Born to Raise Hell: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book Three

by Qatarina Wanders

  “You killed Rina,” Marion muttered.

  Chandler’s expression changed to a sympathetic one. “Their mission was to bring in Michael and Emily. They were to use deadly force if necessary.”

  “And I thought you had my back!”

  Chandler stood up and faced Marion. Clearly getting ready to defend himself. “What are you going to do? Kill me to avenge your little classmate?”

  Marion snickered. “You deserve it.”

  The smile vanished instantaneously from Chandler’s face as he realized the gravity of the situation. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Marion’s right hand snapped up in a fraction of a second, and a blast of electricity struck out of his fingers and slammed into Chandler’s chest. The guy was thrown across the room and knocked unconscious on the ground.

  Marion resisted the urge to deal a killing blow. He wouldn’t go that far. Instead, he turned around and marched out of the room, headed for the living room downstairs to face his father. On his way, he met a lot of supernaturals milling about in the corridor and filling up other rooms, but none of them dared stand in his way.

  The living room was almost jam-packed with supernaturals. The air reeked of blood, fur, and rotting flesh. Too many species of supernaturals had disgusting hygiene habits. Up ahead, on a makeshift dais, was Father sitting on a what looked like a throne and Mother sitting beside them. How over the top.

  “Father!” Marion screamed, forcing silence into the place. Every head turned to look at him. A path was cut through the crowd to his parents.

  “What is it, Son?” Mr. Alfred was dressed in a kingly robe. His wife, too. The only thing missing was a crown. He hadn’t yet taken over the world and he was acting the part. This was absurd.

  “You lied to me!” Marion didn’t make a move toward them. He knew it was plain foolish to do so. There were enough roves around to beat the sense back into him, and even if there weren’t, he and Father weren’t equally matched. It would be a resounding defeat.

  “You told me you’d let me go meet her in peace, yet you told Chandler to send a team of killers after them?!” Marion’s hair crackled with electricity. The people around him dispersed a bit, muttering their concerns.

  Father was silent for a moment. Then he scrunched up his face and asked nonchalantly, “Is Chandler alive?”

  “Answer my question!” Marion demanded.

  “Yes, I lied to you,” he replied calmly.

  Marion staggered back and almost fell—a bit overly dramatic, yes. But hey, he was pissed.

  Father stood up. “Do you think this is a game? Do you think death is a game? You were being silly and difficult, and I said anything to get you on board because the alternative was your death. Emily isn’t going to survive the sacrifice because it’s a sacrifice, Idiot! Her soul will be spent in raising the beast. You were a fool to believe otherwise, and you are an even bigger fool to believe you can confront me without repercussions.” He raised a hand to strike.

  “Honey, let him be,” Mother said softly from her throne. “He’s lovesick. People do foolish things when they’re in love.”

  Those words from Mother distracted Father just enough that Marion saw his opportunity and took it. He cast a spell over himself. It was the same spell he’d used for Emily when he’d sent her outside the house. One moment, he was standing there in the midst of the crowd; the next moment, he was standing outside the house staring down the road.

  There was only one problem. Alice was standing in the way.

  21

  “Where are you going, Brother?” Alice asked, her lips parting in a horrid smile. A magical dark cloud loomed over her as it always did whenever she went outside in the daylight—one of her spells protecting her vampire skin from the sun’s deadly rays.

  “Get out of my way, Alice,” Marion warned. “I’m not joking.”

  Alice shook her head. Her fingers began to crackle with electricity. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.” She then let loose a sinister laugh.

  Marion frowned and fell back in a defensive stance. “You can try.” He avoided eye contact with her so she couldn’t compel him again.

  Alice moved faster than the eye could see. A streak of electricity lashed out of her fingers just as she ran toward him. Marion dashed to the side. The streak missed him by a few inches.

  Marion retaliated with an earthquake spell. The ground rumbled, but Alice leaped into the air. A burst of wind threw her over the affected area. As she landed, she cast a weather spell that caused hail to rain down on her brother.

  Marion raised his hands over his head, conjuring a shield. As he shut his eyes and took command of the hail, a plan formed in his mind.

  He then threw the weather phenomenon at Alice. She conjured her shield as well, which Marion took advantage off. He shot a blast of fire her way. She then diverted her shield down to the flame. The flame slammed helplessly on the shield, but the hail struck her in the head and knocked her out cold.

  Marion then caused the hail to stop, and he stood over his sister’s limp body.

  “Are you going to kill her?!” a voice called from the house. Marion looked up to see his father standing on the steps of the faraway mansion.

  Marion didn’t as much as dignify his question with a response. As if he could kill her right now even if he tried. It required all his magic to even knock her out, and she would wake up any second. Without another word, he turned and ran down the road. He didn’t run for too long before he found a usable car. He magicked his way into the car and drove toward the clinic.

  He had no idea where the safe house was. He had no idea if Emily would accept him back after what Chandler had done to Rina. But he had to try. He had to tell them they were walking into a trap because Astaroth was expecting them to lay siege to the house.

  And he had to come with proof that he wasn’t another trap. His blood. He would offer it to them. He didn’t care anymore. His family should be stripped of their powers for what they had done to Rina—what they were doing to humanity.

  By the time Marion arrived at the clinic, he found it slightly busy. It was already daybreak, and a few people were walking in and out. There was still the look of confusion in their eyes—from the effect of the spell that put them in stasis—but no one seemed to remember anything. In a few hours, that look of confusion would be gone.

  Marion found a nurse to help extract his blood. Of course, he had to use a spell on the nurse because she’d started to ask him for documentation and health insurance and all that stuff. When he had the blood safe in a vile, he returned to the car he’d stolen. He sat in the front seat and pulled out his phone.

  He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then he dialed Emily.

  Emily didn’t pick it up on the first ring. Or on the tenth. By the seventh dial, Marion was already frustrated. He threw the phone against the dashboard and fumed silently.

  He knew he had no right to be angry at Emily, and she had every right to ignore his call. He just hadn’t imagined that he’d have difficulties calling her. Otherwise, he would have been more strategic when he’d left the house. Instead of leaving in a storm, he could have played it cool. That way, he could have obtained the address of the safe house from Chandler.

  Emily and her crew might have left the safe house by now, but surely they would have left a clue as to their current location or something.

  Marion thought of casting a locating spell, then thought the better of it. Truth was, he was scared of Anastacia. The rove lady was incredibly powerful. He didn’t want her to catch him alone, now that he didn’t have the backing of his family.

  He realized that he was in a dangerous place. No doubt, his parents would be after him, probably to kill him for betraying them. Astaroth would already know about Marion’s treachery, and he, too, would want Marion dead. Then there was Emily and her team. They saw him as the cause of Rina’s death. They wouldn’t want to listen to a word he had to say. The moment any one of them caught him, they’d
attempt to kill him.

  And while Marion could hold his own against any one of them, he couldn’t fight off Anastacia, nor could he fight off Emily—not that he wanted to try.

  It was just so confusing for him. He didn’t even know what to do next.

  He’d come to the clinic because this was the place they’d met the last time. Maybe he could find something in the parking lot to suggest their location. Yeah, it was crazy, but he was desperate.

  Marion looked at his phone as it buzzed. It was a message from Emily. Hope leaped into his mind. He snatched the phone from the seat and opened it.

  The message was a simple one-line message: Don’t even try!

  Marion could feel the fiery fury from the letters on the screen. He swallowed hard as he saw visions in his mind of fire raining down from the clouds as the fire demon struck. Marion knew that a rove was no match for a fire demon. Especially if the Owl shifter blessed with such powers was experienced—or Adopted. And Emily had demonstrated herself to be quite adept at her Owl abilities. He just hoped beyond hope she hadn’t already gone through with the Adoption—that would seal her fate to be sacrificed for sure.

  Marion knew that this was the reason the siege would be successful. Astaroth had said as much. They would win. The mansion would fall. The supernaturals being amassed would be utterly wiped out, not really by the army Emily’s friends were amassing, but by the lava-breath of the fire demon.

  It would raise hell when it came unleashed at the Russos’ mansion. Astaroth had been particularly silent about what would follow. He had just told Father that when the destruction and fire and the battle were raging, he would know what to do. Nothing had been said about Mother or Marion or any of the others.

  Marion typed a reply. I can explain. Need to meet. He looked at the message again. It was brief and concise. He pressed the send button.

  He waited for one minute before the reply came back. Nice try! We’re done! Look for the fire from the skies!!!!!

  Okay. That was a lot of exclamation points.

  They were indeed planning an attack. Astaroth’s vision was coming to pass. Had Emily gone through the Adoption already? If so, they were all doomed.

  Marion decided to call again. She didn’t pick up the first time. He sent a text. Pick up, dammit! It’s important! Marion knew she had no business answering his call. But he expected her to give him the benefit of the doubt, even if it was, at least, to obtain information from him on her proposed battle strategy. It never hurt to talk to the enemy.

  Marion decided to wait for one minute before he called her back. He didn’t have to wait that long because she called him.

  Marion answered on the second ring. “Before you hang up or say anything, hear me out!”

  He paused for a rebuttal from her. When it didn’t come, he suspected she might be willing to listen to him. To be sure she was there, he listened intently and heard her breathing on the other side of the phone. He thought to do a little spell to confirm that it was her, but he decided against it. He didn’t know if Anastacia was on the other side of the call or if Emily would detect the magic and think he was trying to harm her.

  “I’m sorry about Rina—”

  “Don’t you say her name!” Emily snarled. It was harsh, and it struck Marion more than he cared to admit.

  “Sorry—” he stuttered, unsure of how to proceed with such animosity coming from the pretty girl on the other end of the line.

  “I swear to you, Emily, it wasn’t me,” Marion started. “I kept my promise to you, I swear it. I was unaware of what happened. Until you called me. I—”

  Emily laughed aloud over the phone. “Just how dumb do you think I am, Marion?” The hatred was not lost in her voice. “Mom always said, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’”

  “I’m not trying to fool you—”

  “Save it, really, Marion,” Emily stopped him. “I thought you were calling me to beg for your life. Not this shit you’ve concocted. I—”

  “I have proof,” Marion snapped. “My blood. Freely given to you.”

  There was a charged silence.

  “If you’re—” Emily began another bout of threats, but Marion didn’t let her finish.

  “I ran away from my family, Emily,” he said, cutting her off. “I almost killed my brother. I knocked out my sister. My parents are after me. You think I’m joking?”

  Another silence.

  “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she asked. A valid question. This time she sounded hopeful. Marion could hear it in her voice.

  “I’m sitting in my car, alone, in the clinic’s parking lot,” said Marion. “Come with the cavalry. Come and arrest me. I surrender to you.”

  Another silence.

  “You know what we’ll do to you, right?” Emily asked.

  “I’m innocent, Emily,” Marion said. “I’ll prove it. All I need is a chance.”

  “If I see any sign of trouble, I won’t take flight. I’ll burn everything down,” Emily warned. “Stay there.” Then the line went dead.

  Marion exited the car and stood by it. He wanted to give whoever was coming a good view of him and the fact he was unarmed. He thought about kneeling down with his hands behind his head and the vial of blood in front of him, but then there were people moving about in the clinic. They’d think he’d gone mad and probably come to check. And then if Emily were to be doing a flyby, she’d see him with someone else and assume he was lying to her. Poof. There went his chance of convincing her of his innocence. That wouldn’t go well.

  Marion decided to stay right there and act normal. Lucky for him, it was still quite early in the morning, and people were still slowly waking from the stasis spell. So the traffic in the clinic was very low, and there weren’t a lot of cars in the parking lot. He was the only person standing outside, so he was good for now.

  He hoped his parents didn’t send Alice to check for him there. He hoped they’d let him be, at least until he was safely on Emily’s side. They hadn’t seemed too concerned about him—probably just didn’t think he was much of a threat. Of course, he knew he wasn’t going to get what he wanted just because he hoped for it. So he kept his eyes peeled for trouble.

  He thought about using his magic to scan the area. But then he didn’t want to scare off Emily when she made her flyby. Also, he didn’t want to reveal his location in case there was another rove nearby searching for him or something.

  So many ifs.

  Emily didn’t come as soon as Marion had expected. After two hours of standing there like a fool, he got back into his car, angry and frustrated. He had to constantly remind himself that Emily was doing him a favor by trusting him again. He had no right to be angry.

  Five times he thought of calling her again or even texting her. Five times he convinced himself there was no need for that. He didn’t want to appear desperate—or even fishy, for that matter—otherwise, she’d decide not to come.

  He wondered what was taking so long. He was antsy. What he feared the most was being caught there by his family or any of their supernatural buddies. He was in the parking lot, which had a clear line of sight to the main road that snaked through New Haven like a spine. No doubt if someone was going from south of the town to north of the town, they’d pass by the clinic, which sat roughly in the middle.

  It was a dangerous place for him to hang out. A very open place, and he hated staying there without backup, knowing that, at a moment’s notice, Father or Alice could sweep in and bundle him off to a cold, dark dungeon to be tortured and eventually executed.

  A thousand thoughts crossed through Marion’s mind as he sat in his car for another half hour. Obviously, Emily had stood him up. It wasn’t a surprise. If she was furious with him, why should she come out to meet him?

  Marion looked at his phone, hoping to see a message or something. There was nothing. Traffic in the clinic had remained the same. If anything, it had reduced. The air was relatively quiet, and there hadn’t
been any commotion since he’d been waiting there.

  It was the calm before the storm. Marion knew that by now Emily’s army would have been amassed. Or something like that. Maybe they were already marching on the house. Maybe they were marching on the clinic.

  Marion realized that he had nothing to bargain with. His blood meant nothing, really. Emily had already decided she was going to burn his family to a crisp. She wasn’t going to need the blood anymore. In fact, she could have easily misconstrued it as a way for Marion to save his family, which hadn’t been his original intent. But he could see how his actions could be understood as such.

  “Crap!” Marion slammed his hands on steering wheel. He was fresh out of options. He started his engine, determining to at least get out of the open before figuring out his next step. But then he heard the distinctive caw of an Owl.

  He jumped out of the car and glanced up. The sun blinded him, but not before he saw the shape of The Owl gliding between clouds. That’s when he sensed the buildup of magic in the parking lot.

  Panicked, he swirled around to see Michael appear out of a cloaking spell, forming a fireball in his hands.

  Marion could have reacted in time to save himself. However, he was surprised at Michael’s skill in cloaking himself. He was also mildly surprised that Emily had distracted him enough to have her brother sneak up on him.

  This was the last thought going through his mind before the fireball left Michael’s hands in a sharp burst. It caught Marion in his midsection, setting him on fire, while sending him into the air.

  The fire burned like it would if he’d been set on actual fire. Only it wasn’t going to char his flesh, strip him of his magic, or even kill him. Nonetheless, it hurt so greatly that Marion screamed even as he landed on the ground. Thankfully, he was instantly knocked out.

  22

  The next time Marion stirred, he was hanging from chains in a dark and very large place. He was bare-chested and sweat bled from his pores, coating his entire body. He could still feel intense pain as if his skin had been turned inside out and peppered. His breathing was shallow, and his head hurt like hell.