A Hunter Found: A Paranormal Vampire Romance (Hired Hunters Series Book 3)

by Kimberly Forrest

  A Hunter Found

  Hired Hunters Series Book 3

  Kimberly Forrest

  A shift in power has unforeseen consequences.

  The trouble with women…

  Kane Fletcher used to be a Hunter, a vampire who hunted vampires. Now, he controls the territory of Louisiana and all the supernatural beings who reside there. He’d trained for this his entire life, but he hadn’t been prepared for a gorgeous, power-hungry witch bent on mischief or a newly awakened dragon shifter with a hair-trigger on her control. Mayhem is inevitable. Can he maintain peace, or is all he hoped to build doomed to go up in flames?

  The problem with men…

  After five years in stasis, dragon shifter, Sophia St. John is hungry, irritable, and her overprotective brother isn’t helping matters. Training to be a Hunter seems the perfect solution to work out her aggression, not to mention, prepare her to take revenge on those who had hurt her. The only problem is, the territory has had a change in management and the gorgeous new leader affects her in ways she never could have imagined. Will he help her in her quest for vengeance? Or will he prove as nefarious as his predecessor?

  A fragile peace is put to the test as vampires, witches, and shifters collide… The Hunters may never be the same.

  “A Hunter Found”

  Selected, Compiled & Edited by Kimberly Forrest 2020

  Copyright © October 2020 by Kimberly Forrest

  This book is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Art by R.L Ortiz using images licensed through Deposit Photo

  Female model by cocacoca

  Male model by V Georgiev

  Dragon by dvargg

  Background by mandritoiu

  Logo Background by kjolak

  Table of Contents

  Also by Kimberly Forrest

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  Also by Kimberly Forrest

  Also by Kimberly Forrest

  The Malsum Pass Series

  Malsum Pass

  Until You: A Malsum Pass Novel

  For Her: A Malsum Pass Novel

  Meant To Be: A Malsum Pass Novel

  Whole-Hearted: A Malsum Pass Novel

  Small Moments: A Malsum Pass Novel

  Soul Deep: A Malsum Pass Novel

  Christmas in Malsum Pass: A Malsum Pass Novel

  Fifty, Furred, and Fabulous!: A Malsum Pass Story

  Misfits & Rogues Series

  Tea with Monsters

  Dinner with The Wolf

  Chocolates from A Vampire

  Brunch with An Angel

  Hired Hunters Series

  A Hunter Born

  A Hunter Turned

  A Hunter Found

  Prologue

  Evangeline Duvalier moved about the dank, dreary space, her lip curling at the incessant squeaking thanks to an overabundance of rats. She should be living in the lap of luxury with the power she possessed, instead, this abandoned warehouse down by the river was her new, if temporary, home. It was barely a step up from the prison from which she’d recently escaped, the only difference here was that instead of a fellow witch bringing her meals, deaf to Evangeline’s pleas for freedom, she now had a vampire minion to do her bidding.

  “I have what you wanted, mistress.”

  Speaking of vampire minions… Pasting a bright smile on her face to disguise her true feelings, she turned to greet Kevin. A mid-level vampire, with average, boy-next-door looks and mediocre intelligence. Kevin. Even his name was mediocre. But beggars couldn’t be choosers, could they?

  Snatching the square of blood-stained white linen from the male’s hand, she brought the cloth to her face and inhaled. “And you’re sure this is Kane’s blood?”

  “Yes, mistress,” he replied, avoiding her gaze.

  Evangeline narrowed her eyes. “Just Kane’s blood?”

  Kevin had to clear his throat – twice – his weight shifting from foot to foot.

  “Who else’s blood?” she demanded.

  Another throat clear that left her with the urge to choke the male before he finally volunteered in an annoying whine, “It was used to clean the dagger after the oath was sworn, so Kane’s blood is on it.”

  “But not Kane’s blood alone.”

  It wasn’t a question, though Kevin felt the need to reply. “No, mistress. His father’s, his brother’s, as well as the two vampires he’s chosen as his seconds.”

  Dropping the linen on the dirty floor at her feet, Evangeline sighed, wishing she could kill the simpleton, but of the original five vampires she’d recruited with promises of power, he was the only one remaining and she didn’t have time to court new ones. Too many people were looking for her now. But after… after, she would enjoy watching Kevin bleed out at her feet.

  “This is useless to me. Find me a pure sample, even if you have to stab him to get it.”

  “I can’t get that close. He’s hunting me.”

  “Oh, for the love of…” cutting that off with a deep cleansing breath, Evangeline closed her eyes and tried to marshal some patience. “Fine. Break into his house when he’s not there and steal his brush. Do you think you could do that at least?”

  Kevin bowed deeply. “Yes, mistress. Right away.”

  Waiting until she no longer sensed the vampire on the premises, Evangeline dropped the glamour that cloaked her so that she could relax in her true form. For years she’d been imprisoned, stripped of her powers, watching, listening, impotent to do anything as her people allowed themselves to be subjugated under vampire rule. And then one night, word had reached her that Destin Jourdain, the current leader of the Order of Witches had risen up against the Born, decimated the vampire legion in moments with his power. She’d celebrated the victory. Finally! Finally, her people were seeing what she’d been saying for years – the witches were the true power in the supernatural world and they needed to take their proper place at the top of the hierarchy.

  Her celebration had been short-lived, however. The battleground had barely been cleared of the corpses when she’d learned that a new Born had stepped in and Jourdain had simply rolled over like a dog and accepted the return to the status quo.

  When the Order had chosen Destin Jou
rdain, they’d chosen wrong. He wasn’t hungry enough, his aspirations too small. But now Evangeline was free, she’d show her people what true leadership was, and she’d show the vampires what true power looked like. Starting with Kane Fletcher, the Born vampire foolish enough to attempt to take ownership of this territory.

  Chapter One

  Kane smiled down at the little blonde who’d just stumbled into him and assisted her in finding her footing once more before he shooed her back to the dancefloor. Ah, alcohol, and human women. A breed he stayed well away from, preferring his women coherent and in full possession of their faculties unless he was on a hunt – then, the loose tongues thanks to over-imbibing were an advantage that made interrogations practically child’s play. Right now, however, he needed to speak to someone sober and paying attention. The sooner he found the last of the rogues, the sooner he could enter into some solid negotiations with the leader of the Order of Witches. Like most of his kind, a verbal agreement and a handshake wouldn’t cut it. Not that he was questioning Destin Jourdain’s integrity, but he preferred things to be spelled out clearly with signatures on the dotted line. He wanted an alliance, not only with the witches but with the shifters as well. He wanted peace between their species, a peace that would be upheld on all sides, and he wanted it in writing.

  Stepping up to the bar, Kane motioned to one of the two bartenders and raising his voice to be heard over the music, ordered a beer. When the cup was placed in front of him, Kane slid a picture along with a hundred-dollar bill toward the guy. “Have you seen this man?”

  The bartender picked up the picture and eyed it, taking in the image of the mid-western farm boy and the last of the five rogues Kane was hunting before he passed it to his coworker. The first two rogues, Kane had found relatively quickly as the two were known to frequent a particular bar on Friday nights, and despite being hunted, hadn’t altered their routine. Of course, his predecessor, Olivier Rodolfo hadn’t had them on his payroll for their intelligence. Kane had managed to snag them with little fuss and he’d delivered them to the leader of the Order of Witches for judgment to be passed. The message they’d left on the edge of pack territory in the form of dead bodies may have been meant for Kane, but the people they’d killed had been witches, so it was Destin Jourdain who would have the pleasure of deciding the rogues’ fates, with Kane’s blessing.

  The next two had proven a bit more difficult, kidnapping Jamie, one of his former Hunter teammates, and attempting to use her as leverage to get to Kane. For that stupidity, they were now both dead. One at the hands of an unknown witch, the other, thanks to Archer Langley, alpha to the pack of wolf shifters that called the bayou here, home.

  One rogue to go and this one was proving a bit smarter than his compatriots. Or perhaps it was a heightened sense of self-preservation now that his friends were dead. Whatever the reason, Kevin Thompson had gone to ground. He wasn’t frequenting his usual haunts or maintaining any known schedule and Jamie had had no luck getting a hit with facial recognition. Not that Kane should still be making use of her particular skill set. As a new territory-holding Born, he was no longer a Hunter, and technically speaking, the Hunters weren’t supposed to align themselves with any one Born. Their allegiance was to their team while his allegiance was now to his territory. Still, old habits die hard.

  When both bartenders shook their heads and passed the picture back, Kane sighed and took a drink from his beer. Another dead end. Waving off the change from his hundred, he passed the man one of his new business cards. “If you see him.”

  Turning his back to the bar to face the dancefloor and the gyrating bodies on it, Kane was just in time to catch another body before it stumbled into him. Gorgeous, was his first thought as she looked up at him with seductive dark eyes. Her black hair was a mass of tiny, beaded braids pulled back into a thick tail at the back of her head that went all the way down to her ass. Her skin was dark perfection that looked velvety smooth and practically glowed with health. And that scent… Kane drew it into his nose and nearly purred. What was that scent?

  He’d never been so distracted by a female, was still staring at her, still gripping her lithe upper arms that had been left bare thanks to the sleeveless, stretchy, pale-blue number she was wearing that hugged every scrumptious curve.

  “Thank you,” she said loudly with a breathy little laugh, her hand braced against his chest to regain her balance. “I’m not usually so clumsy.”

  Kane wanted to pull her in closer, bury his face in her neck, and breathe that scent in forever. He wanted to bring her home with him, worship her body, make her his queen…

  His phone vibrated inside the breast pocket of his leather jacket and Kane shook away the surprisingly odd thought. What was the matter with him? Releasing the woman with a sheepish smile, he turned away to take the call and to get a handle on the crazy that had suddenly infected him.

  His clerk, Edward was calling, but Kane couldn’t hear him with the noise from the bar. Promising to call the male back in a few minutes, Kane tucked his phone away again only to have that scent hit his nose like some mystery breeze had carried it straight to his nostrils.

  She was still there, waiting for him to give her his attention once more, and he dimly thought that he should move away. He wasn’t here to socialize, he had something to do that was important, but for the life of him, he could no longer remember what that was.

  The woman said something, frowned slightly when she realized he hadn’t heard her and her bronze-glossed lips pinched with frustration before the music dimmed. Kane wasn’t the only one who looked around with confusion, but he didn’t notice the others as that scent continued to wrap around him, loosening tense muscles as visions of her naked beneath him, writhing, calling his name, drilled into his brain.

  “I’m Angie,” she purred, her hand returning to his chest, the heat of her palm making him close his eyes in a moment of pure pleasure.

  Angie. His queen. Odd that while the thought seemed as if it was his own, it felt so alien in his head. Squeezing his eyes shut, he attempted to focus, but everything seemed hazy, a sudden dreamlike quality taking hold of him.

  His phone vibrated again and he went to reach for it only for her to pluck it out of his hand and shut it off. He had the vague notion that he should be irritated, that she had no right, but that scent continued to seduce him and within a heartbeat, he no longer remembered why he should care. She was his queen, she could do anything she wanted…

  “Do you want to get out of here?” she asked, leaning in closer until she, and that scent she wore, was his entire universe.

  With a vacant nod, Kane took her hand.

  ∞∞∞

  Evangeline had made a tactical error, though she’d never admit that out loud. She should have waited for blood to use in the spell, but she hadn’t realized at the time how strong Kane’s mind was. The lack of potency by using hair as a replacement meant she had to remain close to him at all times. Actually, close, as it turned out, was an understatement. Apparently, they needed to be practically attached at the hip.

  They’d arrived at his apartment and he’d left her presence to take a shower. He had emerged with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips, and in that moment of distraction, while Evangeline had been admiring his fine body from across the room, mentally wishing he was anything other than a vampire, his eyes had cleared of their drugged haze, had narrowed with suspicion, and he’d used his preternatural speed to flash himself over to her and grip her around her throat. “Who are you?”

  For a heartbeat, she wondered if she had accidentally dropped the glamour that disguised her true self, but no, it was a simple matter of in the few minutes he’d been away from her, the spell had worn off, and along with it, all the subliminal suggestions she had planted. It had taken everything she had to wrap the scent around him once more and cage his mind to her will.

  This would never do. Even if she stayed glued to Kane’s side – something she had no desire to do – sooner or
later, someone would come looking for him, even if just to remind him of duties he’d been neglecting. She could move him to the warehouse, she supposed, but the smell of the place alone might interfere with his senses enough to wake him up.

  She could try to collect his blood for a new, stronger spell, but pain could also shake him free from the trance. No. Should she continue, she would have to do the best with what she had, and while seducing a vampire was repulsive, no matter how gorgeous of form Kane was, she’d already resigned herself to the idea, deciding previously that it was the best course of action. Thankfully, she’d planted the thought in his head that he didn’t wish to feed from her, would die before he marred such perfect skin with his bite, so she’d at least spared herself that horror.

  A witch feeding a vampire could be dangerous. In some cases, especially if blood was taken from a particularly potent witch or if the feeding was exclusive between the two, a witch could inadvertently transfer her power, and the last thing she needed was to strengthen Kane even further. This was all about control. He was the puppet, she was the master, she couldn’t allow him an advantage that might turn the tables. Not to mention, some vampires could read thoughts or memories during the blood exchange and she couldn’t risk Kane having that particular ability and becoming privy to her plans.

  As she watched his eyes cloud over once more, Evangeline grimaced. Stay, seduce the vampire under this current spell and risk being killed by him should he slip the leash if she weakened for a moment, or cut her losses and try again another time. There really was no choice, was there?