The Hunter Secret (Rite World: Blackthorn Hunters Academy Book 2)

by Juliana Haygert

  Impatience dripped from him as he turned the collar of his thick black coat up, giving him a regal air. A powerful stance. A heartbreaking sight.

  Knowing this could only end badly, I grabbed my coat from my chair. “All right. Let’s go.”

  2

  Rey

  The Dark Creek Pub never seemed so fucking boring.

  This winter break had been brutal on all accounts: It didn’t stop snowing; demons who had been loyal to Asmodeus were coming after me left and right, trying to avenge my father—as if I had been the one to kill him; my drinking buddy, Wyatt, was nowhere to be found; and the mark on my chest seemed to itch and burn sometimes.

  I brought the beer bottle to my lips and—

  Fuck, I had drunk all of it already. With my half-demon metabolism, I didn’t get drunk easily, but I could say I was almost drunk now. It took only nine bottles.

  I could definitely use a tenth.

  I lifted my hand to call the waitress when my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket and glanced at it.

  Randall’s name flashed on the screen.

  The motherfucker hadn’t called me all winter break, and now, one day before classes started, he remembered I existed. I wish he would forget I existed altogether.

  Maybe then our magical contract would be nulled. Just like that.

  Only in my fucking dreams.

  I rubbed at where the soul bond mark was stamped on my chest. Soul bonds could be used to break demonic contracts, but my contract with Randall wasn’t demonic. I couldn’t even use that for my advantage now.

  I answered the phone. “Yes?”

  “Be in my office with Erin in exactly two hours,” Randall said, his voice sharp.

  “Yes—”

  He ended the call.

  I groaned, wishing I could tell him to go to hell.

  I knew I would have to face Erin at some point, but I hoped it would be later. Much later.

  I also had hoped Randall had forgotten about his deal with her. That he had done it only to scare her.

  No such luck.

  Hope and luck. Two useless things that I should scratch off my fucking dictionary.

  After paying for my binge drinking, I walked out of the pub. I inhaled the cold air, willing it to clear my mind, to push the drunkenness away. I had two hours to sober up.

  I stopped by the motel I had been crashing at, took a cold shower, drank an entire bottle of water, got dressed, and left the motel to go back to the only place that felt like home.

  After walking into a dark alley, I shifted into a raven and flew to the academy. Several times during winter break, I had regretted leaving my car at the academy, but now I was glad I didn’t have to worry about it. By car, it would have taken me five hours to get there. In my raven form, it took less than one.

  The flight in the cold air also helped send the last of my inebriation away.

  When I arrived at the academy, students swarmed the Gardenia and the Snapdragon buildings—getting back to their dorms. I had no idea how my room looked right now. Probably messy and full of dust; I had left in a hurry once classes had ended last semester. The faster I left the academy, the less chance I had of bumping into Erin.

  Which was ridiculous since now I was walking directly to her room.

  When Erin opened the door and saw me, it was like she was staring at a ghost. Her shock didn’t take away from her beauty though. She was so fucking beautiful, even when looking at me with her guard up.

  I tried sounding and looking unaffected, as if seeing her after so long didn’t bother me at all. As if I still felt nothing for her.

  That was fucking hard.

  I pulled the collar of my coat up, like another wall around me. Clearly irritated, Erin grabbed her jacket and said, “All right. Let’s go.”

  Quiet, she followed me out of the Gardenia building, down the slippery stone paths, and into the Aster building. All the way, I had braced myself, expecting her to say something, to ask something, to start a conversation, but she had barely glanced my way.

  Which was good. Really good.

  But it fucking hurt.

  Although the soul bond mark cause pain, I was certain I could feel it. It was like a string, pulling me to Erin. An arrow, turning me to her. Several times during the winter break, I had to physically stop myself from coming after her, from checking on her, just to make sure she was okay.

  But I knew she was okay. Professor Martha would never let anything happen to her. I had nothing to fear.

  And yet, I couldn’t stop worrying. She was the daughter of the fucking king of the underworld, a demonic princess set to inherit his kingdom. It was only a matter of time before he came after her himself.

  That wasn’t the only thing worrying me. After Asmodeus’s death, I was targeted as a traitor. The entire underworld was after me, to deliver me on a silver platter to the king. If word got out that Erin was my soulmate, that she shared the twin soul bond with me, she wouldn’t only be taken to the king. She would be used to lure me in.

  I couldn’t let them use her that way.

  I had to keep a safe distance from her in order to protect her.

  Unfortunately, Randall had another idea.

  Once we entered his office, Randall ordered us to take the seats across from his desk. The immortal demon hunter smiled at us, a fake grin I was used to. With his ageless look, his gray hair, and warm dark eyes, Randall almost looked like a caring man.

  He didn’t fool me.

  “I have a special mission for the two of you,” he announced, a small hint of excitement in his voice.

  I frowned. “What do you mean, for the two of us?”

  “You’ll be working together on this,” he said.

  “I don’t think that’s such a great idea,” I protested.

  Beside me, Erin flinched.

  Randall lost his amused grin. “I don’t care what you think. I’m telling you what is going to happen.” He steepled his long fingers over his desk. “You two will search for other half-demons, so we can create a special group.”

  “Other half-demons?” I asked, pondering. Of course, I knew Erin and I weren’t the only ones out there, but what could Randall possibly want with more half-demons?

  Erin sat straighter. “What are you going to do with them?”

  “Don’t worry,” Randall said, his voice flat. “Just like you two seem to have the best interest of the demon hunters’ affairs at heart, I want to find other half-demons with the same ideals, to welcome them into the academy.”

  Erin shook her head. “The other students, their parents, and even the professors will be against that.”

  “That’s why we’ll keep it a secret for now,” Randall said. “But with time, I want to reduce the prejudice against half-demons and create a special program for them here at the academy.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, to tell him this was a crazy dream that would never happen, but when he cut me a look that told me it wasn’t open for discussion, I pressed my lips together.

  “Where do we start?” I asked instead.

  Erin cut me a wide-eyed look. I ignored her.

  “I know there are other half-demons in the school and in the nearby towns,” Randall said. “Your job is to find them and get them to join the Black Knight Unit, which will be our half-demon force.”

  “How will we find them?” I asked.

  “With this,” Randall said, pulling a silver-chain necklace from a drawer. The chain was long, with a plain, round silver pendant, much like an old coin. He handed the necklace to Erin. “Wear this.”

  Brows furrowed, Erin took the necklace, but hesitated before putting it on. “What now?” she asked.

  “The amulet will warn you when there’s any half-demon in the area.” He pushed a leather pouch across his desk. “Here are more amulets like that. Give one to each of the half-demons you find.”

  I took the pouch, glad he didn’t insist I wear one.

  Erin glanced at the amulet ha
nging from her neck. “What if they don’t want to join us?”

  “Then you report them to me,” Randall said. “I’ll take care of them.” Take care of them. I didn’t like that. He continued, “I’ll leave it to you two. Come up with the plans, strategize, and go after them.” He lifted a finger as if remembering something. “One important thing: Do not tell anyone about this.”

  Since Randall knew I was good at keeping secrets, that seemed like a warning for Erin. What, was he afraid she would tell Professor Martha about it? Or maybe Claire, and Claire would tell her father, Professor Crimson?

  “We won’t,” I said, hoping Erin understood what he meant.

  Randall leaned back in his chair. “I want a report in one week.”

  That was his way of dismissing us.

  I shot up from my seat. “Yes, sir.”

  Erin hesitated, but mimicked me and stood up. She dragged her feet behind me as I left the office and closed the door.

  Once we reached the staircase, the words flew out of her mouth. “You’re kidding me, right?”

  I climbed down the steps, not looking at her. “What do you mean?”

  “Half-demons,” she whispered. “In the school? That’s not a good idea.”

  I knew that, but what could I do? I was the slave obeying my master’s wishes. I had no control over what I could do, or what I couldn’t. Unfortunately, she was in that same boat.

  I stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned to her. “You’ll soon realize that when you make a deal like ours, you don’t have a choice.”

  Erin almost bumped into me. She took a step back and frowned at me. “Then we should make him understand and change his mind.”

  A hollow chuckle escaped my lips. “Dream on.”

  I resumed walking.

  “Hey!” she called, but I ignored her. I heard her humph and the stomping of her feet as she trailed after me. “There he goes, ignoring me again,” she muttered.

  Holy fuck, did she even know how much it hurt to ignore her? To ignore the feelings swirling inside me, screaming at me that she was the one? That there was no one else for me? That I loved her?

  But I couldn’t have her.

  I shouldn’t.

  Outside the building, I braced myself and turned to her. Hands inside the pockets of her coat, Erin stopped in front of me.

  “Erin, when Randall said you can’t tell anyone, he was serious,” I told her. I had had a contract hanging over my head for almost a thousand years. I knew the consequences of disobeying even the mildest of the orders. “You can’t tell anyone. Not your mother. Not even Claire.”

  She frowned. “Why?”

  “Just … you can’t, all right. Trust me.”

  She muttered “trust me” under her breath, as if she thought that was funny. Then, she let out a long breath and asked, “What now? Should we make a list of the students who we think could be half-demons too?”

  Yes, we should, but I wasn't going to hang around her any more than necessary.

  “We can do that alone,” I said, before turning my back to her and walking away.

  Fuck, I sounded like a jerk. But if that was the way for her to be safe, then so be it. I would be the biggest jerk of all.

  3

  Erin

  My mother swiped her leg. Because of the stance I was in—from having just landed a roundhouse kick to her side—I didn’t have time to move away or jump back.

  I ended up on the floor, with the air knocked out from my lungs.

  My mother leaned over me, her hands on her waist. Before I found out she was my mother, I hadn’t noticed how similar we look. The same long, thick, black hair, the same sharp eyebrows, the same thin nose. My eye shape also looked like hers, just her eyes were hazel, while mine were an odd gold color. She wasn’t too tall and slim built like me, but packed with muscles. I liked to believe that if I kept up with this intense training, I would become as hard as a rock too.

  “You’ve got to be faster.” She extended her hand to me. When we first started training together, she didn’t help me get up. Instead, she threw more weight on me and expected me to find a way to get free. “Most demons are faster than us.”

  And demon hunters were already fast. At least, faster than humans. One thing I did notice since we began training together was my demon hunter side coming out—my increased speed, my superior strength. I was still average when compared to the other demon hunters, but I sure was faster and stronger than any other human I had met.

  I grabbed her hand and she tugged me up. “I’m trying,” I told her. “I’m already faster than I was six months ago.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  One thing that hadn’t changed this semester was our early morning training sessions. It was the freaking first day of class, and my mother had already dragged me to the Hyacinth building. At least I had convinced her to train at five thirty instead of five. I wanted to get every spare minute of sleep I could.

  I glanced at the big round clock on the wall. It was almost seven. If I wanted to take a shower and have breakfast before my first class, it was time to go. I picked up my towel from the mat. “We’re done, right?”

  “We are,” she said.

  I frowned. “I can hear a but there.”

  My mother fixed her eyes on mine. “I know the headmaster asked to see you and Rey yesterday afternoon. What did he want?”

  Shit. I honestly didn’t mind telling her, but I didn’t want to disobey Randall. After all, he was the headmaster, and I now had a deal with him. He had ordered Rey and me to not tell anyone about our special mission. I bet that included my mother.

  “I can’t tell you,” I confessed. If I lied and told her crap, she would eventually find out and give me a hard time about it. I would rather argue now and be done with it. “He told us to keep quiet about it.”

  Last night, I sat at my desk and started the list of possible half-demons at the school, but I didn’t get too far. I only knew most of the students in the second year and some from the third with whom I had some elective classes last semester. The others, I might have seen around campus, but I didn’t know their names. Unfortunately, I would need Rey’s help for this.

  “I don’t like this,” she muttered. She took two steps, closing most of the distance between us. I stood still, glad I wasn’t wearing the amulet the headmaster had given me. “If he tells you to do something dangerous, you come to me. You don’t need to tell me what it is, if you can’t, but tell me to come along, to help you. I want to help you.”

  A lump rose in my throat. Why she was so considerate sometimes? “I will,” I told her to appease her. Hopefully, the headmaster wouldn’t send me on any dangerous missions.

  After that, I gathered my coat and ran back to the dorm. It was frigid outside, but because I had been exercising, it didn’t really feel too bad. Until I took a shower, ate breakfast, and had to face the cold outside in my uniform—a white shirt and green tie, a think black jacket, pleated skirt, and tights. I had bought the thickest tights I could find, but with the freezing cold outside, they were still not enough.

  Right now, I envied the male students who could wear pants.

  At least, we could put on black coats over our clothes. Unfortunately, mine went down to my thighs. As I made my way to the Orchid building, I made a mental note to buy a coat that went down to my feet. That ought to help.

  On my way, I saw many faces I knew: Harvey and Peter, Ava with Stella and Ruby, and even Harper. They were all second-year students like me. But it seemed none of them had the same classes I did, because they entered at the Statice building, while I went on. I hadn’t seen Claire this morning, and because we weren’t able to schedule all the same classes, I wouldn’t see her until later this morning.

  Feeling a little down, I entered the classroom for demonic anthropology and took a seat along the wall. What could this class be about?

  Professor Vander entered the room and started the lecture without even saying hello or tell
ing us more about the semester and his class. What the hell?

  But his subject was interesting.

  “We know of eight princes of the underworld,” he said. The tall man with oddly long legs and bald head moved his hands in circles as he spoke. “Princes Paimon, Maggoth, Zeltov, Aymon, Artonth, Toriens, Ergin, and Asmodeus.” He paused, looking around the room. “As you all know, our beloved headmaster, Randall Boucher, killed Prince Asmodeus in November last year.”

  A student raised her hand. I had seen her around last semester, but I honestly didn’t remember her name. “Professor, will you tell us more about that? All we heard was that Asmodeus ambushed the headmaster and was killed.”

  “I’m sure the headmaster would have already told us more details if there were any,” Professor Vander said. I kept quiet, of course. If the headmaster didn’t want to tell anyone about what happened, I certainly didn’t mind. “Anyway, there are people who believe there are more princes in the underworld who we don’t know about.”

  Another girl raised her hand. “Professor, I thought we weren’t supposed to learn about the princes until the fourth year.”

  “The curriculum is changing and we’re introducing princes sooner now,” the professor said. “Don’t make us regret this choice.” He cleared his throat. “As I was saying,” he went on with the lecture as if his answer was a satisfying one.

  Mildly amused with the class subject, I flipped through the book and saw sketches of the demons. Even the princes had sketches and I was surprised to see Asmodeus’s sketch was fairly accurate. I flipped to the next page, where a picture of Prince Paimon was displayed. For some time last year, we had believed Prince Paimon had been the one after me. He might have been, but it was only because he was King Brikan’s favorite prince and the king had sent him after me.

  I sighed and flipped some more pages, searching for a section about—

  There. An entire chapter on King Brikan.

  The chapter opened explaining how King Brikan rose to power, by killing the other original demons, and how he created the princes to do his bidding. Then, it went on about how he had ruled for centuries and throughout many civilizations, including ancient Egypt, the Roman empire, the English monarchy, and many more.