Chapter 37
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
My basket slips from my fingers, and I turn, ready to run.
This is the last thing I need right now.
Another hunter gets to the door before I can, slamming it shut and locking it.
He has a gun on his hip and reaches for it.
I freeze for half a second, then throw out my arm, trying to hit him with a blast of magic.It barely fazes him.
That’s when I notice the hagstone hanging from his neck.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath.
“She was right,” another hunter says, stepping out from the back of the store. Great. Three against one. I’ve had worse odds. Granted, I had my magic then.
The shopkeeper lunges for the panic button behind the register, but the hunter closest to her gets there first, shoving her hard to the ground. Her head cracks against the floor, and the sound echoes through the store.
Two customers in the back who had been flipping through a book about attracting fairies to your garden yelp and crouch down behind a display.
“You’re here for me,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “No one else needs to get hurt. Let’s take this outside.”
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you, witch?” one of them snarls.
I recognize him now as one of the Order elders who made it very clear I didn’t belong once they found out what I was. He doesn’t know the full truth. He just knows he hates me. And that’s enough.
“You don’t want to do this,” I say, shaking my head.
“What are you gonna do?” another one taunts. “Call your vampire husband?”
He gestures toward the window like I need the reminder that it’s broad daylight.
“Let him take all my fun?” I shoot back.
I might not be able to use magic directly on them, but that doesn’t mean I’m powerless.
I flick my wrist, sending a bookshelf crashing down onto one of them.
He goes down with a grunt, and I pivot just as the one closest to me lunges.
The customers scream. I duck, barely missing the shot as a gun goes off.
“We need her alive!” the hunter trapped under the bookshelf shouts. Alive. They’re not here to kill me. They’re here to collect me.
The hunter by the door grabs me from behind, locking me in a chokehold.
Instead of panicking, I widen my stance, step back, and slam my elbow into his ribs.
His grip loosens just enough for me to break free.
His knife flashes, slicing across my cheek as I twist away.
Pain explodes, hot and sharp, just missing my eye.
The second hunter rushes me, trying to pin my arms. I kick him hard between the legs, and he folds, giving me just enough space to move. I grab the hagstone hanging from his neck, yanking hard. The leather cord bites into my fingers and doesn’t snap right away, but it loosens enough.
He stumbles back, coughing, and pulls something from his pocket. Is that…yes, it is.
A syringe.
It hits me all at once what they’re there to do. It isn’t to capture me or kill me, but to take some fresh blood thinking they need it to free the demon.
This is either going to be brilliant or a terrible idea but I stop fighting and let them subdue me. I cry out in pain as he shoves the needle into my arm missing my vein completely.
“Hold her still!” the other one snaps, like this is somehow my fault. I grit my teeth as they try again. This time, they get it.
Just enough blood fills the syringe before I slam my head back, cracking the guy in the nose. He stumbles, and I take my chance—grabbing a fistful of his hair and ripping it free from his scalp. I clutch it tight in my hand as I scramble back.
“Got it,” the hunter with the syringe says, capping it.
He swings at me, but this time I’m ready. With my free hand, I rip the hagstone from his neck, finally snapping the cord, but I don’t cast anything or try to stop them. I let them go because I need them to leave.
I need him to take the blood to Vivian. Because when he goes there, I can find him and if I can find him, I can find her.