Life After: The Complete Series

by Julie Hall

  I shook my head sadly. I couldn’t make myself meet his eyes anymore. “I’m sorry, Logan, I’m not going to be able to do that.”

  “Why not?” The words were spoken as chillingly softly as before, but with a tinge of vulnerability that coaxed my eyes to his face. There, I discovered a question. A need for understanding that I couldn’t, wouldn’t, fully give him.

  I thought back to the moments of jealousy I’d felt around Kaitlin and the times we’d fought over nothing. I thought back to all the moments of longing and the confusion they brought with them. I wasn’t going to sentence myself to an eternity of that.

  With a sudden clarity, I realized that Logan and I had never been friends, and even if feigning friendship were a way to keep him close, we would never be that to each other. And that was something he needed to hear.

  “We were never friends, Logan. We can’t go back to something we never were.”

  “I don’t believe that. I don’t accept that.” His voice was beginning to take on an intensity that matched his face.

  I shook my head. I wasn’t going to bare my heart fully to him. I took a step back to create more physical distance between us. A move I’d learned from him. I needed that space to stand my ground.

  “You’re going to have to accept that. I’m not willing to do this anymore.” This wasn’t some battle of wills we were going to have to fight out. He needed to realize that.

  Logan was tense all over. “I’m not going to pretend to know exactly how you got to this point, but it seems to me you are running away, and that can’t be the answer. Why aren’t you willing to fight through this, whatever it is? Because that’s what I’m willing to do.”

  The blaze in his eyes smoldered. Anger still shimmered there, but also a bit of desperation. I stood firm and tried to hold the pieces of my heart together. I wasn’t about to share my feelings for him when it wasn’t something he was capable of returning. I knew that something better was intended, and that this, whatever it was, had to change. We were meant for so much more, and if that couldn’t be realized between us, then we weren’t meant to be anything to each other.

  “I’m not running away. I’m running to something. Something new.”

  Logan turned into a block of cold steel. His posture went from intense and focused to distant and guarded, and the life in his eyes dulled.

  “Something new,” he repeated. “And you’re telling me I’d just be in the way?”

  Well no, that was not exactly what I meant. I mean, yes it was, but an uneasiness coiled in my gut, as if he was going down the wrong rabbit hole. Something I’d said had stung him on a personal level, and he’d retreated behind his mask. The one he put on to protect himself. My heart wanted to reach out and rip the disguise off. My resolve was shaken.

  But all I had to say was yes, and it would be done. I’d be free. Logan would let me go without grilling me for more information, without trying to force my hand.

  “Maybe.” I stopped.

  What was I going to say? Maybe it would be okay if he remained my mentor? Maybe in time we could be friends? Maybe someday things would all work out and we’d be able to laugh at how messed up I’d thought this was?

  But I couldn’t say that. I wasn’t willing to take a chance on those maybes.

  “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

  Turning my back on him, I headed for the exit with a heavy heart, no longer sure I’d done the right thing. I walked briskly out of the training gym, forcing my legs to move at an even pace, hearing Bear’s feet padding along behind me after I crossed the threshold.

  I counted the steps as I moved away from Logan. Ten, then fifteen, then thirty-five. How many more steps would I have to hold off the tide before I got back to the safety of my room? Before I could tend to the internal wounds that had just been inflicted?

  Too many was the answer, and I ducked inside the girls locker room before I completely lost it. I ran to the first steam shower and turned it on full blast, stepping in with my clothes fully on and letting the hot water wash away the tears already running down my face.

  27

  Mentors

  “Oh, sorry. I thought this was my new training gym.”

  The man in the middle of the room was so frail I had no idea what he could be doing in the training center, let alone my gym. He leaned heavily on a cane as he slowly turned toward me, his back bent at the shoulders.

  “I’m sorry, but can I help you find something? Are you lost or anything?”

  Clear grey eyes stared back at me before crinkling heavily at the corners when he smiled. He nodded his head, and I was momentarily distracted by the poof of white poodle-like hair that bobbed along with it.

  “Why, yes you can. I’m looking for Audrey Lyons.”

  “That’s me, actually.” But I was drawing a blank as to why this old man was looking for me.

  “Why, so it is. Audrey, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m your new mentor.”

  My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open.

  “You’re a hunter?” I bluntly asked.

  Would there ever be a time I handled the unexpected gracefully?

  The smile on the old man’s face widened, creating even more wrinkles and divots. “I’m actually more of a jack of all trades. We thought you could use me during your next phase of training.”

  So now my new trainer wasn’t even a real hunter. What was going on?

  “I don’t mean to be rude, sir, but what does that mean? New phase?”

  “I’m sure you’ll see soon enough. But let me at least properly introduce myself.” He took a few moments to shuffle over to me and held out his gnarled hand, which looked as if it had been ravaged not only by time but also by arthritis. “You can call me Hugo. I believe we are going to make a great team.”

  My mind was a skeptical mess as I reached for his feeble hand. But when my palm connected with his, a blast of power shot through his surprisingly sturdy handshake. My head jerked up, and I fastened on his sharp eyes. Whoever this man was, what he appeared to be on the outside wasn’t all there was to him.

  A genuine smile grew on my face. Maybe one day people would say the same about me?

  I had the sudden premonition that the future was going to take some interesting turns, starting with this one. Anticipation bloomed in my chest. The afterlife had proven to be a bucket full of the unexpected, so why should Hugo be any different? I was no longer certain about my happily-ever-after ending, but if this was my journey, it was about time I started looking forward to the ride.

  “Where do we begin?”

  Epilogue

  “She is the one!” the creature hissed. It was curled in on itself in the corner, writhing and barely able to speak. Its barbed tail had been sliced off, along with a good portion of its left front flank. The hunk of charred meat, for that was all he considered the creature to be, still lived only for verification. Verification of what he already knew to be true, for he’d seen it for himself.

  He smiled. She was vulnerable. Throwing herself into a fight she wasn’t ready for. Whether from pride or sheer ignorance he didn’t know, nor did he care. Either weakness was as deadly as the other, exploitable and leading easily to ruin. He’d been using them for as long as the feeble humans had roamed the Earth.

  She was the key to his freedom. By her hand he would be freed to finish the task he’d set out to accomplish so many millennia ago. He’d reign over the Heavens and the Earth and any other realms there were to be ruled.

  A pain-filled screech from the thrashing beast in the corner only stirred annoyance in him. With eyes narrowed in irritation, he turned to it. His jaws opened and disjointed like a snake’s.

  “No!” the creature screamed its plea right before the liquid fire burst from his open mouth, engulfing it. It took longer than he liked for the shrieks to subside and the beast’s body to crumble completely. He didn’t bother giving the remains another look as he walked into the adjoining room, slipping on his human skin as he did.


  When the door clicked shut behind him, the human seated carelessly in front of the fire looked up with one dark brow cocked.

  “A mercy, I assure you.” He smoothly answered the unasked question.

  “Of course.” The human replied with a half-smile on his face, seemingly unconvinced.

  “I have the confirmation I need. What else do we know?”

  The human stood as he answered. “We received a report that she’s not training with Logan anymore.”

  He raised an eyebrow of his own, feeling the fake flesh stretch and bunch on his face. That was interesting. He’d seen the result of Logan’s training firsthand—they both had. The boy had worked miracles in a short time. Losing Logan as a trainer was most likely to their benefit. But that depended entirely on the replacement.

  “Do you know who has been reassigned to her?”

  “Our sources weren’t sure but said that would be confirmed on the next report.” As if knowing the significance of his next words, the human paused. An arrogant smile played across his features. “The reassignment was at her request.”

  Another surprise, but this time it didn’t show on his face. Letting her decide to leave Logan was a bold move.

  He dismissed the human with a flick of his hand, resisting the familiar urge to swat. This one, in particular, was useful. Misguided to think they would ever truly be allies, but useful nonetheless.

  The manipulation was already forming in his head as the fallen human bowed and exited the room. He was too close to what he wanted for anything to stand in his way.

  Thank you for reading Huntress!

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  Keep reading to see what happens to Audrey and Logan in Warfare (Life After Book 2) →

  JULIE HALL

  1

  The Trials

  My heart beat as if it was trying to build up speed and erupt from my chest. I thrust my sword up in a defensive stance as I checked my surroundings, keeping my breathing shallow and silent. On the off-chance my enemy hadn’t already discovered my position, I didn’t want to give it up.

  I weaved my way between cargo containers and shipping crates piled along the harbor. My feet moved soundlessly on the smooth concrete, a skill I’d been training hard to accomplish. The brackish smell of stagnant water cloaked the docks, infiltrating my nostrils and coating my throat. It tasted of decaying waste.

  My stomach rolled.

  Sweat dripped down my face, stinging my eyes and blurring my vision, but I couldn’t risk moving to wipe it away. Wisps of fog played hide-and-seek around the crates. Between the darkness and the fog, visibility was low to non-existent. An attack from above was a real concern.

  Fear scrambled for a foothold I refused to give.

  My arms shook with the strain of the sword’s weight. I’d finally built up the muscle to wield it fluidly, but the exertion and adrenaline of hours of fighting, chasing, and being chased was beginning to show.

  “Don’t lock up your muscles, even if you’re so tired you think there’s no other way to remain standing. Stay fluid and light on your feet, Audrey. Always.”

  Hugo’s voice echoed in my head as clearly as if he stood right next to me. It was a lesson he often reminded me of. I tried to do exactly what he had instructed, but I was getting to the point where perhaps locked muscles were the only way to remain standing.

  A sound drifted toward me—flesh sliding across the concrete. I cocked my head and strained to hear more, but only the breeze tickled my ears.

  Three sharp clicks were my only warning before the creature sprang at me, talons, jaws, and an abundance of spikes extended toward me as it flew through the air. Without a moment to think, I threw myself straight at it, ducking into a roll at the last second while its tail’s razor edge sailed over my head, landing in the very spot I’d so recently occupied.

  This one was smaller than most of the others, but what it lacked in girth, it made up in, well . . . pointy sharp things all over its body. This was a beast I wanted to keep out of my personal space.

  Someone had gotten creative with this fellow.

  I seriously wanted to throat punch whoever that was.

  The demon lunged at me with its claws, followed by a whip of its tail and a snap of its jaws. The assaults came in such quick succession that only the gusts of air from its movements alerted me to each consecutive attack. The demon herded me to a dead end, with containers blocking off all escape routes. I quickly wiped the sweat from my eyes.

  Enough messing around.

  I had to defeat this thing now. Only an offensive attack would bring it down.

  I threw extra force into the next defensive block, just barely enough to throw the creature’s equilibrium off for a millisecond. That was all I needed. I turned and sprinted toward the container and then took two clanging steps up its metal side before flipping backward. With a battle cry, I aimed my sword down, straight at the creature’s spinal cord. I saw everything as if time itself had slowed, I saw my aim was true and I would hit my mark.

  There was a single, solitary moment of victory before I was jerked to a sudden and painful stop.

  The world went white.

  I looked around in confusion. “What?” I yelled into the nothingness, still suspended awkwardly in the air. The harnesses that wrapped around my legs and abdomen pinched. There’d be bruises for sure. “I was perfect.” The restraints disappeared and I dropped onto my belly as abruptly as I’d been frozen mid-strike. “Oof.”

  A huge screen materialized in front of me, playing back the last few moments. I watched myself deflect the creature, its balance shaken as I whirled around, reached the shipping container, and in a perfect maneuver propelled myself airborne and back toward the demon. I was right, my blade had been in perfect position. It was the tail—and the two-foot jagged spike attached to it—about to impale me, that I’d missed.

  I sagged in defeat and thumped my head against the now-padded ground. Groaning loudly, I flipped onto my back.

  “So not fair,” I mumbled.

  “That was the best one yet,” a disgustingly cheerful voice said.

  I groaned again. A horn blared, the sound ripping up my eardrums and I flinched. The voices of the technicians monitoring the gauntlet once again became discernible. The white around me transformed into a gym, one of many within the training center.

  This one was typical. Floors padded with thick blue mats and windowless, bland walls. The only noteworthy differences were the absence of a weapons-wall and an observation deck situated high in the back, giving an overview of the action to observers and the technicians who monitored and ran the trials.

  I cracked one eye open and craned my neck to watch Hugo’s approach. “I am not convinced the other hunters run the same gauntlets as me. If they did, there wouldn’t be any active hunters. This trial is freakin’ impossible. If I’m not going to be skewered by a berserker hybrid demon—which doesn’t even exist in real life by the way—then I’m being decapitated, drowned, slimed, or . . . wait for it, it’s my personal favorite . . . squished by a fat demon who literally moves too fast for the laws of physics.”

  Hugo beamed down at me, patiently amused as I continued my rant.

  “I stand by my previous statement. We should not have to fight things that don’t actually exist. And,” I ticked a finger in the air, “I should be able to use fire during these trials. In real life, my sword blazes, remember? Not having my weapon makes these challenges completely unrealistic.”

  “What an exciting gauntlet,” Hugo said as he offered a hand to help me stand.

  A jolt of power shot up my arm as our hands connected. I’
ve never gotten a read on his emotions through the empathy link, only a strange shock of energy. He still pretended not to know what I was talking about when I asked about it, often changing the subject immediately, but the gleam in his eye told me he knew exactly what happened. I’d long since given up trying to figure it out.

  I received a pat on the back when I got to my feet. “You’re so close,” he continued with a genuine smile on his face. “I’m so proud of the progress you’ve made in these short few months.”

  Even disgruntled, my heart warmed under his regard. With effort, I dematerialized my body armor and wiped the remaining sweat from my face with the sleeve of the fitted cotton shirt I wore underneath.

  “That was the hardest one yet.”

  “Yet it was your best one so far,” he countered.

  The look I shot him had him chuckling again. My mentor’s moods shifted only from calm to serious or happy. His ability to keep his cool in every situation was truly a gift I did not possess. It was as if, regardless of the situation, he was simply happy to be there with me.

  An enigma for sure.

  And very, very different from my last mentor. My heart twisted and I swiped a hand down my face to cover a wince.

  “Another failed gauntlet,” I said. “What are we up to now, lucky number thirteen? I should have known this one would be a bust.”

  Hugo laid a hand on my shoulder in a fatherly gesture of comfort. His eyes were kind. “You will get there, I promise. Sometimes—”

  “Great work today, Audrey,” Rhett, one of the technicians, interrupted. “You were almost there. We were all rooting for you. I’m sure you’ll get through it next time. After you pass the initial trial, the gauntlets get shorter. You only run them to make sure you’re still on your game.”