Hunting Jessica

by Elizabeth St. John

“I know it’s frowned upon, but why are you so upset?” Then I realized my error. I walked over to him and found his eye were glistening with tears.

  “How could you do that?” he asked in a whisper.

  I forced a smile and stroked his arm tenderly, “Baby, this was years ago,” I explained.

  He wiped his eyes before the tears fell, “It wasn’t recently?”

  “No, love,” I said softly. “I’m sorry. I should have been more specific. I’m an idiot, ok?”

  He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair as he sniffled, “I overreacted,” he said.

  “No. You didn’t,” I said and smiled. “I would never do that to you, Rayce.”

  I felt horrible. He thought I had aborted our child without talking to him first. I would never do that. I didn’t even do that when I had the procedure done all those years ago.

  “Please continue,” he said still holding me.

  I could live in his secure arms, “Shawn is the reason I moved to Devils Bend in the first place. When we started dating, I was nothing more than a child in a sense. We were middle school and high school sweethearts.”

  “Shawn is the asshole who left you?”

  “Yes,” I sighed and continued. “Even though my parents thought different, he promised me a good life on a farm. I was naive enough to believe him. We moved to Devils Bend. He had a job and we had our own apartment. It wasn’t exactly a farm but I thought we were happy.”

  “Until?” Rayce asked.

  “He stopped coming home. After I started working at the bar, I discovered Shawn had an extensive drug addiction and a girlfriend.”

  “Unbelievable,” he said deeply.

  “He was all I knew for many years. My life was crushed,” I confessed. Telling him the next thing was probably a mistake but I couldn’t hide it. He had to know. “I confronted him. Verbal abuse started but quickly turned into weekly, drunken, drug filled beatings.”

  “He beat you?” A growl rumbled in his chest.

  I never told anyone the true story. “I found out that I was pregnant.” I looked up at him with pleading eyes. “I did do a lot of thinking before I made the choice. I didn’t want to risk having a child with an abusive drug addict. No child should have to experience that growing up.”

  “Were you alone?”

  “Yes. I had nobody here and I couldn’t tell my family.”

  “Why not?”

  “I was ashamed,” I expressed. “I didn’t listen to my mother when she told me that Shawn was no good. I was a stupid love-struck woman who got knocked up by an asshole,” I sighed shamefully. “Rayce, that choice was one of the hardest choices I have ever had to make in my life, and it haunts me every day.”

  “What happened to the guy?” he asked angrily.

  “Do you remember the guy to asked so kindly to leave my house?”

  “Oh, that guy.”

  “Yes, that guy.”

  “Did you tell him?”

  “I think that is when the beatings began to grow even more horrific. We found out at the hospital when he broke my collarbone.”

  “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” he said and hugged me tighter. “I would love to give him a good beating.”

  The weight on my shoulders lifted the instant I finished speaking. “I appreciate that, but he’s truly not worth it.”

  “He hurt you, babe.”

  “I know but I got away from him, and now I have a man worth his weight in gold,” I said smiling.

  “Thank you for telling me about that part of your life,” he said and took my hand. “I’m sorry I overreacted earlier.”

  “I understand.”

  “I guess, I’m just tired.”

  “Go inside and rest, baby,” I said softly.

  “Aren’t you coming?”

  I smiled, “I will soon. I’m still a little amped up.”

  “I know,” he said smiling down at me. He kissed me and stroked my cheek with his knuckles. “Don’t stray too far.”

  “I won’t leave this property,” I assured him. The threat of Gage still lingered on our radar. “I’ll be inside soon.”

  He left me there in the garden. I took a chance to look up at the star filled sky. I had let go of something I had been holding on to for what seemed like an eternity. Now, I would be able to move on with Rayce. Being a vampire hunter was a hard job and you had to have the brass to do it. I would never have been able to do the job if I hadn’t experienced what I did.

  I took a look at the house and everything Rayce had done for me. It was amazing how my life had changed. I was a hellhound, the only thing I wanted next to Rayce, and I finally had it. Before, I thought I needed the vampire blood to feel beautiful, but I was wrong. Being what I was, I could see, smell, and even hear everything. I felt complete.

  An hour passed when I finally decided to join Rayce in our new bed. I opened the door slowly and he had his naked back to the door. The blanket was down low enough for me to see the cleft of his adorable ass. I grinned as I stripped my clothes and climbed in with him. I wrapped my arm around him and sighed as comfort gripped me. He turned over and put his arm out. I slid in next to him and he wrapped it around me. This was my favorite snuggling position. I draped my leg over his.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  “I love you, too,” he sighed. I could tell something was bothering him.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Now that I know about a painful time in your life, I would like to share one of mine with you,” he said.

  I was instantly intrigued and sat up so I could see his face. “Go on.”

  Sadness washed over his handsome face, “I had a twin brother who disappeared when we were two years old.”

  I gasped, “What happened?”

  “The story goes, that we were playing outside and he went missing.”

  “Kids don’t just go missing, Rayce,” I said.

  “Everyone looked for him but he was nowhere to be found. After almost a year of searching, my father called off the search for him and declared him dead.”

  “Jesus,” I sighed sadly. “That must have been hard for him to do,” I said. “Your poor parents. It had to have been painful for you too.”

  “My brother, the one I shared the deepest of bonds with was gone. I never believed him to be dead. I couldn’t.”

  “Twins have a connection only they can understand,” I said. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What was his name?”

  He took a deep breath, “Chayce…Chayce Michael.”

  A tear rolled out of the corner of his eye when he spoke his brother’s name. I wiped it away quickly. Seeing Rayce cry was heartbreaking.

  “My brother is the first born. If he were here, everything would be different. Maybe he would have stepped up to the plate when the time came to be a leader, and everything wouldn’t be so screwed up.”

  “And where would that leave us?”

  “Together, without worry.”

  “If your brother would have taken the position when your parents passed away, we could have never met,” I explained.

  “True.”

  “Would you change it if you could?”

  “I would have loved to have my brother with me, but honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing. I love you and will fight for you until the end. I have to try and kill him. You have to believe me when I say, I will fight to the death to protect you, to protect what is ours.”

  I had to do something to prevent that outcome. I wouldn’t let him die, “Now that I’m one of you, will you teach me how to fight like a hellhound?”

  “Babe, you have no need to fight.”

  I was supposed to be strong, but my emotions got the best of me and my eyes began to sting with tears. I didn’t want to lose Rayce, he’s everything to me. “You feel like you’re going to lose or even die, don’t you?”

  He turned over to face me. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as h
e inspected my face, “If anything does happen to me, remember I love you. The house and land are yours. Jay and Marie will protect you always,” he promised.

  CHAPTER

  27

  Watching the guys play fight made me want to be out there with them, learning the ropes. Rayce didn’t think I needed to learn. I wanted to feel the freedom of shifting and the dirt under my huge paws. The need to help was eating at me. I didn’t understand the reason why he didn’t want me to. I had hunted vampires for years. That job was more dangerous than play fighting in the yard.

  I did miss hunting, the weight of my gun in my hand, and the feel of the knife strapped to my leg. I did miss my home back in Devils Bend. I had worked hard to make it what it was.

  Gage knew the shadows of my old home and could pop up anytime with shadow travel. We hadn’t been back to it. Jay had tried shadow travel with Rayce, but they couldn’t get it. I wondered if I could.

  Marie was sitting on the back-porch steps, “Hey, girl, what’s up?” she asked.

  I sat next to my friend and looked out at Rayce. He was lunging toward Jay and knocked him off his feet. He pinned him to the ground with his massive form.

  “Not much, just getting a little restless.”

  “Me too,” she said smiling.

  “I had an idea and wanted to know if you wanted to help me practice.”

  “Practice what?”

  “Practice shadow travel.”

  “The guys have been trying.”

  “I know and I have been paying attention. I would like to try,” I said.

  She shrugged her shoulders, “Sure, let’s go. It can’t hurt for us to try on our own,” she said smiling.

  “We can practice in the garden,” I said standing up.

  We stood in the shadows. To tell the truth, I was nervous as all hell. I had no idea what I was doing. What if I did travel and ended up under the sink in the kitchen or something? Marie began to remove her clothes so I took that as my cue to do the same.

  Being nude in front of people was something you had to get used to. I spent my first three days new to this life in the nude. It took me and Jay a while to get used to the fact he was seeing me in the buff. I remember the first time he saw me he was blushing so bad his face looked like a radish. He was really great about the whole thing though. He kept his eyes on mine and tried not to look at my body. Marie said he got wood the first time, which made me laugh. It didn’t seem to bother her. Jay’s embarrassment made her day.

  As I removed my clothes I looked down at my ring finger. I hated to take it off but it had to be done. When I turned, it would break if I didn’t. Same with the clothes, they would burst into shreds if we didn’t take them off first. I took the ring off and placed a kiss on it before I put it in my jeans pocket.

  Shifting was a piece of cake now. My ability to smell and see everything still took my breath away. Everything was alive to my eyes. The trees would move and the grass seemed to grow. I could smell the dirt at my hellhound feet and the flowers in the garden gave my nose a pleasant burn.

  “Ok, let’s see if we can do this,” my cream-colored friend closed her glowing eyes, drew in a deep breath and held it in. Her claws dug into the dirt. After a moment, she opened one eye. “Did I go anywhere?” she said squinting.

  “No, sorry.”

  “Shit,” she hissed. “How in the hell does Gage do this?” she asked.

  “I don’t know but I’m going to try.” I tried to relax my mind. I closed my eyes and focused my energy to the porch swing on the side of the house. It was easier than trying to travel to my old home. I imagined myself sitting on the swing. Seconds later, I opened my eyes. Nothing.

  “I don’t get it. All you are supposed to do is think about where you want to go and then let it happen,” I said in frustration.

  “Well, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Let’s keep trying,” Marie replied. By the eighth failed attempt, I was growing tired of it. The guys were sitting in the field watching us.

  “This was a stupid idea,” I stated. I changed back into my human form. Turning back was a simple and natural act.

  “Don’t get discouraged, Jessica. We will figure it out,” Marie expressed as we put our clothes back on.

  “I don’t understand it though. Why is it so easy for Gage to do it but we can’t?” I asked as I fished my ring out of my pocket and slipped it back on.

  “Come on, let’s go inside. I’m starving,” she said. “I made chili and I’m sure the guys are hungry too.”

  “Sure.” I was unsatisfied. I couldn’t accept only Gage could do this. As we turned toward the house, a wind blew across the garden, sending a mixture of rose and lilac scent across my face. I closed my eyes and the memory of my old home and garden washed over me.

  Another huge gust of wind hit me, nearly knocking me over. I had to put my hands out to steady myself. I opened my eyes and was knocked breathless. I was standing in my front yard garden below my bedroom window in Devils Bend.

  “What the fuck?” I was twenty miles away from my new home and now looking at my old one. “I did it,” I whispered in wonderment.

  The house was dark. The only light that burned was a single bulb on the front porch. I took a step toward my house cautiously. Gage could be lurking around and I didn’t want to be caught off guard. I was already in a pickle because I didn’t have anything to defend myself with.

  Slowly, I lurked around the house to the back porch and found my hidden key under my fake rock. I entered slowly. I needed to find something to defend myself and call Rayce before he began to worry.

  I crept up the stairs and entered my room. I found a pocket knife in the bedside table drawer. All of my other hunting equipment was back at the lake house. I picked up the receiver to the landline phone and I thanked my lucky stars I had paid the bill. I dialed Rayce and it took him forever to answer. He must have been frantic seeing me disappear into thin air. Hell, I was trying to get a handle on it myself.

  “Jessica, are you okay? What happened? How did you do that?” I tried my best to calm him down but I didn’t want to be too loud, just in case. “Stay right there. I’m on my way to get you,” he said frantically.

  From my closet, I pulled out a duffle bag and put as many of my clothes and bathroom needs inside of it. I had some but not enough. I did miss my house but I had to tread lightly. I was taking a chance even being here. I slung my bag over my shoulder, and as I walked from my room, I heard a rustling down in the bushes beneath my window. I looked down but even with my keen eyesight, I couldn’t see a thing. Smelling would be useless because everything would be masked by the flowers. A small rush of fear crawled up my spine.

  I quickly took the stairs down to the ground floor, careful not to make the stairs creek with my steps. I made my way to the kitchen. The sound could have been caused by an animal but I doubted it. I needed to hide. Even though his father told him to stay out of Devils Bend, I knew Gage would never follow an order from anyone. He was going to do what he wanted.

  A strange shift in the air told me someone was in my house. Fear took over and I bolted to the laundry room next to the kitchen. The damn room didn’t have a door so I wedged myself in between the machines. “Sure, Jessica, nobody will find you here,” I whispered to myself. I debated on shifting into my new hellhound form to defend myself.

  I could hear footsteps above me in my room. It had to be Gage, who else would be in my house? He left the room and made his way down the hall to the spare bedroom where he slept. The doors opened and closed. Whoever it was, they were making sure to put everything back the way it was. Covering their tracks. The footsteps began to come down the stairs and I tried to control my heart beat. Sweat began to build at the nape of my neck and upper lip. My entire body was shaking.

  They entered the kitchen and I froze. My breath caught in my throat and I made a little whimper. I covered my mouth with both of my hands to keep the noise from escaping my lips.

  A ring of a cell phone
made me nearly jump out of my skin, and the footsteps stopped.

  “Yeah,” he said. I knew that voice and all my fear washed away. “She’s not here but some clothes are missing and her scent is fresh,” he said.

  I shot up out of my hiding place like a bullet and ran into his arms. “I was so afraid that you were Gage,” I said relieved.

  He wrapped both of his arms around me and held me tight, a little too tight. I looked up at him and his grip grew harder and his blazing blue eyes stared down at me. His nostrils flared. It wasn’t Rayce. “My brother will be so happy that I found you,” he said. Another gust of wind hit me.

  As soon as my feet hit solid ground again his arms released me and I fell to the floor. This time I felt like I was going to barf.

  His voice spoke from behind me. “It will pass. It happens to us all who travel a great distance,” he explained. He did reach for me but I pulled away from his touch. I opened my eyes and I was in a nice room. The carpet was a tan shag and soft to the touch. A fireplace burned to my left. It was too hot for my comfort, but I would guarantee my comfort was not the mission.

  Vanilla scented candles burned on the mantel above the fireplace. Two huge chairs sat in front of the flames. They looked like they had been hand carved out of an entire tree.

  “Welcome home, Jess,” Gage said.

  Now, a new kind of nausea came over me. That voice haunted my dreams every night. I hadn’t been able to sleep some nights due to that damn voice. I dreaded to see the face that went along with it. I was choking on my tongue when Gage stood from one of the chairs and turned to face me.

  He was dressed in jeans only. No socks, no shoes, no shirt, only tight jeans. I wasn’t even remotely impressed by him. He thought if he showed himself off I would jump his bones. That wasn’t going to happen.

  “Do you like our room?” he asked smugly. He spread his arms as if I was supposed to be in awe of the glory of the room. Needless to say, I wasn’t. I didn’t speak, I had to keep my cool if I wanted to get out of this. “Did you thank my brother for bringing you home to me?” he asked almost demanding.