The Dark War: The Dark War, Book 1 Page 5

“Mom?” I croaked. “You’re back!”

  “Yes, I am.” She chuckled, her voice soft, barely audible. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long, baby. Eight years, I hear.”

  I gulped back a sob. “I’m so happy to hear your voice, Mom.”

  “Kali, I need you to come home.”

  “The prediction? Wyatt said you saw something.”

  “I did.” There was hesitation in her voice. “I saw the darkness rising. It’s coming and I need you to be home with me when it does. We all must stand together.”

  “Darkness?”

  “A dark war, Kali, the darkest. Time is running out.”

  Dark war?

  “They’re organizing. It will be bloody. We must stand together.” She was repeating herself, her voice growing more and more hysterical.

  “Okay Mom, I’m coming.” There was no question about it. I had to go. “Hold tight, I’ll be there soon.”

  I hung up and lowered my head. My thoughts were spinning. Something bad was going to happen. Okay. Fine.

  “Finally came to your senses, eh?” Wyatt was at the door again, like a specter ghosting unseen into a room.

  “Would you stop doing that?” I picked up my weapons bag, slung the crossbow over my shoulder.

  “That’s all you’re taking?” Wyatt glanced into my closet. “Aren’t you going to pack some bags? Don’t know when you’ll be back. Or if you’ll be back.”

  “I’ll come back later and pack a bag, meet you at the Academy tomorrow night. I’ll catch a flight in the morning.” I tried to move past him but he blocked my way, hands on my shoulders for extra measure.

  “What?”

  “I’ve got a bounty to catch, remember?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. There’s a war coming.”

  I sighed as I shifted the weight on my shoulders, trying and failing to nudge loose from his grip. “I’ve got seventy-two hours. I’ll meet you back there.”

  “Kali, don’t be stupid.”

  Anger flashed through me. “I’m not stupid, Wyatt. She killed a girl, a young witch. Weather caster, lots of potential. Dead. I can’t let that go. I made a promise. I know you have no concept of what that word means, or how important it is, but when I say I’m going to do something, I do it.”

  I swear I saw him flinch. He took his hands off my shoulders.

  I walked to the hallway, snatching up my keys as I moved to the door.

  “None of that is going to matter in a few days.”

  “According to you.”

  “According to your mom.”

  My mom, who’d just woken after eight years of being in a catatonic state. She’d eat, she’d sleep, she’d function if she was prodded to, but she was otherwise absent. Her eyes glassy, fixed and staring. Another reason why I ran. I’d lost my sisters and I’d lost my mom. And, of course, I’d lost a few other things as well.

  I glanced at Wyatt, sucked in a deep breath, let it leak out slowly.

  Mom had always been accurate with her predictions before. They were random but the ones she got were right on. Was that still true? Was there going to be some catastrophic event connected to the solar flare?

  “I’ll make it back in time.”

  “Like hell…Kali…”

  I opened the door, frowned. What was I feeling? A waft of magic, a signature I knew. “Oh shit!”

  Wyatt jumped toward me, swinging his arm around my waist and yanking me from the doorway back into the hall. A loud boom echoed and a blinding light flashed. The air vibrated with magic and I cursed my stupidity for not sensing it earlier. The force of the blast sent Wyatt and me tumbling down into the kitchen to land in a heap. Somehow, Wyatt managed to curl himself under me so that it was his back that took the brunt of the skidding.

  It took me a moment to regain my senses. The blast had been scarily powerful. “Holy shit!”

  A power burst. A strong spell. I jumped to my feet but stayed crouched low, mimicking Wyatt’s stance, frantically scanning the area for the location of our assailant. My front entrance was gone, a cloud of smoke blocking me from seeing anything more.

  “We have to get out of here!” Wyatt snatched my hand, hauling me back, moving to the sliding doors that would take us to the balcony.

  A second blast struck several feet into the hallway, not strong like the first but it still sent chunks of plaster, brick, debris everywhere.

  “She’s getting closer!” She, my bounty, was out there, her signature altered somehow but still familiar.

  “Back door.” He bellowed when another blast ricocheted off my building, thudding against what was left of the wall.

  I looked up at the gaping hole between my condo and the one next door. Smoke billowed, flames rising up. I stood. Angry. Power sparked across my fingers. “She’s destroyed my home.” I moved toward the hole in the wall, intent on blasting the bitch wherever she was.

  Wyatt grabbed me around the waist and yanked me off my feet before dipping low to snatch my weapons bag from the ground where it fell. “There will be time for fighting later. You’re exhausted and in no condition now. Let’s get the hell out of here before her aim improves.”

  My anger bubbled over into rage. “But there are people in there!” I pointed toward the condo next door where several frantic groups of residents were stumbling out, somehow managing to make it past the fire.

  Wyatt shook his head. “You’ll cause more danger for them if you stay. She’s more powerful than you.”

  “But she’s not more powerful than you!” I gulped down my pride. It was hard to swallow. “Fight with me, Wyatt. Please!”

  His iron grip around my waist tightened and he heaved me over his shoulder. I fell helplessly down his back. He gripped my legs against his chest so that I couldn’t even kick him to get down. He pushed through the sliding door, shoved it aside, then moved cautiously down the stairs and dumped me on my feet.

  “This is not the time to fight. Trust me.”

  “When did you become such a pussy?” I spat.

  He snapped his eyes to meet mine, his jaw clenching. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t fight. I said this wasn’t the time to fight. We need to regroup, make the offensive move. We don’t even know where she is right now! Use your head, Kali, for fuck’s sake!”

  Wyatt might be many things, but he had never been a coward. “I want her heart on the end of my knife.”

  Wyatt rolled his eyes. “So dramatic.”

  Chapter Eight

  “We won’t make it back tonight.”

  Wyatt was speaking to my father on his cell while I sat in the passenger side of his rented truck. The same truck he’d used to batter down those vampires. He was going to have to explain the dents to the front grill…or maybe not, if the world was going to end in a couple of days.

  I was bitter. Angry. Frustrated. We were parked down the street from my condo, far enough away that we wouldn’t be questioned by police—not far enough away that I couldn’t still see the burning ruins of what was once my home. That stupid bitch was gonna get it. At least she was gone. Her signature had faded from a constant tattoo to an ebbing throb. She’d blasted the shit out of my home and took off just as quickly.

  “She’s being targeted by a witch. We need to neutralize the threat before we go anywhere.”

  Targeted, yeah, or hunted. I’d never been on the other side of that dynamic. I was the hunter. I chased down the bad guys, not the other way around. It wasn’t often I felt intimidated. I didn’t like it.

  “Yes, before the flare, I know. We’ll keep in touch.” He killed the call then lowered the phone to his lap. “What’s the game plan?”

  He nailed me with those eyes. A healer’s eyes were always violet—a strange anomaly to go with a rare power. His were a deeper color than the rare few I’d seen in my lifetime. Purple, even. Framed by dark lashes, they tru
ly were mesmerizing.

  “Game plan?”

  He’d caught me off guard with that one. Here I’d been stewing over my fireball of a home and he’d expected me to come up with some kind of plan? Funny.

  “My house just blew up, I have nothing. My only weapons are in this bag. There’s a witch after me. What kind of plan do you think I have?”

  Wyatt bit his bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth, contemplating me—a habit I used to love. “You have any contacts here? Friends in the business of hunting?”

  Ha! Friends. Yes and no. “The Witch Hunter’s Union.”

  He pursed his lips as if he’d known I was going to say that. The Witch Hunter’s Union was a bad word among our kind. They had a rich history that spanned all the way back to the Burning Times. Religious zealots, the only humans who truly believed in the existence of the wicked witch. I’d been recruited weeks after I’d arrived in Tampa. I never had found out how they discovered me—the Union always had an uncanny way of locating witches. They wanted me to work for them because of my tracking abilities, made finding my kind super easy. I was just pissed off enough to agree.

  It was a match made in hell, really. They despised my kind. I despised my kind. We hunted together. For a while anyway.

  “Anyone else?”

  “You’re joking right? It’s not like I’m pals with the local PD. I don’t work with the Union much anymore. Just pick up a contract here and there. I get most of my work from referrals.” I’m that good, I wanted to say but kept my ego in check. He’d saved me twice now. The bastard. “They get a little overzealous about the hunt. Do things I don’t condone.”

  Like torture. Yeah, that was one reason to leave. A throwback to their roots. They often captured witches alive, tortured them into submission and confession, then imprisoned or euthanized. I wasn’t the only witch working for them either—that was the fucked up part. Disgruntled witches working to hunt disobeying witches, definitely flirting with some moral codes. It was too much for me to deal with on a daily basis so I’d split not long after I’d joined. Kept up some friendships, though. They weren’t all crazy fucks.

  “Ya think?” He stared at me like I’d grown a second head, a frown etching his forehead. “You’ve changed, Kali.”

  “Yes I have. For the better as far as I’m concerned.” And fuck you. “I’m not the innocent, sweet little girl you liked to torment.” Torture. “Or the sensitive fool you took advantage of.”

  He scoffed at that, his eyes blazing for a moment. “Oh please, Kali, you were never sweet or innocent.” He raked his gaze over my body. “Sensitive yes, sometimes a fool, perhaps, but never innocent.”

  I glowered. Whatever that meant. I felt like glowering, anyway. “How’s Ally?”

  He did flinch that time, I definitely saw it. He flicked his gaze to the front, turning the ignition as he did. “She’s fine.” When he looked back at me, his face was a mask of calm once again. “Where are they located, these witch hunter friends of yours?”

  I sucked back a nasty comment, bitterness tasting vile on my tongue and instead spat out the Union headquarters. If I was lucky, Billy and the team would take Wyatt for a spin on the rack, or give him a nice pinch on the ass with one of their hot devices.

  I was never that lucky, though.

  * * * * *

  “Kali!” Billy bear hugged me so hard my breath actually whooshed out of my body. When he put me down again, I was wheezing.

  “Wow, you bulk up on steroids or something, Billy?” I rubbed my sides, my ribs aching somewhat. Wyatt did not look impressed.

  Billy Watts with his red hair and freckles always made me smile. He was a bear in height and frame, a beastly looking fellow really, but kindhearted. Unless you were a witch and then he was bat-shit crazy. Well, a witch except for me and the other witchy Union members he worked with. Funny sense of allegiance, that one had.

  “Nah, just been eating a lot of greens. You know, like Popeye.” He winked, his blue eyes dazzling. He’d always been a flirter. Sometimes I wondered, had I let things happen, if something would have come of it. But, no, the religious fervor…the hatred for my kind…as much as I felt some depth of loathing, I wasn’t in it to the extent he was.

  “This is Wyatt, my…uh…a friend from back home.”

  Billy frowned, knowing full well what back home meant. He extended his hand and gave Wyatt’s a firm, probably debilitating shake. Again, Wyatt didn’t even flinch. “Another witch, eh?”

  “You aren’t going to tie me down, hot coal a confession out of me are ya?” Wyatt joked, his tone edgy, like he knew he was baiting a bear. He raised his hands in mock defense. “I didn’t do it!”

  Billy pulled his hand away, ignoring the jab as he focused on me. “We’ve been missing you here lots, Kali. Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “I’ve been working private cases mostly. Busy.”

  Billy nodded. “What are your thoughts on the solar flare stuff? Bunch of hoohaa or what?”

  I grimaced. “Well, that’s kind of why we’re here.” Kinda sorta. “We need your help. Or at least some information.”

  “No problem.” He motioned to the back area. “Let’s take one of the offices. I’ll let Sam and Clive know you’re here.”

  “Wait!” I raised my hand. Sam and Clive, partners. Sam a witch, Clive not. Both fully immersed into the Union beliefs. I didn’t want them involved if I could help it. “Just you for now, if that’s okay.”

  Billy frowned. “Okay, sure, just me.” He motioned to the front door. “You want to head down the street, grab a coffee?”

  I glanced at the ceiling, noting that they’d added a couple of extra cameras since I’d last been in there. I nodded. “Yeah, great idea, I could use some caffeine.”

  Once we settled into a booth, mocha java whatevers in our clutches, I wasted no time. “I’ve got a witch trailing me.”

  It was dark out, the stars actually visible. Union headquarters was on the outskirts of Tampa, far enough away to keep prying eyes from prying, close enough for staging hunts.

  “A witch trailing you? Like malevolently?”

  I snorted, almost choking on my coffee. “Yeah, she blew up my condo this afternoon.”

  “Holy shit!” Billy’s eyes were wide, his face flushed. “Are you okay?” He reached out to touch my hand. I let him stay that way, hands clasped, mainly because I could tell it was irritating Wyatt by the way he tensed, fingers clenching his coffee cup.

  “Of course she’s okay!” Wyatt blurted. “Would she be here if she wasn’t?”

  “I am, thanks for asking, Billy. Upset about the loss of my home, but—” I shot Wyatt a glare “—otherwise fine.”

  “Must be a pretty powerful witch to get the better of you.”

  It was Wyatt’s turn to snort and both Billy and I shot him a fuck off and die look.

  “She is powerful, yes. Something weird about her too though and I was hoping to get your help on this.”

  Billy had access to a network of witch hunters that I didn’t. He also had a research department at his disposal. There were factions of Unions all over the country, a headquarters on the West coast, somewhere near California with resources that rivaled the human’s CIA. As much as I didn’t want to bring a team of hunters on this, I also didn’t want to throw away the potential for help when time was of the essence.

  “Whatever I can do, Kali, you know that.”

  “Well, she seems to have a very strange spell signature. Not totally consistent for one. Like this afternoon, I didn’t react as quickly as I normally would because her signature was muddled.”

  “You didn’t tell me that,” Wyatt all but growled.

  I glanced over at him, eyebrow cocked. “You didn’t give me a chance.”

  Which wasn’t totally true. I’d been in shock and not thinking clearly, but in the time it took us to get
to the Union I’d sorted some things out.

  “I remember what you told me about the spell signatures, that each witch has a unique one. That you could track them that way,” Billy said.

  “Yes, that’s true, and once I’ve come in contact with a signature, it’s locked in. I don’t ever forget it. Here’s the thing though—hers seems to be warped somehow. Like there’s an underlying signature but it’s overlaid with two or three others.”

  “Okay, so maybe there was more than one witch at the condo?” Wyatt offered, looking as perplexed as I suddenly felt.

  I shook my head, took a sip of my coffee. “No, I thought that at first too but that isn’t it. There was only one witch there. Her power blasts were getting weaker each time she cast. If it was more than one, that wouldn’t have happened as quickly.” I shrugged. “I’d like to go back to the condo later and get a better feel, but I’m almost one hundred percent on that, just one witch.”

  “And you want us to look into it?” Billy asked as he withdrew his hand. “To be honest, Kali, without you on the team, we don’t typically track witches. We get tips, we follow prophecies, we question, but we don’t have a tracker that can confirm what you’re saying.”

  “Actually, it isn’t really confirmation I need. I’d just like to see if you hear anything…you know, put the feelers out, touch your informants, see if anything is going around that sounds weird.”

  Billy nodded. “Yeah, we can do that.”

  “Another thing.” I tapped my fingers on the table, a million thoughts racing through my mind. “She was housing with some vampires. Like, they were protecting her.”

  “Is that why you were at that den?” Wyatt snapped. “You chased your bounty into a vampire den? You got bit because of a bounty hunt?”

  “Wait, what?” Billy leaned forward, hand raised. “You got bitten by a vampire?”

  I cringed as I glanced around us, the coffee shop was nearly empty, only a few patrons at the other end but still. “Keep it down, you two!” I hissed.

  Wyatt motioned to my neck. “She got ripped a new throat hole. If I hadn’t come when I did—”