Blake
At one point, before Blake had joined the community in Beare Lake, the basement beneath the rec centre had been converted into a holding facility for supernatural creatures. Rooms were complete with windowless doors, padded walls, silver or iron-coated door handles, and even pentagrams capable of holding demons and warlocks.
Though the room Blake had woken up in had even been outfitted with a special addition: a tablet connected to a video stream where Blake had no choice but to watch as her two werewolf friends were tortured.
For two days, she watched as Phillip and Chandra were beaten and bloodied. As silver blades sliced into their skin and wolfsbane was injected into their veins. Listened as they screamed in complete and utter agony.
It was a form of torture in and of itself. There was no one coming into her cell to slice up her skin but Blake felt each of the werewolves' wounds as if they were happening to her. The only contact she'd had with the outside world was when food was brought in twice a day.
The first time, a few hours after she'd woken and found herself locked away, it had been Carmen who'd been tasked with bringing in Blake's food. Meagre things – half a sandwich and some raw vegetables. Carmen had looked at Blake with pity.
Yet as she'd placed the meal inside, she'd paused to whisper, "They didn't find them."
A risk for Carmen to take, especially since she and Blake had never been that close. They'd worked together at the restaurant in town but didn't interact that much outside of waitressing. Carmen was a year older than Blake but mostly preferred to hunt earth-bound spirits. It wasn't often that they went hunting together so they had no reason to have each other's backs.
Still, Carmen had made sure that Blake knew that Annalise and Juliet had gotten away. Perhaps Blake wasn't the only one to have been horrified by Malachi's behaviour. Even if no one had come to her defence as she'd bought the werewolves time to run.
When she wasn't staring at that screen watching her friends be hurt, she was nursing her wounds. Her ribs ached, which made her think that someone had taken the time to kick her after she'd fallen unconscious, but nothing seemed broken. Worse than that though was the pounding in her head. Likely a concussion from whoever had snuck up behind her and knocked her out as she'd prepared to deliver the blow that would have killed Malachi. Then there was the stinging to her face where the kukri blade had sliced through the skin on the right side of her face from brow to jaw.
And worst of all, the messy lettering that had been carved into her right arm. The twin scar to Annalise's monster.
Traitor.
Maybe it was the aptest description she'd ever had given to her. Traitor. Betrayer.
She'd broken the promise she'd made to her father to protect Josh. Had instead led her brother into a life of hunting and pain and death.
She'd betrayed Red when she'd sold out Sanguis Ridge secrets to their enemies.
Then, she'd turned around and betrayed her own people for the sake of a few werewolves.
And while Blake regretted the first two betrayals, the last one...She would make that choice over and over and over again – even knowing that it would lead her here to this cell with a brand on her arm.
So Blake sat. And thought. And listened to her friends dying in another room.
On the morning of her third day in captivity, the cell door opened and Malachi entered. He came alone, though Blake could see the familiar outlines of his guns and blades holstered and sheathed across his body. There was no point in trying to attack him. Not when she didn't have any weapons and there were surely Malachi's most trusted hunters on the other side of the door who would shoot her dead if she dared to try anything on their beloved leader.
Blake merely lifted her head from where she'd been resting it against the wall and said, "What the fuck do you want?"
"Hello to you too, Blake." The door closed with a click and Malachi leaned against it, broad arms folded across his chest. She took some grim satisfaction at seeing a few wounds along his arms and neck. All delivered by her.
"Come to kill me?"
"What would the point in that be? I told you the other day. You're a gifted hunter and there are too few of us that do this job. Killing you would be an inconvenience and a tragedy for us all."
Blake rolled her eyes. The voice he was using was his 'hunter recruitment' tone. She'd heard it a hundred times. Whenever Malachi tried to bring new hunters into the fold, often regular people who'd been affected by the Shadow World, he pulled out the voice.
It didn't always work and it certainly wasn't working on her today. Still, she said, "I'll always be a hunter, Malachi. I just have no plans to continue hunting with you or like you. I've had a lot of time to think in here and all I can wonder is how many of the hunts I've been on have been legit. I don't doubt that most of them are...But how many places did you send me to where I killed innocents just because they weren't human?"
Malachi's mouth pressed into a firm line. His pale brown eyes tightened and little crow's feet appeared around them. "All we're doing is trying to restore the natural order, Blake. That's all hunting is. These creatures...They shouldn't exist. They're a plague. They kill everything they touch."
"Maybe humans are the plague, Malachi. Did you ever think about that? Who's to say we're any better than a faerie or a werewolf or a warlock or a vampire? We shouldn't be hunting those who are innocent. Those that are willing and able to coexist peacefully with humans. I'm sure at one point, you used to believe the same. You must have."
"Perhaps," Malachi said with a shrug. "But you forget, Blake. I've been doing this job a lot longer than you. You've only seen part of the horrors this world offers. I've seen almost all of it. They're not innocent. Even the ones that are innocent...aren't."
Blake exhaled. "Then I guess we've come to an impasse. You don't agree with me. I don't agree with you. So what now?"
Malachi said, "I came to tell you that we're going back to Colorado tomorrow. That wall around the pack you've grown so fond of will come down. I've assembled a force big enough and prepared enough to eliminate that threat."
Horror washed through her but it wasn't entirely surprising. She'd known this was coming. It was why he'd sent her into Sanguis Ridge after all. Blake had only hoped that she'd be able to stop it. That was the reason she'd left Sanguis Ridge. Why she'd left Red behind. It wasn't just for the lies that Malachi had fed her or the life he'd forced her into but also because he'd killed Caden and had been planning this war. This was the hunt she'd been preparing her entire life for.
Even if she'd only realized it a week ago.
"You'll kill hundreds of innocent people," Blake told him.
"Yes. But I'll save thousands of human lives."
"You weren't concerned about human lives when you murdered Caden."
"Sacrifices must be made in war, Blake. I thought you knew that."
"Was that all Caden was? A casualty of a war of your own design?"
There was no mercy in Malachi's eyes. "I had hoped that his death would serve as a reminder of what was at stake should you fail, Blake. You needed the push. You were becoming complacent and I was receiving reports that you were getting too close with your contact. What happened to Caden and those other humans was a tragedy and we can avoid those events from happening again. Just be glad that I didn't decide your brother's death was the push that you needed."
Bile churned inside of her and her throat began to constrict but she dared ask, "You didn't kill those other humans that died alongside Caden. Their wounds were made from a werewolf's claws. But you killed Caden because deep down you actually cared for him and if he was going to die as a martyr for your cause then you were going to do it yourself. So tell me, Malachi. Who else were you receiving reports from? I know that you're working with a werewolf in the pack. Someone who was keeping tabs on me and who helped you butcher those humans. Who is it?"
Malachi straightened and knocked on the door. "If I'd trained you as well as I'd thought I had, you'd already know the answer to that. Not like it matters anymore. Once we take the pack, that will be a loose end that is tied up. Though their knowledge, and what you've provided me with, will be the thing that makes sure hunters win this war."
"If you had them, why did you need me?"
The door opened a crack and Malachi jammed his foot in, preventing it from locking again. "I've always needed you, Blake. I'd been hoping you'd be there at the frontlines to eliminate this threat with me. Which is why I thought I'd give you one more chance to prove your loyalty."
He pushed the door open wider and through the space, Blake saw her brother waiting in the hallway. There was two-day-old stubble on his jawline and his hair was messier than she'd ever seen it. Josh's eyes met hers, wide and uncertain, but he was gone again too quickly as a woman was shoved inside of the room. Ida and Richard quickly followed and the door slammed shut again, leaving Josh so close but so far from where Blake could reach him.
Blake slowly stood as she stared at the woman. Chandra – who had blood on her face; dripping down from a wound on her forehead. Her lip had been split and there were bruises marring her pretty caramel-coloured skin. The black curtain of her hair was matted and knotted and through it, Blake could see needle marks on her throat from where they'd been injecting the wolfsbane. Chandra's eyes were impossibly blue and scared, tears falling down her cheeks, but there was no cowardice in her face. Only a question.
"They got away," Blake told her. She didn't dare say more than that for fear of giving away Carmen's kindness. "They're safe."
Relief echoed across Chandra's expression though she said nothing. Just stared as if she knew what was coming.
Blake knew. Had guessed it the second Malachi had uttered the word 'loyalty.' A test – one final test to see if Blake knew what side she should be on.
She knew. Three days locked away hadn't changed that.
"Blake," Malachi said and she turned to face him. He pulled a silver blade free from a sheath at his hip. Beside him, Ida and Richard drew guns that they kept pointed at the ground. Ida sneered at Blake as if she thought this whole charade was stupid.
Yet Malachi extended that blade to her and said, "Kill the wolf. We'll consider it the first step in your rehabilitation."
"I don't need rehabilitation," Blake snarled back. "Though you might need therapy, you fucking psychopath."
"Take the blade. Kill the creature."
Chandra didn't remove her eyes from Blake's face. "It's okay, Blake."
"Shut up," Richard hissed. The lines on his face twisted with irritation. He gripped her hair and wrenched her head back. The silver chains around Chandra's wrists rattled but she only gritted her teeth.
"I won't kill her," Blake said to Malachi. "I already told you. I have no plans to continue hunting with you or like you."
Malachi's face hardened to stone. He didn't even glance at Richard as he said, "Get her on her knees."
With one swift kick, Chandra was down and Richard was keeping her steady. There was nowhere for her to go even if she tried to get away.
Malachi extended the knife once more and commanded, "Blake."
"No."
"You leave me no choice then." He pressed the hilt of the blade into Ida's hand and lunged across the cell towards Blake.
She barely had the time to react before he'd delivered a swift and brutal blow to her jaw. Her vision went dark for a moment, head throbbing as he wrapped his hand around Blake's arm and hauled her to her feet.
Blake struggled against him but Malachi had at least fifty pounds on her and a few inches in height. With her head spinning, no weapons, and limited strength after living on half-rations for a few days, she knew that if they fought here and now, it was a fight she would lose.
Still, Blake didn't make it easy on him, especially as he pulled her behind Chandra and reached out for the blade he'd handed to Ida. The werewolf was crying quietly, two twin tracks of tears slipping from her eyes.
"No," Blake snapped again and she tried to drive her elbow back into his gut but there wasn't enough force behind it to do much good.
Malachi simply caught her elbow and followed the path up to her fists. He forced her left hand open and placed the hilt of the dagger into it before he wrapped his hand around her own and closed it tightly.
Into her ear, he whispered, "You'll understand one day, Blake, why it was important for you to do this."
"No!" Blake shouted again.
She kicked out at Malachi, connecting with his instep and he barked a curse. His grip loosened but then Ida was there to prevent Blake from landing another blow. Ida slapped her, hard and swift, and Blake's head cracked to the side. Blood filled her mouth. She'd bitten her cheek.
Darkness swam before Blake's eyes and still she struggled even though it was now futile. There was nothing she could do as Malachi used the hand he'd wrapped around Blake's – her hand which still grasped that silver dagger – and brought it down on Chandra's throat.
Blake screamed as hot, wet blood spilled across her hand. The blade clattered from her grasp as Chandra began to choke on that blood. The werewolf fell to the ground and out of Richard's hold. Malachi released Blake, stepping back and bending to scoop up the blade.
Ida and Richard followed him towards the door but Blake didn't turn to watch them go. She collapsed to her knees at Chandra's side, desperately trying to put pressure on the wound but it didn't matter. The light was already fading from her eyes which were growing glassy and dim.
"One day, Blake," Malachi said and then the three of them were gone. Leaving Blake alone in her cell with a dead werewolf in her arms.