Page 42 of The Order of the Bitter Hunt

The first thing Caldwell lights is a bundle of herbs, which he drops gracefully. The fire catches on the ring of herbs next, and the ring bursts into a blazing fire.

Caldwell picks up the dagger, drawing it through the flames, muttering Latin incantations.

I move closer to Tobey, taking their hand in mine.

“Have you ever seen him like this?” I ask.

“No.” Tobey shakes their head. “Never.”

But rather than looking confused, or even worse—getting the ick—Tobey gazes at Caldwell with fascination and admiration in her eyes.

“And?” I ask, lifting a brow.

“He’s powerful.” Tobey bites their lower lip.

What a freak.

Caldwell reaches into the fire without a care, and it doesn’t burn him; perhaps he has some demonic features after all. When he removes his hand from the flame, he’s grasping the dagger once again.

He stands, holding the weapon to the sky, and a moonbeam comes from the heavens. I see it vividly—silver light reflecting on the dagger and bouncing back to the sky. The fire diminishes as if he had poured water on it.

For a moment, Caldwell glows. A silvery essence surrounds him, but it fades once he steps out of the circle. He holds the witch weapon out to Jun, his expression somber. “I want you to keep this safe.”

Jun nods, taking the newly charmed dagger with a soft, precious touch. “I will.”

“When you use it, make sure you get him in the heart. Be precise. That’s the only way this will work.”

Caldwell’s job is done, and Jun accepts the charmed dagger.

It’s my turn, I realize. I have to make the next move. No one else can do it for me.

Chapter Twelve

Jun waiting in the hallway shouldn’t bring me comfort, especially not when I’m visiting my father, but it does. I don’t want to believe that my father would hurt me… but if he’s involved with the murders on campus, who knows what he’s capable of?

My trust in my father wanes by the day, and for Jun, it’s growing. Somehow.

I try to seem confident as I enter his office, but my conviction drains with each step. Even though I hold my head high, I’m certain my hands are shaking, and my legs are like jelly. Wobbly. Weak. Everything is going right so far, but how long will that last? This could be the day I say the wrong thing, upset the wrong person, and give away our plan.

But I won’t let that happen. I have an edge over Tobey, Caldwell, and even Jun—I don’t have a heartbeat to give me away. The speed of someone’s heartbeat is an internal lie detector for a vampire, albeit a faulty one.

On the polar side, there’s a problem. My father knows me better than anyone else—aside from my mother, possibly. He’s seen me lie to his face before and caught me in quite a few fibs. Imay be a grand performer, but acting differs from putting on an act for my family.

I swallow thickly as I knock on his office door, pushing it open and poking my head inside. “Papá? Are you busy?”

There’s no need to pretend I’m here for lunch this time. He’ll see through it like before. Besides, I don’t need an excuse to spend time with my dear father.

I left in a huff after our last meeting, but now he fixes me with a kind smile. All is forgotten. Our family has a problem of pretending blow-ups never happened, and it works in my favor this once.

“Not at all,”he says. “Take a seat.”

My father’s idea of lunch is a hot coffee and a stack of paperwork. How can he be involved in secret societies when he spends so much of his life teaching students, grading papers, and traveling the world with my mother?

Immortality is the answer, I suppose. It’s easier to find the time for everything you want to do when you have an abundance of it. I’m not immortal myself, but I know I will be someday, and the knowledge makes me live my life differently than most.

“Thank you.” I take my usual seat, right across from him, the place I’ve been occupying for years.

“You’re in a better mood than last time we spoke.”