Binding Fate: Hunting the Night Series, #2

By Michelle Edwards

Trust. Secrets. War.

My life has changed in ways I never could have imagined. I thought finding out who killed Ben would be the end, but it was only the beginning. I had opened a Pandora's Box that I was not prepared to handle.

Secrets from the past come to light, rocking my already shaken family.

As I delve more into the supernatural, I'm certain of only one thing. We've entered a war that has no end in sight.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crazy Ink
• Release date: Apr 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781540192448

Michelle Edwards

Michelle Edwards is an essayist for Lion brand Yarn Company's e-newsletter and the award-winning author/illustrator of many children's books. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

Book preview

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my amazing husband, James. You always push me to keep writing. You’ve supported me in following my dreams and for that I love you.

Thank you to everyone who has shared my books and supported me as an author.

The Crazy Ink team is unlike any other and one I am grateful to be a part of.

Chapter One

Lily

All this time I thought Dean had lost his entire family, but instead his brother was more or less alive and living with Hell’s guardian as a demon.

My head was still spinning even after we all came inside. Liam kept a close eye on Jax while

Dean and I excused ourselves to the other room.

How could you keep this from me? I cried throwing my hands in the air.

Lily, I’m sorry, I didn’t know how to bring it up in conversation. Besides, we had a lot on our plates here lately. What was I supposed to do, spring it on you during dinner?

I shook my head. Maybe not, but you shouldn’t have told me your family was dead when clearly your brother is still alive!

"To me he is dead." Dean crossed his arms over his chest.

To me, he’s a demon. A demon that seems to have an agenda or else he wouldn’t have just popped in.

Dean sighed and motioned into the other room. He was annoyed, I could tell that without my powers.

It was becoming easier for me to not use my empathy around or on him. I focused more on other things so that I wasn’t always reading his emotions. I was finally learning to control the powers I had.

What do you want, Jax? Dean asked as I took a spot in the doorway.

I came to see you brother. A man can’t visit his family? he smirked.

A man sure, but you are not a man, you’re a monster, Dean hissed.

Little harsh considering you are friendly with a witch and a vampire, Jax scolded.

Dean crossed his arms over his chest.

Just tell me why you are here.

I need your help.

Forget it. Get out of here.

Just hear me out, will ya? Jax sighed like he actually had human emotions. I couldn’t read anything from him no matter how hard I tried. It was driving me crazy.

You have one minute, Dean replied.

The ruler of hell. He’s been building an army. And it’s not just your normal demonic army, he’s building demon soldiers to fight and kill any human or angel that gets in his way.

So what’s new? Dean sighed.

What’s new is these soldiers are instructed to kill, without anything else. Just kill anyone and everyone. He’s planning to take over everything.

Great, then you will be able to roam wherever you want; seriously, why are you coming to us with this?

"Because, Dean, I don’t want him to take over. He will kill us too and just keep his army or turn more souls into demons."

So what exactly do you want us to do? I cut in.

I want help on killing him.

Dean laughed.

No.

I looked to Liam. "Do you think that maybe this would be a good idea?"

To what, kill the ruler of hell? he asked back.

I shrugged. "Well, yeah. I mean think about it, we kill the ruler of hell and no one will mess with us. Our lives can be virtually normal after that."

If it works. Lily, we have no idea what this demon is capable of. Plus we are still learning our powers.

When? I asked aloud so Dean and Jax could hear.

Lily... Dean breathed.

I held up a hand to him and looked at Jax. I’ll ask again, when?

As soon as you can. The longer we wait, the more soldiers he gets.

We need time to really consider this. You are asking us to put our lives on the line for what? For you? I shook my head. Sorry, but seeing as how we just met, I don’t care to really risk my life for yours.

Understood.

How can we get in touch with you? I asked.

He pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to me. Call me. And with that, he was gone.

Dean’s face tightened and he turned to face me.

What the hell? he exhaled.

Dean, this could be a good thing. Killing the ruler of hell. Think about it.

Yeah, I am, it could put me out of a job.

It could, but wouldn’t it be nice to not have to fight a demon or ghost every damn day?

Lily, we aren’t helping Jax, end of story. He’s a bad person with bad intentions. He stalked off to the kitchen.

I looked back at Liam who just shrugged and left me standing there.

The day dragged on. Everyone kept to themselves barely speaking. Zoe called from England.

She was having an amazing time and I was jealous. I decided to keep the conversation about Jax until they returned. There was no reason to worry her or Alex about this now. She reassured me she was still human, and even though I’ve come to terms with her choice to want to become immortal, I was relieved.

We should probably talk, I said to Dean, leaning against the door frame. He was leaning over the hood of his car tinkering with something.

There really isn’t anything to talk about, he replied without taking his attention off his car.

Yes, there is. Your brother is alive. Somewhere inside of him he’s still your family.

No, he’s not. His soul is gone; he’s just an evil creature now that should be killed.

I tried to feel any emotion from Dean, but all I got was annoyance.

Are your parents?

He stood up tossing the wrench to the floor. They are dead.

What do you expect from me?

I expect for you to trust me! he growled.

I trust you; I am just hurt that you lied to me.

He’s not a trustworthy person. I don’t believe for one second that the ruler of hell is stupid enough to try to take over the entire universe. he shook his head. Until we know for sure, don’t call him back. Let’s gather our facts first, please.

I titled my head to the side, cracking my neck as I rubbed it. Okay. I turned on my heels and walked back into the house.

Every time I entered the house, I got this feeling like I was being watched.

A moment later Dean came bursting into the house. Pack up, we’ve got a case, he said as he breezed past me.

I didn’t even hesitate; I ran upstairs to Liam’s room.

Let’s go, we have a case, I said standing in his doorway.

Liam looked up from his computer. A case?

I sighed; I realized we never explained to Liam what we do and how it works.

Just pack some clothes and anything you use like a tablet or phone and chargers. Meet us downstairs in five minutes. I tapped on the door frame before going into my own room where Dean was already packing his stuff.

You will have to explain this stuff to Liam.

Dean nodded. I know. I also think this will be good for you two to practice using your magic and using them together. You are stronger when you work together.

I had hoped so. All of this with Liam was still so new that I wasn’t entirely sure where to go with it. I still loved Ben. He would always be my brother. I tossed what I considered my hunting items into my duffle and moved downstairs. Liam was standing in the foyer. He looked terrified.

What’s wrong? I questioned as I halted to a stop in front of him.

I’m just not sure what we are doing.

It will be fine, I promise. Will you help me with a spell? I pulled out a book and flipped it open to a page I had saved.

A protection spell? he asked looking at me with a sideways look.

For the house. I thought maybe it would be a good idea since we won’t be here. I don’t want anyone else thinking they can just show up here, or have someone decide to squat here.

He nodded. Good idea.

We were barely touching each other, but I felt the electric between us. It was like that feeling you get when you leave home for a week and then you return and you feel complete again. I felt complete.

We mouthed the spell silently and then aloud. The lights flickered and the charge between us zapped my fingers a couple of times.

What the hell was that? Dean asked walking down the stairs.

That was magic! I beamed.

We put a protection spell on the house, Liam explained.

Dean nodded and motioned for us to follow him. I tossed my bag into the trunk and got into the front seat. Liam was already settled in the back seat.

Where to this time? I questioned as we pulled down the driveway. I was a little sad to be leaving the house even though I knew we would be back. I wanted to learn more about my parents and their history. Liam didn’t seem to know all there was to know about the history of our family, and we couldn’t ask our parents.

Just a couple hours away into South Carolina.

What exactly are we doing? Liam asked.

You know what hunters are, right? Dean questioned. He glanced into his rearview mirror. Well, that’s what I do. Lily was helping me while she was looking for Ben’s killer. So we’ve just become instant partners. Anyways, it’s pretty straightforward. Go to where there is an issue, investigate the issue, kill the monster, and go home. Repeat.

What if that ‘monster’ is a witch?

Normally, we don’t get many witches that are doing something wrong. But if so, we kill them. You can’t be biased. I know it’s hard being brought up in a magical family.

Hard? You can’t just go around killing other witches. Lily! Do you really kill your own people? he screamed. It wasn’t much of a question by the way he yelled it at me.

I sighed. I knew there would be times where Liam and I disagreed, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

"I kill anyone causing problems and killing others. It sucks. Believe me it does, and it’s not something that everyone can do. Most of these cases though are ghosts, or demons, or some sort of creature that isn’t a witch. Don’t say no until you at least get there and see what is going on. And, remember, Dean isn’t the only person doing this, so if there is a case you absolutely can’t do, you can ask someone else to take over."

Liam huffed and didn’t say anything else.

I shook my head and turned my attention out the window.

This is wrong, I heard Liam.

Not all witches are good. Look at the people who kidnapped me. They clearly weren't good. Do they deserve to live?

No, but that was different.

Not really. They did something wrong, and they were eventually killed for it. It’s the same thing if we run into a witch while on a case. If they are hurting innocent people, they clearly don’t deserve to live.

After that he was radio silent. No one really spoke the rest of the trip unless it was about directions or stops. Dean passed the case file back to us once we had picked it up from another hunter.

Liam

The thought of killing another witch pained me. How could my own sister kill the very thing we were? I pulled out my phone and sent a text. I needed to feel some sanity in this car of craziness.

Danny replied almost immediately. Reassuring me that things will be fine.

I smiled at the phone in my hands. Danny had been there for me silently for months. Ever since Ben came to tell my parents about Lily, Danny was there to help make