Broken Angel (Book 1 in the Chronicles of a Supernatural Huntsman series)

  When we arrived back at headquarters Rashne called me into his office for a private discussion. The hospital ward should have been my first stop with how badly my leg throbbed, but the bleeding had stopped and I was curious about what he could possibly say. I let Atticus take Holly from me and followed the Djinn silently.

  There was nothing in the small room but an empty desk, a few basic chairs, and bare walls. We sat across from each other in silence as he tented his fingers and stared at me. Each time he applied pressure to his fingertips, the smoke underneath rippled outward, like when a stone hit placid water.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong,” I blurted out before he could speak. “You tossed us to those redcaps unprepared. We’re all alive because of me.”

  He placed his arms on each side of the chair and straightened himself up to his amazing height. Even seated, he towered over me.

  “How did you escape, Miss Kamlyn?” he asked with obvious admiration, but there was an underlying accusatory tone I couldn’t ignore. “No human is that fast.”

  I shrugged my shoulders and sat back in my chair. Honestly, what could I say? Even I didn’t know how I did it. My legs kept moving me forward until I reached the outside world again. That was all there was to it.

  “I don’t know,” I mumbled. “I just…ran.”

  Though he didn’t have any eyebrows to raise on his tattooed face, his forehead wrinkled as his piercing eyes widened. He nodded his large blue head slowly as he examined me. Then, his eyes narrowed as if he were unsure of something. I wanted to look away, but forced myself to hold his gaze.

  “You will be a formidable Huntsman, Miss Kamlyn, there is no doubt about that.”

  Butterflies erupted in my stomach. The sensation spread throughout my entire body. Something wasn’t right. His words sounded like a compliment, but the tone was challenging.

  I reached my hand up and rubbed at the side of my neck. After a few seconds, I realized it was the exact spot the birthmark I shared with Danny was. I held my hand there and let the warmth of my skin set in as if Danny himself were holding me. For a moment, I forgot why I was sitting in the instructor’s office.

  I didn’t have anything left to say to him. Instead, I stared ahead in silence, waiting for the conversation to be over. Exhaustion from the hunt overtook my body. I still had to stop by the hospital ward to check on Holly and see if they could do anything about the gashes in my leg. It was funny how the pain seemed to fade from me so quickly. Compared to the loss of a child, every other pain in the world seemed insignificant.

  “I will take care of the redcaps myself since you and your group failed to do so. If there is nothing else you have to say concerning this evening, you are free to go,” he said with a wave of his hand.

  It was unfortunate, the way his personality morphed so suddenly. I couldn’t think of anything I had done to set off this change in his behavior. He had once been on my side. Our conversations always had an air of being from one outsider to another. I thought he understood my struggles and what I was there for, but it seemed the tables had turned and he no longer felt that connection with me anymore.