Page 5 of Watch Me Burn (Sanctuary #1)

CHAPTER 4

WITCH HUNTER

T he blond vampire pulled on a pair of thick leather gloves in order to open the cell door. Once inside, he removed my handcuffs. As soon as he had, he disappeared them into a lined box that he tucked under his arm before gripping the cell bar with the same gloved hand and pushing the door outward.

“Follow me,” he orders.

Glancing at Elise, she bobs her head in assurance. She doesn’t seem worried that her boss wants to see me, and considering she already told me about the cameras in the cell, she was probably expecting this to happen sooner or later.

I want to stay behind the bars. At least it’s safe in the tiny cell. I’ve heard too many whispers about Thorn Wilkins in the six months that I’ve lived here—ranging from how hot he is, how he’s the city’s most eligible bachelor to rumors that he’s not just the head of the Cadre, but a murderous gangster… which is probably closer to the truth, now that I think about it—that I was hesitant to run into him when I thought he was human.

When I believed I was human…

I’m stubborn. No one can tell me I’m a witch. How would that be possible anyway? Wouldn’t one of my parents have to have been a witch? And, sure, they’re both gone now so it’s not like I can ask them, but if one of them was? Shouldn’t they have been able to use magic to stop the car from hydroplaning off the road and smashing past the guardrail?

I’ll explain to the head vamp he’s got the wrong girl. I’m still working hard to figure out the whole fire thing, but given enough time, I’m sure I can.

If only I had more than the handful of minutes it takes to go from the lower level of the Homequarters building up to Thorn’s office on the penthouse floor…

I can’t help myself. Elise moves right at my side as we follow Jasper like he told me to. The blond vampire didn’t say anything when she left the cell as I did, and I figure that her ‘claim’ to me means it’s okay if she tags along. Glad she’s there even as I peer nosily into the row of cells attached to mine, I say, “You guys got a ton of empty cells down here. Expect a lot of trouble from us humans?”

“Vampires are a ruthless lot,” grates out our guide, “but we are fair. Seek sanctuary in our city, abide by our rules, and the Cadre will protect you.”

“And if you don’t?”

“You die,” is his flat response as he uses his pointer finger to summon the elevator.

He took off my handcuffs. He’s bringing me up to meet the guy—sorry, vampire —who runs this town. I had hoped that meant I wasn’t in trouble anymore, but I’m guessing that’s not the case.

Well, that explains why the cells in the basement are empty. If anyone who breaks the laws bad enough to catch the Cadre’s attention ends up as worm food—or vampire food, I guess—there’s no reason to waste time, dicking around by putting them in a cell first. Vampire justice must be swift, and I can only imagine how the Cadre metes it out.

“Is that what’s going to happen to that man?” I ask Elise, a couple of steps back from Jasper, while we wait for the elevator door to open. “I didn’t kill him, but the vampires will?”

Elise’s gaze flickers ahead of us at Jasper. When he doesn’t react as if he heard my question—though I’d put fifty bucks down that he did—she bites the corner of her bottom lip. Her fangs are so much daintier than Jasper’s, and it’s hard for me to look at my friend and think vampire . But she is, and if she can be a vampire, can I really be a?—

“It depends on what Thorn decides.” She adjusts the skirt of her silky black dress. “Remember how you seemed so amazed that there’s never any trouble in Clarity?”

I did. Up until the moment I was attacked, I thought it was very weird that such a big city had a cozy, small town vibe. “Yeah.”

“That’s because of the Cadre. Because of Thorn, and his soldiers, like Gilda and Jasper, too.”

“The Cadre,” cuts in Jasper without even turning around to look at us, “is judge, jury, and executioner. Abide by our rules or perish. Take no blood but that is offered to you. Do no harm. Keep the peace and keep the wolves out. That male attacked a citizen of Clarity. Whatever happens to you, witch, doesn’t change that fact. He will pay for his crime.”

Ruthless. Right. I’ll have to remember that.

“And me? Elise said I was defending myself. I totally was. Does that count for anything here?”

Ding .

The elevator door opens. Instead of answering me, Jaspers walks in first. Holding the door, he waits for me and Elise to join him.

The ride up is silent, my heart racing the damn elevator.

This building has thirty floors. Thorn’s located on the top one, and I try to swallow my nervousness as we get closer. I don’t do the best job of that. My blood is rushing through my veins, and all I can think about is that I’m flanked by two vampires who probably can tell.

Jasper’s reflection in the mirrored walls looks bored. Elise takes my fingers in hers, gives them squeeze, then lets go right as the elevator doors open a second time.

The basement was sterile. Empty. Bright. Everything was shades of grey, cream, and white, with the silver a shiny accent.

The hallway we step out into is cozier. Expensive, too. The carpet beneath my sneakers is lush. The walls are papered in a brown and gold design that matches the gold sconces holding unlit candles. A pair of burgundy stuffed chairs wait outside the closed door, each one on the other side of a small mahogany table stacked high with a pile of modern magazines that seem weirdly out of place.

It smells nice, at least. Like lemons, I think. That’s much better than blood.

“Should I wait outside, Jasper?” asks Elise.

He shakes his head. “If Thorn didn’t want you to witness this meeting, he would’ve sent you home, Elise. Come. He’s waiting for us.”

After rapping neatly on the door, Jasper turns the doorknob, pushing the dark brown door inward. He steps aside so that I can go first, followed by Elise. He brings up the rear, closing the door behind him before he takes his post next to it.

It was cozy out in the hall. Inside Thorn Wilkin’s office? It’s understated elegance everywhere I look, including the man— vampire —himself sitting at his large desk, leaning casually into his even larger black leather chair.

In front of his desk, he has two dark metal egg-shaped seats. Each one has a blood-red cushion and back to it. With a wave of his hand, he gestures for me and Elise to sit down.

I do, and I get my first look at Thorn Wilkins in the flesh.

The cameras don’t do him justice. Up close, he’s even more attractive than he is on television or the billboards around Clarity. He’s almost too handsome, if that’s a thing, and I find myself getting uncomfortable under his stare.

He lays his hand flat on the glass top to his desk, shifting slightly in his seat so that all of his attention is on me.

“I’m glad to see that the fire didn’t scorch you, Ms. Hayes.”

I glance down. It didn’t dawn on me until his observation that there should be some sign that I was covered in flames myself if it was a freak accident out on the street. Like, if I wasn’t responsible for the fire, shouldn’t my hand be burned? My sleeve turned to ash?

But if I was responsible… if I somehow was a witch who could make fire appear out of nowhere… well, it wouldn’t burn me, right?

I smile nervously at him. “I guess I was lucky.”

“Mm.” He leans back in his chair. “Do you know who I am?”

“Um. Yes. You’re Thorn Wilkins. Head of the Cadre.” I hesitate for a second before I add in a slightly questioning tone, “Head of the vampires.”

In response, he flashes a quick smile that nearly has me swooning in my seat until I notice his fangs are as impressive as Jasper’s.

Yup.

Head of the vampires, all right.

“That’s correct. Now, I pride myself in keeping the citizens of Clarity safe and sound. There are enough humans who know the truth about the Cadre and our people to keep us fed, and in return, my soldiers do everything they can to keep trouble out of our territory. You, Ms. Hayes, are trouble.”

A lump lodges in my throat. I swallow it nervously.

“I’ve spoken to Elise. She was unaware that you’re a witch?—”

“ I had no idea that I’m supposed to be some kind of witch,” I blurt out.

“Yes. I believe that to be so. But that doesn’t change the facts as they stand now. We are a Fang City. Vampires rule Clarity. We keep shifters out, and until now, we’ve never had a witch living inside of our borders. I’ve led the Cadre here for one hundred and thirteen years. This is a first for me.”

My jaw drops. One hundred and thirteen years. One hundred and thirteen years . And that’s how long he’s been in charge. If Elise is only seventy-two, how old is Thorn?

I know better than to ask him. Doesn’t mean I’m not looking at him, seeing a gorgeous man in his late thirties, and wondering if eternal youth might be a perk to whatever the hell I’m supposed to be…

A witch. He thinks I’m a witch, too.

“How do you even know that I am?” I ask. So I’m in denial. “I’m pretty sure I’m just an ordinary human, no magic required.”

Thorn glances at Elise. “You didn’t tell her?”

Oh, I don’t like the way he said that.

“I didn’t have a chance before Jasper came down to get us,” Elise replies. “I would’ve, but I needed to admit to Bridge that vampires exist before I mentioned witch hunters.”

Hang on?—

“Witch hunters? What do you mean, witch hunters?”

If it’s bad enough that I don’t want to be a witch, that’s nothing compared to how much I don’t want anything to do with something called a witch hunter.

Thorn pulls open one of his desk drawers. Using a piece of fabric to protect him against the object he has tucked inside, he pulls out a silver-looking knife with a matching tang and hilt. It looks like a mini-sword, about eight inches long, and he holds it so that I can’t miss it.

“Do you know what this is?” he asks me.

“A knife.”

“It’s a witch hunter’s blade. You can’t see it, but there is an emblem on the hilt. Pure silver, a weapon like that can eliminate all kinds of supernaturals. Vampires, for one,” he says, almost conversationally as though we’re not talking about killing a creature I would’ve thought immortal. “Shifters, of course. Silver is the only mineral that can weaken and kill one of those beasts. As for witches… you can die from pretty much anything, but when a hunter comes after you with one of these, it’s a sign that they won’t stop until you are deceased—and that they believe they have the right to do so.”

I blink, stunned. “What? The right to kill me because they think I’m a witch ? They can’t do that.”

“That’s not going to stop them. And that’s why we have a problem, Ms. Hayes.” He drops the knife into this drawer, closing it. “Simon brought me that knife tonight. He took it off of the witch hunter who tried to capture you in my city. The witch hunter you set ablaze.” A small smile tugs on his lips. “Now, tell me again that you’re not a witch.”

I don’t even know what to say to that.

Am I?

“Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you are. He believed you were. That’s why he went after you. Pity that he was in no state to explain himself when Simon found him, but I’ll have my chance to… mm… talk to him later, I assure you. For now, the question is what to do with you. You see, we’ve never had a witch in Clarity during my tenure, and we’ve certainly never been infiltrated by witch hunters… until now.”

That he knows of.

Are there other witches like me? Those who were born with magic, but didn’t use any until their back was against the wall—or their hand was caught in a handcuff by some creep? If I accept that all of this is true, it seems like my magic was only triggered because it was a life-or-death situation.

Let’s say I’m a witch. Where did the magic come from? I doubt it was my dad’s side of the family since that means Aunt Maureen would’ve had powers, too. But my mom…

I don’t know anything about my maternal family. Aunt Maureen told me when I was a kid that my mom was abandoned at birth, brought up in foster care, and only found a family when she met and married my dad. They had five short years together before the car crash that stole them from me. I don’t know if she could shoot fireballs or even if she knew she might be magic, but the impact was so hard, death so instantaneous, she never would’ve had the chance to save them before they perished.

I honestly thought that, when he grabbed me, it was him or me. I made that subconscious decision, and though lighting him up like that wasn’t what I had in mind, now that I know he was a witch hunter… he would’ve done worse to me.

And that’s even if he knew I was a witch. Is there a way to tell? I’m beginning to think he might’ve known something if he tried to handcuff my hands behind my back the same way Thorn instructed his soldiers to do when they brought me to the cell, but was he prepared for me to go all ‘flame on’ on him?

How could anyone?

Don’t feel guilty, Bridge, I tell myself. He was a witch hunter. You’re supposedly a witch now.

It was either him or me in the end, and I will always choose me.

“I also understand that, having kept our secret, Elise hasn’t given you a fang yet,” Thorn says. “Is that true?”

Fang . Out of nowhere, a sudden memory pops into my brain. All those months ago, when I was newly living in Clarity and I first met Elise. I know more about her situationship with Peter and how it all went south now, and it had everything to do with Peter cheating on her with one of her co-workers.

That’s not what he called it. It’s how Elise understood it, and she’s spent the last six months ignoring any of his attempts to win her back. But I remember how he told her it was just a ‘fang’.

A vampire fang?

He must’ve been one of the privileged humans in the know. But that still doesn’t explain what he meant then—or Thorn means now—when they talk about giving out fangs .

Before I can ask, Elise takes pity on me and explains. Using her pointer fingernail, she taps one of her still-extended canines. “One of these, Bridget. If a vampire snaps it out of their mouth and offers it to someone, it’s a mark of their affection or protection. For you, it would be both.” At my look of obvious horror, she shrugs and drops her hand back to her side. “They grow back, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Actually, I was , but that’s not all. “I appreciate the offer, but… um… why would I need one of your fangs for protection?”

“Because, in Clarity, humans are our food,” Thorn says bluntly. “They sustain us, and we provide them a city where any trouble is quickly put to rest. We protect them, but a fang only works in Fang Cities. And I can’t imagine any will harbor a witch.”

Something in the way he says that…

“Wait. Are you kicking me out?” I came up here, torn between expecting him to, like, kill me or throw me back in the cell downstairs because I almost killed someone else. Elise made me think everything was going to be okay… were we wrong?

Instead of answering me, Thorn asks, “What do you know about witch hunters?”

He’s joking, right? I doubt it, but I didn’t have any idea that witches were real until today. I don’t know shit about witch hunters beyond what he’s told me so far and I tell him so now.

“Right. I probably should’ve mentioned that they’re fanatics. Human fanatics who believe that witches exist to bring about the end of the world.”

So. Nutcases. Got it.

“They think they have some divine right to hunt and massacre witches, and they’ve been doing it for centuries. For the last few, they’ve gotten better at hiding, but their MO rarely changes. They hunt. Torture. Kill. Always working in pairs, never doubting their ‘mission’, witch hunters are a plague, Ms. Hayes. And you brought them to my city. I understand you defending yourself. But staying…” He steeples his fingers in front of him. “Get up, please.”

Um. Okay.

“Jasper,” Thorn calls out. “Please go find Celeste and invite her in.”

The silent blond vampire nods, then slips out of the office.

Once he’s gone, Thorn jerks his chin in my direction. “Stand in front of my desk. Elise, go stand by the door where Jasper was.”

Though the defiant nature that pushed all of Aunt Maureen’s buttons almost wants me to tell him ‘no’, I see how quick Elise is to obey her boss. And he’s not just her boss, is he? He’s the head vamp in this place.

I move in front of him.

He nods. “Good. Now use your magic on me.”