She glared at Willy and grunted, but Willy didn’t back down. “Grams, prom- promise me.”
She gave me an evil glare before looking back to Willy and nodding grudgingly. “Oh, fine,” she snarled.
We hunters had a well-deserved bad reputation among the Underworlders, so it was strange having one help me. My mother would have had me pain free in a matter of minutes, but I was in no shape to move.
Grams mumbled words I didn’t understand and I couldn’t help but think the voice must belong to a whole different creature. She gazed at me with a look that would make Medusa proud. “I suggest you keep thoughts like that out of your mind, boy. You’ll show me some respect or I’ll make sure that every day you wake up, the pain is worse than the last.”
My eyes went wide and I took the cloth off my face and nodded. “Umm, yes ma’am.”
I looked at Willy and he shrugged. “She’s a witch,” he said, like that explained it.
I tried to draw on some magic to block her from my thoughts, but I didn’t have the energy, so I tried not to think.
Grams dumped bottles of liquid and oil into the bowl, then cut and mixed the herbs with them while talking to herself. She was doing a spell, and I wasn’t sure what kind, but I could feel the magic against my skin.
She lifted each stone by its individual chain and hung them all over the mixture. She spoke in a hoarse whisper and the stones started to move in circles. It started slowly, at first, but within a few rotations they moved faster and swung to trace the edge of the bowl. When she stopped muttering, the chains went stiff and she lowered them into the mixture. The liquid instantly started to boil, steam rolling off it in waves as it thickened.
I waited for more special effects but none came. The liquid kept boiling and the steam got thicker until mist filled the room. The witch opened her eyes, stood up, and started packing the ingredients back into the purse.
“When it cools, drink it. It doesn’t taste good but drink it all and don’t be a baby,” she told me before turning her gaze on Willy. “And don’t miss dinner Sunday. Demons don’t get sick so don’t use that excuse again or I’ll be banging down this door.”
“Ye- yes, Grams,” Willy replied.
She lit another cigarette and looked back and forth between the two of us before grunting and walking towards the door. “And clean this damn place up,” she commanded, slamming the door behind her.
Willy looked at me, seeming annoyed. “I hate that she treats me like a child. I’m twenty-two and she’s not my mother, she- she’s just a grandma,” he said.
“That thing is really your grandmother?” I asked, instantly regretting my choice of words. Thankfully, Willy didn’t take offense.
“I didn’t know who else to call. You lost a lot of blood. I wasn’t sure if you were going to live through the night,” he said.
I pointed to the mixture she’d made. “Is that safe?”
“Yeah, Grams would never break a promise. Not to me. I know she’s a scary lady but she’s one hell of a witch.”
The disgusting mixture had gone from a clear liquid with floating herbs and oils to a dark green, nearly black syrup that was thicker than I thought I could swallow.
When it cooled, Willy poured it into a large cup and I had more to drink than I thought. I eyed the liquid as I grasped it and tried to swirl it, but the sludge had almost no movement. I didn’t want to drink it, but my head was pounding and the cuts had started to bleed again.
“You’re really sure this isn’t going to kill me?”
Willy laughed. “Trust me.”
It was one thing to let a demon walk away from me. It was another thing to take one of the worst beatings of my life – from hunters no less – to save one, but three days ago I would have sworn that trusting a demon was something I’d never do. .
After seeing what those hunters were doing, I didn’t need any more convincing. Something was going on within the Circle and I wanted to know what. Marcus had given me the opportunity to join them, and now that I’d stood up to the hunters I had already dug my own grave. The only way I was going to survive was to put my trust in a few unconventional places.
“Cheers,” I said, and drank the mixture.
It was harsh in my throat, like swallowing a cup of bile. It burned going down and I stopped breathing out of my nose to avoid the taste. When I’d finished the tonic, I sat in silence.
“Well, how do you feel?” Willy asked.
I started to see black dots again. “I don’t know. I feel…tired.”
I could see Willy’s lips moving, but I couldn’t hear what he said. Before I had time to panic, the darkness gripped me and I collapsed back onto the couch.
~~~~~~
Chapter 11
I woke to find I could open both eyes and Willy’s nose was almost touching mine. I screamed, in turn scaring Willy, who fell backwards and crashed into the table.
“What the hell!” he said.
“What do you mean what the hell? You can’t stand over somebody staring at them like that. That’s…that’s creepy, among other things,” I said.
“You were making weird noises, so I came to check on you. I didn’t think you would ever wake up.”
“How long have I been sleeping?”
“Like two days.”
“What? I’ve got to go!” I tried to sit up and realized the only pain I felt was in my back, and it was just the kind of pain you get from lying in one spot too long.
“I don’t hurt!” I said, more to myself than anything.
“I told you Grams is good. Although, you were only supposed to sleep for an hour. I guess it works different on hunters.”
I ran my hands over my face to find no scabs or scars. I had thought only powerful water elementals were capable of this kind of healing. I would have never considered a demon capable of healing magic, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have expected these results.
“I’ve got to go. My mom is freaking out right now, I guarantee it.”
“Yeah, of course. Glad you’re okay.”
I started to walk toward the door.
“Hey Willy I, uh…”
Willy smiled. “It was the least I could do.”
I didn’t reply, only nodded, knowing he would understand.
Once I got outside, I knew where I was. It should be a fifteen minute walk home, but I could do the distance in five if I ran.
To my surprise, I walked into the kitchen to find Mom being comforted in Marcus’s dark arms. Both of their heads whipped around to look at the door.
Mom ran over to me, her cheeks streaked with tears and eyes swollen from lack of sleep. She reached up on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around my neck. I reached down and hugged her back, but when she pulled away, another set of emotions leapt to the surface. She slapped me so hard across the face that my head almost spun around.
“Where the hell have you been?” she sobbed. She looked furious, but her eyes betrayed fear rather than anger.
“It’s a long story,” I said.
“Well, I’m all ears.”
I told them everything, and the anger drained from my mother’s face and was replaced with fear, sadness, and then relief.
Marcus didn’t say a word or change his expression throughout my tale. He was wearing dark jeans and a tight black t-shirt that looked ready to tear at any moment, and a silver chain around his neck glinted brightly, as if brand new.
Just as I finished, the door opened and Rayna strode through, wearing a bright blue tank top and low rise cargos. She looked oddly cheery wearing something other than black. Her green eyes fell upon me and her eyebrows rose. Marcus gave her a rundown of the events and Rayna was quick to comment.
“My, can it be true? One day you’re putting knives to my throat and calling me a filthy demon, and the next you’re having sleepovers with an Underworlder?”
“What can I say, he was prettier than you.”
“That’s enough, you two,” my mom said.
�
��Have you considered my offer?” Marcus asked.
I nodded “I’m in. I want to know what the hunters are looking for.”
“It could be almost anything,” Marcus said. “Demon blood could be useful to anybody with a not-so-healthy agenda, but a crossbred demon is news to me. It’ll require some research.”
“Then let’s get started,” I replied.
Marcus nodded. “I’ll drive.”
~~~~~~
Chapter 12
I cleaned up and changed my bloodied clothes before we left in Marcus’s car, a small, black sedan with room for all of us. By the time we got to the condo, most of the day was gone, and the large bay windows let in a flood of purples, reds, and oranges from the setting sun.
Before we got to work, Mom wanted a tour. I wasn’t convinced that Rayna and I should be left alone together, but I kept that to myself.
You could have swum through the thick wave of tension between us, and it was more than a few minutes before I broke the silence. “Hey I didn’t mean what I said...What I mean is I shouldn’t have…” Apologizing wasn’t my forte.
Rayna stared at me and arched one eyebrow.
“What I’m trying to say is I’m sorry about what I said, about you being a filthy, well, you know.” There, that hadn’t been so hard.
The unimpressed look remained on her soft features. I stared back, not sure what my expression revealed, but anxious for a reply.
“Don’t worry about it; I’ve gotten used to it. I’m either a filthy demon to hunters or a disgrace to most Underworlders. They know I’m a witch, but I kill demons. It doesn’t bode well in the Underworld to kill your own kind, no matter how evil they are.”
I nodded and the silence wrapped around us again.
“You’re not wrong, you know.” Rayna said.
“About what?”
“About the demons. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of them, of us, that try to be good people, but there’re a lot more that do the opposite. They’re easier to spot though; none of them are as cute as me.” She smirked.
I wasn’t sure how to react, but before I could choose, my body decided for me. I felt a smile cross my face and we stared at each other.
“This place is amazing.” The sound of my mother’s voice made us jump and the smiles vanished.
“Well, if I’d known you two wouldn’t be at each other’s throats, we could have taken our time.” Marcus’s deep voice didn’t match the joke he was making.
“Yeah, well, I told Chase if he didn’t start being nice to me I’d kick his ass again. Now let’s get to work.” Rayna slipped off the couch and ran up the stairs.
“I’d like to see that,” I said under my breath.
“Keep it up and you will,” Rayna replied from the next floor. She turned and disappeared down the hallway, hips swaying.
Marcus spent a few minutes finding the books he wanted us to start with. By the time he was satisfied that he’d gotten everything useful off the shelves, books covered the huge table. Marcus and Mom each took a stack and moved to the desk. Rayna went to the fireplace, and I took a spot at the table.
The first few books I picked up were in languages I couldn’t read. When I found one that had been translated into English, I started flipping through it. Exorcisms, communicating with the spirit world, and how to grow magical plants were all covered in this book, but there was nothing on summoning or anything related to demon blood. And so the research began.
Uncounted hours later, we took a break. We’d managed to source several books with some relevance, but had found nothing particularly helpful.
“There’s plenty about summoning demons, and even more about rituals that require demon blood, but it’s used in hundreds of rituals, all of which have very undesirable results. We need to find a way to narrow down what we’re looking for,” Marcus said.
“We could track down Brock,” I said “Since he’s looking for it, who better to ask?”
“No, that will draw too much attention to us, and we’d have to threaten him somehow. We don’t want the hunters to know we’re interested,” Marcus declared.
“I can try and speak with some of the contacts I have left in the Circle,” Mom said.
“That could work, but we don’t know how deep this goes or who all is involved. Until we know for sure, we have to assume no one can be trusted.”
Marcus paced the library and continued to decline all the solutions we came up with. I was doing my best to be patient, but I wasn’t used to needing the go-ahead from someone else anymore. So far, I didn’t like it.
“We’ll have to start small.” Marcus looked at his watch. “Rayna, you and Chase go to Revelations. Perhaps you can speak to Vincent and see if he’s heard anything.”
Rayna laughed. “Because bringing a hunter into an Underworld bar isn’t going to draw attention to us? They’ll smell him as soon as we walk in. I should go alone. Besides, you know how Vincent is.”
“I do, and I don’t like you being alone with him. Chase goes too,” Marcus said.
Rayna rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll need to change.”
Marcus disappeared as well, leaving Mom and me alone in the library. There was some tension between us and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. We had always been really comfortable with each other, but since Marcus and Rayna had come into our lives, something felt different.
“So, how are you?” Mom asked.
I shrugged. “I’m fine.”
She took a seat in the chair opposite me, giving me a concerned, motherly look with her bright hazel eyes. “I meant, how are you dealing with all this?”
“I’m fine. Really.”
“I know being here is a big change, but give Marcus and Rayna a chance. They’re good people.”
“It’s pretty clear I am. I’m here, aren’t I?” It sounded snippier than I intended, but I wasn’t going to apologize, so I tried to change the subject. “You and Marcus seem close...” I was staring at the floor, but I looked up to try to catch her reaction to the comment.
“We’ve known each other a long time.” It wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but I hadn’t exactly been direct.
“Yeah, you keep saying that.”
Mom sighed. “What do you want from me, Chase? I’m really trying here.”
I immediately felt guilty. She didn’t deserve my resentment. “I know,” I said. “It’s just…this is all new to me, and it isn’t easy putting my trust in strangers. You may have known Marcus for years, but I haven’t, and Rayna’s…a demon!” I tried to say the last quietly.
“You’re right. You don’t know them, and I’m not asking you to trust them right away, but I am asking you to trust me. I don’t ask a lot of you. You do things pretty well on your own. Sometimes, I’m not even sure if you need me around, but…”
“Don’t say that!” I said sternly. “We’re in this together, remember? You and me, always.”
Mom’s eyes welled up a bit and she lowered her gaze.
I got up and wrapped my arms around her. Her small arms hugged me back with greater force than you’d expect, but she wasn’t an ordinary woman; she was a hunter.
“You’re right, you don’t ask much of me,” I said. “And I do trust you. Everything is just going to take some getting used to.”
"Thank you." Mom pulled away and smiled. "And go easy on Rayna. She’s a great girl and you don’t know her story. Give it time and you might find you guys are more alike than you think.”
“Yeah, right. I think you’re pushing it now.” I laughed, but Mom eyed me and I fell silent.
“I mean it. Give her a chance and I’ll bet she surprises even you.”
“Ready?” I hadn’t heard Marcus come up the stairs. Mom turned at the sound of his voice and a smile crept over her lips. Marcus returned the smile and it seemed out of place on his face, but I realized then how little my mother smiled. She looked younger when she did. All the years of overnights and double shifts were suddenly gone, washed away by on
e gesture, revealing the face I remembered from my childhood.
The awkwardness I’d felt vanished, and I knew I’d do anything I could to see her smile more. If that meant putting my trust in these people, then I would. After all she’d done for me, she deserved at least that much.
“I’ll be downstairs,” I said.
A couple of minutes later, Marcus, Rayna and Mom all came down together. Rayna wore a black miniskirt and a tight, low-cut, red halter top that split under her breasts, flaring out to reveal a toned stomach. Her black hair was pinned up with a few red strands left to fall down her neck.
“Wow, am I underdressed?” I asked, sarcasm thick in my voice. I could feel my mom’s disapproving gaze burning into me.
“You are, actually,” Rayna said. “In case you hadn’t noticed, the Underworld prides itself on looking good,” she said.
“Should I change?”
She shook her head, sitting down to pull on knee high leather boots. “We don’t have time to go back to your place and nothing of Marcus’s would fit you. Besides, I doubt you own much that isn’t a t-shirt.”
It made me irritated that she was right. Jeans, cargos, and t-shirts pretty much made up my entire wardrobe. Some days there were even socks involved.
“Don’t stay longer than you have to. Go there, talk to Vincent and don’t get sidetracked. We don’t need more of what happened to Chase. And no matter what happens, don’t make a deal with him until we’ve discussed it. Understood?” Marcus said.
“Don’t you think we should go with them?” Mom said.
“No, Rayna knows what she’s doing and the bar is warded. Nobody can be harmed while inside.”
“It’s not the time they’re inside that I’m worried about.”
“I can take care of myself, Mom.”
“Yeah, you’ve proven that so far,” she said sarcastically.
“Rayna will be there, Tessa, and they’ll get more information if it’s just the two of them. As long as Chase doesn’t try to kill anyone, they’ll be fine,” he said, looking at me pointedly.
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