Breed of Envy (The Breed Chronicles, #02)

by Jordan, Lanie

  Linc, all clam and collected again, gave me a wicked grin, winked, then said, “Yeah, I think we are,” and pulled me away.

  The silence lasted half a second before I heard Tasha let out a whoop.

  “Crap,” I said with a groan.

  “What?”

  “They caught us.”

  “So?”

  I smacked Linc on the arm. “So. Chris likes to record things. Everything in fact.”

  “Shit.” He shook his head. “If he posts that, I’ll kick his ass.”

  “I call first dibs.”

  He considered it. “I can live with those terms. You’ve got yourself a deal, Hall.”

  *~*~*

  Over the next hour, Linc and I walked around. Mostly, we just laughed at people for running from holograms, and then we got laughed at in return when new, unexpected creatures popped up from out of nowhere. The witch Chris had mentioned finally made an appearance a few minutes before, cackling as it flew above the buildings.

  There were more holograms roaming around now than before, I noticed, including some that looked like real demons—or mostly like real demons. Some looked more real than others because their colors blended in with their surroundings which made them seem less transparent.

  I glanced around us. The Halloween bash was still in full swing. Like graduation, there were teachers and teens dancing to the music that blasted over the air. The food supply had been restored and I spotted a few of the guys that I’d seen working over in the South Tower grabbing treats.

  I saw Mr. Sheldon (who was dressed in black leather and had a bow and arrows at his back) dancing with Mrs. Fletcher (who wasn’t wearing a costume).

  “Isn’t she married?” I asked Linc, bumping his shoulder to get his attention.

  “No, divorced. Overheard her talking to someone about it.”

  “Oh.” I smiled. “Well then. I think they have a thing.”

  “A thing?”

  “Yeah. Like, a couple thing. They were dancing together at graduation, too.”

  “Maybe they’ll have a makeout session on the grass.” At my incredulous look, he winked. “What? It was fun.”

  I just rolled my eyes. “You’re such a guy sometimes.”

  “Oh, now you’re complaining?”

  I made a face at him. “Maybe I am,” I said, then I took off running.

  We were still probably fifty feet from the North Tower when another holo-demon appeared maybe ten feet in front of us.

  The demon was big. Not just tall, though it had to be pushing six and half feet. But wide, with arms and legs thicker than anyone’s—or anything—I’d seen before. Its skin was almost translucent, but not because of the hologram. Pitch black eyes stared back at me. There was a ring of blood red in the center of its eyes that made them glow almost…evilish.

  I started to laugh but then I froze. There was something eerily familiar about it, but I couldn’t quite place where I’d seen it. It had to be from the Demonology text, I was sure, but…

  Linc stopped. “What?”

  Not taking my gaze from the holo-demon, I said, “I know that demon.”

  “Is it from Demonology?”

  I shook my head. “I thought it had to be, but I don’t think it is.”

  “Have you seen it somewhere? Heard it described, maybe?”

  I shook my head, but then the answer came to me. I did know that demon. I tried to open my mouth, to tell Linc, but no sound came out. The breath in my lungs completely evaporated, making it impossible to breathe. My heart thumped solidly, almost painfully, against my ribs.

  “Jade?” Linc squeezed my hand. “Are you okay? What is it?”

  “Demon,” was all I managed. My gaze stayed fixed on it, on the long gash down the front of its chest.

  Linc shot a look at it. “It’s fake, Jade, just a hologram. It can’t hurt you.”

  “No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “That’s the demon.”

  He frowned. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  Without blinking, I continued to stare ahead. “That’s the demon that killed my family.”

  CHAPTER 08

  “Shit. Are you sure?” Linc asked.

  I nodded, my gaze still fixated on the holo-demon. “I’m sure,” I said grimly.

  The demon stared at me. I knew, logically, that it probably wasn’t really looking at me, but its eyes seemed to be focused on me alone. Eyes that held death. It made a motion at me, a motion I distinctly remembered it making two years ago as it killed my mother.

  “Maybe we can find out what type of demon it is.”

  “That’s the same demon.”

  Linc, with sympathy-filled eyes, looked down at me. “Jade, there are probably hundreds of its kind.”

  I shook my head. “No. It’s the same one. Chris said some of the holograms were actual footage from demons.”

  “Jade…”

  I twisted to face him. “That’s it, Linc. I remember it!” The holo-demon made a face, one I could’ve sworn was grin-like, then faded away. I ran to the spot it’d been. “No! Come back, damnit!”

  “Let’s go find Chris. He might be able to help.”

  I would have argued—still wanted to, really—but the hologram was gone. Linc felt or saw my reluctance, so he grabbed my hand and pulled me away, heading in the direction where we’d last seen Chris and Tasha.

  It didn’t take long to find them, but they were with a group of people. “Just wait,” Linc said. “I’ll get him.”

  I nodded and waited as he walked up to Chris and tapped him on the shoulder. Linc whispered something in his ear, then motioned for him to follow.

  When they both came back over, Chris had a confused look on his face. “Um, what’s going on?”

  “One of your holo-demons was a demon we recognized but don’t know the name of,” Linc said, speaking for me. His tone was completely casual. “Any way for you to find out what demon it was? It was just outside the North Tower not even five minutes ago.” He shot me a look. “It’s kind of important.”

  “A real demon or one of the fake holograms?”

  “Real.”

  Chris frowned. “No, they’re automatically generated from the video archives online.”

  I swallowed past the lump at the back of my throat. “Can we get access to that?”

  “Sorry, no. I didn’t have direct access. I just made a program to randomly select demons from a list of videos Director Greene supplied. I didn’t want to pick and choose just a handful, so I programmed it to select them randomly. I couldn’t even tell you how many videos the program is pulling from the archives. Director Greene is the only one with access, and I’m not even sure he could figure out what videos were used.”

  “Damnit!” This was the closest I’d come to finding the demon. And not only had I found the demon type, but I was one hundred percent positive that it wasn’t just the same demon family, but that it was the demon itself.

  “What’s this about?”

  Linc shot me a look. “Jade thinks she saw… She thinks she saw the demon that killed her family.”

  Chris looked at me, frowned. “I’m sorry, Jade. If you tell me what it looked like, I can ask around. Someone might know what it is. One of the P3s or P4s, maybe.”

  I gave him the description. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll ask around, but I wish I could’ve helped more.”

  “No, I appreciate it.”

  Linc and Chris walked a few feet away. Linc said something to him and Chris nodded. He shot me another look and waved.

  “What’d you say to him?” I asked Linc when he walked back.

  “I just asked him not to tell anyone why he was asking about the demon. It’s your business—no one else’s.”

  “Thanks, Linc.”

  He nodded. “You going to talk to Greene about it?”

  “Maybe. But Chris didn’t seem to think it’d do any good.”

  “Can’t hurt, and it’d be one more person looking.”

/>   “True.” The more people looking the better. “Okay, I’ll ask him next time I see him.”

  “No time like the present.” Linc put his hands on my shoulders and turned me around. “He’s with Peter by the food tables.”

  They were both standing there, but neither seemed to be saying anything. Peter shoveled food onto a plate; Greene seemed like he was looking for trouble. Considering he’d had Chris set up the decorations, I wasn’t that surprised. “I guess I should go ask, then,” I said, despite the fact I didn’t move an inch.

  “You really don’t like asking him things, do you?”

  I frowned. “It never leads to anything good.” And that was if he even gave me an answer, or the truth. Greene had limited supplies of both unless it suited him.

  “Want me to go with?”

  Yes! I thought immediately, but then I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. Go check out some stuff. Have some fun tonight. You don’t need more of my drama.”

  Linc grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. “I did have fun tonight, but I’m sorry you didn’t.”

  I smiled up at him. “I did. Tonight was a million times better than I thought it’d be.”

  “I do have extraordinary kissing skills.”

  I blushed, and my smile turned into a grin. It eased the clenching in my stomach a fraction. “You’ve got skills in something, but it starts with bull and ends with shit.”

  His lopsided grin appeared and he laughed. “There, too.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Go talk to Greene. Hopefully he’ll have some answers for you.”

  “Thanks. I’ll find you when I’m done, if you want.”

  “I do.”

  I sent him another smile, then turned away. After five steps, I stopped, turned back. “You do have some kissing skills, Flyboy.”

  His chuckle followed me as I headed for Greene. He’d mentioned missing my laugh, and I didn’t realize until then that I’d really missed his, too. It was deep and rich, full of life. And it was, I discovered, sexy as hell.

  I’d always liked Linc, since day one, but now it was just…different. Stronger, definitely, and not just because of the kiss (though that could’ve been a deciding factor by itself), but because he got me. He always said and did the right thing, without even thinking about it. He just did it without being asked, without it being hinted at. Even that first day, when he’d held my hand in Doc’s office. He didn’t have to do that. He’d known me only minutes and yet he still took my hand and gave me comfort when I needed it. Before I knew I needed it.

  And…I could seriously fall for him. Easily. And maybe I already had a little.

  The realization left me with butterflies in my stomach.

  I glanced over my shoulder, found him watching me. He smiled and my heart did a one-eighty. I waved and smiled back, then as a small bout of panic struck, faced forward again.

  I spotted Greene. Bad timing, Jade. You’ve got other things to worry about.

  Whatever my feelings were for Linc, I’d have to figure them out later.

  “Good evening, Miss Hall,” Greene said, speaking a little louder than usual to be heard over the noise.

  Peter grinned at me. “Hey, Jade.”

  “Hi.” I bit my lip.

  Peter offered me some candy. “Having a good time?”

  “No, thanks. And yeah. It’s been…” Terrifying, fun, make-out-y, terrifying again? “Something else.”

  Greene’s eyes were dark and his lips thinned. “Is there a problem, Miss Hall?”

  Did I ask them both, or just Greene? Peter was a hunter, wasn’t he? If Greene didn’t know the demon, maybe Peter would. “I have a question.”

  Peter started to pick up his plate from the table. “Need me to leave?”

  “No. Actually, you might be able to help.”

  Both of their faces showed signs of worry, but it was Greene who said, “Is something wrong?”

  “Chris mentioned he set up some of the holograms based off of real demon footage. I was just wondering if there was a way to find out what demons were actually used.”

  “May I ask why you’re interested?”

  “I recognized one of the demons.”

  “From?” Peter asked.

  Even though I’d come over here to ask them about it, I still had to steel myself again. I took a deep breath and let it out over a few seconds. “It was the demon that killed my family.”

  Peter winced; Greene’s gaze remained steady. “Are you certain, Miss Hall?”

  I nodded grimly. “I’m sure. I… I think it was the same one from that night. And I know that sounds impossible,” I rattled on, speaking quickly before anyone could interrupt me, “but I’m almost sure it was. It had the same markings.”

  “Miss Hall, surely you realize that some demons share similar markings, or even the exact ones. It’s one of the indicators of a certain breed.”

  “I know that.” I jutted my chin out. “But…”

  Peter looked down at me. “But what, Jade?”

  “But this wasn’t just a marking. It was a scar. From a wound I gave it.”

  “You attacked the demon?” Greene’s voice wasn’t exactly hard, but it was more…severe now. “I read the reports, Miss Hall, and that wasn’t in them.”

  “That’s because I didn’t tell anyone! By the time I mentioned ‘demon’ to the cops, they’d already decided I didn’t know what I was talking about. They’d already decided that I was crazy or delusional—” I waved my hands in the air. “—or whatever they think when they hear something they don’t believe.”

  “You never mentioned it to me, either.”

  “You didn’t ask about the attack,” I reminded him, forcing my tone to stay low. I wanted to yell, scream, but I knew that would get me nowhere with anyone. “You just talked about it, told me what you knew. Beyond that, you never asked what I knew.” And I’d never volunteered it. I knew that, too. But, after hours of being told you didn’t see what you knew damn well you saw, it was hard to tell the truth. It was hard to know when to.

  Neither of them said anything for a full minute. The silence was getting on my nerves, making me antsy.

  I glanced up, meeting both of their gazes. “Look, the fact is, I hit the demon in the chest with a lamp.”

  Greene motioned for Peter and me to follow him. He didn’t go far, just away from the crowd a little, giving me a sense of déjà vu. “What exactly happened that night, Miss Hall?”

  “Is that really important now?”

  “It may be, yes. The more details we have the better our chances of finding it.” He gave me a stern look. “That is why you asked to speak with me, is it not?”

  I’d come to ask for help, but rehashing what happened two years ago hadn’t been part of my plan. It was bad enough talking about it in general or thinking about it.

  “He wouldn’t ask if he didn’t think it’d help, Jade,” Peter said, his tone soothing.

  “I know.”

  “If you’d be more comfortable discussing this inside, or perhaps with Doc or a psychologist, I can have that arranged.”

  “I’m not talking to another shrink.”

  “No, I didn’t think that would be an option for you. But I think it might help you to talk to someone. If we don’t have all the facts of the attack, then we could be missing something vital. Something that could help you find it. And honestly, speaking about it may help you.”

  Peter nodded. “You need to talk to someone, Jade, if you haven’t already.”

  “If you feel, however, that you can’t discuss it now, or with me or Mr. Holt, then I understand. But we can’t help you if we don’t know how to, Miss Hall.”

  I looked away, trying to find Linc in my peripheral vision. Seeing him would help. He’d smile at me or just give me his I’ve-got-your-back look and it’d be better. But I didn’t spot him.

  I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. But if it helped them find the demon, then that would help, wouldn’t it?

  Turning back
, I sighed. “I’d just gotten home from a friends Halloween party. When I walked in, I saw—” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to force images from my mind that I didn’t want to see. I’d tried to keep my tone even, to speak like I was talking about the weather and not the worst night of my life, but it didn’t work. It didn’t help. “I saw the demon hit my mom and heard her whimper.” My voice broke, so I took another breath and ran my hands through my hair. “I just reacted—badly—and tried jumping on it. It knocked me back. I don’t know. It’s kind of blurry from there. I think it knocked me out, because the next thing I remember is seeing…them.”

  And blood.

  The house had been dark, but the windows had been open and moonlight shone through, making the blood visible. Even in the dark it was visible. And even if it hadn’t been, the scent was unmistakable. Unforgettable, nearly as much as the scene itself. Maybe more so, in some strange way.

  “I remember picking up the lamp from the end table and charging the demon. I made some sound because it turned around. And then I hit it in the chest and it…ran. It’s the only reason I’m still alive. Because I got in a lucky shot and they didn’t,” I said, biting the words out because they left a bitter taste in my mouth. I’d gotten in a lucky shot and my mom, a hunter, hadn’t. How was that fair?

  “I know that was difficult for you, Miss Hall, especially given the last few days you’ve had.”

  My eyes were watering but tears didn’t fall over. I kept taking deep breaths and releasing them slowly.

  “Can you tell me what the demon looked like, Jade?” Peter asked. “I might know what it is, or at least be able to narrow it down a little.”

  I described what I saw, giving as much detail as I could. Bits and pieces of that night were blank. Until tonight, the demon had just been an image in my mind, one that was covered with a layer of fuzz, making it hard to see through. But now, after seeing it again, I remembered it vividly.

  Director Greene shot Peter a look. “Is it familiar to you, Mr. Holt?”

  Peter shook his head sadly. “No, it’s not. Sorry, Jade.”

  I shouldn’t have been surprised. It seemed like every time I got one step closer to finding it, I ended up two steps back. I thought if I at least had a clear image of it in my mind that it’d be easier to handle. But it wasn’t. Now I knew exactly what the monster that took my family looked like and I still had no way to find it or stop it.