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

by Juliana Haygert

  Finally, the time came. “Two minutes until our window.”

  We waited and crossed through the gate without any problems.

  When we were walking past the Daffodil building, Claire turned to us. “I need to … hm, just go. Good night.” She spun around and ran toward the Gardenia building alone.

  “Claire!” Erin half-whispered. She turned to me, her cheeks so pink, I could see it even under the cover of night. “I don’t know why she did that.” She started walking faster. “I’ll go see what happened.”

  “Erin,” I called. She instantly slowed down again. “I insist on taking you to the dorms.” Her eyes widened. Fuck, she would misinterpret this. “I mean, taking both of you, but since one ran off, I’ll take you. I just want to make sure you two are delivered safely.”

  That was true, but I also had selfish intentions. I wanted to enjoy her company for just a little longer. After, I would distance myself from her again.

  Her brows knotted. “Of course.”

  Side by side, we walked past the Snapdragon building to the Gardenia building. I halted in front of front steps.

  Erin took a step forward, then stopped and faced me. She didn’t say anything at first, but stared at me, with those big, beautiful golden eyes.

  Why did she torture me like that? She had to know I was holding on by a thin thread right now, a thread that would break if she didn’t walk away from me. If she didn’t stop looking at me that way.

  And then all my plans and my resolution would vanish, because I would kiss her with all I had.

  “You think closing the portal will keep the demons away?” Her voice was a soft whisper.

  This question was loaded. Yes, our first intention had been to close the fucking portal to keep everyone safe. But that wasn’t the case anymore. I wanted to close it now to keep her safe. I knew it wouldn’t stop the demons from coming after her, but it would make it harder.

  “I hope it will,” I said honestly.

  She nodded. “Me too.” She started up the stairs.

  The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it. “Erin.” She stopped and glanced at me again. I forced myself to continue, “Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you.” Because I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

  She nodded again, then went on. And I stayed frozen in the same spot, watching as Erin walked into the building, taking half of my heart with her.

  I was glad she didn’t look back at me before she disappeared inside the building—but I was also disappointed.

  In need of a cold shower and an even colder beer, I headed back to my room.

  5

  Erin

  I was tired during my training with my mother the next morning—I only got a few hours of sleep. I seriously had to stop with these late-night outings—but thankfully she didn’t ask anything, and I didn’t have to lie about my missions for Randall or sneaking out to close demonic portals.

  After training, I went back to the dorm for breakfast, but I didn’t change since my first class of the morning was martial arts. On my way to class, I saw Rey in the distance, walking from the Snapdragon building to the Orchid one.

  My feelings for Rey had only grown, but when I got mad at him, I tried holding on to the feeling of rage, hoping it would erase the fondness in my heart.

  I hated this hot and cold thing. He kept playing with me like a yo-yo. First, he cut me off, then he came after me. He held my hand, he asked me if I was okay, he stared at me, he told me he wanted to make sure I was safe … When he stopped me last night, before I entered the dorms, I was sure he would give in, that he would tell me the truth, that he liked me too. And then he would kiss me.

  Apparently, that was all in my dreams.

  This semester, Claire wasn’t in my martial arts class again. But Ava and her friends, Stella and Ruby, were.

  After telling the class that we would be moving on to specific weapons this semester, and showing us some basic moves with a bo staff to start with—overhead strike, four-point strike, front thrust, and a few others—professor Genevieve separated the class into pairs. “Erin, Ava, you’re partners.”

  I stared at Ava. Really? Again? At least this time I wouldn’t get my ass kicked so easily.

  Ava and I grabbed bo staffs from the cart Professor Genevieve had brought over, and we faced each other in a corner of the mat.

  As usual, Ava couldn’t hide her feelings. With rage stamped in her eyes, she advanced toward me. She did a front thrust, reaching far. I sidestepped to the right, and did an overhead strike. While her bo staff only grazed my arm, I hit her hard in the shoulder before she moved away.

  That only sparked more anger from her.

  “You’re so full of yourself,” she snapped.

  “Me?” I snorted. “You’re the one who thinks you’re the queen of the academy.”

  She came at me, swiping the bo staff left and right, without any clear technique, but eager to strike me. I stepped back, but because of the limited space with the other students practicing at the same time, I had nowhere to go. I ducked under her staff, trying to spin around and away, but she let the bo staff fall on my back.

  Pain exploded through my muscles, radiating down my lower back.

  “You bitch,” I snarled between gritted teeth.

  “Me? You’re the one with tainted blood.” She showed me a wicked grin before striking again.

  I rolled back and jumped up. Anything to get away from another hit like that. But she didn’t relent, and I wasn’t going to back down either.

  Pissed off, I lunged at her with a spinning strike, then an uppercut strike. She barely had time to raise her bow and block my hit from landing on her chin. The force of the impact jarred her, though, and she stumbled back.

  Once more, that only ignited more of her spite.

  “I’m going to kill you,” Ava said with a grunt. She spun the bo staff as if she would strike me on my left side, but then she stepped back and hit me with the tip of the staff in my ribs.

  I gasped as the air fled from my lungs and a burning pain spread through my chest.

  Without giving me time to breathe, Ava was on me again. We exchanged a series of strikes. Most of the time, we were able to block or get away before the hit landed, but sometimes … sometimes the bo staff met its mark and it hurt like hell.

  Ava brought her knee up, with the bo staff over her shoulder. Anticipating an overhead strike, I raised my bo staff to block her hit, then did a quick four-point strike, hitting her shoulders and the sides of her ribs. She let out an exasperated grunt, probably in pain.

  It served her right.

  Even with my back and my chest screaming at me, I positioned myself to continue our fight.

  A bo staff appeared over mine, pushing it to the ground. “Enough!” Professor Genevieve snapped. “Unless you want to be suspended, stop it now!”

  I stared at her, at her bo staff blocking mine from hitting Ava, at Ava’s hateful glare, at my anger.

  Ashamed of myself for allowing Ava to drag me so low, I dropped the staff. It clanked on the mat and rolled away.

  Ava hesitated, but she too lowered her weapon and took a step back.

  Around us, the entire class was frozen, everyone’s eyes on us.

  “I don’t even want to talk to you two now.” Professor Genevieve pointed to the door. “Get out before I fail you both.”

  I picked up my staff from the mat and put it on the cart in the middle of the classroom, then I marched out, trying not let the stares and whispers get to me.

  When I got outside the Hyacinth building, the chilly wind whipped around me, and the throbbing pain in my chest instantly got better. Shit, Ava and I had gone too far. I glanced down at myself—my chest and arms were covered with my combat uniform, but I bet I had at least five ugly bruises where she struck me. I bet she had just as many.

  Before I got too cold, I ran back to the dorms, where I holed up in my bedroom, took a nice warm shower, and applied some healing cream to my br
uises. I got dressed in the academy's uniform, put on my heavy coat on top of that, took some medicine for pain, and headed to the cafeteria to meet Claire for lunch.

  Claire was already at our usual small round table by the glass walls, her elbow on the top and her chin on her hand. Her green eyes stared out at the sky, a smile on her lips, as if she was seeing a rainbow instead of the ugly gray day.

  “What’s up with you?” I asked, taking a seat beside her.

  She let out a sigh. “I—”

  “Hi.”

  I turned to the new voice and saw a guy standing beside me. “Hm, hi.”

  He extended his hand at me. “I’m Tanner. I’m a third-year student.”

  I frowned, trying to remember him from around campus, but it didn’t ring a bell. Which didn’t mean much. I still didn’t know everyone who studied here, but I couldn’t deny he was handsome. He was tall and wide, with brown curls, and smooth tanned skin. If I had seen him before, I would have certainly remembered.

  I took his hand. “Erin.”

  “I know.” He sat down beside Claire. I stared at my friend, but Claire was staring at Tanner. “I was just talking to Claire about you.”

  I took a seat across the table. “Really? What about?”

  “Nothing much.” He faced Claire, his eyes locked on hers. “How you’re a good friend to her, and how you stand by her side no matter what.” Claire practically swooned.

  “Oh-kay,” I dragged out. What was going on?

  Tanner looked at me, his eyes on my neck. “What happened?”

  I touched my neck. One of the bruises on my shoulder had a big purple mark and it showed on my neck. “I was fighting Ava.”

  “Ow, that must hurt.” Tanner patted Claire’s hand. “I’ll let you take care of your friend, then. See you later.”

  He stood and walked away. I watched as he went to the other side of the cafeteria and sat down with the other guys from the third year.

  In a flash, Claire switched seats and pressed to my side. “So, what did you think?”

  “About?” I asked, lost.

  “Tanner.” She let out a long sigh. “Isn’t he gorgeous? Isn’t he sweet? Holy crap, he’s perfect.”

  I frowned. It was hard for me to look at any other guy like that. I liked Rey, even if he wasn’t my supposed soulmate. “If you say so.”

  “If I was a little braver, I would ask him out on a date,” Claire said.

  “How can one go out on a date when we aren’t supposed to leave campus?” I asked, curious about it.

  “Well, there’s the cafeteria, the media room, the library. Also, haven’t you heard about the movie room? I heard it’s changing location this semester, but it should be up and running soon.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. “That is a perfect place for a date.”

  “You like Tanner?” I asked, still confused. “How did this happen?”

  “He walked with me from my previous class. He even carried my book bag.” She swooned again. “He’s perfect.”

  “You’ve already said that.”

  “I know, but he is.”

  “Okay, okay.” I patted her shoulder, trying to calm her down. I didn’t see the big deal about Tanner, and I honestly didn’t like the way he talked to me and looked at her, but Claire seemed so happy about the attention, I decided to leave it. For now. “I’m hungry.” I got up. “Let’s eat.”

  We both headed toward the buffet at the back of the cafeteria, where we got our lunch, and went back to our table. Despite myself, I kept glancing around, searching for Rey, but I didn’t know why. He rarely ate in the cafeteria. Instead, I got a glimpse of Harvey and Peter, who waved at me; Ava, with a red bruise on her chin, and her dear friends, Stella and Ruby; and Harper, who was sitting alone at a table along the farthest wall.

  I frowned, thinking of how she had lost her two best friends recently. Now she was alone and seemed way too pitiful.

  A sudden urge to go check on her hit me hard, but before I could act on it, the amulet around my neck shone—a dark light that seemed to come from inside.

  “What’s that?” Claire asked, pointing to it. “Why is it shining?”

  “It’s nothing.” I put the necklace under my sweater, and looked around.

  This was it. A warning. Someone in here was a half-demon, like me.

  My eyes found a young man leaving the cafeteria and the amulet shook against me.

  It was a warning.

  I had found the first half-demon.

  6

  Rey

  One of the things Randall asked of me after making our deal was for me to take my classes seriously. I wasn’t pretending to be a demon hunter anymore. He planned on making me a real one. And he wanted me to be a professor after graduation, so I could still be under his thumb, I was sure.

  How he would make me into a real demon hunter, I had no idea, and right now, I didn’t really want to know. As long as I got to stay here and watch over Erin, I was okay with it.

  So, I went to my classes, paid attention, and decided it was time to get even better grades than my current great ones. I would amaze all my professors and they would all vouch for me.

  I left my last class of the day with a sense of a job well done.

  But that all vanished when I saw Erin coming my way.

  Hadn’t I told her to stay the fuck away from me? Hadn’t I been rude enough? Hadn’t I made myself clear? I didn’t want to hurt her anymore.

  Out in the cold, Erin halted in front of me. “I need to talk to you.”

  “I have nothing to talk to you about,” I said, walking around her.

  Her hand shot out and grabbed my arm. “Stop being a jerk and listen to me. The amulet gave me a warning. I saw a half-demon on campus.”

  All right. That was important, but I freed my arm from her grip before asking, “Who is it?”

  “I don’t know. I tried to follow him, but I lost him around lunchtime. I’ve been searching for him ever since, but I can’t find him. He’s average height, with blond hair to his chin, and I think he’s your age.” She paused. “I mean, your human age.”

  I thought for a moment. My age meant this guy was in the fourth year. An average guy with blond hair to his chin? It could only be … “Zachary.”

  “Do you know his room number?”

  “He doesn’t live on campus anymore.”

  Erin frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “He got married and was given permission to live in Chasseur Ville with his wife.”

  “I wasn’t even sure that was allowed,” she muttered. “Anyway, do you think he has any classes now? If not, we should go after him.”

  “Right now?” I checked my wristwatch. It was four in the evening. Being winter, and with a gray day like today, that meant that in about an hour it would be pitch black.

  “Do you have a better idea?” she asked, her tone a little harsher. “It’s either go now, or tomorrow during class time.”

  I groaned. “You’re right.”

  Together, we stopped by the archives and found out Zachary’s last class of the day had been that afternoon, which meant he had left for the village already. I copied his exact address from his file, before we went to the underground garage, where we got my car and left the academy. I had always had permission to come and go from the academy whenever I wanted, but now Erin had it too—but only Randall's permission.

  We remained silent as I drove to Chasseur Ville, but my fucking mind didn’t stop.

  My plan wasn’t working. Wanting to stay away from Erin, and staying away from Erin were proving to be different things. If I wanted to not get any more involved with her than I already had, I needed a new plan.

  But what? What could I do to keep her away from me?

  I sometimes wondered if that was fucking possible. With her being my twin soul, I doubted I could stay away forever.

  I glanced at her. She was looking straight ahead, serious. The darkening sky gave her pretty face a deep shadow. And then I saw it, t
he dark shadow on her neck.

  “What the fuck is that?”

  Erin turned wide eyes to me. “What?”

  “That bruise on your neck?”

  “Oh.” She covered the bruise with her hand. “It’s nothing.”

  “The fuck it’s nothing.” Rage filled my chest. If someone hurt her on purpose … “Tell me.”

  “Why?” she snapped, staring daggers at me. “Why do I have to tell you? You've made it clear that you don’t care what happens to me. All that matters is getting this damn job done, so focus on the freaking road and forget about me.”

  Her words … they hurt. I grabbed the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. I was even more curious now. What the fuck could have happened for her to have that bruise? What was she hiding?

  On the other hand, it was working. She had just been mean to me to fend me off. I had to hang on a little more. Soon, I would be able to resist her completely, and she would forget about me.

  It was full night when we arrived in Chasseur Ville. Even with the fucking cold and the threat of more snow, the tourists were showing up for the night.

  “Does this town ever stop?” Erin asked as we drove down the main road.

  “Not really,” I said, looking around. “On a night like this, it might slow down a bit, but it never stops.”

  I drove past the castle, to the quieter part of town, where most of the former demon hunter’s residences were. We followed the address in the academy’s archive to a small chalet, the last one on a quiet street.

  I parked my car at the property’s entrance and hopped out. The long driveway had been shoveled, but there was still plenty of ice covering it. I felt the urge to hold Erin’s arm, but kept my hands to myself. Hadn’t I just realized she was making progress? I couldn’t taint it now.