Venom in the Skin

by Jessica Gunn

  We all do what we need to in order to survive.

  I had run, for example. Whereas Kian had faced things head-on. He just needed a potent demon drug to do it.

  “How often do you take it?” I asked him quietly.

  Kian glanced over at me. “Whenever I expect to be on a mission.”

  So possibly daily in a freelancer’s life. “Were you on it when we fought the first time?”

  He only stared.

  I turned away from him. “All of this could have been avoided if you’d been sober.”

  “No,” he said, his words tight. “They were coming after you anyway. It was only a matter of time, Ava. Me unmasking you by accident escalated an already-building situation.”

  “But now Will might die because of it.”

  “Anything could have happened.”

  I shook my head. Kian didn’t know how quickly we would have been gone from New York City if Talon hadn’t attacked us in the locker room at Midnight. Another couple of seconds and we would have been in Europe, hidden enough to start over again.

  A door to the back opened, sending light into the room. Sydney hurried through it and took up her spot behind the counter.

  “Take this back,” she said, shoving Will’s magnet at Kian. “You didn’t tell me you were involved with those bastards again.”

  “Where do you think the Demon’s Blood comes from?” Kian said, regarding her with a look saying she probably should have known better.

  Sydney slammed a fist onto the bar top. “There’s a difference between buying a drug and actively putting yourself and those who help you in Talon’s fucking crosshairs, Kian. If they find out I helped you find them, they’ll flay me alive. I’ll be next because of you.”

  “We’re looking for my friend’s location,” I said, hoping to appeal as…well, not exactly a neutral third party, but at least one not involved with their relationship. “He’s missing and Talon took him. I just wanted to know if he was still alive, so the Fire—”

  Kian elbowed me roughly in the side. “Knowing he’s still alive is good enough for us.”

  Sydney shot him a stare that could burn Pompeii all over again. “He’s at Midnight, probably with God-only-knows how many Talon soldiers.”

  Midnight. Good. That was relatively close. I peered up at her. “How’d you even know this involved Talon?”

  She nodded at something over my shoulder. I turned and saw two men in bright red leather jackets sitting in a far corner.

  “They came in moments after you two,” Sydney said. “They’re both regulars. I’ve seen them use Landshaft coin here before. I put two and two together. Now, do yourselves a favor and get the hell out of New York City.”

  “Right,” Kian said as he stepped off the bar stool. “You might want to do the same if you’re that worried.”

  “Worry less about me, Kian Farely, and more about yourself.”

  Sydney turned from the bar and made herself look busy with cleaning and prepping for the night ahead.

  “Come on,” Kian said.

  I got off the stool I’d been sitting on and followed Kian back down the ramp that had led to the bar. A dizzying array of lights guided the way.

  “Hold on a minute,” one of the two guys in leather said. He had black hair and a wide face, and he stood up as Kian and I approached the exit. His partner, a lanky guy with fire-red hair, also stood.

  Kian eyed them down. “We’re just leaving.”

  “I don’t think so,” the black-haired demon said as he reached out to clasp Kian’s arm. “Boss wants to see you.”

  “Whatever,” I said, pushing Kian to keep walking.

  The redheaded demon stood to block our path. “Those contacts ain’t fooling nobody. We all know who you are, Kian. Same to you, blondie.”

  My eyes narrowed. “I have a name, asshole.” Too fast for him to see, I reeled back my fist and slammed it into his nose. Cartilage was crushed by the strike, crumpling beneath my fingers.

  Kian hissed—but hey, this wasn’t likely to go another way anyway—and turned to the black-haired demon just in time to stop him from drawing a blade. Kian kneed him in the stomach and shoved him backward into the door. It flew open with their weight and they fell into the hallway.

  The redheaded demon before me covered his nose with his hands as blood spurted out of it. I rammed my shoulder into him while he was momentarily distracted, then kicked him in the shin.

  The demon roared and lifted his hands out of his face. “You’ll pay for this!”

  “Bring it on.”

  I sidestepped his first attack and came up with a barrage of blows to his sides and face, aiming to hit as close to his already-broken nose as possible. He was strong, strong like older demons tended to be. It was only when I dodged a low-swung attack and came up behind him that I saw the tattoo behind his shoulder.

  The Shadow Crest symbol.

  A Shadow Crest tattoo but Talon colors? I hadn’t realized there were enough members of Shadow Crest left to be converted.

  The demon slammed his head back into mine. My forehead exploded with pain as stars danced along the edges of my vision.

  “Ava!” Kian shouted. “Sydney, do something!”

  But a quick peek revealed Sydney stood there frozen behind the counter, staring at her hands. If Sydney was indeed an Ember witch, then she must not be practiced or in control. Not all of them were.

  I stumbled backward away from the demon. A hopeless feeling inside of me ate away at my stomach. We should have been rescuing Will right now, not fighting two demons in a demon-only bar.

  Kian stabbed the demon he’d been fighting through the heart. The demon’s face and skin turned ashen gray—dead.

  Okay. Fighting one demon in a demon-only bar.

  “No!” his companion screamed before charging me again.

  I faked him out with a few attacks before swinging around him to draw the dagger at his waist. Then I stabbed him in the chest with it, just below the heart. He staggered and fell to the floor.

  I stood above him, glaring at him with all the fire inside me. “What the hell is going on that makes you guys keep poisoning innocents?”

  His eyes were a wild crimson red, lighter than most demon eyes tended to be. “I’ll never tell you.”

  “What are you doing?” Kian asked as he came up behind me, limping.

  “I want to know why the hell, after so long, Veynix has come to finish the job,” I spat at the demon. “It can’t be about just me. And why the hell are you risking exposure, never mind death, to poison innocents?”

  The demon chuckled, but then it turned into a full-on, manic laugh. “They all will burn! And you shall never know the truth.”

  “Who’s going to burn?” I asked, holding the dagger above his right eye.

  “Ava,” Kian warned, his voice sounding lighter now. Pained.

  “No,” I said. “I want to know.” Losing an eye wouldn’t kill the demon. But maybe it’d be enough pain to get him to talk.

  The demon looked me directly in the eyes and said, “All the embers will burn. They will be reignited to fight anew.”

  Then, before I could stop it, the demon sat up halfway, driving the tip of the dagger into his eye, past the eye socket, and into his brain—deeper than any wound I’d planned to inflict. He flailed in pain, but kept pushing until his movements died down and his skin turned gray. As soon as a demon’s heart or brain were damaged, the magik sources that kept them alive died.

  “Dammit!” I shouted.

  Kian’s tone was pleading when he said, “Ava, we need to go.”

  I spun on Kian. “Didn’t you hear him?” It was only then that I saw the leg of his pants awash in blood. A slash had been cut into the side of his thigh, just missing the femoral artery.

  “Ember witches are always in trouble,” he nearly whispered, his face white as a ghost. Kian wavered on his feet.

  I reached out to steady him. “Sydney? Syd!” Laying Kian on the floor, I pressed my
palm against his wound. “He’s bleeding out!”

  Sydney blinked, then appeared to snap out of whatever frozen state she’d been in. “Oh, god!” She grabbed a towel from behind the bar and hopped over the counter. She reached us as more footfalls sounded down the hallway. “They’re Talon’s reinforcements.”

  “We need to get him help,” I pleaded with her. “Please. Do you know anyone? Anywhere we can go?”

  “Your Headquarters,” Sydney snapped. “They should help you.”

  “They won’t,” I said. “Not quick enough, not anymore.”

  Her brow furrowed. “So the rumors are true, then?”

  “Sydney!”

  She shook her head. “Fine. I have a place in England we can hide out in for the moment. But there are other Ember witches there, and—”

  “That’s fine,” I said. England would be far enough. “Let’s just go.”

  She nodded, then pressed a hand to both Kian and me. “Teleportante.”

  Chapter 21

  We landed less than a breath later in a warm flat supposedly in England. The living room was full of carpets and couches and drapery art pieces hanging on the walls, all full of oranges, reds, and yellows.

  Ember witches. The colors of their fire-like ether magik.

  Three other faces greeted us, but with a single wave of her hand, Sydney dismissed them all. They each grabbed their things and either left for one of the bedrooms attached to the living room or walked out the front door. As soon as they were gone, a shimmering of magik—ether, probably—fell over the space like a veil… or a shield.

  “We’re protected,” Sydney said. “For now. No one can get in uninvited.”

  “Good.” Otherwise, a whole troop of Talon soldiers was about to rain down hell on this flat.

  Kian groaned beneath us, now laid out on the floor. His eyes were squeezed shut in pain. Only when I took a closer look at his wound did I see a weird film on it.

  “He’s been poisoned,” I said. But the film wasn’t tan—this wasn’t Veynix’s mutated platypus venom.

  “He needs a healer,” Sydney said. “Can you bring one from Fire Circle Headquarters?”

  I met her gaze. “Not one who will disobey orders and leave their station for me.” Not when apparently hell was breaking loose there, too. Except… “Wait. Maybe there’s one person. Do you have a phone?”

  Sydney stood and ran into the kitchen. After retrieving a phone, she came back to Kian and me, holding it out to me. “Here.”

  “Call for me,” I said, my hands both still pressed to Kian’s leg. “I’m afraid to let go and have him bleed out.”

  Syd winced—clearly, she hated the Fire Circle for some reason—but sighed, relenting. “Fine.”

  I told her the number and instructed her to ask for Bria. To tell Bria it was me calling for the favor.

  Sydney stood again and paced back into the kitchen, making the phone call.

  “Just had to get injured right before our big fight, didn’t you?” I said to Kian, hoping to egg him into opening his eyes and arguing with me.

  “S-Sorry,” he whimpered back. “Feels like I’m on fire.”

  I glanced down at the wound again, what I could see of it with my hands pressed to his skin. “Poison of some sort. I don’t recognize it. Might be something new Talon is working on.”

  “Lovely,” he drawled dryly.

  Where his pant leg had been slashed, around where I was pressing against the wound with the towel, tiny white scars had been left on his skin. Almost like words. I frowned, recognizing the writing, but not what it said.

  “Who decided to write the demonic alphabet on your leg?” I asked. If I kept asking him questions, maybe he’d stay awake until Bria got here.

  If she came at all.

  She would. She had to.

  “Not now,” he ground out through gritted teeth.

  “I need you to stay awake,” I said, now gazing into his brown brown eyes. At least when he opened them on occasion. They were drawn, paling. “Shit, Kian, please. Stay with me.”

  “Trying.”

  Sydney reappeared by my side. “Bria said she’d be here in a minute. Luckily for you, she’s apparently been to England before on some family trip. I told her I’d meet her at the Underground stop near Heathrow. I’ll be right back.” Within another moment, she was gone, a teleportante away.

  A minute later, Sydney reappeared with Bria at her side. Bria still wore the scrubs she often donned while on shift in the Infirmary at Headquarters. She had a jump-bag full of medical supplies on her shoulder but dropped it the instant her eyes found Kian on the floor.

  “Holy crap,” she said, rushing to his side. “What happened?”

  “Demon fight gone wrong,” I said. “It’s probably better that you don’t know the details.”

  Bria’s bright blue eyes met mine. “I’m thinking so since several people at Headquarters are looking for you.”

  I winced. “Any chance of doctor-patient privileges here?”

  She considered me for a long moment, then returned her attention to Kian. “I have to report I saw you if they ask. Is that a knife wound?”

  Relief flooded me. Dacher and Ben were bound to find out where I’d gone eventually, and I’d assume Krystin would eventually tell them the truth anyway. Bria was just buying Kian and me more time to do this on our own.

  Except maybe Kian’s current state was enough reason to stop. Maybe we did need a team for this and not the two of us alone.

  I pressed my lips together and nodded a ‘yes’ to Bria’s question. “Poisoned too.”

  She gestured toward her jump bag. “Get the scissors. I want to cut away the pant leg.”

  I did as Bria asked, assisting her with removing Kian’s pant leg up almost all the way. The leg exposed, Bria went to work assessing the situation, both by touch and with magik, her eyes closed. While she worked, a soft bright blue glow emanated from her hands. A healer’s magik.

  “This is bad,” she said. “The poison is reaching farther than his leg. I’ve never seen this before.”

  “Can you help him?” I asked.

  Sydney watched from a few feet away, worry masking her face. What was Kian’s connection to her? Friends, to be sure. But was there more to it than that?

  A small pang of jealousy hit me. When had I started to care?

  Bria nodded. “Whatever it is, it’s responding to my magik. But the wound itself is going to take a few minutes.”

  “Minutes,” I replied breathlessly. A few minutes, and Kian will be as good as new. Magik. Just another case where having it was better than not.

  I could have saved my entire team with it.

  Bria set to work. As she began healing Kian, I stared down at the scars on his legs. Someone had carved near-novels in demonic script, something akin to cuneiform in nature but different. It looked like the scars continued upward, possibly onto his torso or higher. I’d never seen him with his shirt off, so I couldn’t be sure.

  What happened to you?

  Minutes passed by, though they felt as long as hours. Finally, Kian’s eyelids fluttered open as Bria’s magik healed the last of his injury.

  “Thanks,” he uttered to her.

  She nodded before pulling away from him. “You’re welcome. I owed you one.”

  He gave her a small smile. “Nah. Daniel covered that price pretty well.”

  Bria shook her head. “You’re both impossible.”

  “What?” I asked, looking between them.

  “Kian once assisted on a mission close to home,” Bria said. “It was a long time ago, just before I became a Hunter. Around the time I first met you, actually.”

  That was years ago. “Wow. That’s cool.”

  Bria nodded. “Yeah. I need to get back before I’m missed, though. And like I said, if they ask, I can’t lie.”

  “Not much to lie about when you really don’t know what’s going on,” Kian said.

  “I can figure enough out,” Bria said dr
yly. She pushed a fallen lock of black hair out of her face. “Be safe, you two.”

  “Always,” I said, although considering how we’d met—her healing me in Headquarters’ Infirmary—we both knew that was a lie.

  After Bria left, Sydney gave us some privacy to plan our next move. She handed Kian a pair of pants from one of her Ember witch roommates and then retreated to her own bedroom.

  Newly outfitted, Kian stared at me from the couch we both sat on.

  “What now?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “We can go headfirst into another fight. We know where Will and Veynix are.”

  His lips pressed together into a thin line. “You sure you still want to do that?”

  I gestured toward his leg, although looking at him now, you’d never known he’d been hurt twenty minutes ago. Only the vague start of exhausted bags under his eyes gave him away. “Are you still up to it?”

  “If you are,” Kian said. “I want this bastard gone. I’m tired of Talon.”

  I stared back at him for a moment. “You know killing Veynix won’t stop Talon, right? As much as I’d love it to.”

  Kian nodded. “One head off that snake is a start.”

  I wrung my hands together, a question on the tip of my tongue. I’d had some time to think about the scars on his leg while Bria had healed him. Would it be wrong to ask?

  “What?” Kian asked. He was looking at me as if he already knew my thoughts.

  “Your leg,” I said, venturing slowly. “I saw the scars, I mean, when Bria cut your pant leg away.”

  Kian’s jaw locked tight and he swallowed hard. “It’s why I hate Talon.”

  “They put them there?” I asked.

  “I told you my team left me behind,” he said. “I told you I’d never forgive them for it. That’s why.”

  My mouth ran dry. “Talon captured you.”

  Kian turned away, his entire body rigid. “Captured. Tortured. Basically branded me. Wrote their fucking opinions of the Hunter Circles all over my body.”

  Holy shit. No wonder he was so pissed at his team. “Kian, I—”

  He shook head. “I don’t want your pity, Ava. You lived through your own shit, or so I hear. We all have our demons. Ours just happen to have a common denominator.” His dark brown gaze met mine. “And if you’re ready to go after those demons, I am too. Just say the word.”