Ties That Bind: a New Adult Fantasy Novel (The Spire Chronicles Book 2)

Hunter of all things evil and paranormal, snarky witch Morgan Maxwell knows she needs to get herself back into shape before she continues the hunt for the demon-worshipping vampire that tried to kill her, her friends, and the rest of the world.

Until she receives a summons from her estranged father to help solve the gruesome murders of werewolves and shifters that live in his forests.

The last thing Morgan wants to do is see the man who threw her aside when she was a child, but even she can’t let bitterness and resentment keep her from helping put a stop to the murder and mutilation of innocents.

But solving the murders will be the least of her worries. Alex – a man Morgan finds herself getting terrifyingly close to – has a personal stake in this case, one that Morgan fears will tear them apart for good.

Ties That Bind
is the second book of the Spire Chronicles urban fantasy series.

1

There was nothing but the sound of my breath and the rustling of leaves as I raced after my target. The sky was a pale purple and a light, gauzy mist hung in the air, twisting through the dark branches of the trees surrounding us. My legs were throbbing and my lungs burned as we ran. Alex was to my right, farther away. The thick foliage above us made it too dark for the rising moon to provide any help; there were small orbs of light flying alongside the both of us: ghost lights – one of the first spells I ever learned.

The trio of demons was ahead of us, their human forms still in place as they sprinted through the woods. Normally, their pace would be too much for a human, but hunters like us were imbued with enhanced physical abilities that allowed us to keep up with them. With this kind of movement, it was hard for me to aim at any of them. It was even harder to focus on, well, anything when there were a thousand treacherous little branches and rocks for me to avoid tripping on.

Not that falling on my face wasn’t a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Unlike me, Alex didn’t seem winded at all. His short black hair stuck to his alabaster skin by a thin sheen of sweat, but he was otherwise unbothered. There was a blade on his back and a pistol strapped to his thigh. He whipped the pistol out once he’d gotten closer to the group and fired off a round into the back of the black haired demon’s head.

A normal bullet wouldn’t have done anything, but the special rounds hunters used packed a hell of a punch. The demon went down. He wasn’t dead, but he’d be crippled long enough for Alex to take his head off. And he would have, if a hellhound hadn’t lunged at him from out of nowhere.

Hellhounds looked like giant, roided up versions of dobermans that had binged on way too many hot dogs. Their stomachs were distended and their muscles bulged underneath mottled grey skin. They were big, ugly, and dangerous as hell. Pun intended.

“Why is it always hellhounds?” I cried. “Aren’t there any cat people among demons?”

One of the demons, a short girl with spiky red hair, turned back with a toothy grin. “The cats are worse!”

“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes and fired off an ice spear in her direction.

“Aw, baby, that’s cold!” she called back, giggling as she ducked.

The spear whizzed over her head before I destroyed it, watching it splinter into a burst of white frost. I wasn’t trying to hit her so much as slow her down, but I wouldn’t have minded impaling her – a comment I would need to file away in my “things I shouldn’t say out loud” folder.

I swerved around, and actually aiming this time, shot an ice spike at Alex’s hellhound. The beast let out a whine as it was knocked back. I followed up by charging forward and launching a ball of pure force magic at it.

Force spells weren’t really something I was great at – I’d always been more partial to the flashy magic that came with the elemental arts. Still, force spells were the school of magic that contained the greatest amount of raw power, which would make them my favorite if they didn’t come with one fatal caveat: they were invisible. They were pure waves of highly pressurized energy. Basically, it was hard to hit a mark with a weapon you couldn’t see, and even with a scope, I wasn’t that precise with my attacks.

From this distance, though, it was an easy shot – even for a half-blind klutz like me. As a bonus, being only two feet away meant I got to hear the cracking of every bone as my attack devastated the hellhound… It may be time to invest in some therapy.

Nah, setting things – and people – on fire was all the therapy I needed.

I ran over and knelt by Alex, running a quick healing spell over him.

“You’re going to drain your magic again,” he said, standing up and pulling his machete out. He stepped over to where the hellhound was twitching, its muscular legs dancing around like a puppet on a string as it waited for its shattered bones to regenerate. Alex didn’t give it the chance as he stabbed the creature through the brain before cutting its head off in one clean swipe.

Killing a demon, or anything supernatural, in a way that didn’t involve completely destroying the body always made me uneasy – like leaving a job half-finished – but it wasn’t a good idea to set something on fire in the middle of a forest. So, I restrained myself from reducing the body to ashes, no matter how much more it would have reassured me.

“I thought you might be hurt,” I said with a cheeky grin. A hit like that wouldn’t have fazed him much, but it was fun to tease him.

He returned my grin with one of his own, and my stomach fluttered at the sight of his warm blue eyes. Dude really was too pretty to be a hunter.
Wait, no, bad Morgan, focus on the hunt
. I shook my head to clear the incredibly detailed image of Alex laying naked in bed from my mind; his face definitely wasn’t the only good looking thing he had.

“They’re getting away,” said Alex, and we resumed the hunt.

Running was one thing I didn’t miss about being on active duty. Seriously, it was always running. Always. It was the single most boring form of exercise I’ve ever encountered. Ever since I had my ass handed to me three months ago by a veritable army – okay, twelve, plus eight vampires – of demons while looking for my missing mother, I’d been stuck on “administrative leave” in Haven, one of the Order of Hunters’ capital cities and the place where I grew up.

By now, I should have been back on duty in my designated sector: Manhattan. Then, about a month ago, a demon caravan was slaughtered and Alex came to accuse me of doing it. He was a hunter, too, and heir apparent to the Campbell family who had been tasked with investigating the murders. My sort-of cousin, Lily, called it a “meet cute.”

Less cute was what followed: the murder of the only mother figure I’d ever really had, which led to the discovery of a plot to break one of the locks on the Frozen Spire – a prison in Hell that contained the worst creatures to have ever existed. Oh, and there was also a freaky vampiric sorcerer dude who worshipped demons, looked like my birth mother, and went by her name. I’ve named him “Fake-Corrigan.” He’s a prick.

When Lady Cassandra died, she left the spot as head of the Maxwell family – one of the four Order families in America – empty. Since she’d chosen me as her successor, I had to stay in town until the Council – the Order’s governing body – made their decision on whether or not I was ready to take over. Y’know, because I’m still young and cute and wasn’t supposed to become the head of the family for another decade or two.

“It was nice of them to wait for us,” I gasped, my lungs full of fire, as the demons came back into sight.

The guy Alex shot was hunched over and out of breath.
Yeah, I know the feeling, dude
. Through heavy breaths, I decided that I really wanted the job as head of the family. There was no actual hunting – and more importantly, running – involved. Though I was sure that political games were a lot more dangerous than all the forces of Hell put together, along with werewolves, vampires, and every other supernatural being that wanted to kill me.

The demons were gathered around some hole in the ground, presumably digging for something. It didn’t matter. They killed an innocent family of five, so they had to be put down.

Red spun around to face us, licking her lips, as we stopped a few feet away. Alex had his gun trained on the third demon, a blonde woman with a ponytail. My hand wrapped around my own gun, but it was more for security than anything. Ghost lights or not, it wasn’t likely I’d be able to get an accurate shot off. Besides, who needed bullets when you could shove an ice spear through someone’s eye?

Red wore a cocky grin as she held her hands up. “Can’t we all just get along?”

“Maybe if you hadn’t slaughtered an entire family,” Alex spat. His face was twisted into a grimace and aura of malice exuded from him.

Alex had been adopted by a traveling hunter who’d taken down the demon that killed his entire village – including his parents – so his rage was understandable. I just hoped it wouldn’t cloud his judgment.