Hunter, page 9
part #1 of Hunted Shifters Legacy Series
“Don’t worry about it. Right now, the goal is to keep you protected…and to get the vampire to talk, eventually.”
“Right.”
“Max? What are your plans for today?”
Max shrugged, considering this. “I don’t know. The full moon’s not until next month, and honestly, I haven’t done much in the streets except look for scraps.” A sheepish grin split his lips, and he scratched his head. “Why?”
“Would you like to shadow Levi today?” Hunter asked. “He’s doing standard watch and probably studying healing techniques later. Just the basics. He likes writing it all down on paper and distributing it to us.”
“Do you read it?” Max returned curiously.
At this, Hunter grinned. “Some. Levi writes really long passages. We’ll probably read them if they’re shortened, or…”
“I’ll help shorten them!” Max blurted out, holding up a hand. His eyes had lit up. “I’m good with reading and translating if I do say so myself. It helps me when I’m in a hurry with my library visits.”
“Library visits?”
Max shrugged. “Public school was a bore, and I could digest information faster with books. Where’s Levi now?”
Hunter gave him directions. Max eagerly nodded and was out of the door in no time, abruptly pausing only to bid Celine goodbye. She bit back a grin, waving as he practically flew out of the bedroom. Then she turned to Hunter and gave him an amused look.
“What?”
“Do you have an answer for everything?”
“Not everything,” he admitted. “Not everything in life can be solved that easily, you know.”
Celine rolled her eyes. “I know, but you certainly seemed to solve Max’s restlessness just fine.” Her expression softened. “Thank you, by the way. Sidney keeps him preoccupied, but he’s still been restless. The boy needs activities.”
“So do you,” he countered. “This place can be a bore, Celine, and Sidney won’t always be needing you.”
“I know. I have her and my cooking. So far, that’s enough.”
Because she seemed pretty sure of that, Hunter left her to her devices, understanding she had no plans of running away anytime soon. Squeezing Sidney’s chubby fingers—and laughing at the baby’s attempt to suck his—he stepped back, exiting her bedroom to give her privacy.
And to stop staring at her, because it was starting to become a very bad habit.
* * *
True to her word, Celine preoccupied herself—not just with the kitchen, it seemed, but with everything around the mansion that she could manage. They didn’t have a housekeeper, but they managed well enough, cleaning up as they went unless it was kitchen matters. They also had this automated robot cleaner that swept the floor daily, a rumbling, circular little device that was hilarious when it had been first brought there. But it was useful enough, cleaning up dust and dirt, sucking them off the floor.
Celine beat it, though.
The first few days, everyone noticed the cleaner kitchen, and of course, the food: squeezed in the spaces left in the fridge, in the cupboards, ready for heating up and definitely a hundred times better than the generic ones they’d gotten used to. There was fresh bread on the counter, fresh cookies in containers. There was even cake on a Friday, not as artfully decorated as the ones in bakeries but still very delicious.
Their old cook had been divine, but she’d also been a betrayer, and Edmund hadn’t been inclined to hire and trust anyone else since.
Celine was the resurrection their kitchen needed; a new life breathed in by a woman who obviously loved to tinker around.
Over the weeks that flew by, it wasn’t just the kitchen that was tinkered with. There was also the living room, where they noticed patches sewn on the pillows, small touches that made them look even more elegant—and new. Then, the other rooms, where the curtains were changed and the windows made to look shinier. Lighter, opening up to let sunlight in during the day and giving the whole mansion a less gothic effect.
Everyone noticed it, except maybe Edmund, who wasn’t around a lot. Levi and Jessa spying on her wherever she went, cautious she’d use the cleaning as a way to escape. She didn’t. In fact, Celine kept a careful distance away from the front and back door, strictly keeping her activities inside the mansion and making use of her hours effectively.
“Hey, Hunter?” Jessa said at one point when they were gathered in the kitchen and eating some fried rice concoction.
“Hmm?”
“How long is Celine staying here again?”
“I don’t know. It depends on the boss, if he has plans of releasing her.”
“I hope she stays here forever,” Jessa exclaimed with feeling. “Or I hope we get the recipe for her chocolate cake before she leaves.”
The thought of Celine leaving was a hard one, but Hunter forced himself to nod. “I’m sure she’ll give it to you if you ask her nicely.
Jessa bared her teeth. “I’m always nice to her.”
No, she wasn’t, but at least the female guard wasn’t mean. She was just wary, despite her friendliness. As the week of managing turned into two, Hunter watched the wariness slowly abate, too, and Jessa gravitated to Celine as much as Max did, especially when she was cooking in the kitchen. They all became divided: half the clan heaping Celine with praises, and the other half grumbling that she was changing things too much.
Only Hunter noticed one thing: that despite Celine’s attempts at keeping herself busy, there were still glimpses of an emotion he saw there, especially when she was having quiet moments in between taking care of Sidney.
Max wasn’t the only one restless.
He thought it over, wondering if she was going to work herself to death just to get rid of that restlessness—wondering when she was going to realize that it wasn’t going to work.
But perhaps he could help her work it out.
Chapter 12
“I don’t have cabin fever.”
“Yes, you do, and don’t even try to hide it from me. I see everything. Now, come on. I have something to show you.”
The confident way Hunter delivered the words got to Celine, feeling torn between the urge to role her eyes and arguing with him. She liked arguing with him, something she decided upon when it was clear Hunter didn’t mind it, and he was open to arguing back in jest.
But for now, she decided to follow him, her curiosity larger than her need to argue, she walked faster as she caught up with his longer strides. She noticed that he was taking her to the back area of the mansion, and it was a small triumph when she began to recognize the rooms they passed by—rooms she’d preoccupied herself with cleaning the past few days, even while she still hadn’t touched the ones deeper in the mansion. She knew there would be forbidden areas, and even she wouldn’t risk her privilege by wandering there.
She was bold, not stupid.
Her thoughts scurried to the back burner when Hunter opened the double doors to the back, then ushered for her to keep walking. It was different from the mansion’s side entrance—the one she and Max had used to escape—as it immediately led to green: green fields, dotted with flowers and it appeared to stretch on for miles. But it didn’t, because there was something shimmering ahead, cutting the rest of the field in a murky, almost dream-like blur.
Fascinated, she followed him as he kept walking, heading towards a lone oak tree that had odd brown, slightly pinkish leaves. There were rocks smoothened out on the grass and some scratches on the thick trunk of the tree.
“What is this place?” she asked.
“Mostly our training grounds, but this spot here is perfect for meditating.”
At that, her brow rose. “Shifters meditate?”
He shot her a sheepish glance. “We don’t, not really. But apparently Max has a thing for it.”
That amused her, then confounded her, something the boy did at every turn. It seemed Max had a knack for not only roughing it but also for the more polished things in life.
The tree was nice and all, and the meditation spot was perfect. But that wasn’t what caught her attention. Celine kept walking, eyes fixed ahead and not stopping when Hunter didn’t say a word of protest. She did stop just before the shimmer, self-preservation keeping her there as she looked on.
The blur was still a blur up close, but now, she could see some things beyond it: rolls and rolls of hills in every direction, dotted with even more wildflowers, mountain landscapes in the background. A forest to the right, fuzzy but looking pretty dark.
A castle to the left, too small in its distance, but perched on top of a very tall hill and towers visible.
“What is this place?” she repeated, awe tinged in her tone. She couldn’t help it.
A hand slid up her arm, wrapping gently before Hunter firmly pulled her back. The contact had electricity tickling up her spine, faint but buzzing. It jarred her away from the sight, and she glanced at him as he stepped back with her.
“Careful, now,” he said, and the closeness of his voice made her realize just how near he was. Awareness filled her senses, warring with the need to know answers. He gave her those answers, tone deep and just as careful as his warning. “That’s another realm…well, technically still the same pocket. It still belongs to us, but it’s a wild area, sealed off so it won’t bother ours.”
“And the castle?”
“It belongs to a very powerful being. Not our enemy, but not our friend, either. Edmund answers to…it.”
Surprise filled her at the admission. “I thought Edmund was the boss.”
“Of the mansion and the clan, yes. But he’s not the only driving force here. Let’s just say Edmund is the gatekeeper. We’re the front lines of this pocket, and we’re protecting what’s in there, too.”
“Which is?”
She felt more than saw his smirk. “A lot. Powerful beings, with reasons to keep themselves isolated. Shifter and vampire clans are very exploitative, and so are humans.”
“And yours is the biggest pocket there is,” she concluded.
“One of,” he corrected.
Probably top one, she realized. It was crazy how she was discovering something new every day here, and how it was driving her to learn more.
As if he sensed that, Hunter squeezed her arm. His thumb rubbed against the skin just under her shirt sleeve, callouses rough but touch gentle. She shivered, unable to help herself in that department, too. Celine closed her eyes when the thumb kept rubbing, a soothing motion that sank deep, deep pulses of heat in her system.
He was so very good at that. A distraction.
A temptation.
She bit back a whimpered sound, something that would’ve embarrassed them both when his thumb cruised down her elbow. He was doing it to comfort, yet it felt like every whisper of touch was erotic, titillating.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, unsure whether she meant the castle or this.
“Celine…” he bit out, voice turning rough. Gruff. “Be careful. It looks beautiful but trust me when I say it’s deadly.” There was a very hard, very defined gulp. “You’d best stay away.”
The way he said it made her wonder if he was even talking about the realm ahead, or something else. She felt herself getting restless, and she lost the fight for willpower as she turned her head, wanting to look at him—to see what was behind the words.
Before she could get a glimpse, the thumb was gone, and he’d released her from his grasp. She caught Hunter as he took a step back, clearing his throat.
“How far away?” she whispered.
Honey eyes darkened, then looked ahead. “The tree is a perfect distance away. I know you’re curious about our world, and I can only tell you so much. But our library contains some information. History, if you’re into reading.”
“I’ll think about it,” she replied.
“I’ll leave you alone for now, so you can take it all in.”
Before she could protest, Hunter was already turning around and walking back to the mansion. She watched his figure, then studied the place she’d been living in for more than a month now. What a grand, grand mansion it was, the exterior showing all its old brick and wood glory, slightly cracked but still very proud. There was history here, too, and she wanted to find out.
Her gaze returned to Hunter’s back, a low ache building in her stomach as she memorized the lines of its broadness.
Maybe she wanted to know his history, too.
* * *
It took her at least a week to find the history of the mansion and understand it had once belonged to Edmund’s ancestors, to trace the books and realize that this pocket had been here for hundreds of years already. There had been a third child, Edmund’s brother, but whatever happened to him had not been specified, though she knew without a doubt it was something tragic.
There had been a panther clan here once, but now it mixed breeds, all from different walks of life.
It took her a few more days to discover information about the other creatures that hid in the pockets all around the world: different kinds of vampires, different kinds of shifters. Not a single one of them in alliance with each other, at least not on record. It was a wonder there hasn’t been a massacre yet, considering the years of bad blood between the lot of them.
Or maybe there was plenty, except it was all well-hidden.
How clueless humans were. Like her, before the course of her life changed.
On the sixth day of devouring information, she was just close to finding out about the special abilities of nightwalkers when she abruptly began to realize she was no longer alone in the library she’d been frequenting with Sidney.
It didn’t come in the form of footsteps, nor a voice announcing itself. Instead, Celine felt it in the air, a shifting that had her holding the book tighter as she looked up.
As she finally noticed the figure standing at the end of the bookshelf corner she was in, the dim lighting hiding that particular area.
Her first thought? Sidney.
Her second was a wondering if an intruder had gotten in before the figure finally spoke.
“So you’re the Celine Peach everyone is talking about. Tiny little thing.”
She was hardly tiny, but that voice definitely made her feel it. It was charming, educated…clipped, an accent that was very familiar. Completely feminine, with some sensual undertones.
“I don’t recall anyone talking about me recently,” was her response. It was a miracle she managed to sound calm when nerves were starting to boil up. There was something off about the voice. Something not-so-friendly.
“Hmm. Maybe they’re just not talking while you’re there.”
The figure stepped forward, allowing Celine to see the face that matched the voice—and what a match it was. Dark, glossy hair falling in carefully arranged waves over her shoulders, a mouth that was sensual and pouted very naturally. Olive skin, unblemished.
Dark eyes, never leaving Celine’s.
She was wearing a red dress under a leather jacket, one that hugged her obviously abundant curves. Her black heels were stilettos, and somehow Celine had the feeling they could be used as a weapon as much as they were used for fashion.
“You’re Edmund’s sister.” It wasn’t a question.
The woman didn’t deny it. “It’s odd that my brother didn’t insist on the title.”
“Oh, he didn't have to.” Celine offered no explanation, watching realization dawn on the other’s face. A singular brow rose as the woman considered her. “Your brother has been kind enough to provide me a place to stay.”
The woman smirked. “My brother is anything but kind. Anyway, my name is Leila Masters.”
The way those dark eyes observed her caused tension at the back of her neck. She thought of her options, then chose one.
“It’s nice to meet you…Lady Masters.”
“You have leave to call me Leila. I wish I could say the same about you.”
It was said so charmingly that Celine didn’t realize the content of the second statement until it was too late, as the woman stepped forward so fast—too fast, crossing the distance between her and the bassinet. Leila’s eyes now broke contact as they lowered to the bassinet’s interior, watching with the same considering look.
Braced, and Celine’s body tightened.
“Pardon?” she asked, close to stammering it out. She took one step…stopped when a manicured hand rested on the edge of the bassinet.
Leila smiled.
“You’ve caused a ruckus, from what I’ve heard. Bringing a wild shifter boy in here, taming a young nightwalker. Getting pregnant with an older one.”
Celine resisted lifting her chin. “They don’t mean any harm. And I didn’t know.”
“Hmm. It all sounds charming. Exciting, really. Do you know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think everyone’s treating this matter delicately, and I say the best solution is just to kill the source.”
A nail skimmed inside the bassinet, close to Sidney’s blanket. Sidney reached up, attracted to the bright red color, trying to touch it.
Terror jumped inside Celine’s stomach, hard and hot and eating her alive. She was terrified to move and trigger Leila, terrified to stay still and do nothing. Terrified for the life of her child, who was knocking at death’s door without even realizing it.
The next voice did make her jump, coming from a different source.
“Leila.”
And it was absolutely deadly.
Both hers and Leila’s head turned, and her eyes widened when she found Hunter stalking towards them. The usual friendly expression was gone, replaced with a hardness that held sheer, dangerous force. It was focused on Leila, vibrating with an energy that had air rushing out of Celine’s lungs.
It had the intent of a bloodbath, much like when he’d been battling those vampires.
Leila merely lifted a brow.
“Hunter.”
“I didn’t expect you. I thought you’d be on a mission.”
