4. Four

Four

“How do I look?” I waggled my eyebrows at Ari, who regarded me with his usual air of boredom from the driver’s seat.

“Like a water elemental.”

“Good.” I smiled smugly and tossed Ari’s cloak to the back seat. Zach caught it, his brow furrowed. “Put that on.”

He frowned. “This is your brilliant plan?”

“ Part of my brilliant plan.” I ground my teeth together. Maybe it was a good thing I’d never have kids. “Now for the love of the gods, stop arguing and put the damn thing on or so help me I will glamour away your nose forever.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Oh, yeah? Want to risk it?”

Zach scrambled to wrap the cloak around his shoulders before pulling the hood over his head. I got out of the car and breathed in the salty air. We were in Haven.

I took the lead, walking down the slick sidewalk of the Silver District. Neon signs and the city lights reflected off the puddles on the pavement. Balmy, sweet-smelling warmth hit me as I walked by an open door to a bakery, getting ready to open for the morning. I basked in the sights, smells and sounds of what had once been my home.

So much had changed since I’d left, but I still had to disguise myself. To the otherworlders of Haven, being a hunter was a sin. One that had no redemption.

I’d made so many memories here. Down that narrow street was the alley where Ari saved me. He’d known what I was, even then. And he killed the elementals and druid, accepting the daeva curse to save me. To keep my secret.

I glanced behind me. Purple mana gathered around him, making him invisible to everyone without hunter blood like Zach and me. Without his cloak, his impressive form was clear. His tight, long-sleeve shirt showed his muscle and hugged his broad shoulders. His purple eyes reflected the neon lights as he surveyed our surroundings.

Ari was always there for me. I didn’t know what I would have done tonight without him. I probably would have tried to fight an army of corrupt hunters on my own.

He caught my look, and his eyebrows drew together in a lopsided expression. A scar pulled at his right eyebrow. I’d seen the scar with his mask off before. It sliced down his cheek to his chin.

I pulled my gaze away. We’d made it to the Dungeon. Though it was almost morning, a line of otherworlders still wrapped around the block. Booming music shook the concrete below my boots, causing ripples in the puddles.

“Stay here,” I whispered to Zach before I skipped around the rope to the front of the line. I could only hope Sabrina hadn’t changed her staff and I could convince the bouncer to let us in. When I reached the door, I stopped in my tracks. “Donald?”

The imp smiled at me, revealing rows of needle-like teeth. He stood on a barstool, his short frame too wide for his little legs. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite not-so-human human. Sabrina said you were coming. I love what you’ve done with your hair.”

“When did you become a bouncer for the Dungeon? What happened to that mountain of muscle Sabrina hired?”

“The druid?” Donald threw his head back in a cackle. “Refused to let a group of rowdy ifrits into the bar. Hellfire’s a rough way to go.”

I cringed. Ifrits were known for their short tempers, but most demons were solitary. Haven had all kinds, but demons were rare, even here. “What were so many ifrits doing at the Dungeon?”

“Dunno.” Donald shrugged, stirring his leathery wings. “If they were here for a target, they didn’t get their mark. Even demons of vengeance can’t match Sabrina’s wrath when her business is threatened.” His scaly eyebrows lowered over his red eyes. “Things have been strange in Haven since the news of your identity broke.”

“Yeah, about that ...” I glanced around and scratched my head of glamoured blue hair. No one seemed to have noticed what Donald was saying. The people in line just stared at their phones and moaned impatiently.

Donald waved a claw through the air. “Don’t worry about it. I’m an imp, not an ifrit. I don’t hold a grudge. I once had a mate bargain my soul to our Ancient one night, and we were drinking and playing cards the next.”

Ari’s mind brushed mine. This is taking a while. Do you need me to influence him?

I shook my head slightly. I’d almost forgotten the reason we were here. “My friends and I need to speak to Sabrina.”

I gestured over my shoulder to where the Wraith stood, glamoured, next to Zach.

“I mean friend.” All Donald would see is Zach’s small form standing in a cloak made for a giant. I cleared my throat. “Just one, singular friend.”

“Sure thing.” Donald raised a scaly eyebrow. “But is he underage? This is my first honest job in a century. I don’t want to lose it.”

I swallowed. Could I glamour some wrinkles onto Zach? Maybe I did need Ari’s magic.

Donald chuckled. “Just kidding. I don’t care. But I’ll warn you, the boss has been in a mood lately.”

“I can handle Sabrina.” I waved Ari and Zach forward.

As I moved to pass him, Donald leaned in and whispered, “You’ve been gone a long time, Enchanter. Haven’s not like you remember, and neither are the people.”

“Uh, thanks for the warning.” What did that mean? So far, I hadn’t noticed anything too different. How much could happen in the months I’d been gone?

I pushed through the heavy door to the dark interior of the Dungeon. The fresh night air turned into a sweltering mix of body spray, alcohol, and a dozen types of magic. A thick blanket of fog covered the dance floor, where otherworlders danced in a kaleidoscope of auras and multicolored lights.

A white-haired elemental did a double take as I walked by. Alani dropped the beer she was filling to run around the bar. I contemplated my escape, but the room was too packed with bodies. Instead, I turned to smile at her.

“Syn?” Alani looked around until her white eyes landed on my small, cloaked shadow. A smile lit up her face. “Is that Em?”

She reached out to Zach, but I stepped between them. “No. Em’s still in Draqaar.”

Alani’s face fell. She wrung her hands. “Has she asked about me?”

“I’m sorry, Alani. I can’t talk now.”

Alani lifted her chin. “Well, if she does, just tell her that Inala and I don’t care how dangerous her life is. We want to be with her.”

“I’ll relay the message.” I saluted her as I attempted to melt back into the crowd, instead bumping into a mountain of muscle. I quickly pulled an invisibility glamour around me before he turned around. His gaze landed on an unsuspecting druid who was sloshing his drink on the dungeon’s dance floor.

The Orc swung his massive fist into the druid, sending him flying. The druid shifted into a lizard midflight and caught hold of one of the cages hanging from the ceiling.

Zach stopped and stared, wide-eyed. I pulled his hood down over his eyes and grabbed his good hand, leading us past the booths to the glamoured door at the back.

Come in, Arsyn. Sabrina’s voice rang through my head as I raised my fist to knock.

Her office was dim, just as she liked it, the only light coming from the single lamp on her polished wood desk. I stepped in, dragging Zach behind me. His hand shook in mine.

Sabrina sat back in her fancy chair, resting her hands on the armrests. Her long black hair was draped over her velvet-covered shoulders. “Now, what’s so momentous that the infamous Wraith had to borrow my Audi?”

I brought Zach into the dim light and pulled his hood down. Zach blinked in the light, his face pale.

“We’ve got a problem.”

Sabrina didn’t flinch, but her aura surged around her, filling the room with her purple magic.

“This is Zach Titus, formerly of the Titus hunter family. Zach, this is Sabrina. She kind of runs Haven.” I dropped myself into a leather seat facing her desk as Zach and Sabrina stared at each other. “Oh, and Sebastian’s on Earth.”

“I see.” Sabrina placed her hands on her polished desk. “That would explain recent events.”

I kicked my boots up on the other chair. “What recent events?”

“Followers of the Heretic have desecrated Poradan shrines in the Driftwood District, we’ve had more missing persons than usual, and demons have been ... congregating.” Sabrina’s lip curled. “It has Valeria’s stink all over it.”

I shared a look with Ari. I didn’t understand the connection.

Sabrina sighed. “Has being around the daeva for months taught you nothing? Valeria’s a Daevasi lady who found herself defeated. Of course, she’d resort to unconventional allies and indirect ways to sow disorder. And what better way than to open up old wounds and empower the beings of chaos magic?”

“Of course.” I smacked my forehead with my palm. “It’s obvious.”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. “Sarcasm isn’t attractive, Arsyn.”

“It isn’t?” I gasped and draped myself over the arm of my chair. “Oh, how will I ever find a husband?”

“Arsyn?” Zach stepped farther into the light. His voice was shaky. “My family’s dead and I’ve been up all night.”

“Right.” I cleared my throat and sat up. Leave it to the teenager to be the adult in the room. “I’ve been searching for Enoch in hunter compounds for the last couple of months and I went to the Titus compound last night, where I found Zach running from corrupt hunters.”

Sabrina steepled her fingers. “Corrupt hunters?”

I nodded. “More hunters like Sebastian.”

“They drank his blood, and their eyes turned black,” Zach added, hugging himself.

“They’ve willingly taken corrupt mana?” Sabrina asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Sebastian promised them power and freedom if they followed him.”

“This is what happens when you shelter your people from the history of the worlds.” Sabrina stood from her chair and ran a finger along the spines of her books. “They’re doomed to make old mistakes.”

“Enoch’s the key to all of this.” I clenched my hands into fists. “I know it. I just need to find him, and I believe hunters may have taken him.”

Sabrina pulled a book off her shelf and opened it, running her manicured finger along the lines. “I’m unaware of any wayward reapers, but I’ll inform my spies. Perhaps they can dig something up that can be of use to you.”

Good. Sabrina was one hell of an ally. And one hell of an enemy. If Sebastian’s activities on Earth threatened Haven, I almost felt bad for the man.

I bit my lip. “One more thing ...”

“Yes, Zach may stay here while you continue your search.” Sabrina didn’t look up from her book. “You’ve been absent a while, and there are certain tasks I need done that require a hunter’s immunity to magic.”

“I don’t want to stay here,” Zach said, his voice growing stronger. “I want to help you hunt down Sebastian Castelle.”

I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I need to do something.” Zach’s voice cracked. It broke me. “I should have stayed. My family needed me, and I ran away.”

I knew how hard it was as a hunter to lose your family and leave the Order. To lose everything and everyone you’d known. To start over.

I stood and gently placed my hands on his shoulders. “Sabrina’s working with us, so by helping her, you’re helping to bring Sebastian down. Okay?”

Zachary nodded woodenly. Even after everything he’d been through, he gazed at me with steely determination. He may not have been his family’s greatest warrior, but he was a survivor. Sabrina’s favorite kind of person. I could only hope she wouldn’t work him too hard.

“Good.” My gaze flitted to the shelf of rolled-up maps Sabrina kept in the corner. “I remember most of the locations of hunter compounds. Did you want me to mark them for you?”

Sabrina finally looked up from her book to smirk.

“Right. I’ll be off then.” I saluted her and backed up toward the door. “It’ll take a lot of convincing and maybe even some shameless bribery to get Cyrus to teleport the others to Earth.”

“I’ll keep in touch.” Sabrina dropped her book on the desk as I opened the door to leave. Her voice filtered into the hallway behind me. “Tell me, Zachary Titus, have you ever thought of mercenary work?”