Demon Hunter (The Collegium Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

remember a time when Dad wasn’t training me in magic, in fighting, in Collegium knowledge. He wouldn’t allow me friendships with mundane school friends because they might distract me from learning to be a guardian. Other Collegium guardians begin training at eighteen. By eighteen, I could defeat any master at the Collegium. My formal training was short and brutal as they all tried to take me down.”
    “Faith.” Yolanthe looked sick.
    Fay struggled to force back the volcano of emotion. Anger and pain ran through her like lava, deep and scarring.
    “Do you know my reputation is for detached control?” Fay abandoned her meal. Her stomach was too knotted to eat. “Today, I’ve accepted and rejected a lover, rejected my father and my job, which is the only identity I’ve ever had, and met you. I don’t think I can claim emotional detachment anymore.”
    “Why would you want to?” Yolanthe put her hand out. “You’re a living, breathing, hurting person. You’re allowed to show that hurt. I’m desperately sorry for my part in it. I should have been braver.”
    “Can we leave?” Fay pushed back her chair.
    “Of course.”
    Fay dropped enough money and over to cover the meal and headed for the door. The walls of the restaurant were falling in on her and the other diners had grown sly-eyed and threatening. “I can’t do this. I can’t hear your excuses or face anything more about Dad, about who I am.”
    “It’s okay.” Yolanthe’s hand on her arm stopped Fay in the street. “We don’t have to talk, but you’re not returning to that hotel. I’m not much of a mom, but a friend wouldn’t leave you there. Come home with me.”
    “Australia. I can’t.” It was more than the official papers required. The thought of the long flight daunted Fay physically and psychically. She couldn’t stay locked in a tin can that long. “I can’t.”
    “I have a portal.”
    The simple statement broke through Fay’s panic. She stared at Yolanthe.
    “Actually, it’s not mine. It’s my husband’s. Jim traded travel with Cynthia here in New York. She’ll send us home. If you’re willing?”
    “You married again?”
    “It took me a couple of decades. After Richard, I went self-destructive. Jim taught me to trust again.”
    Fay shook her head. The world wasn’t making sense. “But you said Jim owns a portal?”
    “Oh, he’s crazy.” Yolanthe readily picked up Fay’s doubt. “All portal managers are mad. But Jim’s madness is the good kind.”
    Fay sagged against a grimy wall. She really needed time to process this horrible day with its twists and turns.
    “Come home,” Yolanthe said simply.
    Home. All Fay had ever had was the Collegium. “All right.” At this point, any direction would do. Home? “I need to get my bag.”

Chapter 4
     
    The portal was in the basement of a house in Queens. It was not the official Collegium-recognized portal for New York, nor was Cynthia Nguyen a Collegium-recognized porter.
    She was, however, typically portal crazy.
    In her case, the mania took the form of collecting soft toys. Teddy bears, rabbits, ducks, cartoon characters and rag dolls filled shelf after shelf in the heated basement. Magic animated each toy and they ruffed, quacked and chatted in a low volume clamor.
    “They’re company,” Cynthia said. “And Squiffy guards the portal.”
    Squiffy was a blue lamb that fluffed its fleece in pleasure at being mentioned. Then it nibbled at the green line enclosing the portal. The line flickered and sparked.
    “Instinct.” Cynthia smiled fondly at the blue lamb. “Isn’t Mama’s Squiffy a funny baa-lamb, trying to chew the portal?”
    Squiffy sneezed and trotted over to butt Cynthia’s shin.
    “Quite right,” she said. “Jim is waiting to hear from us. Are you ready, ladies?”
    “Ready and eager to be home,” Yolanthe said.
    “Good.” Cynthia extended her hand over the line of green light. Her physical intrusion into the portal was sufficient to