Chapter 3

The next morning,a pounding sounded on my door, followed by tromping footsteps coming up my stairs.

I popped upright from my crappy little bed on the floor and scrambled to my feet. I scrubbed my eyes, then stumbled down the metal spiral stairs.

Ana stood in the middle of my living room, grinning. "Morning!"

"It's too early to be so cheerful." I yawned hard.

She smiled even bigger and shoved a coffee mug at me. "I thought you might want this."

I stared down at it. "You didn't make it, right?"

She laughed. "Course not. I actually like you. No way I'm going to kill you with my coffee."

"Good." I sipped the coffee. It warmed my belly at the same time her gesture warmed my heart.

She shoved her way into my crowded little apartment. Muffin, her hairless cat, flew in after her. The battered looking old tom had gotten wings a few months ago and now preferred to fly everywhere. He greeted me with a low meow, his emerald earring glinting in the light.

I grinned at him. "Hey, Muffin."

"You really do need to clear some of this out and make room for a coffee machine at least," Ana said. "You don't suck at making it."

"No need." I weaved toward the little open spot on the table to sit. "I can always get it from Hans. Just like you do."

Hans was the castle cook. His kitchen was located under the entry hall and was the perfect place to pop in and grab a bite.

"That's not really the point." Ana's gaze traveled around the apartment. "This place is getting a bit nuts."

"Ah." I put down the coffee. "So this comes with a lecture. Didn't do enough of that last night?"

"I'm just worried about you, is all. It's been tough adjusting. I know that."

"I'm fine."

"And you're going to class?"

I scowled at her. I'd wanted to skip to spend time figuring out what the heck was wrong with me, but now I realized what the deal was. She was here to drag me to class, not just to deliver coffee. "Of course I'm going."

I wasn't sure if I meant it, but I wanted to get her off my case.

"Good. You might not have magic, but you're the best with weapons that the Protectorate has ever seen. You've got mad skills, Rowan. You deserve to be here as much as anyone else. It's your first official day, and you need to stake your claim."

My eyes prickled with tears. Leave it to my sister to see right into the heart of the issue and stab it with her dagger-like intellect.

"Thanks." I looked to the side. "But I need to get to the library and try to find out what the hell is going wrong with me."

"Bree's already on it. She's got the morning off, so she's hunting for answers."

I had the best sisters in the world. "I'll join her after class, then." I jumped off the table. "But I've got to grab a shower if I'm going to make it in time. Thanks for the coffee."

"Anytime." She gave me one last look. "I'm off to figure out who is releasing Lockert demons from their hell. I'll meet you when I'm done."

"Thanks. And be careful."

Ana had just graduated from the Protectorate Academy a few months ago. In record time, just like Bree. She was now a member of the PITs, the Paranormal Investigative Team. It came with jobs like saving important people and solving mysteries.

Really cool, actually. Definitely a top job at the Protectorate, and one I wouldn't hate having myself, if I could ever graduate.

Ana left, and I swung into the kitchen to grab some double chocolate cookies for breakfast. Bree might give me crap for such an unhealthy start to the day, but I didn't care. After years in captivity, I was going to eat whatever the heck I wanted. More often than not, it was double chocolate cookies.

I ate them quickly as I climbed the stairs to my bedroom, then grabbed a quick shower. All cleaned up, I selected an outfit for the day. As usual, it was tight black jeans covered in holes, a hot pink T-shirt with an obscure band logo from my friend Connor, and a black leather jacket that matched my boots. For a while I'd been wearing all black, but as I got used to life outside of captivity—and became less worried about lying low, since all the Rebel Gods were dead—I'd started bringing a lot of pink into my wardrobe. Hot pink, normally.

I pulled my hair up into a messy knot and slicked on some pink lipstick. A spell would keep it from wearing off during the day. Potions came in handy for things like that, and people rarely saw the hit coming if you were wearing lipstick called Pink Power.

As the last—and most important—part of my preparations, I packed my miniature emergency kit. Carefully, I slipped tiny vials of different potions into a specially sewn black leather belt. The vials were so tiny that they hid fully beneath the belt's leather. I never knew what I'd need, but these were the basics. Tracking, healing, divining—over a dozen different highly concentrated potions that I'd worked hard to develop over the last six months. I had a knack for it, fortunately.

Ready to face class, I hurried out of my apartment. The castle was quiet this early in the morning, with most people still in their apartments. I passed a couple of sleepy demon hunters. I didn't know their names, but I'd seen them hanging around with Jesse Ammons, the leader of the demon hunters unit.

As I neared the huge room at the back of the castle that was used for Academy training sessions, my heart picked up speed just the tiniest bit. I tugged on my jacket, ignoring the nerves, and stepped into the huge room.

Jude, the trainer for today, stood at the far side of the room. Her dark skin gleamed under the light, and her braids fell halfway down her back. She was the head of the PITs, Ana's division, and sometimes she took over training at the Academy.

Jude looked at me, her pale blue eyes full of sparkles that looked like stars. She had the most amazing eyes I'd ever seen—eyes that could see everything, it seemed.

Please don't see my weird new magic.

I did my best to pull it tight to my chest. I wasn't used to controlling my magical signature, but I was going to have to learn if I didn't want to get thrown in the Prison for Magical Miscreants.

"Great. Glad you're here, Rowan." She turned back to the other Academy members, and I noticed them for the first time. "Rowan is officially starting with us today."

There were only four in the class, all in their early twenties like me, and they murmured hello. It was a bit like a magical version of the FBI Academy.

I looked toward the students. Lavender stood with Angus. They'd been at the Academy when my sisters were going through a few months ago. Of course my sisters had graduated in record time and left these two behind, which made them hate Ana and Bree. They hated me, too, but I kind of liked the enmity. Distracted me from my nerves.

Lavender turned to glare at me, her dark hair flowing around her shoulders.

I grinned widely at her and waved. I might not feel like I belonged here, but I sure as hell could fake it pretty damned well. As long as it meant annoying Lavender.

Two other students turned to look curiously at me, but I didn't pay them any attention. I thought they were called Carl and Lorence, but I wasn't sure.

Jude gave me a studying look, one that made my skin itch. It felt like she could see right into me. Could she see the strange dark magic that was lurking in my soul?

"All right," Jude said. "Since this is Rowan's first day, we're going to do a training exercise. Figure out where everyone is with their combat skills. And we have a new instructor to help with that." She looked at her wrist, her brow furrowed. "He should be here any moment."

Jude looked up toward the door, and her smile widened.

He was here.

I couldn't hear him approach, but I could feel it.

Hot and cold raced across my skin as I turned. That whiskey taste and cedar scent…

Time slowed again as I spotted him, striding in through the door.

The gladiator from last night.

Holy crap, he was here.

And he'd seen my evil magic.

I wanted to run. My gaze darted around, but there was no reasonable escape. I tried to calm my breathing. There was no guarantee that he would mention what he'd seen to Jude. And if he did, there was no guarantee that she'd kick me out of the Protectorate.

I drew in a steadying breath.

I'd spent five years as a captive to evil gods. I'd learned how to suck it up and keep going, and that's what I was going to do.

Just before I dragged my gaze away from him, he looked at me.

Recognition flashed in his eyes. Then something else.

Heat?

An impossibly small smile quirked at the side of his mouth, but was quickly gone.

I frowned. Did I imagine that?

Then his gaze hardened, and I knew I wasn't imagining that.

Yep, this guy was wondering what the hell I was. Join the club, buddy. I had no freaking idea, either.

He strode over to join Jude, his powerful legs eating up the ground. For such a big man, he moved with leonine grace.

Next to me, Lavender whispered something to Angus. Whatever it was, the kid blushed.

If she was saying that the gladiator was totally hot, I had to agree. I didn't want to agree, but it was like saying the sky was blue. It was just a fact.

He stopped next to Jude and folded his hands over each other in a relaxed waiting position. His gaze swept over the crowd of students. There were only five of us, so it didn't take long.

When his gaze landed on me, it lingered. I scowled at him, determined to keep the blush at bay. It probably wasn't the smartest move, given that I wanted to fly under the radar, but he got my back up.

Jude shot him a glance, then turned her gaze to the crowd. "This is Maximus Valerius. He's here to help us with our fighting skills."

Maximus.

I'd called him a gladiator in jest, but maybe I wasn't that far off.

A murmur rolled through the crowd, as if they recognized the name. I sure didn't. He was powerful enough to be famous, but I didn't know for what.

Unfortunately, Jude didn't provide any more explanations. And Maximus seemed to be the strong, silent type. If I wanted to know more, I'd probably have to ask Lavender, who seemed to recognize his name.

No way in hell.

"We'll start with a fighting exercise to examine your strengths and weakness," Jude said. "You're all welcome to use your magic." Her gaze turned to me. "Or not, as the case may be."

I shifted, slightly uncomfortable at being called out. But whatever. I was used to it.

Maximus waved his strong arm, and magic sparked on the air, smelling of cedar and sounding like a crashing waterfall.

In the middle of the massive room, the air began to shimmer. Objects appeared, huge towers and low boulders. A dozen of them soon dotted the space, providing cover for our fight.

Damn, he was powerful. Conjurers could create things out of thin air, but creating stuff this big? That took a lot of power. What the heck was he, besides a conjurer and general badass?

As he worked, conjuring more objects, Jude approached. She had a bag in her hand, along with a short, blunt sword. She held them out to me. "Since you don't fight with your magic, I thought you could use these."

I took the sword, the use of which was obvious, but had to dig into the bag to figure out what was inside. My hand closed around a smooth glass sphere, and I pulled it out.

"Meant to simulate one of your potion bombs," she said. "Filled with a temporary sedative. It won't put your target to sleep, but it should weaken them enough that they can't walk well. You can finish them off with the sword."

I grinned at her. "I can work with this."

"I thought so." Her gaze turned briefly to Maximus, who was still working on creating the setting for the fight to come. "We've brought Maximus here specifically for you, Rowan. If you aren't able to access your magic, your fight skills will need to be unparalleled if you want to pass the Academy and join the Protectorate."

"I do want that." It would secure my place here, allowing me to join my sisters in the ranks of the Protectorate staff. It was a position I wanted desperately. Not just for the security, but because I liked the idea of helping people. I'd been helpless for so much of my life; I wanted to turn the tables and be the one in control. The one making things better.

"Good." She nodded. "Then try hard today. It was difficult to get Maximus to agree to come here for training. It's not his usual. You'll need to impress him to get him to train you."

I swallowed hard, really not liking the sound of this. One, he was hot and I was shallow, so it was hard to focus around him. Two—and much worse—he'd seen my new dark magic. This was the guy I was supposed to convince to help make me more dangerous?

Sounded like a tall order.

Jude turned and left. Maximus was done creating the layout for our faux battle, and he and Jude were talking in low voices. My competitors were splitting up to find hiding spaces, and I needed to join them.

I slung the bag of potions over my back and hiked it toward high ground, climbing onto one of the towers in the middle of the space. From there, I could spot a half dozen large rocks that provided shelter, along with four other similar towers. Fake trees provided more cover, and through the branches of one, I could spot Angus's red hair.

Target number one, sighted.

I crouched low, concealing as much of my form as I could. Tension thrummed in the air as we waited for the fight to start. My gaze darted toward the gladiator.

His eyes were right on me.

A shiver raced down my spine, and I looked away.

"Ready." Maximus's deep voice cut through the room. It was the first time I'd heard him speak, and woo boy, did he sound like sex on a stick. No. Bad, Rowan. "Set. Go!"

As if a switch had been flicked, I launched into fight mode, jumping up and hurling my potion bomb at Angus. All the practice paid off, because the blue glass ball flew through the air, slipping between the fake tree branches and slamming into Angus's back.

Moron.

I leapt down from the top of the tower and landed in a crouch. I'd spent the last six months acting like some parkour nerd, leaping off ledges and learning to move quickly through impossible scenarios.

This was cake.

I raced toward Angus, my sword gripped in my hand, and found him lying facedown at the base of the tree, his head turned slightly so that he could glare at me.

I tapped the tip of my sword to the back of his neck. "Gotcha."

"Bitch," he managed to hiss.

"Right on the first try." I grinned, then spun and sprinted away.

Sure, I was never going to make friends if I kept behaving like this, but I already had my sisters.

Something flashed out of the corner of my eye. A large rock was flying right toward me.

Shit!

I dived low, barely avoiding the stone as it flew overhead and slammed into the castle wall. The whole room shook, and I scowled.

Seriously? Jude gave me a fake sword and potion bombs when Lavender was allowed to use her telekinesis with such deadly force?

Not fair.

And I was jealous. I believed in intellectual honesty, and sure as shit I was jealous of Lavender's telekinesis. That used to be my power.

I shoved away the useless emotions and scrambled to my feet, whirling to find her.

Boulders, fake trees, and wooden towers blocked my view. Not a single glimpse of that jerk. Quickly, I darted behind a rock, making sure it was a big one. Too big for Lavender to pick up with her magic, at least.

I took a moment to catch my breath, then peeked out from behind the rock.

Where the hell was she?

And where were the others?

All was silent out there.

If Lavender was stalking me, the other two should be fighting, right?

But I heard no sound of combat. Smelled and tasted no flaring magic.

Quiet footsteps sounded from far off on the left. The right, as well. I had good hearing, thankfully. Nothing like Bree's, but good.

And right now, it indicated one thing.

They were ganging up on me.

My skin chilled.

This was fake combat, but still. It made me nervous. I felt like prey.

Anger surged warm under my skin, driving away the fear. I hated being afraid. I'd spent five years being afraid. That was enough for me.

They wanted to gang up on me?

Fine.

They wouldn't like the results.

Slowly, I sucked in a calming breath, reaching with my hearing to try to locate my stalkers. I searched the area behind me, briefly catching on Maximus. He watched me, his gaze steady.

I wanted to give him a show. No way I was going to let these jerks get the upper hand on me.

My senses revealed that two opponents were closing in on me in a pincer-like movement. I couldn't hear the third—who I'd bet big money was Lavender. If it was her, she'd be up high, wanting a good vantage point from which to use her telekinesis. It was what I would have done.

Once I had a bead on the two who were closing in, I drew a potion bomb from my pouch. Ready, I scrambled on top of the rock, my gaze going right. It landed on Carl, the dark-haired guy with fire magic. His startled gaze met mine just as I hurled my potion bomb.

He was quick, throwing his blast of fire before my bomb collided with his chest. I leapt off the rock, rolling on the ground to hide behind a tree trunk. Carl shouted as the potion bomb slammed into him, and I heard him hit the ground.

One down, two to go.

I still had a pretty good idea where the other attacker was. To the left, about ten yards away. Probably hiding. Wimp.

I grabbed another potion bomb and lunged out from behind the tree. Magic flared on the air, and I looked up just in time to see a rock the size of a football flying toward me. In the distance, I caught sight of Lavender's dark hair.

Jerk.

I dived right, avoiding the rock as it plowed into the tree. Another followed soon after, and it was clear that Lavender was going to throw everything she had at me.

I played a game of Frogger, sprinting across the fake forest as Lavender threw rocks at me. When a spear of ice flew from between the leaves of a large fake bush, I knew exactly where the other fighter was hiding.

Hiding. As if that would work.

"Just freaking hold still!" Frustration sounded in Lavender's voice.

I stifled a laugh. That would definitely get points docked off. Deadly and silent, that was the way to be.

I dodged another icicle and finally caught sight of a pair of eyes peering out from between the branches. Then they darted away. He was running. I pursued, following Lorence to the left. Just as he darted out from behind the bush, I hurled my potion bomb.

It exploded against his side, and he went down in a tumble of limbs. I sprinted toward him, tapping him with my sword, then whirled to find Carl. He should still be down, and the kill wouldn't count if I didn't tap him with my sword and take him out.

Lavender hurled rocks at me as I ran through the fake forest. I'd take out Carl, then I'd finish with her.

One of the small boulders whizzed past my face as I neared a tree, and I realized I was getting sloppy. I spared Lavender another glance, just in time to see a second rock head straight for me. I spun out of the way, taking an indirect hit to the shoulder.

Pain flared, but I ignored it.

Lavender crowed in delight, and it was almost impossible for me to ignore that.

Instead of heading for her, I sprinted the last few feet toward Carl, who was struggling to sit. Whatever freezing potion Jude had put in these bombs, it wasn't lasting long.

I tapped my blade to his throat, and he glared at me.

I indulged myself with a smirk, then turned to go after Lavender.

There were no more rocks flying at me.

That was trouble.

She was getting smarter.

Warily, I searched my surroundings as I raced on silent feet toward her. When the tree to my right began to creak and lean toward me, my heart leapt.

Crap!

The tree picked up speed, falling in my direction.

I dived forward and skidded on the ground as the tree slammed down behind me. A quick glance up showed Lavender leaning over the railing on her tower, her eyes bright on mine.

"Is that all you got?" I asked, unable to help myself. There was no need to be silent anymore. My target knew where I was.

She scowled and raised her hands, magic flaring.

Okay, time to end this. Playing with my prey wasn't smart.

I surged to my feet and sprinted toward her, wanting to finish hand to hand. The tower that she stood upon was about twenty feet tall, mostly smooth sided except for a series of protruding boards. They were like little notches, perfect for climbing. There should be stairs around the back, if it were like all the other towers in the room, but I didn't have time for that.

I leapt toward the notches on the side of the tower, using them to scale the thing as quickly as I could. Lavender's startled eyes met mine, and I pushed myself harder. I leapt over the railing just as she made a massive boulder levitate near my head.

She was going for a kill shot. This was bullshit.

I ducked beneath the rock, feeling the thing skim the top of my head and probably take out a few hairs. Then I swung my sword, tapping her on the side of the neck.

"Dead." I nearly snarled the words.

She hissed at me. An honest to fates hiss.

In the distance, my gaze caught on Maximus. His appraising expression ignited my curiosity, but I had to deal with Lavender first. Except I didn't have time for a response.

"Attack!" a familiar voice called from behind.

I turned.

Florian Bumbledomber, the ghostly night librarian, stood in the doorway, his nearly transparent eyes wild. As usual, he wore an old-timey outfit that featured lots of ruffles and brocade. The tall, curly wig on his head was slightly askew, and next to him flew Mayhem, the ghostly pug with wings. Mayhem was Bree's sidekick, but she often spent time in the library.

Jude strode toward Florian, her starry blue eyes suddenly serious. "What kind of attack?"

"In the Grassmarket. A murder, out in plain sight, right in front of the Whiskey and Warlock. Ali and Haris just delivered the news."

"Who was killed?" Maximus's voice cracked like a whip from the back of the room.

"I don't know." Florian twisted his ghostly hands. "The body was mauled beyond recognition. They're requesting the investigative team."

Mauled? What the hell? The Grassmarket was in the city. Mauled was the word you used when a bear got to you. Or some other giant animal. Not a city murder.

The memory of the giant monster flashed in my mind.

Could it be?

Jude didn't waste time turning to look at us. "Class is over."

With that, she strode out, her dark braids bouncing. I turned to find Maximus, but he was already gone, too. I hadn't even seen him leave.

Without sparing a glance at Lavender, I scrambled down the tower and sprinted out of the room.

If the winged monster was back, that meant the demons might be, too. The demon who said I was like them.

This was obviously somehow connected to what was happening to me.

More importantly, I'd failed.

There had been a murder, and I'd missed it. We might have foiled it last night, but they'd come back.

I had to find out what the hell was going on.