Death's Dark Horse

by Ruby Loren

  January half-laughed. “I don’t fit in. I was able to win because I’m a freak of nature. If I have to tell them all you’re the leader personally, I’ll do it. I’ll even fake losing to you in a fight, if you like.”

  Ryan looked at her, helplessly. “Come on, January, they need you. I need you.” He paused. “I don’t want you to leave.”

  She looked at his handsome face in surprise. “Do you mean that?”

  He blushed – something she’d never thought a man like him would do, and he nodded. “I like you. What’s not to like?” He said and January thought she had too many answers for that.

  She was just so used to not being noticed – a pale and washed out shadow of her younger sister. Her parents were both dark and stunning, too. She shook her head to clear the rose-tinted visions that were dancing through her head. It didn’t change anything.

  “I’d be a terrible leader. I have none of your gifts! Anyway, I can’t stay - it would be too dangerous.”

  “Dangerous?”

  She’d already said too much, but the truth might be the only thing that would persuade him.

  “I’m a bounty hunter, Ryan. For four years, I’ve been killing vampires and getting paid for it. I was broke and needed to get away from here, so I agreed to sign up for life and to never say no to a target. But when I came back from Paris, I got a call…”

  Ryan made a sudden noise of comprehension. “Gregory Drax. That’s why he’s gone.”

  January nodded. “I need to seem like I’m looking for him, but even then - I don’t think it will be enough. I have to disappear. Someone’s going to come looking and if they find me, I’ll probably be dead.” She had no illusions.

  “Do you know who’s behind all of this? It sounds so… unusual.” He pulled a face.

  January knew he was thinking it was all a scam. He hadn’t seen the money.

  “I have my suspicions,” she said, vaguely.

  Ryan nodded along like he understood. “Right. Don’t run. You have more chance of living if we’re there to help. You have so many people on your side right now.”

  January snorted. “Just because I got rid of Luke. It won’t take them long to realise I’m terrible at all this.” She shook her head. “I’m not letting anyone die because of me. No way.”

  “The pack protects their own. You’re staying,” Ryan said, with a hint of a growl. “What else are you going to do? Run forever because you can’t bring yourself to kill Gregory?”

  January saw the sadness in his face. “I don’t feel anything for Gregory,” she told him and suddenly felt brighter.

  Maybe it was why Ryan had been so awkward around her all along.

  “Gregory got under my skin enough to make me hesitate. That’s why I feel I can’t do it. I’ve never seen him do anything that seems deserving of death.”

  Ryan frowned. “I’m sure he’s done plenty of bad things.”

  January nodded. “Sure, but then - I’m hardly a saint. Anyway, there’s something else I’ve wondered for ages. What happens when I finish every job they have? I know I’d probably get killed before then, but what I’m trying to say is - I don’t think it’s something that would last forever. As soon as I said yes, I was living on borrowed time.” She sighed. “I almost wish I’d stayed with my parents a little longer and got together enough money to move out - without having to take the job. But then, I know if I went back and lived with them, I’d make the same decision all over again.”

  They sat in a pensive silence for a few moments.

  “It’s settled. You have to stay.”

  January opened her mouth but Ryan put his hand over it.

  He smiled at her offended look. “No running. You said yourself that it’s pointless. Stay. We can run the pack together, if you really think you aren’t cut out for it.”

  She slowly nodded. Surprisingly, she felt a little better. She pulled his hand away from her mouth for a second. “Only if the rest of the pack agrees. I want them to know about the risk.”

  Ryan nodded, thoughtfully, his hand grazing her cheek. “I should probably get back to the bar. I lived there with Luke, but now he’s gone and left me with a huge mess to clear up. I’m not even sure who owns the place anymore. I think he was in more debt than he let on. That was why he started the night circuses.”

  January wondered what had happened to the money made by the seemingly successful business. They’d probably be finding out. A lot of Luke’s secrets would be coming to light soon.

  “Are you on your own in the bar?” She suddenly asked.

  “I am.”

  January chewed her cheeks to stop from saying it, but couldn’t. “You could stay with me. That is - if you wanted company. Not that you would. I’m sure you have so much to do.”

  Curses. She’d got so carried away with the idea that Ryan actually liked her, she’d blown it already.

  He was giving her a strange look.

  “Okay then,” he said after a pause.

  January blinked. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. It makes a lot of sense from the pack’s point of view.” He looked serious.

  January felt her spirits fall a little. “Oh, of course.” She looked away, so he couldn’t see her disappointment.

  When she turned her head back, his face was just centimetres away.

  “You are so gullible,” he said and leant forwards, kissing her with a rasp of stubble. January closed her eyes and melted into his warm mouth, thinking she could taste cinnamon.

  Ryan had literally just reconnected her landline when the phone rang. January picked it up, feeling that the caller had been trying to get through for a very long time. What if it was her mysterious employer calling to ask why Gregory wasn’t dead yet?

  It was far worse than that.

  “Jo’s just told us she’s leaving.”

  January closed her eyes, recognising her mother’s lack of introduction and accusatory tone.

  “Good for her,” January muttered, hoping that her rudeness would end the conversation.

  “She said you forced her to leave. January, I asked you to return so you could help us get Jo back on the right track - not so you could kick her out of the country! She was going to join Chevalier and Co.”

  “She’s leaving the country?” January asked, curiously, and then kicked herself. She didn’t want to know where Jo was going.

  “Yes - thanks to you. What did you do? The whole town’s in uproar saying that you marched in and challenged the leader of the pack. You’re lucky he left you alive! I wish we’d just forgotten about you in Paris. Coming back and making Jo leave her own home…”

  January drew a breath. “Stop. Stop right there. I’ve had enough. You don’t know anything about what’s been going on. You don’t know anything about your daughters, so I’ll fill you in. One of us was so desperate to get away from your crazy predetermined life plan that she accepted a job as a vampire killing bounty hunter. The other one betrayed her own sister by sharing the sister’s biggest secret with someone who then plotted to get her killed.” There was a pause as her mother tried to figure that one out.

  “Oh, I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding. You’re overreacting. You have to learn to share the limelight, January.”

  January pulled the phone away from her face and looked at it for a second, feeling white hot rage bubble up. She was going to regret this later.

  “You’re both out of the pack. I don’t want to see you again. If you try to communicate with other shifters, I’ll find it out.” Her mother made a clucking sound.

  “You can’t do that, January, dear. Only the leader…”

  “I am the leader. Goodbye, mother.” She put the phone down and pulled the cord out of the wall when it immediately started ringing again. Am I just as bad as they are, shutting them out from their world? She thought and didn’t know the answer.

  “Everything okay?”

  Ryan walked by, dragging a suitcase in the direction of the spare room. Januar
y hoped he wouldn’t actually be sleeping there. She smiled, pushing her doubts away and resolving to try not to tell anyone else she couldn’t see them anymore. At this rate, she was going to run out of people.

  “I’ve just had an argument with my mother,” she blurted, and her smile wilted.

  Ryan looked concerned. January started to fill him in on everything. It was strange to share so much of her history with someone who wasn’t a part of her family, but she had to start somewhere. It was time she found a new family.

  21

  “Are you ready for the full moon meet tonight?” Ryan asked when January walked in from work.

  He’d stayed home today, doing accounts for the bar.

  It had been three months since Luke and Trace had disappeared and the outstanding debts and other problems had still not been settled. January had shared a lot of things with Ryan, but she’d never mentioned that she was the one who’d told Luke to run. Everyone had just assumed that after he’d fled into the forest, he’d disappeared.

  “Of course!” She said, smiling a little nervously. It still felt strange not having to hide every time she turned into her second identity. That’s not to say her ‘coming out’ hadn’t come with its problems. Several shifters who’d been held in place by Luke’s regime had left, and far fewer local shifters turned up at pack meets, but the number of visiting shifters was huge. If the bar had been open, they might have been able to recoup some of the debt, but with most of the staff leaving - and the licence possibly being taken away after local residents had reported a disturbance when people had run, screaming for their lives - they hadn’t been able to open.

  January was just waiting for the right opportunity to step in and pay off all the debts, but she was worried Ryan would be offended after all the time he’d spent, working on the accounts. He was always telling her that they’d find a way to make things work.

  She bent down and wrapped her arms around him.

  He gave her a puzzled smile. “Love you,” he said.

  January hit him. She still needed to work on the whole emotion thing.

  She sat down at the table and wondered how many would be at the meeting tonight. The pack seemed to be swelling every time there was a full moon. She knew it was just the visitors, but it was becoming dangerous having so many animals in the forest. She wasn’t about to control them in the way Luke had, so there was far more scope for incidents between shifters.

  She opened her mouth to ask for Ryan’s opinion, but there was a knock on the door.

  Gregory stood on her doorstep. His blonde hair was darkened by the winter storm that had just started to rage. It was going to be a wild one in the woods tonight.

  “I thought I’d knock rather than…” He gave her a meaningful look.

  January wondered for the second time if Gregory might actually have feelings for her. Don’t even think about it.

  “That’s good of you. Ryan lives here now,” she said, somewhat stiffly, knowing that he was walking up behind her while they spoke.

  Gregory stepped forwards and the light that Ryan had added above the door illuminated his face. January saw lines and shadows that hadn’t been there before. There was even a half healed mark on his cheek. It would have been a cut to the bone when it had been dealt.

  “Come in,” January said, before Ryan could block the narrow hallway completely.

  As Gregory stepped inside, it occurred to her that it might have been a charade on Gregory’s part to pretend to Ryan that he still needed an invitation to enter the house. The twinkle in his grey eyes told her she was probably right.

  “Make yourself at home,” Ryan said, with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

  Gregory ignored him and sat down at the kitchen table. January shot Ryan a warning look.

  “Bad news, I’m afraid,” Gregory announced.

  Well you didn’t exactly bounce through the door… January thought.

  “I’ve been spending my time finding out all I can about your employers…” He paused and looked at Ryan.

  “It’s okay. He knows everything,” she said.

  Gregory’s eyes sparkled mischievously again. “Everything?”

  “What were you saying?” She prompted.

  “I’ve discovered the identity of your employers.” He paused for dramatic effect.

  January wanted to punch him.

  “They’re vampires,” he revealed.

  There was a stunned silence.

  “Vampires?”

  “Vampires,” he clarified. “The oldest of our kind. Just going by the sort of work they give you, I’d say they don’t want anyone else joining their club.”

  “I just… I just thought.” She sat down on another kitchen chair with a thump. The person on the other end of the line had spoken about justice and how the vampires she was killing were too old for this world. It had seemed like a good thing to be doing.

  “Tricked by vampires. Well, that’s never happened before,” she said, dryly.

  Gregory wriggled on his chair a little. “Yes, well, moving on. While I couldn’t get any more information on who these high flying vampires actually are, I did discover that we’re both on their kill list. You were right to think someone would come when you failed. I must admit, I’m actually curious as to who they’ll send, aren’t you?”

  January blinked. “You sound too cheerful.”

  Gregory rubbed his chin. “I suppose I’ve lived for so long that any change is something to be excited about.”

  He made it sound solemn, but January suspected that his tone was more to do with the fact that their futures were once more tied together. Great.

  “The pack will protect you,” Ryan told January.

  She nodded but the same old worries came back. She couldn’t ask them to risk their lives for her. It wasn’t fair.

  “It would appear that we’re all holing up and making our stand here in Hailfield,” Gregory said.

  January felt Ryan bristle. No, this wasn’t going to work at all.

  “We take the fight to them!” She blurted, wondering how much she was sounding like a bad action film heroine. “We’ll find these old vampires and I’ll give them the same justice they’ve been handing out to all of the vampires I was forced to kill.” Probably not the best moment to mention the money, she thought. “It’s them or us.”

  She risked a look at the two men in her kitchen. Ryan looked fired up. Gregory was silently laughing at her.

  “Well gang, it looks like we have another mystery on our hands,” Gregory quoted - surprisingly.

  Ryan growled at his sarcasm.

  January resisted the urge to start tearing her hair out. Why was it always when things started going right in life that something came along to ruin it all? It had only been a matter of time until her house of cards fell down. Bad things happen when outsiders try to fit in, she thought, sadly.

  January glanced round and caught Gregory rather obviously looking her up and down. Ryan had noticed too and appeared ready to tear his head off.

  She sighed, silently.

  This was going to be nothing like Scooby Doo.

  On top of the kitchen cupboard, the little black cat tilted its head and knew that the wheels of fate were finally starting to turn.

  Read on for the first few chapters of Death’s Hexed Hobnobs!

  Death’s Hexed Hobnobs

  Ruby Loren

  Chapter One

  The freezing winter air bit into January’s cheeks, introducing a little faint colour to her porcelain skin.

  The clearing in Witchwood Forest was empty. The first full moon of the New Year had not yet fully risen. January knew that soon the others would arrive. They would arrive in great numbers.

  She sighed and looked across at Ryan - a were-jaguar and her second in command. His tattooed sleeve rippled, and the Aztec style jaguar tattoo danced when he suppressed a shiver. Shape shifters ran hot, but it was well into the minuses in South East England that night.

  “Perhap
s the cold will put them off,” she said, knowing it was wishful thinking.

  “You know it won’t. They’re tourists who’ve come to stare at you. The world could be about to end and they’d still fight tooth and claw to be here. You’re famous now.”

  January bit her lip.

  She had never wanted any of this.

  Last year, her younger sister Jo had started hanging out with vampires. January had left Paris and moved back to her hometown, Hailfield, answering her parents’ call to help with Jo. She’d thought it would be a simple matter of talking to her sister and ironing everything out with their parent. Instead, she’d been hauled headfirst into the affairs of the local shifter and vampire community.

  After a whole lot of drama, she was now the leader of a pack of mismatched shifters, and her life was currently under threat from a mysterious organisation - who used to pay her to kill vampires for them.

  Things were a bit of a mess.

  “You know Gregory said that there’s definitely a bounty on my head for not killing him? One of these ‘tourists’ could just happen to be a trained killer. How are we going to know?” January tugged on her short, white blonde curls and worried about how uncertain the future had become.

  Not that it had been certain before then. She’d worked as a bounty hunter, killing off the oldest vampires around. Or at least - what she’d thought were the oldest vampires around. A job like that doesn’t give you much time to think about future years - but now more than ever, January felt like her options were narrowing.

  “I still don’t see why that bloodsucker is still walking and breathing. Couldn’t we just…?” Ryan raised two brown eyebrows at January and tried to give her the puppy dog eyes.

  She glared at him.

  “I know you two aren’t ever going to be best friends, but remember this isn’t just about him. I’m locked in for life. Even if I managed to successfully stab Gregory with the pointy end, one day there’s going to be a vampire that I can’t beat - and I don’t want to die. It used not to bother me, but now it does,” January admitted for the first time.