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

by Juliana Haygert

  Erin turned her face away from the gore, burying her nose in my chest.

  If I could have held her like that forever, I would have.

  But then shadows spread across the floor like fog.

  Farrah yelled, “Get away from it!” She jumped over a side table. After pulling his blade out of a fae’s chest, Harvey launched onto an armchair. I jumped to the couch and pulled Erin with me, but tendrils of shadows reached up, winding around her legs and tugging her back.

  “No!” I screamed as panic filled my chest.

  The shadows wound around Erin’s legs and arms, making her immobile, and dragged her back until she stood beside General Auron and the other two remaining fae.

  General Auron wrapped a hand around Erin’s neck. “Now, Lady Farrah, if you really don’t want to see your friend dead, come to me.”

  Farrah glared at the general. “You’re a monster!”

  He tsked. “I’m just following orders, my lady.”

  Her hands clenched into fists. “Then tell Prince Lark he’s a monster. And that I’ll never marry him.”

  With a loud scream, Farrah threw her hands out. Dozens, hundreds of ice daggers flew out of her hands and in direction of the fae and Erin.

  My heart dropped, thinking Farrah was going to hit Erin too, but I should have known better. The frost fae guided her ice daggers so they hit everywhere, but where Erin stood. The daggers pierced the two shadow fae from head to toe. Their bodies fell backward and hit the floor in a loud thud.

  Still holding Erin, General Auron had created a shadow shield in front of himself. The ice daggers hit it and melted away instantly.

  He dropped the shield and smiled at Farrah. “Impressive, Lady Farrah. But not enough.”

  “Who says I’m done?” Farrah brought her hands up. The melted ice on the floor shot up in ice spikes around the general. Some pierced through his feet and arms, but none of them hit any essentials parts.

  The general grunted. “You insolent bitch …”

  Debilitated, the shadows on the ground retreated, and the tendrils around Erin’s arms and legs loosened. I ran to her as the general let her go, and I caught her in my arms before she hit the floor.

  “Rey,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on mine.

  “I’ve got you,” I told her, my heart breaking with all the agony I had just lived through. If Farrah hadn’t done something, I would have. “You’re safe now.”

  “Now, General Auron,” Farrah said. She brought up more ice around him, making sure he wouldn’t be able to escape anytime soon. “You go back and tell Prince Lark that this—” She gestured to all the bodies around us. “—will happen each time he sends his men after me.” She lifted her hands above her head and the ice became a prison, enveloping all of him.

  Then Farrah fell back on the couch, breathing hard.

  I helped Erin up, but the moment she gained her footing, she disentangled herself from me and approached the frost fae. “Your wound,” she said, leaning over Farrah’s arm. “We need to treat it.”

  “Right now, what we need is to get out of here,” I said. “It'll only be a matter of time before the demon hunters come this way again.”

  “You’re right.” Erin nodded. “We can treat her wound on the way.”

  Harvey frowned. “What? We’re helping her now?”

  “Didn’t she just help us?” Erin asked. “You saw it. The shadow fae were the ones after her. They attacked the town. And they almost killed us too. If it weren’t for Farrah, General Auron would have killed me.”

  Just the thought twisted my gut. “I’m with Erin.”

  “But she’s a supernatural—”

  “I know what you’re thinking,” I said, interrupting Harvey. “That all supernaturals are evil, but that’s not true.”

  “I know that too,” Erin said.

  Harvey’s frown deepened as he glanced at the frost fae. “You did help us just now …”

  “All I want is to get away,” Farrah said. “I want to live alone and in peace. But they won't let me.”

  From what I could gather, Farrah was promised to this Prince Lark, a shadow fae prince, and she didn’t want to marry him. If he was as evil and nasty as his general, I could understand why.

  “Time to go,” I told them.

  Erin helped Farrah, who was weak because of her wound and using a lot of her magic. Careful, we exited the house and started down the south road. We aimed for the shadows of the intact buildings, but that wasn’t enough.

  “What’s happening here?”

  We all stilled.

  Slowly, I turned around and faced Norah. She looked impassive in her dark uniform and the Dawnblade in her hand.

  “Norah, I know this looks bad but—”

  “But you’re helping the innocent fae escape,” she said, cutting me off. Browns pinched, Norah glanced over her shoulder, in the direction of the green. Then she returned her gaze to the wounded fae. “Go quick, before the others come. I’ll try to stall them if they come this way.”

  I stared at her, confuse. “Why are you helping us?” It wasn’t normal for a demon hunter to be considerate of supernaturals.

  “I have my reasons,” Norah said. “Now go, before it’s too late.” With her hands, she ushered us away.

  I wouldn’t argue with her. “Let’s go,” I muttered, grabbing Farrah’s arm and helping Erin carry her.

  We hobbled to the edge of the town, where Erin, Harvey, and Farrah kept hidden while I went down the side street and picked up my car.

  Thankfully, it all went smoothly—I brought my car over, we all got in, and drove away from town. I turned up the air since Erin didn’t have a jacket, but she complained that it would be better to keep it chilly for Farrah.

  I handed the first aid kit I had gotten from the trunk to Erin, and she worked on cleaning and dressing Farrah’s wound. Since it was magical, Farrah probably needed a powerful healing potion, but this was all we could do right now.

  Meanwhile, Harvey complained about having to leave his car behind. I almost reached across the seat and punched him. Really? I was more worried about the fact that he was wearing a sweater and Erin had left her jacket when they ran from the restaurant, but he hadn’t fucking bothered to offer his sweater to her.

  Per Farrah’s instructions, I drove around the mountain for a couple of hours, and dropped her off at a hiking trail outside a small town. She promised she would stop to take care of her wounds and eat something before proceeding with her escape.

  “Thank you so much,” she said, with a soft smile. “It’s really good to know there are great demon hunters out there. My wish is that all of them learn from you.”

  She waved at us, then disappeared into the forest.

  “I hope the prince doesn’t find her,” Erin said, her voice low.

  “Me too,” I said.

  In silence, I drove us back to the academy. It was already past midnight when I parked the car in the underground garage. Harvey and Erin hopped out and started walking away.

  I tried holding it in, and letting them go, but her name rolled out of my tongue before I could bite it down and hold it in. “Erin …”

  She glanced at me over her shoulder. “What?”

  “Can we talk?” I didn’t even know what I was going to say to her.

  Her brows slammed down. “No.”

  She wound her arm through Harvey’s and resumed walking away with him.

  And I stood there, staring at them, as the pit of jealousy inside me only grew bigger, threatening to consume me alive.

  9

  Erin

  I knew it was a dream, but I couldn’t wake up, no matter how hard I tried, or wanted.

  In my dream, I was alone in a classroom at the academy. I was seated in the middle of the classroom, waiting for the other students and the professor to arrive and for class to start.

  Suddenly, the room’s light dimmed, bathing the corners in darkness. Two figures stepped out of the darkness. Though I had neve
r seen them before, I knew who they were—Brianne and Cindy. But here, their skin was pale, almost gray, their eyes were dull, and their hair looked like black hay.

  They dragged their feet closer to me, limping like zombies.

  “Erin, help us,” they called out, their voices desperate. “Please, help us.”

  I didn’t get what they wanted help with, until other figures stepped out of the shadows. The demons—a mix of all the ones I had seen so far: garrimps, garrachs, screinors, and muttmaugs—stalked after them.

  “Please, Erin, save us.”

  I stood up and conjured my magic, my darkfire appeared in my open palms. But when I tried to throw it at the demons, they faded away into the air. I tried again and again, but I couldn’t control the darkfire.

  So, I ran to them.

  But I didn’t advance. No matter how much I moved my feet and ran, I never got out of the same place.

  “Please, Erin!” they cried.

  Desperation clashed over me. I opened my mouth to tell them to hang on, but my voice didn’t come out.

  The demons got them.

  I screamed, but no sound came out.

  The demons ran their hands across their necks.

  Red blood oozed out.

  I sat up in my bed, drenched in sweat and breathing hard.

  Holy shit, another dream? How many was it now? Six? Seven? Ten? I had lost count.

  Since that fight against Asmodeus and finding out the truth about me, and that Brianne and Cindy were my half-sisters, I had been having these crazy nightmares. Each time I was in a normal place—the training grounds, the cafeteria, the classroom—and then Brianne and Cindy arrived, asking for help. Soon, demons appeared and killed them while I could barely move.

  These nightmares felt so freaking real.

  Exhausted, I reached for my phone on the nightstand and checked the hour. It was three in the morning. I had barely slept three hours. And in another two, I would have to be up to train with my mother.

  Holy shit.

  I texted my mother: Can we not train this morning? I’m having a bad night.

  I didn’t expect her to reply to me right away, but she did: I’ll give you half an hour more. Meet me at 6.

  Shit.

  That wasn’t what I wanted. Exhausted and upset, I hugged my pillow and tried to go back to sleep, but all I did was rest my body, because my mind didn’t stop.

  Of course, the thing I most thought about was Rey. He had been such a jerk last night, with a few tender moments, like when he saved me from the shadow fae’s magic, and then broken my fall when General Auron let go of me. But other than that, what the hell? Why had he gone to West Hill? Because of Farrah? I doubted it. He learned about what was happening when he got there.

  Then why was he there? It couldn’t be because of me, could it? If it was because of me, then I really didn’t understand him.

  Honestly, I really didn’t want to understand him. Right now, all I wanted was to stay away from him. Only then I would be able to forget him and move on.

  Reluctantly, I got up at five thirty and met my mother for training. Because I was so tired and sore, she kicked my butt so hard.

  “What is the problem?” she asked, furious with my performance.

  I told her I had a nightmare and didn’t sleep well. I felt bad not telling her about what had happened last night—she would hear about it eventually, I was sure—and about my nightmares in detail, but at the same time, I didn’t want to talk about it with her.

  But there was one thing I wanted to talk about. “Why did you give permission for Harvey to take me out?” I asked her when we were gathering our stuff after training was done.

  “Because I think he’s a good guy,” my mother said, her voice as flat as always. “He comes from a good family, he has a powerful name, and he has a bright future.” She paused and a knot showed up between her brows. “Moreover, he knows about your secret and still likes you. It’s better like this, to not have to hide the truth from your partner.”

  I shook my head. “Why are we talking about partners? Can’t a woman be alone and happy? I think I’ll start a movement. Alone and happy. That’s my new motto.”

  My mother chuckled.

  I stared at her as if I she was a stranger.

  Her smile dissolved. “You’re dismissed,” she said quickly, pretending nothing happened.

  I was still thinking about my mother and chuckles—two things that shouldn’t go together—when I joined Claire for our monster identification class an hour later, so I was a little unguarded when Professor Eleanor marched into class and knocked three times on her desk to quiet down the students.

  “I’m sure by now many of you heard about the hunt at West Hill last night,” she said, her voice serious. “Since we talk about all kinds of supernaturals in this class, I’ll tell you exactly what happened last night.”

  I stiffened. I hadn’t even told Claire about it yet. Two desks from me, Harvey leaned back in his chair, as if his mother was talking nonsense.

  Ava raised her hand. “I heard several kinds of fae attacked West Hill.” She smiled wide, like a psycho. Only a blind person wouldn’t see she was trying to do anything she could to gain Professor Eleanor’s favor.

  “Not several kinds,” the professor said. “Only a female frost fae. She invaded town and attacked innocent humans. When our demon hunters arrived, she had already destroyed a good part of downtown.”

  Several gasps bounced through the class.

  Claire turned to me and said in a low voice, “You were there last night. What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” I whispered to her.

  The professor went on, “After destroying half of West Hill, the fae was able to trick our demon hunters and run. She’s now at large and considered very dangerous.”

  “Leave it to me, professor,” Peter exclaimed, sounding enthusiastic. “I’ll go after her and kill her.”

  Harvey slapped his friend’s chest, but didn’t say anything. Peter snapped at him, and the professor seemed to be fighting an eye roll.

  “Although it’s unfortunate, this example illustrates what we’ve been telling you for years,” the professor said. “All supernaturals are evil. We might be called demon hunters and hunt mainly demons, but when we can, we protect innocent lives from the rest of the supernaturals.”

  I frowned, not liking this one bit.

  So far, I had met Wyatt, a werewolf, and now Farrah, a frost fae, and they had been nice to me. In fact, I believed Farrah was a great person. I could be completely mistaken, of course, but I really thought she was trying to live in peace, while the fae prince sent his shadow fae soldiers after her, thus destroying the town and attacking innocent humans. It wasn’t her doing.

  This mentality had to change, and the first step to that might be in the headmaster’s Black Knight Unit. He wanted to bring half-demons to the academy. Once they were accepted, it would only be a matter of time before the entire supernatural world was understood better.

  One could only hope …

  Claire and I went to two more classes before sitting at our regular table in the cafeteria. While we ate, I told her all about my date with Harvey, the fire that broke out at the restaurant, which now I believed had been done by the shadow fae, and the demon hunters marching into town and hunting Farrah. I also told her about Farrah, how I had been awestruck by the beautiful frost fae, and how amazing she seemed. And, to finish it up, I told her about Rey … how he had showed up in town, then saved me and held me, and that it all seemed like pure jealousy.

  “So, when he asked to talk to me when we arrived back at the academy, I told him no,” I said.

  Claire swooned. “I know he’s a jerk, but it sure seems like he was jealous.”

  I groaned. “As if.”

  “Tell me another reason he would have gone there, then?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I’m mistaken, and he did hear about the fae and went there to help?” But I was sure that wasn�
�t the case. Right now, I was fooling myself, so my heartbreak would be less hurtful.

  Suddenly, a shadow fell over me.

  I glanced up and saw Ava standing right beside me, her hands on her hips. “I heard all about your date with Harvey last night,” she spat, clearly not happy.

  What had she heard? That we talked all night? That we had a good time, but as friends? Or had she heard about how we fought shadow fae side by side … I really doubted that.

  “Oh yeah?” I asked, wishing she would leave me alone.

  She dropped her arms and balled her hands into fists. “You kissed him, you bitch.”

  I stood up at that, appalled by her statement. “I did what?”

  She snorted. “Now you’re trying to deny it? You’re really a bitch.”

  Oh, she was getting on my nerves. “You’re the bitch, Ava. Everyone in the academy knows it.”

  I didn’t have time to react. She punched me in the cheek. My head snapped to the side and pain spread over my face. My vision darkened.

  Holy shit.

  That was it.

  When I turned around, I came unloaded. I landed a nice punch to her chin.

  “Stop it!” Claire yelled. The rest of the students in the cafeteria took notice and surrounded us, but my focus was on Ava.

  She advanced on me, coming with her fists, but I spun around and struck her with a beautiful sidekick to her waist. Groaning, she stumbled back, but only to come at me with a series of fast roundhouse kicks. I deflected most with my forearms, but holy shit, that hurt. She backed me up against a table, and ended up kicking me in the shoulder, before I was able to duck under her leg, and get out of the corner.

  Meanwhile, Claire and Harper screamed for us to stop, Stella and Ruby laughed, and the rest of the students cheered us on, joking about bets.