Broken Angel (Book 1 in the Chronicles of a Supernatural Huntsman series)

by Shannon Lee Martin

  Ushered through many winding hallways, we finally ended up at a steel door with a keypad attached to the wall. David Yu blocked the pad with his body and entered an eight digit code. A loud clank followed. He pulled the door open and waved us through before he closed it again behind us.

  The room was pitch black. Holly stood next to me, her shoulder touching mine. Rows of overhead florescent lights flickered on and shone down harshly. All along the thousand square foot room sat locked cages full of weaponry.

  “This is the armory,” David said in what I deemed his signature bored tone. “You’ll be issued standard weapons, but you can always come back to add items to your arsenal.”

  In the center of the room were three rows of long wooden tables. Laid across them were various weapons—guns, knives, and swords, and a number of things I’d never seen before. David walked over to the first table, set the clipboard down, and picked up a small, black pistol. He ejected the magazine and looked inside, then popped it back into place and pulled the slide with a metallic click that raised the hairs on my arms.

  “This is a standard Beretta M9. A semiautomatic pistol for those of you who don’t know your guns. It’s accurate and easy to handle.” He placed the gun gently on the table and moved down the line to pick up the next weapon. It was a long knife with little finger holes on the black handle. “This is a Bowie knife with knuckle guards. You’ll be receiving two of these. They’re not only useful if caught in the elements to survive, but will also in more bloody ways, which I’ll be showing you later on.”

  My eyes were perfectly rounded circles as I stared at the intimidating weaponry. David Yu handled each one with such ease, as if they were extensions of his own body. He never faltered in his movements as he picked them up, displayed them, did quick maneuvers, and placed them back down. My mouth was dry as images of me dropping my gun and accidentally shooting someone in the foot ran through my mind.

  “These are specially made silver bullets. Silver is fatally damaging to a great deal of the creatures you’ll be learning about here. And this is a shotgun shell filled with rock salt. They are especially useful when hunting spirits. These are iron bullets, also useful when hunting spirits.”

  My first facts to remember. I wished I had my notebook and pen to write everything down. I wasn’t sure if we would be tested while we were there, but I was sure to fail if I had to remember it all with no notes to study.

  As he moved down the line, he picked up a pistol grip shotgun, a medieval iron sword, a katana, several different crushed herbs, and gave us each our own cellphone. It was nothing fancy, just a plain silver flip phone with pre-loaded numbers on speed dial. The number one spot, he said, was for our individual mentors. Don was in my life, for better or for worse.

  “Take a bag, pick up one of each item, and place them in your bag. Put your cloaks in there too since we will only use them when we go outdoors for practice hunts, which won’t be for another twelve weeks. And make it quick. I want to get started so maybe I can see my bed before dawn,” David grumbled.

  I picked up one of the black duffel bags on the floor. Ryker was ahead of me. I watched him pick up and inspect each item as he loudly rattled off facts to impress his two new buddies.

  “I had a Beretta just like this at home. My father and I have gone to the range every single Sunday since I was five. I can hit the center of a target with my eyes closed. It’s all about confidence and knowing your weapon.”

  I snorted under my breath.

  Ryker snapped his head to scowl at me. “Can’t wait to see you in action,” he forced through his teeth. “We’ll be lucky if we make it out alive, I’m sure.”

  “Well, you will be,” I spat back.

  His eyes narrowed and his lips tightened. “What did you say to me?”

  I opened my mouth but David Yu rushed us out, cutting me off. “Let’s go, people! I don’t have all night to watch you ‘oo’ and ‘ah’ over your new toys.”

  Ryker stayed put to let the weight of his gaze sink in. My eyes glared back with as much intensity as I could muster. He would not get to me. I wouldn’t let him. This was too important. It was bigger than him.

  “Come on,” Holly said as she tugged on my arm. “Forget about him.” She shot him a scowl from over her shoulder as we followed the instructor out of the room.