Magic Hunter: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Vampire's Mage Series Book 1) (11 page)

A blush crept up her chest. Of course he’d say something like that. He was an incubus.

They turned the corner onto Essex Street, and she hugged herself.

Maybe the outfit didn’t matter. There were only two possibilities for Josiah. Either he had faith in her, or he didn’t. If he trusted her integrity, he’d listen to her explanation—even if Randolph Loring and the rest of the Brotherhood wanted her dead.

Just outside a crooked yellow home, a figure prowled through the shadows. While most people wouldn’t have seen anything in the dim light, she was used to spotting movements at night.
Josiah.
She’d recognize those broad shoulders anywhere.

He’d come for her. A smile brightened her face, and she broke into a run.

S
he wrapped
her arms around him, but Josiah wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were too busy burning a hole in Caine. Josiah’s fingers wrapped around his flamethrower. “Did this monster hurt you?”

She touched her Guardian’s wrist. “Josiah. Relax. He’s been helping me.”

“
He’s
been helping you? A mage?” He spat out the last word like a curse.

Caine’s face registered only disinterest. “Not just a mage. I’m an incubus if that makes you feel any better.”

Rosalind flinched.
Shut up, Caine.

“An incubus.” Josiah’s face reddened. “I told you about them. Has he touched you?”

“No,” she said. No need to tell him what happened in the woods. “But I’m so happy you found me. How did you know where I was?”

“No one in the Brotherhood will tell me anything. Apparently, they think I might help you. And they’re right, of course. I had to spy on Randolph Loring when he was speaking to one of his associates in the Chambers. They know you’re in Salem, but they don’t know where. I’ve been searching the streets all night.” A deep growl slipped into his voice. “And here I find you, with an incubus. He needs to be put down.”

“You seem cranky.” Caine studied his nails. “I suppose it can’t please you to know that an incubus is protecting your girlfriend when you failed to do so.”

Rosalind glared at Caine. “I’m not his girlfriend anymore. He’s just worried about me.” She glanced at Josiah. A vein pulsed in his forehead. He was about to lose it. “Look. Caine is a demon, and he’s got an ego problem. But I knew him when I was a kid. And he’s going to help us sort all of this out, so I can get my life back.”

Josiah studied her carefully. “You spent your childhood with an incubus? How is that possible?”

She took a shaky breath. This was it. This was the point when she’d learn if her Guardian would stand by her, even with her magic-tainted background. “He explained to me the reason Randolph Loring thinks I’m a witch.”

“What is it?” Josiah asked.

“I’m not from England. I was adopted from Maremount. My parents were… corrupted by magic. They did something to me, but I was only a little kid. I didn’t have a choice. I don’t even remember it. And when they realized what a terrible mistake they’d made, they sent me off to live with the Brotherhood. With Mason.”

A streetlight glinted off his dark eyes, and he brushed a strand of hair off her face. “What did your parents do?”

“They summoned a mage’s spirit into my body. I’m possessed with it, even now. As long as I keep the iron ring on, it dampens the magic, and I feel normal. The true god protects me. But if I take it off, the mage takes over my body. She can make me do things I don’t want to. She can turn me into a mage and force me to cast spells.”

Josiah paled. “Are you sure this is all true?”

“Twice now I’ve had the ring off, just for a few moments. I felt her invade my mind. It’s horrible. I was splintering, and my skin was burning.”

Josiah glared at Caine again. “And how is a demon
going to help you rid yourself of magic? And, more importantly,
why
would he help you?”

“I’m just a caring person,” Caine said, his voice flat.

“He’s going to help me find a sybil in one of the demons’ clubs, and she can tell us how to exorcise it. Caine will absorb the spirit into his own body.”

“He’s doing it to gain even more power,” Josiah said.

She sighed. “Probably. And if he doesn’t exorcise the spirit, he’s stuck training me under the orders of the Vampire Lord. He seems to find the idea kind of tedious.”

Josiah’s eyes bulged, and she half-wondered if he was having a heart attack. “The Vampire Lord?” Clearly, she shouldn’t even mention Bileth, or her Guardian would hurl up his dinner.

She touched his arm. “Once I’m free, we can explain it all to the Brotherhood, that I’m cleansed again, and they can stop hunting me, right?”

Josiah stared at her intently. “I’ll see what I can find out. Maybe there’s some sort of precedent in the Brotherhood’s history of exorcisms. I can tell you that I’ll fight for you.”

Relief washed over her. “Thank you, Josiah.” She’d nearly forgotten to ask him the questions that had been burning in her mind for the past twenty-four hours. “Josiah. Have you heard anything about the Brotherhood burning people?”

The vein bulged in his forehead again as he clenched his jaw. “Did this demon tell you that? You can’t possibly trust him.”

He wasn’t answering the question. “Does that mean there are no burnings?”

“Of course there are no burnings,” he shouted. “Do you think I’d be on board with that? And I’m not leaving you here with an incubus. It’s out of the question.”

“What are you going to do?” One of Caine’s eyebrows raised, as if faintly interested for the first time. “Take her to Randolph Loring before she’s been exorcised? I suppose from where you stand, it’s better to risk burning her at the stake than leaving her with an incubus who might get his hands on her. One of these things would irreparably crush your ego, while the other would just be a bit unpleasant. All that ash and blackened bone to clean up.”

Caine just
had
to make things worse.
Asshole.

Josiah’s nostrils flared. “You’re not even human. You’re a depraved beast, and you belong in the shadow hell.”

“I’m pretty sure I could steal your woman from there.” Caine’s voice was glacial.

“Stop it, both of you.” The wind rushed over her bare skin, giving her goose bumps. Of course they hated each other. What had she expected? “I’m calling the shots here. I’m the one with the demonic possession, and I’ll decide what to do with it. I’m sticking with Caine until we can exorcise the spirit. I don’t know what’s happening after that, or if the Brotherhood will take me back or hunt me to the ends of the earth. But I do know I can’t live with this monster inside of me. I’ve felt it, Josiah. And if I don’t get it out, it will torment me until I die. Caine says he can help me, and I believe him.”

Josiah’s eyes were desperate. “I forbid you to stay with him.”

Rosalind clenched her jaw. “You’re not listening. There’s nowhere else for me to go right now.”

Her Guardian jabbed a finger in her face. “Do not let him touch you. I’m not messing around, Rosalind.”

Was this really the most important issue right now? “I won’t let Caine near me.” She touched Josiah’s arm, trying to mollify him. “Please try to find out about my case—if the Brotherhood will take someone back after they’ve been cleansed. Or at least maybe they’ll stop sending goons to arrest me so I can go back to Thorndike.”

“Of course I will.”

“Are we done here?” Caine asked.

“We’re done,” she said. “You don’t need to erase his memory, do you?”

“Like hell he’s—” but Josiah couldn’t continue the sentence, because his face had gone slack.

She whirled to find Caine chanting, his hand raised.

“Caine!” Frustration simmered in her chest, and she shoved him. “He needs his memories to help me. And it’s not like he learned anything that Randolph doesn’t already know. You don’t need to erase his mind.”

Dead-eyed, Josiah turned, walking jerkily as though warring with himself.

What the hell is Caine playing at?
Anger coiled through her, and she yanked out the iron dust, aiming it at Caine. “Stop fucking with him. He’s here to help me.”

Caine cut her a sharp look, and lowered his hand. “I didn’t erase his memory. I just wanted him to leave. He was annoying.”

Anger exploded in her skull. What was it with men and needing to dominate others?

But Caine was no ordinary man. Not only did he have this natural impulse for domination, but he had the means to exert complete control over others through his magic. “You just wanted him to know that you were in charge.”

“It’s better for him if he understands that.”

She narrowed her eyes, losing patience. “Do you have some kind of god complex?”

“He must understand that he can't fight me, or he’ll end up dead. He's not really on your side, Rosalind. He's only helping you because he’s scared of what will happen if you get too close to the demons.”

“Of course he’s scared. He doesn’t want me to get hurt.”

“That’s not what I meant. He’s scared he couldn’t satisfy you the way a demon could.”

“That's bullshit. Just because you're an incubus you interpret everyone else with your own disgusting flaws. And maybe your mind-blowing arrogance clouds your judgment. You just met him, and you already think you know everything about him, based on a two-minute conversation? And I didn’t even get to the part about how you lied about the executions.”

“My judgment is clouded?” Ice tinged his voice. “That's a bit rich coming from someone whose defining characteristic is chronic wrongness, mixed with a staggering dose of condescension. You and your insecure boyfriend are so preoccupied by evil that you’ve entirely overlooked all the Brotherhood’s transgressions.”

He was a genius at mixing truth with lies, and right about then she was seriously sick of his shit. “I wasn’t wrong about a high demon coming into the bar, but you ignored me, because you think you know everything.”

“It’s hard for me to value the opinion of a staggering hypocrite. You belong to an organization that believes in their own superiority over others, that uses torture as a tactic. You are completely blind to your own faults. But, of course, knowing how you were as a child that’s not surprising. A superiority complex is in your nature.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She shook her head. He was trying to distract her. “Never mind. The point is, demons thrive on control over humans. Just look at what Bileth did to me. The Brotherhood have their faults, but we don’t hurt people just for enjoyment. We’re not sadists. We act strategically. If some people get hurt, that’s unfortunate, but we don’t take pleasure in it.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Angry heat warmed her cheeks. “We don’t take away people’s free will and force ourselves on others. That’s a demon thing, because you are abominations. Even if you compel yourself to be nice most of the time, the facade will crack eventually. You can’t help forcing your will onto others. You’re corrupted.” A part of her needed it to be true—needed the monsters to be real, for the lines between good and evil to be clear. But the other part of her despised the words coming out of her own mouth. She’d called him an “abomination,” and “corrupted,” echoing Mason’s favorite insults.

He flinched. For a moment, his features looked so human that she almost forgot what he really was, but in the next instant his pale irises darkened into a fierce, animal glare. Silvery light swirled off him, and his true demonic form emerged.

H
is cold magic
crackled in the air, the power washing through her in waves. The dreadful ghost of dark wings rose up behind Caine, beating the air with a freezing wind. The temperature dropped by at least ten degrees, and Rosalind shivered. Apparently, she’d hit a nerve.

Her body buzzed with nervous energy, and Caine’s dark gaze rooted her to the spot. If it came down to a fight between them, would she have
any
chance of survival, or would it only be a matter of time before he hypnotized her to bash her skull into the street?

An unnatural stillness overtook his body, like a beast of prey waiting to pounce. “If I’d wanted to take away your free will, this night would have gone very differently.”

Nearby, heels pounded on the pavement, and Caine’s gaze cut away.

Rosalind let out a long breath, and turned to spot a tall, blonde girl struggling to run in high heels.

She frowned, straining her eyes in the dim light. “Tammi?”

The charged air calmed, and Caine’s eyes cleared as the air began to thaw. “Please tell me that’s not another Hunter. I can’t take any more of your kind.”

“Rosalind!” Tammi sprinted over. Her blonde hair flew wildly around, and her usually impeccable makeup streaked her face. After nearly crashing into Rosalind, she stopped to rest her hands on her knees. “That’s it,” she gasped. “My life is over. My parents disowned me years ago, and now I can’t go back to Thorndike.”

Panic coiled in Rosalind’s chest, and she touched her friend’s shoulder. “Tammi, what’s going on? What are you talking about?”

Tammi straightened, still catching her breath. “I can’t believe I found you.”

“Are you okay?” Rosalind asked. “
How
did you find me? What’s going on?”

“I’ve been following Josiah from a distance,” she said. “He took the train here, and I trailed after him, but I lost him in the park. He walks fast. And by the way, I know way too much about him now. Did you know he reads billionaire romances? Am I babbling? I’m kind of jacked up on the excitement. I’m basically a fugitive now. From the law.”

Rosalind’s blood turned to ice. “What are you talking about?”

“Did you say billionaire romances?” Suddenly playful again, a smile played about Caine’s lips.

Tammi’s eyes landed on the incubus. “Oh, hello.”

“Tammi, meet Caine. He’s a demon, but he’s helping me solve my… issue…” She’d gloss over the fact that she’d just called him an
abomination.
Clearly that was a bit much—even if he had hypnotized Josiah. “Anyway, what do you mean you’re a fugitive?”

“Okay. We
really
need to talk. You would not believe the shit storm that’s been going on since you left. The Brotherhood have been hounding me ever since you disappeared. They yanked me out of my art history final and then pulled me in for a bunch of interviews in the Chambers. During the last interview, I was interrogated by some asshole named General Loring—”

Rosalind’s mouth went dry. “Randolph Loring interrogated you? The red-haired guy? What did he want to know?”

“If I’ve ever seen you conduct magic. If you had friends who used magic. And what were the names of all your friends? And did I notice if there were any deformities on you, signs of corruption by magic? And if I wasn’t going to be helpful, they were going to arrest me and try out some of their enhanced interrogation techniques. And I don’t imagine he plans to put me in the women’s prison. I got kind of a fanatical vibe.”

“Your friend is a great deal more sensible than you are,” Caine said.

Anger ignited Rosalind’s nerves, and something else, too. Guilt, maybe. This was the other side of that swift justice she’d been so quick to excuse. “But you haven’t done anything wrong. How could they arrest you?”

“They called it obstruction of justice.” Tammi wiped some of the smudged makeup from her cheek. “They’re a freaking cult. I know, because I was raised by crazy fundamentalists. The difference is that my parent’s church had a broken neon sign outside of it, and the Brotherhood have taken over half our country.”

A wave of grief washed over Rosalind, yet something inside her wanted to cling to the gleaming image she had of the Brotherhood. “It’s a war between good and evil. We’re fighting to destroy monsters, like the demon who tried to control my mind not that long ago.” That was the Brotherhood’s explanation when their methods were questioned. In a war between good and evil, they must do whatever it took to win. Only the weak-willed complained.

“Nothing is that simple,” Tammi said. “You can’t divide people neatly into two different categories. I know that better than anyone.”

Something clenched tightly around Rosalind’s heart. “But you can divide humans and demons. Think about everything they’ve done to us. I’ve seen the pictures of the children they murdered—the school in Boston, the vampire attacks in Maine. That’s what evil is.”

Tammi cocked her head. “Demons kill humans. Humans kill demons. It’s the same thing.”

“It’s not the same thing. We’re fighting back. The demons want to use us and control our minds.”

Caine’s eyes flashed. “The only reason Hunters don’t use that particular skill is that they don’t know how. Have you asked Aurora how she got those scars all over her back? They’re from one of the Brotherhood interrogation rooms before she escaped. They used iron and hawthorn wood to carve her up. Fortunately, she’s oddly proud of the scars. Demons are no more evil than humans. Some of them just happen to be a lot more powerful.”

Guilt tightened her chest. “I didn’t know Aurora was in there.”

Tammi placed her hands on her hips. “I’m confused. You told me Caine was helping you, but you also seem to think demons are evil.”

“She did just call me an ‘abomination,’” Caine said morosely.

Rosalind sucked in a sharp breath. “Okay. That was… a little harsh, I admit. I just thought you were being controlling, but you’re not completely evil.”

“I’m sorry, am I interrupting a lover’s quarrel?” Tammi scowled. “Because I was talking about the fact that I’m a fugitive. It’s kind of a big thing for me right now. All I’m saying is, the Brotherhood want to throw me in jail and torture me until I crack. So if that’s not evil, I’m not really clear how we’re defining that particular term.”

Rosalind’s tears threatened to break through the surface. Tammi was right—Rosalind just hadn’t wanted to admit it. She still thought Caine was an arrogant jerk, but she didn’t want him tortured to death, and she definitely didn’t want her closest friend thrown in the Brotherhood’s prisons.

Sorrow welled in her chest. What about all the innocent people who’d gotten caught in the Brotherhood’s crossfire? Or what about people like
her,
corrupted by magic through no fault of her own, hunted down like she was some kind of murderer? The Brotherhood’s reach had spiraled out of control. Even she could see that now.

Yet she’d been a willing part of this system, refusing to let herself think about the casualties and the collateral damage. After all, in a war between good and evil, anything was justified, right?

“I can see how the Brotherhood’s methods are… problematic.” She glanced at Caine. For once, he was keeping his mouth shut. Maybe he understood that her whole future was collapsing before her. “I suppose my loyalty to the Brotherhood is just another example of my chronic wrongness.”

“It’s really the primary example,” he said.

Grief overwhelmed her, and she fought to keep the tears at bay. She’d been thinking of the Brotherhood as her family for so long. But maybe they were a severely dysfunctional, abusive family—not unlike Mason. And if they were coming after Tammi, it was time to move on. “I won’t go back to the Brotherhood. I still want to protect humans and fight the real monsters.” Suddenly exhausted, she rubbed a hand over her forehead. “Maybe the monsters aren’t as easy to identify as I once thought. Only the really horrible ones, like Bileth, and the mage inside me.”

Tammi crinkled her brow. “The what inside you?”

Rosalind glanced at her friend. “I’m possessed. By the ghost of a crazy lady.”

Tammi narrowed her eyes. “That’s what they told me in the church I used to go to.”

“Yeah, but mine is a real possession. I have access to magic, but I can’t use it without being possessed by a maniac. And not only that, but if I take my ring off, my skin starts burning, like I’m standing in the center of an inferno.”

Tammi’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, Ros.”

“There was one way around that, if I recall,” added Caine.

“I can’t throw myself at you every time…” Flustered, she let her sentence trail off.

Tammi twirled a strand of blonde hair around her finger, eyeing Caine. “That doesn’t sound so bad to me.”

A smile played over Caine’s lips. “I told you your friend was sensible.”

When she thought of taking off her ring, panic blazed through her nerves. “Forget it. How soon can we go see the sybil?”

“You still want to do that?” Caine asked. “Even though you’re starting to understand that the Brotherhood are wrong about everything—including that magic is evil—you’re still running away from your own power like a scared child.”

The way he spoke to her still irked her. “Yes. I want the exorcism. But if you need to hear it, you’re right about the Brotherhood, Caine, and I no longer have a future. I hope that makes you feel better. You obviously like control over things, and now another thing is going your way.” Still flickering between anger and a burning disappointment, she felt a sudden need to lash out at him again. “Out of curiosity, does anything ever not go your way, or do you just seduce or hypnotize your way into getting anything you want?”

Anger flashed in his eyes. “That’s quite the statement from someone noble-born and raised in a mansion. I’m guessing this is the first terrible thing to ever happen to you and that’s why you have no idea how to handle it.”

“You’re guessing wrong.”

Caine studied her with an unreadable expression.

Tammi cleared her throat. “This conversation is fun and everything, but I can’t really go back to the Thorndike campus without getting arrested, so….”

Rosalind touched Caine’s arm. “Can she stay with us? Please? Just until we get the spirit out. Then we’ll figure something else out, and we’ll get out of your life.”

“Another human to look after?” he asked. “It’s not a good idea.”

“What else is she supposed to do?”

He traced his fingers over his jaw, considering her plea. “Fine. At least she’s more sensible than you are.”

Tammi wiped away another tear. “And then what? Where can we go that the Brotherhood won’t find us?”

Rosalind turned to her friend. “It’s going to be okay. Josiah said he’d help work on my case. I know the Brotherhood are unreasonable, but Josiah isn’t. He said he’d help look for a precedent. If they’re not after me, they’ll stop harassing you.”

Tammi crinkled her brow. “You think Josiah can do that?”

“I can’t guarantee it, but…” Her sentence trailed off.
It’s the only option we have
just didn’t sound very reassuring. She glanced at Caine. “How soon can we go to Elysium?”

“We can go as soon as you want.” His cold gaze met hers. “But if you want to come with me, you’ll have to learn to act submissive for a few minutes. The only pedestrians allowed in Elysium are there as courtesans to offer pleasure to the demons.”

She crossed her arms. “You have got to be kidding me.”