Soulhunter Academy

by L. J. Swallow

  “Well, seduction techniques are what you used last time you humiliated me,” I retort, attempting to loosen his grip on my wrists.

  Daniel drops my hands and strokes my face with the back of his hand. “This time I meant it. I wanted to kiss you.”

  “What the hell? Stop screwing with me!” I push his hand away and edge towards the door.

  “Wait!”

  “Leave me alone.” My head is fucked. Earlier today, I almost died at the hands of a demon. Then I overheard a conversation that I need controlling or they’ll let me die. I can’t cope with anymore, especially not the actions of a man who fluctuates between helping me and taunting me.

  As my hand touches the door handle, Daniel grabs my other arm and spins me around. “This is the last chance I’ll have. Everything is over.”

  I attempt to move again, but his fingers dig into my arms as he holds me tightly. Daniel’s breath comes in short bursts to match mine.

  “What is?” And why the hell is my voice hoarse?

  “Your training.”

  But I don’t think that’s all he means. “And my life?”

  He releases my arm and places his rough fingers on my cheek. “Who are you, Ava? Who will you be? Frightened Fated girl or a fighter and survivor?”

  I can’t answer, but I can show him—I throw a punch in his direction. Daniel anticipates and pushes me to deflect my attack. I sway, then relaunch my assault attempting to trip him, but he’s chosen a better stance than me, and I can’t knock his stability.

  “Ava. Think about what you’re doing. Anticipate my next move.”

  I fail, and he seizes me around the neck then drags me towards him. Twisting to one side, I grab Daniel’s loosening hands and dig my nails into the skin. I jab one elbow in his neck, and he releases me with a gasp. Holding his throat, Daniel’s eyes glint as he watches for my next action.

  I attempt to mirror his stance, but he’s too quick and kicks my legs from under me. I slam to the floor, my spine hitting the hard wood and adding to the aching from the fight with the demon. Focusing on combatting the pain that’s squeezing tears into my eyes, I misjudge Daniel’s next move. He straddles me, pinning my arms above my head and his chest falls and rises as rapidly as mine.

  Daniel overwhelms and confuses me. Nothing he does helps with my training—all he’s done the whole time I’ve been here is make life harder.

  But I understand why now.

  I shift my head and gaze back into his dilated pupils. I know what he wants, and he’s pretending to help me in order to get it. I part my lips as I fight the weight and heat of his body on mine.

  Daniel releases my hands and leans forward to take my face, calloused hands holding my cheeks. “I spend my life training soulhunters, Ava. Boring, clueless Fated. Outside of this academy, I have no life. I’m as bound to this world as you are.”

  I stare back into his strange coloured eyes, aware of nothing but my skin heating and heart thumping.

  “Occasionally, someone like you arrives.” He moves a hand to trail a finger along my cheek.

  I can’t cope with this kind of attention. I want him to let me go. But I don’t. Now my arms are free, I could fight back, but the only fighting is within myself, against touching his face in return. “Okay. You win.”

  Daniel doesn’t respond. He climbs from me, and I take a deep breath as his weight leaves my body. He holds out a hand, eyes fixed on mine the whole time. Should I take his hand or push myself to my feet and run the hell out of this room? “Ava. I’m sorry, okay?”

  I take his hand, and he yanks me to my feet. “For?”

  “Being too tough on you. You distract and disarm me, and that isn’t good for either of us. I have a job to do, and I hate that I’m sending you to your death.”

  I reel at his words. “You think I’ll fail?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t die, and you’re a little like I was when I first started hunting. Maybe that’s why I like you.” The soft words pierce my barrier, and I’m no longer sure he’s doing this as a line of attack because the sadness in his eyes disarms me. “I wish I had time to really know you, but our life isn’t like that.”

  Before I realise what’s happening, he holds my cheeks and touches my lips with his.

  I jerk my mouth away, but when I look back to him, I know there’s no point. Not because he’ll take something I’m not willing to give, but because I want this.

  I want him.

  This man can fill the aching emptiness I carry inside, and for a fleeting time, I can allow in every emotion I intend to kill the moment I leave this academy. I’m sure Daniel’s motivation isn’t anything outside of lust, and that I mean nothing more to him, but I don’t care.

  Everything is transient in our world.

  I move my face and brush my lips on his. Daniel’s crush mine and his kiss snatches the remaining breath from my aching lungs. He grips me to him, and I make a noise of surprise as he tangles fingers into my hair. His tongue darts into my mouth, as his kiss grows fiercer. Tentatively, I slide my hands along his arms, pushing underneath his T-shirt so I can dig my nails into his biceps. In response, he slips his hands beneath my damp top. The heat of Daniel’s feather-light touch unfurls barely contained desire and wipes away the hurt. Inside and out.

  I make a low noise in my throat, and he pulls his head back, smoothing the damp hair from my face. “Is this okay? Do you want me to stop?”

  The unmistakable look in his eyes tells me he doesn’t want to. I can fool myself that Daniel doesn’t do this every time a girl he’s attracted to comes into the academy. Tell myself I’m different. But of course I’m not. I shake my head, unable to reply.

  Daniel hesitates, and by this point I’m a mess of emotions and sensations I’ve blocked out my whole life or was never aware of. I push my mouth onto his, tracing my fingers across the hard planes of his chest and abs. The heat of his skin and his heady scent fuel the slow burn inside me, illuminating parts of myself I never knew before.

  Hidden in the darkness of the room, the world is Daniel and me—nothing and nobody else. All I’m aware of is his mouth on mine, his lips moving down my neck and across the wounds from the demon. I wince. Daniel looks back up at me, our breathing in short, sharp unison. In a world that owns me body and soul is a moment with a man who wants me for different reasons.

  “Ava, look at me.” His tone is earnest—does Daniel crave a connection he can’t have with others too?

  I rub my lips together, gauging the situation, but my logic departed the moment his lips touched mine. I want more than to kiss Daniel. I crave a place in his world and he’s pulling me there.

  Daniel shifts his hands and cups my head in one palm. “This isn’t okay?”

  “Yes, it is,” I reply, wishing I didn’t sound stupid and breathless.

  “Ava.” He pulls me against him, and the warmth and comfort from Daniel’s embrace pushes tears into my eyes as my decision to open up to another person overwhelms me. I don’t know what we’re doing, or how far this will go, but for the first time in my life, I’m standing in the moment and not focusing on the future.

  If this is almost the end of my life, I want to connect with Daniel. Daniel, the man interfering with my need to remain dead inside. The one who’s uncovered the true Ava who craves somebody’s love and affection.

  And once whatever happens tonight is over, I need to kill and bury this Ava forever.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The five soulhunters never returned yesterday. Neither did three others. The remaining soulhunters wait in the tiled, bright room that holds the portal to the human world. This is the last day of training. After today, we’re on our own.

  Nobody speaks, shocked by the news. One week training. Two practice sessions in the human world. That’s all we get.

  The door opens, and I duck my head as Daniel enters the room, and refuse to meet his eyes. I don’t know how things stand between us now. After our encounter last night, I lay in bed more alive
than ever before, as I recovered from the shaking mess Daniel reduced me to.

  Then I cried away the remaining part of Ava, the Fated girl. I left her with Daniel. He taught me the biggest lesson I needed: shut off your emotions. Now I’ve experienced them, I’ve learned exactly how much they can weaken me.

  I pushed the memories aside to focus on the other part of last night—Daniel’s conversation with the blond man. I’m singled out for reasons I can’t comprehend. What happens to me now?

  The physical and mental exhaustion of the last day won’t help in tonight’s hunt, but I suppose soulhunter life will always be like this.

  Daniel divides us into pairs, and I’m with Sarah.

  “Please don’t disappear this time,” she says and glances at where a bruised Zeke stands with Tom.

  “I won’t. I’ll make sure we practice this together.”

  “I’m scared what will happen to me when I’m on my own. I’m not ready yet.” Sarah’s mouth twists downwards, and she fights to rearrange her features into a neutral look. I want to hug her, but don’t.

  Daniel approaches, and briefly our eyes meet. He looks away, and a heaviness sinks in my stomach. He’s returned to unfathomable.

  “Why is this our last training day?” Sarah asks him in a small voice.

  “We don’t have time to lose. The demons are stealing souls at a faster rate than we can collect them,” he says brusquely. “The high angels need as many soulhunters in the field as we can spare.”

  “So you send out larger numbers of semi-trained soulhunters and hope some survive?” I ask.

  I’m echoing our conversation last night and wait for his reaction. “We are careful who we select to train.” He pauses and looks at me expressionlessly. “Usually.”

  Close by, Layla sniggers. “And I thought you were his favourite. What happened?”

  I grit my teeth “Favourite? Haven’t you seen him using me as an example what not to do?” I snap. “If that’s how he treats someone who’s his favourite, I’d hate to be someone he doesn’t like.”

  Daniel moves from pair to pair, checking they have their daggers and soul crystals. Despite everything, I’m suspicious, especially as he blanked me again today. I understand more why Daniel fights this. Underneath he’s as raw as I am, forcing down the vulnerability this causes. Last night I caught a glimpse of someone he once was—or maybe wants to be.

  The Daniel I saw last night may be different to the tough-talking trainer, but he has a hidden agenda. Maybe part of that agenda involves seducing naive recruits he’ll never see again.

  The two soulhunters standing with Daniel disappear in a flash of light. He nods at us to approach. “Come.”

  As I wait for the light to engulf and transport me, I attempt to read Daniel’s thoughts but his blank, unreadable game face remains.

  “See you soon, Ava.”

  Ava. Not ‘girls’—Ava.

  Does he think Sarah will die?

  The ground lurches, light searing my mind, as my body is flung into chaos. I open my eyes to the same alleyway as before but with Sarah this time. The sun hangs low in the sky, not long until the day darkens into evening and cover.

  “Oh. I expected it to be dark already,” says Sarah.

  Her gaunt face worries me—as does her wide-eyed confusion. I hope to hell she won’t freeze on me.

  “Isn’t daylight better? We can spend time acclimatising. Hunting instead of reacting when a demon jumps us.”

  Sarah looks at me doubtfully. “I thought we needed to find a demon, kill the thing, then take the soul and return.”

  “We’re hunters. Not collectors. There’s a difference.” I try to be gentle but I’m a bundle of frightened nerves.

  Smoothing her hair with shaking fingers, Sarah scans the alleyway. “Okay.”

  I see now what Daniel means—why so many fail. Sarah doesn’t have the tenacity needed to fulfil this role. Mingled with the frustration I’m paired with her is a sadness at the weakness she’s showing.

  I hope Sarah doesn’t die when I’m with her.

  “No. Not a good idea,” I tell Sarah as she indicates the two, tall men walking by. I scrutinise them. One is blond, the other dark, both with unkempt hair and scruffy clothes.

  “They’re demons. There’re two of them, so we both collect a soul. Easy,” she says.

  The “two of them” part is what bothers me. Once darkness descended, Sarah shifted from fear to a false bravado I recognise. Wandering the streets looking for demons proved fruitless, so we walked to a local park. This was my idea. The part of the high angels’ world I’m desperate to see is the countryside. I long to be surrounded by colour and tranquility.

  After a couple of hours of waiting for demon passers-by, I become restless. Plenty of humans walk towards the nearby streets, taking a shortcut through the green area back to the urban sprawl. Only when we’re close enough can we sense whether the passers-by are demonic. My skin crawls when the guys Sarah pointed out approach and the aura reaches me.

  They don’t register us. I know we’re stronger than a lot of demons, but the reality of attempting to kill two worries me. How experienced are they? Because if they’re veteran demons, I don’t think the fight would be fair.

  “Come on, before we lose them.” Sarah stands, glancing between their retreating figures and me.

  “I said, I don’t think taking on two is a good idea. Let’s wait.”

  “No! We’ve waited here long enough. Do you want Daniel to haul you back, as a failure with no souls? What happens to us if we fail?”

  I scrunch my nose. There’s no option to stay here past a few hours. This is supposed to be a quick “kill and retrieve.”

  “Ava! Come on!” She pauses. “Or I’ll follow them alone.”

  Spilt second decisions never end well. But despite my instinct screaming at me not to walk into a dodgy situation, I stand and follow Sarah.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Keeping up with the demon guys is tricky, but luckily we don’t need to follow for long.

  Walking through the human world, I need to fight distractions every step of the way. The people, the buildings—even the way the streets are littered with rubbish. The odours mingle and confuse my senses.

  We reach another side street with a doorway. The two men push past a queue of people, their numbers winding around the corner. An illuminated sign above the brick building reads The Snake Pit, and I hope the name isn’t literal. Light and noise flood from the entrance. Two men the same size and build as the demons stand as security outside. We slip past distracted humans and follow the demons into the building.

  The darkness and noise immediately dulls my hunter senses. “What the hell is this place?” I yell over the music.

  Strobe lights pick out faces and bodies gyrating to the music, but this is nothing like any music I’ve heard before. Thumping beats and screeching guitars—shouting voices. The confusion of the sights and sounds deadens the ability to sense a demon. There’s no way we’ll find them now.

  “What do we do?” shouts Sarah in my ear.

  I hold my hands out palm upwards and shrug at her. All I want to do is get the hell out. My head aches from the noise, and the proximity of humans grosses me out. They’re not demons, but there’s something weird repulsing me—besides resentment for their freedom. A human back brushes against me, and I’m relieved I have my jacket on, so our skin doesn’t touch.

  We need to stay until we’re sure the demons have left, then at least try to slay them. Who knows how long it’ll take to find any other targets? Until we have souls to return to the angels, we’re stuck, and there’s no way I want to stay around here a minute more than I need.

  Sarah stands with the earlier terrified look on her face, and it strikes me the demons could’ve deliberately led us here as easy pickings. If they belong to this world, the cacophony around won’t bother them. This is their own hunting ground, and we’ve planted ourselves bang in the centre.

  I grab S
arah’s hand, perspiring as the awareness of danger grows. We need to leave. Now. Someone else crashes into us, and the sheer number of suffocating bodies grow by the minute. A new group push through, knocking us towards a dark corner.

  “Go!” I yell in Sarah’s ear, shoving her towards a door at the venue’s rear.

  She stumbles into the crowd, and in the time between my glancing at the door and looking back to her, she’s disappeared into the sea of humans.

  Fuck.

  Fear bolts through my veins. Where is she? I push my way through the crowds, hand on the dagger sheathed against my hip. Every moment I spend in this hell of a place, the dizzier and more confused I become. A strobing light picks out a blond head. One of the demons? I shove an unimpressed girl with a pierced face out of the way and move to the spot the blond man occupies.

  Gone.

  There’s a doorway nearby, and I yank at the handle. The door opens, and I slip through. A concrete-floored narrow corridor runs towards some steps, leading up to another door where a single bulb hangs above, and the walls are painted stark black. The space is cool after the stifling atmosphere of the other room, and I heave in a breath. My senses return to normal, and I strain to hear or feel any other presence around. Nothing.

  Shit.

  I pad along the floor and up the small set of concrete stairs. Another door—a fire escape with a metal bar I push down on. The heavy door swings open into a narrow space between this building and the one opposite. I edge out, back against the wall and peer into the shadows. If Sarah’s lost, I need to leave. ASAP. And do what? Where do I go? The stars above mock me—stupid Fated girl who thought she could escape is now paralysed in an unfamiliar world. Again.

  Movement in the dark catches my eye, and I hold my breath. Someone lurks nearby. Has he seen me? I’m well-blended into the shadows and the figure remains still. A nearby door crashes open, and two figures stagger out.