Broken

by Zara Novak

  “That’s everything?” I asked. “What do I do now?”

  “Ash will escort you back to your room. You’re to stay there until we finish with Hunter.”

  “What happens if he doesn’t pass your tests?”

  Davian turned and looked at me solemnly. “We’ll get you a new guardian, someone that will keep you safe.”

  The commander went to leave before I shouted after him. “Davian. Stop!” He did, but he didn’t look all the way back. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me everything?”

  Davian did look back now. He glanced at the mirror and then at me.

  “This isn’t the first time Hunter’s been involved with the amulet,” he said. “He was there the last time it was found, and it went pretty fucking badly.”

  8

  Hunter

  I came to in a room with very little light, strapped to a metal chair with iron chains running around my body. I was still in my birthday suit.

  Saydra was standing about ten feet in front of me, she was wearing long black flowing robes. I also saw the silhouette of a guardian behind her. It could be difficult to tell my brothers apart sometimes when they were in full gear, but I knew this wasn’t a guardian from my chapter, so, who was it?

  I could just make out the faint emblem of a skull on his left breastplate. It meant this guardian was a member of the Black Skulls, one of the most deranged fucking units in the entire organization. They were the guys we sent into handle the jobs that no one else wanted.

  I cleared my throat.

  “A guy wakes up in a room and sees a psychic witch and a Black Skull. He’d shit his pants, but they didn’t give him any,” I joked before adopting a more serious tone. “What the fuck is going on here Saydra, and why have you got…” I squinted at the silhouette again. “Gavrilo here with you?”

  Gavrilo made the slightest of involuntary movements, indicating that it was in fact, him. Pretty much every guardian in the organization was terrified of Gavrilo. He had a reputation for being a master torturer. The guardian would do anything to get the answers he needed, far surpassing the limits that stopped others.

  He didn’t bother me at all, but I found it very interesting that Saydra had chosen to bring him here for backup.

  That wasn’t like Saydra at all.

  “We need to make sure your mind hasn’t been warped,” Saydra said. “We need to know the amulet hasn’t taken your conscious and turned it dark.”

  “And you intend to find that out by torturing me?”

  “Gavrilo isn’t here to torture you. He’s here to kill you, should you ask him to do so. He was the only one that would take the call.”

  I nodded slowly. “I understand what is happening now,” I said. “You’re going to sweep my mind.”

  Saydra’s face didn’t show emotion. I wasn’t sure the psychic vampire witch was even capable of feeling emotions. The deep and endless glossiness of her eyes changed slightly though, suggesting that she regretted the decision.

  “That is right.”

  That explained why Gavrilo was here. A sweep was an incredibly painful psychic interrogation, and it left most begging for death. If things went wrong the pain was irreversible and never-ending.

  That’s where Gavrilo came in.

  The fucker didn’t bother me in the slightest, but I had to admit his unwavering gaze could be slightly unnerving at times. Most feared him, but I had done jobs with him in the past and I could see his heart was in the right place, even if his methods were sometimes questionable.

  "I was getting ready to kill you,” I said to Gavrilo. “I guess I should be thanking you.” He nodded back at me simply. The faceless assassin wasn’t one for many words. “Your services won’t be required though. So, go.”

  He and Saydra looked at one another. She glanced at me.

  “You’re sure?” Saydra asked.

  “Yep,” I said. I’m not dying here, and you’re not fucking this up, so he’s not necessary. You can go.”

  The silent behemoth left the room. Saydra’s face did not change.

  “Are the chains necessary?” I asked.

  “Most go completely catatonic when subjected to a sweep,” she said. “But you… you don’t. Last time this happened you nearly killed me. The chains are for my safety.”

  “The girl tried to give me the amulet. I refused it.”

  “I suspect you’re telling me the truth,” the witch said. “But the organization wants to make sure. Shall we get this over with?”

  I took in a deep breath of air and readied myself. All the years of training, mutilation, surgery and modifications… it was all hell on earth, but it was nothing compared to a mind-sweep from Saydra. I’d been here once before and it was the most intense pain and suffering I’d ever felt.

  When I was last here, I could barely remember a single thing when it was over. They had twelve guardians in the room, and it took all twelve of them to tear me away from Saydra. The sweep had nearly broken my mind, and my body had taken over to defend itself. It had planned to rip her limb from limb.

  “Everyone thought you’d betrayed the guardians last time the amulet was found,” Saydra said. “Once I looked in your mind, we saw the truth. Trey was the one that betrayed us, not you.”

  “And I killed him,” I said.

  My best friend.

  The guy I’d grown up with.

  We’d known each other since kids. We were turned by the same maker, taken in by the same recruiter. We walked through the fires of the forge together and stood by one another. I wouldn’t have survived without him, and he wouldn’t have survived without me.

  Once we graduated, we were inseparable. The two of us were a well-oiled machine. No one else could match our case rate. For years we were untouchable, but then a case landed in our laps and it changed everything for good.

  A girl had found the Halo Amulet, and Saydra had assigned Trey to guard her. I was his backup. I knew from the offset that something wasn’t right, but I ignored the feeling. The girl wasn’t just some nobody, she turned out to be Trey’s mate, and I was fucking ecstatic for him.

  Things turned south when we found Halo, however.

  The journey ended in a burial mound in Ireland. Lauriel, Trey’s mate and the chosen keeper, was about to return the amulet when Trey up and killed her. The amulet had corrupted him. I had no choice but to take his life. I plunged a stake through his chest and watched my best friend turn to ash.

  “You still never told me what you wished for,” Saydra said, holding her hand a few inches away from my temple. “I couldn’t see the answer, even when I looked into your mind.”

  “Conditions of a contract,” I said. “I swore I’d never tell. Can we get this over with already?”

  Without another word she placed her hand against my head.

  As the witch’s fingers grazed my skin the most blinding pain swept through my body, igniting every nerve with the fire of agony and suffering. Cursed roaring filled the interrogation room and my body flung back to try and be anywhere but here.

  There were bolts keeping the metal chair to the floor, but I could hear the metal twisting and straining under my thrashing. A million images flashed before my eyes like pages from a book, each one a razor-sharp knife stabbing into my brain.

  Beyond the images I saw the face of Saydra.

  Her eyes were all white and her hair floated up from the floor as purple electricity crackled all around us. She held her hand steadfast against my forehead despite my constant thrashing. Her psychic power crashed through every corridor of my brain, crushing every neuron and burning every synapse.

  She was basically forcing me into a grand mal seizure. I was expected to hold on while I ignored the phantom sensations of suffering. Invisible tacks slammed through my fingernails. My spinal column felt as though it twisted like a wet-towel and crumbled to dust. A million tiny knives were peeling away tiny slivers of my skin.

  I had no idea how long it lasted, but it finished
with me slumped forward and sitting completely still. In the few seconds that followed there was only the sound of climatic silence.

  My head heavy, I managed to look up and saw Saydra lying on the floor about five feet back from her starting position. Purple electricity continued to crackle over her body as her eyes faded back to black. Steam curled up from my body. Every muscle screamed with the fatigue of exhaustion.

  “Well?” I managed. “Am I free to go or not?”

  “You’re clear,” she said after a very long pause. “My earlier visions were correct. You’re the only one that can see this through.”

  Saydra waved her hand and the heavy chains keeping me in place dropped to the floor like iron gauntlets. I stood up very slowly and stretched out my aching bones. The sweep was over now, but the witch hadn’t got up from the floor and the look in her eye told me that something was wrong.

  “What does that mean?” I asked. “See it through? Why are you looking at me like that?” For the first time in my life I saw vulnerability in her eyes. It frightened me. “Answer me witch! Has the amulet corrupted me or not!”

  She pushed her weight onto her elbows and regained a little of her composure. “The purpose of my sweep was to see if you’re the one who can get this job done. Whether or not you’re corrupted is no longer my concern.”

  “What are you trying to say? That I’m going to betray Rachel?”

  Not in a million years.

  “I’m saying that when the time comes, whatever you end up doing, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you are there. I can’t tell you what will happen, Hunter, that’s not how this works.”

  I clenched my fist tight. “I’m not going to betray her.”

  “You’re going to get the job done, that’s all I can say. And that’s all that matters.”

  “I’m done with this bullshit. Are we done here?”

  The witch nodded. “Are you going to see her, next?”

  “Your sister?” I asked.

  Saydra nodded again. “Yes.”

  “She’s the only one that can tell us how to work this thing, so yeah. I guess so.”

  “Things are different this time,” Saydra said. “Nalinth, she has changed. Her powers are darker and far greater than mine. She will try to kill you this time, Hunter. One will have to die to leave.”

  “I guess I’ll be killing your sister then.”

  She shook her head, her black eyes full and somehow empty. “Not possible. There’s only one other option.”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” I said. “We’re done. I don’t want to see you again.”

  I was clear to go back to Rachel as soon as I’d passed Saydra’s sweep. I left the witch in the interrogation room. There was nothing else I wanted to say to her. Outside I found Commander Davian waiting for me in the hallway. He passed me a black gown, I put it on, and we started walking in silence.

  “How was it?” he asked, a fresh cigar burning away in his mouth.

  “Like two weeks in Fiji, how do you think?”

  He laughed slightly. “The higherups didn’t give me any choice, I told them you’d pass.”

  “Where’s the girl?”

  “In the guest wing of the chapter. I expect she’s asleep by now. What did Saydra say?”

  “The same cryptic bullshit she usually says,” I scowled. “She might need help getting out of there, I think it was harder on her than me.”

  We turned onto the main corridor which lead back to our chapter. “She’ll be fine,” Davian growled. “She does this shit several times a year. I’ll put the whole unit on this moving forward. You get all the resources and backup you need. No questions asked.”

  “No,” I shook my head. “Saydra made it pretty clear that I’ve got to tackle this on my own. Any other arrangement will fuck things up.”

  “Hunter listen,” Davian said as he came to a stop. I already knew what was coming next. “Is this like last time? Do you need to go and see her again?”

  The her he was referring to was Nalinth, Saydra’s dark sister and Davian’s ex-lover.

  “She was the only one that could help us last time, I suspect nothing has changed.”

  “You’ve done this once before,” he said. “Don’t you know how to use the amulet by now?”

  “Lauriel was the keeper last time, not me,” I reminded him. “I was just there to help keep her alive, and I failed.”

  “That was Trey’s fault, not yours.”

  “I guess we remember it differently.”

  “Let me go with you,” he said. “To Nalinth. I can talk sense into her, make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

  “She’s not the same woman you fell in love with Davian. You’d still be together if that much was true. Coming with us is only going to get you killed and we both know it.”

  “She listens to me. I can get through to her, I can keep you safe.”

  “With all due respect, shove it up your ass, sir. You’re better off staying here and we both know it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and collapse in a bed next to my mate, I’m hanging on by a thread here.”

  I left Davian in the hallway and made my way back to the chapter. When I got there, I headed straight for the guest wing and knocked on the occupied room. A few seconds passed before the door slid open to reveal Rachel.

  “Hunter?!” she gasped, jumping forward to throw her arms around me. It was the best welcome I’d ever received, though the pain in my body made it hard to catch her.

  “I knew you’d miss me,” I winced. She quickly pulled back.

  “Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?”

  “Not like that,” I said. “Did I wake you?”

  “Barely. I only just drifted off.”

  “Mind if I come in and crash? My rooms at the opposite end of the chapter and I’m not sure I can make it that far.”

  “Terrible line, but come on in.”

  I went straight for the bed and crashed on my back, letting out a long sigh at having made it. Rachel locked the door behind her and nestled in beside me. It felt damn good to have her back at my side.

  “You look completely spent,” she said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Nothing a little sleep won’t fix,” I said, pulling her in tight against my body. “You smell good. Did you shower?”

  “I did. Maybe I can help you get cleaned up in the morning.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said, laughing to myself.

  Though exhausted, sleep didn’t come to me straight away. It wasn’t long before Rachel dozed off beside me. I was left with my thoughts, staring up at the slate-grey ceiling and wondering what Saydra’s words had meant.

  Would I betray Rachel like Trey betrayed Lauriel?

  Would I kill my own mate with the promise of eternal power?

  “No,” I growled to myself, the words rumbling like a deep fire in the pit of my chest.

  I’d rather die first.

  9

  Rachel

  Sleeping next to Hunter was equal parts difficult and amazing. It’s was so easy to cozy up next to him and feel completely safe, I hadn’t slept this well in ages. Having my leg draped over his powerful thighs was incredibly arousing however and keeping myself off him was a challenge in itself.

  Somehow, I managed.

  I was tired myself and it was pretty clear that Hunter had nothing left in the tank. I didn’t know what had happened during his psych evaluation, but he was a ghost on his feet when he came back to my room.

  When I woke up in the morning, I found him stirring at the same time as me. I kissed him on the shoulder, and he kissed my forehead.

  “Morning,” I said. “How are you feeling now?”

  “A lot better,” he said with a deep groan. We both sat up together. He still looked a bit stiff, but it was a definite improvement on the man I’d seen last night.

  “Can I get you a drink? Will blood make you feel better?”

  He nodded. “Please. There’s a tap on
the wall over there. If you could fill a glass and bring it over, that would go a long way in repairing me.”

  I hopped out of bed and skipped across the room to the small kitchenette. Three faucets hung over a small basin. There was a blue dot on one, a red on the other and the third was black.

  “The black one,” Hunter said from the bed behind me.

  I grabbed a glass and held it under the right faucet. The sight of dark red liquid took me by surprise as it gushed out and filled the glass. Where did it come from exactly? Did they have a killing floor somewhere within the HQ? I hoped it wasn’t something as macabre as that, but this was going to take some getting used to.

  I walked back over to Hunter. He took the glass, thanked me, and downed the drink in one.

  “It’s synthetic,” he said after taking a breath.

  “Pardon me?” I asked.

  “The blood. You’re wondering where it comes from.”

  “Oh well…” I laughed. “I was. Are you always reading my thoughts now?”

  “I can’t help it. Our bond is getting stronger and I’ll naturally pick up your thoughts to make sure your needs are being met.”

  “Is that normal for a guardian?” My voice strained a little as I asked the question. I think Hunter got the point. I could tell that our relationship was far from normal.

  “You’re asking me what this is…” he said, pointing between himself and me.

  “Someone used the word ‘mate’ last night,” I said. I hadn’t been able to forget the word since hearing it. I had to cut to the chase.

  Hunter nodded to himself, looking like he was gearing up to tell me something.

  “Vampires are different from humans,” he said. “You know that much.”

  “Okay.”

  “Well, our mating process is different too. I mean, we fuck like humans, but we do it better.”