Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Acknowledgement
Everlasting
The Executioners
Copyright © 2019 by Vanora Belmont
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.
Cover and interior design by Dust Jacket Designs
No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.
Chapter One
The light from my palm revealed the broken glass on the dark floor. It shined like a thousand stars that illuminated the night sky. It didn’t at all resemble the dark confines of the school that remained vacant at that hour of the night. I turned back to give a glance at the remnants of the broken window, glass crunching like thin ice beneath my mud-dried boots. My hopes, like the windowpane, had been shattered. The old woman over the phone had been right; someone had definitely broken into the school.
I held my hand out to illuminate the corridor, but found only emptiness and closed doors. It gave me the usual feeling of unease, like something was waiting for me in the dark that may not be at my favour. I felt a strange twinge sour my blood. There was always something eerie about an empty school, especially at night.
I held my hand near the broken window again, trying to look for any clue as to what had happened, but failed to find anything. There was nothing. No skin, no blood, no fur. I couldn’t even smell anything.
I had an uneasy feeling in my heart.
In the distance, I heard someone call my name. I leaned over to look out the window, careful not to touch any broken glass. Zane walked towards the window, the glow from the lamp posts reflecting on his light hair. He was dressed in his hunting gear, his right sleeve ripped from his shoulder.
‘What are you doing here?’ I asked him as he got closer. It’s not like I wasn’t glad to see him. This sort of job was always better when you had someone helping you, and I loved Zane’s company.
‘Seems that tracking and hunting that werewolf was easier than I thought it was going to be,’ he said with a triumphant smile. I stepped back as he approached the window, allowing him to leap through. He landed in front of me with a small thump, glass cracking underneath his soles. ‘Thought I’d come and see if you needed a hand,’ he added. ‘So, is it kids playing a prank?’ He took a quick look around. Sometimes calls would be nothing more than kids being stupid.
‘I don’t think so,’ I said, using my hand to cast a light down the corridor again. ‘I think we should have a look around. Something doesn’t feel right.’ I couldn’t explain the feeling surging through me at this moment. I just knew that it wasn’t right and that we couldn’t leave until we had at least checked.
‘Alright,’ Zane said. ‘The police are on standby if it is kids.’ He pushed his hair away from his face, his iridescent eyes shining bright in the dark.
We started down the corridor, the only sound the squeak of our boots on the hard, glossy floor.
‘Can you hear anything?’ I whispered, hoping his advanced hearing may find a clue.
‘No,’ he said calmly. ‘But I might be getting a whiff of something.’ He stopped, taking a deep, steady breath through his nose.
‘Of what?’
‘I don’t know.’ His reply surprised me. What the hell did he smell, then? He knew the scent of every creature we hunted. ‘I’ve never smelled anything like it before. I think we should call for backup. I have no idea what we’re up against.’
‘Okay,’ I replied. ‘You do that. I’m going to keep going.’
‘Please be careful,’ he murmured. I couldn’t help but give him a soft smile. He really was a nice guy. I was surprised no one had snatched him up yet. With boyish good looks and a loveable personality, he got a lot of attention. The only thing holding him back was that he wasn’t human.
‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘If something happens, I’ve got ample defences.’ I wiggled my fingers at him, which were still pulsing blue light. I turned away and headed further down the corridor.
Knowing there was something else in the school with us, I tried to be quiet. But with my boots on, it was nearly impossible. Unlike Zane, I couldn’t rely on superhuman hearing and smell. I’d just have to be extra vigilant and try to stay focused.
As I moved further down my chosen corridor and deeper into the school, I could no longer hear Zane talking on his phone. The silence, like a cool breeze, sent goose bumps up my arms and a shiver down my spine. I shook it off and kept moving forward.
Grabbing a handle, I quietly pushed open the door. Peeking around the door I saw that it was just a normal classroom, nothing out of place. I moved on to the next room. Same. As I went for the third door, I heard a loud bang. Instinctively, I pulled my gun out of its holster and pointed it in the direction of the noise. I stayed still, listening to see if I could perceive anything else but all I could hear was my own breathing. After half a minute I heard something else. Faint footsteps coming from behind me. I turned to face Zane, concern etched into his features.
‘Yeah, I heard it,’ he said before I could ask. ‘Kace and Alex are on their way. Should be here in ten minutes.’
He stepped in front of me and I allowed him to take the lead. He had years more experience than me. Technically I wasn’t even a fully-qualified Executioner yet. I was still in training and would only be deemed qualified when our leader Kace said that I was ready. The past two years had been hard, but I wanted to prove I could do it, even if it took another two years.
We stopped outside of what looked like the canteen. Something was moving in there. Something big. Chairs and tables scraped against the floor; producing a horrible sound.‘Can you see it?’ I whispered not wanting to attract the attention of whatever was in there.
‘Turn your hand off,’ he said. I did as I was told, clenching my fist and watching as the blue light faded away. I trusted Zane. But now the darkness was overwhelming. I could barely see Zane in front of me as my eyes tried to adjust to the sudden change in light. ‘We’ve got a problem,’ he said. His voice held a note of uncertainty, a feeling I’d never seen from him.
‘What?’
‘I have no idea what that thing is,’ he said. I stayed quiet. If Zane didn’t know what it was then I certainly wouldn’t. I tried to look past Zane’s shoulder, but I couldn’t see it in the dark. I could just hear it as it bumped into furniture. ‘We better find out, though,’ he added, slowly pushing the canteen door open and sneaking inside. Uncertain or not, when it really counted, Zane had no fear. That’s why I would always trust him to have my back.
I followed, staying close behind him as we made our way to the right. He stopped as his hand reached out to the wall. The lights flicked on. White light flooded the room, stinging my eyes. Then I saw it. My breath caught in my throat. What the hell was I looking at? It was big and hairless with a large mouth full of teeth. It had three eyes, one on its forehead and on each shoulder. It stood roughly ten feet tall and had talon-like fingers and a tail like a dinosaur. It looked like a creature that someone had simply been thrown together. It was horrible and I had never seen anything like it.
&n
bsp; Without a thought to his own safety, Zane charged toward it. I watched in horror as the creature’s long arms grabbed hold of him. Roaring, it threw him across the room. The force sent him into the wall, stone and plaster crumbling behind him. He tried to recover quickly in the pile of rubble, but he was too late. The creature’s eyes had already darted towards me. After what I had just seen, I wasn’t giving this thing a chance to grab me.
I held up my gun, aiming for its chest as it was a wider area. I shot as it stomped towards me, chairs and table legs screeching across the floor as the creature tossed them out the way. A couple of bullets hit their mark, but the rest missed. Shooting had never been my strongest ability. It kept coming towards me and I dropped my gun. I would have to defend myself using my own means, but it was hard to concentrate while being attacked.
I dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding its talons as it swung a gnarled arm out at me. I tried to block its next attack with a force field, but the lack of tingling in my fingers already told me that it wasn’t strong enough. Its arms swung down, hitting my shield. The shield broke, breaking as if it had been made from eggshells. The surge sent me backwards. At least it hadn’t managed to touch me I thought as I rolled under a nearby table. It stomped its heavy feet on the floor as it attempted to harm me.
‘Hey! Over here!’ I heard Zane shout as I crawled out from under the table. Zane was now eyeing the creature with determination, ready for a fight.
Either it didn’t hear him or didn’t care. The creature’s focus was solely on me. It shrieked, picking up the nearest table and throwing it across the room. I watched as it hit the wall and broke into pieces.
Zane pulled out his gun and shot at its back, trying to take it down. His aim was excellent compared to mine, every shot hitting where its heart would most likely be. But it didn’t slow down. I had to dive under more tables to avoid being hurt.
Realizing the creature was unfazed by the shots, Zane switched tactics. He charged it, slamming his shoulder into its stomach. Even the monster as big as it was couldn’t withstand a hit like that. It flew across the room, flattening several tables along the way. Thank God for superhumans. Now there was enough distance between us and our opponent.
I rose to my feet. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. Concentration was the key to magic. I was out of practice, but I was still a witch. Magic was part of me. All I had to do was visualize what I wanted to happen. See it and feel it flow through me. What I envisioned was like rain. But unlike a normal downpour, every drop flew back up towards the sky.
As the creature moved towards me, I focused on my invisible screen. I pictured its strength and shape as I felt it spread through the room, engulfing it in a large, see-through bubble. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t getting out of this room. If we couldn’t kill it, at least I could keep it contained until help arrived. I watched as Zane grabbed it by the tail, pulling it away from me so I could concentrate on my screen. I quickly looked around the room and noticed a fire exit behind me.
‘Zane!’ I shouted as I reached behind me and grasped the cold metal handle. ‘Take my hand!’ I pushed the door open and walked backwards out into the cool crisp air.
‘What have you done?’ he asked, throwing the creature up against a wall. It shrieked as a blue, electricity-like light shocked its body, sending it to the ground. ‘A force field? Really!’ he huffed as he ran in my direction. The creature pulled itself up and started to charge after him.
I was careful to keep my hand inside the building as I closed my eyes so I could concentrate. But I also couldn’t watch. What if Zane couldn’t outrun it?
I didn’t want to think about it. I simply held out my hand and continued to wait. Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and slammed into me. I pulled him close as we landed in a heap on the concrete.
When I opened my eyes, the creature was struggling to follow us through the fire exit. But my screen kept it inside the building. Zane scrambled to his feet and slammed the door shut with a swift kick. Not being able to see us anymore seemed to calm the creature down just slightly.
‘That was too close,’ I said and took a few deep breaths, I glanced down at my trembling hands. I had never dealt with a creature like that. I was used to tackling vampires and werewolves, but this was something I hadn’t exactly been trained for. Neither of us had.
‘How long will your screen hold?’ Zane asked as he held his hand out for me.
‘As long as I concentrate it will stay up,’ I replied as I grabbed his hand. He pulled me to my feet. ‘I’ve never done one that big before, though.’
‘Considering you haven’t used magic in a while I’m impressed. Let’s hope it holds until we come up with a plan,’ he said. The sound of a car pulling into the school car park caught our attention. Relief washed over me as familiar faces joined us. Kace and Alex. With twenty years of experience under his belt, I knew our leader would know what to do.
‘What’s going on?’ Kace asked as soon as he stepped out of the car and walked towards us. He was dressed in his full combat gear, ready to work.
‘Anora’s got it trapped in the canteen,’ Zane said. ‘Kace, I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s nothing we’ve faced before. I can’t even describe it. You’ll just have to look.’ Zane pointed at the fire exit door.
‘Don’t walk through it,’ I said quickly as he made his way over to the door and pulled it open.
‘Holy shit!’ he exclaimed. Alex, who had followed swore under his breath.
‘Guess that means you don’t know what it is either,’ I said as it banged on my screen and shrieked, outraged that it couldn’t get to us. ‘Zane shot at it and threw it about, but it still just kept coming. It’s like a tank. If we hadn’t retreated we might not be here right now.’ I admitted.
I didn’t like to think about what would have happened to Zane if I hadn’t made the unconscious decision to get us both out. Could we have killed it? Or would it have killed us?
‘I noticed something else about it,’ Zane said. ‘I think it’s drawn to magic. It didn’t matter what I did to it, it just wanted to attack Anora.’ What he said was true, but was it my magic or had it just been a ruthless predator?
Kace turned away from it and closed the door. He wrinkled his brow as he mulled the scene over. We waited on edge, anticipating his plan.
‘The way I see it, we have no idea what we’re dealing with,’ he said. ‘There’s no point engaging something when we don’t know its weakness. I’m going to make a phone call and see if anyone can help us out with this problem.’ He replied pulling out his phone.
‘Try to make it quick. I can’t leave here. If I do, the screen will come down,’ I said.
‘I thought screens put up by witches lasted a long time,’ Alex said as his dark ink-like eyes met mine.
‘Only once you’ve mastered them,’ I said. ‘I don’t use my magic enough. Remember, it’s frowned upon. The government said I can only use it when my work needs me to.’
‘Sorry, I keep forgetting that they have different rules for your people than they do for us,’ Alex replied sadly.
Knowing I was probably going to be here for some time, I took a seat on the ground, crossing my legs to get comfortable. Alex had a point, though. At twenty-five-years-old my screen should have been unbreakable. But in order to get them to that sort of strength I had to practise, and I wasn’t allowed to practise magic whilst working for the government. If I was caught wielding magic outside of my job, I could get in serious trouble. I had heard what had happened to witches caught using their magic outside of their own homes. The Executioners were usually sent to deal with them. If they didn’t come quietly, they were often killed.
In a world run by humans, we had to follow the rules and laws they had made to make sure everyone lived as peacefully as possible. I was just glad I hadn’t been sent to kill one of my own kind. Yet. Superhumans where often drafted into helping the government. It was rare for a witch to become an Executioner. I sometimes wondere
d if I had made the right choice. At least I had made good friends through it. I smiled at the thought.
‘What are you smiling about?’ Zane asked.
‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘I just really like having you guys as friends, that’s all,’
‘Aww. Did you hear that, Alex? Little Anora is getting all sentimental on us,’ Zane teased, ruffling my already-messy hair. I swatted his hand away.
‘Don’t put her off, Zane,’ Alex scolded. ‘She needs to focus.’ A soft smile played on his lips. ‘Besides, she might be small. But I’m pretty sure she’d beat you in a fight.’
‘Damn straight,’ I said. Zane scoffed at the idea. We all turned to Kace as he walked back over. ‘So, what’s the news?’ I asked.
‘I explained the situation to Carson. He told our queen what I said, and she’s sending someone over to help. He’ll be here soon.’
Carson was a human that worked for the government, but he also worked for our queen. His job was to keep the two sides informed. He was a busy man, but the best person to call if you needed information from either our queen or the human Prime Minister.
‘Help how?’ Alex asked.
‘All I was told was that he’s a superhuman and that he’s had a run in with something like this before,’ Kace said. ‘Hopefully, he’ll tell us more.’
‘How’s he getting here?’ I asked, though I felt like I already knew the answer.
‘The queen is opening a portal for him. Probably be here in a couple of minutes,’ Kace said. That would mean that he would be with the queen right now. He was probably one of her personal superhuman guards.
I had always been happy to ignore the history between the Queen and I. My mind was racing, what would happen if this Executioner recognized me? What would that mean for my current position? Would my friends still like me once the secret was out…my secret?
‘Anora, your screen!’ Kace shouted, snapping me out of my thoughts. Damn it. I tried to put it back up, but it was too late. In my panic I had lost my concentration. I watched as the monster pulled itself through the small fire exit, the stone around the door cracking under the pressure. I couldn’t get up off the ground quick enough.
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