The Changed: Hunter Circles Series Book Three

by Jessica Gunn

  Ben’s stare cut to me. “Stay the hell away from me until the Ether Head Circle determines your loyalties.”

  “Giyano did not kidnap Riley,” I told him. “There’s no way he could have, not with the timeline we know.”

  “I don’t care,” he snapped. “He’s involved and that’s enough for me.”

  Alexander and Iris had reentered the room once the fighting stopped and walked over to Shawn. Iris lifted her hand and produced a produced a light blue glow. “Move aside. We’ll heal him.”

  Without saying a word to them or each other, Ben and I backed away from Shawn and watched Iris heal him. Shawn eventually opened his eyes once more, settling on me. He nodded once.

  What? You wanted us to fight?

  Not that he could hear me.

  Someone’s phone rang. Then another, and another, until all five of our phones were ringing.

  I pulled mine out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID. “Jaffrin.”

  Ben nodded. “He wants us at Headquarters. Another body’s been brought in.” His face paled. “A Hunter this time. This will have to wait, Krystin.” Then he walked away, as if we hadn’t fought at all.

  I looked at Rachel, wondering if this was normal for Ben. But she shook her head.

  None of this was normal.

  And none of these people trusted me.

  Chapter 15

  BEN

  For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, my team gathered around a dead body in the Fire Circle Headquarters Infirmary. A woman Hunter, whom Jaffrin had recognized as Jeanette, a freelancer. Her tongue had been torn out of her mouth, her shirt torn open to reveal runes carved onto her chest.

  “She doesn’t have any magik,” Nate said, the corners of his eyes wrinkled. “Wasn’t she an ether-shaper?”

  Jaffrin nodded solemnly. “Yes. This attack is consistent with the other two you described to me.”

  My fists curled. “You mean Giyano did it.”

  I was still ripping pissed. That Krystin had known, that she hadn’t warned me that Riley and Sandra had been about to be attacked—she’d done nothing to stop it from happening. We were supposed to be a team. Instead, I had Krystin running off with Giyano, Shawn trying to protect her, and the original three of us just trying to get out of this alive.

  I couldn’t wait to take out both Giyano and Lady Azar for all they’d done. And this Zanka, too, if he was actually involved. Which I doubted. Everything about these attacks screamed Giyano being at fault, not some copycat. Why waste the time?

  But then there was a cynical, questioning part of me that knew there had to be someone else who hated that bastard. We couldn’t be Giyano’s only enemies. And if most demons had once been human, then they were as likely to exact revenge and screw each other over as we were.

  Maybe Zanka really was mimicking Giyano to egg us, or another team, into finally killing him.

  Jaffrin lifted the sheet around Jeanette’s body and covered her completely. “Yes. And we can now confirm that.” He looked to Krystin. “There’s evidence. Which means that if the Ether Head Circle has proof you’ve been anywhere near him recently, they’re going to put you back in jail.”

  Her eyes lit aflame. “I told you I only went to him to ask about Zanka because you all didn’t believe me.”

  “Rightly so,” Jaffrin said. “And now that you’ve admitted to me that you’ve disobeyed a direct order—”

  “You got all of that out of me asking him about Zanka?” Krystin asked, hip cocked.

  “No,” Jaffrin said as he picked up a phone from a metal tray of Jeanette’s belongings. “In the time it took you to get here, Alexander and Iris Rowe informed me of what occurred this morning.” He settled his disapproving stare on me. “All of it.”

  “Sir, I can explain.”

  He held up his hand, silencing Krystin. “I sure hope so, Ms. Blackwood. But you’ll be doing it to Chairman Otto like you should have all along. I ordered your team to save you from that prison because I thought you were innocent. It turns out I might have been wrong all along.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You’re kidding me.”

  He shook his head. “No. Here, this video was on Jeanette’s phone when she died. We went through her belongings to make sure her family didn’t receive anything that called attention to the Hunter Circles.”

  Jaffrin turned the video toward Krystin and me. It was shot from Jeanette’s point of view, as she was the one holding the phone. She was walking down the street, talking about movies or something to herself, every now and then pointing out a building or landmark.

  “We think she was filming while on patrol to either bait demons into attacking her or because her younger sister was set to start college here in the fall,” Jaffrin said. “It was meant to be a tour video, possibly.”

  Jeanette kept talking, but after about twenty seconds, she cursed and the phone tumbled out of her hands to the ground. Sounds of a scuffle followed until Jeanette landed right next to her phone, coughing up blood. The video recorded her death and what Giyano had done to her.

  Rachel and a few of my other teammates turned away, but not Krystin and me. We watched until the very end when, standing above Jeanette, Giyano grinned evilly, fire in his palms.

  The video ended in a burst of flames.

  Krystin’s gaze shot to Jaffrin. “I didn’t know about this. I don’t know about anything he’s doing.”

  “Except kidnapping Riley,” I snapped.

  She shook her head. “No. Giyano was the one who told me Zanka had done it. Maybe his power is to imitate people. He’s got the same scar Giyano now does. Giyano said Zanka gave it to him.”

  “You know about his scars?” Nate asked. “How much time did you spend with him this morning?”

  Krystin’s face paled. “Not much. Enough for him to tell me that Zanka knew where Riley was, and that when Zanka was done playing with us, he’d go to Canada.”

  “Even I didn’t know where Riley was until Sandra called from the hospital,” I said. Maybe Krystin really wasn’t at fault here, but with every coincidence, with all the evidence now pointing at Giyano, I didn’t know.

  I didn’t know anything anymore.

  “Let’s go find Giyano and kill him already,” I said.

  Krystin’s eyes narrowed. “Think if we could, we would have already?”

  I shrugged. “Hell if I know. Everything’s changed. Plus, we have Shawn now. And if Kinder was scared of his power, then Giyano will be.”

  “Except Ashbel was an Ember witch,” Krystin said. “Giyano will not be afraid enough to submit.” Then, under her breath, she added, “Nothing will make him do that.”

  “Enough!” Jaffrin bellowed. “This—all of it—I want none of this leaked to the Ether Head Circle until I’ve decided what to do with this team. With Giyano on the loose, nothing is safe anymore.”

  “And Lady Azar,” Nate said. “That asanak should have worn off by now; if not, then soon. Once she’s at full power, we’ll be targets again.”

  “Probably not since she already has Riley,” Rachel said.

  I frowned. “So we go back to her lair and attack them again.”

  “No one is going to do anything,” Jaffrin said. “We have a fallen Hunter to mourn and bury. And when that’s done, I’ll have to save the lot of you from the Ether Head Circle’s wrath. I want you all to go home and stay there. No patrolling. No going after Giyano or any other demons. No using magik. Stay inside and work through whatever emotional crap you’ve got going on. Because I’m done with all of you.”

  Which was fine because I was about done with the Fire Circle anyway.

  I just need to find Riley. Then I’m out for good.

  “Yes, sir,” I said, not looking at anyone but him. I needed space to think. Time to figure things out.

  Like how to find Lady Azar or Giyano, and a way to kill them both.

  “You’re dismissed,” Jaffrin said, anger and frustration lacing every word he said. A vein in
this temple throbbed. “Out of my Headquarters.”

  We returned home, everyone using their own teleportante. And when we got to the house, everyone went their separate ways, ignoring each other and the Ether Head Circle twins.

  The house was the most silent it’d ever been.

  Chapter 16

  KRYSTIN

  Giyano hadn’t taken Riley. But it was definitely him on that Hunter’s video. Both things were true and, without being presented a third option, I didn’t know which to believe.

  The wound Giyano had suffered at the hands of Zanka would be enough to prove his innocence, though I wasn’t sure how long he’d had it for. Definitely not longer than an hour or two. Giyano wouldn’t have had time to kidnap Riley if he’d been fighting with Zanka and then nursing his wound.

  But Giyano had said Riley wasn’t safe. He’d known that Zanka knew where to find Riley. Which meant Giyano must have been trying to stop Zanka.

  Shit. Then how did Giyano end up on that video?

  A knock on my bedroom door made me jump. I looked at my clock. I’d zoned out for almost three hours.

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s me,” said Shawn. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.” Not like I had a choice. Depending on what Jaffrin did with us after this morning’s fight and me admitting I’d seen Giyano, I might be locked away for good.

  Shawn turned the doorknob and pushed open the door. Once inside, he shut it again. “I wanted to check in on you, if that’s okay.”

  “Why not? I know Ben probably wants me babysat.” I scooted over on my bed and invited Shawn to sit next to me. He did. “The twins are dangerous, especially now.”

  “I think he knows that.” Shawn leaned back against the wall, as if he’d had the most exhausting morning. Then I remembered Ben had struck him with lightning.

  I frowned and gave him a sidelong glance. “How are you feeling?”

  “Exactly like you’d expect.” He sighed and held out his hand. The shards of his shattered power-binding crystal lay in his palm. “You’re right about these.”

  “Either keep it on or don’t. You’re a good enough fighter without the magik, Shawn.”

  “That’s not the point.” He pocketed the shards and then sat with arms crossed. “All my life, I’ve been told to keep this part of me a secret. And then I come here and it’s like the Ember witch side of me is the only thing keeping this situation stable.”

  “I know the feeling. Except my magik only makes things worse.” He lifted an eyebrow. “It made me an unstoppable demon-fighting force. But for this team, for what you and I are set to accomplish, it only invites chaos.”

  He looked over at me, his dark brown eyes focusing on mine. His irises were kissed with a caramel highlight, verging on gold. The Ember witch inside of him. “Maybe it’s your power we should bind.” He said it with the barest hint of humor.

  I rolled my eyes. “It won’t help. Even with this new magik, my power’s nothing but wild. It took me years to master my old magik. This new fire…” I glanced down at my hands. “It’s impossible to tame.”

  “Bullshit,” Shawn said as he reached out to grab one of my hands. I let him and he unfolded my fingers, placing something in the center of them. A shiny, smooth black stone. Hematite, for grounding and protection. To stabilize and battle negativity. “All magik is tamable. Even Riley’s. But elemental magik responds to emotions. To whatever the user is thinking and dealing with.”

  “Well, I don’t know what to tell you about that. I’m going to be dealing with a lot until I know if I’m destined for life in prison or not.”

  Shawn traced a circle in my palm with one corner of the misshapen gemstone. The contact tickled and sent trickles of pleasure down my arm. “You’re not. Like you said: worst case, we run. Alzan is more important than what the Ether Head Circle thinks you did or didn’t do.”

  “But I did do what they think I did.” I turned my body to face him so there’d be no mistaking my next words. “I went to Giyano. He was hurt pretty bad. So I helped him and in return, he told me Riley was in danger from Zanka. I didn’t get back here in time to tell Ben because I was trying to heal Giyano. To keep him from dying.”

  Shawn’s brown eyes held my stare, not blinking once. “I know.”

  “You know,” I said. “Then you know that Giyano had no part in this. He’s been trying to protect Riley in his own twisted way from day one. I’d never side with Giyano if that wasn’t the case. It’s just… he’s a demon. No matter what good deeds he does, no one will believe me.”

  “I believe you.”

  My eyes narrowed. “How do I know you’re not just saying that?”

  “Why? To appease the Ether Head Circle twins?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s exactly my point.”

  His mouth thinned. “You don’t trust anyone on the team.”

  “No, I don’t trust anyone who isn’t me. That’s how it’s been my entire life.” I looked away from him, straight at the wall opposite my bed. The room was tiny, so it wasn’t far enough for me. Freedom stood on the other side of these walls—on the other side of the city limits. If only I could just get there. But ditching the Fire Circle meant ditching Shawn unless he came with me, and I wasn’t ready to sacrifice Alzan and all of existence to escape Jaffrin and the Fire Circle.

  “I made mistakes,” I admitted. “I’ve never been a good soldier. But I’ve always been a fantastic Hunter. I fight for Good’s side, Shawn. But the world isn’t as black and white as Jaffrin and the Ether Head Circle want us all to believe. Allies can be found in the most unlikely places.”

  Shawn reached for my hand again and I let him take it. His skin was warm and sent goosebumps riding up my arms. I was cold. So cold. Shawn balanced me out. Maybe that was what the Son and Daughter of Alzan were meant for. Balance.

  Maybe Giyano was right about everything.

  “You’re right, Krystin,” Shawn said. “And because of that grayness in the middle, I side with you. If you want to run before this mess blows up, I’ll run with you. But I don’t want to leave Ben and Rachel and Nate adrift. We have to make sure the Ether Head Circle won’t imprison them because of Giyano or what they think you’ve done. We need to stay long enough to see this part of things through.”

  “And if they take me back to Ether Circle Prison before that?”

  Shawn nodded in small motions, looking down at our touching hands. “Then we raise hell. Run. Escape the United States and find a way to Alzan on our own, preferably before Lady Azar shows up to burn it to the ground.”

  My stomach fluttered at his words, so determined and reassuring. I closed my eyes and forced deep breaths into my lungs. Fresh oxygen. Fresh reasons to keep fighting. “Okay. Deal.”

  “Good,” he said and gave my hand one last squeeze before letting it go. “As for your magik…”

  “It’s fucked, I know.” I pulled my hand from his. “Ben is lucky I didn’t lose control earlier.”

  “Not that Ben’s the poster boy for control of anything.”

  “You said it, not me.” I smirked bitterly. “What have we become, anyway? Who fights their friends with magik? That’s so not normal.”

  “It’s become part of who we are. Just another extension of ourselves. I think we forget sometimes the damage we can do. And sustain.”

  “I should apologize to him.”

  Shawn cringed. “I wouldn’t, not yet. Give him space. We all need it.”

  “I need a way to fight with this new fire magik that won’t get us all killed. Lady Azar… she’s gotta be back soon, especially if she’s the one who sent Zanka after us. If she returns while the team is divided…”

  Silence fell between us. Shawn made no more moves to hold my hand or otherwise comfort me, but the quiet between us was easy. Calm. Reassuring. Like his very presence balanced me out on a level I didn’t comprehend. Not love or attraction or something like that, but soul deep. Magik deep, even now.

  “I keep wond
ering if it’s best to bind our powers until we make more sense of the Alzan prophecy,” Shawn said. “Or if we should let them be free and force the magik until Alzan appears.”

  “Maybe it has to do with those stones,” I said. “It’s the first line of the prophecy. If the Powers broke a pair and saved them for us, it’s got to be tied to either activating this city-saving magik or transporting us to the city itself.”

  “Which would be helpful because no one knows where it is, much less how to get there.”

  I nodded. “Right.”

  “So we keep our magik and start looking for these stones?” Shawn asked.

  “That’s the best plan. Do you… would you like to spar? I want to practice the fire magik, but I’m worried it’ll hurt the others.” I looked to Shawn, who wore a relaxed expression. Like none of this fazed him, although I knew the truth. “You’re not immune, but you seem to be the only one capable of protecting everyone else from other magik.”

  “It’s because of the Ember line. Our magik is malleable because of where it comes from.”

  “I know.”

  Shawn hopped off my bed and held a hand out to me. “Down to the training room, then?”

  “Yes.”

  I joined him in the hall and we made our way down to the first level of the house. No one, not even Alexander and Iris, were in the living room, so we bypassed them quickly and marched down to the basement.

  Shawn flicked on the light switches and I headed right for the mats tucked against the walls. We took them down and spread them across the floor. We might not have needed them since we’d be focusing on magik, but I figured it was just safer.

  When the room was set up, Shawn and I stood opposite each other in the middle of the mats. Without the crystal around his neck, the orange flame of his Ember witch aura whipped around him like a storm. That one power, it seemed, was the only magik remaining from before Kinder’s attack. But on the outside of the flames, the very tips of each wave, a white light had started to twinkle.