Dark Illumination: The Brenna Strachan Series, #2

By Hadena James

Brenna Strachan's entire life is ahead of her. And it's a long life, since she has joined the ranks of the immortal. 

She's returned to work as well and one of her first cases a rogue Witch, bent on destroying everything in their way, including her. 

Now, she must turn to her family and friends for help. But among those closest to her, is someone who has already betrayed the Oath of Protection. 

The words of the True Prophet are coming to pass and Brenna must deal with the betrayal and her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hadena James
• Release date: May 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507021712

Book preview

Prologue

It had been three months since I had killed Chiron.  I was not handling his death well.  I didn’t know whether it was because I had actually killed another living being or because I had killed someone who was considered immortal or because he was an Overlord and I wasn’t.  If I was a betting Demon, I’d put my money on all of the above.

I had worked for eight years as a Hunter.  Tracking down rogue Elders, Elders who had Maturing Madness and some very bad-ass Humans, but I had never killed any of them.  It was a new experience for me.

Several people had suggested therapy.  I had gone.  It hadn’t been very helpful.  I was still wracked with guilt and the therapist seemed to think this was exactly how it should be.  Beating myself up over it seemed to be their idea of therapy.  I had quit after the fifth session.

The Overlords had tried to talk to me about it.  They were also unhelpful.  Telling me I did what had to be done didn’t take away the nightmares or the fear that sat in my stomach. 

If I hadn’t been a Demon, I would have thought I had developed an ulcer or an anxiety disorder.  Since we can’t have either, it was just my brain being my own worst enemy. 

At night, I closed my eyes and saw his face.  Over and over again, my brain would replay the image of him dying.  During the day, my stomach would knot because I had this lurking fear that someone would do to me what I did to him.  Someone would call me into a challenge and I would be the one to lose.

I may not have adjusted to eternity as reality and not just a vague concept, but I wasn’t ready to face death yet either. 

Again, the Overlords tried to help, telling me challenges were rare.  But again, telling me that, didn’t seem to help.  If I had done it, what was to stop some other being from exacting revenge in the manner that I had fought for my life?

My goal became ignoring it.  If I didn’t think about it, it would go away, eventually.  I was pretty sure that was how it worked. 

The last three months of my life had been very busy as a result.  I had gone back to work.  In my free time, I was learning to be a better Witch.  I was focusing on making friends with my siblings.  I was watching my mother grow rounder with their expected daughter.  And I had assisted in the building and protecting of my new house.

After my brother, Daniel, the True Prophet, had coughed up prophecy overflow at my Maturing Party, my parents had decided it was in my best interest to sell the condo and put me in a house with the four Overlords to whom I was bound.  Not a terrible idea, but I wasn’t exactly happy with being foisted out of my place and watching as they sold it to Fenrir’s son, Alex, for him and his mate.  Now I could visit and miss the days before my life had become extremely complicated.

Alex and Marcus were still among my close friends, but we no longer hunted together.  My team had been altered.  Both had been replaced by their fathers.  Jonathan had been replaced with his Overlord.  It was now, Fenrir, Gabriel, Anubis and Ba’al that hunted with me.  Since Anubis had been my supervisor before the Maturing, it was interesting watching him out in the field.  He was incredibly good. 

We now lived and worked together.  Of course, calling our house a house was an understatement.  It was nothing short of a castle from the glory days of the Middle Ages.  The outside was encased in obsidian.  The walls inside were sheetrock with six inches of silver poured into them.  Even the support beams had been cast especially for the house, a mixture of steel and spells. 

My new found power was really just an amplification of an old power.  Nothing mythical or great about it, I could use the magic of others, including Elders.  This had long been a Strachan talent.  I just seemed to be a little better at harnessing and storing it than anyone else. 

With my mother being pregnant, all the protection spells had fallen to my siblings and me.  There had been magic aplenty.  My father and his brothers had been around.  The Overlords that lived in the house had been around.  Plus, all the Strachan Witches’ Mates had been there.  We had all pulled and pushed so much magic during that week, that when we were done, we had slept for three days.  We had awoken only to eat and take a few minutes to make sure someone knew we were still alive. 

However, something terrible had happened during the building.  Our house was built like a wagon wheel, without a rim.  Each of us had a wing in the house, a spoke that came off a centralized living area. 

Not built in the same shape as the house, but cavernously large, we had built a basement.  Here we had stuffed thousands of cursed items.  It was meant to be my spell room and a containment room. 

Sometime between the basement being completed and filled and the house being finished, the cursed items had gone missing.  All of them.

None of them had popped back up into the mainstream flow of antiques and junk sales.  We didn’t know who had taken them or why.  We were left with the Strachan Family Sword, my spell book which contained the soul of an ancestor named Ezra and a note telling us, one day, we would start finding them again.  Since the last seemed ominous, it was pretty easy to leap to the conclusion that this was very bad.

After the disappearance of the cursed items, there had been talk about us not returning to work.  However, hunting was all I knew and with the past still haunting my dreams, giving up work wasn’t much of an option for me.

Besides, as Hunters, we travelled the world.  It gave us a geographical advantage to finding them.  One day, one would pop back up and it would be somewhere weird.  It wouldn’t be in KC, probably not even Missouri.  It would probably wreak havoc.  But we’d have easy access to a plane or a flying Elder.

As for my living situation, it was still complicated.  There was a small voice in the back of my brain that told me to get over myself.  It sounded distinctly like my mother.  There was still no sex between my Overlords and me.  Our relationships were evolving though.

Elders do love their titles and we were The Bound.  I felt it a little more each day.  In the morning, I could feel the sun as it broke the horizon, a power that only Gabriel had.  Nights of the full moon, I could feel and smell everything around in me in stereo, Fenrir’s magic.  Sometimes, as darkness approached, I could feel Anubis’s excitement.  Even Ba’al left a mark on me, one I couldn’t explain though.  With each moment we spent together, their magic became a part of my magic, maybe even a part of my soul.  When I was away from it for long periods of time, I yearned for it.

Chapter One

There seems to be a catalogue that caters to small, rural motels.  It carries furniture and wall-paper that was outdated long before I was born.  It must carry it very cheaply, because all small motels seem to buy from it.

This motel was no different.  Its saving point was that it was a post-merge building, so the rooms were large enough to accommodate the larger breeds of Elders.  Elders like Ba’al with his large body structure and massive wings. 

The wallpaper was paisley done in golds, browns, and greens.  It was very earthy and very drab.  There was a dresser, two night stands, a TV, a small round table, and a large bed.  There was a small clock radio on one of the nightstands.  There was a Bible in the drawer under the clock radio. 

The TV was the most modern thing in the room.  It was a flat screen, mounted to the wall.  It had been bought in the last year.

The bedspread matched the wallpaper.  It was drab and earthy; browns and golds in an unusual pattern that made no sense to the mind or eye.  But the bed was comfortable and big enough to hold the weight of a full-sized Demon. 

My lineage tells me that I’m Catholic.  I’m fine with that.  Being a half-Demon, half-Witch, does not cause me to burst into flames when I enter a church.  I have read the Bible, several times.  I have gone through Confirmation and my parents expect me to visit church with them on Saints’ Days and holidays.  I usually make the holidays.  There are too many Saints’ Days.

On hunts, I wear a small, silver cross on a silver chain.  This is not because crosses or silver do anything to Vampires, Lycans or any other Elder breed.  It is because my mother magically etched a protection spell into it.  It temporarily paralyzes any being that touches it.  It has come in handy before.

Today was day three of the hunt.  We really were in rural America or at least, rural Missouri.  The town was named Windsor.  It was a nice little town.  People barely stared at us when we walked through the streets.  The town meeting had been packed because everyone had come to gawk at the Elders. 

We were the only ones in town.  Most of these people had only ever seen an Elder on TV.  The few that had seen one up close and personal, so to speak, commuted to work in KC, where most of the Elder population lived.

Even those though seemed enthralled with our presence.  Of course, I may be giving us too much credit.  It could have been the fact that we were there to stop a troll.

I have never seen a troll.  Not a real one, I have seen a picture of one in a book, once.  They were relatively stupid creatures.  However, they were enormous.

Eyewitnesses reported our troll to be roughly 50 feet tall with a mouth the size of a car.  He slobbered a lot and left puddles of goo from it.  No one would estimate his weight, so Anubis had decided he was probably about 10,000 pounds given his height. 

He was currently running amok, eating the local farmers’ livestock.  However, it had been pointed out to me, that this was just because he hadn’t been able to find a Human yet to eat.  Our goal was to stop him before he found one.

There was one massive problem.  We couldn’t find him.  He seemed to appear and disappear from wherever the attacks were taking place.  Trolls do not have their own magic.  They cannot hide in plain sight or magically appear and disappear.  This meant that the troll was not our only problem.

There are only two types of beings on the planet who can make a troll appear and disappear; a Witch or a Fey.  If he was disappearing in a cloud of rain or being sucked up by a tornado, we could add Elementals to the list.  Fortunately, he wasn’t.  He was just appearing and disappearing. 

Considering the town seemed intrigued by the strange Elders that were running around, Gabriel had decided it was most likely a Witch causing the chaos.  This put me in a unique position.

On good days, Witches can sense the magic of other Witches fairly easily.  On bad days, it takes a bit of effort, but can be done.  I had had no luck finding our Witch or anything magical in the area. 

That explained why we were on day three of the hunt.  Since I couldn’t find the Witch responsible, we couldn’t find the troll.  Since we couldn’t find the troll, there were still livestock being eaten. 

If we found the troll, but not the Witch, there was a chance the Witch would slip away and do it again, in a different area.  If we found the Witch, but not the troll, there was a chance the troll could go on an eating spree.

Personally, I was feeling very frustrated and irritated with the hunt.  There seemed to be nothing I could actually do without the possibility of setting a disastrous chain-reaction off. 

My late night solitude was broken by a knock on the door.  It was a quick rap of knuckles followed by the turning of the knob.  Anubis entered the room with a box of pizzas.

Thought you could use some food.  He sat the boxes on the table.  My calorie intake had gone from about 4000 a day to 8000 a day after the Maturing.  It was hard work to eat that much, luckily, I love donuts and soda. 

The first box of Hunts Brothers’ pizzas contained a supreme.  It had everything except sausage or ground beef.  I grabbed my first slice.  It was still hot.

I looked at him as I finished it off in three bites and grabbed a second slice of pizza.  I knew it was a bribe for something, but I didn’t know for what, yet.  I figured he would get around to telling me in his own time.  Until then, he would keep his lips sealed, which meant I ate in comfortable silence with him watching me.

The first box was finished and I was considering whether to open the second one when he moved.  I stopped.  Here it came.

We are going on stake-out tonight, so you should just pack those in the car.  You’re going to need them.

What are we staking out? I giggled with the image of the troll being staked to the ground.

You and I are going to watch one of the farms that was hit last week.  Gabriel and Ba’al are going to stake out the other side of town.  Fenrir is going to search the woods.  Anubis changed his wording, meaning he had picked up the giggle.

Fenrir in the woods, after dark and alone, meant he was going to change.  He would use his keen wolf senses to detect changes around him.  He had done it the night before as well, but without the help of the rest of us.  I didn’t know why we were suddenly going on stake out as well.

The troll is hitting about every two days, does that mean anything to you?  Anubis asked.

I hesitated.  It might mean something or it might not.  I wasn’t sure if he had read my face or was asking a general question.

Uh, how much magic is required to make a troll disappear or reappear?

I have never done it.  Anubis frowned at me.

Ok, well, if we are thinking it’s a Witch, they might need a ‘battery’ recharge.  They may not have the magic to do it every night.  If I’m right about the battery recharge theory, it might be why we can’t find them.  If it takes a ton of magic, once it is done, they would be exhausted.  They may be coming out only for the same length of time as the troll.  Enough to summon and send it back, but after that, they would need a bed and some serious food to get their magic back.

How much magic do you think it would take?

Every Witch is different, Ani.  It might not take much at all for Magnus or me, but it might exhaust my mother.  On the flip side, it might be easy for my mother, but exhaust me.  Since I have never tried to summon a troll, I haven’t a clue the amount of magic it would require from me.  Let alone the amount it would take a different Witch.

Essentially, you are saying that you don’t know, but it could be really hard or really easy, depending on the Witch casting the spells.

And it might be a matter of what are they actually doing.  It was my turn to frown.  If it is a summoning, meaning they are bringing the troll from the Island and then sending it back, it might be more taxing than keeping the troll locked in a barn somewhere out of sight and casting a hiding spell.  Or it might take less.  It depends on how good the Witch is at the spell being used.

Anubis put both his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes.  It wasn’t the information he wanted.  I didn’t have to feel his emotions to know that it had irritated him.

That adds another element of the unknown to it.

If it is Fey, it becomes much easier.  I chirped.

How so?

The Fey involved would have to summon and send back every time.  They wouldn’t be able to hide it in a barn or plain sight, like a Witch could and most Fey wouldn’t have the power to do it.  It would have to be a Sidhe.  A Sidhe would stand out in this town.  Have we asked if anyone has seen a fairy recently?

It’s been asked.  No one remembers seeing a member of the Fey in town.

Well, damn, I frowned and picked up the pizza boxes.  Let’s go.

Chapter Two

Dawn was coming.  I had gotten used to feeling it before I saw the lightening of the sky.  Even miles apart, I had enough of Gabriel’s magic stored to feel it.  I sighed heavily with the dawn.

Anubis looked at me.  The pizza was gone.  Nothing had happened.  I had tried not to be bored, but it had been damn near impossible after the first three hours.  I needed to pee as well.  Anubis had suggested I squat at the side of the car, but I had a bit of dignity left.

He started the car.  The motor sounded loud in the dark morning.  I closed my eyes. 

What now?  I asked quietly.

We get a couple hours of sleep and then we attempt to find the Witch involved.

Do you realize that the Witch could be hiding in parts we can’t go?

What do you mean?  Anubis gave me a brief glance.

Look around, Ani.  This isn’t just a small town; it has a whole cut off community.  I pointed out the black buggy being pulled by horses coming down the road towards us.

Amish?  You think the Witch could be Amish?

It happens.  I didn’t know if it had really happened before, but there was always the chance that a genetic fluke created a Lesser Witch, even with the devout.

Should we pull them over and ask?  He gave me a small smirk.

Uh, yeah, that will go over well.  A Demon and a Vampire interviewing a group of Amish about a Witch who is summoning a troll to eat livestock, I can’t even imagine how that conversation begins.

Badly, he gave me another quick look.

Yes, I could see them trying to trample us with their horses.  The buggy passed us.  I saw one of them start a prayer.  We couldn’t convince everyone that we weren’t evil.

Would a Witch be able to find safe haven among the Amish?  Even if they were born there?

Honestly, I would say no.  I answered him, stretching slightly in my seat.  However, I don’t know all the secrets of the Amish.  I’m not sure anyone that isn’t Amish knows all their secrets.  For all we know, they stole all the cursed items from our basement.

That gave me a thought.  Fleeting, but enough for me to grab onto it.  I turned in my seat to look at him.

Could an object cause the summoning of a troll and keep it hidden?

Unlikely, Anubis shook his head.  You know how cursed objects work, it would have to be specifically designed to do only that or it would have to be Pandora’s Box.  Since we know where Pandora’s Box is and we know it is safe and sound...

Where’s the box?  I asked, not as convinced as he was.

"Built into the Council Table.  It can summon anything, even extinct creatures and the things of nightmares.  However, that giant chair that holds your father, the seat is the lid of Pandora’s Box and the rest of the box is