Together, we walked down the driveaway and knocked on the front door.
A moment later, Zachary opened the door. “Rey? Erin? What are you two doing here?”
I frowned. He knew Erin? Well, not even five months ago, she had been the new girl on campus. Probably everyone at the academy knew her name.
“We need to talk to you,” I told him.
Zachary crossed his arms. “About?”
“The truth about your bloodline.”
His brown eyes went wide. “What the hell?” He stepped out the door and closed it. “What are you talking about?”
“By your reaction, I'd say you know what we’re talking about,” Erin said.
“No, I don’t,” Zachary said, his tone unsure.
“If you need me to spell it out, I will,” I told him. “You’re a half-demon, just like Erin and me.”
Zachary glanced around, obviously freaked out. “Keep it down, will you? I don’t want anyone around here to know.”
“So you’re not denying it,” Erin observed.
“I doubt denying would change anything.” Zachary shook his head. “It’s not like I can change it, but if I had a choice, I would be a normal hunter, no demon blood in my veins.”
“We know how you feel,” Erin said, her tone low. Sad.
“You know the truth,” Zachary said, still on the defensive. “Now what the hell do you want?”
“Headmaster Randall wants to create a unit of half-demons, so in time, we can erase the prejudice and have a more inclusive hunter academy,” I told him. “Randall would like you to join the Black Knight Unit.”
Zachary shook his head. “That’s insane. I don’t want to be a half-demon, and I don’t want to join other half-demons in anything.”
“Zachary, listen to us—”
A darkfire bolt appeared in Zachary’s hand. “I’m gonna say it just this once. Go away and forget about me.”
Erin lifted her hands. “We’re not here to—”
Zachary threw the bolt at her.
My rage spiked and I brought up a shield in front of Erin. The bolt exploded against my shield, both darkfires fading away in the dark.
I conjured darkfire that enveloped both my hands and faced the guy. “Try that again and you’re dead.”
“Zack? What’s happening?”
Zachary’s face blanched at the new voice. “That’s my wife,” he whispered in a rush. “She doesn’t know I’m a half-demon.” He waved at my hands. “Drop the damn magic!”
I let go and the darkfire faded like smoke in the wind.
A second later, the front door opened and Susan stared at us. “Oh, hello.” She glanced at her husband. “What’s going on?”
“Hey, baby, these are my friends from school,” Zachary said. His wife was of demon hunter lineage, but her parents had opted not to send her to the academy—which was rare. Instead, she worked at her parents' store in Chasseur Ville.
Erin lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Hi.”
“It’s cold outside,” Susan said. “Do you guys want to come in?”
“No, it’s fine,” I said, my voice plain. “We just came to discuss something about a project and will be leaving soon.”
“You can go back inside, baby,” Zachary said, with an uneasy smile. “I’ll be right there.”
“Okay.” Frowning, Susan turned and closed the door behind her.
“Please, just get out of here before she finds out,” Zachary urged.
This was my opportunity. The deal-dealing son of Asmodeus came out. “We won’t tell her anything if you join the Black Knight Unit.”
Erin turned her big eyes to me.
Zachary cursed under his breath. “Fine!”
I extended my hand to Erin and she handed me an amulet, just like the one she was wearing. “Wear this. When we need you, the amulet will let you know.”
Reluctantly, Zachary grabbed the amulet and put it around his neck. “Happy? Now leave.” He entered his house and slammed the door in our faces.
Without a second to spare, Erin marched back to my car. She hopped in, put on her seat belt, and crossed her arms. I could see—feel—something was bothering.
I didn’t want to pretend I didn’t know.
“Are you going to huff and puff until we get to the academy?” I asked as I drove away from Chasseur Ville.
She turned her glare to me. “You blackmailed him.”
I nodded. “Yes, I did.”
“I know that’s what you used to do for Asmodeus, but you don’t need to do it anymore.”
“It went well. He just needed a little motivation.”
“Would you have told his wife if he had said no?”
I didn’t answer right away, because I really didn’t know what I would have done. “He said yes; that’s all that matters.”
“I really don’t like this,” she muttered.
“Look, if we can’t get half-demons to join us, Randall will expose you and punish me. I did what I had to do.”
“You say that as if the headmaster is a bad guy.”
I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to shatter the vision that she had that Randall was like a god, and the academy was the best place in the world. After all, I had been the one to bring her to this fucking place. Now, she was stuck here, practically a prisoner of the man who was supposed to be the reason and truth among us all.
“Our unit is growing, that’s all that matters,” I repeated, not happy with myself either.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said, her voice low. “I don’t know if you were always like this and only changed after what happened in the cemetery, or if you’re just changing now. But I’m not sure I like this cold, harsh Rey.”
“Good,” I snapped. “You’re not supposed to like me anyway.”
Erin’s mouth fell open. A moment later, she forced it shut and stared straight ahead, her back glued to the passenger seat. She didn’t say anything else during the rest of the ride, and once I parked the car in the underground garage, she was out the door in a flash.
She didn’t say good night, wave at me, or glance back as she stomped back to her dorm.
But I followed her. I watched her. I wanted to make sure she got to her bedroom safe. Once the light in her bedroom window shone from the second floor, I let out a long breath and dragged my feet to my room.
All I had to do was to be a jerk. If I kept this up, she would move on soon.
But I doubted I would.
7
Erin
The first week back at the academy went by too fast. After my fight with Ava, and finding out about Zachary, nothing else happened. In the next martial arts class, Ava and I avoided each other despite being partners, my amulet didn’t warn me of any new sightings, the headmaster hadn’t sent for me, and I had barely seen Rey around.
Rey, the jerk.
I still couldn’t figure him out. At first, I thought he was being a jerk and pushing me away, but now I was starting to doubt it. Perhaps he had always been a douche, but he had played me to find out about my half-demon side. The way he blackmailed Zachary last week? I really didn’t like it.
And the way he hadn’t answered me when I mentioned the headmaster was a bad guy … what did that mean? Was the headmaster a bad guy? But he couldn’t be. He had been given these amazing powers, and founded the Blackthorn Hunters and the academy to save the world from evil. Plus, he had saved Rey’s life and was protecting me from bigger threats.
If the headmaster said he wanted to help half-demons and introduce them to the hunter society, I chose to believe him. Because that was exactly what I wanted to happen.
In the middle of the second week back, I went to potion-making class and took my place beside Claire, but Professor Wesley rearranged our seats and I was partnered with Harvey.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said, taking the seat beside mine. The young man with brown hair and warm chocolate eyes offered me a half-smile. If this were a regular
high school or college, Harvey Walton would be like the quarterback of the football team. Hot, dreamy, and way too flirty with all the girls. “Have you been avoiding me?”
I chuckled. “No, I haven’t. Maybe Ava is hogging all of your time.”
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s not talk about her.”
I glanced to where Ava was, a couple of tables in front of us, with Harper as a partner. Poor Harper had to endure Ava’s mood swings for the rest of the semester. “Why not? It’s obvious that she thinks you two are practically engaged.”
“I know.” He let out a sigh. “But seriously, I really don’t want to talk about her.” He leaned over the table, his head on his hand, and stared at me. “I would rather talk about you.”
“You know what I am,” I whispered. Harvey had been present last semester when Asmodeus had told us about my heritage. “And you still want to talk to me?”
“It doesn't matter what you are. All that matters is that you’re interesting.”
I ignored him and opened my potions book to chapter nine. Today, we would work on a healing potion used by witches. It was said to be simple, but effective for minor injuries. For some reason, I wanted to ace this potion.
I started reading through the chapter, and Harvey kept staring at me. What the hell? Wasn't he going to help me? Or was he planning on staring at me all semester? Hm, was he playing around? I remembered Claire telling me Harvey didn’t flirt long with the same girl; he moved on quickly. However, from what I could gather, he had been flirting with me for the last five months.
And I hadn’t seen him with any other girl on campus during that time. Unless, he met them in secret. But I doubted things like that stayed quiet for long here.
Could it be …?
I lifted my gaze to Harvey. His smile widened. All right, okay, he was handsome; I had already noticed that. He came from a good family, and he seemed to be into me.
Would it be hard to consider this? He and I?
This was nonsense. I didn’t have time for this. If I went out with Harvey, it would be because I was trying to nurse my broken heart. I was fine by myself. No men needed.
I placed a hand on my chest, where the soul bond mark was.
Shit, I was fine by myself, but apparently, someone was looking for me.
Shaking my head, I went to the pantry in the back of the classroom, and grabbed the ingredients for the potion. I spread them out on the table and started sorting them, making sure I had everything we needed.
“Just to let you know, I suck at this,” I told Harvey, who was still staring at me like a starstruck boy. “This class was my lowest grade last semester. If you don’t help me, you’ll get a low grade too.” I doubted his mother, Professor Eleanor, would like that.
“Let’s go on a date,” he said suddenly.
I almost dropped the vial I was holding. “What?”
“Let’s go on a date,” he repeated, straightening up, though his eyes stayed glued to me. “Tonight. Let me take you to a restaurant on a date.”
I frowned. “Students aren’t allowed outside the academy during the semester.” Although the headmaster had allowed me to leave, when I had a mission outside. This wasn’t the case.
“For most things, no, they aren’t,” he said. “But I have my ways. Leave it to me. I can get both of us out of the academy tonight.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Are you talking about sneaking out?” I had my fair share of sneaking out already, and I sure didn’t want to do that anymore.
“No, I think I can manage to do it with authorization,” he said. How? Would he ask his mother to let us out? She would never allow him to go out with me. “So?”
I stared at him some more. He was handsome, he was nice to me, and he was available. Why not? What was the worst that could happen? To find out he wasn’t the one for me, or the one marked on my skin.
I nodded. “All right. Let’s go out on a date.”
Of course, Ava found out about it in five seconds flat. She pursued me after class and demanded an explanation. I would have been the best women if I had kept quiet and walked away, but I liked seeing her miserable—and I hated that about me.
So, I goaded her, saying yes, I was going on a date with Harvey. “Excuse me, I have to find some proper, sexy clothes for tonight,” I told her before walking away.
She was fuming, but Stella and Ruby stopped her from lunging at me.
I knew that had been petty of me, but I couldn’t help it. Ava was a bitch and I wish I could teach her a lesson. If this was it, then so be it.
After the day’s classes were done, Claire met me in my room and we went through my closet.
“I can’t believe you’re going out with Harvey,” Claire said. She picked up a black blouse, put it in front of herself, and looked at the mirror.
“Me neither,” I said, shaking my head. That blouse was too plain. “How about this one?” I placed an off-shoulder red blouse with long sleeves in front of me.
“Oh, I like that.” She started rummaging through my closet again. “Please, tell me you have a pair of tight, sexy leather leggings to go with it?”
“As a matter of fact …” I opened the second drawer of my dresser and pulled out said pants. I had bought them a couple of years ago on a whim and never wore them.
“Holy crap, now all you need is a pair of killer stiletto boots.”
Harper, who was walking past my half-open door, knocked once and stuck her head inside. “Someone say killer stiletto boots? I might be able to help with that.”
Turned out, Harper had the perfect boots to go with the pants. Like me and my pants, she said she had fallen in love with them, but never wore them. She lent them to me with a smile on her face.
“Thanks so much,” I said, smiling back.
“My pleasure,” she replied.
It was good to see her in good spirits for once, so I invited her to stay in my room while I finished getting ready. In the end, it was a good thing, because Harper was good with makeup too. “Another thing I picked up that is practically useless here,” she said as she worked on making sexy, smoky eyes on me.
“Well, there’s no school rule saying you can’t wear makeup to class,” Claire said.
“Have you seen Ava and her troupe?” I asked. “They’re always wearing a lot of makeup."
Harper chuckled. “True. I do wear makeup, but it’s too neutral to be noticeable.” She handed me a red lipstick and let me apply that. “You were already beautiful to start with, now you’re stunning.”
I smiled wide. “Thanks.” But my smile died a second later. Why was I putting so much effort in dressing up and getting beautified for Harvey? I wasn’t into him. Unless, he changed my heart tonight, which honestly, I wouldn’t mind happening.
Or perhaps … I had dressed up hoping Rey would see me. Maybe he would find me before I left the grounds, and he would see how sexy and gorgeous I was. Maybe it would get to him and mess with his mind, and he wouldn’t be able to resist telling me how he really felt about me. Then, he would whisk me away and kiss me senseless.
Sigh. Only in my dreams.
I combed my hair back until it was straight like a board and shining, put on my wool-lined leather jacket, and went downstairs to meet Harvey. He was waiting for me in the lobby, wearing casual pants, a nice sweater, and a suede jacket. His brown hair was combed back, showing off his handsome face.
When he saw me, his eyes went wide. “Holy shit,” he muttered. “You look … amazing.”
I smiled, feeling good about this. After suffering for so long and agonizing over my uncertain future, I thought I deserved this feeling and embraced it. Even if it was for one night, I wanted to enjoy the dinner, the company, the production.
“You did it,” I said, a little stunned we were leaving campus. I didn’t want to admit it, but there were moments I had doubted he would pull this off. “How did you do it?”
He grinned at me. “I asked your mother.”
I glanced a
round, but there was no one nearby to hear him. Though Harvey knew Professor Martha was my mother, we weren’t advertising it. “How?”
“I told her I wanted to take her daughter out on a date,” he said. “Perhaps she thinks I’m a good catch.” He winked at me.
Suppressing a chuckle, I rolled my eyes at him.
Harvey took my arm and helped me down the snow-flanked paths to the underground garage. I couldn’t help but notice that even though I was wearing five-inch heels, Harvey was still half a head taller than me—which was always nice.
In the garage, my eyes won and I ended up glancing at Rey’s usual spot. His car was there, which meant he was at the academy.
And he hadn’t seen me like I had hoped he would.
“Here.” Harvey opened the passenger door of a big, fancy SUV for me.
“Whose car is this?” I asked as I entered the car.
Harvey closed my door, and went to the other side, where he sat behind the steering wheel. Only then did he answer, “Mine.”
I frowned. “Students have their own cars?”
He shook his head. “No. Actually most students can't have cars, only a few.” He glanced at me. “You know who my mother and father are. Usually, I hate when they pull strings for me, but this time, I didn’t mind.”
Harvey turned on the engine, and drove out of the garage. He had to stop at the main gates and show the guards the pass from my mother—a similar one I had, but mine was for walking around campus late at night. Harvey’s was for permission to leave the academy with me for tonight only.
“Stay safe,” the guard told us.
“We will,” Harvey replied before peeling away.
He drove us to West Hill, a small town near the academy. There, he took us to a fancy Italian restaurant.
“Reservation for Harvey Walton,” he said to the hostess once we walked into the restaurant.
I stared at him, a little surprised. He had even called ahead and made a reservation. Wow.
“Right this way, please,” the hostess said. She took us to a large, round booth in the corner of the restaurant. “Your server will be right with you. Enjoy your dinner.”
The Hunter Secret (Rite World: Blackthorn Hunters Academy Book 2) Page 5
