Between the Bleeding Willows (The Demon Hunters Series Book 1) by D.A. Roach Page B

restrictions regarding prizes.
    “Okay. And if I win, I get a kiss from Killian.”
    A kiss. No one ever died kissing someone, but I hadn’t kissed anyone besides my mom and wasn’t sure how to feel about it. But I agreed and headed to the tunnel entrance. Her footsteps ran quickly ahead of me, fading into the darkness. I pushed my legs to pick up speed, but I froze, halted by the sound of a brief struggle—then silence. Too frightened to run and see what had happened, I waited for Sky to return. I don’t know how long I waited there, whispering her name, but an uneasy feeling came over me when she didn’t answer. I turned and ran quickly back toward the entrance where Jax, Anchor, and Sean awaited.
    “Where is Sky? She beat you, didn’t she? Looks like someone is gonna have some chapped—”
    “No! I don’t know where she is. She ran ahead and there was a noise…and then nothing. I waited, but she never returned.” I remember my hands shook so hard I wondered if I was having a seizure.
    We ran to the senior Clan members and told them what happened. They organized a search party and ventured into the tunnels, not returning for several hours. They finally returned, bringing sorrowful news that they lost half the search party to the creatures who had built a large hive in the tunnels.
    They called them Krevarians, cave mutants—white skin (whiter than Clan members), hairless, razor sharp teeth, and the blackest eyes. They had a human-like form but had mutated to adapt to the pitch black, narrow paths of the tunnels. Their all-black eyes could see in the pitch dark, and their skin had small spikes, allowing them to scale walls. I had never seen one, but the senior Clansmen painted a vivid picture. I hoped to never come across one.
    The surviving Clan elders had reported that all attacking Krevarians were destroyed. They then shut down the tunnels, barred the doors, and forbade anyone from venturing through them. We needed to focus our efforts on the war with the demons, not start a fight with a new danger. From that day forward, we traveled to the surface using magic.
     
    ***
     
    This would be unnerving to a Harvester, but if we had enough guards to protect them, we might manage the danger.
    “How many Harvesters are needed for this?” I asked.
    Will cleared his throat again. “Twenty, Sir. We wouldn’t want to repeat the dangerous venture anytime soon, so clearing the grove of what grew would keep us fed for a long while.”
    “Jackson, I need six full squads accompanying them on the trek. Pull one team out of your gate rotation and build the rest from your trainees and seasoned warriors not patrolling. Ready them for the trip in three days.” Twenty Harvesters and twenty-four warriors. I didn’t like having that many of the Clan out of bounds and at risk, but without the Vinka seed, healing, binding, and crossovers could not happen. It was a necessity.
    It was my turn to report to my Clan, now. “So here’s what we face…Rya has a young demon she is associating with named Jace. I encountered him briefly in the Human Realm and will say he is not very trained in combat, but he did release several demons from the binding chamber. I haven’t figured out how he managed that, but I’m working on it. The demons in the past who attempted an unbinding only succeeded to release one, and it drained them of their powers. But Jace managed to unbind several with no observable ill effects. Also, he is smart, fast, and has Rya guiding him.” The room began to hum with mumbles and comments from the high-ranking Clan members. “Together they have successfully unbound three demons, and I would presume they intend to unleash more.” I stood and walked about the room. “I want each of the patrolling squads equipped with full gear and weapons and each is to have a flask of binding potion. It should be enough to hold until they are brought to the Binding Chamber where Angeline will bind them with the others. We must