Born to Raise Hell: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book Three

by Qatarina Wanders

  “While Michael, John, and I will head over to the basement facility and begin cloaking the place.”

  Emily shot to her feet. “Sounds like a plan. Can we get moving right away?”

  Everyone murmured their agreement, except Aunt Anastacia. “No, not today. It’ll have to be just before dawn tomorrow.”

  “There’s no time, Aunt,” Emily frowned. “Every second we waste here is another second the Alfreds can go on a killing rampage. We have to keep their attention on us.”

  “I have to agree with her, Ana,” Dad jumped in. “We have a plan. Let’s execute it. The more time we spend doing nothing, the less likely the plan will go as we hoped.”

  Then everyone began talking at the same time, agreeing with Emily and her father.

  “Look, I know you’re all eager to go out there and face the Alfreds. Believe me, I want to do that as well.” The woman held up her palm in an authoritative manner. “But you have to understand that right now the Alfreds are at their most alert. The thunderstorm of the past hour was no ordinary thunderstorm. In fact, my guess is it’s a tracking spell hidden beneath the rain. Gregory Alfred is seeking us out. If we had revealed ourselves, he could have picked us off one after the other with a lightning blast.”

  No one spoke as they digested this rather valid information.

  “We have to be smart about this plan,” Aunt Anastacia continued. “Our best weapon is stealth. And I tell you, now is not a good time to be sneaking around the town.”

  “How about the people?” asked Michael. “What if someone gets involved? What if someone asks about us? At least the people have to know what’s happening in their town.”

  “Most will remain in a fugue state for another twenty-four hours,” Aunt Anastacia reassured him. “The magic won’t wear off in that time unless they are shaken out of it by a phone call or anything that tries to get their attention.”

  “Great, that only means everyone in town.” Emily rolled her eyes.

  “Not really everyone.” Aunt Anastacia shrugged. “But some. Let’s hope that the some have nowhere to go this late in the evening. By the time we move out tomorrow morning, we should be able to pass the information around for everyone to remain indoors.”

  “Gee, I don’t know about waiting till tomorrow,” said Everet with uncertainty.

  “It’s our best play.” Aunt Anastacia stood firm. “It’s the play that guarantees we make it out of the industrial estate without being seen. Gregory Alfred, as powerful as he is, can’t maintain a tracking spell indefinitely. And his kids can’t track as far as he can. Believe me, the safe period begins right before dawn. Let’s wait for then.”

  Anastacia sounded convincing enough. Even Emily had to agree with her. She needed all the rest she could get. Plus, she wanted to be there when her friends finally came to.

  After a silent while, when no one opposed her, Aunt Anastacia went on, “There are rooms for everyone in the living space. There’s food in the freezer, in case you want a late-night dinner.

  “Michael, come with me. We need to hone your skills. Emily, get some rest. You’ll need it tomorrow. The rest of you, well, do whatever it is you do at night, but ensure you sleep early. I’ll be making the rounds way before dawn.”

  With that, she vanished into the third door on the right. Michael first looked at his father, then at Emily. He said nothing and followed Aunt Anastacia through the rightmost door.

  Emily didn’t waste another second in the anteroom. It was probably a bad idea to leave Dad and Everet in the same room—especially with Kendrick, who would obviously support his boss. But Emily didn’t think she was ready for the difficult discussion the duo was probably going to have.

  Instead, Emily left the anteroom without another word. She thought of going straight to her bedroom, but then she remembered Joanna’s parents were still in bondage. They would be dying to see their daughter, especially Mrs. Russo. Emily made up her mind to wake Joanna up and bring her to her parents. At least she would go to bed knowing that she had done one good thing for the day.

  Maybe the Russos wouldn’t treat her too harshly after she reunited them with their daughter. And if they cared to know, Emily would tell them how she fought tooth-and-nail to make sure Anastacia was invested in saving Joanna. And this included Emily putting her own life on the line.

  No, Emily had not forgotten her life was on the line. And she knew Aunt Anastacia had not forgotten their agreement. Very soon, she would demand that Emily go through the Adoption ritual. It was only a matter of time and convenience.

  Emily suspected it would be the first thing they did before they attempted to ensnare Marion.

  As Emily walked down the corridor, she saw doors with names on them. Even Everet and Kendrick had doors. This hallway was similar to the cottage’s hallway. It was as long as it needed to be and had rooms enough for the safe house’s present occupancy.

  When she saw the one tagged Joanna, she opened it and slipped in.

  7

  Joanna was fast asleep on the king-size bed, draped in a red blanket. She had a smile on her face, which was really cute and caused Emily to gush.

  There were no windows in the room, but there was a soft air current, which was cool and cozy. The room wasn’t that large, and even though it had a lot of stuff packed in there—chair, table, wardrobe, TV—it didn’t look crammed.

  Emily had a choice. She could either sit in the armchair and fall asleep at her best friend’s side, or she could slip into bed with Joanna and cuddle. The latter was bound to wake Joanna up; Emily knew her best friend was usually a light sleeper.

  Either way, Emily decided she wouldn’t leave her until she had spoken with her. She wanted to be the first person Joanna spoke to when she finally came to. She didn’t want anyone abusing her mind concerning anything they’d discovered over the past hour in the anteroom. Joanna needed to be on her side, as it undoubtedly guaranteed that her parents would be on her side as well.

  Emily went for the first option and slipped into the armchair at the head of the bed. She settled in so well that she was immediately inundated by the overwhelming urge to sleep. Her eyes began to droop, but it was not yet time to go to sleep.

  She spent some time working through all that had happened to her since she rescued Michael from the mansion. It seemed like just yesterday. That was because things had moved so fast ever since then. First, it was the fire demon wrestling control from her. Next, it was the Alfred kids trying to slay her.

  Then, it was the fire demon again trying to burn her brother alive. Followed by finding out the Russos had sold the town out to the Alfreds.

  Her life had become so complicated in a few days. She’d learned so much since it all began—her mind was a jumble of information. It seemed as though she had a bone to pick with everyone, or everyone had a bone to pick with her.

  Emily much preferred the days when everyone loved her and she was kind and pleasing to everybody she knew. Those days, she rarely got into trouble with her peers. She was the quintessential cheerleader captain. Perhaps occasionally a bit saucy and high-shouldered, but, for the most part, she was kind, approachable, and lovely. That didn’t mean she wasn’t gritty or firm. She had a perfect balance of love and ferocity. She was both lion and lamb. Or so she viewed herself. Michael certainly wouldn’t have agreed. Probably not Rina, either.

  Now, she was slipping more and more to the dark side. Becoming something else. Whereas she could never have considered (not to mention agree to) deceiving someone whom she had feelings for and who had feelings for her. Now, she had said yes—without a second thought. She had agreed to take advantage of Marion’s feelings for her to make a weapon that would strip him of everything that made him special.

  She had become selfish. Raw. Angry. She never would have confronted Everet about killing her mother, because she had come to terms with what happened and had decided to move on. But a few minutes earlier, she had done exactly that.

  Indeed, she had changed. So
many things were happening so fast that, at times, Emily felt like she was going to explode. Other times, she felt so compressed by all that was happening, she felt she was being crushed under the heavy weight of responsibility.

  It didn’t help that she was one half of the key to release a beast of apocalyptic proportion. No, it didn’t. It didn’t help that if worse came to worse, she would be required to kill herself to prevent the ritual from proceeding. Her grandfather had done it. So had her mother. If it came to it, if Michael was captured and there was nothing to be done to save him, it was required that she should end her life.

  Talk about unfair. Could she do it? Would she?

  Emily fell again and again into a short nap as she ruminated over the events of the past few days. But she was always awakened to the difficulty of her situation. Tightness gripped her throat and lungs. It made breathing difficult. Sleeping, too. How could she sleep soundly when she knew the weight of the whole world was entirely on her? It was damn near impossible.

  When she snapped out of a short nap for the third time, she saw Joanna looking at her.

  “Hey Babe.” Joanna had risen to sitting position, her hands limp at her sides, the red material gathered at her waist. Her hair was delicately strewn across her shoulders, her face highlighted by the ghostly glow from the overhead bulb.

  Emily promptly pushed herself up in the armchair. “Did I wake you?”

  Joanna chuckled. “Which time? When you slipped into my room, or when you sat in the chair, or when you snapped out of sleep every couple minutes?”

  Emily chuckled, too. She had missed her friend so much. It was refreshing to hear Joanna’s voice, more so to see that the young lady still had a sense of humor after all that had happened to her.

  “I didn’t know you woke up,” Emily said, suddenly serious. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I know you’ve been through a lot. I—”

  “See why I didn’t want you knowing you’d woken me up?” Joanna still had the calm, welcoming smile across her face. “I don’t want you guilt-tripping yourself.”

  Emily opened her mouth to do just that, but she let loose a sigh and shut it again.

  “Where am I?” asked Joanna, looking around.

  “Aunt Anastacia’s safe house. It’s close to your house.”

  Joanna frowned. “What happened to the cottage?”

  “We got ambushed,” Emily explained. “The Alfred kids followed us there. They came for Michael and me, but we got away. We escaped to Aunt Anastacia’s safe house in town.”

  Joanna’s eyes widened at that. “We’re in New Haven?”

  “Yes.”

  “How? What about the vigilantes?”

  “Jo, there’s a lot you don’t know.”

  Joanna flopped back against her pillows with a sigh. “I suppose you’re here to tell me.”

  Emily nodded.

  “All right then.” Joanna reached out her arms. “We might as well cuddle in bed.”

  Emily jumped to her feet at that, grinning wildly. She slipped into bed beside Joanna under the red blanket. They cuddled for a moment, Emily enjoying the warmth of her friend and the familiar smoothness of her skin.

  She sucked in a breath, taking in the scent from her friend’s body. She missed this. She missed the security that came with knowing her friend was on her side.

  When Emily had first discovered she was an owl shifter, she hid it from everybody, including Joanna. She didn’t know how Joanna would react. She didn’t want anything to tear their friendship apart. At the time, she knew Joanna’s billionaire parents were the primary source of funds for the vigilantes.

  They were obviously anti-supernatural. And even though Joanna had not come out as anti-supernatural, she hadn’t come out as pro-supernatural either. It left Emily with no choice other than to assume her friend was against supernaturals, given her parents’ stance on the issue.

  Then came the time when Joanna had surprised Emily by revealing to her that she knew Emily was The Owl. Emily had been flooded with a mix of surprise and relief. Surprise at how her friend had known her secret, and relief that she’d known and hadn’t abandoned her or reported her or something else just as nasty.

  Joanna didn’t care that Emily was a supernatural. She loved her anyway, and Emily loved Joanna back.

  Of course, Rina, the reporter for the school newspaper, found out on the same day. It was hell. They had convinced Rina not to reveal to the whole town that Emily was a shifter. She had only agreed not to reveal Emily’s true identity for as long as the threat to the town existed. In other words, as soon as they were past this Na-Ma threat, she would write a long one for the Keaton Chronicles.

  Emily didn’t care anymore. It was looking more and more like they were going to fail. And even if they didn’t, Everet and Kendrick already knew her identity. As soon as they got the vigilantes assembled at the school, they’d all know. It wouldn’t take time for the news to spread across the town.

  Emily knew that after all these years, her life in New Haven was over. She had to enjoy what last moments she had with Joanna and with her friends. Because, truly, however she looked at it, these were fleeting moments.

  “So, tell me,” said Joanna. “What’s happened since I got caught?”

  8

  Emily told Joanna everything. It was pretty easy for her now. Joanna was someone she felt safe with. She could tell her best friend how she felt about everything and trust Joanna not to judge her. So naturally, she told her about Marion. It was hard saying it because she suspected Joanna liked Marion—at least before they found out he was an evil rove. And it was hard to judge whether Joanna was upset that Emily would be into him after she had hinted to Emily that she was into him.

  Emily told her about their decision to extract Marion’s blood and use it to make a weapon that could strip a magician and his family of their power.

  By the time Emily was done telling Joanna everything, Joanna had lapsed into silence.

  Emily didn’t dare interrupt the silence, even though it killed her. She wanted Joanna to sort through all the information. It was the least she could do. Even Emily was still coming to terms with several parts.

  “I can’t believe my parents would do such a thing,” Joanna finally said.

  For a brief moment, Emily was taken aback by the statement. She’d been expecting a rebuttal for what she’d said about Marion or for even agreeing to such deceptive tactics. But it made sense that Joanna’s primary concern should be her own family.

  “I suppose they did it because they love you,” Emily replied. “I don’t fault them for it. I get it.”

  “Yeah, but still . . . ,” Joanna breathed. “Selling out the whole town just to save their skin. And I thought they were admirable, upstanding citizens. I never knew they had one hand in dark magic.”

  “We don’t know that, Jo,” Emily cautioned. “I think it’s best to talk to them before jumping to conclusions.”

  “But is it not a valid conclusion?” questioned Joanna. “Babe, they were used as magical pawns to control the city. They leveraged themselves to save their necks and mine. That’s not heroic. That’s treacherous.”

  “That’s what Aunt Anastacia and the rest think,” Emily admitted. “That’s why they have them bound in the adjacent room. But I don’t judge.”

  Joanna twirled in the bed to face her. “You should. You should show a little more grit. What my parents did was wrong, and they should pay for it.”

  Emily didn’t reply for a long moment. She gazed into Joanna’s eyes and saw the hurt and sadness in them. She wondered if this was really about her parents’ actions or if it was something else.

  Maybe this was Joanna’s way of processing her anger and hurt for being betrayed by her best friend. Emily thought about broaching the subject of Marion. But then she thought better of it. If the subject needed to be broached, it should be by Joanna.

  “You don’t agree with me?” Joanna asked.

  Emily shrugged, stroking her friend
’s cheek. “I don’t want to disagree with you,” she replied with a smile. “But what’s done is done. And I think they’re sorry.”

  Joanna scoffed. “My parents can be so many things, Emily, but remorseful is not one of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re plotting another scheme.”

  “Talk with them,” Emily suggested. “Get them to help us.” Then Emily told Joanna about “The Man” issue. It seemed as though the Alfreds weren’t running the show. Of course, this is what the Alfreds would have them believe, but they had found out there was someone else. They hadn’t seen any proof yet, but The Man might be the one behind the scenes.

  “And you think my parents would help us find The Man?” Joanna asked. The sneer wasn’t lost from her face.

  “They promised to tell us about The Man if we showed you to them,” said Emily. “I think they’d do anything for you. Even help us.”

  Emily knew she was beginning to sound desperate. And desperate she was.

  Joanna looked her up and down and said, “You know my parents don’t like you very much.”

  The statement was a downer for Emily. Her heart deflated, which must have reflected on her face because Joanna held her tightly.

  “I’m not saying it to spite you, Babe, it’s just the truth,” Joanna crooned. “At first, I didn’t understand why. They used to love you. They loved us together. But then, just before the Alfreds came to town, they developed a sudden hatred for you. They even tried to get me to break up our friendship. They did everything they could, including pulling all my credit cards and canceling all my subscriptions. The only thing they didn’t do was to kick me out of the house.”

  Emily’s heart was breaking at this point. “I didn’t know,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, well, it’s not something I like to talk about.” Joanna squeezed her a little tighter. “When they saw I wouldn’t be swayed against my best friend, they gave up hope and returned all my privileges.”