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

by Juliana Haygert

  The bolt hit her square in the chest. A bolt that was intended to hurt a half-demon, but that certainly was too strong for a human.

  Susan whimpered. She glanced at Zachary, then crumbled to the floor.

  I stared in horror.

  I had killed her.

  I had killed an innocent human.

  The howl that came from Zachary’s throat only increased the sudden pain and terror filling me. He summoned his Dawnblade and brought it to his chest, piercing it through his heart.

  “No!” I cried.

  Beside me, Erin gasped. A few steps back from the scene, Harvey and Ava watched everything, still.

  And I stared at the two bodies on the floor. One charred in the chest, the other with bright red blood pooling underneath.

  “I did that,” I whispered. “It’s my fault.”

  Erin turned to me. “What are you talking about?”

  “I killed his wife, and he killed himself because of it.” I stared into her golden eyes, looking for salvation in them.

  But I didn’t deserve any fucking salvation.

  “That’s ridiculous.” She clasped her hands around my upper arms. “Rey, it’s not your fault.”

  I wanted to believe her, I really did, but with my history, with my temper, with my blood, I knew it wasn’t true. I had turned that bolt around and thrown it at Zachary.

  If I hadn’t done that, his wife wouldn’t have died.

  Muffles and mutters and stomps reached my ears. Harvey and Ava tried to scream and jump on their chairs to catch our attention.

  I stepped back from Erin and went to them, my steps stiff, my movements automatic. I started untying Harvey. After a heavy sigh, Erin followed my lead and worked on freeing Ava.

  “Ow,” Harvey muttered once he was free. Weak, he slumped to the side of the chair, but I caught him. “Thanks.”

  Ava was in better shape than he was and didn’t accept Erin’s help to stand.

  “What happened?” Erin asked.

  “Zachary came to me in my room,” Harvey said, as we walked out of the cottage. “We fought a little, but he used his magic on me. But then he teletransported and knocked me out as soon as we arrived here.”

  Erin frowned at Harvey, then Ava. “There was a lot of blood in your room, and in the restroom.”

  “Zachary healed the worst of our wounds with a special healing potion,” Ava said, her voice quieter than usual.

  “Zachary wasn’t really a bad person,” Erin mused. “Perhaps he was just an unhinged half-demon.”

  Ava scoffed. “If he wasn’t evil, he wouldn’t have taken us.”

  “If he was really evil, he wouldn’t have healed your wounds,” Erin protested.

  Ava shot her a glare. “You know what? I’m not gonna argue with you about this. I’m done with all this shit.” She slipped into the backseat of my car, ending the conversation.

  Erin went to the backseat with Ava, and I helped Harvey to the passenger seat.

  The only thing we talked about when riding back to the academy was what we were going to tell Randall and the others. Since I would probably have to write a report on all of this, I wanted it to be as close to the truth as possible: A mad Zachary had kidnapped Harvey and Ava. When Erin and I went to check on his wife, to make sure she was okay—the biggest lie of my future report—we found Zachary. He attacked us, and in the heat of the battle, I ended up killing his wife. And overwhelmed with grief, Zachary took his own life.

  At least Randall would be happy that his order of disposing of Zachary had been fulfilled.

  Once we were back, Erin and I helped Harvey and Ava to the infirmary. Cecile, the head physician, took them in without many questions. I promised her I would report on this right away, and would come back to check on them tomorrow morning.

  Wanting to be alone, I walked out of the Daffodil building. Before I reported this, I needed to clear my head, with the chilly air filling my lungs, and calm my traitor heart.

  “Rey.”

  Her voice was the last thing I wanted to hear right now.

  I should have ignored her, pretended I hadn’t heard her, but I was tired of being a fucking jerk all the time.

  I turned to her as she approached me. “Hey.”

  Erin halted two feet from me. “How are you feeling?”

  I frowned. Was that a trick question? I shrugged. “Fucking great.”

  Those golden eyes narrowed at me. “Why are you lying to me? I noticed you were upset before. What can I do to help you?”

  “Stay away from me,” I said, loud and clear.

  She flinched. “But—“

  “No, Erin, I mean it.” My hurt, my disappointment, and my frustration, all rolled up into one messy ball that quickly became pure anger. “Don’t you fucking get it? For centuries, all I did was hurt people. I tricked them, and I killed them. Now, even when I’m trying not to be that bad, I end up hurting them.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered.

  “The hell it wasn’t! I could have stopped that bolt. I could have tried another approach. But I threw it at him, knowing it would have hurt him.” An invisible hand squeezed my chest. “And now two people are dead because of me.”

  “No, Rey, don’t say that.” She reached for me. “You’re a good person; I know you are.”

  I took a step back, not letting her touch me. She didn’t get it. She would never get it. Unless I told her all the fucked up things I did, unless I showed them to her, she wouldn’t understand how tainted my past was.

  How tainted my life continued to be.

  “Erin, for once and for all, just … stay away from me.” Leaving my heart in her hands, I turned and walked away.

  23

  Erin

  So many things happened the next few days, it was a whirlwind, and at the same time, time dragged.

  After that night with Zachary, that case, which had been quiet to begin with, was wrapped up quickly. Nobody knew what happened. Harvey and Ava were discharged from the infirmary the next day, and advised to take it slow for a while. Thankfully, none of them had terrible injures and they would heal nicely.

  As for Zachary, Randall released a statement saying that he and his wife had died in an accident at the cottage outside Chasseur Ville. The school grieved and mourned and participated in a small funeral for them.

  Claire had been spending less and less time with me. Whenever I brought up Tanner, she shut me out, or walked away. Afraid of losing my friend, I stopped bothering her about him. I kind of hated myself for that, but I didn’t see another way. Unless he was stupid with her again. Then, I wouldn’t have it. Thankfully, Tanner hadn’t made any more scenes.

  Meanwhile, Rey was being quieter and more isolated than ever.

  Although he had told me to stay away from him, and it freaking hurt, I wondered if a part of it was his hurt talking. Maybe he wanted me to stay away, but it didn't hate me. I was worried about him. But he wouldn’t let me get close to ask how he was doing. So, I sent Harvey. Which didn’t work, because he was avoiding Harvey too.

  But there was only so much I could do besides worrying.

  For two weeks, I tried keeping my mind on class stuff, tests and assignments, and helping organize the Spring Hunter Ball. Things were odd between Ava and me, but whenever Thierry was busy with demon hunter stuff, I helped her with decorations.

  One afternoon before the day of the ball, though, Ava said she had other stuff to do, and I took over for her, finishing up decorating the ballroom, and Thierry helped me.

  While we set up the tablecloths and the fancy flower arrangements in the center of the tables, Thierry seemed to come back to his old self—more or less. He would smile at me, as if he was flirting, but I noticed there was still some reservation there.

  I didn’t know what to make of it, though.

  So, I didn’t. I continued doing my job as if it was the only thing that mattered right now.

  I picked up a big box with fabric napkins from the cart in
the middle of the room, but then it was taken from me.

  “Let me help you with that,” Thierry said. He put the box on one of the tables and grinned at me. “There.”

  I frowned at him. “Thank you.” But I could have done that, even if the box was a little heavy.

  I picked up a handful of napkins from the box and started folding them the way I had been told to.

  Thierry followed my lead and started folding fabric napkins too. “Erin, I want to talk to you about something.”

  “What is it?”

  “I found out you helped the female fae escape from West Hill a few weeks ago,” he said.

  My hands froze. I looked up at him. So that was why he was acting strange and avoiding me. “How—?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “I found out, was pissed about it, and I told Randall, who said he was going to talk to you. I’m sorry if you got in trouble because of me.”

  I didn’t know if that was amusing or concerning. Randall knew I had helped Farrah escape from the demon hunters, but he hadn’t done anything to punish me. That was really weird.

  “It’s okay,” I said, still wary of where this was going.

  “I know you probably didn’t do it on purpose,” he continued. “You were probably just scared and feeling a little pity for the strange creature. I understand, I swear I do. But you have to keep one thing in mind: Supernaturals are evil. All of them. If she hadn’t needed your help, that fae would have killed you without a thought.”

  I really doubted that. Farrah had been nothing more than a scared and friendly fae. If I could have gone back in time, I would have done the same, if not more. She deserved my help.

  “If you say so,” was my automatic response. I wouldn’t argue with him about this, because I knew it wouldn’t get anywhere.

  “Erin, I have to ask, do you know where she went?”

  I shook my head, glad I wasn’t lying about that. “I don’t.” Though, if I knew, I wouldn’t tell him.

  “It’s okay. I’ll find her at some point.” He continued folding napkins with me and spreading them around the table. Then he stopped suddenly. “One more thing. Although you lied, I still like you, and I was wondering if you want to be my date to the ball tomorrow night?”

  I stared at him, surprised by the question. I mean, a couple of weeks ago, before he started avoiding me, I thought he would ask me, but then he changed.

  And now the question came out of the blue.

  I opened my mouth to tell him no, but pressed my lips tight before the word could come out. Why wasn’t I going with him? Because he was an advocate that all supernaturals were evil? So were ninety-nine percent of the people inside this academy and I still liked a bunch of them. Because I was still hoping that Rey would ask me to go with him? That might be more accurate, but I also knew it would never happen. Waiting for Rey would only lead to more heartbreak.

  Going to the ball with Thierry didn’t mean that I liked him, and that I hoped he was my soulmate, right? It was only for fun, a good time between friends. That could happen, right? Besides, Claire was going with Tanner. I would have to go with Ava or alone.

  Thierry was a much better choice.

  I didn’t think about it. I just went with it. “Sure. I would love to.”

  The grin that spread over his lips made me think he hoped for more. “Great.”

  Because of the ball, the students had been given permission to visit Chasseur Ville to go shopping.

  Despite the tense mood between us, Claire had insisted we both go. But while walking down the streets of Chasseur Ville—unusually empty at this time of the day—Claire seemed to be nervous. Each sudden sound made her jump, and she kept looking over her shoulder as if a demon would lunge at her any second.

  She veered toward the fanciest dress shop in the village, where half of the girls in the school were currently trying on gowns.

  I grabbed her wrist and said, “How about we go for ice cream first?”

  She tilted her head. “Ice cream? In this cold?”

  It wasn’t too cold today, but it was still a far cry from a nice spring day.

  “Ice cream is still ice cream, no matter the weather.”

  She pointed to the store. “If we don’t go now, we’ll miss all the good dresses.”

  I shrugged. “I would rather eat ice cream with you then fight my way through a crowd of crazed girls, who might end up ripping each other’s dresses. I’m sure we’ll find something we like later.”

  At that, a small smile appeared on Claire’s lips. “You’re right.”

  I hooked my arm with Claire’s and took her to the ice cream shop. As I expected, the place was deserted. We ordered two scoops on a waffle cone each, and sat at the tall counter in front of the glass wall, watching the cozy streets outside.

  “So …” I started. This had been my plan all along: to get her to a nice place and have a long talk. “What’s going on with you and Tanner?”

  Claire almost dropped her cone. I thought she would evade my question, ignore me, rush out the shop, but instead, she surprised me by letting out a long breath and saying, “I honestly don’t know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean … we’re together and I love him. I know he can be rough and say bad things to me here and there, but then he turns around and treats me like a princess. But sometimes, only sometimes, I’m scared of him.”

  Admitting that to me must have been hard. I reached over and took her hand in mine. “If you’re scared of him, it means there’s something wrong there.” There were a ton of wrong things in their relationship, but I was afraid that if I started drilling her about each of them, she would shut down again, and not talk to me anymore. “He needs to treat you like a princess all the time, not only sometimes.”

  “I know. I keep telling myself that, but it’s so hard.” She turned her green eyes to me. “I’ve actually considered breaking up with him a couple of times …”

  “Claire, you can do it,” I said, taking advantage of her admission. “I know breaking up hurts, but you have to do it. And I promise to help you through it. I’ll hold your hand like this the entire time.” I squeezed her hand.

  She offered me a sad smile. “When you put it like that.”

  “I know you can do it,” I insisted.

  Finally, she nodded. “All right. I promise to break up with him.”

  “Before the ball tomorrow,” I added.

  “Okay. I’ll break up with him before the ball tomorrow night.”

  A sense of relief filled my chest. Having Claire away from Tanner was one last thing for me to worry about.

  After we finished the ice cream, Claire and I went for a walk around the villa. After all, the main dress shop was probably still full, and I didn’t want to have a cat fight for a dress anytime soon.

  In the end, that worked out quite well, as Claire and I stumbled by a small store at the edge of town, with the most beautiful gowns I had ever seen. And I found the perfect dress for me.

  24

  Rey

  Randall had made it clear that he wanted me to go to the fucking Spring Hunter Ball tonight, but I wasn’t in the mood. Though, I couldn’t stay locked in my room either—not when knowing Erin would be there. So, I put on some shorts and thermal tee and went to the Hyacinth building, where I put up a sweat in the weight lifting room.

  It was better this way. If I stayed here, I was getting a good workout, and I wouldn’t have to see Erin, probably even more beautiful than usual, all dressed up for the ball.

  I confess that I wanted to go just to see her.

  But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I had already killed two people this month. I didn’t want to put Erin in even more danger than she already was.

  With the music blasting loudly through the ceiling speakers, I didn’t hear anyone approaching me, until I heard his voice.

  “I knew I would find you here.”

  I dropped the bar on its hooks and scooted from un
derneath it. I frowned at Harvey, who was dressed in a black tuxedo. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “Saving you from your misery.”

  “My misery?”

  “Don’t pretend everything is fine and dandy,” he said, slipping his hands inside his pants pockets. “You might not like it, but I know you, and I know you’re here to keep yourself busy, to keep your mind busy, because you think you shouldn’t go to the ball.”

  “That’s not true—”

  “No, it isn’t the entire truth,” he said, cutting me off. “The truth is that you’re hiding from Erin, because you think you don’t deserve her.”

  I stood from the bench, suddenly upset with the direction this conversation was taking. “I think you’re wasting your time here, Harvey.”

  “Look,” he started. “I know things have been messed up between us, and for some time there, I really hated you for all the things that happened …” He was talking about how my dear, dead father had killed his uncle and maimed his mother to the point where she couldn’t hunt anymore. “But with the recent events, I saw that I might be wrong about you.”

  This was so atypical. Harvey didn’t do the whole mushy thing. “What the fuck are you getting at?”

  “Just listen to me, dude,” he snapped. “You just saved me from dying at the hands of an insane half-demon. I think I owe you at least some consideration.” I stared at him, a little shocked. “During the past couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot and I realized that I might have overreacted. You seem like a good guy, despite your heritage.”

  “So, in exchange for saving you, you’re offering your friendship.” I snorted. “No, thank you.”

  “Stop being a jerk and let me finish,” Harvey said. “I’m not here to be friends again, idiot. I’m here to give you something in return, and that is the chance to tell Erin how you really feel.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “I knew you would be here, holed up, licking your wounds, going insane inside your own mind, while in fact you should be out there, going after her, and confessing that you love her.”