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

by Juliana Haygert

  I faked left and she fell for it. Then, I did a series of fast snap kicks, a roundhouse kick, and a back kick, hitting her in the chest and pushing her back. On my fourth kick, she grabbed my leg.

  “Hey!” I yelled. That was so damn low.

  I was going to jump up and kick her with my other leg, making her lose her grip on me, and land probably on my side on the hard cafeteria floor, but before I could do that, arms closed around my waist and pulled me back.

  I thrashed against the firm hold.

  “Stop it!” Rey said in my ear.

  Instantly, I stopped fighting. A few feet from me, Harvey held Ava. With his arm tight against my waist, Rey dragged me outside the cafeteria, into the cold weather.

  Without my jacket, I shivered against him. His hold only tightened.

  In silence, Rey took me toward the courtyard with the Blackthorn tree. He wiped a wooden bench clean of ice and snow, and pushed me down on it. Then, he knelt before me and stared at me. His gray eyes, almost silver in this gloomy day, rummaged over me, taking every inch of me, searching for bruises.

  His eyes fixed on my cheek. He reached up and ran a thumb over the bruise there. I flinched, not because he had touched me, but because the tenderness quickly became pain again.

  “This is going to look nasty later today.” He lifted his eyes to mine. “What the fuck were you thinking?” Though his question wasn’t nicely phrased, his voice was gentle.

  I shrugged. “I wasn’t. At the time, I was only feeling furious with her. She was the one who punched me first.”

  “Let me guess, because of Harvey.”

  “Why else?” I snorted. “Everything she does is for Harvey, and to impress his parents.”

  Rey sat beside me, a good foot between us. “What about you? Are you trying to impress Harvey too?”

  I frowned. Was he really asking me that? I wanted to lie to him and tell him I was in love with Harvey, and that he confessed to me, and we would get married someday, have several beautiful babies, and live happily ever after.

  But I couldn’t lie, not to this extent, not to him. So I said the next best thing. “It’s none of your business.”

  Slowly, he nodded. “You’re right. It’s not.”

  What was his deal? I wanted to punch him right now. Playing hot and cold like this was killing me. I wished he hadn’t pulled me away from Ava, or taken me outside where we were alone, or took care of me. I would rather Ava and I had beaten each other to a pulp, or that someone else had held me back.

  The clicking of heels approaching fast got my attention. I glanced past Rey and saw as my mother stomped toward us, her face twisted in a nasty scowl.

  “Shit,” I whispered, getting up.

  Rey stood next to me, but my mother didn’t pay him any attention. She pointed her finger at me and said, “You. My office. Now.”

  With a sigh, I walked past Rey and followed her to the Aster building, where the administrative part of the school was located, including the professors’ offices.

  She opened the door to her office, let me pass, then slammed it closed.

  I was expecting her to walk to her desk, tell me to sit, and talk to me calmly, evenly, and firmly as she always did, but this time, she lost it.

  My mother stood right in front of me, a huge knot between her brows. “You and Ava already beat each other up in class several times to the point of being sent to the infirmary. Now you’re getting into fights outside of class too? That’s unacceptable!”

  “She started it!”

  “I don’t care who started it!” My mother’s hands curled into fists. “If she came at you, you should have done your best to dodge her attacks and then leave. Be the bigger person.”

  “She punched me squared in my face!” I pointed to my cheek, knowing it was already bruised. Rey was right; later it would look much worse. “And you want me to just walk away? My blood isn’t that cold.”

  “Then you have to learn to make your blood cold,” my mother said. “You have to try harder.”

  “What the hell is this about?” I put my hands on my waist. “I don’t care if the others think I’m crazy and unstable. Why do you care about my image in school? Are you worried about your image? You shouldn’t. It’s not like anyone knows you’re my mother.”

  My mother’s face turned red with rage. “Watch your mouth, Erin!”

  “Ha.” I scoffed. “I’m nineteen, not nine. Your chance to tell me things like that is long past.”

  I started for the door.

  My mother grabbed my wrist. “We’re not done here.”

  I jerked free of her grip. “Don’t worry. If you think I’m an embarrassment to you, all you need to do is keep quiet. That way, no one will find out I’m your daughter.” I narrowed my eyes, thinking. “If you want, you can completely disassociate from me. You can pass me to another advisor, and we stop meeting for training. There. Then your contact with me will only be during class and no one will ever suspect anything.”

  I walked out her office.

  “Erin!” she called, but I closed the door and kept on moving, one foot in front of the other, until I had descended the stairs, and was back outside in the cold.

  I stared at the Blackthorn tree in the middle of the courtyard.

  I didn’t know what my mother wanted from me. She had given me nothing my entire life, and now she wanted me to be a model daughter?

  In her dreams.

  Feeling like a failure, I shoved my hands inside the pockets of my jacket and walked to the Gardenia building, where I buried myself in my room for the rest of the day.

  10

  Rey

  Despite going to class like a normal student every day, I mostly felt like I was more than just a student at the academy. Because of my duties with campus security and my deal with Randall, there were perks and obligations well above any student.

  But there were days when school drama surrounded me, and I felt like a normal student.

  I had signed up for weapon forging again this semester, and to my surprise, Erin had too. Claire was in here too, and had been her partner since the first day of classes.

  And I was left with Tanner, the douche who was paying too much attention to Claire.

  I didn’t have time to care about others’ opinions and what they did, but I had gotten to know Claire, and thought she was a good person. She was cute, had a good heart, and was a great friend to Erin.

  Because of that, I worried about how lovestruck she seemed whenever Tanner looked her way.

  “Today, we’ll be working with several kinds of metal,” Professor Astrid said. “We’ll grab a piece of each and apply heat to them, try to mold them, get a feel for them. You’ll soon see what metal is best for each kind of weapon.”

  I grunted on the inside. This was basic, and I had learned a thing or two about metals centuries ago. But since Professor Astrid didn’t know how old I was and I needed a good grade, I went to the storage room in the back of the classroom, and picked out pieces of several kinds of metal.

  Tanner leaned over me while I examined the steel section. “Hey, partner, got all the metal we need?”

  I glared at him. “You can get yours yourself.”

  He wound his arm over my shoulders. “But we’re doing this together.”

  I ducked under his arm. “Touch me again, and you’ll lose a fucking finger.”

  Already irritated, I walked out of the storage room, only to almost bump into Erin.

  “Sorry,” she muttered. She didn’t look at me once while she took a large step to the side and walked past me.

  I frowned. Why the fuck did that hurt so much? I should be glad she was acting like I was a stranger.

  Even so, I couldn’t deny hating to see how purple the mark on her cheek was now. Ava had really gotten her. But I had seen Ava earlier this morning, and I was glad to say, Erin left a good bruise on her face too.

  I returned to my assigned forge, and placed all the pieces of metal I had picked out on
the table. A minute later, Tanner showed up carrying pieces for himself—but the dumbass had gotten several of the same.

  “Let’s get to work,” Tanner said, with a grin.

  I knew what he wanted. For me to start so he could copy me. I knew his reputation. Ever since he joined the academy, Tanner had been arrogant, acted like he was the best, and exploited his classmates.

  This semester, I had been assigned to forge number twelve, the same as last semester. Erin and Claire had been assigned to forge number eleven, right beside mine.

  Despite my best efforts to ignore her, my attention was always divided between whatever I was doing and whatever Erin was doing. We were in our third week of classes, and I had butted in on her work twice already. What could I do? I couldn’t resist. When I saw her making a mistake that would cost her a lot of work, or even sometimes hurt her, I had to tell her.

  Erin and Claire brought the pieces of metal to their tables. Instantly, Tanner leaned over ours, his elbow on the top, and his chin on his hand, and smiled wide at Claire.

  Claire’s cheeks turned red.

  Shaking my head, I started working. On the table beside ours, the girls started working too. But Tanner remained in the same position, flirting with Claire, who tried to help Erin, but couldn’t resist stealing glances at Tanner every few seconds.

  I had already tested five different metals, when finally Tanner moved and picked up a piece of cheap iron. He walked around the table and stood right beside me.

  “She’s cute, right?” Tanner asked, his eyes still on Claire.

  “Leave her alone, Tanner,” I said.

  “Why?” He sounded appalled. “She’s single. I’m single. I think we would make a good pair.”

  “Listen, you—”

  I shut my mouth when Claire walked back to the storage room and Tanner went after her, ignoring the warning I was about to give him.

  Really? He was going to trail after her like that? Claire deserved better.

  Even more irritated than before, I dropped the piece of steel I was messing with, and took a step to follow them.

  Erin’s arm shot out in front of me. “Don’t you dare.”

  I glanced at her. “What?”

  “I noticed you were watching Tanner and Claire,” she said, her tone harsh. “I don’t know what your deal is. Maybe you’re into Claire too, but back off now. Tanner was here first.”

  My brows furrowed. “You think I’m into Claire?”

  “Why else would you care if Tanner flirted with her? If they start dating?”

  “Because Tanner is a douche.”

  She crossed her arms and jutted her chin out. “Like some other guys I know.”

  Holy fuck. I ran a hand through my hair. “I know I’m a jerk and I already told you to stay away from me, but I need to tell Claire to stay away from Tanner.”

  “No, you don’t need to do anything.” Erin shook her head. “As her best friend, I’ll take care of her. She’s happy now and excited about him. Leave them alone. If I suddenly think Tanner is a jerk too, I’ll do something about it.”

  She spun around and turned her attention back to the metal on the table.

  I hated that she was right, but I backed the fuck off. For the rest of the class, I did my best to ignore when Tanner openly flirted with Claire, and she fell into his trap.

  After weapon forging class, I had a free period, so I walked around campus and checked the guards’ outpost to make sure everything was running smoothly, then stopped by the library to get started on a project from demon history class.

  I picked up a handful of books on the subject and sat at a table in the corner, from where I could see most of the place—my protective instincts were always on.

  Not even five minutes later, Harper sat down beside me.

  I stared at her, wondering what the fuck she wanted with me? Besides one time when I took her to the infirmary because the professor had asked, I hadn’t talked to her at all.

  But I knew she had been around Erin and Claire the past few days.

  “So, Rey, how are classes going?” Harper asked.

  “Hm, fine.”

  “Good.” She nodded. “Oh, I see you’re working on the Dark Days War. It’s for demon history, right? I remember my sister studying it when she was at the academy. Do you need help?”

  I frowned. Harper’s sister, Holly, was six years older than her and had graduated from the academy some time ago. She now worked in Chasseur Ville because she didn’t want to join the Blackthorn Hunters.

  “No, I’m good.”

  “Hm …” She glanced around. “So …”

  I let out a long sigh. “Harper, I can see there’s something on your mind. Spill it.”

  Her cheeks reddened. “Shit,” she muttered. “All right. Okay. See … I know you’re good friends with Claire—”

  “I wouldn’t say I’m good friends with her, but okay.”

  “—and I wanted to ask you if you know if she likes someone.”

  Wait. Where was this going?

  Erin and Claire entered the library and settled at a table in the middle of the room. Harper’s hazel eyes twinkled as she stared at Claire.

  That was when it struck me.

  Harper liked Claire.

  As if a bad romantic comedy was playing, Tanner walked into the library. He sat down at the table beside Claire and Erin, and turned his flirtatious gaze to Claire, who obviously had a hard time focusing because of him.

  “Harper,” I started, feeling bad for her. “Claire is into Tanner.”

  Harper’s shoulders deflated. “I noticed he was flirting with her, but I think this is the first time I've seen her respond to him like that.”

  Then she was fucking blind, because Claire had been mooning over him for a couple of weeks now.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, feeling awkward about it. I hadn’t had friends in so long, with the exception being Harvey, that saying things like that and feeling sympathy for others made me feel weird.

  She shrugged and plastered a fake smile on her face. “It’s okay. It is what it is.”

  Without another word, Harper got up. She stopped by her table, grabbed her things, and walked out of the library.

  When Harvey arrived and sat down with Tanner so he could flirt with Erin, I decided this really was a fucking romantic comedy.

  Before my temper spiked, I picked up my things and walked out too.

  11

  Erin

  For a week, my mother let me play the rebellious daughter and skip the early morning trainings. But then she invaded my room and dragged me out of my bed.

  “You seem to have forgotten that you’re unlike any other demon hunter,” she said, as she threw my uniform at me. “You’re the daughter of the Supreme Demon. You need to train harder than anyone else.”

  I frowned, trying to think of something clever to say to her, to rebel for a few more minutes, but my brain was still foggy with sleep.

  Besides, I agreed with her.

  It had been almost three months since Asmodeus told me I was King Brikan’s daughter, and no other demon had come for me yet. The quiet was unsettling.

  During winter break, I asked my mother about my father several times, but she always answered with the same thing: She had been young and stupid. She believed his lies and let him trick her. That was it. She never told me anything else.

  This morning during training, it wasn’t any different. I asked her if she had any idea why he was so quiet. I mean, I knew about it now. Why didn’t he just barge into the academy and take me? He certainly had the power to do it.

  Once more, she ignored me.

  Usually when I left training and went back to the Gardenia building to take a shower and have breakfast before classes, the school was still quiet. But not this morning. It was freaking cold out, and there were already a bunch of girls hanging around the courtyard, which had been cleared of snow overnight.

  Not caring about them, I went to my room, took a warm s
hower, put on my uniform and a thick jacket, then met Claire in the cafeteria for breakfast.

  Here too, the place looked busier, with more students walking around and chatting animatedly.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, as I sat beside Claire at our usual table. I placed my tray in front of me, and sipped from my coffee.

  “The Blackthorn Hunters are arriving on campus this morning,” Claire said.

  I frowned. “Why? Did something happen?”

  “Not yet.” She turned a full on smile at me. “They are coming to prepare for the Spring Hunter’s Dance.”

  “The what?”

  Claire chuckled. “I love it that you don’t know a lot about our world, and I have to relive the excitement of finding out about them with you.”

  “I don’t love it,” I said, trying to pretend I was insulted, but that only made her chuckle.

  “The Spring Hunter’s Dance is an annual ball here at the school, honoring the best full-fledged hunters. Students are chosen to help the hunters and plan the ball.” She gestured to the eager girls around the cafeteria. “As you can see, everyone is hoping to get picked.”

  I raised my eyebrows at her. “Are you?”

  She nodded. “Of course I am. Being chosen would be an immense honor.”

  If she said so. I didn’t see anything great about helping plan a ball.

  We finished eating breakfast and walked across campus to our first class of the day. But before we arrived in the Orchid building, the entire campus had gathered in the courtyard.

  “What’s happening now?” I asked, as Claire insisted we joined the others.

  A moment later, the headmaster stepped out of the Aster building, followed by a group of men and women dressed in sleek black leather armor.

  The Blackthorn Hunters.

  As if we were at a concert, the students in the courtyard cheered and applauded, including Claire. It seemed the Blackthorn Hunters were more famous in our society than I realized. From the hysterical way Stella and Ruby screamed, I would say they were more famous than rock stars.

  The demon hunters waved and bowed their heads in acknowledgment. I recognized Doreen with the other hunters, but I had no idea who the others were. If they had been in West Hill that night and seen me, I didn’t remember them.