Heart Blade: Blade Hunt Chronicles Book One

by Juliana Spink Mills

  Alex handed him his tea and picked up his own coffee. He took a sip, grimacing at the over-sweetened taste. “The vampire’s name was Anton Sadovsky. He was known to work as a hitman of sorts, exchanging deaths for favors. He operates within the Covenant, draining his victims at his law-sanctioned kill-feed intervals, so there’s never anything illegal about his actions.”

  Tom grunted. “The Covenant is an antiquated travesty. I can’t understand how the preternatural community still allows it to stand.”

  “The laws are old, and they are hopelessly outdated,” Alex replied. “We all know that. But believe me, it was worse for humankind before the Court of the Covenant was created. I should know. I predate it. Anyway, we didn’t bring Daniel back from Japan to fix the Covenant. We brought him here to help save his godchild. Agreed?”

  He eyed both his former squires. “Good. Then back to business. Sadovsky was within his feeding rights. I’ve verified it with the Blood Chancellor.”

  Daniel made a soft noise of disapproval. “Should have kept it quiet. No one would be the wiser.”

  “I know,” Alex said. “But I wanted to find out if we could proceed legally. And now the Chancellor knows that Sadovsky is dead.”

  “Then we have a problem.” Tom frowned. “If he was entitled to the kill, then your defense of the girl will be subject to trial by the Court.”

  “Alex’s defense was also legal, under the laws of Sanctuary,” replied Daniel, setting down his teacup. “The Guild invoked Sanctuary when Rose was placed here as a baby, and it protects her to this day.”

  “Yes, but we still have a problem,” said Tom again, patiently. “We will have to disclose our claim of Sanctuary before the Court as Alex’s defense. And then?” he prompted.

  Daniel’s mouth was a tight, grim line. “And then the entire Court of the Covenant will know the Guild has been hiding her. Her parentage will come out in the open. We may as well paint a target on her forehead.”

  “Exactly.” Tom nodded. “Of course, her position here has evidently already been compromised. But dragging her name into Court means declaring open season to the world. Alex, please carry on.”

  Alex pushed away his too-sweet coffee. “The bloodborn had help. He had a letter with precise instructions of how to find her room. A window was left open. Daniel, we have a traitor in the house. As for his employer, well, I couldn’t get a confession out of him. But he was afraid.”

  “Demons?” Daniel asked the obvious question.

  “A full demon, I would say. One of the ancients. I heard rumors that he was in debt with Shade herself. In deep at one of those underground gambling pits of hers.”

  “Shade Raven,” said Tom, sketching a cross on his chest. “Well, she’s certainly the highest bidder in the game. Do you think she aimed to remove Rose entirely?”

  Alex shook his head slowly. “No, that would be of no use to anyone. Rose is the only hope for reclaiming the Heart Blade. My guess is the plan was to leave her at death’s door, and then Shade would step in and give her the Demon’s Gift of blood. A half-demon under pack influence would be easy to control.”

  The room was very quiet, both the humans watching him intently. So many people depending on him for an answer, so many lives placed trustingly in his hands. Some days, Alex felt the weight would crush him: Atlas holding up the sky and failing dismally.

  He smoothed away the worry and tried his best to look reassuring. “Whatever Shade’s intention, it’s clear that Rose can no longer stay in New York. I propose that Daniel take her to the Toronto Chapterhouse. It’s bound to be under surveillance, so take the scenic route. A couple of weeks, perhaps, just until any watchers grow careless. And once you get her there, we’ll have to do our best to stall the Court while you bury her again. A new name. Another forged past. At least it will buy us time.”

  “Time to do what, exactly?” asked Daniel.

  “Time to let her grow. Time to let her claim the Blade and use it as she will.”

  Daniel looked troubled. Alex set a gentle hand on his shoulder, once again seeing the ten-year-old superimposed upon the aging man. “You cannot keep her from this forever, however great the love you bear your godchild. Eventually, she must follow her destiny. We can only hope it leads her into the light.”

  “‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’,” whispered Tom, silver head bent in prayer.

  Chapter Five

  Ash

  Ash unlocked the side door to the repair shop and walked in, blinking as his eyes adjusted after the bright sunshine. It was very quiet.

  “Del?” he called out, but no one answered. He stood there a moment, breathing in the lingering smell of motor oil. He held a hand out to one side, measuring. Here had stood his grandfather’s workbench, and here he’d sat so many times after school when he was small. Legs swinging, munching on an apple or a peanut butter sandwich while his dad and Grandpa Jim talked sentinel business.

  He could almost see Grandpa Jim standing there in the shafts of sunlight, twirling a wrench in one hand while he argued Court politics.

  Time shifted in his mind, and Ash saw the shop bathed in streetlights. His mother began to scream, and Ash pushed the memory away. He couldn’t think about her, not today. He shook off the ghosts and climbed the spiral steps.

  The mezzanine was empty, but there was a terse note propped up on Del’s backpack, hastily scribbled on a torn-out scrap of notebook paper.

  At library. Back around 1 PM. DON’T TOUCH MY STUFF.

  Ash grinned. He very much doubted she’d left anything important behind for him to look at, anyway. She was probably testing him. That’s what he would do, in her place. There was a small and rather sad pile of food against the wall: a couple of cans, some cereal bars. Nothing you could make a meal out of. He checked his watch. 12:15.

  He made his way to the small kitchen downstairs and pulled out the box he kept hidden in a high cabinet. He mounted the camping stove, filled a saucepan with water and set it to boil.

  Just before one o’clock he heard the emergency door upstairs bang shut. He poked his head out of the kitchen. “Del?”

  Cautious steps sounded on the stairs, and a moment later she peered into the kitchen. He was once again struck by how small she was. Not tiny or anything, just regular girl–sized. In his distorted memories of that awful night, the demons had been tall, imposing, savage things. But then, he’d been fourteen and terrified.

  “Ash, right?” she asked. “What are you doing?” Her voice was as cautious as her footsteps had been, like this was new territory and she wasn’t sure how to tread. He could relate to that. This was new for him, too.

  “Making pasta. Do you want some?”

  She eyed the saucepan as though it might be a trap. “Okay.”

  “Thanks,” she added, as an afterthought.

  He found some cutlery and a couple of battered camping plates, the aluminum dented with use. He dished up the food and held out a plate in silence. She took it, equally silent, and he led the way back out to the main room, where they sat on the floor to eat.

  She took a bite and then put her fork down. “Look, you don’t have to feed me. I can take care of myself.”

  “I’m sure you can. But I was hungry, and it’s just as easy to cook for two. Also, I wanted to talk. Better on a full stomach.” He paused, a horrible notion coming to him. “You do eat food, right?”

  She smiled for the first time since he’d met her, a slightly crooked smile that lit up her whole face. She’s not a girl, he reminded himself. She’s not human.

  “I eat food. Pasta is fine. Thank you. Where’s the other guy, anyway? Your cousin?”

  “He couldn’t make it today.” Ash felt a twinge of guilt. He’d told Jordan to stay away, to let him talk to her alone. That hadn’t gone well. But he needed to know why she was here, and he couldn’t do that with Jordan being, well, Jordan.

  “Good. He’s kind of scary.”

  “To a demon? I fin
d that hard to believe.”

  “Maybe I’m not a very good demon.”

  She didn’t say anything else, and Ash let her eat. She was shoveling the food down like she hadn’t eaten in a week. He ate too, surreptitiously sneaking glances at her. She had brown hair, chopped short in a mad collection of curls and swirls. Her left eye was brown, the rich dark of homemade molasses. The other eye was a bright, pure silver, the mark of a half-demon. He wondered who she’d been before she was turned. That’s what they did, full demons — he’d read up on it last night just to make sure he remembered correctly. They took some human on the brink of death and gave them their blood. And a new half-demon was born.

  Finally she put her plate down. As her arm moved, he caught a glimpse of scars that looked like letters. “What’s that?” He pointed with his fork.

  She turned her arm so he could read: never. “I don’t know,” she answered. “But it’s the reason I’m here. Not in Hartford — I mean in this situation.” She huffed, annoyed at herself. “I’m explaining this badly. Look, I have these scars. I don’t know what they mean, but I remember cutting myself before I died. It was a message, one that I wasn’t supposed to forget. It has something to do with demons, with the one who Gifted me.”

  Del dug a thumb into the scars as though she could force out some sort of explanation from them. “I need to know who I was and what this means,” she said in a rush. Her voice was tight, almost angry. “I think I remember some of it. Never give in. So I won’t. I won’t let her win and make me one of the pack.”

  “Who?” She didn’t answer, and Ash insisted, “Who, Del?”

  “My Liege. Shade Raven,” she whispered, as though by naming her she might bring down the entire East Coast Hunt on her head.

  Ash drew a sharp breath. He’d suspected she was one of Shade’s. On the East Coast, they all were. Her pack was the strongest in North America, and the cruelest, too. The sunbeams seemed to darken, and for an instant he was back in the nightmare and his mother was screaming.

  “Ash?” She was looking at him oddly, and he wondered what she’d read on his face. He felt once again that terrible swell of sorrow and then, just as it was about to suffocate him, it subsided. Del was sitting up straight, jaw clenched, eyes scrunched up in concentration.

  “Sorry!” she gasped. “I have it under control now. I’m really sorry.”

  “Were you feeding on my emotions?” he asked, the sadness giving way to fury. She buried her face in her hands without answering, and he saw her shoulders shake. He didn’t care. He felt invaded. That sorrow was his alone, and not hers to take. He wanted to hurt her, or cast her out, but he got a grip on his anger and took a deep breath instead. He sensed she was telling the truth, but she was Shade’s and that could mean so many things. It could mean the thing he most feared: that Shade was after his father, trying to finish the job she’d started three years ago in this very same spot.

  He reached out and snatched her hands from her face. She was crying, soft quiet tears. She scrubbed her eyes angrily on her sleeve. “I already said I’m sorry. You don’t have to be a jerk about it. I don’t want to feed on anyone. But sometimes it’s too hard. The hunger just reaches out, like it has a mind of its own.”

  “You should have learned to control it by now. How long have you been a demon, anyway? Doesn’t your pack teach you anything?” He was trying to be calm, but he knew he was snapping at her.

  “I’ve only been turned a year,” she snapped back. “And I haven’t pledged yet. I won’t pledge. That’s why I’ve run away. Because if I don’t kill for Shade, she’ll kill me instead.” She wiped her face again, with the heel of her hand this time. “There, are you happy now? Now you know everything.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. His angel blood was telling him this was the truth. But he couldn’t bring himself to trust her. “What about the Scion? What are your plans for him?”

  “Scion? Who the hell is the Scion?” She had stopped crying but still had this wildness about her, like she might shout, or attack, or burst into tears again. Or kiss him. He had no idea where the last notion had sprung from, just as he had no idea what he was doing here with this strange, unpredictable girl — in this place, of all places.

  She rocked forward onto her knees, grabbing his leg. Once again he felt that weird tingle all the way up his body. “What the hell does this Scion have to do with anything?” Now she really was shouting, and he held his hands up in a sign of peace.

  “Nothing. Evidently. Calm down!”

  “You were testing me?”

  He gave a curt nod, still keeping a wary eye on her. “The Scion is our leader. My dad. I had to make sure Shade hadn’t sent you after him. She has a grudge against my family. Against our whole Chapter. But you must know that!”

  Del took a deep breath and sat back on her heels. “I apologize for yelling,” she said formally. “And no, I didn’t know. I’m not officially part of the pack, so I was kept away from other demons.”

  “Why were you at the library?” He kept his words polite, just as formal as hers had been.

  She tapped her arm. “I need to figure this out. And I need to get away from Shade. So I’m trying to find out about the Guild of Saint Peter. I had this idea that they could help me, if they’re even real.”

  “Oh, they’re real.” Ash gathered the plates and got up, stretching cramped muscles. “Troublemakers. Lawbreakers. Well, not breakers, exactly, more like law-benders.”

  Del scrambled to her feet, a glimmer of excitement in her brown human eye. “You know them? Can you put me in touch?”

  “I know of them. Not the same thing. Can’t not know about them, if you’re a sentinel. They keep getting in the way of Court justice.” He smiled at her — a closed smile, humorless. “Mind you, I’m not saying they’re wrong. Sometimes I think they’re the only sane ones around. The Covenant is a piece of rubbish.”

  He didn’t mean to say anything else, but it just flooded out, everything he’d been trying to tell his father. “They send sentinels out hunting outcasts and rogues, like they’re the real problem! Fine, some are dangerous. I can see that, I’m not blind. There are murderers and criminals, those who not only go against the Covenant, but harm humans and place our whole preternatural world in danger. But to be honest, they’re a minority. Most outlaws are just preternaturals who don’t want to follow laws that are stuck in the Middle Ages. They want something different, something better. Or they just want out. But instead, we track them down and hack their heads off, slaughter them like beasts!”

  She was staring at him, eyes wide in wonder. He’d probably said too much. He should never have started, but now that he had, he couldn’t stop. He waved the camp plates at her, splattering the floor with leftover sauce.

  “It’s the Covenant itself we should be looking at. That thing is so flawed, it’s way past fixing. We need to throw the whole thing out and start fresh. New laws, a new ruling system. Not that ridiculous and outdated excuse for a government we call the Court. We need to end the demon Hunts, revise vampire feeding rights, and stop preternaturals like Shade from manipulating the laws. She runs an entire criminal empire right under the Court’s nose. And there’s not a thing the sentinels can do about it, because she hasn’t broken the Covenant!”

  He broke off, heart beating fast as though he’d been running, and turned away. “Anyway,” he said over his shoulder, “now you know where I stand. Still want my help?”

  He left her standing there and went to the kitchen to wash off the plates in the sink. He heard her come in, but ignored her until she tapped his shoulder.

  “I think you’re right.” Her voice was soft, and he turned off the water to hear, still facing away from her. “I agree with every word you said. I never chose to be a demon. That I know for sure. I know it. And if I choose something else, I sign my own death sentence. So, yes. I still want your help. Will you help me, Ash?”

  He stood very still for a couple of heartbeats and then he turned slow
ly. She was closer than he’d expected, and she made a small startled noise and moved backward until she hit the doorframe.

  “I’ll help you,” he replied. “I won’t let Shade take you. We’ll find the Guild somehow. I swear on my name.”

  He held his hand out, like she had the previous day. This time he was expecting the tingle, and found it weird but nice. “On my name,” he repeated. “James Asher Deacon.”

  “Adeline Raven,” she said as they sealed the pact.

  Chapter Six

  Del

  Del looked around the busy plaza, nervous. Families and tourists wandered in and out of the imposing Science Center, while vendor trucks lined up selling food of all kinds.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea, being out in the open like this?”

  They’d spent a fruitless hour in Hartford’s main library, looking for information on the Guild. Finally, frustrated, Ash had dragged her out for fresh air.

  “We’re not going to meet any other sentinels, if that’s what you’re worried about. People have jobs, you know.”

  “Not you?”

  “I’m still at school. It’s vacation time. I spent most of my summer training, but I have this week off to study.”

  “Training?”

  “Sentinel stuff.” He looked uncomfortable, and she didn’t press him for details.

  “Are there others your age? Apart from Jordan?” She knew she was being nosy, but Diana had always kept her apart from the pack, claiming she had to take the pledge first. She’d never met any other preternaturals. It had been a long, lonely year.

  Ash stared down at his Vans, frowning. “Some,” he answered curtly, clearly unhappy with her questions. “They won’t be here, though. This is the kind of place they bring you for school field trips. We won’t meet any of my friends. We’re safe.” He looked sort of sweet when he made that face, all crumpled and sort of puzzled instead of stern and forbidding. She reminded herself he was an angel-blood, and they hated demons. Anyway, she’d be gone in a day or two, and she’d never see him again.