The Dark War: The Dark War, Book 1

by Angela Addams

  I shuddered. This wasn’t the work of an explosion. Someone had done this to them.

  “We didn’t want this,” Joanne mumbled.

  I glanced down at her. She couldn’t see him from where she lay. That was a good thing. I bent, sliding onto my knees next to her. “Joanne, it’s Kali Richards, do you remember me? You hired me to…”

  “We didn’t want this.” She repeated, a frown on her brow, her lips dry as she licked at them. “We didn’t know.”

  “Didn’t know what?” I wanted to get her some water, had the morbid thought that it would seep right through her now.

  “Shelly was never supposed to die.” She croaked, a sob in her words.

  “I’ve avenged her, Joanne. Your daughter can rest in peace.”

  I thought that might bring some calm in her dying moments, but she ignored what I was saying, her glassy gaze locked on mine as she rambled on.

  “Ivana, Ivana, what have you done?”

  I flinched. “What did you just say?”

  She turned her gaze away, fixated on a spot past me, somewhere in the distance. Wyatt was back at my side then, the satchel bumping against my arm. I waved him away.

  “Ivana?” I asked, my mind racing. She couldn’t have known that name. Couldn’t have unless…

  “She wasn’t supposed to kill Shelly! Don’t you see that? She wasn’t supposed to kill her! My baby girl! My Shelly, so powerful, meant for so much in this world. They said…” She paused, fought for a breath. “That she would be something special, so powerful. Robert took too much blood, too much. Stole her power and Ivana watched, did nothing. My baby, my baby is dead. Shelly, my girl, is that you?” Her gaze was back on me, locked onto mine like she was reading into my soul. “Baby girl, have you come back?”

  I didn’t know what to say. Should I act like her daughter? Give the woman some peace?

  Something was wrong. She was rambling, but what she was saying made my stomach sink. My mind spun. What was I listening to here?

  I reached up and snagged the satchel, laying it her hand. “Ivana’s heart. Your revenge.”

  Her gaze snapped into focus and she glanced from me to the bag. Lucid for a moment. “You killed that bitch?” Her venomous tone startled me a little, gave me a glimpse into a side I hadn’t seen in Joanne. A side that made me wonder if her babbling wasn’t just a bunch of nonsense.

  “You wanted Ivana dead because she killed Shelly.”

  Joanne nodded, her eyes still burning with anger. “She stood by while that man she was with, Robert, took my daughter’s blood and her power. Took it and didn’t give anything back. We were promised a hybrid. We were promised protection.” Her gaze flicked to her lower half, her face paling as reality registered.

  I glanced up at Wyatt, no words needed. The Curtises wanted revenge, yes, but they’d been on the wrong side all along.

  “You knew about the war.” I shifted to look at her once again. “You were trying to turn your daughter into a hybrid. Why? Why would you do such a thing?”

  She didn’t answer me. She couldn’t. Her eyes were dilated, her chest still. Dead.

  “Fuck!” I pushed myself up, angry that I’d been played.

  “So your clients were on side with the bad guys.” Wyatt moved back a few steps, his boots stomping down a piece of dry wall. “Doesn’t change anything.”

  “I almost got killed because of this job!” I fumed. Doesn’t change anything, my ass! “They knew that Ivana was a hybrid! They knew she could take my blood and use my powers! They gave me no warning!”

  Wyatt crossed his arms. “I told you, waste of fucking time. You satisfied now?”

  I turned back to Joanne and kicked the satchel away from her hand. “You almost got me killed!” I yelled. “Look what it got you!” I kicked the marble slab on her body, stupid thing to do, I know. It slid toward my feet, slicing across the flesh that was left of Joanne, sending her entrails tumbling toward my legs. I jumped back, nauseated all of a sudden. “Get me the hell out of here!”

  Wyatt snorted and retrieved my gun. He didn’t bother to hand it over. Instead, he gripped me around the arm and shoved me forward, not being gentle by any means, but not letting me go either.

  “It’s time we did things my way, Kali.” His voice was low, menacing. “It’s time for us to go home.”

  Chapter Thirty

  We made it to the front entrance, Wyatt still mumbling about what a waste of time this was, his grip as tight as ever.

  Outside was within feet, the midmorning sun invading the shadow of the porch. It should have given me comfort. Daylight steps away. Wasn’t that the way it worked?

  I shivered, suddenly feeling vulnerable, exposed, in danger.

  “Something is wrong.” I frowned as I stopped walking, resisting Wyatt’s push forward. “No, Wyatt, listen to me, something is…”

  It hit like a freight train, a wave of power that sent me to my knees. White noise filled my head. I turned to see Wyatt was down too, reaching for me at the same time as he swayed backward. Another wave hit, a screeching whine invading my brain. I fell to the side, my eyesight blinking to black once, twice and then it was just dark.

  * * * * *

  We were crammed into a tight space, foggy, unclear, but I knew I wasn’t alone. I could hear a low murmur, like when a large group of people were in an auditorium, waiting for things to get started. I felt the flutter, like there were bodies nestled close to me. Flesh on flesh. There was energy all around me. Power. Magic. It made me dizzy.

  I squinted ahead, toward the muted light, not sure what I was seeing, where I was.

  “My fellow witches.”

  The voice came out of nowhere. It was loud, strong, commanding. It was in my head and it hurt. I tried to raise my hands to cover my ears, but found I couldn’t move, my arms pinned by some invisible force.

  The light ahead narrowed to a pinpoint, then exploded again, burning my eyes, making them tear. The fog circled around the light. A figure emerged, just a silhouette, but enough to show that the one addressing us was a woman.

  “My name is Cassia and this war is my doing.”

  There was a collective gasp that rippled among the group as her words sank in. She was casting a spell, a powerful, dangerous, forbidden one.

  Witch summoning.

  Any witch, even those with the smallest amount of DNA, the ones who bore no power, would hear her. We’d been pulled to the brink of death for this spell, straddling the line between consciousness and unconsciousness. It was an assault on the mind. Some would never recover.

  “This is a war bred from centuries of malcontent, mistreatment—a retaliation, if you will, long overdue. This war is for you. To free you all from the binding of human laws, restriction. To release every witch from the threat of persecution, to seek revenge for the torture, the torment that we have so far endured. Our alliance with the other species is only the first stage. Soon we will be strong enough to free ourselves from even them. To finally claim our position as the superior race.”

  A constant throbbing began in my head, the pain radiating down my spine. Her spell was taking hold, pushing even my brain beyond its limits. I felt some space free up to my right. Whoever had been there was falling away. Probably dead.

  “I am not a malevolent ruler. I will give you all a choice, my fellow witches. You can choose to aid in the overthrow of our torturers, help to bring down the human control and rebuild one that honors witches. Or you can aid the humans, in which case I will mark you as enemy. Be assured, we will destroy all enemies. The new world will be one of freedom. Power. Vindication! The new world will enslave those humans who wish to enslave us. When the time comes, my witches, I expect that you will choose to elevate yourself to the new wave of species, to strengthen your power, to become superior to all supernatural races. When the time comes, I expect that you will choose to ru
le the world.”

  The spell wavered. I was dizzy again, my head pounding, her voice ringing in my ears. She couldn’t hold it for much longer—no way. The fact that it had gone on for so long was frightening enough. The power she was using was more than I could use in a year. A hybrid to be sure.

  “My first test of your loyalty will be eradication. The hunters of our species have had their judgment a long time coming. Those who have willfully harmed or killed one of our kind are now so marked. I gift you with the ability to seek them out. Kill the witch hunters and I will grant you immortality, raise you above the rest, welcome you to power like you have never known. Go forth, my sisters and brothers, destroy the enemy.”

  And then she was gone and I was on the ground in the Curtis home, vomiting on the floor, my head screaming from the invasion.

  “Kali.” Wyatt touched my shoulder, his fingers clumsy in my hair. “You okay?”

  I rolled onto my back, tears streaming from my eyes. “That bitch.”

  He was lying next to me, both of us too wrecked to move more than our heads. I turned my neck so I could at least see him.

  “She’s insane.”

  “Clearly.” Wyatt grunted, rolling onto his side. He pushed himself up and gave his head a shake. “You think she’s building an army?”

  I forced myself up too, sitting with my hands braced against the floor. “Sounds that way. Gifting immortality? She could have a shit load of hybrids already. If what Joanna said was true, then Shelly was on the list. I bet they were after the more powerful witches. Probably sent Ivana, among other soldiers, out to collect, prep for the solar flare, didn’t count on her getting greedy. Building an army is probably just the beginning.”

  “Sounds like she wants all the power—dump the other species at the first chance. That message, only the witches would get it right?”

  I nodded and regretted it instantly. My head spun. “Yes, and she probably killed a bunch with that spell. The weak ones would never have been able to tolerate it. Can’t imagine she would be doing so well right about now either. It’s a doozy, would have drained her.”

  Wyatt was already up and I had to wonder if I’d taken a bigger hit because of my tracking ability. The thought of standing made me want to puke again.

  “We need to get to Salem. The Council will have a plan.”

  I frowned at him. “You can’t be serious.”

  I forced myself onto my knees, taking his offered hand. He helped me to my feet. Fuck, I felt like I had the world’s worst hangover.

  “Home, Kali, that’s the plan. It’s safer for us with the Council. We need to regroup, plan things out once we know what we’re dealing with. Don’t forget, there’s a serious communication barrier between us and the rest of the good guys. Barring the use of a witch summoning spell, we have no way of contacting home, letting them know we’re alive.”

  “What?”

  “There are people waiting on us, Kali. Your mother and father…” He let the sentence hang as if there was more there, his gaze drifting outside.

  I staggered and let his hand drop. “We can’t go home, you heard her. She’s sending a hit team out to hunt the hunters.”

  “So?” He flinched a little before he shifted his eyes back to me.

  “So?” I wanted to yell, to smack some sense into the man, but the most I could do was glare. “She’s sending assassins after Billy and the team. We have to go and help them.”

  “Help them! Are you nuts?” Wyatt reached forward and yanked my arm roughly, sending my head spinning once again. “We’re not going anywhere near that Union. We’re going to get into my motherfucking truck and drive until we get to Salem. We are not going to stop to help anyone.”

  “Fuck that!” I tried to pull my arm away, but his grip was too tight. “Stop thinking about yourself for once! These people are my friends! We need to help them, warn them.”

  “Warn them? They already know! They have Sam, remember? She would have gotten that message too!”

  We were face to face, spitting our words, so angry that I forgot about everything around us. “Just like you said, they have no way of communicating with one another. She wasn’t with Billy the last time we saw her. He may not know!”

  His eyes flashed, then narrowed. “So this is what it’s about then is it?” He dropped my arm, took a step away.

  I tried to stand firm, didn’t want to look as weak as I felt. “He’s my friend, Wyatt!”

  “A friend you’d choose over your family!” he barked. “I need to get back to Salem.” His words were cold. “And there is nothing, nothing that is going to stop me from doing that.”

  There was something about his words that hit me in the gut.

  “Why?” I asked, even though I knew I didn’t want the answer.

  “Because I have to protect Ally.”

  “Ally? What does she have to do with this?” Confusion hurt, or was that my heart? Ally coming between us, again.

  “Because it is my duty to do so.”

  “W-w-why?” That word stuck, it was hard to get out.

  Wyatt’s eyes were still cold as he glared back at me. “Because she’s my wife.”

  I punched him. It was a weak punch, but he didn’t see it coming and I got him right in the nose. It didn’t break, there wasn’t blood, but he howled and his eyes watered and that made me feel damn good.

  “You lied to me!” I screamed, then shook my hand out, my knuckles throbbing. Son-of-a-bitch!

  “About what?” he yelled back, his hand on his nose, rubbing where I’d hit.

  “Fuck you!”

  He’d lied to me. I’d slept with him. He said the relationship was over. He said… Oh god, I slept with a married man. He’d cheated. I’d cheated with him. Oh my god, I’d walked away from Billy for this.

  “I didn’t lie to you. Never have.”

  “You need to go home to Ally? To your wife? Then go! Go!”

  I stepped back and he reached for me, as if I was going to let him touch me ever again. My magic jolted, an arc that left my fingers with no control. It hit him in the chest, pushed him back like I was welding a sledgehammer. I didn’t stick around long enough for him to try that again.

  I took off out of the house, stopped long enough at the truck to snag my duffle bag and another with weapons, then ran to the Curtises’ garage.

  Although one wall was totally missing, the other three held up a good portion of the building. The fully restored, cherry red Corvette caught my eye immediately. Pretty. Fast. Old enough that there wouldn’t be effects from the solar flare, no computer to fry in that baby. I pulled open the door and tossed the bags then slid in after them.

  The leather seat hugged my body, cold to the touch and yet so comfortable. My head was foggy, the summoning spell still fucking with me. There was nothing for it though. Only time would help me now.

  I glanced in the rearview mirror, didn’t see Wyatt, but it wouldn’t be long. Leaning forward, and feeling a tug of regret as I did, I zapped the ignition with a spark of magic. A little trick I’d learned as a teen. The car roared to life for the last time. My little jolt would damage the wires beyond repair, but I only needed to get to headquarters. They had vehicles there.

  I felt slightly less anxious once I was back on the road. Wyatt would know where I was going—he’d surely follow—but I had a good head start and could at least warn Billy in case Sam hadn’t yet. Assuming, of course, that he was even at headquarters.

  Driving a fast car didn’t count for shit when you had to maneuver around dead bodies and whatnot. As I rounded the corner of yet another clogged street, I got this weird nudge to turn left instead of right, a direction that would take me away from the Union headquarters and deeper into the city.

  I stopped the car, idling as I glanced one way then the other. The nudge became an insistent push. Turn. Turn. Turn. It w
as similar to my tracking spell’s pull.

  “Oh fuck!”

  She’d gifted us with the ability to find the witch hunters. Had given us a locating spell, homing, whatever, not to a specific person but to a general group. She must have the world’s most fucked up grimoire. Scary power that witch was wielding.

  There was no way of knowing who I would find, though. Any member of the team would give the same reaction to the spell, pulling me toward them. I gulped back a lump, then turned right. Headquarters made more sense. They would know where everyone was.

  I gunned it down the street, waiting at any moment for a blast of a spell, a werewolf or some other creature to try and stop me. But nothing happened. As I turned the final corner, I saw the smoke. It invaded the car in an instant, choking me as I raced through.

  I made it to the end of the street, watching with horror as the building that was once headquarters tumbled into itself, crashing in a fiery heap.

  The smoke was thick and I was coughing, my head down as I drove forward cautiously. There was no telling who was out there. Friend or foe. There could be another blast waiting for me as the smoke cleared.

  The building was destroyed. I had to assume anyone inside was dead. The destruction was complete and what the blast hadn’t demolished, the fire was eating.

  I was too late. I could only hope Billy, Sam and Clive weren’t inside. The others, although I mourned the loss, were just not as important to me.

  I turned the car around, all set to follow the annoying locator spell back to whichever hunter was in the opposite direction when a black SUV came barreling out of the smoke, headed toward me. It screeched to a halt, a rifle pointed out the darkened window straight at me.

  I raised my hands, pooling a spell in my palm just in case. Could I beat a bullet? Probably not. I dropped my hands to the steering wheel, ready to gun the engine and get the hell out of there.

  The window came down. Billy poked his head out. I let out the longest sigh of relief. He motioned for me to lower my window.

  “Kali? I almost shot you.” He was covered in soot, blood, his face banged up, but he was alive.