“When I was your age—” Goddess, I sounded like such a stereotypical old woman. “Felipe sent me on my first hunt when I was thirteen. By the time I turned fifteen, I was one of the best Hunters the Guardians Council had ever had. It wasn’t enough. I wanted to do more. So, I brought my friends into it. We called ourselves the Slay Team. Stupid name, I know.”
Felipe had been furious. He’d threatened to strip me of my powers for violating the Council’s laws of secrecy. Hunters were supposed to work solo. We weren’t even allowed to talk to our counterparts on other continents, except through our mentors. But as months passed and Felipe saw how effective the Slay Team was, he began to come around.
“I’ll never forgive myself for what I did to them,” I said.
“What happened?”
“Exactly what I wanted. I taught them to kill.”
“To kill monsters,” he said. “Right?”
“That’s right. Monsters...many of which were intelligent. They could talk and threaten and beg for their lives. Sometimes, we hunted and killed things that looked and acted human. In the beginning, the team struggled with it. Kayla wanted to quit. Thalia started drinking. But they got over it. The guilt faded. Then it went away completely.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” asked Ronnie.
“I turned my friends into weapons, just like Felipe did to me. And it broke them.”
He was listening, though he tried to look disinterested as he switched to two-handed curls with the dumbbell.
“The violence spills over,” I said. “Someone shoves you in the hallway, so you react the way you’ve trained to: quickly and violently. We sent three bullies to the hospital that first year. Soon, everyone else knew to keep their distance. In our senior year, Kayla killed a teacher over a bad grade on herHamletessay.”
“Damn...Was that when you retired?”
“Unfortunately, no. The team broke up, and I went back to working solo. I didn’t hit rock bottom until I was twenty-three.” I picked up a pair of escrima sticks. “Don’t let this become easy.”
“Do you still talk to any of them? The ‘Slay Team’?”
Old, familiar pain tightened my chest and stomach. “Kayla and Raj both died. Alex lost an arm and an eye. Emily and Thalia survived mostly intact, but only because they got far away from me.”
“If this life is so destructive, why try to help me?”
So I know exactly what I’m up against if I have to stop you.“Because I know you’re not ready to walk away, and I want you to live long enough to become more than just a killer. Now let’s work on your breathing. You’ve been taking a quick breath before you attack. It’s one of your tells. Take a series of deep, slow breaths instead. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, making you calmer and more clear-headed. When you think you’re ready, come at me.”
“Wait, you’re telling me Jenny Winter has a little intern now? Who the fuck is this guy, and where the fuck did he come from?”
CHAPTER 11
Annette
Blake kept his composure until he was in my car with the door closed. “Do you think Sage knows?”
I heard the unspoken questions.Are Ava and Morgan in danger? What if Sage tells people what we are? Will we need to leave Salem before word spreads?
I wished I had words to reassure him. I started the engine and pulled away. “Let’s stick with facts. We know Sage tooksomething, but we don’t know what it was or what exactly he did or didn’t see.”
“You can’t even guess what he might have taken? How many magical drugs can there be?”
“Seriously? Humans will snort, swallow, or shoot up with anything that promises a quick hit of magic. One day it’s powdered unicorn hooves. The next it’s an IV injection of chupacabra blood. Most of it’s garbage with no more power than crystals or pyramids or Scientology.” I stopped at an intersection. “Which way?”
“Left, toward the east side of town.” His worry was palpable. “You said most of it was garbage. What about the rest? Like your blood pills?”
My fists tightened on the wheel. “I didn’t realize you knew about those.”
“I found them when I was eleven.”
Damn. “Those are the equivalent of a magical antiviral for an infection I picked up before you were born. They’re made by an experienced pharmacist and carefully regulated.”
“An infection?” He stared at me. “Like a magic STD?”
