Poison in the Well

by Jessica Gunn

  Kian was waiting for me at the entrance to the stairwell that led down into the great hall beneath Headquarters. “Time for the briefing. They’re probably going to announce what happened to Jeremiah.”

  I nodded, still on the verge of tears from before, but I swallowed them down. There still wasn’t time for crying or any sort of negativity. “Let’s go then.”

  I was surprised to find a good portion of the Fire Circle in attendance when we entered the hall. The room itself had been built to contain the entirety of the Fire Circle, and now I had a feeling that if they invited every Hunter, witch, and freelancer with Fire Circle association, we’d end up filling every available space. I hadn’t seen the hall nearly this full since the ceremony where Ben, Avery, and Cassie had been named candidates to be the next Fire Circle Leader.

  The same ceremony that had seen Dacher become Leader himself. And now he was in a bed in the Infirmary, close to death and not waking up.

  That ceremony had been less than a year ago.

  Kian and I climbed down the stairs, hoping to get closer to the dais, and ended up standing against the left wall of the room only twenty feet from the podium, behind which Ben was talking with one of Dacher’s Command members, Johanna. She’d been one of the most vocal about us not going to Landshaft to attempt negotiating with Jerrick. Her expression, vindicated and patronizing, screamed, I told you so.

  Will sat across the room, too far to move over here now, but he waved as Kian and I took our spots on the wall. I waved back, relieved to find him well enough to come down here for this.

  As soon as Hunters stopped filing in through the doors, Johanna turned and banged her fist on the podium to get the room’s attention. Ben took a seat in the front row beside the other Command members, Avery and Cassie. Krystin and the rest of Ben’s team sat one row behind. Krystin laid a hand on his shoulder as he sat, his expression strained.

  It wasn’t Ben’s fault—neither Jeremiah’s death nor the failed negotiations with Jerrick. Jerrick had asked for something we couldn’t give and wanted us to just forget about the consequences of force-changing Ember witches into powerful demonic tools for war. If we didn’t draw that line in the sand, who would? And at what cost?

  “I don’t know where to begin,” Johanna said as she addressed the two hundred Hunters in attendance. “Initially, we were here to discuss news brought to us by the Rebel Darkness Faction, and we will still do so.” Johanna nodded an assurance to Rose, who sat in the front row too. She’d been the liaison between the faction and the Fire Circle for months now. Rose nodded deeply in return.

  “But first,” Johanna continued, “I have unfortunate, truly awful news to share with you all. In an attempt to reach an agreement with Jerrick, and by extension Talon and Landshaft, Jeremiah, our interim Leader, was killed.”

  Gasps of shock rang throughout the room. Ben sunk his head into his hands, his hands balling into fists along the sides of his head. I pulled in a deep breath and looked to Kian. His eyes were tight, upset and worried-looking, but he looked straight on at Johanna.

  “It is an act of war,” Johanna said. “Make no mistake about that. The Fire Circle, and Jeremiah’s wife, will have retribution. But it may be some time before that happens. In the meantime, while Dacher is still incapacitated, procedure dictates the chain of command falls to me. You may direct any concerns, questions, or comments to me while we await Dacher’s full recovery.”

  Great. The one person who’d hated our plan would be in charge while Jerrick and Mason might make a very real move against the Neuians. And given how the Command had felt about bringing Karen in to heal Will and potentially the other Fire Circle Hunters and witches…

  Shit.

  “Additionally,” Johanna said without much of a break, probably to keep people from asking too many questions, “Rose of the Rebel Darkness Faction has brought with us the news that outside of Landshaft, the general populace of Darkness does indeed, as we suspected, not want to go along with Talon’s plan. There isn’t necessarily open rebellion occurring on a widespread scale, but the dissenters are becoming vocal.”

  We’d seen that in Landshaft. The pitying glances, the frustration on the demons’ faces at holding us. If what Johanna was saying was true, it was only a matter of time before Darkness might actually be facing a civil war.

  One which Talon would win, for both Landshaft and Darkness’s court.

  Assuming, of course, Jerrick wasn’t going for the crown. Which he was.

  In this division, Jerrick would take all if we didn’t stop him. Or if Aloysius didn’t. And I didn’t really want to have to put that much faith in an evil demonic emperor to save the day.

  Johanna stepped out from behind the podium and addressed the crowd in attendance once more. “It is obvious that powers within Darkness’s collective are making a power play. If Talon gets what it wants, a war with the Neuians will come with it. So despite the Command’s wishes to not anger the Neuians and to not create a truce with Talon, we have decided to act.”

  The room fell silent, as if we were all waiting for something.

  “How?” Ben asked as the silence stretched on.

  “We need a plan,” Johanna said. “Probably a drastic one, I fear. One that weakens Talon.”

  “Take down Landshaft,” Veres shouted from where she stood at the back of the hall. “Which is exactly what I was going to try to do when Ben pulled us out of there.”

  Johanna nodded. “Leveling Landshaft would have indeed damaged Darkness as a whole. But that would be a true act of war, the same way Darkness actually destroying a Headquarters building would be. And as I’m sure you’re aware, there is concern about what a full-out war would look like between Darkness and the Hunter Circles at this point in time.”

  “Public,” Avery said. “Extremely public. We’d be revealing the war to every innocent on the planet.”

  “Maybe it’s time they knew!” a Hunter called from the rows of benches.

  Johanna shook her head. “We can’t allow this.”

  “Besides,” Ben said, finally glancing up at Johanna. “We need a plan that doesn’t involve risking innocent lives—human or demon.”

  More gasps sounded throughout the space. Johanna pressed her lips together.

  Ben stood and turned around to face the crowd. “Some demons are just trying to live their lives. They don’t deserve to be killed for what they are.”

  A Hunter in the fourth row stood up. “That’s easy for you to say, Hallen. Not all of us have a demon kid or demonic allies.”

  Ben slammed his mouth shut for a moment, then said, “It’s about perspective, which some of us dearly need.”

  “Enough,” Johanna said.

  We needed a way to hurt Talon without risking innocent lives. And Ben was right—it really was about perspective. Because a few months ago, I’d have been completely happy with Veres’s “attack all” plan. But after the looks some of those demons had given us while we’d been caged, especially after Jeremiah had been killed, my viewpoint had changed. Not to mention the fact that Ben’s son was a demon, and he’d done absolutely nothing wrong.

  There was one solution.

  I rose from leaning against the wall and stepped toward the stage. “What if we hit known Talon hideouts one by one? The chances of innocents being there are small, save for those tied up and awaiting Autumn Fire. Though those should be easy to pick out.”

  Silence fell once more across the room and Johanna nodded. “That’s a good plan. We can set up teams.”

  “Exactly. Split up, hit them all at once,” I said. “This way we can weaken Talon without hurting those caught in the crossfire. Maybe if we hit them hard enough, Talon won’t have the army necessary to attack the Neuians just yet.”

  “Buying us more time,” Johanna said.

  “And keeping us from going to war tomorrow,” Ben said. “The real war.”

  Brian stood as well. “Hydron should be able to help with information. I can speak with them when
we’re done here. I’ll have to brief them about everything that’s happened anyway.”

  “Good,” Johanna said, then stepped down to the first row to briefly confer with the other Command members, along with the Leader candidates. After a few moments, she returned to the stage.

  “Everyone, rest for the day,” she said. “By tonight you’ll be assigned teams and a location. We’ll hit them hard and fast, and pray this works. You are dismissed.”

  Chapter 19

  The summer night breeze cooled my heated skin and the sweat building on my brow. We’d already cleared out both of the two Talon hideouts inside Boston and were about to head to one in the middle of nowhere Connecticut. That one had been built inside an old missile silo that was supposed to be abandoned, but as it turned out, Hydron had more information than we thought.

  Honestly, I should have been more surprised than I was about that.

  Kian, Brian, and I trekked through the woods along with Ben, his team, and half a dozen freelancers. After this hit, we had just two more on the list for tonight. Assuming, of course, word hadn’t spread around yet. It’d taken an hour to clear the first two buildings, so I wasn’t convinced we’d find the soldiers inside this one unprepared.

  I readied my knife in one hand and my magik in another. Luckily, during our rest, both the previous requirem and Veres’s power had worn off. With every step I took, the power of the earth around me sang with magik in my veins.

  The party crested a hill. Down in the small clearing in the woods beneath was the abandoned missile silo. A small, squat building on the side of which was a second, more cylindrical structure.

  “There,” Ben said, pointing. “Front door, full power. Then we can check in with the other teams and see how they’re doing.”

  “If you’re sure,” Krystin said, snapping her three-piece sword into place.

  Ben nodded. “They probably know we’re coming anyway.”

  I pulled up some dirt around my left hand, creating a hardened glove for my fist, and held my knife steadfast in the other. “It’s the best plan.”

  “Ready up and follow me.” Ben continued on, down the other side of the hill.

  Krystin and his team followed first, followed by the freelancers. At all the other hits tonight, Kian, Brian, and I had played backup crew. Not because our power was weaker but because anyone who ran into those guys was likely to try running away.

  We’d be there waiting for those who tried.

  The three of us brought up the rear, waiting until the others were just at the front door’s entrance before splitting up. I ran around back, hoping to find a back exit as the screams and shouts from inside the building began. Even through the few open windows and the open front door, I felt it as electricity from Ben’s attacks kissed the air.

  A single door stood at the back of the building. I took up a position outside of it, falling into a stance as I waited for the inevitable retreat. That was another fault humans and demons shared: at the end of the day, we all either kept fighting or we ran for our lives. Loyalty only took some people so far, and Talon soldiers were no exception. Sometimes they just required a bit more pushing to make them turn against their kind.

  The back door buckled, then came flying off its hinges as a block of pale yellow ether sailed through it. I ducked, narrowly missing being hit by the attack, and came back up swinging with the sword.

  The first demon, taller and leaner than her friend, met my knife’s swing with her bracer-covered wrist. The blow glanced off the metal. She lifted her other hand and engulfed it in ether before rearing it back and sending it flying toward my face.

  I blocked the attack with my stone fist and quickly maneuvered my knife in position to stab her right in the chest between the two pieces of her armored uniform. She hissed, narrowing her burgundy eyes on me, and kicked at my shins. I hopped back, rounding another swing with my fist, but her friend, built more like a tank than she was, grabbed my hand and pulled. He used the momentum and my momentary loss of my footing to pull me around and flip me over. I landed with a hard thud on the ground, fighting to keep my eyes open as the harsh impact bit into my back.

  “The Hunter Circles will never get what they want,” the woman said as she hovered over me. She kicked my Fire Circle knife from my hand before bending down close to me. The demon opened her palm and I knew what she was going to do.

  “Neither will Talon,” I ground out, then rolled out of the way. I didn’t get far before tank-man kicked my ribs. Cringing, I rolled again and got to my feet.

  The earth shook beneath my feet. I called to it and the dirt and stone around me answered. My magik sang with their power, with being allowed to manipulate it.

  Both demons’ eyes widened when they realized their mistake. They either missed the earth encasing my fist or didn’t think I was as powerful as I was. Either way, they knew now as the earth cracked beneath them, opening a hole that’d soon become a chasm if I so willed it.

  “Talon won’t either,” I said to them. “Not when we’re done here.”

  The woman grinned wide, an expression so out of place that I should have immediately known something was up.

  “What?” I snapped, readying to make the earth swallow them whole.

  “I don’t think you’ll get the chance,” she said.

  As the words crossed her lips, the air around me shifted. Goosebumps rose up both of my arms. I turned away from the demons just long enough to scan the area around me for where the teleportante was going to land. But when I returned to them, a new face was standing in front of me.

  Mason smiled. “I do think you’ve all had quite enough fun for one night.”

  All around us, more teleportante trails landed. From each of them emerged a force-changed Ember witch with red-orange glowing eyes and ether burning like an aura around them. My stomach dropped as I counted them fast. A half-dozen. Dozen. Twenty.

  Shit.

  I took a step back, but Mason reached out and clamped a hand around my arm. Kicking up my foot, I sent a small pillar of earth right into his side. Mason ground his teeth, seething, but yanked me toward the back door anyway.

  “Requirem,” he said as he pulled me along. “Enough of this.”

  “Coward,” I hissed for what felt like the hundredth time in days. Because that was what Mason was: a coward. They all were. Talon was so high and mighty, ruling from their towers in Landshaft. I used to be terrified of them, of the stories I’d been told during my training days as a Hunter. Even when Veynix had been alive, I’d been so scared of them. That they’d kill me too. Then that they’d find me and Will and finish the job.

  But now having killed Veynix, having braved Landshaft not once but twice and making it out alive, having stared Jerrick in the eyes… Talon was only scary when they were in control. And knowing that they needed to requirem people to maintain that control just made them look sad. Pathetic.

  Cowardly.

  And Mason was no different.

  He walked me toward the back door to the building, but instead of going inside like I thought he’d do, Mason stood us in front of the opening. The force-changed Ember witches followed us, creating a circle around the building by joining hands, their orange magik tinted slightly red waving around their bodies like flames flicking in a fire. It was a sight to see, one that lit up the clearing and surrounding forest with enough smokeless firelight to cast light nearly everywhere. They’d become their own brightly burning summer bonfire.

  “Quickly!” Mason shouted as his hold on me tightened.

  I struggled against it, trying to elbow him or dig my heel into his shin, but he either moved just out of the way or took the blow. The two demons, the woman and the tank, followed along behind, eyeing me every chance they got.

  For the moment, it might have been better if I didn’t fight. Even if I got past Mason and these two Talon soldiers, there was no way in hell I’d be able to fight off twenty force-changed Ember witches.

  Wait a minute…


  Make that twenty or more witches. Several new faces poured into the hallway beyond the opening that once served as the building’s back door. In fact, the place was swarming with many people who weren’t in Talon’s red and violet leather armor uniform. As if on command, they all stopped moving and joined hands with each other. The others out here did the same and began chanting.

  “It’s over, Ava,” Mason said. “I can tell you know it is.”

  I craned my neck around so I could sort of see him. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

  He nodded toward the chanting witches both inside and outside of the house. “Your attempts to weaken Talon. Many of our operatives were taken out tonight, but not the ones who will be delivering us to victory. Watch.”

  I did. The air around us grew thinner and my breath came in rapid gasps. A faint shimmering hung throughout the air, as though someone had dumped glitter from high above and it’d been raining down for minutes now.

  “Stop this!” someone shouted. I watched as all the members of our raiding party were brought out of the house to stand inside the circle of chanting witches. As soon as Brian and Kian, Ben and his team, and the remaining freelancers—I noticed one was missing—were all outside, the circle of witches closed. Those inside the house joined the weird circle outside and joined hands.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Krystin spat as she watched not only the witches, but also the shimmering in the air. “This magik—you shouldn’t be able to do this!”

  Mason grinned cruelly. “It is possible.”

  “No,” Krystin said, struggling against her captor. “It’s not. Not for normal magik-users.”

  My eyes narrowed. The look on her face, scared and desperate, the glances she shot Shawn and Ben, clearly willing them to understand, made my stomach drop.

  What magik was possibly rare enough, strong enough, to elicit that reaction?

  Another teleportante shifted the air and in its wake emerged two more Talon soldiers and a man bound with his wrists behind his back. Blue, slightly glowing tattoos swirled around his eyes and temples. A Neuian.