by D. N. Hoxa
The girls understood, but I still felt like shit for leaving.
A lot had happened in the two weeks since we’d come back from Estird, barely alive. We’d managed to return Alora to her home without knowing that that’s where we were going, and we’d managed to kill a good few people of the Uprising—just not the Spring fae I couldn’t wait to see again.
When Lucas had called me that night to say that Carter was going to get tested by the Guild to confirm that he was an Alpha, I’d been surprised but not that much. Werewolves didn’t normally change levels—they remained at one level from birth—and so it was very possible that Carter had somehow manipulated the Guild’s initial test as a kid. I’d done it, too. Definitely not impossible, and Carter seemed like he had more secrets than even I did.
But I’d said yes. Because I’d been angry or because I’d been lonely—it didn’t matter. I’d gone with Lucas and his team to apply for a maneater hunting permit, and we’d been accepted on the second day.
That hadn’t been the hard part. After we got the permit, we had to participate in a ten-day training program for new maneater mercenaries. The first two days were six-hour long lectures about maneaters. The rest had been combat training, and that had been very tricky for me. It was also the place where I’d first started to really test my Talent. I’d found a Level Two sorcerer in another maneater team training with us—there had been three—and I’d stolen his magic every day while we trained, every time the Guild officers tested our magic.
Nobody had suspected a thing because my spells had been too weak to raise any flags. I’d been merely a Level Two, but that wasn’t the end of it.
We passed the first test, but the second test was going to be out in the field. A group of supervisors would watch us kill real maneaters in the City and evaluate our performance before we got the green light to work on our own.
Needless to say, I hadn’t thought all of this through as I should have when I agreed to work with Lucas. So many things could go wrong when fighting real maneaters. There was no telling in what position I’d find myself in. What if I needed to use my magic—all of my magic? They’d know something was wrong and that would be the end of me.
All those thoughts in my head were making my vision blurry when I went to the address Lucas had texted me. I saw him, Kyle and Carter by themselves, standing at the corner of the street, looking at me.
“Do you see them anywhere?” I asked Kit, who was half asleep on my shoulder, but he didn’t even bother to raise his head. Fucker.
“Where are the supervisors?” I asked the guys even before I reached them.
“There’ll be no supervisors tonight. Everybody’s busy with what happened last night,” Lucas said. Oh, thank God. I wanted to raise my hands to the sky and scream, Hallelujah! “They’ll be joining us next time, though.”
“Really?” Ugh. I no longer wanted to scream, but at least my mood was a bit improved. I had a little more time to figure things out.
“Good evening to you, too, Sin,” said Carter with a grin.
“You look like you haven’t slept at all,” Kyle said. He was a wizard—a Level Two—but he was amazingly good in a fight. He was a bit over six feet tall and his body was full of lean muscle. He could carry a sword and swing it just as well as Lucas—a Level Three wizard.
“I did sleep, just not that much,” I said to Kyle. “And good evening, Carter.”
“We need to get going. They’re in the park right around the corner,” Lucas said, nodding his head forward.
“How many?”
“Three,” Lucas said. “They were spotted at the edges of the park. There’s very little light, which is why they’re hiding there. Kyle and I are going to prepare a ward before we lure them out in the open, lock them up, and kill them.”
Sounded like a plan. In all that training, Lucas and Kyle had learned exactly what kind of wards to use to trap maneaters, and that was going to make our jobs a lot easier.
“So nobody will be watching us?” I asked, just to make sure, in case I’d need to use one of my more powerful spells.
“Yeah, we’re on our own. We better do this right, guys. Remember what we talked about,” Lucas said. We entered the park. Half of it was lit with lampposts, but the other end seemed pitch black from where we were standing thanks to a line of trees completely separating it from the lights. A couple was walking out, hand in hand, smiling at each other, but more people were in there. Another nine that I could count, and they were all close to the lights.
“We’re gonna be just fine,” Carter said.
“You and Sin can take care of the crowd while Kyle and I prepare the ward, right?” Lucas asked.
“Yep. Go right ahead.”
Carter and I took the left while they continued ahead into the darkness. I’d used confusion spells enough times in the past—and about twenty times last night—to know for sure that they worked. Hellbeasts came to our world alone, so it was easier to isolate them, and they liked garbage and plants, so they usually stuck to alleyways where there weren’t many people around. Maneaters were a different story. They usually came out in groups of three, sometimes more, and they stuck to darker parts, less frequented, until they chose a target to eat raw—a human target.
Walking next to the humans, some standing and some sitting on the benches, while I whispered confusion spells to them was relatively easy. It was an easy spell, Guild issued, and it didn’t take up too much energy. After I spelled them, Carter kindly convinced them to get out of the park and guided them in the right direction while they stared at him, eyes wide and mouths open.
Ten minutes later, the park was completely empty—save for us. We made our way deeper, toward the trees, to find Kyle and Lucas. They were right behind the first tree line, arranging the ritual in a pretty wide space—at least twenty feet—and it looked like they weren’t done yet. I looked around the park to make sure the maneaters weren’t coming from the sides, then checked my phone. Why hadn’t Damian called yet? He said he would.
Before I put the phone away, I received a video message from Jamie. My heart skipped a beat and I almost turned around and ran back to the Shade, terrified that she and Malin were in trouble.
But then Jamie’s smiling face filled the screen.
She was in Malin’s bathroom, next to the open washer. “Don’t tell Mal, but I’m in trouble,” she said with a grin, then moved the phone to show me the rest of the bathroom—and the floating clothes all over it. I put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing as a white tank top floated in front of the camera.
“There it goes!” Jamie said with a laugh, and Carter leaned closer to see the floating clothes. They were all over the bathroom, like the concept of gravity didn’t apply to them at all.
“What the hell?” Carter asked, stifling his own laugh.
“I was trying to get the washer to finish faster, and instead I made the clothes fly. Oops,” Jamie said in the video, as if she’d heard Carter’s question. “Don’t tell Mal. I mean it!”
The video ended.
“Mal’s gonna have her head,” I said, trying but failing to stop laughing. My entire body shook so much that Kit decided he didn’t want to stay on my shoulder anymore and jumped to the ground with a weak squeak.
“You know what? That would make for a fantastic prank. Can you get your friend to tell me that spell?” Carter said.
“But you’re a werewolf.” Werewolves couldn’t wield magic.
“Then I’ll just have to call you to help me out,” he said with a grin. I put the phone away.
“Sure, I’ll ask her,” I said and thought of something I’d wanted to know, too. “Did your brother catch whoever gave the information to the Uprising?”
“Oh, yeah. He did,” Carter said, nodding. “It wasn’t pretty.”
I flinched. Two weeks ago, when I went to Carter’s brother—the Alpha of the Bronx—to ask for access to the Gateway to take Alora home, we’d been ambushed by the Uprising. The only thing
that made sense was that someone had tipped the Uprising off—someone from the Pack. I was glad that they’d caught the spy, even though I knew how it had all ended up for them.
“So you’re a Marauder,” Carter said, hands in his pockets, looking ahead at Lucas and Kyle, like what he was saying wasn’t that big of a deal.
I knew Carter knew what I was, but we hadn’t had the chance to talk about it because we hadn’t been alone since that night when we returned from Estird, and he was in his wolf form.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Thanks for not saying anything.”
I’d lie if I said I hadn’t been afraid that he’d tell Lucas and Kyle. So far, it seemed like he hadn’t.
“No problem,” Carter said. “I’ll be honest—I don’t remember ever being more surprised.”
I shrugged.
“So what, you can just become anyone?”
“It’s not as easy as you think, trust me.”
“I don’t understand why you don’t use it all the time. I mean, I would.”
I wanted to laugh again. “Do you know anybody that would give me ten, fifteen seconds in a fight to steal their magic before killing me?”
But that wasn’t the whole truth. I never used my Talent because it was dangerous and because if the Guild caught me, I would be eating dirt.
“I could always cover for you like I did in that castle,” Carter said, bringing back bitter reminders. The fight had happened two weeks ago and I still hadn’t recovered completely. My left arm hurt and sometimes my chest felt like somebody was sitting on it. At least the bruises had all disappeared, and I no longer needed to hide them with foundation.
“I already told you that you can never do that again. Ever,” I said. “It was very stupid.” He’d literally lain on me with the body of a three-hundred-pound wolf to protect me from the arrows. It had been more than stupid.
Carter grinned, his amber eyes sparkling with mischief. He looked younger when he smiled like that—which was most of the time. He also looked even more handsome than he already was. “It was worth it, though. You literally turned into a wolf.”
“I mean it, Carter.”
“I know, I know. I won’t do it again, I promise,” he said.
That was much better. I didn’t need anybody’s protection.
“So how was it? Did you like it?”
His question surprised me. I’d stolen his magic and had shifted into a wolf in Estird, and I’d thought about it, too. “I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “It was like being a guest in my own body. Very strange. Very big.” Even though I’d been standing on all fours.
“Oh, yeah. Your wolf was as big as mine,” Carter said.
“What did I look like?” I asked despite myself. I’d seen the fur around my legs—white fur, but nothing else.
“You had snow white fur and black patches around your ears and tail—in the exact same places my wolf has white fur. You were the opposite of me. The Yang to my Yin.”
“Well, it was you. I’m not really a werewolf,” I reminded him.
He laughed, which earned us a nasty look from Lucas, who was sitting on the ground with Kyle, their hands raised. They were chanting. It should be over soon, and then we’d get to kill those fuckers.
“I know. You had golden eyes, too, and you were ruthless. The most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,” Carter continued.
Blood rushed to my cheeks instantly. “Carter, stop it. We’re coworkers now, remember? It’s not okay for you to pay me compliments and say things like that.” To be honest, I had no idea if that was okay or not, but it did make me feel very uncomfortable for some reason.
“I wasn’t paying any compliments to you, but to the wolf. Like you said, it wasn’t you, it was me. So basically, I’m paying compliments to myself,” he said with a grin.
It was impossible not to smile.
“We’re ready,” Lucas called from the ward he’d set up.
He and Kyle were already on their feet. We approached them and I pulled out my daggers. The ugly one I’d stolen at the private collector’s warehouse with Carter fit me like an extension of my hand. I’d never been more comfortable with a weapon before, which was why I couldn’t bring myself to regret stealing it. I even made it a special sheath on the right side of my hips. I’d also had another three daggers made, just like the old ones I lost at the castle. I only took one of them with me at all times, but the other two stayed in my apartment, just in case. I wasn’t as confident in my abilities to stay out of trouble lately, not like I used to be.
“Carter, you go with Kyle and lure them here, but don’t attack. Sin and I will pull them in the ward,” Lucas said, and Carter only nodded. It still surprised me to see him so obedient every time Lucas told us what to do. Carter Conti was a Prime, an Alpha wolf that for some reason wasn’t the leader of his pack, but he was powerful. It beat me why he would be here, taking orders from a wizard, when he could be back home, in the Bronx, leading his own Pack.
“Just like we practiced,” Lucas said, pulling out one of his swords. He carried two strapped to his back. He was nervous. Sweat glistened on his forehead as he wrapped his fingers tightly on the handle of his long sword.
It made me realize that I should have been nervous, too. But I wasn’t.
“We’re gonna be okay, Lucas,” I told him, looking ahead at the darkness, waiting for Carter and Kyle.
“Yeah, I know. We’ll be just fine,” Lucas said and winked, just as the others ran toward us—and they weren’t the only ones.
The three maneaters were creatures come straight out of nightmares. They looked like zombies made in Hollywood, their skin leaning toward green—what remained of it, anyway, their hair greasy and thin, their skeleton-like bodies covered in dirty, smelly rags. They did look like zombies, but they were anything but. They moved incredibly fast, and they hit hard enough to throw you to the ground. They also bit you, and it hurt like hell.
But even knowing all of that, I found myself very excited to be fighting an actual opponent—not just Guild designed tools for training. I didn’t even know myself anymore.
“Here they come!” Lucas called as Carter and Kyle ran to the sides of the ward—a big circle made of leaves and sticks and what I thought was chalk powder. The maneaters were right in front of us. We stood still and waited for them to pass through the barrier of the ward, and once they did, looking at us with their dark eyes, calculating us, it was on.
I ran to the one on the right, daggers raised, aiming for the creature’s throat. Just like hellbeasts, we had to decapitate them, too, leave their bodies to disappear, and cash their heads in at Hellbeast Affairs. Adrenaline filled my veins when the maneater moved away from my dagger, and his big bony fist came for my face. I ducked and spun around, kicking him in the thigh before I came up with my arm raised, making a clean cut from his stomach up to his chest. Black blood dripped from his greenish skin, soaking the rags he had on, and he growled—already angry. Well, angrier than a second ago. He tried to hit me again and he was fast, so I had to jump to the side. It gave me a second to check out the others fighting the other two maneaters before I focused on mine again.
For whatever reason, I smiled when he hissed at me. I was enjoying it, and I wasn’t even sorry. I went at him fast, swinging my daggers, cutting into his skin. My mind was filled with hisses and growls, but I was completely focused on his every movement and the fact that he was focused on mine, too. In just two minutes, he already knew how fast I moved, how far my blades could reach, and how I kicked him every time I spun around. But I could always change strategy.
I aimed my dagger at his throat, knowing that he’d be able to block me without trouble. His slim fingers wrapped around my wrist and he raised his other hand to slap me, but it was too late. My other dagger was buried in his chest, right over his heart, and he stopped moving. Jerking my hand away from his, I swung my hand back and…
The tip of a sword came out of his open mouth.
I stepped awa
y when the maneater hit the ground to see Kyle standing behind him, one of his swords still in the back of the maneater’s neck, coming through his mouth. Then, he pulled the sword out and brought his other one down on his neck, severing the head from the body completely.
Damn it. I was so looking forward to killing that thing.
Kyle grinned. I looked to the side to see Carter sitting on the ground, one of the maneaters between his legs, and he was using his bare hands to pull his head off, while his feet were on the maneater’s shoulders, pushing his body away. The third was in front of Lucas, and Kyle ran to him just as Lucas chanted a spell and threw the maneater away about three feet—right out of the ward. Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Maybe Kyle and Lucas needed more practice with those wards.
I ran toward him when Carter hit the ground on his back, the maneater head in his hands, a huge smile on his face.
Stepping in front of the last maneater who let out a screeching sound, I raised my daggers. This one was mine. I attacked with all my strength, going at him fast, but he moved away, no longer interested in a fight, trying to find a way to escape. I cut a clean line over his rotten cheek, and he fell to the side, almost losing his balance, but when I stabbed him in the stomach, he didn’t move away. And…
His head was cut clean off, and it fell to the ground, rolling.
No.
What the hell, no!
Black dots filled my vision when I saw Damian’s face in front of me, the rest of the maneater’s body crashing before my feet. He was smiling, the asshole, standing there in the darkness like he fucking owned the night, his huge sword now stained with black blood.
I couldn’t think clearly.
“What. The. Hell!” I shouted, not caring who could hear me. Why wouldn’t they let me kill a goddamn maneater? “What the hell, Damian?! Can you just stop killing people I want to kill for once?!”
Maneaters weren’t people, but he got the point. He just didn’t give a shit.