The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill (14 page)
Read The Slayer Chronicles: First Kill Online
Authors: Heather Brewer
Sirus handed Joss a utensil and he dug in, spooning bits of steak, beans, and various peppers into his mouth. The chili was spicy but delicious, and Joss quickly polished off one bowl and then another. He was working on his third when Sirus said, “I need to go into town tomorrow for supplies. You’re welcome to join me, if you’d like. It’s not far, but I’ll need some extra arms to help load the truck.”
Joss chewed another mouthful and swallowed before nodding. “Sure. I have tomorrow off. I guess that would be okay.”
“Kat will be joining us. I hope that’s all right.” Sirus filled a glass with lemonade and slid it closer to Joss. “I have a feeling you two could become good friends, given time.”
Joss slowly set his spoon in the bowl and let Sirus’s words sink in. He’d never really had a friend before. With all the moving his family had experienced, it had been difficult for Joss to make friends. It would be nice to have a friend besides Henry. Even though the idea of spending any extended amount of time with her sent his stomach into knots. Kat was bold, outgoing, and seemed to have no concern at all about asking him questions. And that was the last thing a guy on his way to becoming a Slayer needed.
Still ... she was pretty nice and very friendly. He took a sip of lemonade and nodded to Sirus. “What time should I get up?”
“I’ll wake you at seven. We’ll leave around eight.” Sirus stood and cleared Joss’s dishes away. “By the way, I should warn you. Kat is a very curious soul. She may ask questions that you cannot answer.”
Joss wiped his mouth on his napkin and looked at Sirus, mulling over exactly how to phrase his next sentence. “To be honest, she already has.”
Sirus’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?”
Joss nodded. “She knows that we’re not on some hunting trip, and she suspects that you and I haven’t been completely honest with her. But I don’t think she’ll push to find out what’s really going on. I have to ask though. Why did you bring her here? I mean, it seems like a really strange way to keep the Society’s secrets, bringing your daughter to a training camp.”
Sirus said, “Every summer, I leave Kat behind. As you can probably imagine, she gets very lonely. After all, she has only me. No mother, no siblings. Just me. She stays with a friend of mine, but it’s not the same as having family around. We exchange letters all summer long, but hers always grow more and more troubled as time wears on. Then a month ago, Kat tearfully made me promise not to leave her this summer. She didn’t want to go to summer camp or on vacation with her extended family. She wanted to be with me. I couldn’t promise that I wouldn’t leave her, but I also couldn’t abandon her again. Not knowing how much it was hurting her to be away from me for so long. When you have children and you love them, it’s impossible to refuse them and even more impossible to knowingly cause them pain. So I brought her with me.”
Joss furrowed his brow. He could only imagine how his uncle had reacted to the surprise news that a normal teenage girl would be joining them for the summer. He imagined Abraham’s reaction had probably contained a string of obscenities.
Sirus smiled, as if guessing his thoughts. “Abraham was furious, of course. He threatened to report me to the Slayer Society. Then I reminded him of a few secrets of his own that I’m privy to, and he conveniently forgot my transgression. But if Kat finds out who we are and what we’re really doing here, I will be reported and taken into custody.”
Joss swallowed hard. Without him even realizing it, his voice dropped to a whisper, and he leaned forward in his seat. “What would they do to you?”
“If they’re feeling kind, the Society will simply excommunicate me. But if they’re not feeling particularly forgiving, I will be punished.” The corner of his mouth tugged up slightly, as if Sirus were trying to make light of a very serious situation.
“How?”
“I’d rather not say.” Sirus waved his hand and shook his head. “You’re young. You should cling to your innocence while you can.”
Joss sat back in his seat, crossing his arms in front of him. “I thought you wanted me to have an honest view of the Society before I joined.”
“I do. But some things you shouldn’t worry about until you’re faced with them. And hopefully you never will be.” Sirus met his eyes then, and Joss knew that the Society would kill him for betraying them. His life would be the price of not keeping their secrets. How he’d be killed, Joss had no idea, but he imagined it would be in the worst way possible. Sirus patted him on the arm and said, “It’s time for bed. I suggest you take some Tylenol before lying down. Tomorrow, I’ll take a good look at your injuries. Now get some sleep.”
He nodded at Sirus, and yawned. He had no idea what time it was, but one thing was for certain.
This was going to be the longest summer that Joss had ever experienced.
15
EARLY-MORNING ADVENTURES
Come on, little brother.” Cratian smiled at Joss across the breakfast table. It was still dark outside, but technically, it was morning. Five in the morning. Joss had slept for maybe an hour, and he’d been tormented by Cecile’s restless spirit the entire time. When he awoke, he was famished, and Sirus had been happy to whip him up a nice breakfast. The house was quiet, but for Cratian’s voice. “It’s time to play. Chazz and I are going to search the hills for that hive. Thought we’d bring you along for the ride, if you’re feeling up to it.”
Sirus turned away from the stove then and gave Cratian a look that said Joss wasn’t going anywhere. The look made Joss’s heart sink. Truth was, bruised or not, he really wanted to get out there and do some training, to further learn what it meant to be a Slayer.
Cratian put up his hands in surrender. “I swear, no training. But he might learn a few things by tromping through the woods with us. Just for fun, I promise, Sirus.”
Sirus seemed to mull it over for a while before pointing a finger at the three of them. “No maneuvers. His muscles need the rest.”
Cratian looked from Chazz back to Sirus. “Can we at least go for a hike? He can watch me kick Chazz’s butt in the clearing.”
Chazz looked up from his plate briefly. “Hey . . .”
Joss finished chewing a bite of breakfast and said, “I want to go, Sirus. I promise I’ll be back before eight, so we can still go to town.”
Sirus turned back to the stove without another word. Cratian grinned. Chazz shoveled in another mouthful of omelet before standing and giving Joss’s shoulder a healthy smack. Surprised into swallowing a bite of hash browns, Joss coughed, took a sip of orange juice and hurried to clear his plate away.
Just a few minutes later, they were in a clearing in the woods, and Cratian was stretching his arms above his head. “The key to maintaining your strength is keeping the blood flowing, the muscles loose and limber, and the endorphins up. Before I head out on a hunt, I like to do at least twenty push-ups, and get some good stretches in. It’s a good habit to get into.”
After watching Cratian for a moment, Joss followed suit, stretching one arm over his head, and then bending it at the elbow to stretch out his triceps.
Cratian moved closer as Joss began to bring his arm down. “You’re not holding it long enough. You should feel a good burn, count to ten, then release it.”
A muscle in Joss’s back started to cramp, but he brought his arm back up, refusing to show any sign of weakness to his fellow Slayers. Cratian caught his wince, though, and began to rub the muscle out for Joss. “Looks like somebody had a bit of hand to hand with Abraham last night.”
Joss shrugged, his back muscles losing their tension some. “It wasn’t so bad.”
Cratian and Chazz exchanged looks that said that they knew just how full of crap Joss was at the moment. Then Chazz chuckled. “I remember the first time I faced off with your uncle. I couldn’t see out of my left eye for a week. He has a hard right hook.”
“Don’t take it personally, little brother. It may seem like Abraham has it in for you, but he’s just trying to teach you the only way he knows how.” Cratian slapped him on the back before turning to Chazz. “Go on. Give him your tips before I kick your butt.”
Chazz rolled his eyes as he turned back to Joss. “Despite what this meathead would have you believe, winning a fight is seventy percent mental, and only thirty percent physical. And preparation is key. For instance, look at Cratian and tell me what you see.”
Joss moved his attention to Cratian and frowned. All he saw was a formidable opponent.
Cratian flexed his bicep and beamed. “He sees perfection, of course.”
A chuckle escaped Joss. “I see . . . I don’t know. He’s fit. And bigger than I am.”
Chazz nudged him with his elbow. “Look closer, Joss. What’s he wearing?”
Cratian was dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt. On his feet he wore a pair of ratty-looking sneakers. Before Joss could reply, Chazz leaned in close and spoke quietly, so that their opponent wouldn’t hear. “The materials are cotton, which can be forgiving, but jeans? A button-down shirt? Neither is a stretchy material, and both will inhibit his movement. Notice I’m wearing sweatpants and a loose tank top. I have a clear advantage over him in that regard. It may not be much, but it’s something. And when you’re fighting someone, you have to focus on the positive and keep your morale high.”
“Are you girls done whispering? I’d like to get to this today, Chazz.” A gleam was in Cratian’s eyes—one that told Joss that he loved a fight. Even one between allies.
Chazz shook his head, the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Keep your skirt on. We’re talking.”
Joss had to hide his grin. It was hard to believe that he could become so broken the night before, only to find himself truly enjoying himself the very next morning—after hardly any sleep, and tortured sleep at that.
Chazz said, “Now, look around the clearing. There isn’t much to see. No stones, no sticks. Not really anything that can be used as a weapon. But there’s something we can use to our advantage. Any guesses what that might be? What do we have in abundance?”
Joss swept the clearing with his eyes. One thing stood out above the rest. “Dirt. Lots of it.”
With a nod, Chazz said, “And with a handful of that, an opponent can be momentarily blinded. Long enough to escape or to subdue them in another way.”
Amazement filled Joss. These were things he never would have thought to look for before. Who paid attention to what type of clothing an opponent was wearing, or what clever use of dirt one could apply? Only a skilled fighter, it seemed.
Chazz straightened his shoulders and took a step closer to Cratian. “Okay, we’re ready now. Or do you need a few extra minutes to fix your hair, pretty boy?”
Cratian shook his head, a smile on his face, and rushed at Chazz. Before he could make contact, Chazz reached down and whipped a handful of dirt into Cratian’s eyes. Cratian cupped his face and swore loudly, swinging blindly with his fists. Joss dodged out of the way, but kept a keen eye on the scene before him. As Cratian stumbled, his eyes watering, Chazz whipped around him in a circle and caught Cratian in the knee with his foot. An audible crack came just seconds before another foul word escaped Cratian’s lips. Breathless, Chazz beamed at Joss. “And that ... is how you handle a loud-mouthed buffoon with an attitude problem.”
After allowing Cratian a few moments to calm down, Chazz and Joss helped him to his feet. Joss wondered aloud, “Think Sirus will have enough time to bandage that knee before we head into town?”
Chazz glanced down at the affected leg. “Sirus will make time, I’m sure of it.”
Through gritted teeth, Cratian said, “Chazz, you are so dead the next time we face off. But thanks for teaching our little brother here all your dirty tricks. He’ll need ’em.”
Chazz and Joss exchanged smiles. Then they moved down the hill, toward the cabin. Despite the excitement, a yawn snuck up on Joss, and he stretched as well as he could with a grown man weighing down his right shoulder. Maybe, he hoped, there was time for a nap before their trek to town.
A nap, he hoped, without dreams.
16
CONFRONTING THE BEAST
Joss studied the Slayer Society manual for a while, waiting for eight in the morning to come. He hadn’t slept, but just lying down seemed to be enough to rest him. He’d just gotten to an interesting chapter on drudges—or vampires’ human slaves—when his stomach rumbled loudly. He bounded out of bed and headed down the stairs after a quick shower, a full hour before Sirus said he’d wake him. He wasn’t exactly sure what had filled him with the peculiar energy—maybe it was the adrenaline rush of early-morning training—but he was in a good mood, that much was for certain. He mused that maybe it was the fact that his uncle had been enormously challenging to him in the past few days, and Joss had been man enough to rise to the occasion—something that likely surprised Abraham as much as it did Joss. But part of it—a small part, he was certain—was probably because he’d get to hang out with Kat today. And even if the very idea of friendship scared him, he was kind of excited about the mere possibility of having someone to call his friend. Even if she did ask a lot of questions that he couldn’t answer. Even if she was a girl.
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