Aurora Witch (Paranormal Hunter Academy Book 2)

by Rae Hendricks

  As I am led through the door into the sterile, white environment, I realize he wasn’t kidding when he said lab. This is nothing like a high school science lab where you have to wear goggles for the insurance of the school, but nothing ever happens.

  It's freezing, and there are at least a dozen people in here with goggles and lab coats, analyzing samples of who knows what. I am led over to one of these people in lab coats, a gurney waiting for me with a step stool in front of it.

  "This is the one?" the lab worker asks Eva, not even looking at me. I don’t know who is colder; Reyes or this woman.

  "Yes, she needs the full panel," Eva says, and if I am right, much of her cheeriness has now gone by the wayside. What would make Eva no longer be miss bubbly?

  "I'll see to it that it happens."

  I clear my throat, annoyed I am not even privy to a conversation that revolves around me and my fate over the break. Perhaps my fate for longer than that.

  "Sorry, Miss Graywood, is it?" the woman in the lab coat asks, and I give her a curt nod. The chill in here is suddenly not only made by the temperature. "We'll be putting you through a battery of tests the Magistrate has ordered in order to get to the bottom of what you are."

  "I thought it was pretty clear I had angel blood."

  "That may be, but there are a number of variables here. Even if that’s the truth of it, we have no way of knowing by just looking at you how much was given to you or how powerful it is. Angel blood is not like demon blood where it’s all the same. Depending on the power the angel has and the amount of blood they give you, it can do different things to your magic and your body. Besides, all we have to go on are old texts from when angels still made Aurora Witches. There haven’t been any in a long time. The Magistrate would like to see for themselves."

  As she talks, she is gathering supplies; gloves, bandages, vials, a needle... I guess we’re starting this by taking my blood.

  There are worse things she could do I suppose, but what if I am about to find out what those things are? She did say a battery of tests, not just one.

  "Relax your arm at your side and pump your fist a few times," she instructs. I do as she says, so far feeling like I am at a typical doctor appointment other than the fact I am getting a few looks from others, across the room, probably wanting to see what the freak half witch, half angel looks like.

  As she taps into my vein, a thought occurs to me. "So, this will tell you which angel did this to me?" I don’t know what I want her answer to be.

  I know that Adriel deserves to be punished for all he has put me through. The lies. The games. The fact that he tricked me and gave me his blood in the first place. But I don’t know what they will do to him if they find out. While I hate to admit it, I am not sure I could survive the thought of him going through hell, because I get him caught.

  The woman in the lab coat scoffs as she wraps up the spot where she drew blood. "If only it was that simple. I am sure you don’t expect angels to be handing their blood over freely for a database?"

  I shake my head, realizing the implausibility of it.

  "We will be able to tell if it is a high ranking or very powerful angel, but not so much which one it is. There are thousands of them. Less than there were before, but that’s not ruling out much. Now, hop down and I'll take you for the next test. We'll have these results back in the next 24 to 48 hours."

  Instead of taking me out the way I came in, she takes me through a back door to the lab, practically shoving me into some kind of glass room. The doors all shut, and I turn to look at the lab worker, wondering if this is one of those sanitizing rooms or something when a liquid begins to spray down on me, from above.

  It soaks right through my clothes but is strangely warm. When nothing else happens, it stops, and a speaker allows me to hear the woman. "Congratulations, you just survived a dousing in holy water. I guess you’re not a Blood Witch after all." She grins, and my eyes go wide.

  Sure, I know what I am because I know who did this to me. If they weren’t sure, why would they subject me to that?

  I want to laugh it off and believe it’s just a joke, but I know better. It would be the fastest way to know if I was right when I said I was not a Blood Witch.

  And one of the fastest ways to die.

  A million things go through my mind as I am led back to the elevator where Eva is waiting for me. I say nothing to her, and her nothing to me. This has me suspicious of exactly what it is that has her in this odd mood.

  She must know what this means I am going to have to go through. And just maybe she feels it’s wrong. The one person in this place that realizes that just because it’s the law, and for the greater good, doesn’t make an action less deplorable.

  Then I think about the way it works in the human world; how some people are wrongly convicted and spend years in prison; how some people get caught in the cross fire of police shoot outs. There are plenty of casualties in the world to ensure that the society as a whole can function properly and safely.

  It’s just logic.

  But sometimes, logic is easy to hate.

  "I think you've probably had enough for now. Why don’t you come stay and rest in one of our guest suites? Typically, they are used for members of the Magistrate, but a couple of them will be leaving for the holiday as soon as the trial is over."

  The trial! I almost forgot. "So, it’s still ongoing?"

  "Yes, though I should know any moment what the verdict is." She taps her headset so I know she is connected to the hearing in some way as she takes me up to yet another floor. This one is quiet and filled with...guards?

  They’re big men that walk back and forth patrolling the halls, so I can only guess that’s their job description. I now worry the same people that are here to keep others out are going to be just as skilled at keeping me in.

  Eva turns a key in one of the six doors in the hall and opens the room to me. I tell myself over and over, in my head, they have to let me go at least in time for school to start again, if not sooner. My uncle, no matter who he works for, won’t just let it go that I don’t get to come home at all, right?

  I don’t think even his loyalty goes that far, after all we’ve already been through.

  Eva mutters into her headset, while I look around the room that looks more like a bedroom in a palace than in the headquarters of a government building, in Utah.

  "The verdict has been decided." I turn back to Eva, my stomach dropping as if I already know it can’t be anything good. "Your friend, Jake, is deemed innocent since he has been at the school, but the rest of the family is under surveillance. His mother will have to stay in custody for a year, and then if she has good behavior, she can register as a Blood Witch and work for the Magistrate overseas."

  So, basically, they are all disgraced and banished. I guess at least she’s not dead.

  "It is a great mercy they showed today."

  "They seem to be handing out a lot of that lately," I say under my breath. "So, what now?"

  "Just wait here and make yourself comfortable. You should feel at home. Julian himself requested you take his room while here. You'll be brought meals on occasion, and you'll be taken for more tests in the morning."

  It feels a little comforting to know that Julian knows where I am, thus Kagan will likely know. Kagan may trust his father, but if anyone is not going to allow me to rot in here, it will be him.

  I take a deep breath as Eva shuts the door behind her and turn my thoughts, instead, to Jake.

  I reach in my purse, glad I still have it, and find that other than a few drops of water, my phone isn’t harmed.

  They didn’t say anything about outside communication.

  So sorry, Jake.

  It isn’t long before he texts me back.

  Could be worse. Waiting for the train now. You going to tell me what’s going on with you?

  I grit my teeth, not knowing if this is the right time to get into this. So, when else am I going to get to be honest with him?
He’s going to be bummed about his mom for a while.

  I meant to tell you, but it never seemed like a good time. I'm not a Blood Witch.

  What do you mean!?

  I am an Aurora Witch. My blood burned Dru. That’s how I found out. And then with your mother, I didn’t want to burden you.

  This is crazy. So, that’s what the Magistrate wants with you?

  Yeah, testing my angel abilities. But look, you can still have a good holiday. You'll love Vivi. I'll see you soon.

  Boarding the train. You be careful. I'll see you soon, Riley.

  I throw myself back on the bed and sigh with nothing to do but fall asleep even if it's nowhere near bed time. Stress will do that to you, though.

  ***

  You know that feeling you get when you are half awake and half asleep? You start to feel things in your sleep that are happening in real life, but you can’t place the sensation at all?

  It could be as simple as an itch or the fact you throw the covers off and now you’re cold, or it might be something more sinister.

  At first, the sensation reminds me of what it’s like when someone’s hands are on me like Kagan...or Adriel.

  A dangerous person to think about in any capacity, and yet I still can’t shake him from popping out of my subconscious all the time.

  Then; it’s a strange tingle, something that is out of place. A blanket tickling my leg. A bug, even? Though, I find it hard to believe the headquarters of the Magistrate has a bug. They likely spray for those things, or use a spell to keep them out entirely, for all I know.

  Then, a pinch, painful enough to wake me up.

  It hits my arm and then my leg on the same side.

  I sit straight up and feel the pain head on, looking down with a scream and wishing I was still in a dream so I could chalk this up to a nightmare.

  Not one, but three snakes slither among my sheets, two of them with their teeth locked on me.

  “What the hell!" I scream, shaking them off onto the floor before running for the door, blood dripping from the spot on my hand where the first one really sank its fangs in. I don’t even look back to see what kind of snake it is.

  Not like I am professionally trained in identifying snakes.

  Still dressed in the clothes I wore to the hearing and having no idea what time it is, my screams in the hallway are met by two guards assessing me, and then Reyes himself stops them short of taking me to be seen back at the lab.

  "I can take care of this, but thank you," he dismisses them, and I look into his eyes, pleading silently for his help. He could suck out the poison, if the snakes were in fact poisonous, and be not affected at all, considering he is a vampire. He would just have to be careful not to get a lot of my blood with it.

  "There were snakes...in my room," I say to him, showing him the bite in my hand and then on my leg. The one on my leg is starting to swell and sting more than before, and I can’t help but think whatever that snake was is bad news for me.

  "Yes, yes, I know. They will be removed now. Come with me." I try to follow him even with the pain in my leg making me slow and not wanting to put weight on it. By the time we make it to the elevator, I look down at my leg and see it is turning an odd shade of green and red, like it is infected.

  "Can't you suck the poison out?" I ask Reyes. All he does is take my hand where two puncture marks have dried up, and brings it to his face.

  "Interesting. This one does not smell of poison. A rattlesnake clearly does nothing to you. But that one," he points down to my leg, "looks pretty nasty. Let’s give it a few more moments and see what happens, and then I will suck it out if I must."

  I gape at him, unable to hold back my emotions with my body already on edge from the pain.

  So, he knew about the snakes, possibly even had them put there. Another test? To see if I could survive snake poison. And what if I can’t?

  We step off the elevator on a basement floor, one I am sure I am not even supposed to know is there. I am led into a chamber of what looks like prison cells covered in glass. Some are padded on the inside, some are only glass, and others are covered in metal. What is this?

  I wish I had brought my cell with me, but I have no contact with any of the outside world now as I am put in the one of the glass rooms, though the door is left open with Reyes watching me, from a few feet away.

  Feeling exposed, I stare at the ceiling and try to ignore the pain in my leg, which at least for now is no longer getting worse.

  Hopefully, that is a good sign.

  Instinctively, my hand finds the blue pearls, underneath my shirt, that I barely ever take off - the ones that Kagan gave me. It is the closest I have to a protector in here while I go through this, and I hang onto them like a promise that I will see him again and it will all be alright.

  "Well, look at that," Reyes says, pulling me away from my frightened and lonely thoughts. He walks up to me, bending my neck over. I don’t fight him. I don’t think I could.

  He sinks his fangs into me unforgivingly and sucks some of my blood, but not much. Just enough for a taste, and then hisses as he pulls his face up.

  There is steam coming from his mouth, but he doesn’t seem to be as bothered as he should be.

  "Your blood has maintained its potency even while under attack, and it seems like even if it takes some time, you can heal from one of the most poisonous bites on Earth." He points to my leg. I see that even though it is still a little swollen, the color is quickly returning.

  I rack my brain for what snake he might be referring to, but I can’t think of it, and he leaves the room, locking me in. "I think we might as well move onto the next test."

  His expression is unreadable, but I swear I catch the hint of amusement in his tone. Is he enjoying this?

  I guess our dark sides make us all weak.

  "What’s the next test?" I holler through the glass, but I don’t have to wait long to find out as the room bursts into flames, and I scream as my flesh burns.

  Chapter Three

  I pull my blanket around me and confine myself to one corner of the bed, the furthest from the door, jumping at every sound that I hear.

  Two days I spent locked in that glass room, being doused in more holy water, being tested with both regular fire and Hellfire to see just what I can live through; to definitively prove what it is that I am.

  If it isn’t clear by now, it never will be, and yet I am still being held here.

  My clothes are ruined, though my necklace seems to be intact. My hair; I have been able to repair it as well as my skin, though nothing is more excruciating than coming in contact with Hellfire when you have angel blood. It is the one thing angels are most vulnerable to, just as demons are vulnerable to angel blood and holy water.

  I almost burned alive in there before the Magistrate and Reyes understood that it was the one thing I wasn’t going to be able to come back from.

  The only thing that keeps my head held high when they come in this room, to give me food or ask for more blood or another test, is the fact that I have now heard from Kagan. His holiday with his father in his home town is being cut short.

  Both of them are at least somewhat aware of what’s going on with me, and Kagan wants to be the one to pick me up when I get to leave, which he assures me, is tomorrow. But I can’t believe it until I see it; until I see sunlight again.

  I know I seem like a coward. It’s something I never thought I would be again, after begging for my life to my uncle like a weakling, but this is enough to break anyone. If I didn’t know any better, I would believe that was exactly what they were trying to do to me.

  I think I drift off close to dawn only to have a knock come at the door. I throw the covers off and slide toward the center of the bed.

  Even though I am shaking like a leaf, I don’t want anyone in this place to know how they’ve affected me. Not only do I not want to give Reyes the satisfaction of it. I also know that if I am going to become a hunter like my father was, I am going to
have to be okay with pain and fear. It comes with the job.

  Maybe I will look back on this one day and be thankful for this, because it made me a strong and invulnerable hunter.

  It is Eva that comes in, and she looks almost apologetic as she looks at me in my clothes - borrowed from The Magistrate and hanging loosely on me. It is one step away from a prison uniform.

  "There is one more test for you, Miss Graywood," she says.

  "And then I can leave?"

  "Yes, your ride is already waiting for you."

  I smile at that for the first time in days, knowing that I get to see Kagan. I know that his snarky attitude will have me forgetting about all of this in no time.

  At least I can hope so.

  I get up and follow Eva, knowing that the sooner I get the next bit of torture over with, the sooner I can leave this all behind me. There will be no more reason to test me to my limits and see what I am. They will know and can leave me alone to learn what I am.

  "I'll be sure your things get packed up and put in the car," Eva tells me with a smile that is more genuine and kind than I have ever seen from her. I have to say I have grown fond of this more human side of her, over the past few days. She has been the only constant that showed sympathy for me, at all.

  "Thank you. Oh, did the blood results ever come back?"

  "Oh, yes, I thought you were told. The angel that gave you blood, or at least the one whose blood you consumed, was a high ranking angel. Possibly even an archangel. You are a very powerful young woman."

  Not that I am that surprised considering Adriel was an angel chosen to be a part of the Magistrate. Of course, he was high ranking. But an archangel? If that’s the case, our relationship really was doomed from the beginning.

  "Thank you," I tell her as I am led away by Phaidra this time, another member of the Magistrate. In her arms she carries her familiar, a black cat whose eyes glow brighter than any cat’s, I’ve ever seen. It makes me miss Jinx a little, who was sent ahead of me home to Vivi so he could see her sooner than later. I didn’t want to try and find him a place to stay during the trial.