Breed of Innocence (The Breed Chronicles, #01)

by Jordan, Lanie

  “The majority of you do share similar backgrounds and are either from foster homes or group homes.” His gaze went to someone in the front row, but I couldn’t see who it was. “Over the years, some have even sought us out.”

  How? I wondered. From the sound of things, the CGE wasn’t exactly widely known as a demon hunting facility. So how had someone found them? I almost asked, and then decided against it since I didn’t think he’d answer. Instead, I went with, “So you chose us because we don’t have families.” I looked up. “You chose people with nothing to lose.”

  He tilted his head in a nod. “That is one way of looking at it, Miss Hall. Another would be to view it as us selecting people from less-than-ideal backgrounds; people we believe have the most to gain from what we offer.”

  The Davis kid shook his head. “We’re all teenagers.”

  “We have adult agents, though they are trained separately. That’s not what you meant though, is it?” he added. “Many foreign countries begin training for espionage at your age—or sometimes even younger. We…train for demon hunting.”

  A few kids laughed.

  Greene waited until the laughter died. “Make no mistake; we’re very selective in who we choose to bring here. We don’t pick random people off the streets, test their DNA, and then offer them a job. Each of you offers something else.”

  A girl to my left raised her arm. “Um, I have a question?”

  “Yes, Miss Marshall?”

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “What’s so interesting about our DNA? I mean, what does it have to do with hunting demons and why do you want to research it?”

  “That’s a good question. Those breakthroughs I mentioned earlier, particularly the one regarding Dana Summers? The research that saved her came from our study of not only demons, but also the study of the anomaly each of you has.” His eyes darkened. “How we study demons and how we use your DNA isn’t just simple research. We go further than that. It’s one of the reasons our hunters are some of the best in the world.”

  “What are you getting at?” the Davis kid asked carefully.

  I had a feeling I knew the answer, but I had to be wrong. He couldn’t mean what I thought he meant.

  Greene looked out to the crowd, kept his gaze steady and unwavering. “A select number of our agents have demon DNA.”

  CHAPTER 04

  There was a full minute of complete, utter silence, like everyone was replaying his words in their heads, and then it seemed like the crowd shared the same gasp.

  A girl from the middle row raised her arm. Greene pointed to her. She cleared her throat before she spoke. “Are you saying that demons evolved from us? Or that we evolved from them?”

  I barely contained a groan. If she was picked for her brains, I’m outta here.

  Greene didn’t grimace but it was close. He shook his head. “No. This is where the ‘genetic engineering’ part of our name comes into play. Some of our hunters have had their DNA altered with specific demon DNA.” He waited a beat. “Demons typically overpower us. They’re stronger, faster, bigger, and some have other abilities to their advantage. One thing we’ve learned is that sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. In this case, we fight demon with demon.”

  One of the girls eyed him warily, her eyebrows scrunched together in a frown. “Is that…legal?”

  For the first time during his speech, Greene laughed. “Yes, it is legal, Miss Young. The agents in question are consenting adults, and our genetic engineering programs are partially government funded.”

  A few people exchanged looks. “So the CGE is a government agency?”

  “Indirectly, yes. We receive some funding for certain projects, and sometimes we collaborate with law enforcement agencies, the FBI, or the Demon Coalition.”

  No one—including myself—seemed to know what to say to that. I wasn’t even sure what to think about it. The CGE worked for the government? There was a Demon Coalition? What the heck was a Demon Coa—

  “What’s the Demon Coalition?”

  “Think of it as policing for the demon hunting world. If it’s a federal issue, say a kidnapper who crosses state lines, then it becomes FBI jurisdiction. A threat of terror on American soil would be handled by Homeland Security. And if it’s a demon issue, it’s turned over to the Demon Coalition.”

  A few of the kids around me were whispering their theories or murmuring about the government.

  “So, we’re going to be part of this Demon Coalition? We’re going to be secret agents?”

  More than a few people found this idea appealing. Personally, it didn’t change things for me. I agreed to this, to hunt demons, to find my revenge. Being part of the government—or even some Demon Coalition thing—didn’t matter.

  “In essence, I suppose.”

  “Cool!”

  Greene inclined his head and the side of his mouth twitched. “I’m glad you approve. Now,” he said, raising his voice slightly. “I imagine some of you would actually like to hear details that relate to you right now.”

  The group nodded.

  “There will be some similarities between where you’ve been and here; there will also be a number of differences. The main similarity is simple. There will be rules. They won’t be that difficult or life shattering, but they’re there and they must be followed. Some areas will be stricter; others will be more lenient. We are, after all, still running a business, and if you’re here, essentially, you’ll be employees.”

  There were a few more groans. I made a face at the groaners and shook my head. Was I the only one who didn’t think or expect it to be all fun and games? Of course there were going to be rules. There always were.

  When the majority of the group calmed down, Greene continued. “For those who decide to stay, there will be a five-month probationary period. This time is used to weed out those who discover they don’t wish to be here and those who simply don’t belong. To be perfectly honest, not everyone will make it. The probationary period is our…interviewing stage. Should you make it past that, in October you’ll enter what we call Phase One, or what our Prospects deem P1.”

  “Phase One?” someone muttered.

  Greene nodded. “High schools have four grade levels. We have four phases. Phase One through Four.”

  The guy in front of me raised his hand and waved it frantically. He came within inches of smashing my nose in and I had to weave out of the way twice. When Greene signaled to him, he said, “What exactly will we be doing the first five months?”

  “A few things. First and foremost, you’ll be studying for your GED. Beyond that, you’ll learn about the CGE and our work, and interact with the other recruits. We want to make sure you can handle what you’ll be training for, and we want to make sure you’ll fit in. This gives us a chance to evaluate each of you. And if some of you like, you can study up and prepare for Phase One.”

  “That’s it?” The boy’s shoulders sagged. “Basically we’re doing nothing?”

  “Let me make something perfectly clear. This isn’t a vacation home. If you stay, you’ll live as well as work here. To work here, there are things you need to know. If you don’t learn them, or have no interest in learning them, then this isn’t the place for you. The existence of demons isn’t new to those we recruit, but the CGE is. We can’t and will not risk our organization on people are who are not properly trained to handle it. More than that, you need time to fully grasp what you’ll be gaining by staying here and what you’ll be giving up.”

  “What will we be giving up?”

  “Social lives outside the CGE, Mr. Jacobs,” he said, speaking to the same boy. “We won’t keep you from speaking to your acquaintances, but your lines of communication will be monitored for a certain period of time, to make sure information isn’t leaked. This is standard procedure with all of our recruits, even the adults. What we do here is classified and must be kept from the general population.”

  “So our phones will be tapped? Is that what you’re saying?�
�

  “Yes. It’s done out of protection for what we do, not out of distrust for you. This isn’t something we’re hiding from you and we could have.”

  All around me, people started to frown. The idea wasn’t exactly great, but I could see how it was necessary. Personally, it didn’t bother me. The only people I knew were Fishface and her Tadpoles, and Greene couldn’t pay me to talk to them again willingly. Well, I imagined he could pay me to talk to them, but I’d hate it.

  When no one said anything, Greene went on. “There are monthly trips into the city for outside activities and shopping, but for the most part, your time will be spent here, in the North Tower.” He pointed to the building.

  “What’s in the other building?”

  “The other building is the South Tower. That’s where our research is conducted, Mr. Anderson. It’s strictly off-limits to all Prospects. The only people allowed in there are our scientists, doctors, and some of our senior staff. No one else.”

  I noticed the Anderson kid and another guy share grins. I didn’t need to be psychic to know what they were thinking. They wanted to get into the South Tower. Not me. If that’s where the doctors were, then that was one place I would avoid.

  “Okay, so what happens after the probationary period?” the Harris guy asked. “What do we do in Phase One?”

  Greene walked to the front of the podium again. “I’m about to make many of you unhappy with this answer, but you’ll be studying demons the majority of the time.” A few people beside me rolled their eyes. Greene noticed. “Make no mistake,” he said, cutting off the next round of hand raisers, “this isn’t going to be as fun as some of you undoubtedly hoped it would be. There are rules to adhere to, regimens you will be expected to follow. And studying. Lots of studying.”

  “This sucks,” someone muttered. “I thought we were going to kick some demon butt!”

  Greene’s gaze landed on who’d spoken. “Do you know how many types of demons there are? Do you know how to kill them? Do you honestly believe you’re strong enough to do so?”

  “Uh—well—no. Maybe.”

  “You would get yourself killed in minutes. Hunting demons isn’t easy. There are dozens of species, and what kills one would likely tickle another. It takes time to learn the differences. It takes time to learn about the weapons used. And it takes even more time to become proficient enough to fight one by yourself. One of our new Prospects was witness to a fight today. Miss Hall?”

  I’d been paying attention to his words, but even so, my head snapped up at the sound of my name. I swallowed back a lump and cleared my throat. “Yeah?”

  “How would you say Peter performed earlier?”

  I thought about it for a minute. “He was pretty good. But…” I trailed off, unsure if I should continue.

  “But what? Go on.”

  “The demon—whatever it was—almost escaped. Even after Peter shot it with three tranqs, it almost tore a hole through the side of the van. And it managed to bust the back door open. If he—Peter, I mean—hadn’t shot it twice more, it probably would have escaped.”

  “Thank you, Miss Hall. That was my point. An experienced field agent had trouble. One of our best. He shot the demon, as Miss Hall described, and not with one or two tranquilizers, but with five. Any one of those shots would have been enough to take down a dozen men. The first one should have been sufficient to take down this demon.” He sighed. “None of you are ready for that. Not yet. But in five months, you’ll be one step closer.”

  “What kind of demon was it?” a guy shouted.

  “Was it ugly?” someone else asked.

  I shuddered at the memory. I had no idea what it was, but it’d definitely been ugly.

  “It was a Coralux demon, or what our agents refer to as a Sharphynx, as it looks like a mixture between a Shar Pei dog and a Sphynx cat. It’s also a recently discovered hybrid.”

  “A hybrid? A mix of two demon species?”

  “Yes,” Greene said, nodding to the question asker, a girl with blonde hair. “A Coralux demon is a hybrid that we believe was crossbred from an Osolux demon and a Coradad. When we first learned of the problem in that area, we originally assumed an Osolux demon was responsible. Obviously, we were wrong. This raises another good point. Hybrids are becoming more and more common, though we aren’t sure why. A lot of the time, they’ll possess certain traits of one of the demons they were crossbred with. It makes it difficult to determine which species we’re dealing with, and which weapons would be most effective.”

  A girl in front, with long black hair, raised her arm. Greene called on her. “That’s what we’ll be studying? Hybrids?”

  “Yes, the different demon species and the hybrids.”

  “Is that all we’re doing? Studying demons and nothing else?”

  “Not quite.” Greene’s gaze went to someone in the front row. “Mr. Stone?”

  A tall guy stood up and walked to Greene. Saying nothing, he turned and faced the crowd. It was the same guy I’d seen Greene talking to earlier—the one with the mostly shaved head.

  “And I think…” Greene smiled and his gaze landed on me. I groaned internally, even before he called me name. “Miss Hall. Care to help in a little demonstration?”

  I didn’t like being the center of attention and that’s exactly what he’d made me. Again. All eyes went to me and I could all but read their thoughts from their expressions. They were probably thinking the same thing I was: Why me?

  No! No, no, no! “Sure.” He motioned me forward, so I stood and started down the bleachers, praying I didn’t fall flat on my face in front of everyone. When I reached the track, I stood on the other side of Greene, looked up. I was almost afraid to ask, but… “What did you have in mind?”

  “A simple sparring match, perhaps? To show the differences in technique. Your street style, Jade, versus Lincoln, who has had a bit of formal training since joining us.”

  “Why do I get the feeling I’m being set up to fail?” I muttered under my breath, earning anxious laughs from the people behind me and a smile from Greene.

  Lincoln grinned ear-to-ear. “I’ll take it easy on you, don’t worry,” he said with a quick wink. He picked up boxing gloves and handed me a pair.

  I’d never worn any before and fumbled putting them on. Lincoln cracked his knuckles and had his pair on in half the time it took me. Yup. Definitely set up for a fall. Big time. But it didn’t mean I couldn’t—or wouldn’t—give as good as I got.

  It wasn’t like he was the first guy I’d ever been in a fight with. But he’d had real training, probably things like karate or whatever. No one had taught me anything; I’d learned through life experience, and a lot of those had been bad ones. My choices had been limited: learn to defend myself or get the crap kicked out of me.

  I’d learned to fight.

  I wasn’t the best at it, but I hadn’t lost a fight in over a year. At least, not a fair one-on-one fight.

  And this one didn’t seem like it would be fair.

  Bending my knees slightly, I angled my left foot in front of me and brought my fists up to guard my face. “Ready when you are,” I said, though it was mostly a lie.

  Bouncing lightly on his feet, Lincoln began to circle me. He tested me by punching out with his right hand. I blocked easily with my left, waited half a beat, and then returned the hit. He repeated the same move twice more, tapping me with barely enough force to scare a fly away. Finally, I let my hands drop. I twisted to face Greene. “Okay, what’s the deal here? He’s wasting my time.” I turned back. “What’s the point in this? Are we supposed to spar or dance—”

  The last word came out a squeak as he sent his fist flying into my stomach. I barely had time to blink before he hit me again, this time in my shoulder. I stumbled back, but before I could catch my balance, he tripped me and I hit the ground hard, landing on my back My hand went to my stomach as air rushed from my lungs again. That’ll learn me.

  After I was still for nearly a minute, Li
ncoln stepped forward. He removed a glove and held his hand out.

  I would have accepted it gracefully, but the concerned look pissed me off. “Thanks,” I said, hesitating half a second before reaching up. When he wrapped his arm around mine and started to pull, I brought my legs up and yanked back. As he fell forward, I planted my feet on his chest, and then I pushed up, sending him flying over me. I was back on my feet before he hit the ground.

  Whoops and cheers rang out behind me.

  Lincoln jumped up. His jaw was taut, his eyes narrowed. I smiled.

  Can’t leave well enough alone, can ya, Jade? Everyone told me pride would get the best of me.

  He picked up the fallen glove, shoved it back on, and without warning, came at me. I ducked out of instinct, and then winced when his hand plowed into my stomach again. He may have put the gloves back on in the literal sense, but he’d taken them off figuratively.

  His leg swung out as he tried to kick my feet out from under me again. I jumped over them, rolled, but got up too slow to avoid another hit. This time when the air rushed from my lungs, it wasn’t exaggerated. Getting to my feet, I feinted with my left hand, struck out with the right, and delivered the same blow he’d just dealt me. Unlike me, he recovered quicker and then ran at me like a charging bull. My eyes went wide and I went down hard again. Before I could think to move, let alone breathe, he was on top of me and had my arms pinned above my head by holding my wrists down.

  I glared. He winked.

  My heart did a one-eighty. Its slow and steady rate picked up speed and my breathing followed suit. But I didn’t know what had caused it: the fight or Lincoln himself.

  His steel-blue eyes were fixed with mine and I could almost make out my own reflection. It was the first real close-up view I’d had of him, at least now that I had little choice but pay attention. His eyes were kind of…mesmerizing.

  I shook my head, glaring again as I tried to ignore the warmth spreading from my wrists down my arms. There was an annoying buzzing in my ears.

  Reality came crashing back in surround sound. Clapping and laughter drowned out everything else.