A BLUR ENTERED THE room, stopping in front of the large fireplace.  Tufts of dirty blonde hair framed a slender face while his oily black eyes took in the injured ferrums.

Adrenaline poured through my system.  I couldn’t believe a demon just broke into a hunter recovery center.  Did he have a death wish or did he think these ferrums were too hurt to put up a good fight?

I sure as hell wasn’t injured.

After looking over the ferrums in the room, his tar gaze landed on me, flinching.

A snarl melted over my lips.  “Guess you weren’t expecting me.”

“You’re lucky you’re off limits,” he growled, shark teeth emerging from his gums.

Great.  This guy knew Lorne or Kye.

I whipped my knife from my boot. “Too bad you’re not.”

Footsteps sounded as a few more ferrums piled into the room.  Some had bandages while others appeared to be staff.  Ian took a fighting stance beside me, his own iron knife clutched tightly in his hand.  He taught history, but he was trained to hunt. 

One of the bigger staff members—Big Abe—strolled toward the front.  “Did you think we were easy pickings?”

The demon’s smile curled ominously.  “We don’t intend to harm anyone.  We just thought there might be some able candidates.”  He motioned to Big Abe’s chocolate eyes.  “You’re not one of them.”

He lacked any gold flecks, meaning he wasn’t a pureblooded ferrum.

Cold descended through my veins, freezing my muscles.  The demon was here to take purebloods back to Kye.

My jaw clenched while my fingers tightened around the hilt of the knife.  Not happening. 

Several more blurs entered the room, and we were suddenly surrounded by demons.  A shapely figure sauntered through the door, swaying her hips.  Moonlight streaming in through the windows glinted on her vibrant blue hair.

“Shouldn’t you be at Amarose like a good little girl?”  Her tone was mocking as she eyed me up and down.

Anger sizzled through my system, obliterating the cold.  She was the demon that had her fingers all over Rex the night Nate took me. 

“Who said I was good?”  I twisted the knife in my hand. 

She whistled.  “Oh I’m scared.”  Her dark eyes seared mine.  “Just as scared as I was when Rex threatened me.”  She licked her lips.  “You know, I could have had my way with him, and you wouldn’t have been able to do anything to stop it.”

I took a step forward, but a firm hand gripped my shoulder.

Big mistake.

I spun around, coming face to face with Ian, a growl bubbling in my chest.

“She’s trying to rile you up.”

“It’s working,” I snapped.

Her laughter cut through our heated conversation.  “Kye said you were excitable.  Maybe we can play a little bit before I take a few of these fine purebloods home.”  Her eyes landed on a woman hunter glaring in the corner.  She was sporting gold-flecked irises.

“Stop wasting time, Mariska.”  A tall male demon stepped forward, scanning the crowd.  “The hunters nearby will be alerted soon.  Let’s get what we came for.”

“No one’s taking a damn soul,” I hissed.  “You’ll have to go through me first.”

The one by the fireplace snarled.  “Kye said we couldn’t kill you.  He never said anything about knocking you out.”  He became a blur, heading right to me.

I spun around just as his hand brushed my arm.  My heel slammed into his knee, knocking him to the ground.

He blinked up at me, shocked.  And then his claws were coming at my face.  Ian yanked me out of the way and punched him.

I cursed.  “I can take care of myself, Ian.” 

He ignored me as a female demon rushed him.  I caught her around the middle and slammed her to the floor.  My knife was quick, piercing her heart without hesitation.  Her scream ripped through the room.

“Stop fighting her, you idiots!”  Mariska was losing control of her workers.  I was sure Kye wouldn’t like them trying to kill me.

Another demon flew toward me.  “You’re going to die for killing her!”

My knife must be sticking in his dead girlfriend’s heart.

Oops.  Sorry, not sorry.

My arm went up lightning fast, blocking his hit to my face.  It still hurt like a mother, pain radiating down my right forearm.  Yeah.  That was going to leave a bruise. 

I rolled to the side as his knee went for my face.

By this point, all hell had broken loose.  Mariska was cursing and barking orders to the other demons who were trying to apprehend a few of the pureblooded ferrums.  I was glad Cade was a half-blood.  Hopefully he was sound asleep and away from all the chaos.  He’d been through enough.

Hell, most of the injured hunters here had too.  It only pissed me off more. 

I hopped up and ducked a demon punch.  I kicked her in the ribs, a crunch echoing.  She stumbled, grabbing her side as her black eyes widened.  A figure appeared behind her moments before a knife was jammed into her back, poking out of her chest.

“Dayum, girl.”  Jax was grinning at me.  “I didn’t know you could break demon bones.  Remind me not to screw with you anymore.”  He dropped the girl and winked before striding toward a demon who was struggling with a female ferrum in a wheelchair.

My gaze landed on Mariska, her expression hard and eyes flashing.  Her head whipped around to the door and she cursed.

“Abort!” she yelled.  “Disperse and retreat.  Company’s here.”

Half of the demons heeded her warning.  The other half were about to meet the pointy end of a couple knives.

Footsteps sounded, and a group of hunters sporting black jackets with a swirling silver symbol over their heart rushed in.  The demons were outnumbered five to one.  They were easy pickings now. 

Demon death screams filled the air, and it didn’t take long for the fighting to end.  I glanced up after I killed one more demon, a thud echoing through the room.  A pair of velvety brown eyes flecked with gold met mine.

Crap. 

Rex strode toward me, his face hard and unreadable.  His gaze quickly surveyed me.  “Are you okay?”

I gave a quick nod.  “Can’t say the same for these guys.”  I motioned at the demon corpses.

Rex’s jaw clenched, finding no humor in my words.  “You shouldn’t have been here tonight.  Just last night you promised—”

“I know.  I’m sorry.”  I held my hands up in defense.  “I just wanted to talk to Cade.”

“Cade’s not the only one you’re going to talk to tonight.”  He jerked his chin toward the unfamiliar hunters.  “The Council has arrived.”

 

I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans before stalking into Ash’s office behind Rex.  It was like walking into an invisible wall of tension.  Ash sat rigidly at his desk, his face strained.  Two unfamiliar ferrums dressed in black suits stood in the corner of the room. 

These council members were very different than the hunters who kicked ass at Magnolia House.  The man had short, neat sandy brown hair and a slender build.  The woman was petite and untrained as well, but her piercing light green eyes told me she wasn’t to be messed with.  She could probably have me arrested with one snap of her small fingers.

“Ah, I see you’ve finally located Ms. Colt.”  The man gave a quick smile.

“Yes, sir,” Rex said.  “She happened to be at Magnolia House with Instructor Ian at the time of the demon attack.”

“I’m glad she’s all right.”  His lips pursed.  “Not many students are exposed to such a demon force.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I blurted, crossing my arms against my chest.  I couldn’t help it.  In the face of authority, my instinct was to throw up a wall of snark and sarcasm.  It didn’t matter they were the ferrum council.  And it didn’t matter my conscious was screaming at me to shut up and behave.

The woman finally stopped her silent scrutiny and spoke.  “Hello, Koralein—”

“Kory,” I corrected.  Being some high and mighty council chick didn’t give her the right to call me by my full name.

Rex bristled beside me, and I could practically hear him mentally cursing me out.

A smile curled her lips, and she gently nodded.  “Of course, Kory, my apologies.”  A light English accent laced her words.  “I’m Council Member Wallace, and this is Council Member Johnston.”  She motioned a delicate hand to her partner.  “We’re so glad to finally meet you.  We’ve heard so much about you.”

That was never good.

A light laugh exited her glossy lips.  “It wasn’t anything too bad, I assure you.”

Right.

Wallace looked to be in her early forties with a few light crinkles around her eyes.  They were probably formed from scowling instead of laughing.  Her dark auburn hair was twisted in a severe bun.  “Now, if you don’t mind, we’d like to get down to business.”  Her gaze shifted toward Ash.  “We would like to use your office to speak with Kory.  Alone.”

Ash shot to his feet.  “Absolutely not.”

My eyes widened.  If anything, I’d expected Rex to deny her request. 

Wallace arched a dark, perfectly sculpted brow.  “Excuse me?”

“Kory is a student at my school and a minor.  I will remain in the office as you conduct your inquiry.”  The expression on Ash’s face left no room for argument.

Wallace didn’t seem deterred though.  “This is not a criminal investigation, Headmaster Ashford.  Kory is not in any trouble.  We simply want to speak to her without interference from outside influences.”

Ash’s eyes turned a chilling shade of blue.  “As I said, Kory’s a student at my school, and I have her best interests in mind.  She is new to this world, and I don’t think being subjected to a council inquiry alone would benefit her.”

My mouth turned dry.  What the hell did these two council members plan on doing to me?  The way Ash was reacting, you’d think they planned on torturing information out of me.  My gaze flickered toward Rex, but he remained staring between the headmaster and Wallace.

She straightened her black tailored jacket and pierced Ash with a hard glare.  “Might I remind you, Markus, your title here is under review after recent events.  Perhaps The Council was unwise to give someone so young the leadership position at Amarose Academy.  After all, a demon attack has happened on your watch.”

Damn.  That was one hell of a burn.  And she used his first name.

Ash’s face paled.  “I can assure you I’m very capable of running this school.”

Tension choked the air, growing denser with every passing second.  I felt trapped between two enemies moments away from battling it out. 

“I’m Kory’s mentor,” Rex said, interrupting the heated stare off.  “Perhaps it would be better if I remained in the room with her.”

Wallace shook her head.  “That won’t be necessary.”

Rex’s fists clenched in his lap and his mouth opened to protest.

I quickly put my hand on his arm, stopping him.  “It’s fine,” I said.  “I’ll talk to them alone.”  The thought already had my mind searching for exit strategies.

Rex’s gaze landed on me, lines creasing his forehead.  “Are you sure?”

I squeezed his arm.  “I’ll be fine.”

He gave a quick nod, but the tightness of his lips told me how much he disliked this.  “I’ll be right outside.”

Ash stalked from around his desk, his expression like stone.  He averted his eyes as he marched out.  Rex gave me one last fleeting look before closing the door behind him, leaving me alone with the two council members.

I turned around, my body tense as a bowstring.  “What do you want?”  I was scared, but these two were like sharks.  I couldn’t let them smell my fear.

Wallace slid in behind Ash’s desk, pressing her hands together.  “Please have a seat, Kory.”  Johnston remained standing in the corner.  Clearly, she was the big kahuna of this operation.

I rigidly sat in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk.

“So, Kory, how are you liking Amarose Academy?”  She smiled brightly as if she hadn’t just thrown the headmaster out of his own office.  “It must be a drastic change for you.”

I gave a noncommittal shrug.  “It’s fine.”

She nodded.  “And how’s your relationship with your mentor?”

I almost choked on my own spit.  “Fine.”

Johnston finally spoke.  “We’ve heard great things about Rex Lucas.  He was the top of his class and an outstanding hunter.”

“Yes,” Wallace said, watching me.  “When Rex first petitioned to be your mentor, well, we were skeptical.  He’s quite young and had no experience mentoring a student at school.”

“You shouldn’t doubt him,” I blurted.  I didn’t like when people second guessed him.

Wallace’s laughter tinkled like bells.  The light, airy sound was a stark contrast to her severe appearance.  “We’re glad we approved the match.  You are turning out to be one amazing hunter in training.”  She motioned toward my covered broken infinity marks. 

Johnston strode forward and took the other seat next to me.  I would have shot him a dirty look if they both weren’t watching me like hawks.  “Another reason we were skeptical was because you’re a female and he a young male hunter.”  His dark brown eyes bored into me as if waiting for me to blush at his meaning.

Wallace was also staring, a knowing smile crossing her lips.

A sliver of cold fear shot through my bloodstream.  They couldn’t possibly know about Rex and me.  If they did, what would they do?

According to Rex, The Council supported caeteras. They wouldn’t separate us.  We were soulmates.  We couldn’t exactly help it.  It wasn’t our fault I was some weird anomaly and recognized Rex as my soulmate so young.

I shook the panic off and shot them both a droll look.  “I’m a seventeen-year-old girl.  Of course I’ve noticed Rex.  He’s smoking hot.  You’d have to be blind not to notice and even then it would be hard to deny.”  I shrugged.  “Half of the faculty at Amarose is hot.”

Wallace laughed.  “That’s true.”

I swallowed hard and hoped they couldn’t hear my erratic heartbeat. 

“We’re glad you seem to be adjusting so well.”  Her face sobered, and she cleared her throat.  “Even with this demon after you.”

And there it was.  The real reason they were here.  Kye.

“Why do you think this demon is so obsessed with you?” she asked, withdrawing a tablet from her bag on the floor.  A figure steeped in shadows was on the screen.  The only thing I could make out were the startling ice blue eyes burning from the darkness.

“No idea.”  A shiver ran up my spine.  It was a sight I’d experienced many times in Bishop City when he was stalking me.

I had no idea what drew him to me, why he wanted me to be his evil queen of the damned.  Kye obviously knew what Lorne wanted from me, and he wanted to stop his brother from becoming a ferrum again.  Why not just kill me? 

The two council members traded secret looks that had alarms ringing in my mind.

I crossed my arms against my chest.  “You can’t use me as bait,” I stated bluntly.  Ash was afraid of that very thing.  “Kye is too smart for that.  He’ll see something like that coming a mile away.”

Wallace nodded.  “We don’t intend to use you as bait.  We would never put a student in harm’s way.”  They traded looks again.  “Not with someone as dangerous as Cassius.”

I choked on my own spit.  “You know who he is?”

Johnston nodded.  “Yes and we figured you did as well.  Portia doesn’t know.  Have you told anyone else?”

“Just Rex.”  There was no point in bringing Ian, Alec, or Max into this.  “How did you know?”

“We’ve been watching him.  We’ve been aware of him and who he was for a few months.” Wallace swiped her finger across the screen, showing more pictures of Kye in Bishop City, here, and other places.  “We didn’t know what he was doing with the missing ferrums until now.  Like everyone else, we assumed he was murdering them.”

I scrutinized them.  They didn’t know everything.  They didn’t know about Lorne. 

“We haven’t neutralized the problem because we don’t have anyone capable of taking him out.”  Wallace’s words hung heavy in the air.

A trickle of fear skittered down my spine.  Part of me—a part I hated—didn’t want him dead.  “I’m not doing it.”  I was incapable of killing Kye.  I’d tried twice, and both times I ended up kissing him.

This was so damn screwed up.

Her palm lifted.  “Of course not.  It would be entirely too dangerous.”  Disappointment riddled her tone.  Deep down, she’d wanted me to step up to the challenge and go after Kye.

She didn’t know I’d tried and failed.

She tapped on the tablet, pulling up notes on Kye, a line forming between her brows.  “How is he getting his intel?  How does he know where the pureblooded ferrums are or will be?  And their ages?  He’s only taking hunters in their prime and a little younger.”

“We assume it’s an inside job,” Johnston said.  “He has someone on the inside providing information.”

I eyed him coolly.  “You think it’s me?”  There was no mistaking my defensive tone. 

“Heavens no.”  Wallace flicked a hand toward the corner of the room where a pitcher of water sat.

Johnston immediately followed her orders and stood, marching toward the table in the corner.

“We know about you fighting off the demon toxins when you nearly turned,” Wallace continued as the trickle of water echoed through the room.  “You wouldn’t have bothered going through that nightmare if you were helping him.”

Johnston placed a glass in front of me.  “But he is working with someone.  He has a partner.”

I shook my head.  “He never said anything about a partner.”  He didn’t seem like the type that played well with others.

Wallace’s brow arched.  “There doesn’t seem to be any other logical explanation for how he’s finding out who and where all these pureblooded ferrums are.  We don’t have a register or anything.  To us, a ferrum is a ferrum.”

“Well, I don’t have a clue who he could be working with.” It had to be someone with connections.  Maybe a demon who was recently turned that held a high office in our world.

Johnston momentarily blocked my view of Wallace as he deposited a glass in front of her.  “Of course.  We were only hoping you might have some knowledge.  Anything.”

“Sorry.”  I had nothing that would help them.

A tight smile curled Wallace’s lips. “We also came because we wanted to extend you an offer.”

My spine snapped straight.  This sounded way too much like that scene from The Godfather.  Was Council Member Wallace about to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse?

“We would like to give you—and Rex—the opportunity to return to The Council headquarters in Rome with us.”

My features hardened.  “Why?”

She wasn’t deterred by my harsh exterior. “We have the best of the best hunters, and only the top trainees attend.  You would fit in with the others very nicely.”

Was she complimenting me?

“You’d also be safe from Kye,” Johnston added.  “No demon, not even him, could gain entry into our facilities.”

They might be able to stop Kye from physically getting to me, but I’d felt him inside my head before, in my dreams.  He would find me anywhere I went.

And then there was Lorne.  That demon wasn’t even on their radar.  He was a damn ghost.  Nowhere was safe from him.

“No thanks.  I’m good here.”

The corners of her lips twitched as if she expected that to be my answer.  “The offer is open-ended.  Please come anytime you’d like.”  She slid a card across the desk.  “Please, even if it’s only for a visit.  You and Rex are both in the upper echelon of hunters.  It would be an honor to have you even for a short time.” 

I took the card and shoved it in my pocket.  These council members didn’t seem as bad as Ash had painted them.  Maybe he’d overreacted.  Or maybe they were worse, and they were only putting on a nice face for me.  For all I knew, that invitation to Rome could turn mandatory, and I’d be shipped off in the next few days.

I’d run away before that happened.