by Kelly Hall
As Jarreth bounded through the brush, he noticed the trees had gotten a little sparser, and suddenly, he tripped, nearly face-planting over a log.
But then the log moved. “What the hell is this?” The man jumped to his feet before Jarreth could recover, and suddenly, others followed with one warning cry. “Intruders!”
Canter took out his knife, and Katie grabbed her short sword. Jarreth went for his blade and, wielding the large knife, engaged in battle with the man, who swung his sword so close to Jarreth that he nearly took off his head.
The sun lit the sky as three more men joined, some armed and others not. Suddenly, Canter, Jarreth, and Katie all stood back to back, surrounded. “We don’t want any trouble,” said Jarreth, who could see his surroundings much better by the second.
There were tents, and from what he could tell, they had made it to the outskirts of the rogue camp.
“How did they get past the guards?” asked one man, who had shaggy hair and the faint trace of a scar over his right eye.
“Maybe they killed them?” said one of the others.
Suddenly, a rope lashed out, catching Canter around the neck, and before Jarreth could even react, he had one clenched tight, cutting into his throat.
Katie lashed out with her sword and cut the rope that had Jarreth, but as she chose to do so, a whip grabbed her arm, and before she could register the sting, she was disarmed and in the clutches of one of the men.
He glared at Jarreth as he held the blade to her throat. “You make another move, and I’ll cut off her head, and me and my boys will pass it around and fuck her pretty mouth.”
Canter knew he wanted to kill the men, but he had to be careful. The fear in Katie’s eyes only angered him more. “We’re not here to fight, and we didn’t kill anyone. We crossed the river and stumbled in here. We’re looking for our friend, Delilah.” He put his hand over his heart, giving the bastard a salute. “The Huntress said to tell you she always admired and respected your leader Patrick.”
The man who had Katie turned to his friend. “We have to take them to the boss.” He spat on the ground. It appeared to be the last thing he wanted to do.
The sun shone through the trees, glistening off the dew, while others stirred. The man with the scar led them to the center of camp and was approached by one of the guards.
“Who is this?”
“They got in past the guards somehow. They must have been sleeping. Say they’re looking for the new girl.”
“She’s in the boss’s tent.”
Jarreth’s pulse quickened with anger. She’d already taken up with the leader of the camp, and from the looks of the few women he saw standing around, she was probably his new trophy.
Katie’s heart sank, and she felt sorry for the things she’d said to him. She looked down at the ground and closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to see the pain in Jarreth’s eyes.
“Katie?” Grady’s voice sounded behind her.
She turned and saw him standing across the clearing. His hair was a mess, and he looked as if he hadn’t bathed in days. Her heart beat wildly, knowing he was going to be pissed she’d came, especially when he learned why.
“Let her go!” He stormed up to the man but was pushed aside.
The man with the scar turned on Grady. “Look, grunt, don’t tell me what to do. This camp was better off before you and your little academy friends started popping up.” He turned and looked at the other rogue. “Get the boss. He’ll want to know someone’s looking for his pet.”
As the man turned and ran out of the camp, Jarreth’s anger grew. His pet? He was going to have to kill the leader. He felt sick thinking of the things Delilah might have had to endure and then wondered if it was all willingly pursued. “Where is she, Grady?”
Grady’s eyes narrowed as his lips were peeled back in a sneer, but it wasn’t for Jarreth. “You shouldn’t have brought Katie here, orphan.”
“I didn’t. I didn’t even invite her.” Canter turned to Katie, who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her to hold herself together. She knew she would have to face them both eventually.
“Jarreth?” Delilah’s voice brought everyone’s head around. She stood next to the door of a large tent. “What are you doing here?”
She looked fine, much cleaner and happier than Grady, which made Jarreth realize she had been a willing participant in whatever was happening with the fucking boss. “What the fuck are you doing, Delilah?”
“You shouldn’t have come, Jarreth!” Delilah’s voice was full of anguish.
Jarreth got a sinking feeling. “Yeah? Well, I’m sorry I did. I had no idea you’d be fucking the boss. But I guess you had to make yourself comfortable somehow.”
Her eyes widened. “Is that what you think?”
“You’re sleeping in his fucking tent, Delilah! What the fuck am I supposed to think?”
Something rustled in the trees behind the tent, and Jarreth hoped it was the asshole leader come to take his beating because he had every intention of laying the fucker to waste. Sure, it would cause a fucking war, and he’d probably be taken down by the other men, but he didn’t fucking care about anything at that point.
He glanced at Delilah, who turned her head, and when he looked over again, his blood pooled in his feet as his father walked out with the other man who had gone to fetch the leader.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this,” Brock said, looking back over his shoulder. When he finally looked over and saw Jarreth, he stopped in his tracks. “Son?”
“Dad?” He looked around at the others in the camp. About twenty-five to thirty men and women stood watching the reunion. He turned and glared at Delilah, and then with one last look at his father, he turned and walked out of camp.
Jarreth kept walking, deep into the tall brush until he came to a clearing. And to add insult to injury, before he could even gather his thoughts, the ground fell out beneath him and he landed ass-first in a pit.
“Jarreth!” Brock ran after his son, realizing which direction he was headed. He had to stop him before he ended up hanging from a tree or worse, down in the pit with an injury. He came to the clearing and saw the huge hole and knew his son was there. He walked over and looked down to find Jarreth sitting with his knees bent and his head in his hands. “Son.”
“This is where you’ve been? In a rogue camp the whole time?” He had thought he’d never see his father again, and now, a part of him wished he hadn’t.
Brock knew it was time to come clean and tell his son everything, but that didn’t make it all any easier. “Yeah, I’m the leader here. Your uncle Patrick was leader before me, and when he passed away, I took over.”
Jarreth’s Uncle Patrick was his father’s brother in the Fellowship, and while there was no blood relation, other than the bond the two hunters shared through the mark, they were still family.
“That’s why you started being away more often after he died?” He looked down between his knees and shook his head. That sure as hell explained a lot, and yet, at the same time, nothing in his world made sense anymore. “You told me to be loyal, and you’re a rogue.” He shook his head. His father had disappointed him when he left home, so he shouldn’t have been so surprised.
“I’m from the 2K generation of rogues, Jarreth. It’s different now.”
Jarreth looked up and met his father’s eyes. “Is that supposed to be better? You still fight for your own agenda.”
“As opposed to the Church’s? You bet your ass. And what are you doing here, anyway? Have you decided to join the faction, or are you only here for Delilah?”
Jarreth felt like an idiot down in the hole but knew better than to have his father get him out. It was better to keep him at a safe distance until he calmed down. “I’ve come to bring her back with me. Where she belongs.”
“She’s pretty upset with the Huntress. She’s told me a few things about the past couple of months.”
“She’s feeling slighted because she admired Re
bekah and she let her down. I can relate, but I also know what’s best for her.”
“From what I hear, she had every reason to be upset.” Brock couldn’t believe the claims against the Huntress, and while he knew that there were two sides to every story, the side he’d heard was pretty damned bad.
Jarreth knew better. “I know Rebekah. She’s a personal friend of mine, and I don’t believe for one second that she did anything wrong. I’ve already pledged my vow to help her hunt Kayne.”
“What?”
Jarreth was surprised he didn’t already know. “Don’t tell me you’re out of the loop. The trial is past. The judgement came down that she’s supposed to hunt Kayne. I’m going with her, but I’m going to ask Delilah to marry me before I do.”
“And you’d expect her to fight with you or stay behind?” He had not married a huntress for a reason, and that was because he knew he wanted his woman safe at home. He couldn’t imagine Jarreth wanting Delilah in harm’s way.
“Delilah and I fight together. We always have, and I didn’t make her stay behind or sit out of the last battle, so why would I start now? Besides, if you think I could make her do anything, you’ve forgotten who she is.” Jarreth gave a half-hearted laugh. “The Huntress has a castle in Ireland, and she wants us to stay there with her while we figure out the next move. I trust Rebekah to keep us both safe, and besides, we’re not children sparring in the backyard on the trampoline. We’re marked hunters. Delilah’s one of the best huntresses around. You’d have known that if you hadn’t abandoned us.”
Brock thought about Delilah as a child. She’d always been eager to learn, and while he wanted the best life for her too, he never wanted the precious girl he looked at like a daughter to be a huntress. He wanted a much better life for her, one without so many struggles. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t deal with your mother. She rode me for the long days and nights away. Then when Patrick died, I took it so hard. I needed to be at camp to tend to things, and I really needed her understanding. I admit I made a mistake. I wasn’t the perfect husband, but I wasn’t the worst.” He shook his head. “I came home one day to surprise her, knowing I needed to make everything right, and that’s when I found them together. I went off the rails. I couldn’t believe they’d do that to us. To not only me, but you and Delilah too.”
“You should have told me. And not only about Mom but about this camp. About your life. You should have kept in touch.”
“I knew I couldn’t do that, Jarreth. You’d have wanted to come, and the only way to become a hunter these days is through the academy. After that, we have another choice thanks to the thirteen. They didn’t want to be caught up in the Church’s regulations and corruption. That’s what the 2K rogues were about when they first formed. We honor our Huntress, respect her, but her agreements do not hold us back.”
“I get it. Rebekah explained all of that to me. Said she knew Patrick. I didn’t realize it was Uncle Patrick, of course. I had no idea he was leader of the rogues either.”
“He was one of the first thirteen,” said Brock.
Jarreth remembered his uncle and could still see his face. He had always been a rough son of a bitch and tough as nails, with chin-length hair and tattoos all down his arms and back, including one neck tat, the number thirteen. “That makes sense.”
“I’m sure a lot of things do in hindsight. That’s usually how life works.” Brock looked down at his son and realized how much he’d missed him. All the time that had passed had been wasted. He wished he’d explained things to him before, and now, he would have to make up for lost time. “The thirteen paved the way for our freedom. It’s only been eighteen years, but we’ve already seen progress. With the Immortal Huntress finally out from under the Church’s thumb, I hope we can make more.”
Jarreth didn’t know what to say to any of it, and there was a moment of silence between them.
Brock sighed and walked over to fetch the nearby rope. “Here, let’s get you out of that hole.”
Once Jarreth was out of the hole, he’d have to face Delilah. “Leave me here. Bury me in it.” He couldn’t believe the things he’d said.
“What’s the matter?”
“I said some shit to Delilah. Accused her of fucking around with the leader of the camp until I knew it was you.”
“Why in hell would you do that?”
“One of the others said she was sleeping in the boss’s tent. I didn’t know what to expect. I thought she was forced to be some kind of love slave or something. Then she walked out perfectly fine.”
“I gave her my tent to keep her safe. You should know Delilah better than that. Sounds to me like you should face the music.”
Jarreth wasn’t ready for that. “I need a little more time to think.”
“Fine, but at least keep the rope.” Brock tossed the end of it down and let it hang from the tree where it was attached. “Climb out when you’re ready.”
Chapter 20
After a long wait for their flight, Rebekah, with Aziel in tow, had finally made it to New Orleans. Aside from the humidity which made the air thick, the day was bright, and the birds sang, giving little indication of the anger that boiled deep in Rebekah’s soul.
The entire trip, she had little on her mind but vengeance, and she was going to make sure that whoever had taken Stella and Luna paid dearly.
As they walked from the airplane into the airport, Aziel could sense her hostility but thought she was annoyed with the head pains she’d been getting. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, it’s just been too long since I’ve seen Ignis. I’m angry about what those assholes did to him and that they’ve stolen my daggers.”
“Well, it looks like you don’t have to wait any longer.” Aziel looked over her shoulder.
She turned around and saw Ignis crossing the airport lobby with a huge grin. Suddenly, all the anger in her heart—not that any of this had been his fault—faded away. They both quickened their steps and fell into each other’s arms.
“It’s been too long,” he said.
All she could do was nod with her head on his shoulder. “Way too long.” Another pain hit her, and she winced, already growing too used to them to let them take her by surprise.
“Are you still having the pains?” Ignis asked.
“Yes. And I can’t tell you how bad it sucks.”
“We’ll have them back soon enough. Talia is at home with her sisters, and they’re ready to help.”
“They know this is dangerous, right? I know they’ve already lost their sister, and I don’t expect them to put themselves in danger for me.” Even though Rebekah knew how deadly they could be, she also knew that they could be injured or even killed. She didn’t want to feel responsible or cause any problems if something went wrong.
“No,” said Ignis. “They’re all eager. They’re pissed about what happened to me, and they want to get vengeance. I’ve never seen Talia so livid. She wanted to come along, but I talked her into staying behind to corral her sisters.”
She glanced over her shoulder at Aziel, to see the angel was staying a step behind to give them their privacy. She turned back to Ignis. “Did you find the location of the nearest camp?” Rebekah had left the task to him, and he had wanted to find it in order to make amends for losing the weapons.
Ignis led them to his new rental. This time, he’d wanted a sportier car, but with the accident, the company would only give him an older model minivan. “Yes, I’ve put in a few calls here and there, and I think I’ve got it locked down. I’m not sure if they even knew what they had.”
“Well, if they didn’t when they took it, I’m sure they do by now. The question is, what would they want to do with it?”
“They’d want to see if it’s worth anything to their people first and foremost, and then if it’s not, they’ll try to sell it. My guess? If anyone’s touched it, they’ll not only be planning a funeral, but they’ll be ready to get rid of it.” Ignis unlocked the car doors, and they all got insid
e, him behind the wheel and Aziel in the back behind Rebekah.
“This car smells horrible,” said Aziel.
Ignis glanced over his shoulder. “It wasn’t my first choice, but it will move.” He started her up, and once they got out of the parking lot and hit the open road, he laid down on the pedal and hauled ass back to his house.
As they pulled into the driveway, Talia ran out to greet them.
“Wow,” said Aziel, who was all but frothing at the mouth.
Ignis smiled. “Lucky for you, angel, I’m not a jealous man.”
“Sorry.” Aziel couldn’t believe that Ignis had managed to snag such a hottie, and his first impression of her fucked with his head so badly he forgot for a moment that she was a naiad; a creature he’d heard was both very beautiful and dreadfully hideous.
“Rebekah, it’s so good to see you!” said Talia, who ran over and greeted her with a hug. She smiled when she saw Aziel. “Hello, handsome.”
Rebekah, who was no slouch compared to the other’s beauty even though she felt like one, cleared her throat. “Talia, this is the angel Aziel. Aziel, this is Ignis’s girlfriend and one of my oldest friends, Talia.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Aziel bowed his head.
“Likewise. Let’s get inside, shall we? I’ll see if my sisters are ready to go.” She led them into the house.
Tula and Tori were hardly dressed for battle by Rebekah’s standards. They had on the thinnest pants, and Tula’s even had a floral pattern. Before Rebekah could think of a nice way to tell her that she might want to change, the sisters saw Aziel.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were bringing along a friend,” said Tori, straightening her hair.
Tula pushed her sister aside and walked over with her floral-patterned pants and stars in her eyes. “Hi, I’m Tula,” she said. “You’re magnificent.” Her pastel pink eyes were as wide as saucers. “What are you?”
“Aziel is an angel,” said Rebekah, turning to Ignis for a little interception. “Ignis?” She tilted her head toward the naiad.