Shift - 02 (27 page)

“But you don’t have to worry, son. Your daddy’s a big, strong, demon hunter. I make sure the bad guys don’t hurt anyone.”

“You do?” I sniffled.

“Of course I do,” he said, ruffling my hair with a smile.

I wiped the two tears that trickled down my cheeks. “How?”

“With magic.”

“Whoa!” I jumped up onto my feet, the fear overrun with excitement. “You know magic?”

“Let me show you.”

He picked me up and moved me to the other side of the couch. Riley sat back in his seat and held out his hand. I shivered as a strange feeling came over me. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as fire flickered to life and a bright red flame grew in his hand.

“Fire magic.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?” I crawled to my knees, leaning closer and not daring to take my eyes off the power in front of me.
 

Riley laughed. “No, it doesn’t hurt, son. I can control it.”

The funny sensation moved through my body again. The flame grew and shot higher in his hand.

“All hunters can do it. Some can use water, some air, and others use earth. Once, a long time ago, there were some who could even use lightning.”

“Where’d the lightning go?”

The flames in Riley’s palm shrunk and vanished, not leaving even a trail of smoke. “We’re not sure. Hunters just stopped getting that magic.”

“Maybe when I grow up, I’ll be able to play with lightning.” I giggled.

“No way!” Riley scooped me up in his arms. “You’re going to be a fire elemental, just like your dad.”

He laughed and spun me in the air. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. He was my dad. A hunter. How cool was that? He was a real-life hero with real magic. When I grew up, I was going to get to kill monsters, just like him!

Riley stopped and pulled me in his arms as my mother came into the room, clearing her throat and crossing her arms.

“Not telling him stories again, are we?”

Riley put me down and I ran to my mom, pulling at her dress.

“Mom, Mom, guess what? Dad has magic! He can make fire and it doesn’t hurt and he told me about the demons he fights and keeps from hurting us, and guess what? When I grow up, I might get to play with lightning, but dad thinks I’ll play with fire like him.” I took a breath and smiled, my young blue eyes gleaming up at her.

Mom’s hazel eyes looked at my father and I didn’t understand the look. “Riley Adam Williams. He’s too young for that!”

“Too young?” Riley walked over and grabbed my arm, holding it up. “Look at these arms. He’s strong. He’s nearly ready to start training.”

“You know how the council feels about starting them early.” Mom glared at Riley. “He’s five, and he’s not starting anything. He needs to be a kid first.”

“Nonsense. I was three when my father started me.”

“Three?” I asked, turning back to Mom. “Can I? Please, Mom? Dad started when he was three, and I’m five and three-quarters. I’m ready.”

“Go get washed up for dinner.”

“Come on, Mom…”

“Go.” Mom chuckled and ran her hands through my hair.
 

I huffed and walked towards the bathroom. I made it through the living room and into the kitchen, but when I started down the hallway, my mind began to wander. A rustling sound diverted my attention and I followed it into my bedroom.

“How cute,” a deep voice said.

A man stood in my bedroom holding a picture of Mom, Dad, and me. I remembered that day. It was the first time they took me to the zoo. As I stared up at his face, he slowly became more familiar, and like a forgotten memory had been revealed, I knew who he was. Darius Sellowind.

“What do you want?” I demanded. Anger swelled inside me and my young, innocent voice was gone, replaced by a deeper, more masculine tone that caught me off guard. My small hands grew before my eyes until they were full, thick, and covered in scars. The floor moved farther away from me, and I wasn’t looking up to Darius anymore. I was at eye level, staring into deep black eyes.

He threw the picture to the ground and the glass broke. Cracks split over my parents faces, leaving mine untouched. When I looked up, the room was gone. We were at the werecats’ camp, standing on the stone platform. Wind blew and a colorful forest grew up and swayed around us.

Darius’ long black dreadlocks hung down past his waist, and the dark color made his pale skin look paler. His eyes were a solid black with long, dark eyelashes curling up above them.

“I came to say hello. Is that so wrong?” he asked. His voice was strange. It wasn’t local, but I couldn’t place the accent. It sounded English, but with a touch of something…different. “After all, we have not been formally introduced. I’m Darius Sellowind.” He extended a large hand. His flawless skin looked soft, but I knew the power that touch could carry.

I stepped away and jumped as birds flocked out of the forest canopy below.

“Fair enough.” He shrugged and pulled his hand away.

“Get out of my head.”

Darius smiled. “Make me.”

Darius was a powerful warlock, and I knew my elements would be useless against him. Cutting off their heads and lightning elementals were the only way to kill them, or so I’d been taught. It’d been centuries since any hunter had the power of the lightning element, and since I’d learned how deceptive the Circle could be, I didn’t know what was true anymore.

Magic was useless, so I did the next best thing. I reached for the daggers along my back, but panicked when I felt the spine sheath empty. Darius released a deep chuckle and smiled. I couldn’t use magic and I didn’t have a weapon. I was useless in this fight, so I did the only thing that was left for me to do. I ran.

I jumped into the thick brush and let the forest swallow me. Branches slapped against my face and cut my arms. I was wearing long pants, but my feet and body were bare and taking a thrashing from the landscape. I ducked under branches and leapt over the fallen trees in a single bound, clearing them with ease. My body moved with speed and grace, lunging over any obstacle that got in my way. My pulse raced and adrenaline pushed me farther and faster than I had ever run. I broke through the other side of the forest, the thick undergrowth biting at my flesh as I came into the clearing. The grass was longer than I knew it should be, growing up past my knees and slowing my pace. With each step, I lost momentum, losing my ability to run. Finally, my body slowed and I was frozen in place.

A ripple of air moved in front of me and Darius peeled back reality. He parted it like two sheets of paper and stepped out from a black split in the world. My stomach clenched and I gasped for air, trying to catch my breath. A stinging sensation covered my torso from the branches that had left their mark. Scrapes and cuts lightly bled, not closing as they should have.

Darius stood like a statue before me: pale, calm, and composed. “I control this dream,” he said, and the portal rippled behind him. The black hole closed itself, leaving power thick in the air. “I can be anywhere, and everywhere.”

I knew I shouldn’t use magic, but I was out of options. I tried to conjure my elemental powers, but nothing came. The elements stirred in my soul but wouldn’t move. They burned, swirling inside me, begging to be released.

“That won’t work either. I won’t allow it.” He moved toward me with an eerie power, and goose bumps rode up my arms. “You can relax, Chase. I mean you no harm. I’ve simply come to discuss our current…situation.”

I tried to turn but my body was paralyzed. His magic swam around me, keeping me in place. He stepped through the tall grass around me, and it separated for him without a touch. Each blade bent, creating a clear path until he came to stand in front of me. My stomach tightened and sweat gathered on my palms as he neared. I could feel his magic enveloping my body, ready to crush me at any moment.
 

“Do not fear me. I told you, I mean you no harm. I only need a small favor.”

“Kill me if you want. I’m not helping you.”

“Kill you…whatever do you mean? This is just a dream.” Darius winked.

“I’ve seen what dreams can do.”

“You’ve only experienced what can happen when I use my power to send someone else into your mind. Imagine what I can do being here myself.” His thin lips curled, showing perfect white teeth.
 

“I already told you, I’m not doing anything for you.”

“You don’t have to. Just give me what I want.”

“The ring stays with me.”

Darius raised a finely plucked brow and began walking circles around me. I followed his movements, but my nerves pounded inside me like an iron hammer each time he vanished from my sight.

“Why must you children make things difficult? In all my thousands of years, I’ve always hated that: young, undeveloped minds, and your sense of entitlement. Your arrogance disgusts me.”

“Thousands?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Darius laughed. “All in due time, child.”

“Riley wasn’t able to get the ring from me, so what makes you think you’ve got a better chance?” I let the arrogance he hated hang on every word.

Darius stopped and a serious expression covered his face. Black eyes locked with mine and his power pulsated around me. “Don’t taunt me,” he said. “Your father is…” he stopped, looking both frustrated and amused at the same time.

“My father is what?”

Darius shrugged. “My brother says hello, by the way. He did wish to come, but he had other errands to tend to. So, here I am to retrieve the ring, all by my lonesome.”

“You know I won’t give it to you, so if you’re so old and powerful, why don’t you just take it?”

Darius shrugged.

“Or maybe you can’t!”

Darius’ dark eyes narrowed, but he didn’t respond.

“That’s it, isn’t it? You can’t take the ring. It was crafted by the gods and designed for the Protector, not a demon.”

Darius sighed. “When it comes to the ring, there are certain…rules.”
 

“Then listen closely. You. Can’t. Have. It.”
 

“I thought you’d say that.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I’m here to help you see the light. We’ll be meeting soon, outside of your dreamscape that is, and I want to spare you some pain. You’ve seen but a speck of our power. Should you refuse my offer, you’ll be left to Ithreal’s mercy. Trust me when I say he has none. We can take the ring, only then we’d have to kill you, and that isn’t in the cards for you. Not yet. Give me the ring, work with us, and Ithreal will give you a throne of immortality. Everybody wins.”

“Tell your god he can go to hell. Or in his case, stay there.”

“You’re such an ignorant creature,” he said with a surprising calm.

Darius lifted his hand and with a flick of his wrist, two blades of power cut across my chest. The skin ripped with ease and the pain covered my torso. Blood spilled from my body and my jeans turned black as they absorbed the viscous fluid. Power exploded above my head and pushed me to my knees. It surged around me and my head snapped back, forcing me to look up at Darius.

“You will learn respect,” he said, extending his hand.

I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t. His magic held me firm against the earth. Pale, cold fingertips touched my forehead and as he pulled them away, my magic came to life. I gagged and choked as a rush of water tore itself from my lungs. I spit the water out and tried to bring in a breath, but more water filled me.

Smoke drifted up from my hands. Thick waves of steam poured off of them before a bright blue flame ignited in my palms. I tried to scream as it scaled my skin, and the scent of burning flesh filled my nostrils, but only more water spilled from my lips.
 

Darius tilted his head, watching as I screamed silently, begging for death to stop the pain. “Don’t you see? I have the power, Chase. This power was given to me by Ithreal and you will bow to him, as will all your gods.” He raised his hand and the light vanished from the sky.

Thick shadows filled the air and my body rose into the still wind. Shadows spiraled down from the sky, taking hold of my limbs and pulling them in opposite directions. Power pulsed around me. My shoulders and hips cracked as the darkness tried to rip me apart.