Exiled - 01 (5 page)

The buildings in my area were all run down, their red brick abused with graffiti. Boarded up windows and burnt out neon signs decorated the once-thriving but now forgotten landscape.

Homemade candy stores, classic barber shops, and family owned bakeries with secret recipes for funnel cake once drew people from all walks of life. Old town folklore and legends had kept tourists coming in the hope that they might see something supernatural, but interest in myths faded as years went on and the city grew larger. The remnants of what once was had faded, and all that remained were a few broken streets in the center of a thriving city.

The new sector of downtown was another world. Tall modern buildings reflected the sun all day from the bottom floor to the top. Coffee shops occupying every corner had people bustling in and out at all hours. This was the new heart of Stonewall.

The sun wasn’t shining today and every other person had an umbrella in hand. They too knew a storm was coming.

I reached Marcus’s just as the rain started to fall. The building was a prism of dark glass reaching into the sky and I took cover from the rain under a canopy that stretched off the entrance.

A few steps led to the buzzer panel and I searched for 404. Many of the suites had names beside them, but I wasn’t surprised 404 was only labeled
occupied
.

I stared at the button. I’d walked here with every intention of pushing it, but now I was having second thoughts. I slid my hands into my pockets and tried to figure out what I would say, but my thoughts were interrupted.

“You actually have to push the button for anybody to let you in.” Down the steps was Rayna, staring up at me

“I know how it works. What are you doing here?”

“Umm, I live here.”

“Right.” I didn’t know what else to say.

Her eyes were the remarkable green I remembered. Her hair was wet and strands of black and red stuck to her pale face. She was wearing a body-hugging black t-shirt and tight dark jeans.

“Eww. Stop staring at me,” she said.

“I wasn’t, I was just…”

“Move it,” she demanded.

She pushed past me with a bag in one hand and a coffee tray in the other. Fumbling with the keys, she tried to unlock the door. I watched her struggle until she dropped them and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Shit,” she said.

“Need some help?”

“Don’t look so pleased,” she snarled.

I unlocked the door and opened it for her, which only earned me a glare with a side of eye rolling.

In the building’s lobby, a large marble fountain spouted water into the pond that was home to several different breeds of fish. The fountain’s stone matched the tiled floor, an off-white smeared with black.

I wondered how much someone had spent on the array of modern art that didn’t look like anything but daubs of paint and twists of wire. Huge plants hung from the ceiling, draping themselves over each other, some long enough to meet the colorful potted flowers below. The ding of the elevator doors sounded as I admired the apparent wealth.

“You coming, or are you going to start picking flowers and singing?” Rayna asked.

I took another quick glance around the room and made my way to the elevator.

“Quite the place,” I said, but Rayna’s response consisted only of her rolling her eyes, again.

The fourth floor might not sound very high up, but it turned out the condos were all three stories, like houses piled on top of each other. Rayna led me to a corner suite with a huge white door, turned the handle and went in.

The far wall was nothing but windows and the room was split into two parts. The kitchen and dining area was filled with dark oak cabinets and the counter tops matched the marble in the lobby. I stared with envy at the other room, which was dominated by a black leather living room set and a large flat screen TV that hung over the fireplace.

There was one large painting in the room with a thick brown frame that wrapped around the canvas. The war scene displayed a group of dark armored warriors and an army clothed in silver. Black wings adorned the backs on the first faction, and their enemies had white ones; the wings wrapped themselves around the fighters as they battled. The picture looked antique and out of place.

I turned as Rayna reappeared at the top of the staircase with Marcus trailing behind. He moved with the grace of a man half his size and I’d underestimated just how big he was. His dark skin melted into a plain gray hoodie and black pants, both of which he filled out fully.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Marcus said with a perfect white smile. He extended his hand towards me and although I didn’t return the smile, I did shake it this time. His grip was solid and his skin calloused and rough. It was the hand of a hunter used to holding a weapon. My father’s felt the same way.

“I don’t know why I came…” I said. I’d come to get answers, but at the moment I couldn’t think of the right questions.

“Well, I’m glad you did,” he said.

He offered me a seat on the couch and I took it, the plush leather molding itself around me. Rayna was taking fast food out of the brown bag while Marcus picked up one of the coffees.

“Would you like anything?” he offered.

“No, I’m fine.”

He nodded and took a sip of the coffee and made a disgusted face. “Half coffee, half sugar; that must be yours.” He slid the cup to Rayna.

He reached for the other cup and Rayna laughed. Her laughter was warm and soft. I realized they really were friends, but it didn’t seem right to me.

Marcus ignored the food and looked at me, spinning his coffee in both hands. “Where should I start?”

“I remember my father telling me stories about when you fought together. You could start by telling me why you stopped.”

“Yes, I used to hunt with your father. As for what happened to me, well, I learned some things that changed the way I felt about the Circle. As I said last night, things are not as simple as we were taught to believe.” He gestured at Rayna.

“How does she fit into all this?” I asked.

“I’m sitting right here,” she said, her voice icy.

I didn’t have a chance to reply before Marcus spoke “I think it would be best if, for now, I spoke with Chase alone.” Marcus was calm and his voice neutral.

Rayna turned that chilly tone on him. “Don’t you dare send me away because he’s here; I will not be treated like a child.”

“Rayna, you know that’s not it. I just need a few minutes with Chase. Please.”

She rolled her eyes and glared at me as she walked up the stairs. Hearing a door slam, I turned to Marcus. “She doesn’t like me much.” I smiled, but he didn’t look impressed.

“You would be best not to taunt her Chase. We’ve welcomed you into our home. To treat her as less than an equal is unacceptable.”

I laughed and stood from the couch. “She’s a demon, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. I think you owe me some answers before you start demanding anything from me.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Marcus said. “Come with me.”

Marcus went to the stairs and for a moment I thought about leaving, but I still wanted answers.

Upstairs was a long hallway lined with doors. One revealed a large bathroom, another a bedroom, and one was closed with music blaring from the other side. Another hallway branched off to the right, but Marcus continued forward up another flight of stairs.

The third floor was a massive library. Full bookshelves covered the walls, leaving just enough space for a gas fireplace. I could see over an iron railing down to the first floor living room, but the books kept my focus. All the cloth and leather covers looked well-aged. Creased spines littered the large dark table and desk, and the musky smell of old books filled the room.

“So what’s the story with Rayna?” I started. “Up until yesterday, I’d never met an Underworlder who didn’t want me dead, so you’ll understand if I’m having difficulty accepting that she doesn’t.”

“Rayna is…unique, to say the least. She’s part demon, but she’s part hunter too.”

My eyes widened. “She can’t be one of us. When a hunter’s blood is mixed with a shifter’s, the hunter dies. Hunters’ bodies can’t carry the virus; we both know that.”

Marcus shook his head. “Chase, the first thing you need to know is that you don’t know anything. This world you’re in now is not the same one you were born into. Just because the elders told you it wasn’t possible doesn’t mean that’s the case. You are going to need to see more than what’s on the surface if you want to understand.”

Marcus moved to the table and slipped gracefully into a high-backed leather chair. He motioned to a seat opposite him and I found myself sitting in one of the most comfortable chairs I’d ever been in.

“You expect me to believe that everything the Circle taught me was a lie?”

“No Chase, I don’t. The differences between reality and what the Circle teaches are difficult to determine. Rayna is unique because her mother was a demon and her father was a member of the Circle. She is not a hunter turned shifter.”

“She was born this way?”

“When Rayna’s mother got pregnant, her father disappeared. I’ve known Rayna her whole life and I was friends with both her parents. When the Circle found out about Rayna, they dedicated themselves to finding her. When they finally caught up with her mother, they killed her, but they never found Rayna. She didn’t have anywhere to go, and after witnessing what happened to her mother, I had seen enough of what the Circle had to offer. I took her and we disappeared.”

“What was her mother?” I asked, not sure I believed him yet.

“She was a witch.”

“You expect me to believe that, Marcus?” I stood from my chair.

“I'm sorry?”

“It’s a great story, and you almost had me believing it, but if Rayna is part hunter and part witch, how does she have the eyes of a shifter?” I said, pulling a blade from its sheath, not sure if I’d need it, but something wasn’t right about this.

Marcus stood up to face me. “Please calm down, Chase. If you let me finish, I assure you we can resolve this.”

“What is there to finish? More ridiculous stories?”

“He’s telling you the truth, dumbass.” Rayna’s voice came from behind me. “Now put the knife away before I take it.”

“Not a chance, demon.” I spat the words at her.

Marcus had his hands on my wrists in an instant. He took the blade from my hand and slid the other from its sheath. I struggled against him, but he was too strong.

“You’re a traitor to the Circle!” I shouted.

“Enough!” Marcus’s voice echoed off the walls.

It was the first time I’d heard him speak above a whisper since I’d met him. I wasn’t sure why, but I stopped straining instantly at the command in his voice.

As soon as I relaxed, Marcus released me. He took a deep breath and moved back to his desk with my blades in his hands.

“We don’t know why she has elements of a shifter,” he said.

My first instinct was to make a break for it. I didn’t want to hear anything else, but Rayna was blocking the stairs, and jumping the railing was better left as a last resort.

“How can you not know?”

“We just don’t. It’s never happened before and we don’t know how it’s even possible,” he said. “You’re right that as far as we know, hunter blood cannot sustain the shifter or vampire viruses, but we still cannot explain Rayna,”

“After all the time you’ve spent with her, you still have no idea?”

“You can believe what you like Chase. I’ve told you what I know and I can’t do better than that. And you would do well to remember that you chose to come to us, not the other way around. We are no threat to you,” he said.

“So she’s got it all; a hunter’s speed and strength, a witch’s magic, and she can shift. Am I missing anything here?”

“No, she doesn’t have it all, Chase. Her magic is strong, though she is inexperienced. She cannot shift form; her eyes are permanently feline. She has a weakness against silver much worse than any demon you or I have ever faced, and it’s impossible to say what else might develop over time.”

I looked at Rayna in disbelief. “So what part of her is hunter?”