Chosen Read online

  “That’d be great.” Dani shivered again and turned to let Gabriel lead her the rest of the way to the Haunt, a local under-21 club that most juniors and seniors attended on weekends.

  Gabriel slipped off his jacket and handed it to her. “Here.”

  “What’s this for?”

  “You look like you’re about to shiver right out of your skin.”

  Dani accepted the jacket and nearly cried with relief when she slipped it on. The fabric was warm from Gabriel’s body heat and smelled faintly of whatever body spray he used. She was used to attracting attention—an occupational hazard for the new girl in a small town—but rarely did it come from sweet boys who were kind for no other reason than it was the compassionate thing to do.

  As they headed toward the Haunt, Dani looped her arm through Gabriel’s. His arms were deceptively strong, and the pink in his cheeks deepened to red. Dani let herself glance up at him. He was cute and uncomplicated, which was exactly what she needed after the day she’d had. Their small group walked the four blocks to the Haunt, and Gabriel paid for both of them to get inside and checked in the jacket Dani had borrowed.

  The club was already in full party mode by the time they arrived. A live band played on stage—the posters proclaiming they were from the local college—and their speakers filled the space until it was impossible to hear the person next to you. The lights were kept low, making the world seem hazy and mystical. The pounding bass, screaming vocals, and packed dance floor pushed all thoughts of destiny and demons out of Dani’s mind. She forgot about the fight with her mother. Forgot about the Ink. About Poe’s lectures. Kiva’s lessons. The hissing riddles of Silas and Jasper.

  She forgot it all, until she was just a girl. Dancing with a boy. Their bodies pressed tight, moving in time with the pulse of the music. Gabriel’s hands slid to her waist, pulling her close, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He stared at her then, his shyness giving way to a hungry desire as their bodies moved together. She could feel it, the pull between them like a cord binding their hearts together.

  Dani raised on her toes and kissed him.

  He smiled against her lips, and then he was kissing her back. Hands everywhere. His tongue brushing against hers. He tasted of possibilities and endless summer, and Dani never wanted it to end. She hadn’t meant for her first kiss to be like this, so wild and carefree, with a boy she barely knew, but in that perfect moment, she didn’t care.

  When Gabriel finally pulled away, breathing hard but grinning, he nodded toward the bar. “Want anything?”

  At least, that’s what Dani thought he said. She nodded, not bothering to try to say anything at all. Her lips felt swollen. Her heart light. As Gabriel disappeared through the crowd, she let her fingers brush against her lips and wondered if she’d look different somehow. If anyone could tell she’d finally be kissed.

  Gabriel’s friends, most of them girls like Dani, pulled her into their tight circle. Dani let the music carry her away and let the goofy, embarrassed grin live on.

  Across the circle, a tall lithe redhead suddenly jolted forward, scowling. A man stepped forward, catching Dani’s attention. He ignored the way the girl pushed him away and wrapped his arm around her waist, letting his hand fall to her ass.

  Anger bubbled up in Dani’s chest, but she paused. Did the girl know this man? Were they just fooling around? But when the man leaned in for a kiss and the girl twisted her head away, Dani had seen enough. She closed the small space between them, grabbed the man’s hand from around the girl’s waist, and twisted it violently to one side.

  The man cried out, his body bending in an attempt to reduce the angle on his wrist. The redhead slipped away from him, and Dani tugged hard, forcing the man’s arm up behind his back. “Leave her alone, asshole,” she growled in his ear and shoved him away from their group. She doubted he heard her words in the loud club, but the meaning should be clear enough.

  He stumbled away, clutching his wrist, but he turned back to face Dani. His hard gaze traveled over her body, making her skin crawl, and then he stalked forward, a feral smile on his lips. This time, Dani didn’t hesitate. As soon as he was in range, she punched him hard across the jaw. She may not have her mother’s supernatural strength, but she’d been in training since she could walk. She learned to throw a punch before she could tie her shoes.

  The man grabbed his face, blood already dripping from a split lip. He said something that looked suspiciously like fuck you before he stalked away.

  Dani shook out her hand and turned around. Gabriel’s friends were staring at her, mouths hanging open, but then the redhead flung her arms around Dani and hugged her tight. Dani froze, for just a moment, before she brought up her arms and returned the embrace.

  “Thank you,” she said, loud enough for Dani to hear.

  Gabriel returned then with two glasses, the contents a deep red. “Making friends?” he asked, handing Dani one of the drinks.

  She accepted the glass with a nod and a smile at the other girl, but she was already turning to dance with the rest of her friends. Dani sipped from the slender straw, and the frozen drink burst on her tongue, a bright fruity concoction with just the faintest hint of alcohol. For a moment, she considered returning the drink and getting something that wouldn’t muddle her head, but then Gabriel leaned in for another kiss, and she decided she didn’t care. Not tonight. Perhaps not ever again.

  Two glasses of the cold red drink and endless dances later, Gabriel pressed a kiss to Dani’s temple. “Do you want to get out of here? I know this great diner down by the water.”

  Dani nodded, her head fuzzier than it should be. She waved to the rest of the group and followed Gabriel out the front door. He tried to give her his jacket again, but the cool ocean air felt amazing against her warm skin.

  As they passed an alley, dizziness crashed into Dani like a wave. She stumbled, reaching out to catch herself on the side of a stone building.

  “Are you okay?” Gabriel stepped closer.

  Pain pounded in Dani’s head, and she held up a hand. “I’ll be fine. Just . . . give me a sec.” She breathed deep and slow, trying to stop the world from spinning. She almost never drank, but she knew she shouldn’t feel this poorly after only two drinks. Unless— She turned to glare at Gabriel, who looked concerned and more than a little confused. “What did you put in those drinks?”

  “Nothing. They had a little vodka in them, but not much. I swear.” Gabriel’s expression turned wary and he stepped back. “You’re not going to puke are you?”

  Dani shook her head, but inside, she wasn’t as confident. The breeze picked up, scattering dried leaves down the sidewalk. The sounds intensified in her ears until Dani could hear the distinct scrape of each separate leaf on the pavement.

  And just like that, all of her symptoms disappeared. Her vision stopped swimming. The pain in her head vanished. The unsteadiness of her stomach settled. She stood tall and inhaled deep. A flurry of scents assaulted her at once. Spilled booze. Piss. Gabriel’s cologne. It was all sharper and more vivid than anything she’d ever smelled before.

  What the hell?

  “Are you okay?”

  “Better than okay,” Dani replied, smiling sweetly at him. “You said something about a diner?”

  “Yeah, it’s down this way.”

  Gabriel turned to leave, but as Dani started to follow, a searing pain shot across her chest. It skimmed along her neck and traveled down her shoulder. Fast, hot, and penetrating. Dani barely bit back the scream as she realized what was happening.

  The Ink. Poe. Stitching himself into her skin.

  Dani turned and bolted down the street, away from Gabriel. Away from the Haunt. Away from everyone. The world sped by, everything moving too fast. Inhumanly fast.

  As the last of the Poe’s Ink tore itself into her skin, Dani surged down an abandoned pier and looked into the calm waters, her terrified face staring back at her. She tugged down her shirt, afraid to see proof of what she already knew
she’d find.

  Black designs swirled across her skin in the shape of a raven.

  No. No, no, no, no.

  “Poe!” she cried, her voice tearing from her throat like a prayer.

  The newly formed Ink bled from her skin, dark shadows pulling away and reforming into the ancient bird, the watcher of the skies. But it couldn’t be. He couldn’t be here. Not yet. Not so soon. Not unless—

  “Where is she?” Dani demanded the moment shadows gave way to flesh and Poe ruffled out his feathers. “What happened?”

  Follow me. Poe surged into the air. Unless you want to become an orphan tonight.

  3

  Dani raced across town, the stitch in her side and the ache in her lungs nothing compared to the agony of the ancient Ink searing into her skin for the first time. She followed Poe’s skyward guidance, and her dormant Carrier strength and speed flooded her body, easing the fatigue in her muscles, making her feel like she could run forever and never tire.

  . . . until Jasper burned down her left forearm. The king cobra twisted across her arm, imprinting from elbow to wrist. Dani barely held in her scream, and when Silas stitched himself into her right arm, his python form wrapping all the way up her bicep, she couldn’t stop the whimper of pain that spilled past her lips.

  She knew what this meant—Poe had said as much—but Dani didn’t want to believe it. She couldn’t afford to, not when the last thing she’d said to her mother had been so cruel. Whatever was happening, Dani would save her. The Ink would return to where they belonged, and everything would be okay.

  We’re almost there. Poe swooped low, flying eye level with Dani for a moment before shooting back up into the sky. Head into the cemetery!

  Dani followed as quickly as she could, but she stumbled just outside the gate, catching herself on the stone wall. She grit her teeth, but she couldn’t hold back the heart-stopping scream as the final Ink stretched across her entire back.

  Her back arched without her command, some primal instinct trying to avoid the pain. But there was no escaping. She remembered her mother’s words and trembled with fear. Stings like a bitch every time. Tears clung to her eyes when she finally whispered the panther’s name, calling her forth. “Kiva . . . ”

  The Ink shouldn’t be able to appear so soon after being banished to a Carrier’s skin, but something about the transference to Dani’s body must affect their power. An almost unbearable heat slipped down Dani’s back and pooled at her feet, rising into the form of her beloved Kiva. The panther’s amber eyes held a grief so immense that it nearly crumbled the last of Dani’s resolve. Come, Little Warrior. Your mother needs you.

  Kiva growled and sprang into the cemetery without waiting for an answer, and Dani hurried to follow. Despite her increased speed and strength, Dani found it hard to breathe as fear took hold in her heart. Her shoes slapped against the stones, slick with damp and fallen leaves. As she passed old, crumbling mausoleums, screams pierced the night. The sound—feral and wild, like an animal near death—wrapped around Dani’s spine, pushing her faster.

  She followed Kiva around a corner and stumbled to a halt.

  The scene unfolded before her in tiny details, her brain unwilling to look at the bigger picture. Her mom—Inkless and covered in blood—lay on the ground. Screaming. Eyes wide. Blood dripping down her nose.

  A tall man with bone-white skin and ink-dark hair spilling down to his shoulders hovered over Dani’s mother. He quirked his head to one side, the movement erratic and unnatural, but he had the most hauntingly beautiful face. A long, pointed chin. Thin nose. A smile that could freeze the sun. Beside her, Kiva growled, forcing Dani to look beyond the human trappings and see the demon within.

  It was then she noticed his fingers.

  They were easily three times the length of her own. The creature slid his index finger across his lips, painting them red with blood, and then plunged it into Andrea’s skull.

  Mother and daughter cried out, one with pain and the other with rage. The demon swirled his finger inside Andrea’s skull, and she wept through her screams. The demon laughed.

  “Let her go!” Dani sprinted as fast as her newly empowered body would take her and dove into the demon. Her shoulder slammed into his ribs and tore him away from her mother, his finger scraping against Andrea’s skull as they went sprawling on the cold grass.

  Andrea’s screams faded to silence, and she lay as still as death on the dirt of a freshly covered grave.

  Dani and the demon hit the ground hard, tumbling in a tangle of limbs. The cloying scent of dirt and sulfur and the coppery tang of blood filled Dani’s senses. When the world stopped spinning, she found herself on her back. The demon sat perched above her, a toothy grin on his long face.

  “What’s this?” the demon hissed, trailing his long, blood-slicked finger down her face. He leaned close, pressing his face into her neck to inhale deep, like Dani was some rare vintage of wine. “Ah,” he said, sounding delighted. His wet tongue slid up her neck. “The very last of your line. And so young, too.”

  The demon leaned back and wrapped his long fingers around her throat. Dani stared up at the terrible beauty of him. His features were ageless, both young and old all at once. His porcelain skin perfect and smooth. His dark hair falling in silken sheets past his chin.

  But the eyes . . . Each time he blinked, there was a moment when she could see their true color. Burning red irises that gave way to the false human blue. Poe’s lessons came back in a rush. Red eyes. Pale skin. Fingers long enough to scramble your brain. This wasn’t just any demon; he was the worst of their kind and twice as rare.

  He was a reaper, stealing souls to make them his own.

  The fingers around her throat tightened. Spots dotted Dani’s vision.

  “I’m going to enjoy this,” the demon crooned in her ear, his voice like the crashing of waves on the shore.

  Do something! Poe cried from above, preparing to dive.

  A roar erupted on Dani’s left. A blur of shadow and heat charged toward them, tearing the demon away from Dani. She turned in time to see Kiva land on the reaper, her jaws snapping. The thin man caught Kiva’s shoulders before she could sink her mighty teeth into him.

  Get up, Danika. On your toes, just like we taught you! squawked Poe just before he dove at the demon, scratching out with his talons.

  Dani tried to stand, but her whole body trembled. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to fight the fear that paralyzed her. “Jasper. Silas. I need you.”

  Slippery shadows coiled down her arms, dripping from her fingers, and soon the giant snakes were whole again, dashing across the grass. The demon shoved Kiva away, the panther’s back slamming hard against the corner of a headstone. The granite shattered under her weight.

  Fingers wrapped around the back of Dani’s neck, lifting her up until her toes skimmed the ground. She hadn’t even seen the demon move, but he was already behind her, squeezing hard enough to break her neck. Her earlier rage rose up again, boiling like acid. She was not going to die like this.

  Silas! Jasper! She called out to the snakes with her mind as the demon choked away her breath. The Ink moved quickly, spiraling their massive bodies up the demon’s legs and chest, squeezing until he could no longer keep hold of her. His fingers went slack, and Dani fell to the ground. Her body reacted on instinct now, rolling out of the demon’s reach and springing up to her feet.

  Above them, Poe let out a fierce cry and attacked. The raven scratched at the man’s face, and with each slash of his wicked talons, he tore away the glamour, revealing more of the demon within. Pointed teeth. Blood-red eyes.

  The reaper screamed, a frustrated, terrifying sound. He grabbed Silas, pulling the python from his leg, and tore him in two.

  “No!” Dani screamed as the now-familiar burn worked down her right arm, the spirit of Silas returning to her skin to recover. The demon shouldn’t be able to do that. He shouldn’t be strong enough to destroy the Ink so easily. Fear sprouted from Dani like ro
ots, pinning her in place. She watched the black Ink spread across her skin, and in her distraction, she didn’t see what the demon did to Jasper, but soon he was etching into her skin again, too.

  Dani squeezed her eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t real. She had to be dreaming. She—

  The sword, Little Warrior. The sword! Kiva lunged at the demon and dug her teeth into his shoulder, black blood running from the wound. The reaper shouted, more angry than hurt, and grabbed for the giant cat, hurtling her away like she was little more than a new kitten. Poe dove again, fluttering his wide wings, blocking Dani from view.

  She turned and searched the graveyard, looking for the flash of silver among the leaves. There! She turned and ran, leaving the Ink to fend for themselves. A pained squawk sent her heart racing, and soon Poe was burning into her chest and shoulder. She was failing them. All of them.

  A moment later, the agonizing pain of a thousand blades exploded against her back as Kiva joined the rest of the Ink on her skin. The shock of it sent Dani sprawling, her fingers inches from the hilt of the sword.

  Cold hands grabbed her ankles, pulling her away from her only weapon.

  “Enough of this,” the demon growled. “I’ve worked too long to have your cursed family ruin my plans.” With a jolt, he flipped Dani onto her back, standing to his full height and looking down his long nose at her. “I wanted to take my time, but I’m tired of your little games, human.”

  Dani scrambled back, the dirt and stones cutting up her palms as she moved. Reaching. Stretching. Just a little further . . .

  The demon lunged, his fingers stretching to long, needle-like points.

  Her grip curled around the hilt.

  She swung.

  The blade sang through the air, slicing clean through the monster’s wrist. His hand fell onto her chest, and Dani tossed it away as the monster screamed. He clutched his bleeding arm to his chest, eyes blazing red. “Don’t think you’ve won anything, young Carrier. You’ve already lost.” And with that, the reaper disappeared in a cloud of sulfur smoke.