Summers' Deceit (Hunters Trilogy Book 1)

by Sara J. Bernhardt

“I promised her that I was grateful for everything she had done, and someday I would find a way to repay her.

  “I had to get home to Walter and my father and mother. I left that afternoon on my way back home. The sun was more beautiful than I ever imagined. It seemed to flood over the world like an unstoppable tidal wave. I hated watching the people on the streets and crowding the little shops and restaurants. I realized I was one of them. I was weak and mortal.

  “I got home close to evening time and luckily had my keys in my pocket. I stepped inside, and the house was silent. Nobody came rushing to the door to rejoice my return. I saw a shape emerging into the entry. I turned on the light and realized I didn’t know her. She stared at me, seeming as frightened as I was. She refused to avert her eyes, and in an instant, I was against the wall, feeling an unnatural power emanating from her. She continued to walk toward me, and I pressed myself harder against the wall, unaware of what I was frightened of. Her beauty was mesmerizing, and she walked very slowly. Her hips moved gracefully, and her silken gown caressed her hands at her sides. It was easy to imagine a crown of gold on her head and flowers woven into her blood-red hair. She reached out a delicate, poreless hand. I shut my eyes, prepared for pain, but I felt a gentle coolness on my cheek. I opened my eyes, and she was staring at me, smiling.

  “‘Ah, an intruder. How lucky that he must be so beautiful.’

  “I tried to speak, but it came out in a pleading whisper. ‘This is my house.’

  “She froze for a moment. ‘You’re Clement.’ It didn’t sound like a question.

  “I nodded.

  “‘William Thortan is your father?’

  “I nodded again.

  “She asked me if I was familiar with the name Matthias Castlebar?

  “I couldn’t respond at first, but when I did, I told her he was a thief and that he destroyed my father.

  “‘Yes’ was all she said.

  “I asked what was going on and why she was in my house.

  “She said, ‘I found him here. Your father and your sick mother were approached by Mr. Castlebar. I tried to stop him. I tried to kill him. He destroyed my family as well. I tried so hard to kill him, but by the time Matthias was dead at my feet, your poor mother and father were as well.’

  “I froze and choked on my breath. Dead? All I could think was if only I would have gotten here sooner. If only I had given Walter my recordings, I could have saved them, given them immortality, possibly even cure my mother’s illness, make her able to think clearly. It was my fault now—my fault that they were dead.

  “I couldn’t think. I could barely breathe. I was numb with grief. How could I be so sure she was telling the truth? Perhaps she was the killer. After all, what was she doing in my house?

  “She said she had come for him, that she had been following him for months.

  “Her name, she told me, was Luna. She never let me know her last name. She told me she could help me. I spoke to her about Walter and my fear of death, so she explained to me that there was some place I could go, a place where life had meaning. I didn’t understand at first, but that is when she introduced me to Abraham. He was so kind and grateful to meet me. He gave me the name James West and took me in as his son. He is who I call Father. Alex, who was his biological son, became my brother. Alex never showed jealousy or resentment toward me. He greeted me warmly and instantly treated me like family. I was drawn to these people and manipulated into their way of life. They sacrificed people on the stone you have seen, the pure people, the ones Abraham said were ‘made for us.’ He would serve their blood in silver goblets. He covers the stone with sheepskin and ties the victims down. He kills them with bone knives. It’s barbaric, and I knew this. I was terrified to believe differently—terrified to betray Abraham.

  “It didn’t take long for Luna to see the pain I entertained when I was forced to kill. It didn’t take long for the pain to reach her. She took me away from the group who named themselves ‘The Sevren.’ I am still unsure of what the word means—something of a made-up language by the elder cult leaders.

  “There was a fight between The Sevren and another group of people. There is one person who I will never forget—Ian.

  “Ian is one of them—one of the good guys. He’s a younger boy who helped Luna and me escape The Sevren. Of course, I was not able to keep my betrayal a secret for long. I grew to love Abraham and Alex. I grew to love them all as my family, and for a long time, I believed in the power of blood. For a long time, I believed them to be right. Abraham is evil. I understand that now. He enjoys the killing and the feasting. He’s not sane.”

  Aidan stopped there and pressed his fingers to his temples.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  He looked up and nodded. “Yes. It’s just painful sometimes.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I do share your pain,” he said. “My mother and father… I know how it feels to lose someone you love.”

  He could never understand. Nobody understood the connection I shared with Danny.

  “I’m so sorry, Aidan,” I whispered. “For everything that happened to you.”

  “You must never tell anybody, Jane,” he said firmly. His emotion changed, and he was himself again. “You must never say a word about who or what I really am.”

  “What about Rudy?”

  “No!” he cried. “Especially not Rudy!”

  “No…I mean…Rudy already knows.”

  He laughed, and it was a relief to hear something other than tension in his perfect voice. “Rudy thinks I’m a hunter.”

  “He told me where to find you that day.”

  He nodded. “And I knew that, remember?” He smiled. “I wanted you to see. I wanted something that would force me to reveal myself to you. I couldn’t find the courage on my own.”

  “You wanted me to see?”

  He nodded. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been there. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t mean to frighten you, but you don’t seem like somebody who gets frightened easily. I didn’t realize how terrifying I must have looked.”

  “You looked beautiful.”

  He smiled. “And pathetic, crouched down like an animal.”

  “But you looked strong. I liked that. Even if it did frighten me.”

  “Were you afraid I was going to hurt you?”

  “I don’t know what I was afraid of, but I don’t think I was afraid of you hurting me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let you in.”

  “In a way, Jane, I wish you hadn’t,” he said softly. “As much as I needed you and as much as I wanted to assure you I wouldn’t hurt you, it is because of me that you are in danger.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t tell him I was sorry because I knew that was a wasted effort. I couldn’t tell him it was okay because it wasn’t, but the silence between us was unbearable.

  “Aidan?”

  He smiled and locked his gaze onto mine. He kissed my forehead.

  “Everything will be fine. I promise.”

  His words hadn’t comforted me. For the first time, his speaking was no more comforting than the pure silence and my fears rushing through my mind. There had to be some way out of this.

  “Aidan?”

  He looked at me, waiting for me to speak.

  “There is one more thing,” I said, “that you haven’t explained.”

  He sighed and dropped his gaze. “Rudy?” he muttered. “Is this about the day with Rudy?”

  He looked at me again, and I nodded slowly. “You don’t have to tell me,” I said, “if it’s painful.”

  He half smiled, and I wasn’t sure what it meant. I just stared at him, waiting for his response. His expression changed suddenly, and I could see he was suffering. “I am only afraid of truly terrifying you.”

  I pulled my eyebrows together. “I really think it’s better now if you tell me.”

  He nodded.

  “Why were you covered in blood but not cut?”

  “As you know, I cam
e in simply because I wanted to protect you. The crazy thing is, Rudy and Eric both thought that the blood was from the garden rake. They came at me instantly as soon as they saw me. The blood wasn’t mine, Jane.”

  I choked on my breath. “What?”

  “One of them found me—one of The Sevren, a lower ranked member than myself. He was going to turn me over to one of the leaders, and he was going to kill you. I had to protect you!”

  “So…”

  He sighed and looked away from me. “I killed him, yes,” he said quietly. He sounded like he was forcing the words from his mouth. “With his own knife. I placed the body in front of the alter when I returned to the clearing.”

  “Which is why you were covered in blood?”

  “Exactly. I’m not going to pretend that I wasn’t sore as all hell after the beatdown from Rudy, but I wasn’t bleeding. If the others find out I killed one of their own, which they probably already know, then they are looking for me.”

  I shuddered and felt him running his fingers through my hair.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I told him. “Worried.”

  He nodded. “I know. But nothing is going to happen to you.”

  I nodded, and he grasped a lock of my hair and gave me a crooked smile. “Your hair has gold in it.”

  “Does it?”

  “Jane, why don’t you ever say what is in your head?”

  “I do.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “I’m honest. Most of the time.”

  “Is that really what you were just thinking?”

  I sighed. “No.”

  “Didn’t think so,” he muttered, but I could hear a smile behind his words.

  “I thought you couldn’t read me.”

  He laughed. “I can’t. But I can tell when you are saying something you are not thinking.”

  “I sometimes don’t even know what I’m thinking, or what I’m supposed to be thinking.”

  “Now that was the truth.”

  “How about another truth?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m scared.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Of me?”

  I shook my head. “I was telling the truth when I said I wasn’t afraid of you.”

  He nodded. “Do you trust me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “If you had to choose to trust me or not, would you?”

  “If I had a choice, Aidan, probably not.”

  “That’s probably best.”

  Words were becoming forced from me suddenly, like a scream I couldn’t hold back. I swallowed my voice several times, but the words kept trying to come out. I knew I didn’t want to say it, and yet I wasn’t even sure exactly what I was going to say.

  “But…” It came out in a choked whisper, and he looked at me. “But I love you.”

  It fell out of my mouth. I couldn’t believe I had actually said it.

  “I know,” he answered. “I knew that.”

  All the nervous feelings had vanished by his calm reaction. “Still,” I said. “It feels good to say it.”

  “Feels good to hear it. I told you that I need you, Jane. That in itself should have told you that I love you.”

  “You love me?”

  He let out that smooth private laugh I was familiar with. “Of course. I thought you knew. That is why I always wanted to be close to you, since the first day I met you.”

  I smiled flaccidly; it was clearly artificial. “This complicates things.”

  “Actually, it may make things easier.”

  “How?”

  “Love is strong,” he said. “It gives speed.”

  That wasn’t comforting at all. I had never felt so afraid. I couldn’t decide what I was more afraid of—Aidan’s lies or The Sevren. How could I know he was telling me the truth? Could I really trust him not to hurt me, not to kill me? I sighed before I could stop myself.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “It’s nothing,” I lied.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Why do you always ask me that?”

  “Because you’re one of the few who baffle me when you’re in thought.” He smiled.

  I shrugged. “I’m not thinking about anything.”

  “Huh,” he grunted. He gave me that warm smile, shaking his head.

  I moved closer, feeling the need for his lips to close around my own, but before I was able to take in a kiss, a knock came at the front door.

  Panic struck. “Should I?”

  He nodded. “It’s all right. It’s safe.”

  I walked down the stairs slowly, feeling tense and nervous. What if it wasn’t safe? What if it was one of them?

  I opened the door slowly.

  “Hey!” she yelled, full of energy.

  I felt my breath explode. “Oh…um…hi, Becky.”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Well…um…I’m a little busy.”

  She giggled to herself, peeking behind me. “Is Aidan here?” Her voice was quiet, and she was suppressing laughter.

  “Uh…yeah.”

  “You won’t believe who I’ve spent the past three nights with.”

  I shrugged.

  “Aaron. You know, he’s actually kind of cool.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh…right…‘busy.’” She made the quotes with her fingers.

  “Shut up.” I laughed. “It isn’t like that.”

  “Telling me it isn’t like that when I didn’t say it was ‘like’ anything means it’s totally like that.” She chuckled.

  “Right.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll leave you to it, but you are coming to opening night, yes?”

  “Opening night?”

  She put her hand on her chest and exclaimed proudly, “Remember? I got the lead!”

  I smiled, and it was genuine. I knew how much it meant to her, but I had actually forgotten about the play with everything going on. “That’s right! I’m so excited for you, Becky!” I pulled her into a hug.

  It was difficult for me to show my enthusiasm when there was a flawless, dangerous cult member in my bedroom.

  “Aaron is taking me out to celebrate after the dress rehearsal. Seeing as you’re busy, I just want you to at least be there for the show.”

  “Definitely.”

  “Friday night at seven.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Bye, Janie.” She leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

  “Bye, Becky.”

  She skipped away, but I nearly shoved her out the door. I felt bad not being able to celebrate with her and Aaron, but the guilt didn’t last long; I had other things to worry about.

  I raced back upstairs, and Aidan turned from the window to face me. “Becky?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. She reminded me about her play coming up. I’d…love for you to come.”

  He smiled. “Sure. So what does she think about…us?”

  “I told her it isn’t like that, but she doesn’t believe me.”

  He frowned. “Well…isn’t it sort of…err…like that?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess so.”

  Aidan turned from me, and his smile vanished, his body suddenly becoming rock solid. His face was hard and emotionless.

  “Aidan?”

  “Wh—who…?” He cleared his throat, and I could hear his heavy breathing.

  I had never seen him speak that way, stumbling over his words. I had never seen him so imperfect.

  “Who is this?” His voice sounded almost forced out of him.

  He was staring at an old picture on my dresser.

  “Who do you think?” I walked up beside him and pointed at it. “It’s Danny.”

  “Short for Daniel, right?”

  I nodded.

  It was an old picture of him in his red baseball cap and red T-shirt. He wore that outfit a lot when we wer
e kids. He was smiling the way he always had, the way I remembered. I was somewhere in the background, just a blur.

  He cleared his throat. “Oh, of course.”

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing.” He was suddenly perfect again. “He just reminds me of someone. Never mind.”

  I nodded. It was strange that he would have reacted that way. How could it possibly be anybody he knew? I tried to brush it off, but it almost haunted my dreams that night. I felt like I was in the cold wood, saturated with rain. Aidan was there, looking terrified, holding the picture of Danny. The picture was different somehow. My brother didn’t have that old innocent grin I remembered, but his face was blank, stone cold. Not my Danny. I dropped to my knees on the cold, wet bracken and felt myself falling apart.

  I woke up frightened and buried my face in Aidan’s chest.

  “Did I wake you?” he whispered.

  I shook my head.

  He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. “Have happy dreams, love.”

  I smiled and shuddered when I heard him call me “love.” Perhaps I had only dreamed that part.

  “Are you going to school?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “No, but you should.”

  “I’m not going without you.”

  “It’s safe. You should go.”

  I shook my head. I could be just as stubborn.

  “Will you go if I come with you?”

  I nodded.

  “All right. Let me get home really fast. I’ll be back before you’re ready.”

  “I bet.” I laughed. “You have a way of appearing out of nowhere.”

  He smiled.

  I showered quickly, actually feeling anxious over the thought that Aidan would be back. My feelings had turned so quickly. I tried to shake off the dream. I got dressed and actually used the blow dryer, stalling until I had to go back into my bedroom. I got dressed and walked back in.

  There was Aidan in a dark blue T-shirt and loose-fitting blue jeans. He was staring at my brother’s picture again.

  “He was happy,” he said quietly.

  “Yes.”

  He turned to face me. He was smiling, which didn’t seem to match the tone in his voice. “Ready?”

  I half smiled back. “Sure.”

  School was a haze. Even though Aidan was there with me every chance he could be, I wanted to get home. After school, Aidan dropped me off. It was one of those days where I couldn’t remember what I had done all day and didn’t even remember the drive home.