Section 8 was housed on a huge, sprawling military base dead set in the center of a wooded area in upstate New York. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d never find it, which was pretty much the idea.
The outside was about what you’d expect. Twenty-foot-tall fences with barbed wire rolls on top, guard towers occupied by armed snipers at all times, and concrete as far as the eye could see.
The operations and training center occupied the middle of the compound. But around that building, (which was roughly the size of two airplane hangars back-to-back) were houses for the families of employees. Very suburban-looking houses, complete with yards, dogs, and welcome mats. It was all happy and normal looking, because Adrienne’s father and stepmother didn’t want families to feel like they were living in a gnarly episode of Prison Break.
And there were a lot of families living in Section 8. Because this place wasn’t just about hunting down demons. It was also about training young people who had gifts how to control them and either become hunters or contributing members of normal, human society.
Some kids had that kind of choice. With the proper training, shifter kids could pretty easily pass for normal humans. So could dhampyre kids like Adrienne and Haven.
Except Adrienne and Haven were also psychics, which made fitting into the mundane world just a little tougher.
But Harper and Riddick were all about letting folks exercise their free will. And if they didn’t want to use their gifts to hunt down monsters, they were free to leave.
Adrienne was pretty sure her dad would’ve done a jig of pure glee when she decided to leave Section—if he danced, of course…which he most assuredly did not. Anything that kept her out of danger was A-OK with him.
Harper had known she’d be back, though. She’d seen it in her stepmother’s eyes when Adrienne was accepted to Juilliard. But Harper let her go. Gave her blessing, even. Adrienne loved her for that.
There was actually a lot to love about Harper Hall. Not only was she the most powerful psychic Adrienne had ever met (except for maybe Haven), but when her own mother abandoned her on her dad’s doorstep at thirteen, Harper stepped into the maternal role like Adrianne was her own flesh and blood. She’d always be grateful to Harper for that.
And while she was parenting two kids, Harper also gave up her thriving paranormal PI business to take control of Section 8 and become a full-time demon hunter. That was over a decade ago. Now, a slew of humans, dhampyres, vampires, and shifters followed Harper’s every order without question. The woman was the walking, talking, pop-culture-reference-spouting definition of girl power.
Her father, second in command at Section 8, worshipped the ground Harper walked on. He’d follow her to the ends of the earth and back again. Their love was the stuff of legends.
Then there was Adrienne. Twenty-four years old with only a handful of not-too-serious relationships in her rearview, and an all-consuming crush on a demon who still saw her as a little kid.
Legendary love, she supposed, was not for everyone, otherwise it wouldn’t be legendary.
But True Love 101 wasn’t one of the courses taught here at Section 8. Here, you learned how to fight, handle weapons, and hone whatever magical skills you might possess. You could also learn how to beat a lie detector (in case you ever had to fib to the human police, who were not aware of Section 8’s existence and never would be if Harper had anything to say about it), pick a lock, build homemade explosives, and make chloroform.
Adrienne had always excelled at making explosives. And she could concoct a batch of chloroform that didn’t even leave the victim with a hangover. But she was the worst liar in the world. She had zero poker face and couldn’t lie her way out of a parking ticket, let alone beat a lie detector.
None of that had mattered when she decided to leave Section 8, though. There were plenty of other people here who wanted to hunt down demons. They didn’t need her.
“How’s it feel to be back?”
Gabriel’s voice jarred Adrienne out of her musings. She glanced over at him as he drove up to the gate and waved to the guard.
“It feels…strange, I guess?”
He nodded. “I can imagine. It’s been a long time.”
This place held some of her best—and worst—memories. She’d done a lot of growing up here. Had learned more than most women learned in a lifetime. Everyone she loved was within these walls. And yet, part of her hated being here.
Hated that she needed to be here.
Really hated what she was going to have to tell Harper and her father.
She nearly jumped out of her skin at the clang of the metal gate as it slammed shut behind Gabriel’s truck.
“Welcome home, Moonshine,” he said quietly.
Yeah. Welcome home. Being here was bittersweet on a good day.
And today was not a good day.