by E. J. King
“Rafe, you of all people should know why I have to do this. I have to know who she was, even if she wasn’t the person I have pictured in my mind. I just need to know the truth about where I came from.”
“I get it,” Rafe nodded slowly. “If you’re sure, then I support you.”
I waited a few minutes before cutting the tension with a playful question.
“I can’t believe you are finally taking me home to meet your parents! Do you think they will like me?”
“I have no doubt,” Rafe said with a chuckle. “I’m sure Ken will like you more than he likes me.”
We needed to stop for gas a few miles outside of Rushing Meadows. Ethan exited at a small town that looked like it hadn’t been updated since the early 1900s. I wasn’t sure they would even have a gas station, but he managed to find one a half-mile off the highway.
“I’m going to grab a coffee,” I told Rafe as he went around the car to fill up the tank.
“Grab me one.”
The coffee machine in the station was ancient and after pressing the button to fill a cup, I started reading the local paper. If the Nights had chosen to move to this town, there was probably quite a bit of supernatural activity in the area.
I didn’t have to look long. The information I wanted was on the front page.
“Where’s my coffee?” Rafe asked, throwing his hands up in disappointment. He and Ethan were leaning against my car, competing to throw rocks in a trashcan twenty feet away.
“Forget about that. It smelled like dirty feet anyway.” I held up the paper. “Half a dozen people have gone missing in the last two days.”
“Souls?” Ethan asked, reaching for the paper.
I nodded. “Looks like Benton’s handiwork. I think he knew we would end up here and he’s waiting for us.”
“How could he possible know that?” Rafe looked more than a little skeptical.
“He compelled Ethan knowing we would find the nearest expert in compulsion. He knew Karl would point us in the direction of your parents. He wants us in this town.” I almost laughed at how absurdly complex his plan had been. He was nothing if not dedicated.
“But why here?” Ethan wondered.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
We only had one mile to travel before we could ask Ken directly. I could feel Rafe getting more anxious with every passing block. He looked so pale that I wondered if he was going to be sick.
Ethan pulled over a block before the address we had been given and Rafe pulled up behind him. We all agreed that we should try to catch them by surprise. If they knew we were coming, there was a chance they might not answer the door at all.
“It’s there if you need it,” I whispered to Rafe, brushing my hand against his.
Rafe liked to be a tough guy, so I didn’t want to force it on him, but I want him to know that I was there for him. I was surprised when he instantly threaded his fingers through mine.
Ethan took the lead, walking right up to the house. I noticed there were three cars in the driveway and wondered what that meant. Did the Nights have company? Should we come back later?
But the guys seemed resolved to take care of this as soon as possible, so I kept my mouth shut. Maybe it would be good if other people were present. Ken would be less likely to lose it in front of friends.
The guys froze in front of the door and after waiting for one of them to the ring the bell, I took matters into my own hands. We heard it chime inside, followed by heavy footsteps in our direction. Too heavy to belong to a woman. Rafe’s grip on my hand was cutting off circulation.
The door flew open, but it wasn’t Ken on the other side. However, it was someone from my past. Someone I thought I would never see again.
“Luke?”
“Kaylie!”
Luke Campton. The boy that had been my first. He had fallen in love with me and when I realized that I didn’t feel the same, I left him without saying goodbye. And now he was standing in my new love’s parents’ home, staring at me like he wanted to both hug and punch me at the same time.
Then, before I could ask him what he was doing in the Night house, another man appeared. This one I didn’t know, but his appearance made Rafe stand tall and rigid. It had to be Ken Night.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, looking between his two sons.
“Hi, Dad,” Ethan said, sounding just like a little boy eager for his father’s approval.
“You’re not welcome here,” he said coldly.
Ethan tried again. “If you’ll just give us a second to explain-”
“No.” He turned to Rafe, eyes burning with hatred. “Get the hell out of here. If you try to come back, it will be the last thing you ever do.”
“Is that a threat?” Rafe snapped, finally finding his voice.
“Mr. Night,” I took one step forward, positioning myself between father and son.
He didn’t look at me, but he did look down at where I was still clutching Rafe’s hand. His eyes darted back up to his son. “Let me guess, you knocked her up?”
“What?” My mouth dropped open. “No, that’s not it at all.”
“Kaylie, let’s go,” Rafe muttered. He tried to pull me back, but I wasn’t willing to give up yet.
“I’m Kaylie Hart,” I said, hoping that would be enough.
Now, he finally looked at me. “Hart? You are the Hart girl?”
I nodded.
“Listen to me, Kaylie Hart. If you continue to mess around with James Rafferty, you’re going to get what you deserve. Just like your mother.”
With that, he slammed the door shut.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I remember the first fight I ever had with my father. I was eight. Dad had taken me on a hunt without the rest of the family. At first, I had been proud. He thought I was old enough to face the Souls. And apparently he was right, because I got my first real kill that night.
Afterward, I started to feel guilty. Hadn’t that Soul been a real person? What about its family?
Dad explained that we didn’t have a choice; Souls weren’t human anymore and they could never become human. If we didn’t stop them, they would kill dozens of helpless people. It was our destiny.
By the time we got home, I’d made up my mind. I wanted a new destiny.
When I told Dad, he tried to be patient at first. But when I called him a murderer, he grew stern. I was stubborn, even then, and I started to yell. I was sent to my room, where I sulked until I eventually fell asleep.
Dad snuck in sometime during the night and sat on the bed next to me, stroking my hair. When I opened my eyes, he didn’t smile. Very seriously, he said, “The world needs you, Kaylie. You are special. It isn’t always going to be easy, but your destiny matters. You can save the world, kiddo.”
With the door slammed in our face, we didn’t know what to do next. It wasn’t entirely a surprise, but we had all been hoping for a different reaction from Ethan and Rafe’s dad. He hadn’t seen or spoken to either of them for over two years. Apparently, he wasn’t in the mood for that to change just yet.
“Maybe if I try again,” I stammered, not willing to give up. We had come so far.
“Kaylie, forget it. Let’s go.” Rafe was still holding my hand and he tugged me away from the house.
“Maybe if we get your mom’s attention,” I tried, desperate to make it work. I needed to find out what their father knew about my mother’s death.
Rafe looked like he was going to snap. “We need to go, Kaylie.”
“But-” I stopped when I saw the pain in Rafe’s eyes.
“I just can’t be here. Please.” He looked and sounded broken.
I would’ve done anything to take that hurt away from him. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Ethan was already ten yards ahead of us on his way back to the car. It looked like he was taking it even harder than Rafe.
“Is he going to be okay?” I asked, flinching as Ethan slammed a fist onto the hood of his car.
“Looks like a normal reaction to me.” Rafe looked like he was thinking about following Ethan’s lead with hitting something.
“I’ll drive,” I said, holding my hand out for the keys.
Rafe thought about protesting, but he ended up handing them over.
I drove us around town until we found what appeared to be the only motel. No matter how much Rafe and Ethan might want to leave town, I needed us to stay. I had to talk to Ken.
We paid for a room for one night, hoping that was all we would need. After dropping our bags in the room, it was time to talk strategy. Rafe insisted on waiting until we had drinks in front of us, so we walked half a block down the road until we stumbled across a bar. It was barely one in the afternoon, but that didn’t stop us from ordering drinks.
“I think Ken might talk to me if I go alone,” I suggested after we had each slammed a couple of shots.
“No.” Rafe didn’t think about it for even a second.
“Rafe-”
“You don’t know him, Kaylie. You have no idea what that man is capable of doing…” Rafe looked up from his drink, giving me a meaningful look. “I won’t let him be alone with you. It’s too risky.”
“Hey.” Ethan’s eyes shot over to me like he just remembered something important. “Who was that other guy at the house? You knew him.”
“Oh.” I felt my cheeks warm. This wasn’t a conversation I’d ever hope to have, let alone with Ethan and Rafe. “That was Luke Campton.”
“Campton?” Rafe’s eyes flashed. “I know that name.”
I nodded. “He comes from a Hunter family. I stayed with them for a while after my family was killed.”
The waitress had perfect timing as she set down our next round of drinks, but the guys weren’t easily distracted.
“You guys totally hooked up, didn’t you?” Ethan said, glazed eyes betraying that he’d already had one drink too many.
“That’s incredibly personal and none of your business.” I kept my eyes on my beer, aware that I was blushing fiercely.
“You are so busted.” Ethan laughed. “Don’t worry, we all have ex-lovers that we wish we could forget.”
I slammed the empty bottle on the table and said, “I need to use the ladies’ room.”
It was completely an attempt to avoid more awkward questioning and we all knew it. Rafe had been quiet through the whole conversation and I worried about what thoughts might be running through his head.
In the bathroom, I splashed cold water on my face. It wasn’t that big of a deal really. So I’d dated Luke Campton. Rafe had hooked up with at least a dozen girls just in the first month after he moved in upstairs. He couldn’t exactly be mad that I had one ex-boyfriend.
But I knew that I wasn’t flustered because of Rafe. I was feeling guilty again about how I had used Luke and then left him without a proper goodbye.
Before I could rejoin the guys, I need a shot of something strong. I put in my order and waited at the bar, my back to Rafe and Ethan. I felt eyes watching me, and after a quick look around, I realized that I was the only female in the bar.
“Great,” I muttered, not enjoying all of the male attention.
“Can I buy the pretty lady a drink?” A man asked as he edged next to me at the bar.
“No thanks-” My mouth dropped open. “Oh, it’s you.”
Luke smiled shyly, the same smile that had attracted me to him in the first place. “Yeah, it’s me.”
I had never thought that I would see Luke again and I had no idea what to say. He looked different than I remembered- older. Same blond hair and green eyes, same dimple in the cheek, but more mature now. No longer the boy next door, he was a handsome, charming man instead.
“You don’t seem excited to see me,” he finally said after I stared blankly for an uncomfortable amount of time.
The bartender returned with my shot and Luke ordered one for himself.
“What are you doing here, Luke?” I didn’t mean to be rude, but his random appearance was shocking.
“I came to the bar looking for you. There aren’t a lot of places in this town, and this was only the third place I tried-” he stopped, seeing the confusion on my face. “Oh, you mean what was I doing at the Night’s?”
“That would be a good place to start.” The shot burned as it went down, but I barely noticed.
I did notice when Luke’s eyes darted over my shoulder and narrowed threateningly.
“Kaylie. Everything okay here?”
Rafe. He sounded annoyed.
“I’m fine.” I shot him a glance and became irritated by the look of hostility on his face. He didn’t even know Luke. “This is Luke Campton.”
“James Rafferty,” Rafe said, his voice gruffer than usual. “You were at my parents’ house.”
“I was.” Luke didn’t seem at all intimidated by Rafe’s cool demeanor.
“Luke was just getting ready to tell me about that,” I explained. “Why don’t you join us for a drink?”
Luke shrugged and picked up his drink. We were on our way to the table when Rafe grabbed my elbow.
“What’s going on, Kaylie?” Rafe asked, keeping his eyes on Luke.
“How should I know?” I shrugged, annoyed. “It’s not like I invited him.”
“You don’t seem very displeased by his surprise appearance.” He frowned hard.
A ridiculous thought crossed my brain. It was so absurd, that I laughed. “You’re not jealous of Luke?”
“No,” was his quick response, but he wouldn’t make eye contact. “I just think it’s weird that he showed up here.”
He had a point.
“Well, let’s go find out why.” I could feel his eyes drilling into my back as I walked away.
Luke and Ethan had already made introductions, saving me the excruciating awkwardness of small talk.
“You look good, Kaylie.” Luke seemed oblivious to the hostile stare Rafe was sending in his direction. “But then, you always did.”
“Cut the crap, Luke. Why are you here?” I couldn’t help but think that Luke also looked good and my cheeks flushed.
“Ken and I have been working together,” he said simply, as if that would be enough explanation.
Rafe’s body went rigid. “What do you mean, working together?”
“You read the papers.” Luke felt comfortable making that assumption because every good Hunter did research when they arrived in a new town. “There’s a lot of activity in the area. It’s been slowly building the last few weeks which is why Ken moved here. But in the last couple of days, it pretty much exploded. I’m guessing that has something to do with you coming to town.”
“What does that mean?” Rafe’s voice was deep and gruff.
“Chill,” I hissed, bumping my leg against his under the table. It wasn’t like Luke was threatening me.
Luke glanced between us. “Sorry. I just meant that everyone knows Kaylie is special. It seems a little strange that the supernatural world would randomly decide to have a party right before she shows up. I’m guessing it’s more than just a coincidence.”
“You’re probably right.” I didn’t think now was the time to get into the whole Benton discussion. “So you’ve just been living with the Nights?”
“Yeah. Ken and Kate have been amazing, treating me like I’m one of their sons.” He froze, realizing that he was sitting at a table with their two actual sons.
“My apologies,” Rafe muttered.
Luke winced. “Yeah, that was pretty brutal back at the house. What’s the deal?”
“None of your business.”
I kicked Rafe’s leg and he shot me an annoyed glance.
“Our family is… complicated,” Ethan offered.
Luke nodded. “Fair enough.”
“How many Souls do you think we are dealing with?” I asked, for no other reason than to change the subject.
“Well that’s the thing.” He tapped his fingernails to his glass. “I don’t think we’re just deal
ing with Souls. I think we’re also dealing with Shifters.”
“Shifters?” It was the first thing Rafe said to Luke that wasn’t dripping with loathing.
“Bodies ripped apart, organs missing- too much blood lying around for it to be just Souls.” Luke finished his drink in one big gulp. “Does this mean we get to hunt together, Hart?”
His grin was playful and charming and I knew that he hadn’t picked up on my relationship with Rafe. Luke had always been a good flirter.
“We need to talk to Ken,” I said, deflecting his tease. “That’s why we are in town.”
“Ken? What does he know?”
I debated whether to tell him the truth. Luke had been a good friend to me when my whole world was destroyed. I felt I owed him the truth, so I quickly recapped him on my adoption and biological parents. He listened with rapt attention.
“A lot has happened since the last time we were together,” he said when I was done. I saw Rafe flinch.
“Yes. A lot has changed.” I let my leg brush against Rafe’s, letting him know that in my opinion, some things had changed for the better. “I’m not the girl you used to know.”
“You’re not the only one that is different.” Luke glanced at the time. “Look, I need to head back to the house. You guys should stop by tonight. I’ll be out hunting with Ken, so you can try talking to Kate without him around.”
It was a perfect plan. We could use their mom to get to Ken.
“Sounds good.” I was already thinking about what we would say to her.
“Come by after dark,” he said, standing in one fluid movement. “Good seeing you, Hart.”
With a wink, he was gone.
“That was good,” Ethan said, sounding surprised. “We have a way in.”
Rafe didn’t look like he thought it was good at all, but I didn’t know if that was because of his distaste for Luke or his concern about facing his mother.
“Why the hell would Dad hunt with that punk?” Rafe wondered bitterly.
Even though he was being childish, I wanted to hug him. His relationship with his parents was dysfunctional, at best, and now a stranger had come in and taken his place with no problems. That had to be upsetting.
“Let’s go back to the motel for a bit and sober up.”