Secret Origins Read online

  I hated it.

  It was over before I knew it, the shouts and screams cutting off so abruptly my ears remained buzzing for a long moment in the sudden silence. Panting, I stood in the middle of a pile of body parts, whatever was left from their white uniforms slowly soaking up the blood from the floor. A thick coppery scent insulted my senses, the covering not enough to protect me from the stench.

  The woman whimpered.

  It was louder than her screams to my ears.

  I was moving before I knew what I was doing. Darting through the open door, I was yanked a few feet inside by the hound’s chain. Taking stock, my eyes flicked around the room, the sights curdling the blood in my veins. A woman with a bloody mess of hair covering her face was hunched over a boy around the same age as the little girl lying unconscious in the hallway. A shifter, judging by the stench of him and the fact that he was twice her size, loomed over her as he tried to drag her away from the child. That was when I noticed the scalpel she had clutched in a white-knuckled fist, which she slashed at the shifter with jerky movements before bringing it back to the boy’s throat.

  “I will kill him before you can take him.” Her voice came out low and filled with so much anguish I could barely hear her.

  Blue eyes just like the little girl’s jerked up over the shifter’s shoulder, zooming in on me. Her startled gaze widened as she flicked it over my body. Subconsciously, I tried to take a step toward her only to be yanked back by the chain. When all the color drained from her face, whatever was visible of it through the chunks of hair plastered on it, I remembered what I was wearing and that I was probably more terrifying than the asshole trying to take her child. I was soaked in blood and holding a large sword. The shifter very slowly turned to look over his shoulder.

  “Fuck it.” I breathed under my nose, and without any sudden movements, I reached up and pulled my hood down.

  My hair unraveled and fell around my face, hopefully putting the woman at ease—if anything could put a mother at ease when her child was threatened. It had the desired effect on her, and her body sagged as she listed to the side before catching herself. Though it had a not-so-desired effect on the shifter, who turned to face me with his shoulders bunching up as he prepared to shift. At least there was only one of him, right? The chain tugged on my wrist then, reminding me my movements were limited as long as Fen was connected to me. The one time I actually removed it to set him loose almost killed me. As soon as the connection I had with the hound was gone, I was as good as a mortal. I learned that the hard way.

  “Help me, please.” She sobbed, her empty hand reaching for me in desperation, her blood-covered fingers trembling with the effort. “You can have my life, just please save my child.”

  I glanced from her hope-filled eyes to the chain on my wrist.

  “You are stupid, Myst,” I told myself on a sigh, grabbing ahold of the chain. “You deserve to die.”

  “Does Roberti know you are here?” the shifter spat at me, disgust clear in the garbled words he pushed through his growing canines.

  The second the chain hit the floor with a clunk, the pain from all the cuts and bruises fell over me as if they’d all just been inflicted. My poor abused body sagged slightly, my knees wobbling on my high heels, and of course that brought a grin to the asshole’s face. Even the sword seemed too heavy, and I had to tighten my grip so it didn’t fall at my feet. Fen yelped from the hallway, and I prayed he stayed there in case more hunters came down here.

  “Roberti who?” Cocking my head to the side, I did my best to smirk at the fool but I was pretty sure I just looked constipated. Everything hurt. “You mean the little bitch that hides behind brainless drones? That Roberti?”

  “I’ll enjoy killing you.” The smile blooming on his distorted face would be one more thing to add to my nightmares.

  “Less talking, more killing, shall we?” My attempt at waving the sword at him was pathetic at best.

  I walked toward him like a ninety year old grandma suffering from osteoporosis. How did humans live like this? Lost in that thought, I didn’t see it coming until the woman screamed. My head hit something hard and excruciating pain exploded in my skull. My weapon clattered on the tiles, rolling away from my noodle-like fingers. This is what you get for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, I told myself as I lifted my body on shaking hands and knees. I was air born again when a kick to my stomach put me right next to the woman and child. She even tried to shield me along with her boy.

  I wanted to laugh.

  “Keep the boy safe.” I groaned and sat up. “My life is not worth your worry.”

  The asshole cracked a rib or something, but the pain was enough to bring my senses back online. There was always time to lick my wounded ego later, but right then, I had to teach the shifter a lesson. One he would take with him to hell or wherever he was going when I was done with him. Summoning all I had left in me, I stood just as he came within reach, his meaty arms held to the sides of his half-transformed body. Roberti really did a number on these idiots, making them into a mockery of what they were supposed to be. Black veins bulged under his skin, pulsing and fanning out.

  “You are one ugly motherfucker,” I told him just as he swung for my head again.

  Ducking under his flying fist, I took advantage of his strength, twisting myself around him like a snake. My thighs wrapped around his torso, the thin heels of my boots sinking deep between his ribs. I headbutted him and stars burst in front of my own eyes before we both dropped like rocks on the floor. His pained roar rattled the tipped-over table in the corner, as well as the metal bed that had been pushed to the side when I entered. Not wanting to leave things to chance, my hands found his neck and I squeezed for all I was worth. I didn’t let go even after I felt his breathing stop.

  I couldn’t.

  “I think he is dead,” the woman murmured from over my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  This time I did laugh.

  A crazed, high pitched sound before I toppled on the side, twisting my knee awkwardly since my heels were still embedded in the shifter. My breathing was shallow and all I wanted to do was sleep, which was a death sentence inside a hunter’s compound if I’d ever seen one. It might not be a bad way to go. Doing so much for someone else should count as a good deed, right? Maybe it would wash away a smidgen of my guilt.

  A girl could hope.

  “How can I help you?” The woman’s face popped above me, her worried gaze wide and frantic.

  I knew she was thinking of herself and the two children, that she saw a savior in me when there was none, and she wasn’t really worried about my well-being even though I took it as such. I was as pathetic as her at that point.

  “The chain,” I gasped, barely managing to point to it since it was sitting so close to the door.

  She surprised me when she scrambled up, took hold of my limp arm, and dragged me like a mop over the floor to it. I would have never guessed she was that strong. I might be petite, but I wasn’t human. We weighed a hell of a lot more than one might think. After placing the chain in my palm and curling my fingers around it, she rushed back to grab the boy. A second later she was kneeling by my side while she clutched the child to her chest.

  “My daughter.” The words were choked up.

  “She is fine,” I murmured, closing my eyes to allow the connection to attach again. “My hou—my dog is protecting her.”

  “We need to run.” Hearing the girl was safe gave her new strength. I wished I could say the same. “We have to leave before they come back.”

  Right, she hadn’t seen the art I left in the hallway. I was hoping she didn’t faint when we left the room. There was no way I could carry her, not when I wasn’t even sure I could carry myself. My eyes were drifting closed, but she shook my shoulder and they opened to her frowning worriedly at my face.

  “Right, we need to leave.” Flipping over took more out of me than I expected, so I had to take a moment to just breathe, my head hanging low
on my shoulders.

  “And go where?” The woman crushed the boy to her chest. “They took us from our home. They know where we live.”

  Turning my head to tell her I’d take them with me, I was startled when I locked eyes with the boy. His mismatched gaze, one blue eye and one green, was curiously searching my face, not an ounce of fear in it. The child was not human at all.

  “He is a half blood.” It wasn’t an accusation, but she jerked away glaring at me.

  “There is nothing wrong with him.”

  “I didn’t say there was.” Having some of my strength back, I climbed to my feet with my eyes still on the boy. “I should’ve known that was why you were here.”

  “He is just a boy.” She stood up too, her hackles rising as if she was a shifter.

  “You humans should keep your legs closed when you come across a supernatural.” That was the wrong thing to say.

  “He is a good man,” she snarled, and spittle flew from her mouth. It made me smile.

  “A male.” At her confusion, I blew out a breath and rolled my shoulders. “He is a male, not a man. That’s what your people don’t understand.” When her mouth opened, to argue no doubt, I waved her away. “I’m not one to judge. I don’t care if you decide to sprout horns. I do, however, want to get out of here. We can talk about the difference later.”

  Both of us limped out of the room. Fen glared at me with glowing eyes as soon as I stepped out, but I ignored him. He had to follow me in case there were hunters at the top level. I was not in the position to fight. Picking up the little girl, I had to grind my teeth so I didn’t whimper. It’d take time for me to stop feeling the pain and I didn’t want to freak the human out more than she had already been. With Fen leading the way, we were almost at the top level when she spoke from behind me.

  “Where will we go?”

  “I’m taking you with me.” Bringing a woman and two children to my home and into my life was a very bad idea. Like, major stupidity, but I was going for it anyway.

  “Thank you.” She blew out a long, shaky breath, and I felt like she punched me in the gut.

  What are you doing, Myst? I asked in my head, and I kept asking myself that all the way home.

  4

  We stood in the middle of my living room staring at each other in silence. The woman with the children hugging her legs, one on each side, while her hands absently smoothed their unruly hair on one side, and me across from her with Fen at my feet and the mother of all headaches pounding on my temples. At least I had the presence of mind to grab my clothing before we left the damn building. The poison the hunters used to coat their weapons had made me sluggish, but unlike any other supernatural, it’d burn itself out in my veins like it never existed.

  A perk of being an unknown, I guessed.

  “It’s worth it.” The woman spoke softly, her bottom lip trembling.

  “What’s worth it?” I frowned at her, wondering if she had a concussion or something because what she said had made no sense.

  “Your life.” Her shoulders squared up when I stiffened. “Back in that hell hole, you told me it wasn’t worth my worry. I’m telling you it is. You saved our lives.” A tear left a trail down her dirty face.

  “Don’t make me out to be some hero that I’m not. I had selfish reasons for what I did. It was just an opportunity to kill more of them, nothing else. You”—I twirled my hand in their general direction—“just happened to be there. That’s all.”

  “If you say so.” A small smile played on her split lip.

  I didn’t do this shit, this mushy stuff with “thank you’s” and gratitude. It made me want to puke.

  “There is a bathroom down the hall.” There was no reason to snap at her but I did anyway. “Go wash your mutts and yourself. I’ll leave clothing in the spare bedroom. You’ll use it until we find you a place to go.”

  She took a breath as if gearing up to argue, a glint like fire entering her focused eyes, but then the air around us charged with power and my hand shot out to stop whatever she was about to say as Fen started growling deep in his chest. The woman cowered, pulling the two brats closer to her body. I was only paying half attention to her, my head coked to the side as I waited to pinpoint what I’d be dealing with now. Like I didn’t have enough shit already. This was what happened when you tried and do something good. No good deed went unpunished.

  “Bedroom. Now,” I hissed at the woman, and she didn’t wait to be told twice.

  The door clicked shut down the hall a moment later.

  “I guess the night is not over yet, Fen.” The hound snarled at the name, which made my lips twitch.

  I lost the smile when I finally understood who was lurking in my home. Anger burst through me like a volcano going off. Pushing past Fen, who was still at my feet, I stomped to the front door and yanked it open, almost ripping it off the hinges. It put me face to face, well more face to chest, with the one person I never wanted to see again in my life, even if I lived ten thousand years. Cold, emotionless eyes scanned me from head to toe before I had time to blink. How the hell did he do that, pissing me off without saying a word?

  “Look what the cat dragged in.” With a cocked hip, I glared at Fenrir. “Whatever it is you want, the answer is no.” I closed the door in his face.

  “Open the door.”

  “Go away.”

  “If you don’t open the door, I’ll break it.”

  “I can always kill you to make up for it.”

  “You can try.” I was either still lightheaded from being slapped around by that shifter earlier or there was amusement in his voice.

  “Go the fuck away, Fenrir.” His power started pulsing through the closed door, prickling my skin. The idiot was seriously thinking of breaking his way in. I yanked it open again seething. “What?”

  “We need to talk.” He left me gaping at his back when he shouldered his way in as if he owned the place. “You have humans here.” The fae stopped in his tracks, turning in a slow circle like he was expecting humans to jump at him from somewhere. “And shifters.” His too-pretty face twisted in a grimace when he sniffed the air, the platinum hair his illusion gave him sliding over his shoulders.

  “None of your business. What do you want. Speak, or get the hell out.”

  “The compound I was going to search for clues on how to track Roberti was wide open and littered with body parts.” Those too-blue eyes flashed with something I refused to name. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, would you?”

  “I couldn’t care less about you, Roberti, or anyone else for that matter. I’m a free girl now that Alexius is dead. Your shitstorm does not concern me.”

  “You know you are covered in blood from head to toe, right?”

  “It’s a new thing I’m trying. Like a face mask, you know? It does wonders for your complexion, you should try it. Now get the fuck out of my house.” I jiggled the door in case he didn’t know which exit to take.

  “And your hound is bathed in blood, too.” As if that was a compliment, the damn hound preened, going so far to even yelp in excitement.

  “It’s his playtime.” Snatching the first thing I could reach, my car keys, I tossed them over Fenrir’s shoulder. “Go fetch, Fen.”

  Both the Fae and the hound narrowed their eyes on my grinning face.

  “Using my name, even shortened, for your hound is childish … even for you.”

  The black pants he wore didn’t hide his powerful thighs when he took a stubborn stance, his feet shoulder-width apart and his arms crossed over his broad chest, which stretched the black long sleeved t-shirt he had on within an inch of its life. The emblem of the Academy over his left pectoral emblazoned in gold was mocking me, so my rational brain took a hike.

  “Me? Childish?” I barked out a humorless laugh in his face. “Look at yourself, Fenrir. You use illusion to hide yourself, and that makes a mockery of what you are. And for what?” He stiffened, and I knew I should stop but that ship had sailed the
moment he stepped foot in my home.

  “Tell me something.” Internally I was screaming at myself to shut up, but it had been a long day, so my brain and my mouth had cut ties a while ago. “How does it feel to watch Francesca swoon over Zoltan, huh? Does it rub you wrong to see them together, or when her whole face lights up as soon as he walks into a room? Tell me!” Screaming at him, I took a step forward with my fists clenched at my sides. “Does it hurt? I hope it rips you apart inside. Now get the fuck out of my house.”

  “You never let me explain, Myst. It’s my duty …”

  “Get out!” My body vibrated from the rage swirling through me, making my sword materialize in my hand. Even the hound inched away from me as he eyed me warily.

  Fenrir stood emotionless, staring at me with an unreadable expression for long enough I thought I’d have to physically throw him out the door. The only reason I didn’t say another word was the lump tightening my throat, and I just couldn’t push it down enough to speak. No amount of swallowing would shove that bitter pill away. I trusted him once. He cured me of that insanity the moment he jumped at the first opportunity to accept a duty to bond with another female. Too bad she wanted nothing to do with him. Karma was a bitch, but only if you were.

  “This is not over.” He finally spoke, his deep voice thrumming through my chest.

  “It was over a long time ago.” I stabbed a finger at the opened door.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow when you can see reason.” Fenrir walked past me, his head held high. “And don’t think you’ll dodge me, Myst. I’ve had enough of this.”

  “Whatever.” He wasn’t through the threshold yet when I grabbed the door so I could slam it behind him.

  “Enjoy your new neighbor.” The asshole chuckled. “I heard he is a really nice guy.”

  I didn’t slam the door.

  Numbness crawled from my toes all the way to the crown of my head as I watched him saunter from my front yard across the street, open the door to the house there, and turn around to face me. A cocky grin was plastered on his face as he flicked two fingers off his forehead in a mocking salute, closing the door. The doorframe rattled when I slammed mine before pressing my forehead on it.