The sun was already setting when we stepped outside, making the woods look scarier than during the day. For a moment, I wanted to run back inside and slam the door. Instead, I walked forward, making Beth follow me.
I heard a rustling sound coming from the trees to our right but didn’t see anything when I looked. I didn’t feel any warning tingles either. We kept to the path, and no one bothered us, but I heaved a sigh of relief when I finally saw the main building.
It was blazing in the darkness. Every light was on, and I saw figures standing around outside. As we got closer, I heard a lot of whispering. Ian’s name was repeated over and over again.
“What’s going on?” I asked a guy with his hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“The council is holding an emergency meeting right now.”
“What about?”
“No one knows,” a girl nearby answered. “All we know is it has to do with Ian. They were waiting on Councilman Ivan but he got here about an hour ago and since then, we haven’t heard anything.”
“What about Ian?” I asked, worried that something had happened to him.
Another guy overheard us and walked over. “I heard it’s about the new recruit that came in. Ian has been so busy training her, he’s been shirking his duties.”
“I doubt that,” ponytail guy said. “Ian has never shirked his duties, and I’ve seen him out on patrol every day. There must be something else going on.”
“I heard they’re trying to send him away to one of the other Guardianship compounds because he let a demon escape.”
“Shush,” someone else said. “You all know that’s not true. He couldn’t have killed a demon by himself anyway. It has to be about the girl. Maybe she enchanted him or something. You know Ian won’t be with anyone who isn’t his mate, and I doubt very much he found a mate with a little witch. From what I hear, she barely has any magic, and her fighting skills are subpar.”
My blood began to boil, listening to them talk about me as if I was worthless. If Ian was in any trouble because of me, I would be pissed. Kellan told him to train me. He was doing his job.
My magic rushed through my body, and I struggled to control it. I could hurt someone, and not all the guardians might deserve it. They hadn’t recognized me since it was dark out, but if I used my magic, and brought too much attention to myself, they would figure it out. Beth grabbed my arm and tried to pull me back, but I resisted.
“Why is everyone standing around here? Can’t you go inside and find out what’s going on?” I asked, my voice dangerously soft.
“No. They put a protection spell up so no one could get inside.”
“Why?”
“The last time they did this was when they punished a guardian who turned rogue. They didn’t want him to hurt anyone else at the compound. Hopefully, they aren’t going to do that to Ian. He’s one fine male to look at during training.”
I stepped back in disgust. These people would not lift a finger to help Ian. I walked closer to the building, but when I reached the stairs, I stopped. I couldn’t move any farther. The barrier kept me from getting inside.
My palms itched more, and I closed my eyes, breathing deeply to steady myself.
“Hey, that’s the new girl,” someone yelled. They finally figured it out.
“What did you do to Ian?”
“Is he being punished because of you?”
“Has he gone rogue like the last guy?”
The questions came from everywhere at once, and I couldn’t stop the images of Ian being hurt. My magic seared through my body, burning it’s way to my palms, and I flung my hands out, not able to contain the magic inside me. My fear for Ian overpowered my instincts to hide myself and my magic.
My magic blasted a hole in the protection barrier, and everyone was thrown backward except Beth and myself.
“Thanks for not letting it hit me,” she said. “That would’ve hurt.” I looked around at the people that were struggling to get to their feet.
“I didn’t. I don’t even know what I did,” I said. I grabbed her hand and ran inside the building as alarms sounded from the compound.
“Ian!” I yelled as we ran into the hall. Guardians stood outside the doors to one room, and they had fireballs in their hands, waiting for us. One threw a fireball at my head, but I ducked and shot my arm out, covering them in some sort of cage. I still didn’t know what I was doing, but I had to get to Ian.
Blind fear kept me yelling his name as I barged through the door. Ian stood in the center of the room, facing the council with guards on either side of him. When the door banged open, everyone turned to look. They stared at me as I ran to Ian, Beth behind me.
I grabbed Ian in a hug and looked his whole body over for bruises. My eyes landed on the rope binding his wrists and glazed over. I put my hand to it, and it disintegrated. Then I turned to face the council.
“Who did this to him?” I asked quietly.
I knew from touching it that the rope had been altered to keep Ian from using his magic. When no one answered, I threw a hand out, and a giant lightning bolt appeared. I pulled my hand back to throw it at the council when Kellan stepped forward.
“It’s ok, Serena. Ian’s ok. He’s not hurt. He had to be tied up during questioning.”
“Questioning? For what?”
“Certain council members,” he eyed John, “felt that Ian was slacking in his duties to The Guardianship.”
“He wasn’t,” I interrupted, but Kellan cut me off.
“And some are worried Ian has abandoned his clan and heritage since he’s spending so much time with you.”
“What? What does that have to do with anything? He’s an adult. He can spend time with whoever he wants.”
“There are some rules in our world that you wouldn’t understand yet, but I think we can put most of those problems to rest tonight. As I was saying to all of you,” Kellan addressed the rest of the council, “Ian is not guilty of slacking in his duties. He has done exactly as requested by training Serena, and he’s still patrolling the compound, protecting it and the nary’s in town that need protecting.”
“That may be,” Councilman John said, “but his clan has forbidden him from being with anyone other than his mate, and we can all see that he is attached to Serena, and she to him.” I felt my face flush. What was wrong with this guy? Ian and I could be with whoever we wanted. “I vote that we cast him out and take his powers. He has disgraced his entire clan and The Guardianship. How can we trust a man who has broken the most sacred vow of his people?”
I felt the magic in me rise to answer the challenge to Ian.
“You won’t touch him,” I growled, lost in my fear until I felt Ian stand behind me and pull me close.
“Relax, sweetheart, they can’t hurt me,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “They can only hurt me if I have broken my vow, which I haven’t.” People around us gasped, and I watched as Kellan stepped forward, smiling. Councilman John sneered and stood up.
“How can we be sure this isn’t a ploy to get himself out of trouble?”
“Really, John. You saw the way she acted when she thought he was in danger.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t change the law.”
Ian stepped forward. “No, it doesn’t. I wanted to wait until Serena had time to adjust to her new reality. Since you obviously aren’t going to give her that time, I’ll do what I have wanted to from the start.”
Ian turned me around and grabbed my hands. “Serena, you are my life, you are my heart, you are my soul. I claim you as my soulmate from now until the end. I will stay by your side no matter the cost, and I will fight to protect you with my dying breath. I am giving you my soul for all time. You are my soulmate.” He leaned down a placed a chaste kiss on my lips. My head was still reeling from everything he said. He just stood there looking at me as the council erupted.
“He can’t do that,” I heard someone yell.
“You forced his hand,” I heard another p
erson. I think it was Kellan.
“What if she doesn’t accept?” I heard Jabari ask.
All the yelling faded away when Ian moved closer to me. “It’s ok, Serena. Don’t worry about them. Thank you for coming to rescue me. I don’t know what caused them to think I would betray them, but you came just in time.”
I threw my arms around him again, thinking about what they could have done to him. I pulled his head down for a real kiss, not caring if anyone was watching. “Thank you again, Serena,” Ian said when I let him go. “Let’s leave them to their fighting. Kellan will get it straightened out and let us know in the morning what happened.”
“Are you sure? What if they come after you?”
“I have the baddest magi on my side. I think I’ll be ok. Besides, Kellan won’t let anything else happen. We have answered all their complaints now.”
“What complaints?”
“I’ll tell you about it later. Now let’s go home.” I looked at the people around us and spotted Beth. I waved her over, and we walked out together.
“Why don’t we wait until tomorrow to take me home? You’ve had an eventful evening, and it’s late now,” Beth said once we were almost to Ian’s cabin.
“Ok,” I told her. “We’ll take you home first thing in the morning.” I looked at Ian, and he nodded. We went to bed right away. We were all too tired to talk. Ian would explain everything in the morning.
It felt like we had barely fallen asleep when I was woken up by Molly barking in my face. Ian jerked awake too, and we quickly pulled clothes on. Beth was already up when we walked into the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“We have no idea, but it can’t be good if Molly is waking us up.”
“I need to go find out what’s going on,” Ian said. At that moment, the alarm sounded, and Ian’s phone beeped. He looked at it and swore. “Something’s trying to get through the front gate.”
“What?” Beth and I asked at the same time. I had a feeling I knew what it was with Molly’s behavior, but I hoped I was wrong.
“A demon,” Ian said, texting someone. He put his phone into his pocket before giving me a quick kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I’m going with you.”
“No. You aren’t ready.”
“You know I am. Besides, what if it breaks in. It will come right for me.”
“It won’t break in. Everyone is heading to the gates now. I know you want to come, but I need you to stay here. I’ll be distracted if anything happens to you.”
“Fine, but you have to take Molly. She should be able to help with the demon, right?” I looked at Molly. She huffed once and leaned against me before walking to the door. “I guess that’s settled. Please be careful,” I said, wrapping my arms around Ian and pulling his head down. He let the kiss linger for a brief moment and then pulled away.
“I need to go,” he said huskily.
“I know. Be careful.”
“I’ll be back,” he said with a promise in his eyes. We would be finishing what that kiss had started soon.
“Damn,” Beth said when Ian and Molly left. “What was that about?”
“I still don’t know,” I said shakily. “Somehow I feel like I need him, like he was meant for me.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“I’m not sure,” I told her. “It seems too much like a fairytale, love at first sight and all that.”
“A fairytale with demons chasing you and hellhounds as protectors? What kind of fairytales did you read?”
I laughed. “Ok. Not exactly like a fairy tale, but you know what I mean. It’s too easy to be with him. Shouldn’t it be harder?”
“Maybe that’s how it is with mates. That’s what he calls you, right? Maybe in the magical community, this is how love goes.” I looked at her skeptically but didn’t respond. Maybe I was meant to be with Ian.
Beth went to the kitchen to make us some coffee. A massive bang caused Beth to drop the cup she was holding and scramble back into the living room.
“What was that?” she asked as the walls shook around us.
“Nothing good,” I muttered. “Come on. I don’t think we’re going to be safe here much longer,” I said, my skin beginning to crawl.
The demon must have broken through somehow. It was getting closer to Ian’s cabin. Another bang sounded, and this time I could see flashes of light through the window. I grabbed Beth’s hand and pulled her to the door, hoping to run to the main building where we would be better protected. I opened the front door but immediately slammed it shut.
“Damn it. We aren’t going that way. The demon is heading right for us.”
I had been able to make out a large figure walking this way with other figures firing all sorts of spells at it. It swiped its arm, and the spells hit and fizzled out. Only a few of the spells seemed to make an impact on the demon. We hurried to the back door, and I peeked out before opening it all the way and pulling Beth into the night with me.
We ran through Ian’s backyard, and I veered into the woods, hoping they would hide us as we made our way to safety. I had a good sense of the direction we needed to go to stay off the main path but still make our way to the compound.
I thought about going to Kellan’s through the portal, but I didn’t know if Beth could pass through it since she was human. I heard shouting behind us as the ground started to shake again, and the tingling grew worse.
“Run, Beth. It’s coming.” We took off running, keeping a hold of each other’s hands so we wouldn’t get separated. I didn’t want that thing coming after Beth. I felt the ground shift beneath my feet, and I staggered, trying to keep Beth upright as she lost her footing.
We managed a few more minutes of running through the woods and stumbling over rocks and tree roots before we ran into a clearing. I thought we might have made it, but when I looked around, I didn’t see the main building. We must have lost our way. The ground gave one giant heave, and we both fell.
I looked behind me and gagged. The demon stood there, but unlike the last glimpse I caught of him, this time he looked like he had taken a few hits. His face was shredded, and skin hung in pieces. Scorch marks covered his upper chest, and two gaping holes bled on either side of his head that must have been horns.
“Finally, I’ve found you,” the demon said. “You will come with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I yelled.
As he took a step closer to me, one of the hellhounds jumped into the clearing. It was huge again, and it ripped into the demon. The demon swung his fist around and hit the hound in the face causing it to yelp as it slammed into the ground. Another hound jumped on the demon from the other side and ripped a chunk out of the demon’s neck.
The demon threw the hound into a tree. The hound collapsed soundlessly to the ground and shrank back down in size. I hoped it wasn’t Molly, but I couldn’t tell in the darkness. Other guardians came running into the clearing, yelling to each other about some spell they needed to perform. The demon advanced on us, and I pushed Beth behind me.
“Get out of here,” I told her. “I’m going to help the other guardians fight it.”
“But,” Beth tried to say.
“Now,” I yelled as I pulled wild magic into my body. I let it connect with me and felt myself getting dizzy. “Run, Beth,” I yelled as I let the magic filling me burst free. It hit the demon in the chest and knocked him backward. The other guardians were fighting too, sending their magic at the demon.
I tried to spot Beth as I opened my eyes, but I couldn’t see her. Hopefully, she was running away from here. I didn’t want her to get hurt because of me. I opened myself up to more magic and let it swirl inside me, willing it to help weaken the demon so the guardians could kill it.
I tried to picture the lightning bolt that I used on the last demon, but the wild magic didn’t want to listen. Instead, it built up inside me and shot forward, swirling around the clearing.
&nb
sp; My eyes widened as I watched my magic sink into the demon. His face contorted with pain, and he screamed as my magic pulled something out of him. The magic kept pulling as the demon screamed again and tried to dispel my magic.
When it couldn’t, it turned and took the few steps needed to reach me. As it swung its arm up to hit me, my magic pulled on it again, and it screamed, distracted, saving me.
My magic started to drift toward me, but the demon took another swing hitting me in the chest. I flew back into a tree and felt my ribs crack. My eyes drifted closed. I heard someone run up to me, screaming my name. It was Beth.
“Run,” I tried to say but couldn’t get the words out. I wouldn’t die in the alley like my dreams said. Instead, it would be here in a forest with my best friend watching.
“No!” I heard Beth yell. I opened my eyes and saw the demon standing over us. Guardians were hitting it from everywhere, and he was almost down. He reached out to grab me, but Beth stepped in the way.
Instead of grabbing me, he grabbed her. As soon as he touched her, my magic swirled around them and sank into Beth. She let out a piercing scream and collapsed. The demon fell too, and I reached out for Beth, desperate to know if she was ok.
I grabbed her hand and thought I felt a pulse before someone grabbed her from me. Someone else tried to lift me, and the pain caused me to scream. My last coherent thought was that my magic had killed Beth.
Beth IS OK; KIND OF
It took almost a week before I could get up on my own. I was in worse shape than I thought after the fight. Not only did I break a few of my ribs, but I cracked a vertebra too. Thankfully, magi were stronger than narys and could use magic to help heal. If I had been human, I would be paralyzed or dead. I looked over at the bed next to mine where Beth was lying. She hadn’t woken up since the fight.
They weren’t sure if she ever would. She screamed out in her sleep a few times, but besides that, she appeared to be in a coma. She should be dead, but somehow my magic was keeping her alive. The doctor didn’t believe me when I told her what my magic did.
She thought I was delirious and gave me medicine to calm me down. The next time I tried to tell her, she said I probably imagined it, and with all the trauma my body had been through, it wouldn’t be unusual to see things that didn’t happen. She thought I felt responsible, and my mind was projecting the thought that my magic was the cause of Beth’s coma.
Demon Hunted Page 13
