Everlasting (Night Watchmen, #1) (27 page)

“The first team to secure the shifter will be granted first choice in the classes you will take in second quarter. The rest will simply be assigned. Each affinity needs to survive tonight. This is your chance to prove that you are worthy and ready to move on to the next stage of learning in the Academy. If you fail, you will be banished.

“There will be Watchmen placed throughout the forest. Their sole job is to watch and report, not to help. Treat this as if you were on your own. This is real, and this is life or death. There are other creatures that lurk in this forest. Be on constant guard. When you make it to the shifter, signal the flare and that will be the end. We wish you good luck. May the God and Goddess be with you.”

He lifts a flare gun into the air, and with a large smile, pulls the trigger.

T
he teams around us huddle
up. A tall boy with shaggy blonde hair takes a flare gun from a Watchman, and then pulls our team together in a tight circle. “Gather around,” he says, his voice the kind of voice that makes you want to listen, the kind that says his head is screwed on straight. “My name is Lucas, but call me Luke.”

I try not to tense under the other arms wrapped around my shoulders as everyone takes everyone in. There’s a kindred energy flowing between us, even though we don’t know each other. These people are my lifeline for the next hour.

And whether I want to or not, I’m about to get to know them real well.

I clear my throat, the sound ripping the wings from each one of the butterflies in my stomach. “Hi, Luke. I’m Faye.”

He smiles at me. A genuine smile. A respectful one.

“Can you believe we have her,” a girl with dark, silky hair says to him. Her skin is like chocolate. I assume she’s his partner based on the way they exchange glances. “I’m Tia, but call me T,” she says to me, extending a hand.

I take it and shake. “Nice to meet you, T.” I can’t help but smile at her.

The rest of the group introduces themselves, and then we begin our plan. I peer over at the other two groups, wondering when they’re going to take off. Even though this trial mostly involves remaining alive, I still want to win. I want to show the El
ders and the Priesthood that I’m worthy and ready, despite what I am.

“So basically, we need to work together. I think it’s best if we have one team leader, and then the rest follow, keeping eyes and senses up and open,” Luke says. His eyes land on me. “I haven’t seen you train, so I don’t know how good you are…but from what I’ve heard, you’re stellar.”

For once in my life, I’m grateful for the ice cold air as it disguises the heat swelling on my cheeks. “I can handle my own,” I say as evenly as I can, trying not to sound too cocky, but not undermining myself. “And I agree. One affinity team should lead. They should be responsible for sniffing out the shifter and obstacles. The others should be back-up. We need each one to play their part if we’re going to win this.”

“I’m John,” a boy with red hair says. “Weapons?”

I show my flux, the daggers tucked into the pockets on the outside of my pants, and the guns on the inside of my jacket in their holsters.

“Wow,” John says, “you came prepared.” He holds out his flux. The three Witches show their guns, since they can’t properly use a flux. Aside from Luke and his extra set of daggers, I’m the most prepared.

“Okay, so who’s leading?” T asks.

Every single eye lands on me.

“You up for it?” Luke asks, his eyes raised in question. The smile he wears leaks all the way to his voice.

I can’t back out now. I can’t let them down. I can’t let myself down. “Of course,” I say, my tone a loaded gun with bullets of confidence.

“Good, so then let’s form up and head out,” Luke says. Everyone disperses and forms into a tight pack. The other two teams are already making their way through the snow toward the foggy forest.

I take the lead, and a very deep breath, and shut everything off physically and emotionally as we start the ascent toward the forest. My flux is at the ready, and my senses are on alert. I think back on everything I’ve learned from Gavin’s books. Werewolves tend to act like wolves, only with a human mentality. They’re highly aware and crave flesh. They also like mind games. We enter the forest, and all at once, I’m taken back to my first day of training when Jaxen and Gavin sent me in here. Only this time, I’m not scared.

I stop and shut my eyes for a moment, tuning into my senses. I’ve smelled the scent of a Werewolf during training. It’s fleshy, dark, and somewhat like a dog. My senses tell me to head to the right. I look back at my teammates and signal them forward. We fall in line with each other and stay close on the path I took so long ago.

We cross paths at one point with Katie’s team. She barely looks at me. Her game face is on, and Chett is right behind her like a protective shield. I want to tell her she’s going in the wrong direction, but Luke’s face appears in my line of vision.

“Are you sure we’re headed in the right direction? The other teams have both gone that way.”

I close my eyes for a moment and tune back into my Hunting senses. A familiar darkness lingers in the other direction. “I sense something in that direction. Something off,” I say, opening my eyes. It doesn’t sit well in my stomach, but then again, no one else notices it, so maybe it’s all in my head. I have to remind myself that there are trained Watchmen watching us. If something was wrong, they would be the first to know.

“An obstacle?” Luke asks?

I look back at him, and it takes me a second to understand what he’s asking. “Yeah, maybe it’s an obstacle I’m sensing.”

“Can we keep going?” a girl with violet hair asks. She’s John’s partner, but I didn’t catch her name. I nod, and we take back off. The path grows narrow and we’re forced to form into a single file line.

After twenty minutes worth of hiking quietly, I stop. We’ve yet to encounter a single obstacle. The other members of my team look bored. I drop down to the ground and peer through the fog. There has to be some sign that I’m heading in the right direction, but when I drop to the earth, I don’t see any tracks. I’m strictly going off the keen sense that we’re on the right path.

“Over here,” T says, pointing her gun to the ground. “A track.”

I walk over to it and put my hand over it. It looks like a large paw…a Werewolf paw. In one sniff, I confirm that’s what it is. T pulls off a necklace with a small quartz on it and holds it over the paw print. “A tracking spell?” I ask.

She nods. “Watch my back.” She closes her eyes and whispers the simple spell. The necklace begins to move in a circular motion over the track. I follow it with my eyes, waiting for it to swing in the direction we need to go. When it finally does, I breathe a little easier. It’s the way we’ve been heading. I look up at Luke and lift my brows.

He puts his hands up. “Hey now, I won’t question you again.” He turns back to the others who are perched against different trees keeping watch. “We’re headed the right way. Let’s go.”

We fall back in line and continue forward with a new burst of confidence. The tracks become more and more noticeable. The trees around us are gouged with deep marks from the Werewolf’s razor-sharp claws. I’d read about Werewolves doing that as a symbol of marking their territory. Adrenaline replaces my blood and fuels my steps. I can sense us getting closer to the shifter, but it almost feels…too easy.

The thought comes a moment too late.

John hits a spellhive. The volation holds the spells in and remains invisible until someone collides with it and breaks the energy hold. Spells fly aimlessly, each meant to scatter the target. We all drop to the ground, but three of our nine have been struck. Their cries are ear-piercing, giving away our location.

Two Watchmen appear in the trees above us. They must’ve set this trap. They study us like test subjects, waiting to see how we’ll handle this situation. I know I’m being
closely monitored. I’m a loose cannon. I don’t need this group to survive, not really, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need me.

I send a spell out to dispel the flying magic, putting all of my intent behind it. Spells in every color fizzle and pop in the air, bursting away from us. “Good call,” T says, scrambling over to Luke. He’s hit. She covers her hand over his head and whispers a healing spell, removing whatever curse he was struck with.

I look to the others. John and his violet-haired Witch were both struck. The other two bonds crawl toward them, offering aid. I make my way toward Luke and T, keeping an eye on everything around us. The Night Watchmen disappear back into the trees above us.

“It looks like the Watchmen are setting traps of their own,” I say, dropping to Luke’s side.

His face is paled and his arms and legs are limp. The curse must keep him from using his extremities. “My brother told me they would,” he mutters. “He said it happens to all the novices. It’s a hazing ritual.” He groans as T pulls the rest of the curse from him, the spell leaving in a wisp of smoke from his mouth. “We have to be more careful.”

“Agreed. I think we’re close to the shifter, so hopefully we won’t run into anything else,” I say.

“Don’t hold your breath,” T says. “No one gets through these trials without being tried first.”

After we recuperate, we’re back on our feet and heading in the same direction. This time, I send out small currents of volation in the air, testing for any spell traps that may have been planted. The scent of the shifter grows stronger with every step we take. The tracks fall into a close pattern, all leading toward a cave in the distance. The same cave I saw when I first ran through the forest.

I turn to the others, gaining their attention, and then point to it. Smiles light up their faces. We’re going to win this. We pick up the pace and head straight for the cave, our goal in sight. T cloaks us with a protection spell. I feel it the minute it settles over my skin. Our scents and sounds are concealed from the Werewolf. We’re almost invisible.

As we approach the cave, the rest of my teammates come up to my side, forming a horizontal line. “We have to be quick and precise. We get one shot with him not knowing we’re here. I’ll go in first and bind him with a spell,” I say.

“I can do that,” T says. “My specialty is binding and trapping spells.” Luke nods, agreeing with her.

“Okay,” I say, backpedaling. “Then the three of us will go first. The rest remain out here and keep watch. If something goes wrong, we’ll need you out here to catch him. After T binds him, Luke, use your volation. I’ll fall in line the moment you do and shoot the flare.”

“Solid plan.” He pulls the flare from the side of his pants and tosses it to me. “Let’s go,” he says after I catch it, starting for the cave.

A loud bang sounds off in the distance, and we all drop down into a crouch. Another loud bang sounds again, and I look to the sky. It’s not a flare. It’s the same sound I heard the night I was attacked, the same sound the Darkyn Witches used.

I look into the cave as an angry growl emerges from its shadowy depth. Pain-filled screams fill the air from where the bangs came from, and all I can think of is Katie. What if one of those screams is hers? What if she hit a trap she can’t recover from? What if the Darkyns are here?

I have to find her…help her.

I take a few steps, moving toward the screams, but am stopped by a hand. “Whoa, where you going?” Luke asks.

I look down at his hand and back up at him, my gaze as sharp as the flux in my hand. He lets me go. Another loud bang sounds a little further from where the first two sounded, followed by a fiery orange glow. Fire. More cries pierce the air. The rippling rush of heated air blows past us. Whatever just happened, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t normal.

“We have to go,” I say, looking to them. “We have to help them.”

“We’re right here, Faye! We have the Werewolf in our grasp. The win. Come on,” Luke says. I look around at the others and they’re all searching my face for an answer.

“This isn’t what we’re about, Luke. We’re supposed to work together. We’re supposed to protect one another.” I make sure to connect eyes with each one of them. “I’m going. You can either come with me or follow Luke and win. To hell with this trial.”

“You’re only saying that because of what you are, because of what you’re trying not to be,” Luke says the moment I turn away.

I freeze in place. “And what’s that?” I ask, my back to him.

“A freak.”

I’m in his face so fast with a spell up around us that his Witch doesn’t even have time to respond. Volation feeds the blade of my flux and the spell surrounding us, keeping the rest of my teammates out. “A what?” I ask.

His eyes are wide and his body is trembling against the blade I have pressed against his stomach. “You heard me. You don’t need anyone. You defy the decree of our Coven, and yet you’re allowed to coincide with us. You’ll probably be shipped straight to Ethryeal City after this.” He blinks a million times, and then adds, “But the rest of us, we need this win. To pick our classes, we need that choice.”

Ripples of emotions pass through me. Rage slams into guilt. Anger crashes into hurt. I know there are eyes all around me, watching me, waiting for me to snap. They’re waiting for me to hurt him so I can fail and be shipped away, just like he said. I can’t let them win. I can’t let my emotions win. I can’t break my promise to Cassie.