by Jessica Gunn
“Which is why the Ether Head Circle so willingly let White Flame into our Headquarters,” I mumbled under my breath. “Naturally.”
Jaffrin nodded. “It’s a tenuous relationship at best. And Shawn and Krystin’s role regarding Alzan does not help matters. We were never sure when the Son and Daughter of Alzan would show up, just that they eventually would. The prophecy isn’t exactly specific in that regard.”
“And now Krystin’s in there about to die because of what Giyano did,” I said.
“No, again guys, I’m saying I think he saved her,” Nate said. “Regardless of this other crap. His magik inside of her balanced her out and stopped the cianza tremors from getting worse.”
“Until Kinder showed up,” Rachel said.
Nate nodded. “Yes.”
Shawn turned from the window and settled his gaze on Nate. “Giyano didn’t dive for me. I’m a witch. And part of that prophecy. But he gave magik to Krystin.”
“Which shouldn’t even be possible,” Jaffrin added.
No. It shouldn’t be. “He’s had an obsession with Krystin since she joined the team. That’s why it looked like he was saving her.”
“He was,” Nate said. “Kinder’s magik affects the cianza because even though the Power allows her to take abilities into herself, we don’t know that the magik actually leaves. Shawn, your magik is half-good and half-evil, essentially, no matter how you look at it.”
“Ember witch,” Shawn said. “That’s what I was thinking. Being a witch puts me on the Powers’ side, but the origin of my magik…”
“Evil,” Nate said. “Krystin’s a triple threat—a Hunter, a witch, and the Daughter of Alzan. If Giyano hadn’t been working his demonic magik into her, she’d have overwhelmed the cianza. He was trying to balance the nature of Krystin’s power. To neutralize it as best he could.”
“Except Krystin’s more powerful than Giyano,” Rachel said. “Supposedly, anyway.”
Shawn shook his head. “Not yet.”
I looked to Jaffrin, who stood with his arms crossed. What did he make of all of this? “Was this Giyano’s plan all along? To risk throwing elemental magik into her system, knowing it’d almost kill her, to… make her magik part-demon?”
He lifted his arms the slightest bit, as if he didn’t see the logic in it either. “I don’t know, Ben. That’s what it looks like.”
My fists clenched tight and my short fingernails dug into my palms. If Nate was right, if this had gone on for a lot longer than tonight, if she’d hidden this from us—from me—I didn’t know what I’d do. But everything Nate had guessed, everything Jaffrin agreed with, told me it was the truth.
“Krystin didn’t look too surprised to see Giyano there,” I said. “Or that he’d done what he did.”
Shawn shook his head. “No. She knew exactly what he was doing. She told her mother everything. Her mother confirmed the dark magik within her, by the way.”
“She got that mark on her hand weeks ago,” Nate said. “Right after Giyano attacked you guys outside the Guild. Remember?”
I nodded, rubbing my own hand in the spot she still wore his mark. We’d thought it was a tracking spell. How wrong we’d been. “So what now? We wait for Giyano’s magik to kill her?”
“I don’t think it will,” Jaffrin said as he rubbed his chin. “I think Nate’s right. If that’s the case, we’ll try to do what we can with the ether-shapers until she comes to. Until then, I’ve other matters to deal with.”
Like Kinder and whatever agreement the Ether Head Circle and White Flame had agreed to.
“Let me know when she wakes up,” Jaffrin said before leaving us on quick feet.
As soon as he was gone, my ability to hold myself together snapped. I seethed, heat lapping at my neck and cheeks. This had gone on for weeks before anyone had known. Anyone other than Nate, who’d done nothing.
I spun on him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Nate didn’t budge. “Like I said, you were preoccupied. And I thought it’d only happened once.”
Once. If only. But even that would have been too often. My fists clenched again. I shoved them into my pockets before I swung at anything. “You said she must have gone to him willingly if she was able to withstand his magik this time, right?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “That’s the only explanation, given the ferocity Giyano showed about the whole cianza thing.”
Krystin had willingly gone to Giyano. To have her magik turned, or for another reason? It almost didn’t matter. Giyano had stolen my son, orders or not. Giyano had been responsible for so much of my pain, and the pain of every member on my team. Including Krystin herself.
And still she’d sought him out.
The betrayal stung, and in a span of five minutes I’d gone from worrying about Krystin, from having feelings for her, to utter disgust. But I planted myself in the closest chair and stood watch while the healers worked anyway. Because I was this team’s leader. And I’d lead her until she woke up and explained herself.
Then, whatever was between us, it’d end. For good.
The day passed in slow monotony. The ether-shaper healers did what they could. Nate had even jumped in at one point. But in the end, Krystin’s fate was her own. She’d wake up if she wanted to wake up. If she didn’t, she’d take this whole plane of existence with her in death.
Dammit, Krystin. Don’t be that stupid. Or selfish.
I rested my elbows on the top of the chair beneath me. I sat in it backward, staring at the cot where Krystin still lay. Her condition hadn’t changed, which was both good and bad. Nate and Rachel had wanted to stay with me—Shawn too—but I’d sent them all down to the training center to blow off steam and help train whatever new Hunters were down there. They, like me, needed something to do while we waited for Krystin and the answers I hoped she’d give. But unlike me, they weren’t forced to sit here and do the waiting.
No, that was reserved for me alone.
I leaned backward and stretched, my back popping in thanks. That was when I noticed Krystin’s hand move beneath her. She sat up slowly, her eyes closed until she held her head with one hand. She groaned.
My stomach flip-flopped, but I held my ground. I wasn’t standing from this chair and I wasn’t going to rush to the quarantine chamber door and check on her either. Not until I knew for sure the extent of damage Giyano had done, or whose side she was really on.
Maybe Krystin was a Darkness plant in the Fire Circle. Maybe she really was the Daughter of Alzan, but she was out to use the power for Darkness. But if Giyano really hated Lady Azar as much as he seemed to, I didn’t see why Krystin would band with him to play ball for Lady Azar’s father.
Krystin’s gaze flitted from her legs to the cot she sat on, then to the wall of glass separating us. “What happened?”
I swallowed hard. Please tell me she remembers. “I think you know.”
Krystin looked down at her hands and her eyes went wide. The black, inky veins on her left arm ran all the way up to her collarbone. “Giyano. Oh, my god. The cianza. Ben—”
I straightened my back but didn’t otherwise move. As long as the speakers worked so we could hear each other, there was no reason for me to leave this chair. “It’s fine. He chased Kinder off and the tremors stopped.”
“But Shawn and I, the Alzanian power…”
I shrugged. “Turns out that’s not really a thing when Giyano steps in to balance your magik out.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
Pointing to her veins, I said, “His magik, Krystin. We know. Nate told us he’s trying to poison you with his magik because the Son and Daughter of Alzan can withstand some of both magik types, but not a ton of it. Nate thinks that in poisoning you, Giyano kept your prophesized power from tipping the cianza completely. So in a way, I guess you have Giyano to thank for the cianza not blowing.”
And the fact that Shawn had gotten the both of them out of there when he had. And that Kinder had run. Dammit. We did
owe a lot of things to that bastard.
My stomach roiled at the thought. I’d never owe that demon anything.
Krystin’s eyes met mine again, but not for long before she looked away. “Ben, I can explain.”
I chuckled darkly. “I hope so because I was only waiting until you tried to explain yourself—to humor you, mostly—before telling Jaffrin I want you off this team.”
Krystin jumped as though the words had been a physical blow. Good. I hoped she enjoyed that whiplash as much as I’d enjoyed mine earlier. “Excuse me?”
“Nate says you must have been going to see him for a while if you’d withstood the amount of elemental magik inside you today. Which means you have this plan with him to neutralize your magik. I’m not sure why you want to do that, but—”
Krystin hopped off the cot on shaky feet and rushed to the glass separating us. “What the hell are you even talking about?”
I rose from my chair and stalked over to her. “Giyano, that’s what.”
Her face scrunched up and she banged a fist on the glass. It didn’t so much as buckle, having been fortified with magik. “If what you said is true, if his magik really is balancing mine out, then he saved my life tonight. And yours. All of Boston. And honestly, that hypothesis of Nate’s makes a ton of sense. I haven’t been able to figure out what he meant.”
Rage flared inside me as my entire body went rigid. I wanted to punch something. Needed to. But my rage froze me in place. “So you admit to seeking Giyano out on your own, knowing full well what and who he is? What he could do to you?”
Her blue eyes flashed with her own anger. “Giyano’s the only person I could think of that might know what Kinder’s ultimate agenda is and what exactly the Power means. Because she still has it and Riley is going to—”
This time, I did punch the glass. My knuckles cracked and blood seeped out around the edges. “Don’t you dare mention Riley in the same sentence as Giyano ever again.”
She slapped her palms on the glass and turned to pace away. Her shoulders rose and fell as she inhaled a deep breath, then she circled back to me. “You realize he saved Riley, right? Back in Shadow Crest’s lair? Attacking Lady Azar was stupid as hell, Ben. Even if that wasn’t the plan because we thought they’d be gone, before you go throwing that in my face. We shouldn’t have done it and we sure as hell shouldn’t have survived. It was lucky enough that Nate both knew asanak and was able to use it. That ether-shaper spell saved our asses. But there wouldn’t have been anything left to save if Giyano hadn’t attacked Lady Azar first.”
I left my fist against the glass, the barrier slightly dented but otherwise no worse for wear. The glass hadn’t even shattered or splintered. Blood trickled down from my pulsing, aching knuckles and fingers, dripping onto the floor below in an almost rhythmic stream. “Riley wouldn’t have needed us to go there if Giyano hadn’t stolen him. We wouldn’t have needed him to save”—I spat the word—“us if he hadn’t followed Lady Azar’s command two and a half years ago.”
Krystin’s expression faltered, softening into an emotion I couldn’t identify past the rage coursing through my veins. Which, unlike hers, looked perfectly normal.
“It’s not like he had a choice.” Her voice was so low, I almost didn’t catch it. The quarantine chamber wasn’t exactly soundproof, though it was close. A microphone and speakers were placed on each side of the wall, with the ability to turn off audio on my side. “Until that night in the cave, Giyano had no choice but to follow Lady Azar’s every order. He’s been a slave to her for almost his entire demonic existence.”
“A slave. Him? Doubtful anyone that powerful can be manipulated.”
“Everyone can… for the right price,” she said, her eyes daring to meet mine. “To save someone you love, any cost is worth it.”
Giyano loved someone? I laughed. How in the hell was that even possible? Monsters didn’t love—they destroyed. Like Giyano had done to my family. Like what he’d done to Krystin’s father and Nate’s parents and god-only-knew how many other victims in his hundreds of years as a demon.
“Ben,” Krystin said, drawing my attention back to her for the briefest of moments.
I tried to ignore the beauty of her blue eyes, the flush on her cheeks, as she tried to get me to see reason where I knew there was none. When Krystin believed in something, when she stood up for it, she was intimidating as hell—and just as beautiful. But what she’d done… I couldn’t move past it. Not now and probably not ever.
“Giyano’s lover had the Power,” she said softly. “Giyano knew what Riley was capable of when he kidnapped him. And he knew what Lady Azar was going to do with Riley after she’d stored up enough magik inside him. He knew, Ben. He just needed help getting free. And to save Riley.”
I dropped my gaze, mouth hanging slightly open. Too many words warred to get past my lips, but none came. Even if that were true, even if I could for one single second forget that wrenching, twisting feeling of my heart being gutted from my chest when I’d seen that empty stroller on the day Giyano had kidnapped Riley, I’d never forget the body in the alleyway. Without her tongue. Or the man in our house without eyes. Or the sound of Riley crying when Giyano had attacked us in the park. Or the sound of Sandra’s wails when I’d told her I’d lost our newborn baby boy. The words she’d use to kick me out of the house—and out of her life—for good.
I’d never forget. And therefore, I’d never forgive.
I moved my fist from the glass wall and backed up a few steps. Two last drops of blood fell from my fingertips. Krystin’s eyes watched my hand, but she said nothing.
“I don’t care.” I paused, letting that sink in for me, the revelation quickly becoming one of the most glorious things I’d ever said. “I don’t care why he did what he did. Or if Giyano told you the truth. If Riley posed so much danger to Alzan and to the cianza there, if Giyano knew what magik Riley had, he never should have kidnapped him in the first place. Similarities to his lover or not.”
“Ben—”
I held up my uninjured hand. “I may not be able to kick you off the team. And I realize how stupid that decision would be at this point anyway. But us, you and me? It’s done. Whatever it was, it’s over now.”
Her eyes wrinkled. “Are you serious?” she asked, flabbergasted. “Over this, the fate of someone who saved Riley?”
“Enough!” I shouted. “I can’t stomach looking at you knowing you gave your magik over to that monster. However you want to hunt demons, that’s your style. Go for it, as long as it doesn’t affect the Fire Circle. But that’s not me. And I’d never, ever side with any demon that had had a hand in your father’s death, no matter how much information they had, or whether that information was about Riley.” I shook my head. “I’ll tell Jaffrin you’re awake. Goodbye, Krystin.”
“Hey, Ben!” she shouted through the glass as I flicked the audio switch to turn off her mic.
But when I turned to leave the room, two dozen armed Hunters and people in business suits rushed by, their footsteps echoing into the quarantine chamber and back out again. My brow furrowed and I rushed to the doorway as another dozen or so people ran by, all headed to the stairs.
One of them paused long enough to say, “Grand hall.” But he was gone before I could ask what was going on.
I looked back at Krystin, who wore a pissed-off expression accompanied by crossed arms and a cocked eyebrow.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to her and left the room, chasing after the other Hunters.
Chapter 18
Krystin
Several long minutes passed as I pressed my face against the glass. The chamber didn’t necessarily bind your powers, but some sort of magik was at play that was blocking mine. No telekinetically breaking the glass. No teleportante would get me past the magik. I had no other option but to wait until Ben came back, or someone else showed up who could let me out.
And oh, my god was it torture.
I’d never seen that many Hunters in
Headquarters before unless a big meeting was happening, never mind that many in one corridor. Something had happened, something big. But because the earth hadn’t shook again, I had to assume it wasn’t related to the cianza.
Frustration welled up inside me. I spun, grabbed the cot I’d slept on by the front legs, and hoisted the lightweight metal frame at the glass, hoping to break it open.
The cot’s legs bent against the glass, which didn’t give even a single centimeter.
“Dammit!” I roared as I backpedaled and slid down the quarantine chamber’s wall, my hands running through my hair.
I caught sight of Giyano’s mark on my hand. Disgust flowed through me, much like his magik now did. Too bad I couldn’t remove my hand the way this room had gotten rid of my magik. I wanted to forget what Giyano had done, even if it’d saved us. I wanted to forget and move on so far from here that the Fire Circle was just a blip on my radar.
Out of the Circle. Out of New England. That was my goal.
But first, I had to get out of this room.
I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs. Maybe Ben was right. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to Giyano for answers. But at the time, he had been the only person I could think of who might know Kinder’s weakness—besides Aloysius. And if Ben’s reaction to me seeing Giyano had been that volatile, I couldn’t even imagine what he would do if I’d requested an audience with Darkness’s Emperor.
Right or wrong, I’d done what I’d thought needed to be done. Just like I’d done for years before being placed on a team. And maybe that was the real lesson here: Krystin Blackwood didn’t belong on a team. I didn’t belong anywhere.
“Hey, Krystin,” someone said.
I looked up. Ben.
He stood in the room, juggling keys in his hands. When he found the one he was looking for, he stepped toward the chamber on quick feet and unlocked the door. It slid it open.
“Something big is up,” he said, all trace of the anger from before erased from existence. “Jaffrin wants everyone to be there. But if you do something again, Krystin, I’ll stop you.”
