Hunter, Hunted: a New Adult Fantasy Novel (The Spire Chronicles Book 1)

by Ashley Meira

  “The guard also mentioned that Vaughn caught wind of your exercise buddy’s–”

  “Alex.”

  “–trip to the clinic and was planning on visiting Trish to make sure she didn’t let anything slip.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  “Apparently, Trish and Vaughn had an altercation over some potion ingredients or something. He wasn’t sure since Vaughn never spoke to him about it, and to be honest, it was getting really hard for him to speak with all the blood spewing from–” he gestured vaguely into the air “–everywhere.”

  “So, you won’t be getting your security deposit back.”

  Ipos rolled his shoulders, unconcerned, and stood up. “It was worth it. Oh, he did mention one other thing: Vaughn’s address, which just happens to be – by total, absolute coincidence, I’m sure – the apartment building revealed during your little ritual.”

  I frowned. “‘Little ritual?’ It was an amazing feat of magic.”

  “It was a complicated tracking spell, sweetheart. Now, let’s finally go check that apartment. I’d also like to take a look at the ‘lair.’”

  “Yeah, you can do that on your own.” I scrunched my face up at the memory of that room. “Do you really think Vaughn’s stupid enough to leave something damning in his apartment, though?”

  “It’s hard to say. From what you’ve told me, he sounds like a genius.” His voice was dripping in sarcasm so thick I half-expected it to physically seep out of his mouth. “Do you have any other ideas?”

  “We need to find Lily and Trish. If they’re still alive–”

  “You aren’t usually so optimistic.”

  “I’ve discovered a new lease on life,” I said in a deadpan.

  “You know what, Mori? After we take that week to wind down–” he winked at me “–I’m going to have your ass running around doing some work for me. The Order may have you laying in bed, but I don’t believe in babying. How many months has it been? Two? Three?”

  “Almost three, yeah.”

  “Bet you can’t even conjure up a little storm without hurting yourself.”

  I opened my mouth, then promptly closed it. He was right. While I never got a lot of opportunities in busy New York, there were times when I had to chase a target out to a remote location. That was when I could really get wild if I wanted. Thunder rocked. Ice rocked. Put them together and you had a hell of a good time. I didn’t do it very often; those kind of spells were immensely draining, but they were possible. More than that, they were wickedly fun.

  “You gonna pay me?” I asked. “I mean, if I’m going to be pimped out by a demon, I may as well get some shopping money out of it.”

  “Promise you’ll stop spending it all on clothes and save up for a decent apartment?”

  “My apartment is wonderful.”

  “Your apartment is hidden away in a dark alley.”

  “It’s right down the alley. That’s not hidden–”

  “It’s totally hidden.”

  “People always know where to find me.”

  “I just find it kind of funny is all,” he said. “You’ve got a crazy addiction for pretty and expensive things, but you sequester yourself in a shithole–”

  “Hey!”

  “Okay, fine, it does have its charms. It’s…cozy.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But–”

  I fake-glared at him. “Shut up.”

  “Why do I always seem to walk in on you speaking to strange men?” asked Rowan.

  Ipos chuckled, giving the talking cat a nod as she hopped onto the armrest. “What exactly about me is strange, Rowan?”

  “Well–” I stood up and stretched “–you are one of Lucifer’s Dukes, and you’re currently helping me investigate the murder of a human. A hunter, no less – not exactly a demon’s BFF. If you’re not careful, people might start to think you’re getting soft.”

  “Aw, and here I thought we were all friends now. Especially us, Rowan.” He turned to her. “How long has it been since our first meeting? You were still human – I remember the long black hair. It’s a thick bushel of fur now but at least the color’s the same. That venomous glare hasn’t changed, either. Did your face freeze that way mid-transformation?”

  Rowan’s tail flicked around as she spoke, her claws sinking into the leather couch in a way that made me cry. “It’s been about six hundred years, if I recall. I remember thinking that it would be impossible for you to become a bigger pain in my ass than you already were. I was wrong.”

  “You, admitting defeat?”

  “In the case of your shitty attitude? Quite.”

  “Maybe you have changed after all.”

  She bobbed her head up and down. “Take notes, Hell-bait.”

  “Why mess with perfection?”

  I sat back down as they sniped at each other like an old married couple. There wasn’t any real bite to their words, which was monumental progress compared to the first time I saw them in the same room together. That was when I learned how deadly Rowan could be, even in a cat’s body. Apparently, there’d been a lot of bad blood formed between then back when Rowan had still been a human, but I could never pull the full story out from either of them.

  Rowan was making some comment about Ipos’ mother when Alex entered the room. He was wearing an old Portal t-shirt of mine that read “The cake is a lie,” the normally baggy article fitting snugly against his chest. A pair of my loose gym capris were hanging off his hips, which was annoying as hell because it made me feel fat in comparison. I wasn’t, though my hips were wider than normal. I was still annoyed. Stupid boys and their lean bodies.

  “Have we got a new plan?” he asked, looking between the bickering pair.

  “Maybe I should have waited until we were all together,” said Ipos. “This whole recap thing is only tolerable the first time.”

  “Patience is a virtue.” I snickered.

  He rolled his eyes. “You can learn to be patient in my place. Consider it part of your new lease on life.”

  “Do as I say, not as I do.”

  “Careful, hypocrisy is a good way to the Pit.”

  “You mean I’m not already damned?”

  “What did you find, Ipos?” asked Rowan.

  “I was going to tell you before you decided to insult me.”

  “I’ve called you worse things than ‘strange.’” Before I met Rowan, I never knew a cat could roll its eyes.

  “And that comment about my mother?”

  “You’re a demon. You don’t even have a mother.”

  “And it’s very hurtful when you rub that fact in,” Ipos said with the biggest, most self-satisfied smirk I’d ever seen.

  Alex joined me on the couch as Ipos and Rowan started in on round two. He gave them a few minutes before interrupting and asking for the information Ipos had discovered. The demon recounted everything he’d found, and we finally decided to make our way to Vaughn’s apartment.

  After seeing Vaughn’s secret lair, I didn’t think it could get much worse. Turns out his apartment was just as big of a shithole, only without the maggots, blood, and dead women. It was also the apartment we’d chased him through earlier. Rowan suggested that he came back here to collect damning evidence, since he figured the jig was up. It was possible, but we’d been right on his tail, so there’s no way he had a chance to stop here during the chase. There was a bathroom to the right, near the front door and a small archway past that which led to the bedroom. On the opposite side of the archway was a small kitchenette and a dinner table with a patchwork leg.

  Ipos smirked. “Reminds me of your place.”

  “Screw you, buddy.” I smacked his arm before cradling the hand I hit him with. Stupid jerk was practically made of stone. Brimstone. Ha, Hell jokes never get old. “I may not be Martha Stewart or anything, but my place is a thousand – no, a million – times better than this.” I ran a finger along the dinner table, frowning at the grime that stuck to me. “This place smells like p
iss.”

  “That seems to be our theme for today,” said Alex.

  “At least you all have shoes on,” said Rowan, her green eyes narrowed as she glared at the floor from the doorway.

  “I could buy you those kitty socks.” I gave her a shit-eating grin. “You know, those ones they put on cats to watch them slip all over the place so they have a video to post on YouTube?”

  “You’ll have to leave this apartment eventually,” she said menacingly, “and when you do, I’ll be here.”

  I scoffed, wrinkling my nose at the detritus littered around this place. Empty wrappers and soda cans, rolled up balls of paper… If there was ever a thing to invest in, it’d be a trashcan. “And why exactly did he think it would be a good idea to set up a creepy sewer lair right behind his apartment?”

  “Humans are weird that way,” said Ipos. “Now, you’re hunters – where would you hide your shit?”

  “Floorboards, secret panels in the wall, behind the toilet if needed…” I counted the possibilities on my fingers.

  Alex nodded along. “Hidden rooms behind bookshelves – yes, really – a secret drawer… If he uses a USB, then all he needs is a tiny space.”

  “Most hunters still use papers, so they can burn everything as needed.” Rowan rushed toward Vaughn’s bed and hopped on. “…This feels dirtier than the floor.”

  I picked her up, placing a kiss on her furry little face as she glared at me. She didn’t complain, though. I guess being treated like a housecat was better than touching anything in this cesspool. Looking at the bed, I could see what Rowan meant. It was little more than a ratty old mattress covered in a mussed up sheet stained with I didn’t want to know what. Pulling said sheets off revealed nothing and neither did lifting the mattress.

  With an expression much like the one I had when I stuck my hand in the sewer water to disarm those sigils, I rapped my knuckles against the floorboards, listening for any hollow sounds. The chance of finding anything here was a crapshoot, but we didn’t have that much more to go on. Except those books, the ones I could be curled up in bed reading instead of crawling around this sad little place.

  “Ho!” Ipos held out a few magazines he pulled from the closet. “What are the chances he hid something in his copy of Naughty Schoolgirls of NYC?”

  “I went to their studio once,” I said. “On a case. Succubus.”

  “How’d you find her?”

  “How’d I find a succubus in a porn studio?” I asked, grinning as he rolled his eyes. “Taxes, actually – they’ll get you every time. Led me right to her.”

  Ipos chuckled. “Only two things in life are certain, right?”

  I rolled my eyes but smiled. “Dork.”

  “I think I found something,” Alex called from the kitchen.

  “Is it bleach?” I asked as we all gathered around him.

  “I’d pay to actually see you clean.” Ipos stroked his chin. “Maybe in a maid’s outfit.”

  Rowan fussed in my arms, trying to get a better look. “This looks like a bunch of notes Vaughn scribbled down. It’s possible they’re related to those books you found.”

  Alex handed me the pages but refused to hold Kitty Fuss-a-lot while I looked them over.

  “A ritual… Special potion to be forced onto three sacrifices on the full moon…” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “This is bad. I’ll need to look through the books we found to see if there’s more information.”

  “Do you recognize it?” Alex asked. “Does it say what the ritual does?”

  “There’s a few things that look like ‘remove Cassandra’ and ‘gain power’ in the margins, but…” I shook my head. “The rest are just notes on what’s needed. This is a really dark ritual, though. Whatever he wants to do isn’t good.”

  “Well, we didn’t expect him to murder the head of his family in order to cure cancer,” said Ipos.

  “Shush or I’ll make you hold Rowan,” I warned before going back to the pages. “The way he’s written these notes is weird… It’s not natural English, it’s more like a direct translation. Inferni, maybe? A ritual this dark is probably demonic.” I turned to Ipos. “No offense.”

  “None taken.” He looked over the text. “Magic isn’t really my thing. If it was, I wouldn’t have needed to get these–” he stretched out his muscular arms, revealing the intricate arcane tattoos spanning them “–tattooed on.”

  “Does that mean you’re finally going to hand over all those rare magical texts you’ve got hoarded away?” I asked.

  “You’ll have to work for those, Mori.”

  “I’ll take them out in trade,” I said with a wink. “I’m referring to that job offer you made for after this case, of course.”

  “Of course.” Ipos grinned. “It’d have to have some hellishly – pun intended – dangerous work for that kind of payment, though.”

  “I do so love it when the people in my life make puns,” I said, pretending to swoon. “Were you planning on giving me novice jobs?”

  “Depends on how much you can handle.”

  “You’re not working for him,” said Rowan, her claws coming out just enough to scrape against my skin.

  “Saying things like that just makes me want to recruit her more.” Ipos grinned at Rowan, who hissed. “Anyway, this ritual does sound demonic, but I can’t say for sure without reading the original text.”

  “The next full moon is tomorrow night,” said Alex. “I think it’s time we informed the Council. This is getting a bit beyond independent action. They need to know about all of this.”

  “Agreed,” Rowan and I both said.

  Ipos nodded before throwing me another smirk. “And you thought we wouldn’t find anything here.”

  9

  Maybe I’d grown feeble in my old age, but I never remembered research being this tedious. I was leaning against my headboard, one ankle crossed over the other, pouring over what felt like a million words at once. Rubbing my temples, I tried to focus on the passage in front of me. These books were the only thing left that could give us a lead on Trish and Lily. I had to find the answer and save them. I had to.

  I tried to run another tracking spell for Lily, but the furthest I got was to the clinic; something was blocking my magic. It was bad enough Vaughn had a mysterious potion master/sorcerer on his side, but with all this, it was likely that our mystery person was an infernalist – a magic user that sold their soul to a demon in exchange for greater magical power as well as tutelage in demonic magicks. And these weren’t normal demons, either, they were the fucked up monsters that even Lucifer himself made sure were kept locked up. Infernalists were bad news, second only to the dark overlords they served.

  On top of that, we had less than twenty-four hours until the next full moon. Now that I was alone in my room, the time limit weighed on me like a fifty-ton boulder, making my heart race and hacking my concentration into little pieces of sashimi. There wasn’t much time left, but I needed to figure this out, no matter what.

  I invited Ipos and Alex to stay the night here if they wanted. There was room, and it would save us time regrouping later. They both accepted. I won’t say it wasn’t weird having two people I’d had sex with sleeping across the hall from one another, but if they were cool with it, then who was I to complain?

  I’d already gone through one book that had been way longer than I thought. It didn’t help that it had been in Inferni, which made translating it a pain in the ass. Even more of a pain had been handling the Council. Dealing with them always felt like I was being sent to the principal’s office. They weren’t mean per se, just authoritative. And if the rumors of them being thousands of years old were actually true, then I really didn’t want to piss them off. The only thing worse than a powerful being having a grudge against you was an ancient powerful being having a grudge against you.

  “Come in,” I called at the knock on my door.

  Alex peeked his head into the room before stepping inside. “I suppose asking if you plan on
sleeping tonight would be a stupid question.”

  I grunted.

  “Would you like some help?”

  “Do you speak Inferni?”

  “A little bit.”

  “There’s a joke about making you speak in tongues somewhere in there, but I really need to focus.” I handed him one of the English books that I hadn’t checked yet. “Take a seat.”

  He sat next to me on the bed and began scanning through the pages, his fingers gliding along the words.

  “Is Ipos in his room?” I asked.

  “Lady Rowan asked to speak with him.”

  “About?”

  “She didn’t say. Why?”

  “Just wondering.” I sighed as I read through another useless ritual. Well, useless for this investigation, anyway. “She’s been acting a bit weird since we got back. More withdrawn and…mild. Like something is happening that’s bothering her.”

  “Something did happen,” he said. “You got injured, didn’t you? Badly enough to warrant recovering here instead of in New York.”

  “They overreacted.” I reached up to scratch at the scar on my shoulder. The words sounded hollow even to me. “I’ve been injured before.”

  Alex set his book down to look at me. “What did happen?”

  “I–” A loud yawn cut me off. I let it run its course before continuing. “I got a lead, walked into an ambush, and got fucked up. One dude had some kind of evil magic weapon or something that did more damage than usual. People got freaked. I got called home.”

  “I heard it was a showdown with fifty demons.”

  I snorted. “That’d be a trick. No, it was twelve demons. And eight vamps.”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t expect that many people.”

  “Yeah, dude, that’s what ‘ambush’ means,” I said. He rolled his eyes and nudged me with his knee. “Turns out the information wasn’t any good, either. What a fucking waste.”

  “What was it?”

  “It said my mother was in town and that she’d been spotted at the address where I got ambushed,” I said in a clipped voice as the memory of the event that had trapped me here for the past few months replayed itself in my mind. It was the closest lead I’d ever gotten about my mother. I was too eager, too hopeful; I walked into that warehouse blindly.