Born to Raise Hell: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book Three

by Qatarina Wanders

  Emily looked around at the other stoic faces. Was she the only one who didn’t know what that was?

  “That’s the only way we stand a chance at killing the Alfreds. Stopping them from unearthing hell will require making the vigilante force immune to magic,” argued Mr. Russo.

  “But you forget the most crucial part of the process,” Aunt Anastacia scoffed.

  The Russos kept silent at this point and glanced at Emily.

  “What is it, Aunt?” Emily asked.

  “We take you to the tunnel through the land of the dead. You will have to sacrifice yourself,” said Aunt Anastacia flatly. “The process takes all the essential parts of your power and transfers it to another. It kills the host and empowers the beneficiary. It’s only done in extreme cases.”

  Emily’s jaw dropped.

  “This is an extreme case,” opined Mrs. Russo.

  “So you would suggest that Emily be killed?” Michael’s voice brimmed with disgust now. “Just how selfish are you?”

  “Don’t raise your voice at me, Boy!” Mr. Russo boomed back. “I’m only doing what’s best for the collective good!”

  “You mean what’s best for your family, right?” Michael shot back.

  Mr. Russo shook his head. “This is why I didn’t hold a town hall meeting when the Alfreds waltzed back into town. You can rarely get things done with small-minded people.”

  “So the vigilantes, the town mayor, and the executives are all small-minded people?” Emily asked, her anger already reaching its peak. She couldn’t believe just how arrogant and self-serving this man was.

  “It makes no difference what you think,” Mr. Russo said finally. “The vigilante boss is here. And they answer to me.” Mr. Russo turned to Everet. “You have seen the level of brazen supernatural activity that occurs in this town. Under your watch. Are you going to sit there and keep listening to this?”

  Everet licked his lips in concentration. “What would you have me do?”

  “Round these guys up,” said Mr. Russo. “Use the Owl-lady here to empower your men. Force the witch-lady to comply. And then go after the Alfreds. I’m confident you’ll be able to defeat them if they can’t affect you with their magic.”

  The tension grew in silence as everyone looked to Everet Winter with bated breath.

  3

  Everet looked from Emily to Michael to Anastacia. For a moment, it looked as though he was really considering executing the man’s instructions. It looked like he was gauging their strength, trying to determine if he could take them down.

  Emily felt the fire demon, Zee, rage within her. He sensed the danger. He was only inches from bursting through his bonds. It was the agreement she and Zee made that held him at bay. But the words were on her lips. Words that would set him loose and cause her surroundings to be set ablaze. All she needed to do was say the word—his name.

  The tension in the air rose several degrees higher.

  “If there’s anyone who deserves to be locked up, Sir, it’s you,” said Everet. “Not only have you gone against the tenets of this town, you have also betrayed us and sold us out to the very evil we swore to protect this town against.

  “If supernaturals are the only way we can save ourselves—and the whole world, for that matter—from this threat, then I, as the chief vigilante of New Haven, am putting a stay on every anti-supernatural law. And I am determining that the vigilantes will work together with supernaturals to rid this town of the evil warlocks and witches and free ourselves, permanently, from the curse of Na-Ma.” At that, Everet winked at Emily.

  Mr. Russo looked forsaken. “You would damn the town to protect these freaks?”

  “No, Mr. Russo,” said Everet. “Like you said, we are powerless against these roves. But we’re not going to sit by idly and watch them kill our people and lay waste to our town. If working with supernaturals is the only way we can set ourselves free, then it will be like the days of my father, when supernaturals and ordinary humans fought side by side for justice and equality.”

  “That’s a nice speech,” harrumphed Mr. Russo. “I hope you still have the same high-and-mighty words when you face The Man.”

  His last statement shocked everyone. As if on cue, an ear-splitting thunder shook the room. It was getting more intense up there.

  Everet turned to his second-in-command. “Take them both. Secure them in one of the rooms.”

  “What?” Mr. Russo blared. “You dare hold me here against my will?” But no one answered him.

  With Aunt Anastacia’s magical help, they were able to lock up both Russos in one of the rooms in the living space.

  When Kendrick and Aunt Anastacia returned to the anteroom, it was back to business.

  Everet motioned toward Emily. “Bring up the map of the Russos’ mansion.”

  Emily complied without a thought. She worked the remote, sliding through a series of floor plans until the one for the mansion came up.

  There were five floor plans. One showed a bird’s-eye view of the compound. The other four showed the four levels of the building itself.

  Everet chose the floor plan of the compound, and Emily kept the screen there.

  “We have the advantage of knowing where the enemy is,” said Everet. “We have the advantage of the fact that this is our town. We know it better than anyone. We also have the advantage of nobody wanting to die, so we can count on the help of the whole town. Finally, we have the advantage of numbers.”

  Seemed like a reasonable amount of advantages.

  “Although I don’t know how effective our vigilante force will be against warlocks and witches. I mean, sure, we’ve handled vampires, werewolves, even demigods, but never magicians. They’re at the top of the food chain. We wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

  Everet paused for air. “Usually, magicians are landlocked supernaturals. They get their power from their ancestral lands. That’s why we’ve had no run-ins with them. New Haven is not home to any covens. But then there are a few who don’t derive power from the land. These are called roves. They are considered the most powerful supernaturals in existence.

  “But because of their rarity, they are thought of as legends,” said Everet as he continued on his monologue. “And the very few who exist prefer to remain in a particular city to do their business. Because what’s the use of going from town to town, right?” He glanced at Anastacia, who winked back at him.

  Everyone nodded.

  “So, we’ve had the luck of not attracting the attention of unfriendly roves,” continued Everet. “Until now. I don’t have any delusions of what our chances are. I of all people understand the power being commanded by a magician.”

  Everet turned to face Anastacia, who had now taken a seat at the table. Even Kendrick was done standing. He was seated beside Everet.

  “You are the powerful rove here,” announced Everet, ignoring his son’s displeased grunt. “You know the best way to approach this issue. Let me just say that I and the vigilante force are at your disposal. Whatever decision you make, we will stand by you.”

  Then he raised a cautionary finger. “We will not condone murder, anyhow. Certainly not that of Emily Davies.”

  Aunt Anastacia waved her hand. “That’s nonsense. I would never put my niece in harm’s way.”

  Emily almost let loose a sarcastic laugh. It took all of her willpower to desist from making a fool of her aunt. The simple fact was Aunt Anastacia was a brutal pragmatist. She didn’t care who got hurt, as long as the greater good was achieved. If Aunt Anastacia wasn’t fond of the Symbian Whatever Process, it was only because the chances of success were slim. Maybe she didn’t have enough juice to perform that spell, or she didn’t think the spell would work.

  Whatever the case, it certainly wasn’t a result of her sudden concern for Emily’s safety.

  “So what’s the plan?” asked Dad. “We need to act now. The more time we waste, the more time our enemy has to regroup, rethink, and come back with a more terrible plan.”
>
  “John’s right,” Everet said, wary of Emily’s father. They hadn’t had time to discuss it yet, but it was obvious they were both aware of the other’s knowledge of Michael’s illegitimacy.

  Emily noticed the look of disgust on her father’s face when Everet supported him.

  Aunt Anastacia remained silent for a long while. She kept her eyes on the floor plan on the TV screen and softly stroked her chin in a meditative manner. “They’re too powerful,” she finally said. “Five of them.” She shook her head. After a long while, she let out a sigh. “We have only one option. We divide and conquer.”

  Everyone nodded, including Emily. She instantly saw the wisdom in the plan. They couldn’t take the Alfreds all at once. So they needed to break them into smaller groups and take them out one at a time.

  The question was, how were they going to achieve that? Emily and company had already seen how the Alfreds traveled. They either went in threes or they went as a family. Alice was never alone. Either the kids stayed together and the adults stayed together, or they all attacked at the same time. Never alone.

  Michael must have seen the same problem because he asked, “How are we going to do that? They’re always together.”

  “I don’t know yet,” admitted Aunt Anastacia.

  “Now’s hardly the time to be indecisive,” Kendrick chipped in. He didn’t sound angry, but he didn’t sound happy either. “Now that they’re trying to regroup, we need to strike hard at their base.”

  “We need to rally every vigilante to march on that house,” Everet concurred. “Yeah, we may lose a few people, but with brutal force, we can take them down eventually.”

  “They’ll make mincemeat of you without even breaking a sweat,” Michael scoffed.

  “How so?” Kendrick asked, eyebrow raised.

  “These are roves, Dagger,” Michael said, calling the big guy by his nickname with fondness. How cute. “They don’t even need to leave the house. Their magic is so powerful, they put a spell on the whole town with no issue. What do you think they’ll be able to do if they decide to go all out against us?”

  Kendrick opened his mouth to say something, and then he furrowed his brow and shut his mouth again. There was nothing to be said.

  “We can’t just do nothing,” Everet hissed. “We can’t just sit still and wait for the Alfreds to attack again. From what Mr. Russo said, I understood the Alfreds are going to be coming at us with all their ammo now. We need to act.”

  “And we will,” offered Aunt Anastacia. “Just not a frontal assault. They’ll be expecting it.” She paused and thought for a moment.

  Emily liked that Aunt Anastacia was very cautious and liked to think things through before she made a decision. Nevertheless, there were times when Emily felt Aunt Anastacia was too slow for her taste.

  “The Alfreds didn’t walk into this town without a plan,” Aunt Anastacia said finally. “They came with a plan. And contingency plans. Gregory and Marie should be awake now, yet they’ve only conjured up an angry storm, which is doing nothing aside from keeping most people indoors.

  “If we play into their hands by launching an ill-planned attack right now, they’ll tear us apart and then take Emily and Michael. Game over. But if we tread carefully, at least until we understand what our enemy’s next play is, we stand a better chance of leveling the field.”

  “But how do we win, though?” asked Michael. “It’s not like we’re going to slaughter an entire family or anything.”

  “I don’t mind doing the dirty work if that’s what you’re afraid of,” said Kendrick with no scruples. Michael made a face at the man. Even Everet looked stunned by what his second-in-command had said.

  “What?” Kendrick whispered in surprise. “We do it all the time.”

  Everet shook his head. “If it’s necessary. If the supernatural has taken a life. And we don’t do it to kids or teenagers. God knows it’s not their fault they’re the way they are. Well, except for that psychotic little vampire. She needs to go.”

  At that last statement, everyone nodded their agreement.

  “Whose life did my mom take?” Emily blurted before she had the chance to think.

  “What?” Everet asked, his eyes widening at her.

  “You said you only kill supernaturals when they take a life,” Emily reasoned. “I know for a fact you killed my mom. Whose life did she take?”

  Everet was speechless. Even Dad stiffened uncomfortably.

  “Emily, maybe now’s not the right time to discuss this,” Dad said a moment later, coming to Everet’s rescue for some reason.

  Emily glared at her dad. He had no right to take away her chance for closure. A thousand and one things came to the tip of her tongue to spout at her father, but she held them back. In the end, this wasn’t the right time. They had bigger fish to fry.

  Emily glanced at Everet and snarled, “Don’t think this is over.” It hadn’t occurred to Emily how much it could hurt just to be in the same room with the man who killed her mother. And Emily hadn’t even thought of it until the moment they raised the issue of killing supernaturals. And now that she’d thought of it, she couldn’t get it out of her head, and she struggled with her inner rage. Rage meant the fire demon within her was stirring. And he knew the target of her rage: Everet Winter.

  Everyone stared uncomfortably while Emily glared at the man.

  Awkward.

  “Aunt, when the time comes, how are we going to defeat the evil roves permanently?” asked Michael, changing the subject and breaking the ice.

  4

  “It depends,” said Aunt Anastacia.

  “On what?” Everet asked.

  “On who’s facing them when the time comes as well as what they are doing at that moment,” answered Anastacia.

  Vague much? “Er, what does that mean?” Emily asked, allowing the change of subject and letting Everet off the hook this time.

  “The best way to end a witch or warlock is to kill them,” replied Aunt Anastacia. “Vampires, werewolves, shifters—they all have peculiar ways to end them. But for us magicians, it’s death by fiery explosion, decapitation, or a hole in the heart. And before you ask why, I’ll tell you. It’s because they have no time to cast a protection spell.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Dad said. “So they’re great ways to kill magicians simply because they guarantee a swift death?”

  Aunt Anastacia nodded her reply. “Indeed. A magician’s greatest power comes from the tongue. Remove this power and a magician becomes just like any normal person.”

  Emily had only one problem with this solution. And that was the killing part. Since when did they become murderers? Were they just going to waltz into the Russos’ house and murder an entire family? Even if it was to save the whole world, it was wrong on so many levels.

  Emily knew she might not be thinking objectively right now because of whatever existed between her and Marion; yet, she was pretty sure she would feel the same even if Marion hated her with a passion. They couldn’t just go around killing people. There had to be another way. There had to be a way to remove their magic without harming them.

  “I’m not going to agree to murdering a whole family in cold blood.” Emily folded her arms in defiance. Her voice was tiny and almost overwhelmed by the silence. Nevertheless, everyone heard her. Michael and Dad looked at her with sympathy. She could tell they supported her. And she could understand why. They were both there when the Alfred kids came to attack the cottage. They both saw that these were just kids—granted, these kids had serious anger issues and were probably going to kill them the moment they had the chance—but in the end, they were still young. Or at least Chandler and Marion. And the way they were was really no fault of theirs. It was conditioning from their parents.

  Aunt Anastacia and Kendrick, on the other hand, looked at her as though she’d gone completely mental. It was obvious they thought she was wussing out on them. Kendrick might be comfortable with killing three kids and their parents because he
was a killer. Yeah, sure, he wore the vigilante vest to legalize his destructive tendencies, but take away the vest, and he was nothing short of a murderer.

  Of course, Emily would never say that out loud, especially not in his presence. Yet, this was what she thought of him. Aunt Anastacia was a pragmatist. This was her bane. Her curse. Emily wasn’t sure when she’d taken the moral detour that had made her into the person willing to sacrifice anybody and everybody for the greater good; a person whose moral compass pointed to: “The end justifies the means.”

  Everet looked to be in the middle. His nonchalant expression indicated he was neither leaning toward nor against killing off the Alfreds.

  “Is there no process or ritual we can perform?” asked Michael. “Or some weapon we can make that can strip a magician of his power?”

  “We have no time to debate this.” Aunt Anastacia frowned and waved the question aside. She wasn’t even willing to consider it. “Even if there was a weapon we could make, it would require too much for us to create it. Otherwise, magicians wouldn’t be at the top of the food chain, would they?”

  As long as there was a slim chance this wasn’t going to end in bloodshed on the part of the Alfreds, Emily was willing to take the chance. “Shouldn’t we at least try?” prompted Emily. “If there is a small chance we can make this right, we owe it to every single one of those depraved Alfreds—or at least their boys—to try.”

  Anastacia glared at Emily. “This isn’t child’s play, Emily. This is real life. The Alfreds aren’t sitting around a conference table thinking about how to make it easy for us.”

  “But they did think of how to make it easy for us,” Emily cut in. “When they approached the Russos to make a nexus. They didn’t want to lay the town to waste.”

  At this, her aunt made a growling sound. She was about to mouth off some more, but then she calmed abruptly, looking at Emily weirdly. It didn’t stop there because Aunt Anastacia slowly got to her feet, pointing a finger at Emily. Then at the door the Russos had been led out through. She began muttering to herself.