The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1)

by Alanna Faison

  Selene shakes her head at me in disappointment. “That is the most immature thing you’ve said to me in a long time and you’re very close to pissing me off. I’m not trying to boss you; I just want to be there,” Selene raises her voice, before lowering it at the end. Her beautiful features are framed with irritation and I can feel the magic rising within her. She was half ready to knock me on my ass.

  I don’t even know why I said that.

  Maybe it was because I felt that she herself was hiding something that I couldn’t yet place, nor ask about. Selene was looking for something and I think tonight she left me alone because she thought she’d found it. I’m not stupid. I obviously said some stupid things, but I have good instincts. I could probably wait for her to tell me what was going on. Besides, I probably don’t need any more surprises in my life right now. I should just apologize and finish this conversation.

  “That was childish of me. I know you trust me and I apologize. I never have liked to feel bossed around and thought maybe it was just because it was another girl that had saved me. I have to remember that I’m not dealing with humans anymore,” I respond to her, reaching out for her hand, hoping she’ll let me pull her close.

  She looks into my hazel eyes with her dark green ones, kisses my forehead, then my lips gently with her soft, full ones. I respond to her kiss with a teasing tongue caressing her lips before she slowly pulls away from me. It’s obvious that she’d like the kiss to go deeper, but there are other matters to attend to first.

  “I forgive you, but don’t ever think that’s the case. I trust you, just like you trust me. Now, if you’re really hell bent on stopping these lamia, I found out where they’ve been hunting the last two days,” Selene informs me.

  “Good, let’s do this tomorrow night then,” I say excitedly.

  “Wait, there’s also some bad news.”

  “And…”

  “There’s a nest of about twelve of them.”

  “Twelve? Is that a normal nest size? I’m going to assume that it’s not.”

  “Hell no it’s not normal on our plane. They have been hunting for an extremely long period of time without one of their group being killed or spotted, until now. Or so I was told.”

  “Then all the more reason to take them out. Let’s come up with a plan. I think our biggest disadvantage and mistake we made when we were with the Immortals was not learning to fight together enough. We need to be able to fill in for each other’s weaknesses and watch each other’s backs. I say we do that now. There’s no point in waiting.”

  “And what do you propose we do?”

  “Let’s start with sparring each other. No holding back either. That way we can gauge each other’s weaknesses,” I tell her.

  “Alright, if you insist. I don’t think you’ll be able to handle me,” Selene warns jokingly.

  “Well, bring it. I think you might want to tie that pretty hair of yours up. I wouldn’t want you to use that as an excuse if it gets in the way.”

  She laughs and pulls it back. Before we head to the basement to train, I grab Katsu and ask my sword nicely to not cut my girlfriend. She reacts with a wave of magic. When I feel her sleek white blade, I’m glad that it feels dull and unable to cut.

  “Thank you Katsu,” I say to my magical katana.

  “So, you’re not going to put on any clothes?” Selene asks me.

  “Naw, I’m hoping this will be a distraction technique.”

  “Fine.” Selene proceeds to strip down too. “Let’s see who gets distracted first.”

  ◊◊◊

  We stand about five feet away from each other, face to face, and I smile appreciatively at her fantastic body. “Maybe I should keep my sword sheathed until we’re sure we’re at the same level,” I suggest, changing my mind slightly. Even though Katsu won’t cut, it will still hurt like hell when I strike.

  “You said no holding back, you pussy,” Selene teases dangerously before blasting me with some kind of orb of energy.

  I shuffle to the side at the last second, but it still catches me and it burns my arm before flickering out. “Pussy huh? Such language, tsk tsk.” I respond, ignoring the tingling from the graze. “So you really don’t have to use incantations for your spells?”

  “Oh, I’m beyond that when it comes to many middle class and some high class spells. I’m a high priestess remember? There is deeper magic inside me and I’m not limited to what other witches may have to do. Now, I’ve got it figured out thanks to Kaede. So, are we going to talk or spar?”

  I unsheathe my sword and get into my fighting stance, but before Selene can adjust, I shift my foot and run straight at Selene, swinging my blade down with fury. Still, she doesn’t seem fazed by my speed or willingness to rush at her like this, she just stops Katsu, my katana, with her hand, which causes a jarring motion in my body.

  I don’t have time to be surprised. Selene uppercuts me hard in the chin and almost sends me to my knees. Okay, now I am acting like a pussy. She gives me a smirk and a raised eyebrow as if to ask me when am I going to stop holding back. Oh, she’s in for a shock.

  I drop down quickly and trip Selene before rolling on top of her to send a blow to her face, but she manages to throw me off in time. I roll away, grabbing Katsu off the ground, before slicing through the air, and then feinting a swing of the blade, before landing a leg strike into Selene’s midsection.

  Before I give her a chance to react with a spell, I toss her across the room and into the wall, putting some distance between us. Selene will expect me to try to actually attack at as close a range as possible, knowing what I know about witches, but since she clearly knows a spell that lent her some kind of strength, it’s more obvious to me that I’ll have to wear her out until her chakra level becomes low before I can attack close.

  Still, Selene isn’t the type to attack unnecessarily, so I have to figure something else out. I take a deep breath as I feel the strength given to me through my un-making course through me. My tattoo begins to hum through my body, then glow, and I feel Katsu become surer in my hands, more a part of me. Selene seems to breathe in the air as if she feels it too. We lock eyes and smile before both of us poise for attack. I almost miss it, her tell, the slightest twitch of her brow, before another blast of energy seeks me.

  All witches have a tell that gives them away, some are just better at masking theirs. This time, I’m too fast though, too prepared. I’m on her before she realizes it. Or, so I thought. A blinding light hits my eyes just before I get ready to make contact. I see nothing and for a split second before I regain my composure, I have to trust my other senses. A searing pain hits my back. I hiss and duck under the next assault that I hear before my eyes start to work again.

  I remember all that Lawrence taught me about the battle turning at any minute, to be prepared for anything. It helps me clear my head and I spin to the left, landing a fierce kick to Selene’s leg, even without my vision. I hear her grunt in pain and I can’t help the satisfied smirk that paints my face. I slide back and put some distance between us as my vision comes back into focus, with only tiny little lights dancing in front of my eyes. Selene stands up, dusts herself off, and wipes some loose hair from her face. Her bra is falling off her shoulders and her eyes are shining with magic, making her green eyes brighter, and more exotic looking.

  I lick my lips and motion Selene to make a move as I get back into my fighting stance. Katsu’s stretched out before me, my feet firmly rooted to the ground. Selene is much more skilled than I thought and even though we both agreed not to hold back, we both know that there was no way we’d attack each other the way we would a true enemy. I can feel her love for me through her magic as we come to blows. I know she can feel my heart as well. Still, we will have to do this dance much more seriously each time if we are to truly protect each other.

  She speaks something this time, something musical that I don’t understand, two fingers held to her mouth, her lips pressed against her pointer finger. The lights begin to fl
icker. I force myself not to move, to remain in my stance, until I feel that it’s time to strike. Suddenly, Selene is no longer in front of me. The air shifts, and I can feel her magic behind me. But when I turn and swing, all I slash is air.

  The lights flicker again, and I turn my head to the side trying to feel the surge of power I’ve come to recognize as Selene’s magic. It doesn’t take long before I feel it and even though I can’t see her, I trust my instincts as I let Katsu fly through the air. Selene gasps as she drops her glamour and stares at my sword sticking out of the basement wall a foot from her head.

  Then, there’s a tap on my back and I spin around to see Selene standing with her arms crossed. I spin back around to see what I thought was my witch disappearing from sight, no actually, becoming Selene’s shadow, creepily sliding across the floor to connect with her. “You lose,” she tells me smugly.

  “I see.” I had gotten cocky again. Damn, that would be my downfall.

  “It’s called a shadow puppet. The spell is a very difficult one and very draining, but as you can see, it’s very effective because it mimics the feel of the users magic as well as the person itself. It’s as if my shadow itself had become real. Mix that with a glamour to disappear and that is what I did.”

  I look at her up and down, the sweat on her brow, the slight shaking of her hand. Yes, very draining indeed. She almost looks pale. “Let’s get some food in your stomach and we can talk about each other’s assessments.”

  “Sounds good, but now you’re starting to sound like a teacher.”

  “Hmm, now there’s some role play we haven’t tried yet,” I respond.

  “Indeed.”

  Chapter Twenty

  After filling our stomachs and then taking nice, long, hot showers, we discuss each other’s opinions on our skills and how to best work together. We both come to the conclusion that I get overconfident when I feel that I’m winning and end up letting my guard down. Even though I’m excellent at evaluating situations during battle, I need to learn to maintain that focus, keep my training at the front of my mind. I also need to train with not only Katsu, but other weapons as well, just in case. I told Selene what I felt with Katsu and how she was supposed to get stronger as I did. So, it would benefit us all for me to keep her by my side.

  Selene on the other hand needs to first work on her tell which let me know when she was ready to attack with her magic, then, she needs to learn more martial arts skills so that she won’t have to rely solely on spells that will dry her chakra up too quick. Although, when training with the Immortals, Kaede was able to assist Selene in increasing her levels much more than before. In fighting, Selene isn’t adequate at paying attention to how much magic she is using at the same time as hand to hand combat. Because of this, she could potentially misread situations and use a more powerful spell when there was no need and actually put her in danger if she had no power left.

  For now, our strategy is simple: Selene will attack first as a distraction while I get a feel for the situation, then we’d go from there. If there’s a group of them, I’d engage the strongest one while Selene played clean-up with the others until she could help me from a distance. We’d tweak it as needed. When it came time to take out Namen Young, we’d have to have a plan a,b,c,d,e… well, you get the point. We need much more intel on him. I wanted to kill these damn lamia quickly and focus on Namen. I want him dead like yesterday. But for now, the best thing to do is rest.

  ◊◊◊

  I wake up to Selene doing stretches, her long legs spread out in front of her, her back towards me. “Good morning,” she says without turning around.

  “Hey, how long have you been up?”

  “Maybe thirty minutes. Do you want to grab something to eat? We could go out before we get down to business.”

  “Sure, let’s go downtown for a bit.”

  As usual, downtown is full of people in a hurry to get places in expensive business suits and briefcases, chatting away on their phones, cars honking bumper to bumper, and people fighting for parking spaces close to their destination. The air is filled with delicious scents of fresh food like bagels, bacon, eggs, fruits, and coffee. I absorb the sights, sounds, smells and smile at the people who really have no clue about the real world who only have to worry about their next business meeting or their son’s next ball game.

  Our city loves its football and I see many people sporting our team’s jerseys. My dad had season tickets and he made sure that at an early age I understood and loved the game. A frown threatens to form on my face, but then I force myself to be grateful for the memories that I do have, and I smile instead.

  We go to a small coffee shop called Pete’s and grab a seat near the window so that I can feel the sun on my face. I feel normal for about forty five minutes, talking and laughing with Selene, flirting, commenting on people’s outfits, but it doesn’t last. Sirens pierce through my false bubble of normalcy, police cars zoom down the streets, zig zagging through traffic, and I remember that I will only have these small pockets of peace until I finish my goal, and even then...

  This is why supernaturals sometimes used to term awakened to describe themselves. How can I go back to what I used to be when I’ve already seen so much?

  I have a different purpose now. I am needed to be a hero to my kind. Is it heroic of me to try to kill a man for his crimes against me and others? No, I don’t really think so, but I also know that true heroes are those among us who would do what other’s dared not. At the end of the day, I would not do this for the approval of others; instead I’d be doing this so that they can continue to live in their bubble of happy ignorance.

  “Can we shop for a few more things? I just want to feel normal for a little while longer,” I say to Selene. I can simulate blissful ignorance for a few more minutes.

  She looks at me and smiles, her gaze filled with love. “Yes, baby.”

  In the end, I managed to buy many unnecessary clothes and shoes that I wouldn’t get the chance of wearing for a while, but I didn’t care, it’s what people did, it’s what Jazzy would have wanted to do with me. It’s what she deserved to be doing, living, enjoying life. Damn, why is this so hard for me? I just still can’t accept their deaths, even if I try with all my might, I just can’t accept it. Maybe I need therapy.

  Chapter Twenty One

  Night falls and Selene and I go back to Obsession to talk to Jaxson. This time, I have Katsu firmly strapped to my back and I’ll be damned if she didn’t stay there. When we pull up, the music is low but vibrating against the windows and doors just like before, but this time there’s a line. I also don’t feel the pull of wrongness that I had felt when I first tried to enter. Maybe it wouldn’t affect me anymore since I had broken through once. We wait in line patiently with more than a few glares directed our way. I give them a couple winks and a finger in return. Probably not the smartest thing, but oh well. They leave us alone.

  Jaxson is working the door again dressed in a grey polo and black jeans. When he sees us, he says something over the radio in his back pocket and tells us to wait as another wolf, medium height with blond hair takes over for him with a smile. Apparently, he has no issues with me being human, or having a sword.

  “Follow me,” Jaxson tells us, as we weave through the crowd of people who are body to body, grinding to the slow r&b music. I don’t recognize the song and I’m slightly irritated about having to catch up on all my favorite artists songs that I missed. We head upstairs as the music switches tempo and then becomes quieter when we walk through one set of steel doors, then Jaxson unlocks another until it’s all but a hum.

  Jaxson pulls out a couple chairs for us in a small, but comfortable office with no pictures on the desk or wall. Only a laptop and paperwork sit on the table. Selene and I take our seats, me crossing my legs, letting my heels catch his eye. Hey, I want some compliments, at least notice of my excellent taste.

  “So, Jaxson, what is it that you plan to do for us?” Selene asks straightforward.


  “As I said, I am Anubis’s second. I answer only to him, for he is where my loyalty lies. If he gave you Namen Young’s name, then he must see something in you that he’s willing to bet on. I love my Alpha and I will do what it takes to keep him safe, so it is not what I plan to do for you witch, but what I will do for him.”

  “Ah, my mistake,” Selene apologizes humorously. Clearly we are grasping straws, even if none of us say so, we all know it.

  Then, I understand. “When your Alpha gives an order, it is absolute is it not? So, Anubis must have told you not to help us unless he gives the word.”

  There is a cleverness in his dark eyes that I appreciate. “You could be on to something there, but as I said, I am not helping you, I am helping Anubis.”

  We all nod in understanding and I smile and look towards Selene. I let her take the lead on this. “Jaxson, if you want to help Anubis be rid of Namen, why has it taken so long? Surely, there are other resources at your disposal.”

  “True, but there has not been an opportunity before. There also doesn’t seem to be many here who either know what Namen is doing or who are willing to oppose the man. And for all he is, Anubis may have one major fault, he cares for his pack more than his own life.”

  “One would not find that a fault among wolves, especially not an Alpha.”

  Jaxson obviously doesn’t seem to be fearful of telling us something that could be seen as a weakness to Anubis’s enemies. Obviously Jaxson would protect his Alpha to the death, even from us.

  “Perhaps, but there is a difference when there is a threat and you’d die to protect your pack from the threat and allowing the threat to slowly destroy you rather than risk your pack. Either way, you’ll lose, but Anubis doesn’t seem to understand that he is losing much more doing this his way. He is still young yet, and doesn’t always see the bigger picture. He has over twenty wolves that are willing to die for him, yet he doesn’t make one move. The pack is starting to sense his fear and they will turn against him and look for a new leader and he will lose it all anyway. An Alpha that is frozen with fear is as good as dead.”