The Spirits' Guide

Chapter 25

With a thunderous roar, Iris slammed onto the streets of Hakan. She quickly stood and ran once more to a house on the street. She dodged through cars and bicycles to get to the house.

Rasping, she reached the front step. She could see the faint glow of lights within the house.

Iris stared at the door, something about it was off. She couldn't quite place it as she attempted to open the door.

Energy shocked through her body as she was slammed onto the pavement, seven feet away from the door. Iris popped back onto her feet to try again.

Within a heartbeat, she was surrounded. Iris stood at the ready. She gritted her teeth as she counted the number. Over twenty. She doubted she could get very far.

"Iris, place your hands above your head and kneel." A voice behind her demanded.

Iris could do as she was told and be shot in the head. It would hurt but it wouldn't kill her and she would be able to play dead long enough for her to escape, if her brains weren't completely out of her skull. Although, they may wonder why her body was not decomposing.

Iris was plotting her scheme when a large boot kicked her to the ground.

"I said hands on your head and knees on the ground!" The voice, a woman's, shouted. Iris silently placed her hands on her head.

Iris would have thought four years was enough time for the Venatores to get bored.

Iris should have known better. If the Venatores knew her name, knew Owen, and knew that he was missing, they wouldn't just give up.

Iris was jostled as hands reached to hold her in place while another pair locked her in iron hand-cuffs. Iris felt the slight sting of the iron.

She shifted to ease the sting when a bullet fired into her leg. Iris yelled as the hot metal burned her flesh and moved into her bone.

The Venatores had not changed in centuries. They knew iron kept the witches from using their magic, yet they still believed that only silver could kill them. Anything as long as it was a mortal wound could kill them.

"Who fired that bullet?" The woman shouted at her men. Iris huffed out breaths as she laid on the ground.

She watched as the crowd shifted and a young woman stood at attention. Iris flinched as a large boot stepped in front of her face.

"What is your name and rank?" The woman asked, her boot the only thing Iris could distinguish about her.

"Jessica Morris, ma'am. I just joined the Venatores this week, ma'am." Jessica barely moved her jaw as she shouted across the street.

Iris did not see how it happened but within a second, Jessica was pulled away, kicking and screaming.

Iris lost sight of her when the crowd of disciplined soldiers reorganized itself, the position Jessica had filled within a heartbeat.

Iris glanced through the crowd, hoping to find a sympathetic face but all she saw was a blank stare. The closest to human emotion was Jessica's screams as she was yanked through the crowd.

"Put the witch in the vehicle." The woman ordered, her boot moving away and a figure appeared in her line of sight.

She was a tall and pale woman with greyed hair. Iris wondered if she would find the same dead-eyed look from the crowd in the woman's eyes.

While she was wondering this, arms leaned down and picked her up. She gasped as she attempted to get her feet under her, pain shooting from her leg. She could only fall back and let the men around her drag her to a large black vehicle.