by Jessica Gunn
Or maybe… maybe he didn’t have as tight a grip on me as I’d thought.
I used to be afraid of how he knew every place I went and how long it took me to complete a mission. Now I wasn’t so sure that knowledge was as far-reaching as my mother had always claimed. Between the two of them, it was like I’d worn a tracking device every day since I’d turned eleven.
“I’m just saying it might help us stay hidden,” I said. Unless we got caught.
But the argument died on our lips as we approached the scene of the attack, a small square alleyway tucked between two towering buildings near the Prudential Center. The closer we got, the more clicks and flashes from photographers’ cameras grew louder and brighter.
“People keep sending out pictures,” Rachel said as she continued scrolling through social media. “I think Krystin’s right. It must be late-night workers.”
“It’s almost one in the morning.” Ben grunted. “What the hell is going on over there?”
I glanced at the front door of the first building playing guard to one side of the alley. Lights inside the lobby shone through to the street. People gathered by the closest window to the alley, watching the police and investigators work. “Looks like at least one is open for business. We could try going in the back to—”
“No,” Ben snapped. “We do this my way.” To me, much more quietly, he said, “Thought you’d follow.”
I locked my jaw and swallowed my words. And to think I considered Jaffrin to be a dick. At least Ben had good looks going for him. His strong jawline and built body covered up at least part of his arrogant personality. “Fine. Your way. What are your orders?”
His eyes swam with fury, but all he said was, “Spread out. Collect what information you can and then we’ll go home. You and I will report to Jaffrin in the morning. His hands will no doubt be full with this tonight.”
Rachel nodded and took off for a bank of reporters. Ben locked eyes with me, unmoving.
“Recon and report, got it,” I said.
“I’ll go with Krystin,” said Nate. “We’ll try to get into the crowd.”
Ben continued to give me a hard look, but the longer it went on for, the less effect it had. I’d already begun to grow immune. Good thing, too, because this whole teamwork thing would suck. Jaffrin had won in that respect. After all the time he and my mother had kept me isolated to keep my identity hidden, I’d learned to work on my own. To take care of myself and no one else.
“Come on,” Nate said as we watched Ben catch up to Rachel.
I nodded and took off into the crowd. Over the better part of a half hour I worked my way to the front, Nate behind me and over a few people. We still weren’t less than thirty feet away. The police had covered the body with a white sheet as their crime scene investigators went about their work. With every minute that passed, the crowd of watchers grew, despite the police’s attempts to get everyone to go home. Not likely. This might be the business district but the closest bar was only a block and a half over.
By the time 2 a.m. rolled around, a hundred people had gathered despite the police’s effort to keep the street cleared. I ignored them and closed my eyes, trying to sense for a teleportante trail or any residual magik without actually using my own to do so. The demon had probably attacked and teleported out almost immediately, but those teleportation trails didn’t last long. And while I wasn’t necessarily sensitive to magik fluctuations, I could see auras. This alleyway was still covered in a powerful one.
As my senses sought the magik out, chills spiraled down my spine to my toes, using me as a grounding wire to the very earth beneath my feet. The force of the demon’s aura, its power, slammed into me. I stumbled back a step, barely catching myself as the scent of burning wood and raw power filled my nostrils, dark and inviting. Teasing. Wanting.
It felt familiar. My mind wrapped around the scent and pulled it in deep, using it as a guide to search memories I couldn’t possibly recall all at once.
This aura… It wasn’t the first time I’d felt it. Tonight, right here in this crowd full of people, wasn’t the first time it’d invaded my magik and my mind.
My gut twisted and something called to me, twisting my vision back toward the subway stop from which we’d come. I gave into it and rocked onto my tiptoes, glancing over the crowd. A figure shadowed by nighttime and tall buildings stood there. Watching. Coldness seeped into my veins, snatching my breath from my lips as if I’d dunked myself into Boston Harbor.
“Krystin?”
Slowly, conscious control of my breath returned. I blinked, rubbing at my eyes. When I looked up, the shadowy figure was gone.
“Krystin, are you okay?” Nate stood next me. His grip on my arm slowly came into focus, firm and warm.
“I’m good,” I lied.
“You sure? You spaced out for a good two minutes,” he said. “I saw you turn around and then…”
His words trailed off into silence as memories connected in my head, bright flashes of synapses connecting to form a singular awful, horrendous image. I was a baby and there had been so much blood, so much magik spilled that day. The day that made Jaffrin and my mother realize who I was, the prophecy I’d one day fulfill. The prophecy my father had died to ensure I’d be around to see completed.
The demon that’d cut out two people’s tongues and ended their lives tonight, the one who’d watched the scene from across the street… that powerful demon stalking Boston’s streets was the same one that’d murdered my father twenty-three years ago.
And now he was back.
Chapter 4
BEN
We couldn’t wait until morning. I hadn’t seen Krystin’s reaction to the demon’s aura like Nate had, but she’d still been frozen when Rachel and I had met up with them not long after. Whatever Krystin had felt had been enough to shut her up and, though I hadn’t known her for that long, that seemed to be a real shitty sign. So, instead of going home to sleep off the experience of another attack, I’d sent Rachel and Nate back to the house so Krystin and I could head over to Jaffrin and report. Not just about Krystin successfully finding us and joining the team, but also because of the dual demon attacks.
From the outside, Fire Circle Headquarters looked like any other office building in the Financial District on State Street. Long glass windows, a dozen some-odd stories, and a revolving door operated by a keycard lock. Krystin and I climbed the front steps and I swiped my keycard at the entrance. From outside, I spied Lissandra at her admin desk, operating phone calls and emails—all of them most likely from the Ether Head Circle given tonight’s attacks. The card reader beeped, accepting our request, and the door unlocked.
A wave of dizzy confusion washed over me as Krystin and I crossed the threshold. Glass panes became wooden, the windows smaller, and the ceilings shorter. I’d only ever explored three stories worth of the building, but I was pretty sure there weren’t really more than five, tops, including the basement. The dark wood flooring beneath us had been perfectly preserved—by magik, probably—since the original Fire Circle Headquarters had been built in the very early 1600s. Amongst the first colonists who’d come over on the Mayflower from England were emissaries from the overseas Circles, who formed the Fire Circle first, then the others across the United States as time went on.
Much of the building’s original architecture remained the same, save for upgrades in plumbing, electricity, and things like cable and the Internet. I didn’t believe in ghosts, but I did trust my gut feeling. I’d grown up in New England, so maybe it was stronger for me, but even Hunters who visited from the West Coast noted the feel of Fire Circle Headquarters. The connection it made them feel to Colonial America. To the early Hunters who’d come over from England.
Krystin and I walked up to Lissandra’s desk with slow, exhausted steps.
“Hi, Lissandra,” I said.
She glanced up from underneath her long, blonde bangs and smiled. “Good evening, Ben. What brings you to Headquarters at such a late hour?�
� Her gaze found Krystin’s. “And you, Ms. Blackwood. It’s nice to see you again.”
Does she really have to ask why we’re here? It should have been obvious. And besides, why was she working so late? Unless Jaffrin had called her in because of the high-profile attack.
Krystin gave her a smile—an honest-to-god genuine smile. So, she was capable of being nice to people. That meant I’d have to work a little harder to meet her in the middle.
“You too,” Krystin said. “Sorry it’s so late. We saw the attack on TV and ran into a similar situation earlier tonight. Can we speak to Jaffrin?”
Lissandra’s smile faltered and she pulled her painted fingers away from the keyboard. “Given the media attention, he’s a bit busy right now.”
“This is important,” I said. But so too were the calls Jaffrin was probably receiving
Lissandra looked from me to Krystin, then up the stairs. She sighed. “One moment. I’ll go check if he’ll see you.”
“Thank you,” Krystin said.
Lissandra disappeared up the stairs and I took the free minute to glance around the lobby of Fire Circle Headquarters. If other Hunters were worried about the publicized attack, they hadn’t come to Headquarters to find out more information.
Still, in spite of what the silence meant, the stillness was refreshing. At least until I caught Krystin glancing at the missing persons board.
My blood ran cold. I wouldn’t look. I couldn’t. To see Riley’s face there with all the other children Darkness had stolen over the years, all the other people, both Hunter and normal human alike, that were probably dead after being gone for so long, brought too many fears swimming to the surface. Not least of all my biggest fear: that they’d turned Riley into a demon.
Krystin’s gaze seemed to roam over each face. I turned from her to lean against Lissandra’s desk and peer out the front windows into the city. Riley was still alive. I felt the sureness of that in every single breath I took. I hadn’t known him very long. He’d only been a few weeks old when demons of Darkness yanked him from his stroller with me two feet away. But everything within me said I’d know if he had died.
“It’s disgusting,” Krystin said out of nowhere.
I didn’t bother turning to acknowledge her words. It was obvious what she meant. “I know.”
“Why take children? They’re as innocent as anyone can be in this war. Good… evil… Everyone thinks it’s all so black and white, but then there’re these monsters. Makes most of Darkness look like normal people.”
I scuffed the wooden floor with the heel of my boot. “Pretty much.”
I should have told her. Krystin should, as my new teammate, know that our powers weren’t the only reason Rachel and I had joined the Fire Circle. But the words wouldn’t come, and even if they did, I doubted I’d have the strength to speak them aloud.
Lissandra’s light steps sounded down the staircase. She stopped halfway, brushing invisible dirt off of her sweater dress, and ushered us up to the second floor. “There are a lot of political messes going on right now between the Circles, and the attack the media’s focusing on has the Ether Head Circle in a tizzy, but he’ll see you. Keep it quick.”
“Thank you, Lissandra,” I said. “We appreciate it.”
She nodded and left us to it, not knowing how close I’d come to trusting my new teammate with my greatest weakness before backing away from doing so.
Krystin and I walked down to the end of the short hall lined on each side with portraits of deceased Fire Circle leaders until we got to Jaffrin’s corner office. I knocked on the dark wood door frame, breathing in the scent of the amber incense he was always burning.
Dressed in dark suit pants and a tieless button-up, Jaffrin would have better fit in at a board meeting than as the head of the Fire Circle. Every major decision, every team member placement—it all came directly from him. I wasn’t sure how long he’d been a Hunter or if he had magik–I didn’t really know anything about him—but his opinion was trusted absolutely by the Ether Head Circle leaders. And anything that pleased them generally made everyone else quake, Hunter and demon alike. Those intense bastards were real end-of-the-world-dramatic types.
Jaffrin stood as we entered, a weary smile on his face. “Ben. Good evening.” To Krystin, he said, “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Ms. Blackwood. I see you’ve met your new team.”
Krystin smirked, probably remembering how hopeless a situation she’d found us in. “I did. Nice housing you’ve set them up in.”
Jaffrin gestured to the two chairs opposite his desk. “The incentives are plenty. I try to make my Hunters feel as comfortable as possible.”
Before they inevitably die young, he didn’t say.
It wasn’t some hidden fact. Most Hunters got into the business early because the younger you were, the more resilient you tended to be. Stronger and faster—with better reflexes. The older you got, the more the opposite was true. If you didn’t die young because of a demon, you’d probably lose your life to one before your midlife crisis.
Luckily for Jaffrin, my life meant little without Riley in it. If we didn’t rescue him, I’d run this body into the ground chasing down every demon responsible, no matter how long this body had left to live.
Krystin and I took our seats, she more collected than me. But the way she let her body relax into the chair wasn’t out of comfort. Arrogance. Did she really think she was better than Jaffrin? Or was this the whole witch lines hating the Hunter Circles thing?
“Happy to be here,” Krystin said. “Despite the circumstances.”
Jaffrin’s smile faltered again before falling completely. “Well, thank you for checking in. When I add new Hunters, I like for the teams to stop by. Are Nate and Rachel here as well?”
I shook my head and inched to the edge of my seat. “No. We left them behind just in case.”
Jaffrin lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve seen the news reports then, I assume. That’s why you’re here.”
Nodding, I said, “We came across a similar demon attack earlier tonight, only the demon we killed said he wasn’t the demon that had committed the attack. Which seems to be backed up by round two.” I pointed to the tablet on his desk, which was playing the news on a low volume.
Jaffrin turned it off and glanced from me to Krystin and back again. “It appears we might have a serial killer on the loose. A demonic one.”
“You think?” Krystin said under her breath.
Jaffrin’s eyes hardened at Krystin’s words, but he addressed me instead. “We might have to increase overnight patrols. Will your team be ready?”
“Absolutely, sir,” I said. “Krystin’s already moved in. We’ll rest this morning and then get right to it.”
“Good. Thank you.”
“I burned the body,” Krystin said out of nowhere.
Jaffrin’s gaze settled on her. “Excuse me?”
Oh right. I’d forgotten. And now I worried we’d screwed up big time. “The body.”
Krystin nodded. “I… don’t know what I was thinking beyond hiding evidence, but I burnt the first victim’s body. She’s probably nothing but charred dust now. There’s no way we can ID her and find out what, if anything, links this new victim with the first.”
Silence—probably stemming from a stunned daze at our mistake—filled the space between Jaffrin and us. Long moments passed before he finally leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his bald head. “Well, at least there won’t be two bodies tonight.”
Krystin nodded slowly. “At least there’s that.”
“You should have called it in.”
Krystin went to reply, but I held a hand up. “Yes, and it’s my fault. I was too focused on finding out who Krystin was and introducing her to the team. We all recognized the attack as weird—demons don’t normally mutilate their victims. But by the time we saw the news report at the house, the deed had been done. It’s my fault, sir.”
Krystin’s eyes narrowed. What, I wasn’t allowed to take
one for the team? Maybe she shouldn’t have burned the body with cedo matches, but by doing so, it’d proven that the first victim wasn’t magikal in any way. All demons had magik, the same magik that turned them from human to monster. And if the victim had been a Hunter, she’d have had their Circle knife.
…not that we’d checked for one.
Shit.
“Go home,” Jaffrin said. “Rest and patrol. We’ll figure out more in the afternoon. Until then I have to make sure ‘serial killer’ doesn’t turn into ‘demon.’”
“Humans are monstrous enough,” Krystin said. “I doubt anyone will make the connection.”
“Unless they’re already connected to our side of the world,” I said and I hated every word. There went my brain, thinking of all the worst-case scenarios again.
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Jaffrin said right before his smartphone went off. He picked it up and glanced at the screen. “These guys will make sure of it.”
“Ether Head Circle?” Krystin asked.
“I wish,” he replied. “Hydron. Not a good sign if they’re involved.” He stood from his seat. “Like I said, rest and patrol. I’ll have more information for everyone in the morning. And Krystin? Stay out of the city’s center.”
She nodded and then we stood, too, and made for the door. As we passed through the archway, Krystin turned back and said, “He’s powerful.”
Jaffrin had already answered his phone but paused to look at Krystin. “What?”
“The demon that did this,” she said. “I felt his aura even after an hour, still strong enough as if he were standing right next to me. Whoever did this is an Old One.”
Jaffrin’s gaze dropped and for a single moment I swore I saw his hands shake. “Thank you, Krystin. Goodnight.”
We trailed back down to the lobby in silence. Lissandra typed away at her computer while answering phone calls.
The Old Ones. Those were the demons older than most human civilizations. The demons that came from the old world, before the American Fire Circle branch was anything remotely resembling a dream.
