by E. J. King
“May have information? Either he does or he doesn’t.” I was getting tired of the fake leads that we had been finding. I needed concrete information.
“He’s reluctant to help because he doesn’t want to draw Benton’s wrath. I don’t blame him for that.” Mark waived his fork at me. “Anyone that helps us will be putting a giant target on their backs. If we fail to stop Benton, they will be the next ones to die.”
I said, “If we fail to stop Benton, everyone will die.
“Don’t be dramatic,” Ethan said. “Just most people will die. Benton will need to keep some people around as blood bags.”
“Yes, thanks for that clarification.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re always so helpful.”
“Anytime,” he said with a wink.
Hope spoke up. “That’s actually a good point. Benton’s end goal can’t be to wipe out all the humans. He has to get his blood from somewhere.”
“I don’t think his plan is to kill all humans. I think his plan is to kill me and any other Hunter that gets in his way.” I pushed away my plate, suitably full, and stood. “I’m going to start cleaning up.”
Rafe followed me to the kitchen. “Hey, I’ll handle the cleanup.”
“I’ve got it.” I started to rinse my plate, but he grabbed it from me.
“Let me help.” There was a quiet urgency in his eyes that said he wasn’t just talking about helping with the dishes.
Relenting, I stepped away from the sink. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
“This?” he asked, gesturing to the chaotic house around us. Then he caught the flicker of emotion in my eyes. “Oh. You mean that whole evil father, end of the world thing.”
“Yeah, that.” I leaned against the fridge for support. “I’m ready for it to come to an end, whatever the end might be.”
Rafe turned away from the sink and dried his hands on a towel. He gave me a long, thoughtful look without saying anything. Then he took two quick steps until he was standing in front of me and he gently pulled me forward until I was in a tight embrace. Rafe didn’t say anything, didn’t even move. He just held me.
I wasn’t about to resist. There wasn’t anything more comforting in the world than being in his arms. Tonight especially, I wished we could stay that way forever.
After at least five minutes had passed, Rafe whispered in my ear, “You are so strong, Kaylie. But now you’ve got to find a way to be even stronger. I know that’s not fair, but there’s no other way. We need you.”
He could’ve said anything to me in that moment. He could’ve told me to suck it up and stop being a brat. He could’ve told me that he understood and that my feelings were justifiable. Instead, he said exactly the right thing. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but it was exactly what I needed to hear.
“You’re right.” With all of my will power, I managed to step back. “It’s time for me to start being a Hart.”
“That’s my girl.” He dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “Now go get to work. I’ll finish up in here.”
It was an offer I couldn’t resist. The others were just finishing their dinner and I was alone in the living room for the time being. I spent that time studying the map again, certain that the answer was somewhere in the random display of dots. I added a new dot to represent the sudden blizzard we were experiencing.
Hope came to stand next to me. “It looks like a weird squiggle to me.”
“That’s what it looks like to me, too,” I admitted.
“Have you heard from Lincoln?” she asked quietly.
Ever since Hope had mysteriously turned up in a locked cell in Haven’s basement, I had been trying to reach my brother. I had last seen them together, and now Lincoln was gone and Hope had no memory of what had happened. I hadn’t been able to get ahold of him despite calling multiple times per day. I was still hopeful that eventually Hope’s memory would return. Sadly, this wasn’t the first time my brother had gone missing.
“I haven’t.” Even talking about it was too hard. I didn’t want to accept that it was possible something bad had happened to Lincoln. “I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually.”
“I just wish I could remember what happened,” Hope said.
She wasn’t the only one that wished that.
We spent the night doing more research, searching for any clue to help us find and beat Benton. Mark managed to convince one of his Hunter contacts to meet with us in the morning. We would have to drive almost two hours to get to the town where he was staying. I just hoped it would be worth it.
After a while the others began to drift away until Rafe and I were alone. The room was lit only by an old black and white movie playing on the television and a warm fire blazing in the fireplace.
“Is this part two of our date?” I asked Rafe, sliding over on the couch to sit closer to him.
“I don’t know… I was thinking maybe we should break up,” Rafe grinned down at me with a sparkle of humor in his eyes.
“Okay.” I nodded and dropped my hand on his thigh, patting it softly. “I guess that means we won’t be doing the horizontal part of the date.”
Rafe put an arm around me so that I couldn’t move away from him. “Whoa. I was just kidding. Playing hard to get.”
“Hard?” I asked, raising a challenging eyebrow.
Rafe’s eyes locked onto mine. I expected a teasing reply, but he didn’t say anything. He just kept looking at me. It was unnerving, so I reacted the best way I knew how- I kissed him.
“Kaylie-” he started to say before I pushed a finger over his lips.
“Enough talking,” I said. “More undressing.”
He caught my hand as I reached for his zipper. “Kaylie. Slow down.”
“Slow down?” I smirked. “When did you turn into a sixteen-year-old girl?”
“I didn’t say stop.” His hand slipped under my shirt. “I just said slow down. I want to savor this… savor you.”
I groaned. “You mean you want me to exercise some self-control? I’m not sure I know how to do that when it comes to you.”
“Well, then. I’ll just have to teach you.” He unbuttoned my jeans without even trying, his thumb hooking into the waistband. “I plan to take my time with you, love.”
With the way his hand was moving slowly over every inch of my skin, I had no doubt I was going to enjoy every torturous second.
“How much time?” I gasped as his body pressed down on mine.
“We have all night,” he said, a gentle hand stroking my cheek. “And then a lifetime after that.”
Hours later, we lay in the quiet dark. The movie had long since ended and the fire was starting to fade away. I hardly noticed because Rafe’s body was warmly curled around mine. I could tell from the rate of his breathing that he wasn’t asleep yet.
“You were different tonight,” I said in a whisper.
“Different good or different bad?” His voice was low and rumbling.
“Good. Very good.” I smiled into the dark, blushing at the memory of how tender and intimate he had been. “I’m not complaining, I’m just curious why.”
I could feel him taking several deep breaths, letting them out slowly. “I don’t know.”
I let that answer hang in the air and waited for him to continue. With Rafe, it was important to give him time to collect his thoughts.
“Honestly, I think that tonight was the first night that I felt like an equal in this relationship.” He spoke so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him.
“What?” I rolled to face him, barely keeping from falling off the couch. “How can you say that?”
“Kaylie, don’t get upset,” he said quickly. “It’s not because of anything you did. It’s just that from the moment we met, I always felt like you were too good for me. I’ve just been waiting this whole time for you to figure it out. I’ve felt like I love you so much that there was no possible way you could feel the same way about me.”
I felt inexplicably hurt. “That�
�s not true, James.”
“I know.” He hurried to cut me off before I could launch into a full-blown protest. “I know that- now. You told me all the time that you loved me, it was just my own insecurities that wouldn’t let me believe it. I think that’s why I’ve been pushing you away lately. I was trying to keep myself from getting hurt.”
I started hard into his eyes and knew that he was being completely honest. It was hard for him to share his feelings so openly.
“You are the great love of my life, James Rafferty.” I placed my hand over his heart. “You’ve had my heart since the first time you gave me that sexy, cocky smile of yours that I’ve never been able to resist. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to spend the rest of my life being worthy of your heart.”
“You’re only saying that because of the mind-blowing sex,” he said, giving me the exact smile I had been talking about.
“That certainly didn’t hurt.” I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath my lips. His heart was so strong and so pure. I wanted nothing more than to protect it. I said, “You and me.”
He replied, “Always and forever.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The snow finally stopped just after midnight, leaving nearly a foot of snow on the ground. It was actually quite beautiful when viewed from inside.
“Your coffee, my lady.” Rafe appeared at my back, holding a steaming mug in front of my face.
“Don’t I get any sugar with my coffee?” I asked.
“Of course.” He gave me a long, hungry kiss. His morning stubble ticked my face. When he pulled away, he said, “I like this version of Kaylie Hart.”
“What version is that?” I reached a nervous hand up to my hair. “Bed-head Kaylie?”
He smiled softly. “No. Adorable and sweet Kaylie.”
“She just hasn’t had her coffee yet so her normal snarkiness hasn’t kicked in.” I leaned back into Rafe’s warmth and his arm went around my waist.
“We’re going to have a hell of a drive ahead of us this morning,” he said seriously.
“Mark has a big pickup out back that should be able to handle the drifts.” I had already been thinking ahead. “We aren’t far from the highway and I’m sure that will have been cleared by now.”
I heard footsteps on the stairs that were too light to belong to Mark or Ethan.
“Good morning, Hope,” I said without turning around.
I heard her yawn loudly. “Oh good. You aren’t dead.”
“Why would you think I was dead?” I asked.
“Because you didn’t sleep in our room last night.” She stopped talking abruptly when we heard louder feet headed in our direction. Rafe instinctively moved away.
“Everyone is up early today,” Mark said, looking haggard. He really needed a shave and a haircut. “I’m assuming that’s because you all got eight hours of uninterrupted sleep last night.”
The look he gave Rafe said that he knew exactly what we had been up to while he had been sleeping. I pretended not to notice.
“We need to get on the road soon,” I said. “Any chance you’ll let us borrow the big truck out back?”
“Sure, but it only seats two people.” He eyed me carefully. “That means some of us are staying behind.”
“We’re just meeting with another Hunter,” I said. “I don’t think we need to take the whole army.”
Hope sighed. “And it’s finally cloudy enough for me to be up and about during the day. Now you won’t even let me play.”
“There will be plenty of opportunity to play later, Hope,” I said.
After breakfast and a shower, it was time to hit the road. Mark’s truck was rusty and loud, but the heat worked and it had no trouble plowing through the snow.
“This baby has got some kick,” Rafe said as we flew down the highway. “Maybe I’m a truck guy.”
“Yeah… sure you are,” I said, tightening my seatbelt. “You’re also way over the center line, truck guy.”
“You’re just jealous of my mad skills handling a stick,” he said smugly.
I gave him a skeptical look. “Really? You think I don’t have impressive stick-handling skills?”
“No. No I did not mean that at all,” he said quickly. Rafe added a wink and said, “All of your skills are impressive.”
“Nice recovery.” I settled back into the seat and tried not to focus on how fast the landscape was speeding past the window.
“So tell me about this Hunter we’re meeting. Why does Mark think he’s going to be a good lead?”
“Liam Emery is my dad’s old buddy,” I explained. “They used to hunt together back in the day, before Link and I were born. I guess he knew Benton, too.”
The drive should’ve taken over two hours considering the road conditions, but Rafe had chosen to pretend the road wasn’t covered in snow. We made it in just over 90 minutes. Liam had been reluctant to give us his personal address, so we met him at a local café.
“Which one do you think is Liam?” Rafe asked dryly.
The café was nearly filled, almost every table occupied by families and elderly couples. Only one table, the one in the dark corner, held a solitary man.
“My money’s on the shifty looking guy in the corner,” I said.
“Alright then. Let’s do this.” Rafe led the way to the table.
The man looked up when we were just a few feet away. He studied each of us with Hunter-eyes, making a complete judgment before either of us spoke.
“Liam Emery?” I asked.
“Depends who’s asking,” he said. “Are you the Hart girl?”
“Kaylie.”
He nodded. “Take a seat.”
I sat across from him with Rafe sitting immediately to my left. “This is James Rafferty.”
“Rafferty?” Liam’s eyebrow’s shot up. “Any relation to Tom Rafferty?”
“I’m his son.” Rafe’s jaw clenched.
“I knew your father very well,” Liam said. “Both of your fathers, actually.”
“How did you know them?” I noticed a tattoo on his wrist that looked like a family crest. I wondered if his family’s Hunter lineage was as long as mine.
Liam pointed to the metal coffee pot at the edge of the table. “Coffee?”
“Sure.” I said, nudging the mug in front of me toward the pot.
“I met your dad when we were both about your age.” He was talking to me now. “He was hunting a group of Souls that were on a rampage in South Dakota. We crossed paths and hit it off, so we decided to team up for a while. I ended up hunting with him for almost a year.”
“How did you know Tom Rafferty?” I asked.
“Through your father.” Liam noticed the surprise on my face. “You didn’t know they were friends? I assumed that was how the two of you met.”
Rafe spoke. “I never knew my father.”
“That’s a shame,” Liam said, sounding like he meant it. “He was a good man and a fantastic Hunter. Terrible what happened to him.”
Rafe shifted uncomfortably. “We’re not here to talk about my father.”
“Alright.” Liam leaned back. “What do you want to talk about?”
“My father,” I said, then clarified. “My biological father.”
“Benton?” His eyebrows pinched together. “If you’re smart, you’ll keep your distance from that man.”
I scoffed. “He’s not a man, he’s a monster.”
“Don’t let the fangs fool you, little girl.” Liam looked bored. “Behind every pointy-toothed monster is a deeply suppressed human soul.”
“He’s tried to kill me and my friends multiple times. He’s a monster.” As a Hunter, it was never a good idea to spend too much time thinking about the potential humanity of the Souls we hunted. It would be like picturing a cute little pig just before eating a plate of bacon. “What are you, a Souletarian?”
“You mean you’ve really never stopped to think about it? He is your father. If you had a chance to save
him, to bring back his soul, you wouldn’t do it?” He looked doubtful. “I think you would.”
I glared hard at him. “You said that you’re a Hunter. If that’s true, you know there is no way to save someone once they complete the transition.”
“I guess we have a different view of the truth.” Liam continued to stare at me, ignoring Rafe. “I think deep down you know that I’m right. You’ve seen a Soul that wasn’t pure evil. You know that Souls can retain humanity.”
He was right. I did know that. I had witnessed it in Hope. Despite having completed the transition, she wasn’t like the other Souls. She was still Hope, except she also happened to crave human blood. But she wasn’t a monster.
“How?” I asked stiffly. “How is it possible?”
“What do you know about the Dark?” he asked.
“The Dark?” My brow furrowed. “Like Dark Souls?”
His head shook. “No. The Dark. The mystical, evil force that drives the supernatural world.”
“”Like dark magic?” I asked.
“Dark magic is the sorcery carried out by humans. The Dark is something that has been around since the beginning of time, when the first monster was created,” Liam said in a low, rasping voice. “It’s in the blood of every monster. It’s in your blood.”
I felt Rafe tense next to me.
“This has been a nice history lesson, but what does the Dark have to do with Benton?” It felt like every time I thought I was close to a lead, I just ended up with even more unanswered questions.
“Your mother, Violet, tried everything to save Benton. After things went south when she tried to feed him her blood, she didn’t just give up. She went into hiding to keep you safe, but also to find a new way to cure him.” Liam’s dark eyes scanned my face for a reaction.
“How do you know that?” I asked, trying to keep my face as calm as possible.
All this time I had assumed that once Benton turned, Violet had been running for her life. It had never occurred to me that she had never given up on him. But then again, I didn’t know anything about my biological mother.