lengths to keep them safe, but Sandra didn’t know the truth. Not all of it. So to her, even though she’d gotten Riley back safe, she must have been so confused and hurt by Ben making her move to Canada, essentially without explanation. I felt for her. But I wasn’t sure that in her place I’d care. The father of her son had done what he’d had to in order to ensure their son would never be taken again, and that was that.
At least we hoped. After tonight, I wasn’t so sure.
My heart broke for Ben as the call wrapped up, ending with Riley telling Ben he loved him. After the screen went dark, Ben stood there, hands on either side, fingers digging into the wall. I feared he’d actually break through wood with the anger and other emotions rolling off of him in waves.
I looked away to give him space, but it did little good. It wasn’t his thoughts I heard this time, but his emotions, each hitting me one after another. Rage. Guilt. Shame. Love. Heartbreak. Utter heartbreak.
I closed my eyes and tried to block him out, this man who had somehow gotten past my carefully-constructed mental wall.
Jaffrin broke the silence. “I told you they were fine, Ben.”
Ben’s hands curled into fists. “But for how long?”
“We can move them again, if you wish,” Jaffrin said softly, ever the diplomat.
My ass. I stood from my chair and closed the distance between Ben and me, making myself a shield for him against Jaffrin’s indifference. Indifference he had to have, to give him credit, in order to lead the Fire Circle. “We’ll make sure no one gets Riley.”
“Then we need to kill Lady Azar,” Ben growled. “It’s the only way. With her dead, Shadow Crest falls. Maybe Landshaft, too.”
Jaffrin whistled. “That’s a tall order.”
Ben spun on him. “It’s the only one I’m interested in. If you’ve got something else in mind, fire me the hell from this job right now.”
Before Jaffrin could react, I stepped between them and pressed my palm against Ben’s chest with a little light telekinesis action. “What Ben means to say is that we’re going to take today off to gather ourselves, and then we’re going to wait and see what information Avery and you continue to dig up about this situation as a whole. Kinder. Lady Azar. Landshaft. All of it. Because it’s gotta be connected and it’s high time we figure that connection out. Right, Ben?”
Ben gnashed his teeth together and, beneath my fingers, his chest muscles constricted. His skin felt hot to the touch, even beneath a layer of clothing. Shit. If he went full Hulk-mode, I wasn’t sure if I could stop him from wringing Jaffrin’s neck. I also wasn’t sure I cared too much about that.
I blinked, clearing the thought from my mind.
“Yes, Krystin,” Ben said through gritted teeth. “That’s what I meant.”
“Good,” said Jaffrin, pretending to have not heard Ben’s outburst, though his own jaw was clenched. “See you tomorrow. Check in then.”
I turned Ben around and nearly pushed him out the door. After I shut the door behind us and we’d gotten into the hallway, I grabbed Ben’s arm.
He spun fast, knocking off my touch. “Don’t. Not right now.”
I lifted my hands in surrender, and he used teleportante to bring us both back to the team’s townhouse so we could tell them what we’d learned.
“YOU KNOW WHAT?” Rachel exclaimed the moment Ben’s explanation of recent events had ended. “We need to de-stress the hell out. Go bowling or something. Right now.”
Everyone turned to her, deadpan. Was she serious?
“Lady Azar is after us again,” Nate said. “What about that screams ‘night off bowling’ to you?”
“All of it,” she said, her eyes fierce. “We’re all losing it. We haven’t had fun in weeks and, last I checked, we all slept through the day, which means no one’s sleeping tonight.”
I sat back onto the couch cushion, my knees only inches away from Ben’s. He hadn’t spoken a word since the debriefing. “I don’t know, Rachel.”
“I don’t think she’s wrong,” Shawn chimed in. “A little R&R might help.”
“We’re already targets,” Nate said. “The last thing we need is to be out in public.”
“As opposed to clustered together inside of our home which, by the way, Lady Azar already knows the location of?” I asked. “Or did we all forget the body she sent us weeks ago?”
“Enough,” Ben snapped. “Rachel’s right. If nothing else, I need to get my head screwed on straight. Which means I need to forget about this shit for a while.”
Nate shot him a look. “This is ridiculous.”
Ben shrugged. “Maybe. But it’s all I’ve got right now. So, if the others are game, let’s do it. One night
off. Just until they close.”
Shawn checked his watch. “In three hours. It’s 11.”
“Good,” Rachel said as she pulled Nate off up the couch. He fought it as best he could, becoming deadweight, but she managed it well enough. “That’s plenty of time for a few rounds.”
“All right, fine,” Ben said again. “Let’s go.”
I followed them out the door, for once going on foot instead of teleporting.
WE WALKED through the front doors of the closest bowling alley twenty minutes later, although it was sketchy as hell. The lanes were old, the benches falling apart, and virtually no one except the staff was inside.
“School night,” Rachel answered as if sensing my question.
“Still, this place is deserted.”
“Good,” Shawn said as he swung past us to the front desk. “No one will be here to see me take on all of you.”
“What, you’re good at bowling too?” I asked.
“Better at it than magik, I hope,” Ben muttered.
Shawn spun back and winked at me. “You nervous or something?”
“Absolutely not.”
We signed in and grabbed shoes and a scorecard, then headed to our lanes. Shawn and Nate versus Ben, Rachel, and me. This was sure to go splendidly.
Except both Nate and Shawn had clearly bowled way more in the past than they’d let on.
“Are you serious?” Ben shouted as Nate rolled his fifth strike in a row.
Nate grinned back, wide and proud. “Damn straight.”
Rachel laughed and laid a hand on her cousin’s shoulder. “Not everyone can be good at every sport, Ben.”
Ben wrenched a bowling ball off the return machine and walked up to the line for his next turn. I laughed with Rachel, watching the ball split his pins right down the middle. Ben groaned and threw his head back.
“Try not to roll it so cockeyed next time,” Nate offered.
Ben shot him a glare as he grabbed another bowling ball.
“Okay, I need a drink for this,” I declared as I stood. I needed the drink both to deal with the guys’ ridiculousness and because it still didn’t feel right to be having this much fun after everything that’d happened. Like I was constantly looking over my shoulder for the next thing to go wrong. “Anyone else want something?”