Demon Hunted Page 4

  I heard people talk about love at first sight, but it didn’t sound like this. The feeling was almost painful. I broke eye contact, and he looked out the window. I had a lot of questions for him, but answers would have to wait until I could get away from the thing hunting me.

  He knew what was stalking me. It only took him a few seconds to realize I was different from other people. I slowly reached out and touched Ian’s shoulder, holding my breath until he turned to look at me. As his eyes bore into mine, I felt a connection form. It was as if a single thread wound through me and twisted around him.

  I pulled my hand back and looked away, scared of what happened. He reached out and grasped my chin, turning my head until I was looking at him again. He was smiling.

  I couldn’t keep the scowl off my face. “What the hell was that?”

  “That was our bond forming. It usually doesn’t happen this fast. It’s still weak, but it will grow stronger.”

  “I don’t want to bond to you or anyone for that matter. What did you do to me? Stop it right now.”

  “I’m not doing it. It’s fate. We’re meant to be together.”

  “I don’t believe in fate,” I retorted. “I control my life, and I don’t want this bond.”

  He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. My breath got stuck in my chest, and I leaned forward, my body wanting more contact before my mind could stop it. I jerked back again and scooted as far away from him as I could.

  “Stop. Please,” I said quietly.

  He leaned back, staring at me, before nodding slightly and turning away. We continued driving in silence. I kept sneaking glances at Ian, finding it impossible not to look at him. We would have to discuss this bond thing. He needed to know I wasn’t ok with it, and he needed to stop saying I was his. I stared out the window for another minute, trying to calm down.

  The tingling didn’t come back, and I knew we were far enough away from the monster for a while. I needed to decide what I was going to do. Before I had a chance to ask Micah to stop, he pulled onto a dirt road that I didn’t know existed at the edge of town. I had driven past this same stretch of land many times. There wasn’t a road on it. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I reached for the door.

  “What are you doing?” Ian asked.

  “Where are you taking us? I’ve never seen this road before. I didn’t even know it was here.”

  “We’re going somewhere safe. This is where we live.”

  “Who said we wanted to come here?” I questioned. “Let us out now.”

  “I can’t do that. I can’t protect you out here.”

  “I don’t need your protection,” I told him, trying to open the door. It wouldn’t budge. “Let us out, Micah.” He didn’t even glance back at me, and he definitely didn’t slow down. “You can’t kidnap us,” I yelled.

  “We’re trying to protect you,” Ian said calmly.

  “You can’t.” I threw my hands up in frustration, glaring at Ian.

  “Yes, we can. This area is hidden by powerful magic. No one will be able to find you here.”

  “That thing chasing us will find me, and then you’ll all get hurt.”

  Ian reached over and grabbed my hand. “I won't let anything happen to you. You’ll be safe here. I promise. It’s one of the best-protected areas in Oregon.”

  “Serena,” Beth interrupted my next protest. “I think we should see where they take us. If they can protect you, we need to go with them. Besides, you want to find out what’s different about you, right? This is your chance. Let’s see how it goes. If you still don’t like it after a few days, we’ll leave. Ok?”

  She was right. I did want to know what was different about me, but I didn’t think they would be able to protect me from the monster.

  “Fine,” I told them. “I want answers as soon as we get out of the car, though, or the deal is off, and we leave.”

  “I’ll answer all your questions,” Ian said. “I still can’t believe you don’t know anything about your heritage.”

  I glared out the window as we continued down the winding road. From the front, I heard Beth asking Micah how this place would be able to keep the monster from finding me. “You’ll see,” was his only answer no matter how many times Beth asked.

  After a few more minutes on the road, Micah started to slow the car down. In front of us, giant gates stood barring the way. A tall, thick, stone wall at least two stories high ran through the field on either side of the road, continuing out of sight. Micah pulled up to a guardhouse and rolled his window down to talk to one of the guards watching us. I could see someone on top of the wall watching us too.

  “Who do you have with you?” the guard asked.

  “We have people that Councilman Kellan wants to see,” Micah said. “They’ve got the proper clearance. Call ahead and ask.”

  The guard walked away to do what Micah said. He came back within a few minutes. “You can pass,” he said, opening the gate.

  “What was that all about?” I asked, but they ignored me.

  Sprawled throughout the area on the other side of the gate were multiple cabins. Micah drove past the cabins, and after a couple of minutes I could see a large building. It took a few more minutes to get there. The place was huge. I couldn’t believe I didn’t know this place was here before now.

  “What is this place?” Beth asked.

  “This is where we live. We’re safe, like I said.” Ian tried to comfort me, but I pulled away from him.

  “You don’t really think some concrete walls and fences are going to keep out the monster hunting me, do you?”

  “No, but these aren’t any concrete walls. We have a lot of magi that work for us, and they put protections around this compound to keep anything from getting in here. That’s why you couldn’t see the place before we brought you. No one in town even knows it’s here.”

  “That’s so cool,” Beth said, looking at everything.

  I shook my head. Ian wasn’t listening. The monster would find me regardless of whatever protected this place. I looked at Beth. She didn’t seem worried at all now that we were here. She was even taking all this magic talk in stride. I wasn’t comfortable with it. I didn’t want to believe in magic.

  I suppose I should believe since I’ve had a monster stalking me since I was a teenager. I never really put magic and the monster together. I still didn’t understand how they fit together. I had too many questions and not enough answers to figure out what was going on. It would take more than a few days to sort this all out, and I didn’t have that kind of time.

  Micah parked at the end of a row of cars and quickly got out. He hurried over to Ian’s door and helped Ian out too. They started walking toward the main doors, and Beth followed.

  “Wait. I want answers first,” I said.

  “I need to get him to a healer,” Micah said. “Then you can ask whatever you want.”

  I looked between the two guys, not sure we should walk into the building. Ian shifted his weight, and I saw the lines around his mouth tighten. He had to be in an incredible amount of pain. My heart went out to him, and I stepped forward. “Fine, but I want answers once you get looked at,” I said, staring at Ian.

  The Guardianship

  As soon as we walked through the main doors, a man rushed forward to greet us.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure yet,” Ian replied. “We don’t know why the club was attacked. We managed to get almost everyone out, though there were a few injuries. It only stayed a few minutes, and then it took off.”

  “And the humans?” the man asked.

  “Memory-wiped. All of them. They’ll think there was a fight between a couple of guys, and the crowd panicked. That should account for any injuries they have.”

  “Do you think we can get a healer over here, Kellan?” Micah interrupted. “Ian weighs a ton.” He shifted to keep Ian from tumbling over.

  “Of course, I’m sorry. We should have done that right
away.” He turned around and headed for a room off of the giant hallway. “Abigail, come quickly,” he yelled as he opened the door and ushered us in.

  Inside the room were a few beds set up with curtains around them. No one was in any of the beds, so Micah dragged Ian over to the first one and helped him sit down. A noise from behind a door I hadn’t seen caused me to step protectively in front of Ian in case something was about to attack us.

  Kellan cleared his throat, and my gaze shot to him. “It’s ok, Serena. That’s Abigail. She should be coming in here any moment. She’s an excellent healer. Ian will be better in no time.”

  I didn’t move from where I was. The need to protect Ian overwhelmed my reasoning. Until I was sure he was safe, I would stay in front of him. The door opened, and a petite brunette walked out, humming softly to herself. As she got closer to the bed, she looked up and stopped, confusion marring her face.

  “Who are you?”

  Kellan stepped forward. “Abigail, this is Serena. She’ll be here with us for a while. Serena, you need to let Abigail see to Ian’s wounds. No one is going to hurt him here.”

  I was having trouble forcing my body to relax. I was still in fight mode, and there didn’t seem to be anything I could do to stop it. I knew Ian needed a doctor, and there was no reason for me to be this protective.

  Beth came up and grabbed my arm, making me flinch. “Serena, what’s wrong with you? Come on, move out of the way. Abigail is the doctor. She’s going to fix him.” She pulled at my arm again, finally breaking me out of the tense state of awareness I was in.

  I took a few steps away. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” I said to Abigail.

  “It’s ok,” she said, smiling kindly at me. “It’s probably just adrenaline.”

  Kellan stepped forward, and my attention switched to him. “There’s nothing to worry about, Serena. You can see Ian later when he’s feeling better. Let’s let Abigail work on healing him. We can go to my office and get something to eat. I’m sure you’re hungry after such an eventful evening.”

  Beth looked at Micah and me, shrugging her shoulders. “I could use something to eat.”

  I looked back at Ian, not wanting to leave him. He was staring right at me, and my body leaned toward him. “Go, Serena. I need to rest for a while. I’ll talk to you as soon as I feel better.” He broke eye contact and laid back on the bed, shutting his eyes in pain.

  I watched him for a few more seconds and then left, following Kellan down the hall. He took us to a small dining room in his personal quarters and sent someone stationed outside his office for food. After he poured each of us a glass of wine, he sat down.

  “We need to discuss the incident,” he said, looking at Micah. “What can you tell me?”

  “Not much more than Ian did. No one knows exactly what happened. It was so quick we weren’t able to identify who it was.”

  “Do you know what it was after?”

  “No idea. Ian might know. We didn’t get a chance to talk about it though.”

  He glanced at me, and Kellan looked me over. “Do you know what attacked the club? You were there, right?”

  “A monster,” I told him honestly.

  “A monster?” He raised his eyebrows. “What kind of monster? That word is used to describe anything nary’s don’t understand that frightens them.”

  “What’s a nary?” I asked him, completely confused. He was acting like monsters were a normal part of life.

  “She’s a nary,” he said, pointing at Beth. “You’re a magi. It means she is a non-magical human, and you’re not.”

  “You’re out of your mind,” I told him, standing up.

  “Can you really deny it?” he asked. “You believe in monsters and know when something is wrong. You have even seen magic with your own eyes, and you’ve probably used it.”

  “I have never seen or used magic, and I’m sure there are a lot of people that can tell when something bad is about to happen.”

  “There are, but they have a small amount of magical blood in them. Then there are those like you. You’re fully magical. I’m not sure what exactly you are, but I’m sure we’ll be able to figure you out. You saw magic at the club. Most humans think we have an over the top sound system that can cut the music out of half the room, but there isn’t a sound system that could do that. We use magic to create that type of effect. You knew the monster, as you call it, was coming at the same time other magical beings knew, but your friend had no idea anything was wrong, right?”

  Everything he said made sense, but come on, magic? How was I supposed to believe that? “So, there are magical beings, and I’m one of them?” I asked skeptically.

  “Yes. We’ll need to know what you can do to figure out what type you are. There are hundreds of different kinds. Unless you already know what you are, and you just don’t want to tell us.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I looked at Beth. “Do you believe any of this?”

  “I guess it makes sense.”

  “So let’s say all of this is true,” I said to Kellan. “What am I supposed to do now?”

  “For now, let’s rest and wait for Ian to heal. Tomorrow we’ll have to meet with the council to decide what needs to be done. We’ll need to send a team out to investigate what happened.”

  “Why do I need to meet the council?” I asked. “Who are they?”

  “Do you know anything about where you are?” Kellan asked.

  “No. All Ian told me was this was his home.”

  “This is his home, but this compound also houses the guardians on the northwest coast of the United States.”

  “Guardians?” I asked.

  “Guardians are different types of magical beings. They have been identified as having special skills that can help the magical community, like knowing when danger is close. Not all magical beings get that feeling, though most of the guardians have that particular skill. It’s one we look for. It comes in handy. Usually, guardians are identified during their teenage years and come to one of The Guardianship compounds to train until they’re ready to go out in the field.”

  “Why do you need guardians?”

  “Just like with nary’s, there are magi who don’t like to follow the laws set down by their governments. These magical creatures could wreak havoc on the world, and the nary’s wouldn’t be able to stop them, so we do. There are other things guardians do, too, but we’ll get to that later.”

  I didn’t want to believe anything Kellan was telling me, but it fit together.

  “So, you can tell me what I am?”

  “Yes, we have tests that we can perform to figure out what you are. You aren’t the first magi that didn’t know what they were. We’ll start that tomorrow if you want.”

  I went back to eating my food, trying to decide what I wanted while Kellan talked to Micah and Beth. I looked up as everyone stood.

  “Come on,” Beth said. “Kellan is going to show us where our rooms are so we can get some rest.” I stood up and followed Kellan to another series of rooms. The room he showed me was nothing more than a bed, dresser, a table and chairs, and a small TV. There was a door in the corner that I assumed led to the bathroom.

  “I know it’s not much, but these are guest quarters for guardians that are only staying with us for a few nights. If you decide to stay on, we’ll find you something different.”

  “This is fine,” I told him. “Beth and I can share the bed.”

  “Beth will have her own room across the hall from you,” Kellan said.

  I hesitated, but Beth nodded and walked across the hall. “I’ll be fine, Serena. I’ll see you in the morning. I need to get some sleep.”

  I glanced at Kellan. “She’ll be fine. I promise.”

  I believed him. I nodded thanks and went into my room to get some sleep. I fell asleep immediately but was sucked into a bad dream.

  I was walking down the street, my body prickling in a way that I knew danger was near. Up ah
ead, I could see the shape of a man. Thinking he was the cause of the prickly feeling, I turned into the closest alleyway. I could hear myself screaming in my head not to go down the alley. I knew I was in a dream, but I couldn’t wake up.

  I shivered, and tears fell down my cheeks as I prepared for what was coming. I began running. Dark liquid started to seep from the walls as I ran. It pooled on the ground, reaching out for me. A light hanging over the back door of a business illuminated the ground, and I could see the color of the liquid. Red.

  The alleyway filled with blood, and I slid, my feet going out from under me. I righted myself in seconds, but not before I saw the eyes lining the alley. Hundreds of them were watching, waiting for me to fall and not get back up. I searched for a way out but couldn’t find anything. I kept running, the eyes not bothering to hide anymore.

  My breath came out in gasps, but I put on a burst of speed, seeing the end of the alley. Right before I got there, something slammed into me from the side, knocking me into the wall and causing me to fall on my back. Blood coated my hands as I tried to push myself to my feet, but they got there first.

  The monsters came from everywhere, keeping me from running. Their clawed fingers hit off a silvery, blue shield surrounding me, and I shuddered.

  Their skin was a mix of blacks, reds, and oranges, and their teeth were filed down to points. They were almost as tall as me and much stockier. They hissed and spit, not stopping their attack.

  I cowered on the ground until the monsters fell silent and made a path. A larger monster walked toward me. This one was at least seven feet tall and looked like he could break me with one hand. He was their boss. He swiped his claws at me. Instead of bouncing off like the smaller monsters did, his claws pierced the bubble around me and started ripping it away.

  I started screaming. This was the farthest I had ever gotten in the dream, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I needed to wake up.

  He swiped his claws against the shield again, and it almost completely broke. One more swipe and he would be able to get me. He smiled and raised his hand for the final blow.