Exiled - 01 (22 page)

“Rayna…” I trailed off. I didn’t know what to say. She had watched her mother’s murder in this house, and as far as I knew, this was the first time she’d been back here since. I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

She took a deep breath and looked up at me through a film of unshed tears. “I need to do this.”

The main floor held nothing other than the couch and empty kitchen cabinets. The stairs squeaked as loudly as the door, but we found nothing on the second floor but more empty rooms.

Rayna kept her composure as we scanned her old room, but when we entered the master bedroom, I noticed a single tear slide down her cheek. The floor was stained brown with old blood and the room stank of death. I had no words of comfort, so I pretended not to notice and ushered her back downstairs. All that was left to check was the basement, but it was locked.

“That’s strange. We never had a lock on this door,” Rayna said, her voice sounding hollow and distant.

I felt stupid for not bringing anything to pick a lock with. Rayna stepped forward and mouthed a few words. She put her hand over the lock and it clicked.

“Wow, you really do have a few tricks up your sleeve,” I said. Rayna tried to smile but failed.

I turned the handle and opened the door. The smell of blood and death came in a potent wave as air from the basement rose from the darkness. Rayna gagged and her skin turned a pale shade of gray. I knew she’d been around death before, but something told me the smell wasn’t what was getting to her. I tried to give her a look of warmth and concern. She was breathing heavily and her eyes welled up with tears again. I reached for her but she stepped away.

“No. No, I can do this,” she repeated.

“I know you
can
, but it doesn’t mean you have to. Not every demon needs to be conquered.”

She took a deep breath and spoke with a steadier voice. “This one does.”

Bright lights suddenly shone through the window.

 
“Shit!” I shouted as panic raced through my bones. “Is there a back door?”

“No, go downstairs!”

I leapt down the first steps to the landing then turned and barreled down the rest. The railing had fallen across the stairs and I almost lost my footing.

Rayna bumped into me as she reached the bottom. We stood in darkness in a room with no windows, and disappointment set in.

I heard the sound of a light switch being flicked up and down. “It must be burnt out,” Rayna whispered.

I closed my eyes and focused my energy as best I could through the adrenaline. I took deep breaths to calm myself and I pulled at my magic. I managed to generate a flame in my hand in record time. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the light, and the panic I’d calmed returned with vengeance.

The basement was one open room with concrete floors and walls. Old plumbing and wiring were visible above us, and in the middle of the floor was a symbol painted in what I had no doubt was blood. The smell of it hit me again, hard enough that I almost gagged.

The streaks of blood formed a large pentagram with various glyphs around the outside. Chains were mounted into the concrete, three sets dangling loose against bloodstained walls. The fourth set held a man’s naked body, filthy and covered in wounds. From his appearance and the stench, I was sure he was dead.

Rayna gasped and covered her mouth. Two large steel cages sat on the far side of the room, neither of which was empty. I could see the glow of eyes staring at me from within and chills spilled down my spine as the creatures inside let out a low growl.

“Werecats,” I said.

The stomping of feet echoed through the basement and dust showered us as multiple people came through the front door of the house. My pulse pounded as though my veins might rip themselves from my neck, and I cased the room looking for a place to hide. Before I could decide which way to run, Rayna took my hand and pulled me towards the stairs.

Under them was a small wooden enclosure made of poorly nailed together plywood. Rayna pulled at one panel to reveal a narrow doorway. We squeezed through, one after the other, into the small space and pulled the panel door shut behind us. My back pushed against Rayna’s body as we hugged the staircase. I focused my magic and snuffed out the fire, covering us in darkness again. The voices upstairs were quiet at first, but even as the volume rose, I still couldn’t understand the muffled words.

The door to the basement creaked open. “Hey Brock, did you lock the basement?” a man’s voice said.

“Of course I did.” Brock said.

“Then we have a problem.”

Dust rained down on us as footsteps shook the stairs. My pulse pounded in my ears as flashlight beams slipped underneath the wooden panels and the hunters scoured the room. Rayna’s hand squeezed my shoulder and I could feel her breath, trembling and warm, on the back of my neck as she edged closer to me. This had to be traumatic for her.

“This one’s almost dead. He’s no use to us,” the male voice said, and the chains rattled. I heard the sound of soft flesh being beaten and a flash of orange and red light exploded and vanished in seconds.

“These two are still alive,” a female voice said. I couldn’t quite place it, but it was familiar to me. “Kitties are tougher than I expected.”

“Well, somebody opened the lock without a key. I can smell their magic,” the other male voice said.

“Maybe they left already. We’ll need to find them before the boss gets here. If he finds out someone knows what the hell we’re doing out here, he’ll have a fit,” the woman replied.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the footsteps moved up the stairs. I could feel the tension leaving Rayna’s body and her head fell against my back. My own pulse slowed, but my breath caught when a loud crash echoed around us and a hand shot through the panels.

 
“Gotcha!” the man said, as he grabbed Rayna’s arm.

Her scream cut through the small room and my heart rate skyrocketed. Her nails gripped my shoulder as the man tried to tear her through the wall. I pulled in the other direction, aided by my adrenaline, and broke the man’s grip.

Rayna fell on top of me, and when our eyes met, I could see her terror. The hand shot back through the wood and Rayna was pulled from my grasp. The panels shattered then and splinters of wood fell over me.

I crawled through the new hole in the makeshift wall after her, but when I emerged, a blade pushed against my throat. The man held the knife and the girl had Rayna. I could finally put a name to her voice then.

Lena was a lethal blonde I’d grown up with, and was as crazy as they come. Her blue eyes pierced me like daggers, and her smile made me more than a little uncomfortable.

“Chase? What a pleasant surprise.” She and I both knew it was anything but pleasant, but she maintained her typical seductive tone.

Rayna struggled against Lena’s grip, so Lena pulled a small blade from the waist of her tight jeans and pressed it against her throat. Rayna stilled.

“Good girl. We wouldn’t want to have an accident now, would we?” Lena giggled and it reminded me of how much I had always disliked her. She wore a tight black tank top that accented her milky white shoulders and flawless skin. Bright red lipstick adorned her pouty lips and smoky makeup made her eyes stand out. Long platinum hair was tied tight against her head. As crazy as she was, it was impossible to deny that she was beautiful.

Brock’s footsteps were quick and heavy on the stairs. He came to stand in front of me. “I told you to leave it well enough alone, Chase. I gave you a chance to walk away, but you had to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong,” he said, poking me hard in the chest. It didn’t hurt, but it succeeded in pissing me off. “And you’ve brought us another one of your mutts. You can’t get enough of these things, can you?”

“What can I say? I prefer their company to yours.”

Brock answered with a fist to the side of my face and the sting resonated through my head. “How dare you insult your noble heritage? How can you turn your back on what you are?”

“The Circle turned its back on me, remember? It abandoned me and I adjusted to the life I was forced into. It just so happens that I like it better.” I spat my words at him, letting him feel my magic push against his.

He looked eager to respond, but his expression changed as my power pulsed. I thought for a moment I could see fear on his face, but he disguised it as surprise.

“What’s this? Little Chase has some magic of his own?” Brock’s freckled face scrunched up in a laugh. Bright green eyes looked for a reason to hurt me, maybe even kill me. “A parlor trick, or another one of your enchantments? We all know you don’t have any
real
power.”

I kept my expression as neutral as possible and bit my tongue. I didn’t want to give anything away, not yet.

The man behind me spoke. “You want to sit here all night and chat or what? There are still some open graves in the back. We could kill ’em and toss ’em in.” His tone was cool, as if killing was something he did every day.

Brock shook his head. “Not him. We can’t kill him.”

The man’s grip loosened a bit and a confused voice rolled out. “Why not?”

Brock shook his head.“Because I said so. Kill the girl and chain him up,” he ordered. He moved up the stairs and slammed the basement door behind him.

Rayna was motionless, trying not to get her throat slit. The man’s grip on my arms was loose and I thought to take advantage of it, but the moment didn’t feel right. “You heard him, Lena. Get rid of her,” he said.

Lena’s voice purred through red lips. “Oh Hal, you’re too nonchalant. It’s killing; you can’t just
get it over with
. It’s an art, something to be cherished. You have to take your time and enjoy its beauty.” She pushed Rayna into a chair between the two cages in which the werecats were lying motionless. Lena pulled a strip of leather off one of the cages and tied her captive’s arms and feet to the chair.

Hal didn’t chain me up. He kept his blade on my throat and watched. His interest in what was about to happen told me one of two things. Either he didn’t know Lena’s style, or he enjoyed what was about to happen as much as she did. The latter idea gave me chills.

Lena kicked the cages “Get up kitties. Time to play.” Her voice was smooth, sultry, and dangerous. The cats started to stir and she kicked their prisons again. “Hurry up now,” she said. The creatures rose: two black panthers.

The cats roared as they stretched and the sound made my stomach flip. The kennels were large enough that they were able to reach their paws through the bars. They sniffed the air and clawed out in Rayna’s direction, then roared in frustration as Lena slapped at their paws.

“Now, now, you have to wait. It’s my turn first.”

The cats hissed, batting at their prisons. Rayna turned her green feline eyes on them. The panthers’ gold ones gleamed in the darkness and stared into hers. Rayna’s body relaxed somewhat and one panther lay down, watching her, emitting a low rumble. It took me a moment to realize that it was purring, like a pet.

Lena kicked the cage. “Making friends will not be tolerated,” she said, the poise gone from her voice. Her face flushed and she slapped Rayna. The cats roared and Rayna’s eyes glowed in anger. “Don’t make this harder on yourself,” Lena snapped. She drew a long, thin, silver knife from a sheath strapped to her hip.

Rayna kept a neutral expression as her eyes met mine. I tried to somehow convey that it would be okay, but Lena hit her across the face again. Rayna whimpered and the cats hissed. “Shut up, you filthy creatures.” Lena kicked at the cage. “And you. Pay attention to me,” she said. She took a breath, brushed her blonde curls behind her ears and stepped back, eyeballing Rayna from head to toe. “So many juicy parts...where should we start?” Rayna remained silent and Lena crouched in front of her, blue eyes meeting green. “Tsk tsk, not answering my questions will only make this worse.”

In a blur, the blade sliced across Rayna’s arm. She screamed and Lena’s face lit up with excitement. She brought the blade down across the other arm and reveled in Rayna’s next cry.

Lena turned to me, her bright red lips curled into a smile. “Ooh, a screamer. You’re a lucky boy, Chase.” She winked and turned back to face Rayna.

The moment I thought to move, Hal’s knife pushed at me. “Down, boy,” he said.

I had thought that if I waited it out, Lena would talk until she was in a vulnerable position, but so far she’d been careful. I hadn’t counted on that. We needed to do something before Rayna got hurt any worse. The silver knife was extremely unhealthy for an Underworlder, and even worse for Rayna. Blood flowed down Rayna’s arms and her breath was heavy. Her eyes met mine and the sheer panic in them made me turn away. Lena’s hand connected with Rayna’s face again.