Power Will Flourish
Lives Will be Lost
Nothing, Will be Forgotten
Chase Williams is a
demon hunter in the Circle, or at least he was supposed to be. On his fifteenth
birthday, Chase stepped up to the altar to claim his elemental power, but it
never came. Elemental magic is passed down to a hunter through the bloodline,
but on Chase's birthday, the bloodline stopped.
Exiled without the Circle's protection, Chase has spent two years trying to survive a world riddled with half-demons and magic. When he has a run in with a frightened and seemingly innocent demon, he learns the Circle's agenda has changed: the Circle plans to unlock a portal and unleash pure-blood demons into the world.
Vowing to stop them, and knowing he can't do it alone, Chase forms a reluctant alliance with Rayna - a sexy witch with an attitude and a secret. In their attempt to stop them however, Chase and Rayna find themselves in the middle of the Circle's plan, leaving one of them to decide what their friendship is worth, and the other's life depending on it.
Exiled without the Circle's protection, Chase has spent two years trying to survive a world riddled with half-demons and magic. When he has a run in with a frightened and seemingly innocent demon, he learns the Circle's agenda has changed: the Circle plans to unlock a portal and unleash pure-blood demons into the world.
Vowing to stop them, and knowing he can't do it alone, Chase forms a reluctant alliance with Rayna - a sexy witch with an attitude and a secret. In their attempt to stop them however, Chase and Rayna find themselves in the middle of the Circle's plan, leaving one of them to decide what their friendship is worth, and the other's life depending on it.
I’d had several jobs in the
past year. This one I’d managed to keep for a few months. Most of my employers
frowned on me coming to work with cuts and bruises all the time. It made for
“poor presentation,” they’d say. I was thankful it hadn’t interfered with this
job, yet.
I finished up my shift and had
started my walk home from the burger joint when I felt it. A hunter doesn’t
mistake the feeling that demons are around. It moves down your spine and chills
your bones. Feeling it proved I was indeed a hunter, even without an element.
The August air was warm for
the late hour, and a thick layer of sweat made my white shirt cling to me. I
stopped and unzipped my duffle bag, locating the silver dagger inside. Silver
was great no matter what you were fighting; it could do serious damage to
anything of the Underworld.
The tingle shot down my spine
again. If I focused, I could feel each hair on my neck rise. I saw a blur of
movement across the street and watched it disappear into a shadowy alley. I
moved across the street in a low crouch, resting my weight on the balls of my
feet. I slowed my breathing and pulled the dagger from my bag before I slipped
around the corner.
My senses were alive and
strained to see movement, or hear the sound of feet shuffling against loose
rocks. As a hunter, I could see well in the dark, though the only light came
from a single flickering street lamp.
I was almost to the end of the
alley when it hit. I couldn’t tell what “it” was, but it struck my back and
launched me forward. My feet tumbled over my head and my back smashed hard into
the concrete wall at the end of the alley. Hands grabbed me and lifted me to my
feet, dragging me a few steps before throwing me back the other way. I flew
through the air, hit the ground and rolled out into the street.
I used my momentum and came up
on one knee to recover. My back burned where pavement had grated the skin off,
but I pushed the pain aside as the figure stalked towards me.
“Your death will bring me
great glory, hunter. Killing the son of Riley Williams will make me a legend
among the Underworld,” the low voice gloated.
“That’s really great, good
luck with that,” I said.
He smiled and the fangs that
slid down from his gums were long and sharp. His pale skin started to thin as
the vampire changed into his demon form.
Milky skin faded into
transparent flesh, revealing the moving muscles beneath. Veins ran black
through the vampire’s face and limbs, pushing against the thinning clear skin.
Strange muscles in his hands pushed bony talons out over his finger nails, and
the whites of his eyes disappeared, filling with an inky blackness. The dark
orbs stared at me as his fanged mouth curled into a smile, and in a blur he
sprang forward, talons swinging.
I ducked as they sliced
through the air over my head. I brought the knife up into his stomach and
twisted the blade before I pulled it out. Blood spilled onto the ground, but I
knew the wound wasn’t enough to kill him. Cut off his head or pierce his black
heart – those were my options. I could
light him on fire, but I was fresh out of matches.
I brought my foot up and
kicked the vampire back to give myself some room. I steadied myself, waiting
for him to charge, but his body jerked and the point of a silver blade appeared
in his chest before he could move.
The vamp’s body went limp and
collapsed, then exploded in a flash of orange light. It burned away into a
cloud of ash and littered the pavement, revealing the girl – of all things –
who had beaten me to the kill.
Raven hair spilled over her
pale shoulders with hints of red highlighting the occasional strand. A tight
leather top revealed a sliver of toned stomach and a tease of cleavage. Black
pants hugged her hips and long slender legs and met knee-high boots. Her skin
glistened in the light, but the most noticeable of her features were her eyes.
Bright green orbs sparkled
with an odd glow: demon’s eyes. They had the slit pupils of a cat that I’d
never seen on anything other than a house pet or a shifter in animal form. I
slipped back into fight mode. I’d never watched one demon kill another, but I
suppose for the fame of killing me, why not?
I lunged and threw a punch at
her face, but she dodged it with ease.
“You almost messed up my
kill,” she snarled, and I had barely enough time to dodge her powerful kick.
“Your kill? You stole it from
me!” I swung my fist and hit her stomach. She bent over, winded, before she
stepped back and caught her breath, regaining her stance and composure.
“Stole it? Please, I’d been
tracking him for blocks.” She spun and caught my chin with the heel of her
boot, snapping my head to the side. I rubbed my jaw where she’d hit me and
smiled.
“Well then, I guess it’s a
good thing I was here to slow him down. Who knows if you would have been able
to catch him?”
She moved in for another kick
but I was ready. I grabbed her foot and pushed her back. She fell to the ground
but quickly came to her feet. “I would have gotten him just fine on my own.
Hunting is an art. It would’ve gone on as long as I deemed necessary.”
“Call it hunting if you want,
but a filthy demon killing her own kind is still just that: a filthy demon.” I
could tell I’d offended her even before she hit me.
My eyes watered when her fist
smashed into my nose and her foot connected with my stomach in quick succession.
I jerked back to avoid the knee that flew towards my face and pushed it to the
side, but she was already moving towards me. Her hands hit my chest hard and I
soared through the air for a long moment before I hit the ground. I felt a
sharp pain shoot up through my spine and I could hear her laughter as I
struggled to my feet.
“I have to admit I expected
more from you, Chase, being the infamous son of Riley Williams and all.”
I gripped my dagger until my
knuckles turned white and spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ll try not to
disappoint.”
My fist hit her jawbone and
made a loud crack. I came back with my other hand and wrapped it around her
throat. I stepped into the movement and threw her forward in a burst of
hunter’s strength. She slammed into the ground but recovered faster than I
anticipated. Before I could brace myself she was on top of me.
I pulled her body down and we
rolled over each other against the cold concrete until I was on top. I kept a
handful of her hair wound tight in my fist and pushed my blade against her
throat. “More what you expected?”
“Not really.” She smirked.
I felt the point of a knife
pushing against my stomach. Before I could react, a commanding male voice came
from behind us.
“Enough!” it boomed.
I didn’t take the knife or my
eyes off the demon beneath me.
“But we were just starting to
have fun,” she complained. The smile on her face was anything but threatening.
If this was her idea of fun, I didn’t want to know what she considered boring.
“Rayna, enough,” the man
repeated.
She sighed, sticking out her
bottom lip in a pout before the knife left my skin. “Truce?” she said with an
innocent face.
“Not a chance,” I replied,
pushing the knife harder against her throat.
I was pulled away from Rayna and
pressed against a wall, thick hands around my throat. I raised my blade but my
opponent blocked and twisted my arm at an awkward angle. The man ripped the
blade from my hand and I squirmed.
“Calm down, Chase. We are not
here to hurt you,” the voice said. A complete shadow hung around the figure,
moving as he moved.
“So she attacked me for fun?”
I snapped.
“If we wanted you dead, you
would be,” he said, releasing his grip, and I fell to the sidewalk. He stepped
back slowly and the shadow peeled itself from his body. As it faded, it
revealed a large man whose magic I’d never sensed before.
“If you don’t want to kill me,
what do you want?” I asked.
The man reached forward, a
large dark arm holding out my dagger. I wrapped my hand around it in confusion.
The contrast of our skin was drastic; my pale flesh glowed against his midnight
color and the size of his hand alone made me feel small.
“What Rayna told you was true.
We were tracking the vampire, not you. Although I’m happy to finally meet you,
I’d imagined this moment under different circumstances,” he said.
“There are ways to meet people
besides attacking them.”
“I agree. You must forgive us;
Rayna is quick to lash out when insulted.” My eyes met his and I couldn’t read
his expression. I knew I hadn’t been polite, but I wasn’t about to apologize to
a demon. “You know, your father would not have hesitated to kill her, no matter
his position.”
“Congratulations, you’ve
discovered I’m not my father. What the hell would you know about him anyways?”
He turned his head to the side
and as the light hit his neck it revealed a tattoo. It was the one every hunter
received after their ceremony. The one I never got.
The tattoo made me realize why
he could bend the shadows; he was an air elemental and a powerful one at that.
I had heard stories of hunters being able to work with shadows, but I’d never
seen it done firsthand.
I looked him over, not sure
what to think of a hunter working with a demon. He was taller than me by an
inch, around six-foot three. His head was smooth shaven, though there was a
small patch of hair under his lower lip. His skin seemed like a smooth dark
chocolate. His body was large and square, broad shoulders making him a massive
column of strength and power. He filled out a sharp black suit jacket and wore
black loafers, leaving the only color on him a flash of bright blue dress
shirt.
“You’re a hunter.”
“Once upon a time, yes I was.”
He broke eye contact and
cleared his throat, extending his massive hand towards me. “Look at my manners.
Let me introduce myself. I am Marcus Starkraven.”
My eyebrows shot up; I knew
that name! “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Is that what you heard?”
“You used to hunt with my
father.”
He nodded slightly, but
otherwise ignored the comment. “You already met Rayna,” he said, taking his
unshaken hand back.
I looked at Rayna and got
caught in the depths of her green, slit eyes.
“What are you doing with a
demon?” I said, spitting out the last word like a curse.
“How’s your nose?” Rayna
asked.
I touched it and looked at the
blood on my fingers. “Lucky shot.”
She chuckled and stepped
towards me. “Care to go again?” Marcus put an arm in front of her.
“Not what we’re doing right
now,” he said.
“You didn’t answer my
question.”
“She is my student. And my
friend.”
I couldn’t respond. I didn’t
believe it. A hunter being friends with a demon was unfathomable.
“I would have thought, being
out in the real world, you’d have come to understand, Chase. Some Underworlders
don’t fit the Circle’s black and white image of good and evil,” he said.
“The only Underworlders I’ve
come across have tried to kill me.”
“Your name is feared by many
in the Underworld. Your father has created quite the reputation for himself, so
they fear you as well,” Marcus said.
I smirked. “As they should.”
He shook his head. “That
wasn’t a compliment.
M.R. Merrick is a Canadian writer and author of
The Protector Series, a Young Adult mash-up between Urban and Epic Fantasy.
Having never traveled, he adventures to far off lands through his imagination
and in between cups of coffee. As a music lover and proud breakfast enthusiast,
he’s usually found at the computer between a pair of headphones and in front of
a large bowl of cereal.
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