Chosen (Slayer 2)

My mother sets down her teacup. “What happened?”

“She brought me to a weird room. And then, uh, fed me ice cream.”

Jade snickers. “Bow-chicka-bow-wow. What happened next?”

“I got stabbed.”

Jade wrinkles her nose. “Not sexy anymore.”

My mother frowns, concerned. “She stabbed you?”

“No, someone else—it doesn’t matter. It was unrelated.” I don’t want to tell them it was the First Slayer who stabbed me. I don’t know what it means, and it doesn’t relate to our meeting. Also it’s kind of embarrassing. “There was a big storm coming. Which could be a threat to this girl, right?”

My mother jots down notes in a leather-bound journal. “See if you can find her again. Get some concrete details so we can track her down.”

“Will do.” Except I don’t know that I can. I seem to have lost control of my dreams along with everything else. “What about the name the mercenaries gave us? Ian Von Assface? Or whatever it was.”

“No.” My mother’s answer is shockingly curt.

“What do you mean, ‘no’? We know he’s collecting werewolves for a hunt. And the full moon isn’t far off. Shouldn’t we at least look into who he is?” I’m certain we could figure it out. Aside from our library, we have Cillian, who’s good at finding information online. It’s not a skill Watchers ever developed.

“I know who he is,” my mother says, surprising me. “He’s worked with us—with the Watchers—in the past. It’s not something we should pursue at this time.”

“Why not?”

Her expression closes like a door. This is the mother I used to know. Cold and distant. “Because we can’t afford to lose any allies.”

“With allies like that, who needs enemies?” I lean forward, heart rate rising. “He buys werewolves to hunt them. I think we should look into it.”

“Do you know where we got our cars, Nina? Who financed those? Who donated this castle and the land it sat on before we moved it here? Ian Von Alston. So unless you can afford to replace a car if we lose one, or buy next winter’s clothes for the Littles, or keep up repairs on this absurdly old castle, I suggest we not attack one of our only potential sources of future funds.”

Doug toys with one of the delicate gold hoops he always wears in his ears. He’s maintained the distance between himself and Jade. “Right. Well. I might have a lead on demons who need help, or at least a way to get some leads. There’s a sort of convention every year in London. A get-together of emotion-eaters. It’s a combination networking, advice, and matchmaking event.”

Jade scowls, jealousy twisting her face. “Matchmaking?”

“Do you think anyone there would need our help?” I ask, ignoring Jade.

“Maybe. And even if not, they might have scoops on demons who are in a bad way. We deal in emotions; we tend to know where to find the best and worst ones. It’s tomorrow, though, so we’ll need to leave right away.”

The idea of taking a trip away from the increasing

ly claustrophobic castle fills me with relief. “Let’s do it.”

Rhys adds it to the agenda. “Who do we want to send?”

“I’ll go,” Doug says. “I’m your way in.”

“Are you sure that’s safe?” my mother asks. “If Sean still wants you, he might think to look for you there.”

“Sean knows where to find me here, too. If he wants to come for me, he’s going to.”

“I’ll be with you,” I say.

Doug smiles. “Thanks. That makes me feel safe.”

His sentiment warms me, and I beam. Then I roll my eyes as his nostrils flare. He shifts defensively. “What? You give me hardly anything to eat these days. Can’t blame a guy for taking advantage of a good meal when it’s available.”

“I’ll come too.” Jade reaches out and aggressively takes Doug’s hand.