by Jessica Gunn
Gradually, sound returned, but not by much. Nate and the other ether-shaper must have been able to stop the damage but not the concussive force of the explosion. At least they’d been there. If not… Rachel.
I looked around. Where’d she land? Scattered around, everyone seemed to have taken that part of the blast. But nearly everyone was standing again as the ether shield around us lowered. “Rachel?”
“Here,” she said. She was helping Shawn up, who was pulling his hand away from his… bloodied head.
“Shawn?” I asked. “You okay?”
Head wounds were tricky. You always bled a ton. But here, inside this dimly-lit building, it’d be impossible to know for sure. But he was standing at least.
Shawn nodded. “I think so.”
“Krystin, can’t you do that healing thing he did to you?” I asked.
Krystin’s gaze fell between mine and Shawn’s, then lingered on him. She frowned. “I don’t know how. I’ve never done it before.”
“Me healing her was an accident,” Shawn added quickly.
“Avery!” Nate shouted.
Avery lay on the ground in front of the door. He was cradling his head with burnt hands.
Nate fell to his knees at Avery’s side, touching two fingers to his neck. “Are you—”
Avery shoved Nate’s hand away and grunted. “I’m fine.”
I rushed over to them with Rachel right behind me. “You don’t look fine.”
His eyes narrowed, focusing on his burned hands. “It’s okay. The healers can help me later. We need to keep moving.”
Rachel collected water from her water canister backpack and floated some around his hands. He moaned when she’d covered them both. “This might help for now. Stop the burning. Cool them down. Someone should teleportante you back right now.”
He shook his head, but I could tell from the way the pain wrinkled his eyes and his drawn expression that he was strongly considering it. Finally, he pushed even Rachel away. “It’s time to move on. Let’s go.”
“You’re lucky we got the shield up in time,” said Nate as he helped Avery. I grabbed his other shoulder and heaved him into a standing position. “You really need to rest.”
Avery took a step and winced but kept moving through the now-huge hole in the wall. Parts of it burned and smoked as bits of ceiling fell down around us. “Move out.”
“The rest of the place could have more traps,” I called after him. I knew I had a stubborn streak, but damn. Avery was crazy. If Nate and the other ether-shaper hadn’t gotten that shield up on time…
Avery pushed on, leading the group up the stairs as the rest of his team exchanged unsure glances behind him.
I glanced at my team, but Rachel and Krystin shrugged. “Follow the leader, then.”
We climbed the stairs and, at the top, Avery stood outside another set of double doors, a finger pressed to his lips and his other fist in the air. Hold.
Sounds filtered through the door, shouts and panic and hurried footsteps. The explosion would have absolutely given us away, but the real question was: Why not leave immediately?
Because they have something big to hide. Something huge to evacuate.
Like a whole bunch of magik-born Hunters and witches being stockpiled for life energy or turned into demons next August.
“Crap,” I said under my breath. We had to go in. Now. Before they got away with all the innocents trapped in there.
Avery made eye contact with me, as though reading my thoughts, then dropped his hand. He and his team kicked down the door and breached the room, making way for my team to follow with magik.
We ran into the brightly-lit space, the sudden intrusion of light burning my retinas. I squinted and pivoted, looking for a target. Any target. But the fluorescents burned through my vision. Immense heat filled the area, soaring in dangerously close.
I backpedaled to avoid being burned by what I now saw as fire when Rachel and two other water-elementals jumped in and doused the flames. Hissing and sizzling continued as another barrage of attacks came from an unknown number of assailants.
Gradually, the scene screamed into to bedlam before me: a giant room filled on each side with occupied cells guarded by three dozen demon captors. They squared off with us, no one acting quite yet, until Avery shouted, “Surrender now!”
But another one of his team, Jana, jumped forward and threw a knife at her closest target. The demon caught it and shouted, charging for us.
And so did they all.
I braced myself for a massive fight as the wave of demons and their thunderous footfalls rushed across the room, shaking the already-unsteady floor. How had Nate and the ether-shaper managed to keep the explosion from rocking the whole building?
I traded blow for blow and shot lightning into the wave of demons, trying to stay as close to Rachel as possible without getting in her way. She drew water from the air and doused flames appearing from nowhere. My eyes caught movement in the corner of the room. A fire-elemental.
I rushed him, lightning building in my palm, sparking so much, it scorched my skin and bounced off the nearby wall. As I closed in on him, I let the lightning loose, throwing the ball directly at him, then swinging around with another shot from my other hand.
The demon convulsed, sizzling as he dropped to the ground. The man coughed and blood dribbled out of his mouth. “Stupid for you all to be using this much magik near the cianza.”
I stood over him, knife at the ready. “I didn’t realize Landshaft was stupid enough to send operatives to even be this close to it.”
That’s when his eyes went wide, meeting mine. He blinked rapidly, dropping his gaze to the lightning crackling around my hands. He looked back up, mouth agape. “Wait—I know you. Don’t. This isn’t—”
I shocked him again—with a lesser amount this time—and waited for him to stop convulsing. We needed to know what else was here, why they’d picked this building to risk basing an operation out of. But when the demon stopped convulsing, he fell unconscious. Dammit.
“Ben!” Rachel shrieked. She was facing a cell but whipped around and searched the room. When our gazes met, her face paled. “Make it stop! There’s been a mistake!”
“Mistake?”
“She’s right!” Krystin yelled. “Avery!”
But the fighting continued. Chaos erupted as some people stopped fighting and others continued, all to the backdrop of shouts and grunts of pain.
Rachel rushed to me and gripped my shoulders so tightly, it’d probably bruise. “Ben—they’re not demons. They’re humans. Stop this now. Stop him, Ben!”
My eyes widened, stomach dropped. “What? Human?”
She nodded quickly, pointing back toward the cells. “They’re normal humans, Ben. And—check his eyes. They’re wearing contact lenses.”
I looked down at the demon I’d just incapacitated. His chest rose and fell—still alive—but… she was right. He was wearing contact lenses. “Shit.”
“Make Avery stop.”
“I can’t, Rachel, he—”
“Enough!” Krystin bellowed and… no one listened. Why didn’t she just physically stop everyone from moving with her telekinesis? Maybe there were too many people for even her power to control.
I lit the air near the ceiling with lightning, forcing it to crackle loudly until everyone froze, going dead silent. “Stop for one goddamn second! All of you!”
Krystin abandoned the demon she’d been fighting and ran across to the center of the giant room. “They’re all covered in witch spells,” she said as she turned around, looking at everyone in turn. “Illusions and glamours, all of them.”
“What?” I asked.
“We are not,” the demon fighting Avery said. And yet, he’d stopped, too.
I turned and looked closer at the demon at my feet again. It wasn’t unheard of for people, even demons, to wear contact lenses. Surely, being a demon didn’t mean you’d have perfect vision. But… something wasn’t right. That much I
agreed with. That’s when I noticed the metal chain around the demon’s neck. I leaned down to retrieve it, yanking the chain free.
Not just a chain. They were dog tags.
I flipped them over and read the information there. Jason Trudeau, Special Agent, Hydron.
“Hydron,” I said. “Oh, fuck.” The very people Jaffrin had been worried about earlier, especially given the Ether Head Circle party at Headquarters earlier. Doubly so with the White Flame contingent. And now the CIA-funded group of Water Circle Hunters were here. In Boston.
I turned and threw the dog tags at Avery, trying not to think of how many “demons” we might have killed downstairs in the basement. Or up here, if any had died. But the wounded…the demon at my feet…
My stomach churned.
Avery shoved the dog tags at the person in front of him. “You’re not a demon?”
“No, you idiot,” said the man. He ripped the dog tags out of Avery’s hand. “Why the hell are the Circles attacking their allies?”
“Excuse me?” Krystin asked.
With the fighting over, it was easier to traverse the room. I joined Avery in the questioning. “Why is Hydron running an operation in Boston?”
“Much less one that’s imitating Landshaft and risking the nearby cianza?” Krystin demanded.
Hydron had been the result of a Water Circle mission gone awry. A team of Water Circle Hunters had somehow revealed the existence of magik and demons, and when the CIA had gotten involved to cover it up, they’d demanded to be part of the operation. Until today, I wasn’t sure they’d known about the other four Circles.
Avery raised his hand. “One question at a time. Even Jaffrin didn’t know you were here.”
The man shook his head. “Classified. Leave us be. Return home. Tonight is more important than you know.”
“Classified?” Avery asked. “I’m Jaffrin’s top team leader. You have to tell me what you’re doing here.”
The man gave Avery an incredulous look, then shifted his hard stare to Shawn, who wielded a pair of knives in his hand. Krystin stood next to him, her three-piece sword still drawn. Both of them had magik; why in the hell were they only using blades? Wasn’t Jaffrin’s whole point of putting her on the team to make us a magik powerhouse against our enemies?
“Actually, I don’t have to tell you,” said the man. “This operation has been running for too long to back out now.”
“What operation?” Avery demanded.
Still staring at Shawn, the man said, “Hunting Tatiana Viynar, the one who goes after Ember witches. She’s looking for Shawn, and if she hunts him successfully, we’ll be out one half of the Alzan prophecy. We set up this trap to finally capture her.”
“She won’t get me,” Shawn said, defensive. “I didn’t realize Hydron even knew about the prophecy.”
The Hydron special agent laughed. “You’d think that now. But with a bounty on your head as high as it is, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone came out of the woodwork.”
Which was, of course, when the wall facing the street shook so much that it gave out. The hole let in the cold nighttime air, cooling me immediately. But in through that hole flew a human-sized shadow.
I tried to follow it, but it moved too fast. That’s when said shadow landed inside the room and slammed a fist into the ground, superhero style. The entire building shook, but something told me that it was the cianza that was actually shaking.
Then Kinder looked up and focused her view directly on me. “Surprise me once, shame on me. Try to surprise me twice, shame on you. Stay off of my cianza unless you plan to help me make it explode.”
Chapter 20
Krystin
Kinder slammed her foot into the ground and a pillar of cement rose right in front of Ben. He saw it in time and leapt but was so distracted he didn’t see her next attack—a flying bar of metal. She slammed the bar into his gut and he collapsed, falling forward with one arm wrapped around himself.
“Ben!” I shouted. But as I went to run toward him, a horde of demons appeared. True demons this time with wild auras that whipped around them as though they were wearing flames. The dozen or so newcomers let out war cries, attacking both the Hunters and Hydron operatives.
This had all been a trap by Hydron. And now we might all die because the government wanted to meddle in something they didn’t understand.
One of the demons charged at me. I backed up and readied myself, raising my sword high into the air. I had to get to Ben before Kinder killed him, but without my magik…
No. With the three of us here, plus demons… I couldn’t. Exploding the cianza wasn’t worth killing Kinder.
None of us should even be in this city.
I met the demon halfway, slicing at his middle before coming back up to shove the butt of the weapon’s hilt into his head. He grunted, stumbling, but threw his palm up into the air. I cried out as my body forcibly moved of its own accord and slammed against a wall with my foot and ankle crashing against it first. Pain sprouted, shooting up my side. Stars danced along the edges of my darkening vision. The demon grasped at the air in front of him and I sailed back his way.
Telekinesis. Shit.
His fist collided with my face when I was in range, dropping me like a stone to the floor. My sword clattered next to me. Ow.
“Some powerful Hunter you are,” the demon purred, bending down so his mouth was close to my head. His breath smelled of something foul and it was all I could do not to barf on him. “I don’t see in you what Kinder does.”
“Joke’s on you, buddy.” I kicked up, landing a foot to his face, and forced myself back onto my feet while he reeled away, clutching his bleeding nose. Pain radiated up one leg. I tested it out with one step and pain splintered up from my foot up through my knee. Fuck. I’d landed too hard against the wall.
“I don’t know about that—” The demon’s words were cut off by a sword-shaped chunk of cement flying through the air and into his chest. His eyes shot open wide, but his skin grayed before either of us knew what’d happened.
I glanced in the direction the attack had come from, not knowing if it’d been from another Hunter or from Kinder. But there hadn’t been an earth-elemental on our detail—they were pretty rare to begin with.
Kinder stood there, rocks flying in a circle above her palm. “This fight belongs to us, dear one.”
I straightened and wiped the corner of my mouth. My fist came away red with blood. I didn’t move. Couldn’t move. Just thinking of putting weight on my injured ankle flooded my senses with pain. “Why do you demons insist on calling me ‘dear’?”
Kinder smirked as she stepped closer to me. “Because we’re one and the same.”
My eyes narrowed. I bent down and retrieved the sword, falling into my ready stance as best I could. I had to get in some strikes on Kinder—somehow without allowing her within range of me. One touch from her and my magik, though currently bound, would be at her disposal. “You and I are nothing alike.”
She paused. “Are you so sure about that?”
“Yes.” I needed her to act already. To move. To get closer. Because there was a good chance that if I lunged for a first attack, I’d fall flat on my face. My ankle throbbed, the broken bones pushing and sliding against one another. I sucked in deep breaths, trying to center myself.
Kinder chuckled and reeled back her palm. “We will see about that.” She threw her palm forward, sending the rocks flying my way.
I moved my sword, using it to deflect as many as I could—which wasn’t much. A sword wasn’t a shield. I stepped out of the way of the attack, but as soon as weight landed on my hurt ankle, it gave out and I fell to my knees. The cement landing shot pain all the way up my leg and I cried out. White-hot pain pierced my arms, which slicked with liquid—blood—almost immediately. I looked down. She’d hit me with at least two of the rocks, splitting my skin in long tracks.
Kinder stalked closer, peering down at me. “The great Daughter is defeated already?�
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Where was Shawn? Where were Ben and Rachel? I knew Ben hated me right now, but there was no way he’d leave me here to die. He wasn’t that cruel, even to his enemies.
Or maybe he was. Maybe I hadn’t known Ben at all and now I never would.
I glanced up at Kinder through a curtain of my hair. “It’ll be a lot harder to kill me than that.” I lifted my elbow, slamming it into her chin. The blow connected and she fell back, but not far. Just far enough to allow me to stand and, swallowing every inch of pain blooming from my ankle and foot, lunge for her.
Two, three, four strikes of the sword. She formed another cement scimitar of her own and we danced, blades sliding together, moving around each other in circles for what felt like forever. Each step nearly blinded me with pain, but I kept moving. One false step and I’d be dead.
Kinder slipped up, showing me her next move before she made it, and I went in for the strike while keeping careful watch on her hands—to stay out of reach. At the last moment, she kicked up a small pillar of cement that knocked my sword off its target, allowing her to get into my defense space. She parried my sword out of my hands and grabbed me by the neck, lifting me up off the ground.
She grinned evilly and looked all around her. A few demons had fallen but far too many of our Hunters were also down. Dead or unconscious, I couldn’t tell. This mission had gone from bad to worse in a manner of seconds—a mission that wouldn’t have been conducted if Hydron had ever fucking told the Circles what they’d been up to.
“Maybe we should even this fight out a bit, hmm?” she asked me. “I don’t like easy prey.” Before I’d processed what she meant, she reached for the crystal at my neck and tugged it off. Holding it in the air before us, she asked, “Why block your powers? It doesn’t change who and what you are. You shouldn’t be ashamed.”
“Not ashamed,” I gritted out. “Too powerful…for cianza.” Like you, I wanted to add, but my breaths wheezed in and out past my lips.
