Kurt's Honour (The Brotherhood Book 1), page 1
Copyright July 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review.
Trademarked names appear throughout this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intention of infringement of the respective owners trademark.
The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning, this book contains fictional events that some may find triggering. Due to its adult content, this book is recommended for readers over the age of 18 years.
Cover Art by Pixie Covers
Editing by Stoirm Publications
Vector Graphics by Freepik – Ornament Vector by Alvaro Cabrera
Acknowledgements
In the writing process there are always people who help you along. In the publishing process, there are even more! In 2019, I succumbed to a bout of depression and anxiety and was unable to write for several months. I stopped reading, I stopped living. It took a while to resurface, and it has taken me even longer to get the juices flowing again. Four people stood by me, regardless of my state of mind, and held me together when I fell to pieces.
First and foremost, thank you to my husband for supporting me in my madness. For listening to me mutter into long cold cups of my bizarre spice tea, for taking the kids to the park to allow me writing time. You are my rock, you have been for 30 years, and I hope that we will last at least another 30 more!
To my girl gang – Lizzie, Charlotte and Leigha – you ladies keep me sane, keep me on track, listen to me whinge and still want to talk to me! You are my Alpha readers, my sounding board and my cheer squad. I can never thank you enough for your support through this.
To Lizzie, who is not only part of my girl gang, but my cover designer too, you are so sweet to work with. I can’t believe you didn’t kill me on this one! I cannot thank you enough!
To Leigha, who is also not only part of my girl gang, but the best damn editor ever! Thank you for patiently explaining ‘Perfect Present Tense” to me again and again and again, and showing me where I mucked it up. LOL.
To Charlotte, finder of plot holes. You stop me from letting readers fall through the gaps. Thank you for saving my butt again!
I'd also to thank Lexi – for trudging your fingers through all of those groups and spreading the word. THANK YOU. For new indie writers, people who give so generously of their time are treasures beyond measure. Thank you, Treasure!
If you are still reading, you are awesome! I hope that you enjoy this new series. I hope that you enjoy it enough to leave a review, because reviews are how we writers get enough strength to keep going. But please, be gentle. Remember, that in these pages lay pieces of my heart and soul and right now, both of those are very fragile.
Happy reading
Jade xx
1. Kurt
Kurt took a quick peek around the corner before pulling back just as fast. There were five of them, more than he had anticipated, the stench of them wafting toward him. He’d lost his favourite knife in a skirmish with a keelut earlier, so he took stock of his remaining weapons, choosing a pair of short swords he kept in the ether. The ugly, hairless, dog-like demon had snuck up on him as he tracked this band of redcaps across downtown to the warehouse district. It had taken a chunk out of his calf before he even realised it was there, and if he hadn’t lunged forward when he did, it could have been much worse. As it was, he could feel the blood running down the back of his leg and into his boot. The pain, he tried to block out as best he could.
The mange-skinned demon dog had held him up long enough for the redcaps to move along and find another victim. They were busily draining their next victim of his blood with long, loud slurping sounds. They were becoming bolder, risking being caught as the local pubs and restaurants were shutting down for the night. Patrons were ejected left, right and center, and while most of them were intoxicated and likely easy pickings, there was also a greater chance of the creatures being discovered while feeding.
He’d been lucky so far. The three deaths that he’d come across had been attributed to other causes. One had a nasty gash in his arm and a decent amount of blood around him and had been ruled as suicide. A nearby drain had been used to account for the remainder of the missing blood, and the supernatural injuries were invisible to human eyes. The other two had ended up in Lake Michigan, hiding exsanguination from the coroner. One had enough blood remaining to show a high blood alcohol level and had been ruled an accidental drowning. The other was an open case with suspected underworld connections. Nobody was looking for a bunch of ugly, little demons.
While short, the redcaps were quite robust. Their long fingers were tipped with lethal claws, and their long, prominent teeth were coated with an anticoagulant mixed with a venom that was eventually fatal to humans if left untreated. They were fierce fighters but fantastic cowards, so they preferred to move in groups.
Kurt quietly sheathed his sword in the scabbard on his back, switching it out in favour of two shorter blades. While they didn’t give him the same reach, they were both blessed weapons—the only things known to kill the buggers. This was going to be messy, and noisy, and it was likely that he was already too late to save this human.
Kurt reached inside himself for his magic, pulling it forth and shaping it into a dome around him and the beasts. Now, nobody would hear them, and they wouldn’t be able to escape unless he died. They would all be visible, however, and there was nothing he could do about that. He chanced another look around the corner. Already sated, one of them lurched drunkenly around before falling down in a clatter, vicious chuckles coming from the others. So, their victim was intoxicated which affected them in turn. All the better. Even with his skill level, he didn’t like his chances against five of them.
It was now or never. On silent feet he rushed forward, decapitating the fallen one before the squat little man could even turn his head to see what was standing over him. Kurt fanned his blades in an x-shape and scissored them closed, lopping the head off of a second demon with a snick of the blades, and a squelch when it landed. Those were all the free shots he got because the other three looked up at him in fury.
“We will drink your blood and make more of us, Hunter,” growled a particularly ugly one. He seemed to be older than the others, but it was hard to tell. They were all butt ugly and just as vicious and their stink made him gag.
The nearest redcap slashed toward him with his claws while the big one and the other one moved around to come at him from each side. Kurt spun with his blades extended, wounding the first and keeping the other two at bay. The injured one retreated a bit, willing to leave the fighting to the other two while it healed. With a belly full of blood, that would be sooner rather than later. He turned to face off with the pair of them.
Except he could only see one. Fuck! Spinning, he raised his short swords just in time to impale the small beast as it leapt for his back. It still managed to slash him across his face and shoulder before vomiting a fountain of blood all over him, blinding him for a moment or two, but he knew that the bigger redcap would use that moment to strike.
Kurt dropped to a crouch with the dead redcap and grabbed it by the ankles, still maintaining his grip on his swords. He swung it up and around in a circle, coming into contact with something halfway around. He let the demon go and lunged forward, stabbing with both blades until they pierced something all the way through, striking the ground. He could only hope that it was the larger redcap, but he knew it was likely he wasn’t that lucky.
Sure enough, there was a wheezing laugh behind him just before excruciating pain set into his shoulder and ribs. He was able to blink away enough blood to see the larger redcap. Its teeth were sunk into him while its claws slashed away at his side, digging deeper with each pass. But while painful, this would be easy. Ignoring the burning pain even as it spread and dug deeper, he reversed the grip on his sword and stabbed backward, rewarded by a squeal and the end of the blows.
Panting he looked around, suspicious. Sure enough, the larger redcap stood injured beside the smaller beast that he put out of action earlier.
“Stop now. You live,” growled the big one.
“Nah,” he said, grinning evilly. “I’ll stop you, and I’ll live.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small pouch of herbs he’d prepared beforehand. While they wouldn’t cure him, they would slow the poison enough to allow him to finish off these two before he called in the clean-up crew. He wouldn’t last much longer, but the little fucker wouldn’t know that. The crew would also clean him up. Keeping his eye on the two demons trapped in the dome with him, he tipped up the pouch and allowed the bitter herbs to fall on his tongue. Within minutes the pain of the poison receded, but his injuries remained the same. Bluffing, he stood taller. “Don’t fuck with a demon hunter.”
He swiveled the short sword in his offside hand in a menacing manner, hoping to convince them it was his dominant hand instead. Immediately, their attention switched to it, and he held it in a pre-strike pose. Without warning, he struck, leaping forward and cutting both heads off in one sweep with his right hand, but the smaller beast got one last slash in with his claws, even as his head began to leave his shoulders.
“One for the road, right? You little fucker!” he groaned as he collapsed, his body screaming from his injuries. It was a moment or two before he could reach into the ether and retrieve his phone where he had stashed it earlier. He flipped the cover open and allowed his thumb to rest on the security pad, but it was too bloodied to register. Instead he swept it across the screen in the unlock code, and the screen lit up in the program he had left open—his contacts list. Within seconds he had ordered a cleanup crew with a medic. Then, finally, he could sit back and relax.
Five redcaps and a keelut, not a bad night’s hunting, although it would have gone better if he’d had the weapons he’d asked for. HQ was under pressure to spend less, so it looked like he would have to source a weapon maker and get his own. Losing that blade tonight was a double blow then because for him, its value was more than monetary. Maybe when he felt better, he could go and find it.
Kurt sighed as his aching body started to throb from the venom. He had to stay conscious long enough to maintain the dome until help arrived, but with the toxin starting to shred his blood vessels, it was getting harder and harder. Just as his eyes finally slid closed, there was a ping against his magic. He couldn’t tell whose signature it was, but Kurt hoped they were on his side. He let his barrier drop mere moments before the darkness overtook him.
2. Grace
These girls were really starting to piss her off. It was obvious what they wanted, and it was just as obvious that they really didn’t have a clue about magic at all. There were many kinds of customers that came into her shop but they fell under two main categories—the humans and the supernatural. There were more kinds of supernatural creatures than she cared to think of, but the humans generally fell into three groups: Druids, Wiccans and the completely clueless. These three teenagers, obviously after the ingredients to a highly dubious ‘love potion’, were the last category—and seriously vapid.
It was only five minutes to go before closing time. She’d packed away all the displays and locked them up, and the sandwich board outside had been pulled in and stored. Literally, all that was left to do was power down the cash register, turn out the lights and lock up.
Another burst of giggles sounded from the front of the store, and her patience snapped. Grace had no issue at all helping those who actually needed it, but these brainless bimbos—she hated disparaging her own sex, but the term was too apt—were only about helping themselves at the expense of others, including herself.
However, just as she opened her mouth to tell them that they needed to finalise their purchases, the bell over the shop door jingled. Shit! Well, at least it would give her something to do while the clueless crew sorted their shit out.
The man who stepped inside would have been at home in any gamer convention across the nation if he were going in cosplay, but she could feel the magical energy on his equipment. This guy, in his black combat pants, fitted black tee, and dark grey hoodie was the real deal. He was also hot as fuck, a fact not missed by the giggling girls off to his right. He wasn’t just sporting a five o’clock shadow, either. It was obvious that he hadn't shaved for several days, but having said that, his facial hair was neatly groomed.
There was one thing, however, that snagged her attention, and for her, spoiled the overall badass look. His belt buckle! It was outrageously large, almost like he was overcompensating for something else. Silver, oval, and covered in designs that made no sense to her eyes, it had to be a good two inches in height and at least three in length. It was so ludicrous that she couldn’t take her eyes off it. When her eyes finally rose to meet his, they glittered at her, clearly amused. She flushed, having been caught checking him out.
He turned to the young girls and gave them a lopsided grin before making his way to her at the back of the store, his hazel eyes raking over her. His gaze lingered on her breasts as a smirk grew on his lips, and the heat in his gaze when it met hers indicated his interest. Ugh. No thank you.
Grace knew that her power had also been sized up and found wanting, but the thing was, the best part of it wasn’t detectable in such a manner. Her powers were well and truly masked to the casual observer. He might be a witch, some sort of supernatural bounty hunter if she wasn’t mistaken, but she was more than she appeared to be. Grace just wished she knew what kind of heritage that ‘more’ came from. She knew that she hadn’t explored the full range of her powers, she had never needed to. Still, if he underestimated her, all the better. She knew better than most that he was no less dangerous just because he was on her turf. Especially with the levels of power he was broadcasting.
After an hour of mucking around, the gaggle of girls had surprisingly made their selections and surrounded him at the counter before he could get a word out. They made no secret of eyeing him up, even though he had to be a good ten to fifteen years older than they were, and that was only if he was merely a human. Hell, if he was a strong witch, he could be more than a century their senior.
Up closer, she noted a sprinkling of white in his stubble and added at least another ten years to her human estimation of his age. These girls were seriously out of their league. Strong witches aged much more slowly. She was proof of that.
A subtle flexing of his muscles told her that he noticed her checking him out too and that he didn’t object at all. Only, she wasn’t checking him out, not for herself. Right?
The man stood there, smug, muscled arms folded across his broad chest. He watched her deal with the teenagers, absorbing their adoration like it was his due, but he certainly wasn’t returning their interest. He crooked an eyebrow at her and lifted his chin, as though he was asking her what she was waiting for. Asshole.
After ringing their purchases up, the girls paid her, but then they hung around. It was obvious the big guy wasn’t going to ask anything of her while the trio was there, and although she had nothing to rush to, she really did want to go home. It was time to move this shit show on its way.
“Right, ladies, it’s time for me to close up for the night. I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she told them, politely but firmly.
“What about him?” one of them pouted.
“VIP client. He can stay a little longer.”
“I’ll say he is,” murmured one of the girls, and the guy had the nerve to grin at her across the counter.
“A very little longer, but if you want to wait for him, then you’ll need to do it outside. We have private business to conduct.”
“Yeah, I bet you do,” muttered the same girl, and that was it. Grace went from impatient mode to fuck you mode, and her power flared, goosebumps rising on her arms with the strength of it.
As one, the girls jumped, surprised by the sudden chill breeze that blew the shop door open and fluttered about them. It hefted their skirts, blew their hair in their faces, and tugged at the purchases in their arms. Not once did it hurt them, but it certainly made them flustered.
They squealed and squalled as they left the shop, and Grace made sure that the spell was attached to them so it was a good block and a half before they got any respite. Hopefully, the fact that it continued outside the store would discourage them from linking it with her. She couldn’t afford to chase customers away, no matter how annoying they were.
“Cute,” the guy murmured, and a warm buzz started inside her at the sound of his low, gravelly voice.
“Efficient,” she corrected as she locked the front door and flipped the sign from Open to Closed. One eyebrow raised suggestively, and his grin broadened. “I gather what you are after isn’t in the human shop front,” she snarled, and he chuckled.
